MFS62

Well, let me think about this. In golf, an ace is a hole-in-one That's when your first shot off the tee lands in the hole. Could his contribution to golf be about the lexicon of that game? M. Donald Grant was the first person ever to be described as an ace-hole? Later

JD, what are you doing here? Edgy is reporting that you're dead. Is this going to be the start of a new religion? Later

I didn't even know he was sick. Later

="Frayed Knot"]Keep in mind that Cole had yet to play AA at the time of his death so his "ceiling" as a MLB player was still more in the realm of projection than even someone like Milledge, not to mention long-time MLers like JayPay & Preston. Nice to think that he would have had a good career but to say he would have is a bit of the 'backup quarterback' syndrome. That's why I said "could have been". I had several email discussions with Lisa Winston after Cole died. She used to write the minor league prospect column for the USA Today Baseball Paper (don't know if she still does). She said she thought Brian had the highest upside of any minor leaguer she had ever seen. She added that she had met with Brian several times, and was impressed with what a "nice kid" he was. She was personally saddened by his death, as were many Mets fans who had either met him or seen him play. I felt he had the ability to become another Jimmy Wynn, a short guy, with a combination of speed and power. Later

Another "unwritten rule" for our list. Later

]Really he does listen when you talk to him." That's the kind of information I was hoping to see. Later

Sad. I know how he feels. I wrote the following a few years ago for another baseball site. It was later picked up and posted on several others, including a sports site at the University of Mississippi. ] The Old Fan by MFS62 He was born before this Century was a teenager, the son of a tailor. He lived in Harlem, New York City. And he was tough. He attended a high school with over 1,000 boys and never weighed more than 140 pounds, yet he played on the offensive line of the football team. He graduated from high school and went to work to support the family, but started going to college at night. After six years, he graduated with an accounting degree - right in the middle of the depression. He kept working, as an accountant in the Garment Industry. Sports were still his only respite from the six and seven day work week. He was a baseball fan, and rooted for the Giants and Yankees. He could remember when the fortunes of those teams were the exact opposite of the records we know. He remembered when the saying was "same old day, the Giants win and the Yankees lose." He saw them all, from Ruth to Ott to DiMaggio, to Mays and Mantle. He thought when Hank Greenberg had 100 RBI by the All-Star break and wasn't named to the team it was "discrimination." He knew enough about baseball to actually be able to understand Casey Stengel. He also saw the "other " baseball, where the names were Leonard, Paige, Gibson and Bell. He loved it all. He later taught his only son about sports. Taught him to throw a curveball; took him to baseball and football games at Yankee Stadium, the Polo Grounds and even Shea Stadium. But while he had the heart of an athlete and the mind of an accountant, he had the soul of a poet. He had always written poetry. Mostly to the Woman He Loved. But he found inspiration in all things, such as the first Robin of Spring, or a friend's birthday. When he retired, he started attending poetry societies and reading his works. He was named Best New Poet by the New York Poetry Forum. Imagine, "Rookie-of-the Year" at age 72! A few weeks ago, I asked him this question for the first time, "Who was better, Mantle or DiMaggio?" He answered that most of the youngsters seemed to like Mantle's power, but Joe D. was better all-around and definitely the most graceful player ever. He died last week - peacefully, in his sleep. He was my Father. I'll miss him.

What's sad is that after David Wright and maybe Fonzie and Reyes, the best position player on those lists could have been Brian Cole. Later

Oh my goodness. They're getting better and better. What a job. Why should we try to compete? We bow before your magnificence. (see? That got me so flummoxed, I'm not even sure if I spelled that right.) sigh. Later

Here's something to keep you occupied. Its a list of all the top 100 prospects since 1990 - from Baseball America. http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/features/26983.html Interesting Enjoy, Later

You mean, like the inside line of the batter's box? That should be easy enough for the ump to notice, since he's supposedly looking at it anyhow. If he can't see the line, it would seem that the only thing blocking his view would be part of the batter. But that's just me. Later

Thanks. Stole it clean? You just know this will be a magical year. Later

cf's scores look good to me: Wright 2 Reyes 2 Beltran 2 Chavez 1 Heilman 1 Sanchez 1 Wagner 1 Later

Holy crap! I just got home and saw the box score. Julio Franco had a stolen base? Did anyone see it? Was it close? Has Sal Fassano been released yet? Did Julio require oxygen? Anything weird about the play? Could it been scored as "indifference" (A newfangled scoring term I hate) Inquiring minds want to know.. Later

Second guess alert. The next three guys up for the Phills are excellent fastball hitters. Sanchez is a fastball pitcher. Heilman's best pitch is the changeup. What will Willie do? Later

Only six hits so far today. Maybe Lastings is the straw that stirs the drink. You can't imagine how happy I am that Met-vulture Cormier wasn't put in a position to win the game. Later

I wonder how much Mets fans would pay for Pat Burrell's bronzed head? Later

Frayed Knot wrote: Q: How much is a Hollandsworth? A: 3 runs when it hits a Mike Mussina pitch into "the black" in CF with two runners on 6-1 Cleveland in the 6th IIRC only about 20 players have done that. Anybody warming up in the Mets bullpen? Oliver went three in his last outing. I wonder who's the designated long man today? Heilman? Later

Yancy, I can get Yahoo sports. So I get balls, strikes and hits, etc. But they don't give the picture of the game you guys provide. Wassamata? You don't like to be thanked? I may take back that award and give it to Edgy after all. Later

Mole, that was awful. I'm still groaning And laughing, too. Later

If I haven't said it in a while, thank you folks. If you think its tough watching or listening to the game, just think what it must be like to only be able to follow it through the IGT. (like me) This place has a security firewall/ access filter, that doesn't permit streaming video or audio. Later

Didn't there used to be someone around here who would have talked about definition #1? Later

Elster88 wrote: ="MFS62"]Elster88 wrote: You obviously didn't see the Leo Durocher line in Edgy's post from page 1. I still would have voted for this one. BTW- I remember Leo the Lip. Edgy's line would have been funny if it weren't so in character for Leo to do something like that. Later The post as a whole though...the mental image of Willie brandishing a revolver with the face he makes whenever Chris Russo asks him a question, combined with the mental image of a poor, old, senile Ralph still only able to relate it to something from fifty years ago. Edgy gets post of the day. Yep. The entire post was funny. But I was only asked about the Leo line of Edgy's post. And Yancy's line just struck me as a tad funnier. Sorry Edgy. Please enter tomorrow's contest. Later

Centerfield wrote: Trachsel gives up more hits to pitchers than anyone I have ever seen. That's because his 37 MPH fastball is perfect for their bat speed. Later

F'n Italian catchers. Speaking of that, where's,......, never mind. Later