Centerfield

They played really well in the second half, and I enjoyed the second half. It's not misleading to point that out, especially to a casual or non-baseball fan unless they were specifically asking if they're in the playoffs. Hey CF, did the Lincolns enjoy the play? CF: OMG, they couldn't stop laughing during Act 1!* *This answer is not misleading since the Lincolns really did enjoy Act 1, and the person did not specifically ask if anyone was murdered.

I'm an optimist. I like to dwell on the positive things. I focus on what I have, not what I think I'm owed. I enjoyed that my team went to the postseason twice in the last four years. What the Yankees did is irrelevant to me. Not a fan - but I like it when the lose! Just my opinion. Don't expect everyone to agree. I know I've said it before, but it continues to astound me how little regard you have for the truth. I don't think you even understand it as a concept. And you use words like "optimist" to rationalize what you do. Let's take a look at what just happened. I said that our Octobers have been reduced to rooting for the Yankees to lose. Now, I guess it's possible you thought I meant this in the absolute, but since you know I am a Mets fan and actively participate on this board, it's not likely you thought I was unaware of 2015 and 2016. Realistically, you knew my point, which is that generally the Mets don't make the playoffs, and the Yankees do, and we, as Mets fans, spend our Octobers rooting for them to lose, and unless something changes, this is what it's going to be going forward. Now, let's look at your response. *Unless you count two of of the last four years, when the Mets were in the playoffs. What did you mean by this? Did you think I was not counting those years? Again, not likely. You know that I am very aware of those years. And even if that was your point, you would have said "Unless you count 2015 and 2016". But that's not what you said. You specifically made it a point to couch this as 2 of the last 4 years. Why? Your inference is that it's 50%, and as such, the Mets make the playoffs regularly. Your inference is patently not true. But you don't care that it's not true. It advances your agenda, your previously stated position, that everything is fine. You try to couch this as "optimism". But it's not that. Optimism is an expression of hope. This is not hopeful. This is misleading. It suggests a conclusion that is objectively not true. The Mets do not make the playoffs regularly. I'll demonstrate optimism. Yeah, it's not been great, but you know, I like that they're interviewing the analytics guy from Tampa. Maybe things can get better going forward and we can root for our own team next year. This is actual optimism. It's an expression of hope. It doesn't attempt to refute or spin or "pivot" from established fact. It doesn't attempt to create an inaccurate picture for the reader. Let's say a non baseball fan asked me in September, "Hey CF, how are the Mets doing?" I can give a 41Forever answer: They've won 6 out of their last 7 and just destroyed Boston 8-0! This statement is true, but it's intentionally misleading. The Mets are terrible, but this answer is meant to create a false conclusion for the reader. Now, let's try an optimist's answer: Eh, pretty crappy. But their young kids are coming around, and we are playing much better since they got called up. So high hopes for next year! It's pretty clear to me that you don't understand the distinction between those statements. Let's round out the rest of your awesome statement. I focus on what I have, not what I think I'm owed. CF, you're a spoiled brat! You think the Mets owe it to you to win! You should just take your criticisms and just walk out that door young man! Let's not forget outright lies. What the Yankees did is irrelevant to me. Really? Irrelevant? I don't hate or even dislike other baseball teams -- except the Yankees. Ok. Sure. Just my opinion. Don't expect everyone to agree. No copout would be complete without the opinion piece. "I don't care what facts you cite, this is my opinion and I'm not changing it." No dude. "Sweet potatoes taste good" is an opinion. "The Mets make the playoffs regularly" is just false.

HahnSolo wrote: Centerfield wrote: (Think about a world where Boston fans are considered tolerant) Well, they did recently hurl racial comments at Adam Jones. So the Dodgers then? Well they have Utley. And their fans took it to the next level by nearly murdering a guy just because he was a Giants fan. That's it, I'm shutting baseball off. All good points. The distinction I made was the acts of a few versus the acts of many. The Adam Jones incident was an individual fan (or a small group). I forget. In any event, afterwards, the behavior was roundly criticized. Same with the Giants fan getting beaten. In Milwaukee and Houston, the entire fan base stood on their feet to applaud racists. They can go fuck themselves.

Right. Best case scenario. Even if what you are saying is true, they put themselves in a position where those results were possible. Unless there is a wholesale shift in philosophy, the Mets can't even imagine sniffing such results in a 10 year span.

Ceetar wrote: Oh man, I really do hope the Yankees get spend-happy. It'll be like when they splurged in 2009. They got a good three years or so out of that class, and managed to win it all once, but it was a big reason they were up against it until recently. They have a budget and a limit as well, and spending it all at once is almost never a good idea. Additionally, a lot of teams will be spending this offseason. Teams have been planning for it. Yankees might not be able to overspend on the top 3 or so guys and might again have to overspend on the second tier guys which is where you can get into trouble. I know right? And maybe if they spend like idiots again, they'll have another 10 year period where they only win the World Series once, make the playoffs 7 out of 10 years, win 90+ games 6 times, including 2 100 win seasons, and have to suffer through a few down seasons where they only win 84 games! What losers!

Josh Hader: https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/allstar/2018/07/18/josh-hader-twitter-all-star-game/794751002/ In his defense, the racist, homophobic, dickhead tweets are almost 7 years old. And applying the Kavanaugh principle, we really should have no accountability for things that happened "a long time ago" as long as you are a different person now. The Milwaukee crowd certainly felt for Josh, the real victim here, and gave him a standing O. https://deadspin.com/giving-a-guy-who-was-racist-online-a-standing-ovation-t-1827785357

Edgy MD wrote: Lenny's attorney, Matthew Blit, tells TMZ Sports, "A grand jury will indict a ham sandwich. ... " It's good to see Lenny drawing from the outstanding pool of legal minds that's making this country great again. OMG. I went to school with Matt. We used to head over to Shea and catch games after class. LOL.

41Forever wrote: Centerfield wrote: October baseball means that the Mets are home, and we all hope that any other team in baseball can somehow eliminate the Yankees. *Unless you count two of of the last four years, when the Mets were in the playoffs. I know! And in one of those years we even stuck around long enough to make a series! I'd be curious to know if you really think your "pivots" are effective. 2 of the last 4 is absolutely correct. But do you think this is a true representation of the Mets fan's experience? Or is 2 of the last 12 a better representation? Or 3 of the last 16 years since the Wilpons took full control? Do you realize that the Yankees have made the playoffs 20 out of the last 24 years? I guess you'd agree with Fred that it's unsustainable.

Oh, and fuck the Houston crowd too, for giving Yuliesky Gurriel a standing ovation. Trump's America, where racists are the real victims. Go Sox. (Think about a world where Boston fans are considered tolerant)

Wow, I have to say, this is really surprising to hear Dykstra might be facing jail time. I think for the last decade or so, I've just assumed that Dykstra is already in jail.

I'm not sure what zig or zag means, but I think there is little doubt as to what the Yankees are going to do this offseason. They slashed payroll this year to get underneath the luxury tax so they could re-set and spend big on this free agent class. How much can they spend? Mere dollar figures might not do justice to how much room the Yankees have to spend this winter, so let’s put it another way: New York could sign Patrick Corbin, Clayton Kershaw, and Manny Machado and still end up spending the same amount on payroll and taxes as they did in the 2015 and -16 seasons. The Yankees have an enormous amount of payroll room and virtually no limits on players they can acquire. https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/the-yankees-have-a-lot-of-payroll-to-use/ We all had fun watching the Red Sox eliminate the Yankees on Tuesday. Understand that this is as good as it's going to get for us in the near future. October baseball means that the Mets are home, and we all hope that any other team in baseball can somehow eliminate the Yankees.

The Brewers can go choke on moose cock as far as I'm concerned. Fuck them all. Fuck Josh Hader and his homophobic, racist, dickhead tweets. Fuck the Milwaukee crowd that saw it fit to give this guy a standing fucking ovation. Fuck Ryan Braun and his needles in his ass. Fuck Lorenzo Cain and his 2015 Championship ring (though he seems to be a pretty good guy and handled the Hader situation well, but whatever, fuck him anyway) But mostly, fuck Bud Selig. The thought of Bud Selig holding that trophy and spraying champagne is enough to make me puke.

Michael Kay was on the radio today talking about how analytics cost the Yankees that game. Numbers tell you a lot, but they don’t tell you everything. And I swear these next ideas were said (paraphrasing): *Each game has a heartbeat. *you can’t put a number on heartbeat. *well you can, like 80 beats per minute or something *you can only put a number on human heartbeats, not the heartbeat of a game *maybe soul is a better word. You can’t put a number on soul. I agree with Michael Kay. I think the Yankees should abandon analytics immediately.

Frayed Knot wrote: In retrospect, I like that it happened that way. Build their hopes up while giving them the impression that 'Yaqui magic' is going to come through ... and then it doesn't. This. I mean it wasn’t fun while it happened, but yes.

This is not fun.

Fasten your seatbelts!

THREE MORE OUTS.

Angel.

Why would you pull Barnes?

Dangerous letting them hang around.

Ugly inning. Need a shutdown inning here. Momentum starting to shift.

Fucking Angel just missed two strikes.

Jeteresque.

Frayed Knot wrote: Centerfield wrote: ... certainly in my generation (and generations before) if you come from a small town, you had no choice but to root for a bandwagon team. I grew up in Syracuse and the surrounding area. Everyone watched and loved Syracuse University basketball and to a lesser extent, football. These were our only local teams. Which is why I mentioned locality, as well as actually attending the college, as a legit reason for being a fan. It's the others I'm calling bullshit on. I still find non-students/alums treating the local college team as an equivalent to a pro team to be an oddity, but I understand that it's a bias from having grown up outside of NYC rather than outside of Syracuse, Columbus, Louisville, Tuscaloosa, etc. College sports would be much better if they stayed more confined to the colleges but that horse left the barn a long time ago. Right. Sorry, I didn't explain myself well at all. I am a big fan of the Mets. Always have been because baseball was my favorite sport, and Mets games were always on. I am a Syracuse fan, to a lesser extent, but still a big fan, and that's because of the area I grew up. I am a very casual Celtics fan. Basically, I don't watch unless I happen to be in Boston, or they make a playoff run. But in the 80's, I loved those Larry Bird teams. Celtics-Mets would have been a suspect combo back in the mid 80's, but really I didn't have a means to be a fan of any team that wasn't good. CBS played one, maybe 2 games each week. So you saw the Celtics, Lakers, and Sixers regularly. So you picked one of them and ran with it. Other teams existed, basically, to be the Washington Generals to one of these teams. By the late 80's, cable TV arrived, and Knicks and Nets games started airing. By the 90's the NBA moved to NBC, and it was basically Michael Jordan, week after week. And clearly it's different now, but if a fan is in his 40's or older, and didn't grow up in a metropolitan area, it's very likely that his choices were limited to good teams because that's who was on TV.

OMG. That was so much fun. My wife got home from her work event last night and found me beaming at the 11-1 score. She was like "Let's watch John Oliver". It was in the 8th inning, and I really wanted to see the last out, so I said, sure. Recorded the rest of the game. Anyway, watched John Oliver, got all upset about Kavanaugh again, but then turned the game back on. It was still on! 16-1. Beautiful.