batmagadanleadoff

Eat your heart out, Frank Robinson. Now who's the "stupid" one? That Dating Game research post just above was like one of the greatest posts ever.

If you organize your Topps baseball cards by card # numerical order, Ron Locke's Topps 1964 rookie card (#556) marks the first Topps ever card to feature a Mets player photographed at Shea Stadium. [FIMG=444]https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/OZIAAOSwQ4Zf6TpR/s-l1200.jpg[/FIMG]

Johnny Lunchbucket wrote: Linnette picked the worst looking and most ill-at-ease Met. She'd have done much better with Boswell or Garrett. I wonder how their date went I thought she was disappointed when Rod came out from behind the other side of the stage. I actually compared this clip to the Ed Sullivan clip to see if the Dating Game Mets wore the same suits they wore on Sullivan. They didn't.

Oh what fun it was to be a Met in 1969. And if you've been reading the Jefferson Airplane thread, you'd know that everybody was fucking everybody. [media=youtube]VYJyqn0mwHo[/media]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Sullivan mentioned that Gilbert wasn't there, but I noticed that coaches Lawrence and Edward were also absent. Also missing from the post-season roster -- Cleon Jones. Bobby Pfeil was the only Met in the chorus not on the '69 post-season roster.

Here's the full version of the 1969 Mets singing "You Gotta Have Heart" on the Ed Sullivan show. The prankster pinching Jack DiLauro's ear and wiping Bobby Pfeil's mouth at about the 1:53 mark is none other than Tom Seaver. At the end of the performance, DiLauro is pulled out of the chorus to show America his Ed Sullivan imitation. [media=youtube]T_Zyh4atvQw[/media]

[FIMG=555]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/54224904879_638233dd2f_h.jpg[/FIMG] [media=youtube]Qt_yKPNORLM[/media] [media=youtube]rjadfI2-aW4[/media] [media=youtube]vbCH5lnZ6sA[/media]

Edgy MD wrote: I'm missing a whole word and possibly two in that post. How embarrassing. I'll guess that the answer to the trivia question is Al Jackson. Did you know that Choo Choo Coleman led all Tidewater Mets catchers in at-bats in 1969? The 1969 Mets might've been one injury away from reviving Casey's ol' Jackson-Coleman battery.

Edgy MD wrote: Edgy MD wrote: I'm missing a whole word and possibly two in that post. How embarrassing. I'll guess that the answer to the trivia question is Al Jackson. I'm sorry. Jackson was one off three lefty pitchers on the '69 squad who didn't start a game. Then it's gotta be McGraw, which I likely should've guessed outright. It's gotta be Tug because it is Tug! Winner! Winner! Chicken Dinner!

cal sharpie wrote: As an 11-year-old fan of the ‘69 team he felt like the most anonymous member. There are no inconsequential 1969 Mets. https://vault.si.com/vault/1986/09/15/mets-autographshttps://vault.si.com/vault/1986/09/15/mets-autographs

Edgy MD wrote: I'm missing a whole word and possibly two in that post. How embarrassing. I'll guess that the answer to the trivia question is Al Jackson. I'm sorry. Jackson was one off three lefty pitchers on the '69 squad who didn't start a game.

Edgy MD wrote: He was a non-appearing of the World Series roster, right? That's right. Also, one of only three lefty pitchers to start games for the '69 Mets, the others being Jerry Koosman and ____________________.

The 1969 Mets sure as hell took death hits this calendar year.

Frayed Knot wrote: =batmagadanleadoff post_id=181608 time=1734895492 user_id=68] He was named after Rickey Nelson. The fact that he played for nine different clubs, including the Yanquis twice, the Padres twice, and Oakland four times ... kind of made him a Travelin' Man, didn't it?

=Cowtipper post_id=181586 time=1734880578 user_id=166] ^^ sounds like he's gearing up to be 2025's Reed Garrett. This could actually be a great signing.... he could be a totally awesome relief pitcher [like Reed Garrett].

He was named after Rickey Nelson. [media=youtube]mfVknN9XgPc[/media]

Pete's lucky to even be a free agent right now. Replay the 2019 season under normal circumstances and 1,000 out of 1,000 times, Alonso's debut is held back for the requisite amount of time so as to delay his free agency eligibility until next year. He'd otherwise be a year older entering free agency.

Johnny Lunchbucket wrote: I was one of those guys who dismissed Rickey as a punk for most of his career and didn't appreciate his greatness until he became such an invaluable Met. Howard Bryant's bio has mixed reviews but I think he wrote it well, with mostly Mrs Rickey providing the info. Makes sense of how he played and how he achieved all he did. Lots of smart baseball people discounted him too. I loved him. I recognized his extraordinary greatness pretty much since the beginning of his career and he was always one of my faves. Bill James once wrote of Rickey -- "If you could split him in half, you'd have two Hall of Fame caliber players." And then there was the unforgivable and uncharacteristically tone-deaf quote by Howie Rose early on in Rickey's Mets stint -- (paraphrased) -- "I don't know what the big deal is about Rickey. Take away his stolen bases and you have an ordinary player." I figured he'd live into his 90s. He was supposedly a health nut, physically fit and with the resources to get the best medical care out there. Sad. [FIMG=555]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/54219338408_f126cec5bc_h.jpg[/FIMG]

Johnny Lunchbucket wrote: I was one of those guys who dismissed Rickey as a punk for most of his career and didn't appreciate his greatness until he became such an invaluable Met. Howard Bryant's bio has mixed reviews but I think he wrote it well, with mostly Mrs Rickey providing the info. Makes sense of how he played and how he achieved all he did. Lots of smart baseball people discounted him too. I loved him. I recognized his extraordinary greatness pretty much since the beginning of his career and he was always one of my faves. Bill James once wrote of Rickey -- "If you could split him in half, you'd have two Hall of Fame caliber players." And then there was the unforgivable and uncharacteristically tone-deaf quote by Howie Rose early on in Rickey's Mets stint -- (paraphrased) -- "I don't know what the big deal is about Rickey. Take away his stolen bases and you have an ordinary player." I figured he'd live into his 90s. He was supposedly a health nut, physically fit and with the resources to get the best medical care out there. Sad.

=Centerfield post_id=181326 time=1734546166 user_id=65] I agree with using OPS+. WAR is tricky as Soto is really nothing like a SS that accumulates alot of defensive WAR. Not counting the guys who stopped playing before age 41 skews the projection high. But assigning a value of 0 skews it way too low. No one puts up and OPS of 0. Similarly no one puts up an OPS+ of 0. One option is using league average as placeholders, but it's entirely possible that our superstar at age 39 is below league average. Assigning a value equal to the worst qualified player of that year is an option, but again, it's hard to know that the retired player would have been that bad. Maybe something like assigning a .650 OPS would be a good placeholder.

=batmagadanleadoff post_id=181315 time=1734535960 user_id=68] Also, I would've used OPS+ instead of OPS ....

Benjamin Grimm wrote: I think deGrom will get his number retired if he finishes his career with the Mets, or if he becomes part of the Mets community after he retires. But if he stays in Texas and never looks back, I think it will be less likely. I agree with DiComo's takes on Lindor and Alonso. Not so sure about Nimmo. I think the next number that will go up there will be 12. But obviously not for quite a while. And Carter? That one stays in no-man's land? Jeez, the guy was a liability for the majority of his Mets career. Majority. As in most. As in more than half of it. For most of Carter's Mets stint, he was a below league average hitter, sucking up precious at-bats from the heart of the order on teams that had World Series aspirations. Yes, he had some memorable, wonderful accomplishments for the franchise. But so did many, many other Mets who will never be in the conversation to have their numbers retired. He had two good seasons and you'd think he was Mickey Fucking Mantle for the Mets the way he's worshipped.

Terrific work! This is obviously optimistic in that a player who is bad enough to play himself out of the league or suffer a career-ending injury isn't around anymore to bring the average down. This is the flaw in the data. The data is biased for the precise reason you state. The original post was a nice idea and FK definitely put some time into this. I would've tweaked it by including all seasons, even for players who were no longer playing. So, for a player who was retired at his age 38 season, I would count him as a "0" (Zero) for that year instead of not counting him at all. Also, I would've used OPS+ instead of OPS since we're comparing seasons that, in some cases, are decades apart. Mantle's 1968 season, as discussed, was an extremely productive season when judged in its proper diminished offense context. But the raw unadjusted numbers for Mantle's '68, unfairly, underrepresent their true value. And yes, Roy White was a beast in his prime. A true star. Extremely underappreciated. He starred during perhaps the Yankees worst era -- when they were a team with no playoff aspirations playing in a crumbling stadium and in a city now dominated by the Mets, whose fans still hadn't come down from their Miracle hangover.

=MFS62 post_id=181262 time=1734467664 user_id=60] =batmagadanleadoff post_id=181260 time=1734466434 user_id=68] And the only tools that Einstein had over me is that he was better at math and science and physics.

=MFS62 post_id=181259 time=1734465276 user_id=60] =batmagadanleadoff post_id=181258 time=1734463770 user_id=68] =MFS62 post_id=181256 time=1734461997 user_id=60] The only tool Bregman has over Pete is power.