MFS62

I've been to Fenway Park once, many years ago. Later, I was in my parody writing phase, and someone asked me if I could parody prose as well as songs. This is one result. It incorporates my impressions of that visit, with the Mets first regular season interleague game played there serving as the background. Enjoy, Later _____________________________________________________________________ Anne Rice Reports the Ballgame 1. The Mets approached the old building with fear. It was secluded in the center of town, amid the cheap bars and crowded streets. But, as night began to fall, it emitted an eerie glow into the New England sky. The crowd seemed drawn inexorably toward the light, like moths to their doom. And as their team bus drew up to the gate, the word "friendly" was the farthest from the minds of the Met players. They had heard all the stories, but few of them had ever dared to enter. They changed into their uniforms solemnly, and slowly ventured out from the bowels of the building into the artificial light that was beginning to win its battle with encroaching darkness. They blinked in disbelief. There it was. All the stories were true. The Green Monster did exist! To paraphrase Edward Albee, it was the malevolence of an erection. It had obviously been created by an architect with a deep hatred for pitchers. And they wondered to a man what impact that expanse of tin with mesh above would have on their immediate futures. The pitchers felt fear rising in their bellies; the hitters a false sense of bravado. Soon night would fall, darkness would envelop the rest of the world outside, and the dreaded Boston bats would emerge. Only one of their hurlers, Martinez, was able to nullify bats in this place, and without a necklace of garlic. By contrast, to the Met starter Al Leiter it had been a house of horrors for his entire career. Even the lights that started to dot the face of the Monster did not begin to allay their fears. It was a perfect home for a team that seemed to resurrect itself every decade. The locals spoke of "the Curse" which has lasted three quarters of a Century. Over that span, their fans have followed them to the brink of ecstasy, only to be plunged into the depths of despair. Yet the frenzy of their maniacal following has never waned, even to the point of destroying the lives of those players who may have disappointed them by making one small error or one bad pitch. The blood red words on the chests of the home team blazed in juxtaposition with the Halloween orange trim on the uniforms of the visitors. But whose blood would be spilled that night? The first battle was about to begin. The man expected to lead the Mets that night was Mike Piazza. But he was hit by a pitch from Martinez. Yet the man who replaced him, light hitting Alberto Castillo drove the first stake through Martinez’ heart. It was a home run that was gobbled up by the Green Monster. The life began to drain from the local fans. To the Mets, the smell of blood was heady and they began to revel in the carnage that was about to unfold. The bats; the bats; the timber-nabulation of the bats was to continue all night. The Mets hit three more home runs and Boston’s own semi-mortal monster, Mo Vaughn hit two of his own. But the inevitable was never in question. Slowly the fans began to leave the old building, to drown their sorrows one more time in the seedy pubs that lined the neighboring streets. The Green Monster had consumed one of their own that night. Soon the bats would be asleep; artificial light replaced by the coming dawn. But in the darkness of the old arena, the bats would remain, waiting for their next victims.

This made me change my mind on Chipper. Let others vote for them if they will, and he'll probably make it on his first attempt. But his comments about Sandy Hook (even though he later retracted them) don't sit well with me. Let him not be unanimous. And this voter feels the same way: https://www.yahoo.com/sports/will-past-controversial-tweets-impact-chipper-jones-hall-fame-chances-205915891.html Later

And while they're at it, bring back Joe Smith, too. Later

So, how did you rate it? Later

While we're voting, the BBWAA voting will begin soon. And voters will be receiving a letter signed by Joe Morgan. In case you missed it, here is Jeff Passan's article about the letter. https://www.yahoo.com/sports/giving-hall-fame-vote-joe-morgans-letter-144738128.html Later

(seen elsewhere, but I want to share the pain): does he warm up in the bullpen, or just purkolate? Later

cooby wrote: He prolly voted for himself 5 times the douchebag I wish we still had the BOC, because if any post ever deserved one, that one did. Later

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: It was McCray And IIRC he was a ChiSox minor leaguer atthe time. Later

Trevor Hoffman Omar Vizquel - If Mazeroski is in for exceptional fielding , so should he be. Larry Jones (I hate myself, but the fucker deserves it ) Jim Thome (the first player who made OPS make sense to me - walks and power.) Manny Ramirez (Washington Heights is under represented, so Homey gets my vote) Larry Walker (so is Canada) Jeff Kent (so is second base) Later

smg58 wrote: You can never have too much bullpen depth, plus he's a lefty with a pulse That reminds me - The company for which I work send out advertising letters. The letters all say something like "As one of our VIP customers, we will hold this offer for you for 5 days". One of the callers once asked me, "What did I have to do to be one of your VIP customers?". Our calls are recorded, and we have to tell the truth or we can get fired, so I told him, "You have a measurable pulse and a credit card". When the guy stopped laughing, he said he appreciated my honesty bought a lot of stuff. Back to the thread. Later

The deadline for adding minor league players to the 40 man roster to protect them from the Rule V Draft is Monday. Here are some suggestions, but I'd also protect late bloomer Mickey Jannis. https://www.sny.tv/mets/news/deadline-to-add-rule-5-eligible-players-to-40-man-roster-is-today/262105030 Tick tock. Later

Benjamin Grimm wrote: MFS62 wrote: A YLDB where I work already named him "Puke". Do you work with fourth graders? (Or, perhaps, in the White House?) No. Just a snarky punk YLDB. And I don't even work in the White House. People I worked with in the Pentagon were classier than that. Later

A YLDB where I work already named him "Puke". Can't wait for the NY Post headlines. Hope he proves them wrong. Welcome, Matthew. Later

Who? (ducking) Later

For some reason, I always thought Lynch had gone to St. John's U. And he was the first pitcher I ever heard referred to (by Bob Murphy) as a "contact pitcher" because he didn't get too many strikeouts. He let batters hit the ball and let his fielders do the rest. Good bio by JCL. Later

The novel written, in 1934 takes place on the famous train, traveling from Istanbul to Calais. A man has been stabbed to death and there are 12 possible suspects. Detective Hercule Poirot is on board and is faced with the mystery and must bring all his famous skills to bear to find the culprit before the suspects depart the train. The first film version was directed by Sidney Lumet and starred Albert Finney as the famous detective. This version is directed by and stars Kenneth Branaugh. Both versions had all- star casts. Later

Ceetar wrote: This is why we hate you Sherman "Hey Mets fans, good news, Conforto's on track! but let's talk about him missing Opening Day anyway." Y'mean the fact that he's a YLDB isn't reason enough? Later

Great hitter, great pitcher. Babe Ruth or Clint Hartung*? Or something in between? Later * = Clint: https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/hartucl01.shtml

Mex17 wrote: whiff on Hosmer, Santana, Morrison, and Alonso. Reynolds in particular is a little interesting since, as a righty, he might not totally block Smith. http://www.espn.com/mlb/player/stats/_/id/30452 http://www.espn.com/mlb/player/stats/_/id/28772 Whiff is an interesting choice of words, since Reynolds had piled up lots of strikeouts to go along with his home runs. but his OPS is still better than Moreland, and the fact that he hits righty would be a plus. And he has even played a little third base. Not a bad suggestion. Later

The Bosox loving sportscasters on the CT stations are gonna' be all over that tonight. RIP, Bobby. Later

That photo makes it look a heckuva' lot more than "Alleged". Later

Edgy MD wrote: That dream took a punch in the gut today as Jannis gave up three runs in five innings. He took the loss, but he struck out five and walked only one. Ah, a mere glancing blow. Later

I'm starting to feel positive about Mickey Jannis' chances. I recall discussion last year (here?) that the Mets were reticent to advance him beyond AA at the end of last year because they were afraid the conditions (temperature, altitude, park factors) in the PCL might be bad for his newly mastered knuckleball. But his performance in the AFL, where conditions are similar to the PCL, gives me hope that the pitch may be for real and he could make the big club at some time this year. Later

This is really sad. 17 years old. https://www.yahoo.com/sports/red-sox-prospect-daniel-flores-000952456.html RIP, kid. Later

If they feel Smith isn't ready, or could be used as part of a major deal to strengthen another position(s), how about seeing whether Duda would sign a one year/short term contract? I'm thinking minor league slugging first baseman Peter Alonso will be ready soon. (ducking) OE I was editing my post while it was being quoted by Ceetar. Later