MFS62

(Chanelling Johnny Cochrane) "If the sample was mis-handled a bit, then you've got to acquit." Later

OPS vs OBP. MPH vs MPG Blonds vs brunetts Aisle vs window seat. Paper vs plastic. There are many decisions we must make. But since this is a baseball board, I'll concentrate on the first. Collins has mentioned that he views Torres as his leadoff hitter. Torres had a .642 OPS last year, .312 of it OBP. Tejada had a .695 OPS last year, .360 of it OBP. Of the two, I'd rather see Tejada leading off. Who do you think will be better in that role? Do any of you numbers guys have any stats that prove the effectiveness to a lineup of one over the other? Later

TransMonk wrote: Don't they design all spring training caps to be hideous, horrible, awful abomination? That also goes true for the guy not wearing a cap in that picture. Jeff Wilpon is like a Slinky - not good for very much, but it would bring a smile to your face if you rolled it down a flight of stairs. Later

Edgy DC wrote: Sometimes, I wonder if you or your lawyer going to the media declaring your innocence immediately after you've pled guilty on the record should be regarded as a violation of the agreement and re-open the charges. Forget anout reopening the charges. The "pled guilty on the record" part is more important. If he is saying that what he pled isn't true, he's guilty of perjury. Later

I'm a little concerned about Niese. I remember when singer Dionne Warwick had dental work done to close up the gap between her two front teeth. She never had another hit record. Later

Street and Smith was the classic one. There was also one by Bill Mazeroski (well, it had his name on it) which was interesting because it rated some top prospects for each team. It was the only place we could read about the kids other than in the Baseball Digest Rookie Report issue. These days, many of the mags are predominately Rotisserie-related. Check it out before you buy. Later

Edgy DC wrote: So, next time you're in Travis County (and you someday will be there, as it is the county which includes Austin and Round Rock) go visit the Rajah, the man who, along with Babe Ruth, discovered that if you uppercut on the ball, often enough, you may hit the ball really really far. That's interesting. IIRC, in his book "The Long Season", Jim Brosnan talked about Rajah instructing his hitters in St. Louis "Hit the top half of the ball. It will scoot through the infield like a scared rabbit". "The top of the ball?", Brosnan wondered "if he wanted us to hit a particular stitch". Later

Scott Kasmir worked out today for a number of teams. Here's a report from someone I correspond with* down there: So here's the quick run down of today's event. First and foremost Scott is a great guy and very down to earth, even with some serious $$$ in his pocket. He is much more muscular than I thought and seemed to be in decent shape for a shot at a comeback. He threw around 60 pitches for 8-10 scouts (I took note of the Blue Jays, Pirates, Astros and Angels in attendance). His fastball ended up sitting around 88 and he touched 91 a few times (Buster Olney will report 86-88 because Scott's agent texted him that info, and I hope he corrects it, because it's not true). His slider showed some life at 76-78 and his curveball wasn't overly sharp. When he finished his pitches and kept the ball down, he threw a lot more efficiently. Definitely a lot better than his 82-83 mph bullpen in the Dominican last month. Astros and Pirates showed the most interest, and he will be throwing a followup pen on Monday for a few additional teams. All in all a solid outing for him in my opinion... Later *= on a non-Mets -specific baseball board that is membership by invitation.

BP does numbers very well. The BP article gave us a lot of numbers. And if you are paying statistical tribute to a player, why did that writer have to say this? For some reason, I always found him annoying, though I can�t really put my finger on why. It probably had something to do with his earnest, gung-ho attitude combined with the fact that I rooted against the �86 and �88 Mets as hard as any teams I ever rooted against. Just seems [crossout]out of place[/crossout] inappropriate. Later

My main memory of Gary was his picture on the cover of SI. He was in his Montreal uniform. The feature article was "Why the National League is Better", and Gary was one of the main reasons they cited. (I think I still have that issue somewhere in my house.) RIP, Gary, you gave us many happy memories. Later

Seinfeld would send the tab to his pal Steve Somers. Rock would do the same to his buddy Spike Lee. Stewart would stick Rick Santorum with the bill. Greg? Who you got? Looks like you're payin'. Later

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: Wait... wouldn't the MFYs be chipping in money to get something for Burnett? I hope the Pirate GM realizes how much the MFYs want to get rid of Burnett and he gets them to kick in $43 million of the $33 million due on his contract. Later

How about some musical chairs? Ottawa to Binghamton, the Minnesota AA team now in New Britain to Ottawa and the current Binghamton team to New Britain? New Britain is less than an hour's drive from where I live. I've seen the B-Mets play there several times over the years. I'd love it. Nice ballpark with decent dimensions. Later

Dock Doyle was in the house. Now he won't be on the field. Later

Sports reporter Larry Merchant worked for a newspaper in Philadelphia. When he was fired (for being critical of local teams) the back page (sports) headline was: "Merchant Put on Waivers". Later

Ashie62 wrote: This is right out of Fatal Attraction. No. That would have been messing with the fittings on his gear before the last time he went building climbing. Later

Fman99 wrote: Let me know when he's funneling Jaegermeister from a prostitute's ass crack. There's bottoming out and then there's BOTTOMING OUT. Which reminds me. Behind every great woman is a guy checking out her ass. Later

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Oops, Cashman pulls a Phillips. Maybe if Phillips could have figured out how to pull something else ..... Later

Don't let the door hit ya' on the way out of baseball, ya' farghin' bastage. Later

Edgy DC wrote: AJC blogger thinks Mets fans are high-larious. And he starts in John Rocker denial? I wonder what there is about that that Ol' John wouldn't say? Or enjoy? Later

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Except that Chris Young is openly Republican. "Openly"? Y'mean he's one of these? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Log_Cabin_Republicans Later

They want to keep the team in the family and pass it down to furure generations. I thought that kind of cruelty was outlawed by the Geneva Convention. Rubin politicked to be the GM of the Mets. I'd like to see Sandy tell him, "OK, Sparky. You're acting GM for a week. Now fix it." Later

My favorite title sequence is from the movie "The Loved One". No flash and crash or dizzying graphics. A plane lands at LAX, and star Robert Morse is seen walking toward Customs as the credits roll. What makes this memorable is his answer to the customs agent's question about his occupation as the credits end. I looked high and low for a video to post, couldn't find one. But the movie is so good, I'd recommend you rent it and see for yourself. Later

From his minor league numbers and the position(s) he plays, looks like insurance in case Zach Lutz can't come back from last year's injury. But Lutz has more power. Later

Ceetar wrote: Franco seems like a good pick, and he's been around more lately helping out in spring training..etc. I saw your post above about Franco being selected. But if they were going to pick an ex-player who spent many (more) years with the team in various later roles (coach, minor league instructor), I would have loved AL Jackson to be honored. And it would be something to honor the team's 50th anniversary, too. Later