Johnny Lunchbucket

I'm also just starting the new Rickey Henderson bio, and theres a story of a Dodgers' scout turned off by his unusual package of less than standard height, odd BR/TL and two strikeouts on the day he went and saw him. The BR/TL, you may wanna know was because Rickey idolized... Willie Mays--and just imitated batting the way most kids in his neighborhood hit. Iow, he was probably a better hitter lefthanded -- just never tried! Good book, so far...

The real reason the draft was "delayed" is that so it can support an ever-growing MLB "tentpole" marketing event associated with the All-Star Game (more on this, soon). What I wanted to say, though, is a story... One of my closest friends ever-- a college/post-college roommate + a totally blue-and-orange guy (hes a key figure in my "Game 6" story)...was a pretty good athlete (racquetball.. and whiffe ball, my record, let's just say is not good, and we played A LOT) today is the parent of an 17/18-year old fresh hs graduate who was named one of 50 state winners of the "Gatorade High School Player the Year" (in Delaware, yes, so perhaps, he finishes, like 800th in California or Florida, but still, impressive, right?) Naturally, learning this I'm excited that my friend has a kid to get this kinda recognition, and--especially when I saw on Facebook he "committed" to a, let's say, junior college not known as an academic power hitter but happens to have a pretty good baseball team-- I saw it and, it struck me "OH, leverage! My buddy's kid, is going to be drafted, maybe, by the motherf÷(kn Mets!!" So I call him up for details, and get a kinda sad story. Despite the impressive stats Gatorade cites: .542 batting average, .642 OBP, 4 HR, 30 RBI, first-team All-State 3B/OF, who also had a 0.00 ERA is 7 Innings as a pitcher... it's one stat, my friend confesses, that really matters. "If he tries, we can maybe say, he's 5-foot-11," ... but in reality, he's "maybe" 5-foot-10. And all that shit above? Throw it away. High-school kids even with impressive stats who are "maybe" 5-foot-10, just don't get drafted. He's not even included in the mlb draft tracker database! And here's the second bit. The Gatorade thing also is meant to spotlight "student-athletes", and this kid, had good grades in a good high school. So why go to a junior commuter college? That's because he is also unlucky enough to be a good baseball player entering college while colleges are still dealing with a backload of scholarship athletes who had years tacked on to their deals--- because of Covid. So in a normal year, this kid could get a ride to a "real college" with a baseball scholarship, (like, for him, the UD Blue Hens). But, the Hens are fresh out of scholarships! They have way too many already due to covid, and so, tough luck! And the plan is, commute, and wait it out. Crazy, right? Too short... and too young.. to exploit either advantage!

PUT IT IN... THE Books!

A Hit and run #oldschool

Otto does it. Whew

Squirty

Fwiw, i think the notion that the public transport is "dangerous" is an exaggeration as is the idea one is surrounded by noisy creeps at Citifield. And it's expensive sure but so is everything here.

i've pretty much stopped going to the ballpark, any park. Expensive, inconvenient, uncomfortable, noisy, often surrounded by people who don't understand how to behave in public, plus I get home too damned late every time. Even after I moved out of NYC (I went to a few games at Citi, hundreds more at Shea), and I could comfortably drive to the ballpark in various towns, it felt like a hassle. I'm pretty sure I've been to my last in-person game, unless I feel social pressure to do so for some reason. I'm much more comfortable sitting on my couch and muting the commercials. Also screaming "Get off my lawn!" every so often. While some of this is true, i appreciate as an experience "in the moment" for me, some live baseball is good for my soul-- "some" meaning not always, but in the "right amount" -- like, every Tuesday night. 10 or 12 games over 6 months--is about perfect, plus the occasional "work" related game or "wife-and-kid" kinda games

Glad you enjoyed it. As someone who goes often-- My biggest current Beef With Citfield They redid the "OoT Scoreboard" which was always hard to read, and they made it different, but... also hard to read, just differently and actually, probably worse. --No need for the stupid oversized logos! Is it Cubs or Cleveland? Or, "hey looks like the Tigers are having a good game tonight against.. um, "the Splotches." --Still not enough area to show "every game at a glance" (58 years of technical advances but Shea is sitting there like, "these guys are amateurs.") --And because of that, it often "scrolls" so you lose the spot you were watching that you associated with the particular game(s) you're following --And what that happens, you have to watch it too long, AND YOU MISS THE PLAY ON THE FIELD. A second, smaller complaint that's actually MY problem but that Citifield contributes to: I'm not comfortable as a consumer paying ridick prices for a beer, THEN having that digital payment iPad thing basically say to you--in front of the guy-- "What are you, some kind of cheap-ass Fred Wilpon? Give this guy the "suggested" tip, already!!" And this in an "all card-payment" environment. --I feel like that puts me in an awkward sitch all around. I'm not only hating myself for this purchase to begin with (it's way too expensive, it makes you fat, and it just might make you WANT ANOTHER ONE and there are so many other, better things to do with that money) that it reminds me that the poor schlub who presented me with the beer and iPad probably isn't paid well, and me? I must be rich, because I'm about to spend $15 on an indulgence I'm about to flush down the toilet in 2 innings! But I also am telling myself, "all this guy did is 1. ask me for ID, 2. look at it for 1 second 3. turnaround and open a fridge door directly behind him and hopefully, reach for the right thing I asked for. 4. Present me with it... and an iPad. How do I respond to all this in a way that makes me feel as though I don't totally suck as a person? (what I should do is tip in cash, but sometimes all I got is a $20). Finally, A longstanding opinion I've held that was emphasized in my last Tuesday Night Mets game: Most "outfield" seating at Citifield sucks BHMC --Unless you're in like, the first row or two, SAY NO to [CROSSOUT]ALL seats[/CROSSOUT] OUTfield seats [CROSSOUT]that are not between first base and third base, [/CROSSOUT]ON ANY LEVEL. --That between first-to-third perspective is OUTSTANDING and the best part of the park: You're right on top of the game. It's great even up high! That's a secret, I'm sharing with the world! --BUT, other areas are not as good (that's no secret) --BUT BUT, the outfield pretty much sucks. --Especially center field. --If you have to be in the outfield, be in right field. Near the front, and in fair territory. Near the bullpen, in right, up close, those are good seats. Others IMO are not. --because you can't see the scoreboard. --because you often can't see the players. --Fair or foul? Caught, home run, shorthopped the fence, dropped, hit the fence directly? WHO THE FUCK KNOWS --And, when you go to look for the replay, YOU CAN'T SEE IT! --Finally, if you're not super close to the front of your section, like the first couple rows close, half the game there's a parade of slow-moving people walking along the long rows to go get a drink or pee or something. To me, that activity seems more acute in the outfield than it does between the bases, but it might just be that the outfield perspective sucks so much already, that I notice it more. --All that said, I generally *like* to be able to take in games from different vantage points--keeps it interesting. But I can say, after 13 years of this joint that I've been to enough game in center field, and in left field, that suck too much to be worth going to anymore.

Sits. I have big dumb thumbs.

They are somehow a lot better than they were last time. Some rookie pitcher you never heard of and a rookie infielder you also never heard of are the cats vaginas.

Lots of $$ in the website "surrounding" feature, vs. 1 ad that sirs there

I think this is now 3 times this team has withstood Alacantra, only to go on to lose

Ohhh I thought Zimmo got that one

Nido owes us a 2 run Homer here

This team needs an Allstar break

Ok JDD, let's do this

Time to play the bass

Esco shows ya how to break an 0-18 slump

He's got the biggest balls of them all Walker, that is

Here we go, the Marlins have begun the sabotage

Just based on the games they've played, against the Mets only--and all the little fuckups and blown-up umpire challenges--and knowing there was strife behind the scenes. And absolutely wasting a brilliant season from Alcantra, and promising guys elsewhere, how does Mattingly keep his job?

I mean fir the Mets it was a bad one. The had what 5 hits in 10 Innings. They had a lead the bullpen surrendered twice. Two guys got hurt. They bunted a guy to 3rd and he stayed there. We made a daring but costly mistake in the 10th, and it should have been much worse. But with ATL and PHL with wins in the banks, and down to our last out twice, we pulled the dumb thing out on 3 even worse mistakes by the other guys... 4 if you count the pitcher making 2 goofs on the last play. We played a team that's demonstrated over and over they have adequate or better pitching most nights, a few tough outs who are also clutch, but simply cannot execute, and almost lost again

2 mother Fulkers in a row swing at the 1st pitch, they're both outs, and the mother fucking METS PUT IT IN THE MOTHER FUCKING BOOOOOOOKS

OMG again