MFS62

Edgy DC wrote: The Best of Santana Smooth. Later

And Mike Fracessa's opening on Monday will be about the missed call. I Gar-on-tee. Later

Just got home from work. Missed it. But I'm gonna' cheat and cross it off my bucket list anyhow, because I heard Howie's call. Here it is: http://deadspin.com/5915105/?utm_campaign=socialflow_deadspin_facebook&utm_source=deadspin_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow Now I'm going back to the first page of this thread and (re-)live it through all of you. Later

Up here in Connectucut, it will be about whatever happened to the Celtics tonight. If Boss George were still alive, he would have fired his manager to capture the back page headlines in New York. Later

batmagadanleadoff wrote: "But our dividerless urinals are a modern upgrade over the standard piss trough." "And on the field, the bases are precisely 90 feet apart from each other. That was especially my idea." They could make a lot of fans happy by putting Jeff's picture at the bottom of those dividerless urinals. They could make a lot more fans happy by putting Jeff's head at the bottom of one of those dividerless urinals. Later

Can any of us remember the last time Klapisch wrote anything positive about the Mets? Waiting Anyone? Bueller? (birds chirping) See what I mean? Consider the source. I can just picture him grinning broadly while he wrote that. His source was probably a Yankee fan, who is hoping that Mets will release Young so the Yanks can pick him up. Later

Here's a message to Mets fans from Mejia: Later

The defending World Series Champions are currently in second place in the National League Central - 1 � games behind the Reds. Any discussion of the Cards must start with three key members of the 2012 World Champion team who are no longer there - Tony LaRussa, Dave Duncan and Albert Pujols. Manager Tony LaRussa was credited by many as the person who either invented or just popularized the situational pitching change. As a byproduct, he also gave us the 3-2 game that seems to last four and a half hours. He led his team to six World Series during his career, three in Oakland and three in St. Louis. He won 3 World Series; 1 with Oakland and 2 with St. Louis. He lost 2 with Oakland and 1 with St. Louis. He retired with the third most victories in history. He has been replaced by Mike Matheny. Pitching coach Dave Duncan had a reputation of bringing out the best in pitchers, turning mediocre pitchers into good ones and good ones into very good ones. When LaRussa took the St. Louis job, he brought Duncan with him. It is also rumored that Duncan could turn lead into gold and chicken shit into chicken salad, but there is no proof of either. The new pitching coach is Derek Lilliquist, who was the interim coach during parts of last year while Duncan was away from the team to be with his ailing wife. First baseman Albert Pujols was the best hitter to play for the Cards since Hall of Famer Stan Musial. Until his numbers started to decline slightly in the past few years, some Cards fans were beginning to say he was better than Musial. Either way, he will be difficult, if not impossible to replace. Now for the current team. The most current numbers are linked below. C Yadier (insert your favorite epithet here) Molina A good defensive catcher and a good hitter with occasional power. One too many occasions, if you ask me. 1B Lance Berkman The Cards decided to replace a possible future Hall of Fame first baseman rumored to have used steroids with another one. So they signed Berkman as a free agent a year ago hoping to add outfield punch to their lineup. He was going to be the first baseman this year, but he was on the DL earlier in the year and is now out for another 6-8 weeks due to knee surgery. He has been replaced by a platoon of lefty hitting Matt Carpenter (more of a third baseman and recently on the DL) who has struggled early this season, rookie Matt Adams and righty hitting Allan Craig, who has shown some power. 2B Daniel Descalso I guess he�s a good defensive player because he started the season as the regular But he hasn�t hit much, and has been replaced by Tyler Greene, who hasn�t been significantly better. SS Rafael (Fecal) Furcal If you remember when he first came up with the Braves, he was touted as a future superstar. He didn�t start out that way, but has become a very steady player for the past decade. He signed a 2 yr $14 M deal with the Cards this off-season and has gotten off to a hot start. 3B David Freese He seemed to come out of nowhere to emerge as the MVP of the World Series last year. Actually, he came out of the Padres organization in 2007 when he was traded for Jim Edmunds. His success has continued, and he�s having a very good year. LF Matt Holliday The Cards signed Holliday, the Mets signed Jason Bay. For the first few years of their contracts this has worked out better for the Cards. Holliday got off to a slow start but has heated up recently. The shudda� cudda� talk will continue. CF Jon Jay He has a similar name to the guy after which the John Jay School of Criminal Justice was named. But they�re not the same guy. He doesn�t catch perps, he catches fly balls, and he does it very well. He�s an excellent flyhawk with a decent bat, but is currently on the DL. RF Carlos Beltran We still love you, Carlos and you�re having a good year. Just please don�t have a good series. The power is still there, but he has been bothered by a sore knee at times during the year. The bench is comprised of outfielders Shane Robinson, and Jim Edmunds (yes, they got him back), utility guy Skip Shumacher and C Tony Cruz. The starting pitchers are KlyeLhose,JakeWestbrook,LanceLynn,AdamWainwright,andleftyJaimieGarcia. Yes, that�s how solid they are as a staff. Each of them can give you a �quality start� or better every time out. None of them has the stuff that makes the fans swoon, but they get hitters out. Wainwright had that kind of stuff, but is coming off TJ surgery and hasn�t shown it yet.. Lynn is 8-1 and is starting to emerge as the leader of the pack. Garcia has good, but inconsistent stuff. Dave Duncan must be proud of his legacy. The middle relievers were to be righty Victor Marte and veteran lefty J.C. Romero, but Romero has been released and replaced by Brandon Dickson. The late inning bullpen guys are righties Mitchell Boggs, Kyle McClellan (currently on the DL with an elbow inflamation), Brandon Dixon, Fernando Salas and lefty Mark Rzepczynski who scares proofreaders world wide as much as he scares lefty batters. I expect there may be some changes to the bullpen before the series, since teams have been seen digging up the corpses of recently deceased lefty pitchers to throw them against the Mets. The closer is Jason Motte, who has been effective in that role. Their current coaches include ex-Mets Jose Oquendo. (Third base) and Dyar Miller (Bullpen) The numbers are: http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/STL/2012.shtml Later .

John should throw out the ceremonial pre-game pitch. And it will be just off the plate. Later

Here's my suggestion for rebuilding the bullpen. Move the lock to the outside of the gate, then when they're all locked inside, throw away the key. Later

Ashie62 wrote: Then again, no predicting what Wilpon wants to do, probably wait too long and blow it. (Channeling fMan) If he does that, then he can just blow me. Somebody has to smack Jeffie up side of the head. http://espn.go.com/espnw/mlb/7989832/jeff-wilpon-wants-extension-david-wright-due-time Later

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: I'm one of the biggest Mets fans any of you guys know and I didn't feel like they deserved my ticket-buying support till just last week. And yes, its because the Wilpons are fuckups whose contempt for the franchise and fans has been exposed. Let's see how long they can still pay bills when they let Wright walk. Try us, you fucks. Starting the negotiations is about as obvious as remembering to pay the electric bill for your heart/ lung machine. Later

Anyone done it since Gooden and Chico Walker in July 1993? Which leads me to the question if the pitcher has just hit a home run, and you would like a pitcher like Gooden to stay in the game, why pinch hit for him? Later

Edgy DC wrote: When was the last time the Mets got two homers out of the nine-hole? And by two different hitters. Good question. So far no answers. Later

Edgy DC wrote: How about that David Wright at shortstop?! Davey Johnson would have played Wright there, too. Later

Put me in, coach. I'm ready to play. Still deciding whether it will be Thursday (off day) or Friday. Later

I remember SF infielder Andre Rogers being described as "an ex-Cricket player from the Bahamas". This is time for the obligatory Connie Stevens picture, but I don't know how. (And if you have to ask "why?", you're either a kid or not a TV trivia buff.) Later

Heard on the ESPN Radio national game today (was in the car, Mets game over, didn't want to llisten to the Yanks) that Bobby Cox did not want his players keeping their sunglasses on the brim of their caps with the lenses over the brim when not in use. He said it obscured the team logo on the caps. He wanted them to put the glasses up there backwards, with only the band over the brim. Chipper vs Bobby. Hmmmmm. Later

G-Fafif wrote: The New York Times has yours truly on the Mets and banners. Worthy of "all the news that's fit to print". Very worthy. Later

Great job. I wonder if their mascot wears flip-flops like the Padre in the logo? Later

Bay looks like he's reaching back to see how close he is to the wall, something Mariano Rivera should have done. Later

Edgy DC wrote: And we all feel that way about somebody, true or not. Hopefully this stat can gauge some truth in there. Yes. Interesting stat. I'd never heard of it before this thread. Later

Den Dekker has three hits so far today, including that homer. But J. Mejia gave up 4 ER in 5 IP. Later

Edgy DC wrote: It measures the increased likelihood of your team winning the game, based on your performance, so a three-run homer when down by two in the ninth is worth far more than the same homer in a 14-2 blowout. I still recall my Pirate fan friend telling me that Dick Stuart was "the greatest hitter you ever saw in a 12-3 ballgame" when Stuart joined the Mets. Later

Ashie62 wrote: A case of Jungle Fever could turn you into this guy.. At work tonight, couldn't see the picture, only got the dreaded box with the red X inside. Thought it might be a picture of Wesley Snipes. Now that I'm home and see the picture, that doesn't look anything like Wesley Snipes. Later