Centerfield

Holy crap. That really is something. I think we're gonna need a bigger thread.

You would think Eddie Murray would be on that list.

martin wrote: that was almost the play i have been waiting my whole life to see, the catch by an outfielder who falls over the fence. Is that a HR or an out if that happens? What an amazing almost catch by Rowand.

The Phils scored 4 unanswered after I came back to my desk. I have to quit work for the sake of the Mets.

What the fuck. You don't walk Michael Fucking Bourn in front of Utley and Howard.

This phucking sucks.

Isn't "Mike Zagurski" Billy Crysal's character's name in Monsters, Inc.?

Gamecast tells me Rollins almost went deep. Bad Mota. Let's score 11 runs.

="Kid Carsey"]I think of the Castillo game as this 1998 opening day memory for me: METS 14TH: M. Franco singled to center; McRae walked [M. Franco to second]; On a bunt Alfonzo forced M. Franco (pitcher to third) [McRae to second]; Gilkey singled to left [McRae to third, Alfonzo to second]; Lopez popped to third; CASTILLO BATTED FOR WENDELL; Castillo singled to right [McRae scored, Alfonzo to third, Gilkey to second]; 1 R, 3 H, 0 E, 3 LOB. Phillies 0, Mets 1. It was the last day of March and it was like 85 degrees and beautiful. It was the first year I had season tickets but I didn't have them yet and we sat in the left field field boxes. KB wanted to go, KB wanted to go, KB wanted to go ... it was worth the sunburn and the wait. That was the game I thought of too. I moved to NY in June of '97, and shortly afterward, re-kindled my love of the Mets. (I had been a distant fan through my college years). The 97-98 off-season had been the first that I had followed with that sort of attention. It was then that I discovered WFAN. On Opening Day, I watched all 14 innings and thought to myself we might be ok at the catcher position after all. (A few months later, we'd make trade for some guy named Piazza) Sometime in April or May of '98 I was poking around the internet and found a cool Mets site with a forum of interesting fans...

�So, right now, I�m a gambler, I�m a racist and I like 18�year-old girls, that�s the perception of me in New York right now about me." Paul LoDuca - 6/29/07

Game called. Makeup date TBD.

Do we really need two second basemen?

That is, of course, unless he's on the Mets.

Glavine 5 Wright 2

If the Mets can't score runs off of Anthony Young tonight, you know we're in trouble.

Something I've been meaning to mention but the server has been uncooperative... Did you guys see the reaction Griffey got from the Seattle fans? Big ceremony, old teammates, they did everything but retire his number. The fans ate it up, and Griffey addressed them with an awkward, "You guys are great, I really wish I could come back but I play for another team that pays me a ton of money" speech. Anyway, contrast that with the merciless boo-ing they give to A-Rod. Both players left on a sour note, but Griffey's was arguably worse. He put the Mariners in a bad spot forcing them to trade him to the team of his choice, and thereby undermining their ability to get value for him. On the other hand, A-Rod just left as a free agent. Does personality make that big a difference? Do they see Griffey as more noble because he took less money to go home? Or was it just because A-Rod came back as an opposing player right away, while Griffey was gone for 7 years?

What Yancy said. I also don't see having an extra outfielder when Alou comes back as a problem. Platoon Green and Alou if need be. Have one guy be the first guy off the bench. I'd certainly rather see Alou pinch-hitting in a key spot than Julio Franco. When they passed on Zito, Omar mentioned that a plus from that was financial flexibility during the season. That means they have money to spend...spend it.

Sosa 3 Green 3 Gomez 2 Wagner 2

...if management takes it as a sign that everything is okay. Four game win streaks are nice, but two of the wins came with the Mets scoring 3 runs in 20 innings. Blanton and Maroth are good pitchers, but it's not like this was Brandon Webb and Jake Peavy. The offense has been bad for some time now and it's getting to the point that just waiting for these guys to come around may not be the answer. Of our 8 regulars, it seems pretty likely now that five of them (Delgado, Beltran, Wright, LoDuca and Valentin) have taken a step back from their 2006 numbers. (Some more than others, Paul LoDuca and Carlos Delgado both sports OPS under .700. Beltran is below .800). Alou, and his replacements, have given us little in LF. The only players producing at the same level or higher are Green and Reyes. I'd love to see the team get a starting pitcher, but I think the much bigger need is a run-producing corner outfielder.

If he's feeling that good I'd think the target date would be earlier than the trading deadline.

Isn't it funny how wrong perceptions can be? Last night, I thought to myself, why is Willie letting Wagner pitch to Taguchi? The guy wears him out. Then they flashed a graphic where it showed that Taguchi has like one hit off Wagner in his lifetime. Hell of a hit it was though.

Triple Happiness #15 comes right on the heals of #14 like Jose Reyes catching up to Tom Glavine. 6/24/07 Mets 10, A's 2 Tigers 5, Braves 0 Giants 7, MFY 2

Adding to the frustration of the Leiter starts was the fact that he was, much as Clemens is, supposed to be the ace of the staff. I'm surprised to hear those numbers. My memory of that time was that any Leiter start was agonizing to watch.

The socks thing isn't working. I'm open to suggestions. Other things I've come up with: 1. Brawl. I think the Mets could use one to get a little life in them. We'll give them until the 3rd to mix it up with the A's. If nothing happens, we storm the dugout in the 4th. 2. Scapegoating. This is a little tough. Beltran would have been a pretty good candidate but he had 3 hits last night. All of the starters have had at least a decent start somewhere in there. I guess in a pinch, we could blame this on Benitez...the Mets haven't been the same since his meltdown at Shea. 3. Voodoo.

Beltran 2