MFS62

Fear itself. Later

metirish wrote: Who is Chris Basak?... Longtime Mets minor league infielder and very effective emergency relief pitcher. IIRC he was unscored on in several appearances over a two year span. Later

Edgy, the Devilish side of me was going to post something like: Posting subscription stuff is a no-no If you do it right to jail you will go-go But as I sit here in the Loser's Lounge, the good side of me realized how much that would have hurt. Later

Thanks. Later

Even with the addition of Schoenweiss, I'm still not sure that Adkins will replace Williams on the 25 man squad. Yes, Adkins has better stuff, and has 2 years under his belt. But to Willie Randolph, it seems that youngsters are as unloved as the top newspaper in the pile at the newsstand. He seems to prefer veterans. Later

Edgy DC wrote: I shouldn't be posting subscription content. Edgy, I believe the no-no is if you reprint that content with the objective of making money from it. In this case you were performing a public service. Thank you. And if I'm wrong, on your next birthday I hope that Scarlett can plant a file or saw in that birthday cake she generally posts to help you get out of jail. Later

Good to see that Al Jackson, one of my top two all time favorite Mets is still in the organization, and contributing. When I get to that magic number of posts, I'd like to have Al's picture as my avatar. If there's one as a coach, that woudl be great. Later

cooby wrote: Pedro has a son even older than mine, that's kinda neat It wouldn't surprise me if, somewhere, Julio Franco had a son older than me. Later

Yancy Street Gang wrote: A Whiz Kid in Philadelphia, huh? That should bring back memories. EVERYONE WAITAMINNIT!!! Stop. Re-read Yancy's comment about Karim Garcia. If there is a CPF Hall of Fame, that deserves to be in there. Later

According to the 2007 BaseballAmerica Almanac, Tim Bogar was voted the best manager prospect in the Eastern League for his work at Akron in 2006. Later

Just heard on the radio that Roger Cedeno signed a minor league deal with the O's. Later

Don't recognize Dahlen, but I'd guess players who at one time or another during their careers were judged to be best at their positions, but never made the Hall of Fame. I remember reading an article a few years ago that made a pretty good case for "Indian Bob" Johnson's enshrinement, using SABR-type number comparisons to Hall of Famers, rather than "counting stats". If the guy who wrote that is still able to get on this board, I wish he'd please post that article. (It was NOT Scrapple8) Later

iramets wrote: Just for fun, care to guess (before we learn the facts) what the cost of a single victory would be for the ten most expensive pitching contracts over the last ten years? After the Zito signing, one of the NY papers (Post?) had a side bar that talked about the cost per win of the two "worst" (their words) expensive long term pitcher contracts - Kevin Brown and Mike Hampton. After they signed those contracts, they combined for far fewer than (IIRC) 50 wins. Those numbers could skew the totals, but I guess that's your point - its a crapshoot. Just thinkin'. If that award for "best pitcher" is named after Cy Young, because he is the all-time leader in wins, why not name the award for the "worst" pitcher after him, too? After all, he is also the all-time leader in losses. Ahhhh, baseball. I love this game. EDIT: Who would you name the award for "worst pitcher" after? Later

Just found this oldie I wrote. enjoy, Later Me and Rocker John and me Walked by a tree On our way to the subway station. I like that boy, He�s the ultimate �goy� The pinup of the Aryan Nation. He�s on his way, Don�t know where he�s goin� He�s on his way Cause of all the trouble he�s in. Just me and Rocker, down by the school yard. He said it out loud, And he said it proud About a monochrome nation About his fears Of all those queers Down at the subway station. And aliens, too Kids with hair blue And other folks too many to mention. He said it then Then said it again Now he�s in Selig�s House of Detention. Acted like a big geek Now in a few weeks He�ll again be taking up our attention. When the decision comes down He�ll be leavin� this town Trying to figure where he�d get a pension. Yes, he�s on his way But he don�t know where or when. Yes he�s on his way To a land where they pay in Yen? Just me and Rocker Down by the school yard. Just me and Rocker, Down by the school yard.

Thank you. And the same to you and yours. Later

="Edgy DC"]Blanton rhymes with Stanton. Danny Haren anagrams to any darn hen. Harden, of course, can be a homonym for hard-on. It can be so hard to make decisions this way. Wow! Its January 1st. There's a whole rest of the year to go, but it will be hard for Edgy to top that one. Funny stuff. Later

Random thoughts about some of the other names on that list. John Thompson - maybe united with Peterson he can be ok. He might be a steal if obtained at a reasonable price. Mark Redman - the poster boy for why it may not be a good idea to have every team represented on the All Star team. Has Bruce Chen played for one team more than once in his travels? (I was only joking. Sorry if I ruined anyone's dinner by mentioning his name.) If rabid SF fan Cris Russo says Ortiz is terrible, he must be. Don't know where it is, but a few weeks ago, I mentioned the possibility of Traschell and Zambrano returning to the Mets staff in 2007. I hope I'm wrong on both counts. Later

Edgy DC wrote: No, that's the market rate for a durn good starter with a fine off-speed stuff and not much velocity who had his best season four years ago. I agree with Edgy's assessment. Sounds like they should be testing the SF GM for drugs, too. And in his case, I'm not talking about steroids. That's a lot of scratch to pay for someone with Zito's record over the past few years. Later

Four leg lamps. I loved the story when I first read it by Jean Sheapard. The only thing keeping it from a five lamp rating is the boy actor who plays Ralphie(Peter Billingsley?). Even though I should have the entire script memorized by now, I still can't understand some of his lines. Later

I read it after I posted that. Wouldn't it have been ironic if the remedy you put in place to protect us from spammers would have been considered spam itself? It would have been sad if some of our old "friends" would have been frustrated in trying to get back here. Thanks for your efforts. Later

Better break up the email into a few lists. If there are too many names on one list some software might pick it up as spam and block or kill it. Thanks, Later

An article in today's Daily News opines that the Yanks are trying to trade Randy Johnson to free up some money to go after Zito. Yesterday I heard that the Yanks and Red Sox were the only MLB teams to pay any luxury tax last year, and the Sox "only" paid $500,000. (The Yanks paid millions, but I don't remember the exact amount). Later

Well, I guess its time to re-post something I wrote a few years ago in response to a friend of mine, a Reds Fan, who calls himself GADawg. Enjoy Later ] A Baseball Carol Ebineezer Rose called his assistant, GA Dawg into his office. �GA� he snarled,� it looks like that website you designed for me isn�t working. And the rest of the public relations campaign to get me into the Hall of Fame isn�t either.� He continued, �so, it looks like I�ll have to let you go.� �But Mr. Rose� gasped GA Dawg, �how will I tell my family that I no longer have an income? How will I feed them?� �I told you to put ten grand on the Yankees� sweep, kid.� replied Rose. �But you�re one of those ridiculously naive hero worshipers who still believe I know nothing about betting on baseball. Now, get outta� here.� Sadly, GA Dawg packed up his belongings and went home. �How WILL I tell my family?� he wondered. Unconcerned, Ebineezer Rose called his bookie to place a few last minute bets, made a reservation for dinner, and left the office. He made sure not to wear the hat with his website URL on the front. Once he got home, Rose immediately took off the disguise he was wearing to fool the media. �No sense wasting my time posing for photo-ops anymore� he thought. He slowly removed his suit and put on his old Reds uniform and batting helmet and sat back in his recliner to watch ESPN. He mumbled to himself, �I�ll never watch NBC again� as he slowly dozed off. A while later there was a knock at the door. Ebineezer rose slowly while trying to think of whether he was up to date in his payments to No Neck Willie. Once he assured himself that he was, he opened the door. It was an all-too- familiar face. He stammered, �I t-t-t-thought you were �. dead.� � Who, or what, ARE you?� he asked. An ashen Bart Giammatti seemed to glide into the room. �I am the Ghost of Baseball Past� he replied, �and we are going to take a trip back in time.� �Not with me, you�re not!� snarled Rose. �We went through all those questions before and you got my answers. I�m not rehashing that stuff again.� �Don�t worry,� replied the Ghost in a suddenly calming manner. �We�re going to a far better place.� Suddenly, they were whisked outside, but not just to his front yard. �I sort of know this place,� said Rose, �But it looks different. Where are we?� �Its Yankee Stadium, about fifty years ago.� Replied the Ghost. He continued �Its Babe Ruth Day, and over 70,000 people are paying their respects to their dying hero.� �You can�t fool me.� snickered Ebineezer, � Ruth lived the high life, too. He was always visiting speakeasies during Prohibition, smoking those big cigars, and, with the women�.� �It didn�t matter,� interrupted the ghost, �he never denied any of that activity, even when drinking was illegal. But the fans of his time appreciated the fact that he never tried to hide his actions, and forgave him. More importantly, they realized that he was the person who had resurrected their game from the ashes of the Black Sox Scandal and the boredom of the dead ball era. His records were secondary, though. It was his persona they adored.� �You look puzzled. What are you thinking?� asked the ghost. Rose thought a while and replied, �If I had played here, I�d probably have had more homers down that short right field porch. But maybe I�d have lost some hits on the natural grass.� Ebineezer awoke in his chair. �Must have been a bad dream.� he thought. �I�ll just change into my pajamas and hit the sack. That will teach me to have extra onions on those burgers.� He fell asleep counting his base hits. The knock on the door startled him. �What now?� he wondered. When he opened the door, he was face to face with one of the most famous people of the Twentieth Century � Fidel Castro. �What the Hell are you doing here?� he asked. �I am the Ghost of Baseball Future, Senor. And you are going on another little trip.� Before he could protest, they were in the living room of a small house. GA Dawg entered the room with a young man. �Dad, can we go to a baseball game today?� the boy asked. � I thought we�d drive downtown and catch a game. We haven�t done that for a long time, ever since I was captured in the invasion of Liechtenstein. All the time I was in that POW camp, all I thought about was baseball.� �Gee, GA Pup�, his father replied, �I hadn�t thought about baseball since Ebineezer Rose fired me about ten years ago. I don�t know how to tell you this, but there is no baseball here any more. After the Rose scandal, and all the crying hearts who wanted him reinstated and put into the Hall of Fame, all Hell broke loose. The Commissioner relented, and Rose was made eligible again, even though he never admitted his guilt. When he was elected to the Hall of Fame, the fans were outraged. Then Congress voted to investigate Major League Baseball (Some Senator from Shoeless Joe Jackson�s home state started it, I think. Joe never got in. ). Based on what they found, financial irregularities and such, baseball�s anti-trust exemption was lifted and the owners� books were exposed.� �The fans were so shocked, they stayed away in such numbers that the Major Leagues folded. The nearest place where they�re playing baseball today is Cuba. Doing all right in Latin America, Asia and Europe, though. The commissioner of the new worldwide league is someone named Dr. Dooby. Those Communists in Cuba never had a profit motive, though, so the game was played for the sheer fun of it. The fans still love it there. I can�t believe it; baseball�s dead. And all because some ballplayer didn�t face his own weaknesses and admit he�d done us wrong. Anyhow, how about us going to a soccer game?� Ebineezer turned toward the grinning Castro and said, �I never thought I was going to hurt the game I loved. This is terrible. I�m going to call the Commissioner when we get back and tell him I�ll ask for forgiveness, but leave it up to him whether or not he wants to reinstate me.� He sobbed �I never wanted to hurt the game���..� As they were about to leave, Rose turned to Fidel and asked �Since you�re going to be flying me directly back to my house, do you think we could stop off in your country first and get me a few boxes of cigars?� �Sorry, nino,� I gave my entire supply to Marge Schott. You�ll have to rough it.� And they were gone. The next morning, Rose awoke and immediately called the Commissioner to disclose his plan. He then dressed, admired himself one more time in the mirror, took a cigar from the box he never recalled seeing before, and left his house. He drove directly to the house of GA Dawg. When the door was opened, the men stared at each other for a moment before Ebineezer spoke. �I�m sorry. Can I come in? We have to talk.� The always-polite GA Dawg stepped aside and allowed him to enter. �Why are you here?� he asked. �I�m offering you your old job back.� Rose smiled, �I called the Commissioner and will be making a public statement admitting to what I did. I have to, for the good of the game. And I�ll need someone to manage the appearances on television and the book deals that may come my way. You did that well before, and I just know you can do it well again.� �That�s great Mr. Rose, but I don�t need your job. When the word got out that I was no longer working for you, I got a call from the Democratic National Committee. They wanted me to manage Bill Clinton�s Public Relations staff after he leaves office. I accepted. I guess they figured if I could keep the public in the dark about your actions�..� His voice trailed off. There was another knock at the door. �What the Dickens is going on around here?� GA Dawg asked to himself. Standing in the doorway was a shabbily clad figure. He asked the person who he was. �I�m Bud Selig. Your other guest has called me a pontificating windbag.� He said, nodding toward Rose, �So I guess that makes me the Gust of Baseball Present.� After seriously considering slamming the door in the visitor�s face for that terrible pun, GA Dawg let him in. �I finally tracked you down.� He said, � I got the message you left. And I�m ready to give you a gift. I guess you could call me Selig-Clause.� Rose interrupted, �Where did you get that terrible suit?� Flustered, Selig replied �The Sears in Milwaukee.� �Don�t they have any other men�s clothing stores in that town?� Rose asked quizzically. �Nope�, replied Selig, �We�re a small market city, even for haberdashers.� He continued, �Today�s polls show that while 64% of fans think your numbers are good enough for the Hall, 104% of fans still consider you a reprehensible slug. I voted a few extra times myself. So did Ray Fosse and Bud Harrelson. But its not too late to turn this thing around. If you come to my office immediately and sign the proper paperwork, I will reinstate you and declare you eligible for the Hall. It will be for the good of the game.� �Wow, that�s great!� shouted GA Pup. �I�m so happy I feel like singing. Mr. Rose, do you know any good songs?� Rose thought a while, especially about future generations of kids playing soccer, asked �Can I sign today?� and began to sing. �Hark, the Herald Angels Shout Screw those guys in Eight Men Out�

Yes, I recall that was the reason he was testifying. At that time, the spreadsheet showed that each team made over $42 million per year just in shared TV and royalties revenues. That's why those teams with $15 million payrolls pleading poverty has seemed so rediculous to me. Later

I'm waiting for some writer to try to make a case why his history of injury is "proof" that Griffey has/ hasn't been taking steroids. Later