MFS62

And if Omar can get anything in return for Ishii that barely resembles a ballplayer, they will erect a statue in his honor outside Shea Staduim.Later

Happened to see one of th eout of town games on ESPN and noticed an old friend.Tony Clark is with the Snakes, performing at a .324/.353/.630 clip in 66games, 173 AB.His other numbers are 12D, 1T, 13 HR and 47 RBI.At the time we got Scrabble, Clark was also a free agent, and I said that I wanted the Mets to sign him. He is also a professional (fielding) first baseman, so the defensive difference wasn't as dramatic as the Delgado comparisons. And the price was right (under $2 million).Ah, 20-20 hindsight.Later

Humber's promotion got delayed a bit.I read that his plane out of town got cancelled/ rerouted because of the hurricaine.Better safe than sorry, I say.Later

Roberto Clemente averaged fewer than 20 walks per season in his first 5 or 6 major league years.Later

Proper punishment will be making the All Star Team, then having to sit through the mandatory one hour individual press conference all players must have.Hope they have extra cameras running.Later

Nice job, Wolf.Thanks.Too bad you had to waste a shot on Corey Ragsdale who is already a waste of oxygen. If that waste a of a high draft pick ever gets his average above .250 at Binghamton (its around .100 now), I will allow him to breathe again.Later

Writing that Cairo is a bad defender would make the writers have to go against all those glowing "Steady Fielding" and "He's a pro" kinds of articles they wrote about him when he was a MFY. And sportswriters never admit their mistakes.Later

Fair point.Later

This one kept me thinking about it all night.One question kept coming up:Why?Why did Castro stop at third base and look back?He's been playing ball for (obviously) more than20 years. And from day 1, I'll bet he was told to look for and trust the third base coach in similar situations.So, the question remains, why did he stop and look back?The only thing I can think of is that he couldn't find the coach when he looked for him. And, y'know what? When I review the tv shots (including replays) in my mind, I don't remember seeing the third base coach either.In the heat of the game, it can sometimes be excusable for a player to make a mental mistake. But not for a coach. That is the only thing they get paid to do - make in-game decisions and relay information to the player.I know it is more Steinbrenner's style, but if Wilpon/ Omar had any gonads, and wanted to demonstrate that these are a "new" Mets, then Manny Acta is on a plane out of Pittsburgh, and out of the organization, this morning.This was a humiliating loss, and someone's got to pay.Later

Castro didn't score because he couldn't see the ball hit the wall.He had a vision problem.His head was so far up his ass that his eyes were blocked.BTW- where was the third base coach?I saw the replay on tv and when Castro rounded third, the coach wasn't anywhere in the picture.I think Randolph was madder at the coach than he was at Castro.If the Mets lose this game, fire the coach.Later

Why that name?'Splain, please.Later

Wolf, then this is for you. An email from a member of that 16+ team Strat League.EnjoyLater***********************************************************************************10 things YOU know for sure 10. when opening a mlb boxscore where a team has scored 16 runs, your player will have gone 0 for 5 9. when noticing that an mlb team allowed only 3 runs, u can take it to the bank that it was your reliever who allowed them 8. u notice that your starter is starting against the padres in petco...u get all perky....he will last 3 innings and get shelled 7. you start the mlb season with three 3 2b men....u feel depth...two will get injured and the other will hit .197 6. you note in the mlb box that your starter only allowed 2 runs in 7 ip...then u note that he allowed 9 hits and 6 walks 5. that seeing your player had only one at bat and was replaced in the third inning is never good news... 4. the young pheenom starter who had a 2.46 era in triple A, will get pounded in mlb 3. the brilliant prospect draft pick u made is blocked by some manager's pet with the big club who has an ob% of .280 2. your minor league prospect will go on a tear hitting .340 with 8 dingers in may but the big club will be healthy as hell....however he'll then slump to 1 for 34 in june and the big club will have a rash of injuries.....but your guy won't get promoted because he's slumping 1. your prospect will get called up....go 0 for 3 with a walk his first game, and then ride the bench for a week and get sent down bonus thing u know: you will spend all fall and winter calculating at bats and innings pitched for your strat squad....you will still be 10 of each short bonus, bonus: whenever u trade a guy - he will get hot...whenever u trade for a guy - he either will slump or get injured

Who's who?Later

This seems to relate to Roto.Any of you folks into Strat-O-Matic Baseball?I know a few folks who are, and they even have a certain pitcher famous for a bloody sock in their league.Later

seawolf17 wrote:I look forward to Mookie's son striking out in big spots against us later this season. Good trade for the Mets, bad trade for Zach Day.Not too sure about that.IIRC he had hit the Mets fairly well for power throughout his career, especially at Shea. Later

That's my adopted kid.Later

Is this significant enough to warrant its own thread, or should it be in the "Rico Brogna,etc." thread?BTW - I agree with your assessment.Later

While this discussion was going on, other baseball stuff was going on.The National League Mets weren't the only organization team to beat the Nats today.Look at this:http://www.usatoday.com/sports/scores105/105188/BBM2005_07_07_natrok-mtsrok-1.htmLater

" Sounds like a film about a disco-dancing Manute Bol. "That started off my day with a laugh.Thanks, Edgy.Later

Edgy DC wrote:Gameday shows that Cordero foul went pretty deep. Does that hook around the pole in a smaller park?Edgy, IIRC the left field line at RFK is a pretty standard 330' or so.Its in the power alleys and centerfield where fly balls go to die at RFK.There aren't too many ballparks that come to mind with a shorter distance at the foul/ fair pole. Of course, Yankee Stadium is shorter. And Fenway is 315' to the wall, but I don't know if the ball was high enough at that point to clear the Monster, Maybe in the newer parks in Milwaukee, Houston and Cincy it might have had a chance. And I think I read thatthey moved the plate back about 15' in OPACY, so it might not have been a homer there, either.Come to think of it, MLB passed a rule a few years back that any new ballparks had to be a minimun 330' down the line and 400' in center. If any of the newer parks are less than that, it required a waiver from the Commissioner's office.Hope that helped.Later

Boys and Girls, it looks like David Wright is in a slump.And it also appears he's developing an allergic reaction to the RBI.Later

I believe Lambin is a switch hitter, which could only increase his value.Any idea what his L/R splits look like?I onlyhope thatyour idea about trading Matusi or Cairo is true. They (or as part of a package)might bring back something decent.Thanks for the update.Later

Here's my list, and some reasons:Babe Ruth - changed the way the game was played. Jackie Robinson - his success changed who could play the game. (You might add Larry Doby as an entry here)Cap Anson - his influence changed who could not play the game. Shoeless Joe Jackson - his banishment cleaned up the game... even a superstar who looked like he played well wasn't above the law (and with that already established, I can leave Pete Rose off the list). Hideo Nomo - his success globalized scouting (and I might add, turned scouting into a fad) Ty Cobb - no particular reason, but he probably influenced the style of play more than anyone until Ruth came along, and may have been of the game's earliest great villains. Curt Flood- changed the finances of the game and broke the players free from indentured servitude.Nap Lajoie - legitimized the American LeagueBob Gibson. He forced baseball to lower the mound, and as a result, the game was taken away from the pitchers and given back to the batters, ushering in a whole new era. To me, THAT is impact on the game. Frank Robinson - When he was traded from Cincy to Baltimore, he reminded an entire league how to play baseball. The AL had settled into a "Wait for the three run homer" kind of league. When Frank joined the O's, he showed them that it was within the rules to go from first to third on a hit to right. He demonstrated that it was also "legal" to break up a double play. And he led by example, something Black players weren't supposed to do, with his fiery nature. He broke stereotypes on the field, that Blacks were "athletes" who only got by on "natural ability". Then, he showed that a Black man could not only manage a baseball team (and he is still doing that very well), but work in the front office as well. I know I said to limit responses to players only, but Frank's contributions to the game far transcended that. An arguement can be made that he took over where Jackie Robinson led the way and moved the banner farther forward. And for those reasons, he's on my list.I would have loved to have added Greenberg to my list. But the reasons mentioned above were more societal in nature than strictly baseball related.LaterEDITS: cleaned up typos

I hate to steal a topic from the SoSH boards, but I thought this was really interesting Who would you name as your Top 10 of Most Important Players in the history of the game? Why?You can define "important" in your own terms, but it must be players... otherwise it all gets too blurry.Later

Rockin' Doc wrote: I think Cone could be an interesting addition to the broadcast booth.As long as they keep the cameras off him if he decides to do a remote report from the bullpen.Later