MFS62

G-Fafif wrote: (From a site I'm writing for that celebrates getting older without necessarily getting old...or something like that.) I know that feeling. Later

I wonder if the new place will have a Colt 45s rotunda. Later

Several years ago I wrote about the first regular season game the Mets played at Fenway Park, as seen through the eyes of Anne Rice. Enjoy, Anne Rice Reports the Ballgame 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. Later

Bravo! Later

If someone told Jeff that the best way to find players is to look within, he'd probably visit his Proctologist. Later

The last book I read about the Yankees was "Ball Four". A few days ago, one of my associates picked up a call on the order line and I heard him as the caller, "Are you the Joe Pepitone?" Apparently he was the ex-Yankee. But I was busy on another call. I wanted him to ask what he later did with that popcorn. Later

One of the announcers (Hersheiser on radio?) said that he has the lowest WHIP in major league history. Later

Ashie62 wrote: Williams is official per espn via Fox.. I almost did a little dance when he retired as a player. Now he'll be managing a team that will give the Mets fits. That guy keeps coming back. Like Herpes. Later

Edgy MD wrote: Ken Davidoff takes advantage of a trip to St. Loo to catch up with an overall-clad Ron Hunt. Hey, since when is Davidoff with The Post? It would be easier for Ron to lead the league in getting hit by pitches with that new profile. Later

Edgy MD wrote: Hatefully selfish and soft Carlos Beltran wins the Roberto Clemente Award. Good for him. Don't know whether I have mentioned this before, but several years ago, I had to go San Juan for a business project. When the person from the local office picked me up at the airport, he asked whether I would like to go directly to the office, or have lunch first. I told him that the first thing I'd like to do would be to drive past Hiram Bithorn Stadium to see the Roberto Clemente statue. He became my best buddy during my stay there. Roberto was respected for his contributions beyond the playing field. Glad to see Carlos has been similarly recognized. Later

Zvon wrote: They say unintended obstruction is obstruction. So good call, great new way to see a ballgame end. Too bad it's a World Series game Boston. Its really fun watching the World Series reports on the pro- Boston tv stations up here in Connecticut. Just as I turned off the sports report, they were blaming the interference call from last night's game on not burning enough witches in Salem. As for the direction Jim Joyce is facing, it looks like he is following the throw, to see if it went into the stands or if a fan touched the ball. From the replays I saw this morning, the home plate ump made the interference call. Later

Frayed Knot wrote: And your offense matters. It shouldn't, but it does. Somewhere, in a parallel Universe, "Derek Jeter" and "Gold Glove" are hopefully never mentioned in the same sentence. Later

Never saw that before. Thanks. Later

metirish wrote: Conor ?@ConorCoen @msimonespn hi Mark, any thoughts on Juan Lagares not making the cut in CF in the Gold Glove awards? #Mets #GoldGlove Mark Simon ?@msimonespn @ConorCoen he should have been a finalist --- span and mccutchen had good yrs, but not to level of lagares Exactly. As they might say in Boston, "He got scrod". Later

Y'mean a late inning relief pitcher is allowed to pitch more than one inning? Amazing! Later

As an Army General once told me: "You can always tell a Marine. You just can't tell them too much." Later

A little conspiracy...Lester using vaseline. http://deadspin.com/cardinals-minor-leaguer-thinks-jon-lester-is-a-cheater-1451341587 Deadspin is going to get a letter from Unilever, the company that produces Vaseline Brand Pertoleum Jelly ever since they bought Cheesebrough-Pond's Inc. When I worked for CPI, they were very protective of that brand name, trying to keep it from coming a generic through common usage. So, every time a paper carried a story about Gaylord Perry throwing the "Vaseline ball", the Corporate Law department would send them a letter. It would ask them to call it just a "pertoleum jelly ball" or a "grease ball" without using the copyrighted brand name. One time, Associated press had a story about Perry that was picked up by over 5,000 papers and other media outlets around the country. And CPI sent a letter to every one spotted by their clipping service. Now that we cited this, CPI would probably try to send us one, too, but I'm not sure how they handle stories on the Internet. Later

Marty Glickman, Art Rust, Jr. and now Bill Mazer. Each a radio sports broadcasting pioneer in his own right. RIP all of them. Later

So, the rumors that Kazmir will sign with the Hartford Charter Oaks aren't true? Later

The only comforting thing about that report is that they gave us the full name and address of that cretin so we can avoid him. Later

I posted this in the "Look who died" thread in the non-baseball forum. I'll delete that post. I used to listen, and call, all the time. Even stumped him with a trivia question. I liked it when he would let you talk to his guests. He was comfortable speaking about a wide range of sports and was a true gentleman, who never insulted or denigrated his callers or the teams for which they rooted. Too bad many of today's sports radio hosts never followed that example. RIP Later

TransMonk wrote: I don't know that I have seen a 3D movie in a theater since I was about 8 (Creature From The Black Lagoon, 1954)... What? You missed House of Wax with Vincent Price? I didn't like Titanic either. Told wifey that I would see if if it would have a different ending from the other film versions of the story I had seen. Didn't work. She dragged me to see it and didn't understand why I didn't like it (for all the reasons mentioned in this thread). Reading this thread makes me want to see Gravity. Later

metsguyinmichigan wrote: Sounds like he's added the role of vice president of tradition and fan experience to his own duries! Hey, didn't Fred do that when he built the Rotunda honoring the Brooklyn Dodgers? SM = 96 Later

According to Bloomberg Finance, the Mets have the 4th highest value when you include Regional Sports Networks (which make up more than 1/2 of their value). http://www.bloomberg.com/infographics/2013-10-23/mlb-team-values.html The graphic indicates that the other Sterling Enterprises businesses are excluded from the analysis. Later

I wonder if this will become an episode of the cable show Bad Ink. Later