Centerfield

I know you're probably kidding, but there really is a lot of Flo in the park. She's in ads all around the stadium. She pops up several times on the Jumbotron. Basically, she's everywhere. I wouldn't be surprised if eventually she replaces Wahoo on the Indians' hats.

Wow, that's impressive. ShortCenter is going to see it with a buddy today. I'm guessing he'll want to see it again, at which point I'll try to catch it.

Milwaukee comes into town with a .500 record, and a -14 run differential. They are probably better than their record suggests, having just wrapped up a tough 13 game stretch against LA and the Cardinals, where they dropped their last four. Mainly they don't pitch that great. They're ranked 25th in team ERA (Mets are 24th). Most of that is on their starting pitching, but even their bullpen has taken a step back, with a 4.56 collective ERA. Hader remains filthy, but maybe they're a bit more vulnerable than last year. Also, they have this guy Yelich who I hear is pretty good.

Stop number one on our three city trip was Cleveland, a great place to visit in April if you like cold, wet weather. We started our trip with a bit of a hiccup when our Friday night game was rained out, throwing off our plans. The good news was that it was re-scheduled as a doubleheader the next day, which meant free baseball for us! Cleveland Even with the weather we had, we thoroughly enjoyed our time in Cleveland. It's a pretty small city, and even though our plans were thrown off by the rainout, we still got to see a lot of the things we had on our list. We stayed in downtown Cleveland near the Browns Stadium, and within walking distance of both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Progressive Field. During the summer, I can picture a family just walking around this area all day. Some highlights: *At the recommendation of Chad, we made sure to hit Ohio City, and it did not disappoint. I think this is the best area in town. West Side Market is there, tons of cool restaurants, breweries, and Mitchell's, the famous ice cream place built in an old theater. We ate at Great Lakes (also a Chad recommendation) and drank the porter (you see a theme here) and the amber ale. The beer is excellent. I had the fish and chips, and my wife had the pierogies. Both great choices. The place was a favorite of Eliot Ness. *West 4th Street is a pretty lively night spot. Lots of cool bars and restaurants. We ate at Michael Simon's restaurant Lola's. Which was pretty good but kinda pricey. *The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is a must. If you like music, you can easily spend the entire day there. We only had half a day and it wasn't nearly enough time. *Cleveland Public Square is a cool place to hit on your way over to the ballpark. It's right next to Terminal Tower which, as both Chad and our tour guide told us, was for a long time the tallest building between NY and Chicago. Beautiful area. Lots of tributes to the Underground Railroad in Cleveland. Didn't know that about Cleveland, but it's pretty cool. Progressive Field We got there early and walked around the area. Lots of fun. It's right next to Quicken Loans arena and there are bars/restaurants in the area. I really wish CitiField could do something like this. Also, there were statues. Are you listening Fred? Progressive Field is nice. It doesn't look like much from the outside, but once you're inside it's a beautiful stadium. Given the weather, we opted for club seats, located along the first base line. These seats give you access to the club on the second deck. Food included, climate controlled. The only issue is that it was super crowded so you had to camp out if you wanted a seat. Food was ok but nothing special. If you have nicer weather, I'd rather sit somewhere else. One weird quirk about the stadium. I don't like manufactured sound either, but when they flash the graphic "MAKE SOME NOISE!!!!" it's not accompanied by any sound. In other stadiums they do drum beats, or music, or some other way to get your attention. It's really strange to see the stadium completely quiet while the scoreboard goes nuts silently. Lots of Chief Wahoo around. It really is a tougher issue than I thought. When you sit here in NY, it seems simple. Get rid of the racist mascot. But when you're there, you realize how much he means to that Indians fanbase. Without Wahoo, the Cleveland gear is super boring. I mean, we love Mr. Met, but he's not on our uniforms. A Cleveland hat without Chief Wahoo doesn't really look like anything. I think the answer is they need a better design, and most certainly a new mascot to replace him. Slider is not the answer. I drank this. Obviously a pun on the movie. It was ok. I tried to find a place that served some of the local brews we had enjoyed around town, but they weren't offered. At least where we were sitting. During Game 1, I figured the view would be beautiful at night, with the skyline in the background. But when night fell, I was disappointed to see that a lot of the buildings weren't lit. I wonder if this changes during the summertime. With the weather and the early morning trip to Detroit looming, we ducked out after three innings of Game 2. Watched the rest of the game in our hotel wishing we had more time to stay in the 'Land. The Indians swept the Braves. We got to root for Plawecki again. Good times.

A Boy Named Seo wrote: Both guys should run. The Phils put a 10-spot up on us last week. Game's not over, keep trying to win. Yup. For anyone that cares: *both guys should run and both teams should be ok with that. I get that when you're down it's harder to understand, but you can take the high road when that happens or you can be a dick. The Phillies chose dick. *Hoskins was pissed about the pitch at his head. That's totally fine. In the heat of the moment, you don't know what to think and it certainly seemed like it was meant to hit him. But after sending a "message pitch" the last thing Rhame would want to do is hit him. So when ball 4 comes in high and tight, instead of being even more pissed off, he should be like "maybe this guy is just wild". I know it's hard to think that at the time, but in the post-game, plenty of time has passed for you to have that revelation. During his interview, Hoskins could have taken the high road, but chose to be a dick. *Kudos to the Phillies for not retaliating. The pitch that hit Frazier was clearly a mistake. Given the choice to become headhunting dickheads, the Phillies, for a change, took the high road. (But the night wasn't over yet) *Kudos to Hoskins for getting even the best way by hitting one out. In that situation, guys who are cooler than cool give the pitcher a look that says it all, then take their normal jog around the bases. When asked about it, they say cool things like "I let my play do all my talking." But some choose to be buffoons like Hoskins. To each his own. I don't know whether or not Rhame meant to hit Hoskins, but I do know that Hoskins absolutely meant to act like a jerk and an idiot with his foolish trot around the bases. So again, given the choice between the high road and dick...

I'm guessing he finished 24 of those games.

Fuck Hoskins. If he wants to be a douchebag about things let him. My idea of revenge would be to hit a HR then trot around the bases without looking like a petty dickhead. But whatever. In my book, it's never not ok to try.

Thank you guys for the recommendations! Back home now and completely exhausted. We knew going in that it was a lot to take on, but we woudln't trade it for the world. If you're going to try this, I recommend not trying it in April, but if you have kids, you have to go when the schedule allows. I'll create threads for each of the individual parks.

Why would you not challenge that?

Cast your vote Now!!!!

Any word on Cano?

All winter long I talked about the lack of depth in the rotation. I can't see how anyone could not see this.

=smg58 post_id=7784 time=1555775062 user_id=62] Well I like that the approach is “we think it's nothing but we're not taking chances” instead of “we think it's nothing so get back out there.” We made that mistake often enough to learn from it.

My brother is a doctor in St Louis. He confirms that there are MRI machines there.

Well 2019 was fun. How are we looking for 2021?

maybe those cost money to get the rights.

Pretty big series coming up. The Mets were one McNeil double-play away from getting swept in that series. Need a good showing here. I think it's awesome that we concede the first one to them, burn out the pen, then play the second two hamstrung. Awesome.

Dwight the Great. One of my favorite covers of all time.

deGrom = Strep Throat Nimmo = Restless Leg Syndrome Vargas = Projectile Dysfunction d'Arnaud = Cocksuckie Virus Lowrie = Leg Amputation

So after the aftermath of the Royals-White Sox brawl, what's everyone's position on bat flips? Obviously shades of gray here, but generally for me: Bat Flips: Bat flips are fun. Obviously don't do it for the purpose of showing up your opponent, but any bat flip arising from actual emotion from getting a big hit is ok by me. Anderson's was pretty big, but he looked like he was genuinely pumped from hitting a big HR. Where I draw the line is (a) taunting. Don't direct your celebration at the pitcher or other team, and ( don't make it part of your "thing". A choreographed routine that you're trying to play off as your "signature" move or some bullshit like that. Displays of Emotion on the Mound: Same thing. If you're pumped, feel free to show it. Don't taunt your opponent. Please don't try to make a signature move. What was it? The Mejia Stomp? That was dumb. Throwing at Batters: Throwing Inside to Establish the Inside Corner: Always ok. Even if it means plunking a guy here and there by accident. Throwing up and In to send a Message: Ok, depending on the circumstance. Nothing at the head. Moving his feet, knocking him down. Again, depends on the circumstance. If they're teeing off on you and you feel like they're cheating out over the plate, sure. If you're just pissed you gave up a HR, then no. There should be a legitimate baseball reason to intentionally throwing inside. Throwing over a batter's head to intimidate him: The old "Hit the Mascot". This is ok. Just make sure you miss. Intentionally Throwing at Batter: Definitely ok when that exact batter (pitcher) has intentionally hit one of your players. (the Clemens situation). I'm torn on whether it's ok to hit another player on the other team because your guy got hit. Example: Jake Arrieta throws at Pete Alonso and gets tossed. It it ok now for Wheeler to peg Bryce Harper? Is he supposed to hit Bryce Harper? I can see both sides. Either way, nothing above the neck. Intentionally Throwing at a Batter's Head: Never ok. You can kill him dickhead.

I meant to designate TJ as my Dark Horse Met and ultimately forgot to. It's looking like a longer shot now.

Yeah, I don't get the "ace" label either. Has had a nice WHIP the last few years, but I wouldn't give up anything too valuable. Lugo is better and cheaper.

Early returns suggest the HR's are on the rise again, after taking a slight dip in 2018. https://www.si.com/mlb/2019/04/16/game-thrones-names-new-york-yankees-home-run-recordhttps://www.si.com/mlb/2019/04/16/game-thrones-names-new-york-yankees-home-run-record I guess this itself doesn't explain why we're last in MLB in ERA. But maybe there's something to this?

Awesome. Mets day game at 1 p.m. My son's middle school game at 4 p.m. I should get a ton of work done today.

What happened with Nimmo?