Centerfield

="Yancy Street Gang"] If Oprah is indeed here, you can be sure that I didn't invite her. Nobody I invite ever shows up. Lol Yancy. But kudos to you for trying.

Yancy: Of course you are. You're also entitled to blame Oprah Winfrey Frayed Knot: And I'm entitled to blame it on Oprah Winfrey if I want Wow. That was weird.

Soriano? I don't attribute as much value to defense as some others do, but a Wright-Reyes-Soriano-Delgado infield would be pretty tough to watch. I was thinking that with Delgado at first, we'd need to make sure we can get some pretty sure hands at second base if we're to give ground ball guys like Benson any chance next year. Throw in the fact that we might have Diaz in right and Piazza behind the plate....our pitchers are going to have to figure out how to get everyone to hit it to Beltran.

Olney doesn't know...Omar is saving that bag of balls for an even bigger deal down the road.

Cool. Who's who at Virgil's?

I hate to see Jacobs go. I think there is a difference between minor-league prospects and guys who, as little as it may be, have shown success in the major leagues. But I guess with Delgado coming on board, there is no place for him to play anyway. That being said, I'm thrilled about Delgado...and I'm crossing my fingers that this story gets confirmed by a few other news sources.

If I'm the Phillies, I bring in Armando Benitez as part of my efforts to keep Wagner out of New York. Gillick: "Hey Mando, why don't you tell Billy what it's like to be a top of the line closer on championship Mets team..."

We use the word "suck" around here quite a bit...Matsui, Beltran, Looper. These are pretty unfair characterizations if you ask me (at worst the most you could say about these guys is that they were "disappointing"). These days, I'm posting as Rich Becker...and before my time under this designation is up, I think it's important for us to take a second and remember Rich Becker, Truly Sucky Met. Becker was acquired after the 1997 season from the Twins in exchange for disappointing minor leaguer Alex Ochoa. Reaction from Mets fans included: "Rich who?" "Wow, did Ochoa's trade value drop that much?" and "What the fuck? This guy struck out 130 times and hit only 10 HR's. What the hell is Phillips doing?" As a Met, Rich hit .190 through 49 games, striking out an astonishing 42 times in 100 AB's. (If you project that over a full season, Rich Becker was on pace to strike out 5000 times in 1998). Rich failed to exhibit any real power either collecting only 9 extra base hits for a slugging percentage of .360. Rich did manage to collect 21 walks (Two intentional!! Who was hitting behind him? Jim the batboy?), but despite a decent OBP, Rich never did crack .700 territory in OPS (.691). On June 16, 1998, Becker's short Mets career came to an end when he was picked up off waivers by the Baltimore Orioles. Phillips had been hoping that Becker would bounce back and give us numbers like he posted in 1996 when he batted .291, reached base at a .372 clip and stole 19 bases. Some speculated he couldn't handle the pressure of playing in New York, but in the ensuing years, it became evident that pressure had nothing to do with it and that he just wasn't very good. So here's to you Rich Becker...thank you for providing perspective in times of trouble. Thank you for allowing us to say "Well, things could be worse, we could have Rich Becker leading off." It's very possible you would want to forget your time here in New York, but know that here in the Crane Pool, we will always remember.

Ortiz said exactly the opposite about Pedro last year.

We need Bang! Pow!

If I remember correctly, Sven's rehab colony was attacked by Zarkon and Sven was taken to a slave planet. A planet from which, I think, he managed to escape by himself, along with some chick he was seeing at the time. Details escape me, but never let facts get in the way of a rant. That's how I roll.

G-Force was first...and it kicked the ever-living-shit out of Voltron. G-Force was awesome...their ship could turn into a fiery phoenix. It beats those stupid lions any day. A couple of things really annoyed me about Voltron: 1. Why did they always attack separately before forming Voltron? If Keith were a decent leader, he should have come up with a better game plan: "You know guys, I've been thinking...instead of attacking as lions and getting our asses kicked, why don't we meet up, form Voltron, make the sword, and then attack the Robeast." 2. Did Keith have to really narrate the formation of Voltron each time? How many times could those guys have heard it before they get sick of listening to that? "We got it Keith...and you'll form the head...we know, we know." 3. Sven. Not only did he lose his seat to the Princess (I'm not sure this was ever adequately explained). But at some point, he gets captured and sent to some slave colony. The part that pisses me off...THEY NEVER TRIED TO RESCUE HIM. It was mind-boggling. In one episode, they actually went there to fight a Robeast, saw him, and left him there inexplicably. I mean, how loyal is this Voltron team if they decline to rescue their old buddy from a prison planet even when they happen to be there. How much more effort would it have taken? One more swipe of the Blazing Sword? If I'm Sven, the minute the happens, I'm at Prince Lotor's castle telling him where the lions are hidden. (Incidentally, Sven would have been the much better illustration of what happened to Trachsel)

I worry about Floyd's health next year as well. But rather than moving him, I'd feel better about having enough firepower in the lineup to be able to withstand him missing some time rather than shipping him out. $6.5 million for that kind of production is something you want to hold on to.

Ralph is, like, important now.

Nady and Petit? If that's really what they want I can't ship them out fast enough. Since Ralph's not here, the TiTTS stand erect and firm behind this deal. See you X, see you Y...thanks for all the fish.

Oh, I see. Thanks Elster. I'll Edit.

I forwarded the strip to my wife and got a few translations (keep in mind, her Korean is not great either so these might be all wrong): Pedro Pedro: Pedro 45 reporting for duty Peterson (looking at Ishii): I told you not to fall asleep when you drive! Jae Seo Jae: Keep trying! We can get out! Heilman: I'm getting out! David Wright Wright: Crack! Piazza: You know, I was once that good and that good looking too Cameron: Good looking? Cliff Floyd Floyd: I'm healthy (literal translation: I don't hurt) caption: His health is the best! Carlos Beltran Beltran: (huff) I...I can't catch him because my belly's too big Looper We couldn't figure this out. But it's something about being the worst player (duh) and something to do with hell.

A thread for the images that are so good you don't mind seeing them over and over again... A classic: An instant classic: And one from that June 17, 2001 game that should really get more air time on the CPF:

The sea lion is a recurring theme for me. Crap. There's another one.

No. Nothing beats Rocker and the kitten.

I hate when movie sequels not only suck, but end up undermining the original movie.

It seems like just yesterday ambler said the Mets should trade Piazza and Reed for Pujols and Ankiel.

Xavier Nady: .261, 13 HR, 43 RBI, .760 OPS Ok. Now, someone explain to me why this deal makes sense.

Fuck. I already bought O's season tickets for 2011. Now what am I supposed to do.

In other news, unconfirmed reports have said that Pujols' Game 5 HR may have just landed.