MFS62

Matt Murdock, Esq. wrote: i DID find a place for "west side story" on the list (see above). I meant it would be in my "top 10" final list (your last list). How much do you have to stink not to be a musical in the last 40-45 years but not get a mention in discussions about them? And then there was .... Evita Later

Here's something from a strat website that my friend pointed out to me. Later ************************************************************ on strat website: There has been a changing of the guard in the world of Strat-O-Matic. It has been gradual and subtle, but nevertheless true diehards notice. I helped open up a debate about defensive ratings when in 2001 Jim Edmonds received one of his many Gold Glove awards. There was no major debate about his ability and reputation as a solid centerfielder, however, if he, as the Gold Glove winner, sets the benchmark for excellence in fielding, than how do you rate players that are statistically superior to the winner of such an award? Strat-O-Matic leads the way in attempting to let the numbers and near unbiased evaluators determine how to rate a player. And I applaud them for getting away from the fashion show and the politics. Most Gold Glove winners are excellent defenders overall, however, they can also gain points by being offensively dominant, acrobatic, popular, or just because they are the incumbent. Elements that may improve ticket sales, but do not have an impact on whether a player will actually make a play. Unfortunately, the Gold Glove award has taken some credibility hits over the years, especially with Rafael Palmeiro winning one year where he played less than 30 games at the position where he won. In the year that I raised the question about the Gold Glove award, I had attained over 100 more putouts in the outfield than the Gold Glove winner. That is equivalent to sitting out one-third of the season and still having the same amount of clean catches. Yet he had to get the “1” rating and I had to take my “2.” Of course, that is not everything that defense is about. Good decisions, intimidating arm strength, intelligent positioning, and stadium effect knowledge aren’t easy to measure, but they should play a role in what constitutes “good” defense. A player could be playing for a team that has bad pitching or for a “fly ball” pitching team that gives a defender more opportunities in the field, but it is debatable whether that can account for huge statistical gaps between a Gold Glove winner and any other player at the same position. In the case of Jerry Hairston Jr. one year, there was no one even remotely close to him in assists from second base. (Roberto Alomar cleanly beat him out in the Gold Glove) Is the winning the Gold Glove enough to justify a better rating? Nevertheless, a former teammate of mine, and friend, Bobby Abreu won the Gold Glove award. Bobby had been highly criticized, up until this past year, for lack of focus on his defense. In playing with him in 2004, he had made great strides in every area of defense, but it is near impossible to go from a rated “4” defender to a gold glove winning “1” in a year. Defense is just as much instinct as it is skills, and if a player can’t gauge how far away from the wall he is, or a player has little sense of spacing between himself and a surrounding teammate, then he generally will not wake up with those skills. (Certainly hard to do in a year). We can take groundballs until we pass out, but 99.9999% of us will not wake up and become Ozzie Smith. Not even my favorite shortstop, Jimmy Rollins. So, I hope the Strat-O-Matic community accepts this change. It was time to be bold in saying that defense is not to be voted in. Strat-O-Matic is trying to set that statistical tone. Doug Glanville Philadelphia Phillies (1998-2002, 2004)

Edgy, Endy Chavez is a candidate for the "three times with the Mets" honor. (but never in the majors) Later

Mr. Solo, I'll take a wild guess and say you must not have seen Jim Hickman (try to) play third base. I'd have put Butch Huskey there over Hickman, and that says it all. Later

What? No Xanadu? I guess your list is as good as anybody's. And I like the fact that Sound of Music isn't on any of those lists. But maybe I would have found places for West Side Story and Mary Poppins. Later

Check out LoDuca and Reyes. http://baseballanalysts.com/archives/2005/12/oops_here_it_is.php Stat guys, how vaild do you think it is? Later

Maybe as a player, but Al Jackson came back for a cuppa' in '69, then later joined the Mets as a coach. Later

According to WFAN in New York, the Mets have signed Darren Oliver, Pedro Feliciano and Jose Parra to minor league contracts. Later

]01:46 PM EST- News: Ishii Re-Signs With Yakult posted by Luke Halpert Former Mets P Kazuhisa Ishii has signed with the Yakult Swallows, with whom he spent the first ten years of his career... Saw that a few days ago. Later

Dallas Green (as in knoll) Later

="Willets Point"]No I was joking that the sport the Twins manager should avoid is baseball. . I got it. I was playing your straight man. Well, my Red Barber egg timer has lost all its sand. The answer is : Ron Hunt. Thank you for playing. You can pick up you home version of this game on the way out. Later

Yes, a Metly baseball name. From the old days. Later

C'mon guys. Its easy. Later

What sport should the manager of the Twins be wary of? Later

Edgy, If you ever need some pictures: I wonder who that old guy is. http://mets.nyfansites.com/photoroster40.php But that place may not be as accurate as yours. I think I counted 41 on their roster. Later

sigh I can't wait for pitchers and catchers. We've got cabin fever. Later

Yancy, I've heard there is a "spider" scene. How long is it? I want to know how long I'll have to keep my eyes covered. I hate spiders. Later

OPACY and the Jake are very modern ballparks with historic feels to them. If they want to build something that reminds all of Ebbets Fierld, but with all the modern amenities, more power to them. I don't think that just because it would be a paean to Ebbets Field means they're going to spend all that money to build a slum. Later

I was wondering why you posted to a strat thread, Scarlett. (Saw your name there when I joined the page) Didn't think you had ever played strat. My friend and I made up our own spinner type game, made up eight teams (our league had Toronto, too. Did you call yours the Argos, Bret?) and played a 160 game schedule. Later

He may be in our HOF but probably won't be in the Mets'. I seem to recall that about 20 years ago, the Mets had a promotion wherein that named the "top 25 Mets Fans". The sign man wasn't one of them. I don't know if this was based on fan nominations (which fans would have left him out?) or by the club (if they intentionally left him out it was stupid). And if the fans omitted his name, (everyone thinking someone else would nominate him), the club could have corrected the omission. Many fans thought it then, and some still feel it today (this was the subject on another board withing the last month). Later

G-Fafif wrote: Gimme a Met who, based on the lousy morning he had, is feeling extremely fatalistic this afternoon. Tim Hammulak woke up this morning, read the paper and saw that the Mets have signed Darren Oliver. Knowing how much Willie likes veterans, Tim is wondering when he will be dropped form the 40 man roster. Gimie a Met who didn't use steroids when they were legal. Later

Sounds like a nice guy. http://newyork.mets.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20051216&content_id=1283417&vkey=news_nym&fext=.jsp&c_id=nym Later

Thanks, Later

Frayed Knot wrote: Remember seeing that play MFS? You don't usually see guys built like 'ol Harmon doing full splits. Yes, I saw it, and it was just as painful remembering it just now as it was seeing it when it happened. Yechhhh. Edgy, ya' got me. Still can't think of any other first basemen injured doing splits. Fie on you, Peter Gammons, fie! Later

It was the first one that immediately came to mind for FK and me. Let me think about it to see if I can come up with any more. That darn Gammons, putting me in the position of defending his stuff. I hate it when that happens. Later