MFS62

Chip is described as a "toolsey" type who teams have tried to convert into a baseball player. I believe the Mets had an ex-college quarterback a few years ago (Florida State U?). Dave Winfield was a multi-sport player in school who immediately made it big in the majors. D.J. Dozier never did. Later

Maybe this should become the official Trade and Trade Rumor thread up until the deadline. What rumors are you folks hearing? Are they from fairly reputable sources? Later

]When I got traded over here, one of the first phone calls I got was from (Padres manager) Bud Black," Bell said IIRC, Bud Black was drafted by the Mets (may have been as high as a top three rounder), but chose not to sign and returned to school. Didn't realize he's a manager now. Later

Johnny Dickshot wrote: The standard player contract is supposed to forbid certain physical activities that could endanger a guy's career. Seaver used to say he wouldn;t go skiing even though he wanted to because as a pro's pro, he didn;t want to interfere with his biz. The most famous incident involving skiing was when BoSox All- Star pitcher Jim Lonborg injured his leg (knee?) when skiing. After the injury, he never was as good. That may have been fresh in Seaver's mind. Later

Yancy Street Gang wrote: Yeah, but who goes to church more regularly? Are we talking about a saver or a savee? Later

Edgy DC wrote: On the plus side, hasn't Milledge looked like a big leaguer the past few days? He's shown as much as Gomez showed in his whole stint. You betcha'! The most encouraging thing to me is that he is hitting the ball to all fields. To me, that is a sign of maturity as a hitter. Later

A few weeks ago I read on a minor league board that the report on Martinez' fielding stems from a single scouting report in one of the prospect mags. It seems that the report was filed the day after Martinez had fouled a ball off his foot and in the following game he had difficulty getting a jump on balls and running. The injury also prevented him from planting his feet to make a strong throw. Since that time, some minor league "experts" who have not seen Martinez still refer to that one published report. Subsequent reports say his fielding in center is more than adequate for the position. EDIT: But if a move to first base will ease his path to the majors, I have no heartburn with that. Later

Willets Point wrote: General Tso outranks Colonel Sanders. Remember that. I'll keep that in mind. Later

Edgy DC wrote: Let's keep in mind that Thompson's homer was a cheapie, and the ball Vic Wertz drove went about twice as far. That is a very philosophical observation - that the path taken is as important as the destination. Examples of this might be found in: Tao - "the way" Tso - "The chicken General" Pow - "The Caped Crusader" Po - the river Poboy - the sandwich. I forgot to take my medication today. Later

soupcan wrote: Usually yes but since it was so hot they were otherwise occupied with alternately holding parasols over our heads, massaging sunscreen on our exposed parts and spritzing us with chilled Evian. WHAT?? You didn't use that new $55 bottled water? Later

Anyone see it? I've heard that Tom Seaver seemed to be a tad, er, .... inebriated. Did any of you think the same thing? Later

67. (Plus clips of many of the others) And If I could swap two movies (and their spots) it would be African Queen for Lawrence of Arabia. Later

My first reaction was to say that it (rising up for a home run) was hokey and cheesey - the kind of thing you would find in places not called New York. But New York IS the apple and the apple IS New York. So, why not? Later

Update on my kid: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?n=Worthington%2520&pos=P&sid=milb&t=p_pbp&pid=457427 Interesting splits. He handles lefties better than righties. Later

Yancy Street Gang wrote: Hitting Coach: Howard Johnson Offensive Invigorator: Rickey Henderson How about Rickey as first base coach? Imagine how the fast guys on the club will do with Rickey picking up tips on pitchers' moves to first and giving immediate input to the runners? He'll have almost the same view of their moves that the runners do. Later

"Cup check!" or "That's not what I meant when I said you can use my bat" Later

Are you going to adopt him? Later

seawolf17 wrote: I'm with you on Rachael Ray too. Especially when she eats something, smiles, rolls her eyes and says "YUMMMM" as only she can. Later

Their chins look almost OK when you compare them with the chin of Bernadette Peters. http://www.bernadette-peters.com/cgi-bin/photoalbum.pl Later

If the stereotype has been around that long, the question is are the Mets minor league coaches teaching plate discipline that would break that stereotype. The old Orioles, Cards, Braves, and the Mets (instituted by Cashen) used to have a "play book" that ensured uniform coaching and situational play (e.g.- where to position the cutoff man on throws from the outfield) at all levels in the minors. I wonder if things like that are still being used? Later

A Two-fer. ]Former player Stratton bests Triple-A sluggers Ex-Isotope tops the field with 16 home runs at All-Star Game Home Run Derby By Jonathan Mayo / MLB.com Home Run Derby winner Robert Stratton would like to return to professional baseball. (Javier Zamora) ALBUQUERQUE -- Not offered a job for 2007, Robert Stratton settled down in Albuquerque and began working as a real estate agent. Invited back to the stadium he played in back in 2003 for the Triple-A All-Star Game Home Run Derby, Stratton decided to show the 9,677 on hand at Isotopes Park where some of his property was. He also showed that while he's out of the game, he's not out of juice in his bat, beating current Minor League home run leader Craig Brazell in a slugoff to win the derby crown. "I was fortunate enough to come out and compete," said Stratton, who hit a total of 16 home runs against largely younger competition. "It's one of the best moments I've had in my career. I'm definitely going to savor this." The Triple-A All-Star Game organizers do the derby a little differently, including high school hitters along with some former players. Last year in Toledo, Leon Durham competed. This year it was 29-year-old Stratton and former Dodger outfielder Mike Marshall, who last played in 1991 and is 49 years old. Marshall won the Pacific Coast League Triple Crown while playing for the Albuquerque Dukes in 1981. Both "old-timers" handled themselves well in the opening round. Stratton advanced to the semifinals, and Marshall represented his generation well with two bombs to left field. "To be honest, I didn't know I was going against the young, strong guys," Marshall joked. "I thought it was going to be in a seniors division. "One of the reasons I came back was because of my time here. I don't do a lot of public appearances. That was then, I live in the now. But 1981 was such a special place, it catapulted me to the big leagues." It was a special place for Scott Seabol in the first round. The Isotopes third baseman hit 13 out in the opening frame, but ran out of gas in the semis and had to watch Stratton and Brazell do battle in the final. The wind definitely played a factor in the competition. After the first round, a stiff breeze began blowing from right to left field, creating a serious disadvantage to the left-handed hitters in the competition. First John-Ford Griffin, then Stratton, purposefully went the other way to left to use the wind to their advantage. Stratton dispatched Griffin in a semifinal slugoff, then tied Brazell in the final with two homers, forcing yet another extra round. Somehow, Stratton managed to find something left in the tank, hitting some absolute moon shots to win the title. "I have to say it was just from the fans," Stratton said. "I was tired, they were cheering me on, so I got on my horse and finished it." Stratton spent just one season playing in Isotopes Park, but it was the team's first season and he had a vintage Stratton season. Despite suffering injuries that held him to just 110 games, he managed to hit 32 home runs in 372 at-bats. Over the course of his career, which began as a first-round pick of the Mets in 1996, he hit just .243. But he also pounded out 197 home runs in Minor League ballparks across North America and slugged over .500. Despite the power numbers, he's never spent a day in the big leagues. He played for Louisville and Columbus in 2006 before spending time in indy ball. This year, he was ready for another Minor League season, but you can't open the door if opportunity doesn't come knocking. "Nobody offered me a job this year," Stratton said. "It's not me that's saying no. Hopefully they'll give me a chance next year. If someone is willing to sign me, I'm willing to give it a try. I've been out longer with some of my surgeries than I've been out now. I'll actually be quite fresh." Stratton didn't agree to participate in this derby as an audition. He just thought it would be fun to get the competitive juices flowing and give something back to the great fans in Albuquerque. "If nothing comes of this... that's not why I'm here," Stratton said. "I'm did it to cap off my career, to bottle it all up and put it up on the shelf. Then I can think only about the good times." Hopefully he had a little room left at the top of that bottle, because this unexpected derby victory should almost make it flow over. ************************************************ Jonathan Mayo is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues or its clubs. Or, should this be in the continuing careers thread? Later

Edgy DC wrote: Virtually nothing supports that. How do you know? There may or may not be evidence to support my comment. It would require perusing pitch-by-pitch logs of many games, and I don't know if those data are available to the casual fan. But my comment was actually a tongue-in-cheek allusion to something I read in "The Long Season" by Jim Brosnan over 40 years ago. The guys in the bullpen were discussing hitters and a comment was made that Latin American ballplayers were "all first ball, fastball hitters". If they were discussing it then, I wonder how long that stereotype has been in existence? Later

Thanks for splitting this. I somehow got on the mailing list of a company called Polling Point. I occasionally get emails asking me to participate in on-line polls. Many of them are political. Others are market research polls, involving such things as electronics products, phone/cable services and health foods. Last week I got one about "television". As I got into it, it asked my television viewing habits, the networks I watch and if I'm a sports fan. The survey then presented poll questions about ESPN in general, and specifically The Bronx is Burning. The questions included such things as: had I seen the ads for the show Had I paid attention to the ads Had the ads made me want to watch the show Do I know who will be sponsoring the show Does knowing that make me want to do more or less business with that sponsor Finally, there was a space for general comments. I wrote: "As a Mets fan, why should I care about a show depicting an entire season of Yankee angst?" (I didn't know the book was about what was going on in the City as well as with the team.) It'll be interesting to see if I get invited to participate in future surveys. Later

So, he's the guy who has been instructing young Mets prospects to swing at the first pitch, no matter what the situation? Later

The Bronx is Burning seems to be decent fodder for a spinoff thread about that show. Can one of the mods please cut the appropriate posts from this thread into the new one? Thanks, Later