batmagadanleadoff

Never knew that Sinatra had a high school named after him. He also had a huge cock, according to Ava Gardner.

Eezy-peezy and I didnt see the news story. So why's nobody saying who? Who? Who it is?

Jim Bowden, for The Athletic, rates MLB's top 10 relievers. At first thought, I didn't think a Met would crack Bowden's list. I was wrong. 9. Seth Lugo, RHP, New York Mets Age: 30 B: R T: R Height: 6-4 Weight: 225 2019 Stats: W-L: 7-4 ERA: 2.70 SV: 6 IP: 80 H: 56 R: 28 ER: 24 BB: 16 SO: 104 FIP: 2.70 WHIP: 0.90 WAR: 2.4 Statcast: Avg Exit Velo: 86.7 Hard Hit%: 33.5 wOBA: .279 xwOBA: .300 Barrel%: 6.4 Pitch Arsenal: FB, CB, SLI, CH. Spin Rates: 4-Seam FB: 2,220 CB: 3,285 2-Seam FB: 2,238 SLI: 2,435 CH: 1,736 Career accomplishments: NL Reliever of the Month, July 2019. Trending: Upward Lugo led the major leagues with 16 outings of two or more scoreless innings. He recorded 21 holds, the most for a Mets pitcher since Addison Reed logged 40 in 2016. He appeared in a career-high 61 games and recorded a career-high 33.1 percent strikeout rate and a career-low 5.1 percent walk rate. His best month was July, when he was named NL Reliever of the Month and went 1-0 with an ERA of 0.00 that included three hits and 16 punchouts in 12 2/3 innings pitched. He was especially effective at Citi Field, where he put up a 1.97 ERA. Lugo's xwOBA, xERA and xBA were all in the 98th or 99th percentile. Opponents hit .148 against his four-seam fastball, .169 against his slider and just .214 against his curveball. His impressive 3,285 spin rate on that pitch puts him in the 99th percentile of all pitchers. Lugo gives the Mets tremendous flexibility because he can go in short, middle or long relief and can help out in a starting role. His strikeout rate continues to trend upward, going from 7.5 to 9.1 to 11.7 over the last three years. In his career, he's made 31 starts and 120 relief appearances. https://theathletic.com/1874502/2020/06/18/bowden-big-board-ranking-mlbs-top-10-relief-pitchers/https://theathletic.com/1874502/2020/06/18/bowden-big-board-ranking-mlbs-top-10-relief-pitchers/

Source: Wilpons won't put much in Mets in 2021 if they don't sell, Steve Cohen ‘dodged a bullet' Excerpt: ... the Mets were expected to lose approximately $214 million during the shortened year in a report last month by the Associated Press. Only the Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers stand to lose more. The difference between those three franchises, though, is that the Yankees and Dodgers are committed to consistently competing. That's not the case for the Mets. A source with knowledge of the organization's front office admitted to amNewYork Metro on Monday that the coronavirus-shortened 2020 season and the financial ramifications that come with it will “hurt the Mets more than most,” because the Fred and Jeff Wilpon — the owners of the club — will essentially stop pumping money into the team. “They run such a cheap operation,” the source added. “Given the fan base and market, they should be spending two times more than what they are.” “They are doing just enough to keep the fans coming, nothing more.” https://www.amny.com/sports/source-wilpons-wont-put-much-in-mets-in-2021-if-they-dont-sell-steve-cohen-dodged-a-bullet/https://www.amny.com/sports/source-wilpons-wont-put-much-in-mets-in-2021-if-they-dont-sell-steve-cohen-dodged-a-bullet/

Willets Point wrote: I haven't seen Vin Scully's "If a picture is worth a thousand words, then you have seen a million" here yet. Seems worthy of inclusion although I want an actual Mets announcer to be #1. Here ya go .... 1. “Behind the bag! It gets through Buckner!” Vin Scully, Mets vs. Red Sox (Game 6, 1986 World Series) https://theathletic.com/1878334/2020/06/18/the-11-greatest-broadcast-calls-in-mets-history/https://theathletic.com/1878334/2020/06/18/the-11-greatest-broadcast-calls-in-mets-history/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ujwjqIldwUhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ujwjqIldwU It's really difficult to pick between Scully's TV call and Murphy's radio call of the most remarkable moment in franchise history. “They're both fantastic and both suited to the medium where they were executed,” Cohen said. “In Scully's case, he didn't have to be quite as descriptive because he was on television. Once (Ray) Knight crossed the plate, he was able to be quiet. That's the nature of calling a play on television versus radio. Murph was a little more descriptive; using the verb “trickling' was fantastic. And then at the denouement, he had to continue on. Both calls were superb.” Thanks to his radio days, Scully was about as good as there was in TV at setting the scene, and he did that wonderfully here in describing the “delirious 10th inning” and asking, after the game-tying wild pitch, “Can you believe this ballgame at Shea?” Scully's inflection on the most famous part of the call — “Behind the bag! It gets through Buckner!” — is appropriately incredulous. And yes, he went quiet right after Knight crossed home plate, with nearly three and a half minutes separating, “Here comes Knight and the Mets win it,” and, “If one picture is worth a thousand words, you have seen about a million words. But more than that, you have seen an absolutely bizarre finish to Game 6 of the 1986 World Series. The Mets are not only alive, they are well.” Murphy's “Gets by Buckner!” sounds a lot like Scully's call, and Cohen is right: “Trickling” is the perfect word to describe the ball's path up the first-base line. Bonus material: Bob Murphy's radio call: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iu6c9WsuFDshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iu6c9WsuFDs

Johnny Lunchbucket wrote: =Gwreck post_id=39014 time=1592589647 user_id=56] The Scooter/Big Man call was fun but greatest call? It seemed a bit gimmicky. Additionally, it wasn't even the first time Cohen had used it. He had used it in 2018 when Conforto and Bruce hit back-to-back homers off Scherzer. Yup. Yep, yup yup. Coming soon ... the Mets all-time #1 broadcast call, at least according to this furshlugginer article.

Johnny Lunchbucket wrote: =Gwreck post_id=39014 time=1592589647 user_id=56] The Scooter/Big Man call was fun but greatest call? It seemed a bit gimmicky. Additionally, it wasn't even the first time Cohen had used it. He had used it in 2018 when Conforto and Bruce hit back-to-back homers off Scherzer. Yup.

=batmagadanleadoff post_id=39057 time=1592661794 user_id=68] Yeah. Poor Jeff Wilpon. A loathsome scumbag mediocrity with zero personality who's been owning the Mets and living the life of a billionaire for his whole fucking life despite accomplishing absolutely nothing meaningful. I feel so sorry for him. And Ivanka Trump. And Betsy DeVos.

Yeah. Poor Jeff Wilpon. A loathsome scumbag mediocrity with zero personality who's been owning the Mets and living the life of a billionaire for his whole fucking life despite accomplishing absolutely nothing meaningful. I feel so sorry for him. And Ivanka Trump. And Betsy DeVos.

But it's not just the debt. So long as the Katzes want to sell, the Wilpons are also gonna hafta come up with the money to buy out their partners -- which becomes more expensive -- and more expensive in exact proportion to the increase in value of the team.

Edgy MD wrote: It is pretty funny to see the team for sale because the owners overleveraged themselves to make the purchase in the first place, and are still overleveraged 20 years later, and all the potential bidders are running around trying to leverage up. For me, the funniest thing about the Mets pending (I hope) sale is this dynamic where the skyrocketing value of the Mets franchise has become a double-edged sword for the Wilpons: the more money the Mets are worth, the harder it's gonna be for them to buy out the Katz family.

2. “This is one of the great moments in the history of baseball.” Gary Cohen, Mets vs. Padres https://theathletic.com/1878334/2020/06/18/the-11-greatest-broadcast-calls-in-mets-history/https://theathletic.com/1878334/2020/06/18/the-11-greatest-broadcast-calls-in-mets-history/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVFsq9FQBlchttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVFsq9FQBlc The great broadcast calls don't all have to be game-winners or pivotal playoff moments. Great broadcast calls can happen in the middle of a largely meaningless regular-season game, especially when the sport is baseball, as Cohen and his SNY cohorts have shown for almost 15 years now. And there might not be a moment from an otherwise meaningless regular-season game that stands out more in Mets history than Bartolo Colon's May home run against the Padres in 2016. “It's outta here!” Cohen yelled, his voice nearly cracking. “Bartolo has done it! The impossible has happened!” “This is one of those things you could never possibly anticipate or prepare for,” Cohen told The Athletic's Jayson Stark earlier this year. “I think that's the beauty of the whole thing … The incredulity that you could hear in my voice, as I'm saying, ‘It's outta here!' — I've said those words thousands of times. But I don't think I've ever said them in quite that way, because you could hear the shock, and that's literally what we were feeling.” Cohen summarized it perfectly in the moment: “This is one of the great moments in the history of baseball! Bartolo Colon has gone deep.” “There was a certain tongue-in-cheek quality to that comment,” he told Stark. “It's a singular moment. It's something that could only have happened to that person, in that place, in that time … For that guy, for that fan base, to do what he did was spectacular, in a way that almost could not be duplicated.”

=ashie62 post_id=39042 time=1592615532 user_id=90] It increases the Mets chances of making the post season. I'm good Wonder if they would consider making these changes for 2021 if 2020 gets shelved

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Jeff Passan at ESPN reports that the current proposal also includes a 16-team postseason in 2021. This means that as many as four of the 16 playoff teams will be third place teams. If there are less than four third place playoff teams, there'll be fourth or even last place playoff teams, instead. Also, Manfred now wants ads on unis right now, for 2020. Benjamin Grimm wrote: I can see the logic in having a 16-team postseason for a 60-game season. But not for a 162-game season, assuming that we have one of those in 2021. Which is ....? I mean, besides the money? Because with 16 playoff teams, we might get sub .500 playoff teams. This is just about the most awful thing baseball has ever proposed. ____________________ On the 16 playoff teams proposal... Excerpt: And it's absolutely gross as hell, a naked money grab that absolutely nobody but the owners and TBS are interested in. The odds of meaningful October baseball just went up for you, and your only reaction should be disgust. Eight postseason teams in each league. Eight. [***] The reason you should be against a setup in which the NL sends eight teams to the postseason ... is that it siphons excitement away from good teams and funnels it to bad teams. Not mediocre teams. Not almost-rans. Bad teams. The teams that should be too injured to make noise, or the teams that were never good enough in the first place. It swipes the thrills away from the good and kinda-good teams, and it dumps it into the laps of the unwatchable teams. [***] ... in that setup, the sport would be hard to watch for six out of its seven months, every single year. There would be so much baseball to not care about, and the added bonus of caring about a team that doesn't deserve it wouldn't be nearly enough. https://theathletic.com/1879012/2020/06/18/extra-postseason-teams-would-help-the-giants-but-the-idea-still-stinks/https://theathletic.com/1879012/2020/06/18/extra-postseason-teams-would-help-the-giants-but-the-idea-still-stinks/

3. “Have you ever seen anything like this?” Bob Costas, Mets vs. Braves (Game 5, 1999 National League Championship Series) https://theathletic.com/1878334/2020/06/18/the-11-greatest-broadcast-calls-in-mets-history/https://theathletic.com/1878334/2020/06/18/the-11-greatest-broadcast-calls-in-mets-history/ Bob Costas' calls starts at the 41 second mark. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhjkOu9VZgkhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhjkOu9VZgk Costas' call — in the rain, in the 15th inning, in a series that had already delivered high drama — captured the full scope of Robin Ventura's grand-slam single, his voice building as he realized the drive to right cleared the fence. Costas took full advantage of doing a television broadcast, letting the images of a madcap Shea Stadium crowd and the Mets' premature mobbing of Ventura between first and second tell the story, before asking, “Have you ever seen anything like this?” Cohen's radio call is awfully good, too, with Cohen filling in so many of those details you couldn't see while listening to the game. Bonus material: Gary Cohen's radio call: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uo7yUdD-NhAhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uo7yUdD-NhA

4. “They win the damn thing!” Bob Murphy, Mets vs. Phillies (1990) https://theathletic.com/1878334/2020/06/18/the-11-greatest-broadcast-calls-in-mets-history/https://theathletic.com/1878334/2020/06/18/the-11-greatest-broadcast-calls-in-mets-history/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iv6TL00y-VAhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iv6TL00y-VA A 10-3 lead had evaporated quickly on the Mets in the ninth inning in Philadelphia, as allowing the first eight hitters to reach base is never a good closing strategy. (The Phillies had made it 10-8 with the bases loaded and nobody out in the final frame.) A double-play grounder had cut the lead to one but gotten John Franco within an out of an escape — and when Tommy Herr lined out to short, Murphy captured how every Mets fan felt: “The Mets win the ballgame! They win the damn thing by a score of 10-9! Oh, wow!”

5. “This one has a chance!” Howie Rose, Mets vs. Braves (2001) https://theathletic.com/1878334/2020/06/18/the-11-greatest-broadcast-calls-in-mets-history/https://theathletic.com/1878334/2020/06/18/the-11-greatest-broadcast-calls-in-mets-history/ Slide on over to the two hour and 48 minute mark for "the call" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVEHuRnJbSUhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVEHuRnJbSU “That wasn't a call to me,” Rose said. “TV calls, you punctuate … The picture's announcing the game for you.” Allow me to disagree with Rose on his own call here, because if all he's doing is punctuating a moment here, he's doing it perfectly — and in a way that has resonated in the nearly two decades since. The first game back in New York after Sept. 11 was, as you'd expect, not an easy one to call. Rose and analyst Fran Healy had been told before the game by the network executives to remember the solemnity of the event — to hold down some of the emotions and keep the game in perspective. “Sports is the only reality television that exists. You can't tell me how to act,” Rose remembered. “That's what they want, so I'll do my best.” In spite of those instructions, Rose's inflection on Piazza's go-ahead home run off Steve Karsay was perfect, thanks to the hopeful lilt in, “This one has a chance!” One more nugget: Part of the pregame advice was to avoid certain trigger words all night, like “explode.” So how did Healy describe the crowd's reaction? “This place exploded! It's been waiting to explode all night. Whoa!”

Johnny Lunchbucket wrote: These vids may not be accurate to the calls I realize They're all accurate. But the Ed Charles vid starts at the 23 second mark, after Clendenon's HR. That's because, the only web-available video of that Ed Charles HR is, apparently, part of a much longer video. 6. “Put it in the books! The history books!” Howie Rose, Mets vs. Cardinals (2012) https://theathletic.com/1878334/2020/06/18/the-11-greatest-broadcast-calls-in-mets-history/https://theathletic.com/1878334/2020/06/18/the-11-greatest-broadcast-calls-in-mets-history/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nz5FZI4NhBYhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nz5FZI4NhBY Describing his own terrific call of Johan Santana's no-hitter, Cohen gave away his first impulse: “My first thought after I called it and we went to break was, ‘Boy I can't wait to hear how Howie called it.'” Rose embraced the descriptions required of a radio broadcast: “Johan sweeps a little dirt away form the left of the pitching rubber, steps behind the rubber, tugs once at the bill of his cap, takes a deep breath and steps to the third-base side of the rubber.” After Santana struck out David Freese, Rose mentioned this was the 8,020th game in franchise history — immediately contextualizing the accomplishment. And rather than launch into his usual “Put it in the books!” to punctuate a win right away, he waited more than 50 seconds, and then added the perfect coda: “The history books!” Rose said that patience is what he's proudest of in that call. “As I learned from watching Gary, you have to describe,” he said. “The minute that ball nestled in Josh Thole's glove wasn't the minute for me to get up on some soapbox and do some song and dance that's just particular to my own repertoire. This was the most unique scene in the history of the club, really. So I had to talk about everything. Bullpen running out, the dugout, where's Terry Collins? What's he doing? Because you remember what a heart attack he had going that night. So that's all those things you've got to report. And that's thanks to Gary. So the fact that there wasn't a little while until I said, ‘Put it in the books,' makes me feel good. That reinforces that I did my job.”

7. “Will it stay fair?” Gary Thorne, Mets vs. Braves (2000) https://theathletic.com/1878334/2020/06/18/the-11-greatest-broadcast-calls-in-mets-history/https://theathletic.com/1878334/2020/06/18/the-11-greatest-broadcast-calls-in-mets-history/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBFXlMkwWjUhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBFXlMkwWjU The most memorable regular-season inning in team history had transpired gradually to this point. It was still 8-2 with two outs and one man on, before consecutive singles, four straight walks and Edgardo Alfonzo's game-tying two-run single. As Mike Piazza stepped in against Terry Mulholland, Thorne seemed to be taking advantage of the catcher's well-known tendency to take the first pitch, summarizing the scene. But he was still ready when Piazza rocketed one down the left-field line, lingering on the only question about it, “Will it stay faaaaair?” It did.

8. “Here comes The Glider! Oh, watch this scene!” Bob Murphy, Mets vs. Cardinals (1969) https://theathletic.com/1878334/2020/06/18/the-11-greatest-broadcast-calls-in-mets-history/https://theathletic.com/1878334/2020/06/18/the-11-greatest-broadcast-calls-in-mets-history/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYHOM81SlfEhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYHOM81SlfE Nelson's call of the final out that night is more famous — =#4000FF]“At 9:07, the Mets are champions of the eastern division of the National League” — but Murphy's description of Ed Charles' first-inning home run captured the surreal spirit of the night right away. Steve Carlton had struck out 19 Mets the last time they'd faced him; this time, Charles' two-run shot followed Donn Clendenon's three-run shot and sent Carlton to the showers in the first. The game became a nine-inning celebration afterward — one that started as “The Glider” rounded third and reached an ecstatic dugout.

9. “Scooter and the Big Man bust the city in half!” Gary Cohen, Mets vs. Marlins (2019) https://theathletic.com/1878334/2020/06/18/the-11-greatest-broadcast-calls-in-mets-history/https://theathletic.com/1878334/2020/06/18/the-11-greatest-broadcast-calls-in-mets-history/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJNsWG5PfRshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJNsWG5PfRs Cohen's ode to Bruce Springsteen's “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out” followed back-to-back home runs from Michael Conforto and Pete Alonso that first tied the game and then put the Mets ahead last August against Miami. Coming on a night when Citi Field was jumping in the midst of the Mets' late-summer surge in the standings, it got across so much of the excitement of New York's young core.

10. “Endy Chavez saved the day!” Gary Cohen, Mets vs. Cardinals (Game 7, 2006 National League Championship Series) https://theathletic.com/1878334/2020/06/18/the-11-greatest-broadcast-calls-in-mets-history/https://theathletic.com/1878334/2020/06/18/the-11-greatest-broadcast-calls-in-mets-history/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCDBuYG1-_Mhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCDBuYG1-_M Like Endy Chavez on the play, Cohen's timing was perfect. 2006 was his first season calling TV on SNY, and WFAN had invited him to do two innings in the radio booth during the postseason, “so it was complete happenstance I happened to be in the booth that inning,” he said. “Every pitch in a tie game in a Game 7 is of such great import. When (Scott) Rolen hit the ball, there was every reason to think it was going to be a home run,” Cohen said. “Watching Endy streak like a blur, never break stride, jump as high as he did, catch the ball in the absolute end of the webbing and pull it back was one of the most remarkable things I've ever seen. Given the circumstances, I thought it was one of the most spectacular plays in a pressure situation I'd ever seen.” And Cohen translated that to the radio listener in real time: “Endy Chavez saved the day! … He went to the apex of his leap and caught it in the webbing of his glove with his elbow up above the fence. A miraculous play!” Cohen finished the call, “The play of the year, the play maybe of the franchise history for Endy Chavez!” Alas. Said Cohen: “It's the greatest call of a game-saving catch that didn't save the game that ever was.”

None of the 11 calls on The Athletic's list pre-date the 1969 season. That probably has more to do with video availability than anything else. 'Cause ya gotta figure there's gotta be some doozies from the Polo Grounds days.

Edgy MD wrote: Also, there are situational homer. A postseason homer that changes the momentum of the game but there is still plenty more to do to get the win? You run the fuck around those bases. But then .... this.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1i9GdN7_bEhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1i9GdN7_bE

That's the topic that The Athletic tackles today. https://theathletic.com/1878334/2020/06/18/the-11-greatest-broadcast-calls-in-mets-history/https://theathletic.com/1878334/2020/06/18/the-11-greatest-broadcast-calls-in-mets-history/ Let's cycle through these. I'll spread 'em out, so long as youse promise to click on the link. Writers' credit and all. 11. “The Mighty Mite has become the hitting star for the New York Mets.” Lindsey Nelson, Mets vs. Orioles (Game 5, 1969 World Series) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLoQ2iQo5Zohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLoQ2iQo5Zo There were wilder moments throughout the Mets' World Series upset of the Orioles in 1969, but Al Weis becoming an offensive juggernaut for five games may have been the least realistic. Weis slashed .215/.259/.291 that season and had hit all of six career home runs. In the Series, he reached base nine times in 16 plate appearances and hit this game-tying homer in the seventh inning of the clinching game. Nelson, the long-time Mets' announcer who had been called up for the national television broadcast, revealed his own surprise in how he called it, the way his inflection changes when he sees Don Buford break back. “The Mighty Mite has become the hitting star for the New York Mets” was the perfect summary of how upside-down the whole Series had become.