batmagadanleadoff

Frayed Knot wrote: Cause I've Done These Card Threads So Many Times Before I see what you did there. I'm impressed. Though, to be honest, I thought you'd laugh when you read that part, rather than just see.

d'Kong76 wrote: you took me too literally. Can you blame me, ol' chum?

d'Kong76 wrote: $3.50 is pretty cheap, and you don't have sit wherever your ticket is. They have condiment islands all over to put whatever you want on your 35� hot dogs. You can't sit wherever you want with an outfield promenade ticket -- you especially can't sit where the equivalent of Shea's 1964 $3.50 seats are. And your condiment comments misses the point of my original post. But if you insist on taking my post literally to poke holes in it, you could calculate inflation according to the Consumer Price Index, to determine that $3.50 today is about 46 cents in 1964 money. And 46 cents in 1964 would've probably put a baseball fan in the outfield bleachers -- not that Shea had outfield bleachers, let alone outfield bleachers three or four levels up, although the farthest reaches of the upper deck did extend beyond the foul poles and into fair territory -- but a fair exchange nonetheless. Of course, I don't see my little joke as being flawed. If there's any flaw, it's with the Mets equating a $3.50 outfield promenade seat today with a 1964 $3.50 field level box seat.

The Mets celebrate the 50th anniversary of Shea Stadium by rolling back ticket prices for this weekend's series against the Braves to $3.50 -- the price of a 1964 field level box seat. In this 2014 version of $3.50 seats, you get to sit in the Outfield Promenade, 550 feet away from home plate and three zip codes farther away than from a 1964 $3.50 field level Shea box. What? You thought the Mets weren't gonna adjust for inflation when they rolled back their prices? They're also rolling back hot dog prices to the 1964 price of thirty-five cents. For a quarter and a dime, you can purchase two Gulden's mustard packets. (Hot dog, bun and sauerkraut are extra). http://newyork.mets.mlb.com/nym/ticketing/1964.jsp Gratuitous Bartolo Colon gif [fimg=444:xyatskw8]http://dailystache.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/BartoloColonBellyGiggle.gif[/fimg:xyatskw8]

[fimg=259]http://www.tradingcarddb.com/Images/Cards/Baseball/1761/1761-T68Fr.jpg[/fimg]

batmagadanleadoff wrote: Zvon wrote: Yea, that's deff Beauchamp. The guys in the last row after Matlack (going to right). Dave Marshall, Chuck Taylor, Bill Sudakis and who ? Harry Parker? Joe Nolan? Tom Cruise? I got Don Hahn where you say Sudakis. [fimg=744]https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7319/13838606434_b0621bf591.jpg[/fimg] I found another version of the team photo used on the Topps '73 team card -- with legend. You were right -- that's Sudakis, not Hahn. Also there's good reason why you couldn't identify the Met to Sudakis's left -- it's the batboy! Also, Boswell and Mays, physically MIA for that actual shoot, are included in circular insets. Don Hahn is both MIA and unaccounted for, even by insert.

batmagadanleadoff wrote: A special limited edition Angels Among Us version of "Who Am I?" [fimg=220]https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3796/13803143704_80f0836598.jpg[/fimg] [fimg=252]https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7188/13803143854_f5ef1178a7.jpg[/fimg] [fimg=444]http://a.espncdn.com/photo/2012/0626/mlb_a_hawkins_gb1_576.jpg[/fimg] [fimg=263]https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5596/13836828464_88f27a216b.jpg[/fimg] [fimg=283]https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3734/13803143834_7b2691db97.jpg[/fimg] [fimg=163]https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7039/13803143714_6b891e5bb2.jpg[/fimg] [fimg=224]http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/board/attachments/ootp-mods-rosters-photos-quick-starts/185586d1272750306-gambo-t_wil1-photopack-gregg-jefferies-1998-angels-2.jpg[/fimg] [fimg=177]http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/board/attachments/ootp-mods-rosters-photos-quick-starts/251751d1334927115-krantzbucks-pics-colorize-dick-stuart-angels-180x.jpg[/fimg] [fimg=444]http://angelsphotosmlb.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/aps_w_130801_0191.jpg[/fimg]

Zvon wrote: Yea, that's deff Beauchamp. The guys in the last row after Matlack (going to right). Dave Marshall, Chuck Taylor, Bill Sudakis and who ? Harry Parker? Joe Nolan? Tom Cruise? I got Don Hahn where you say Sudakis. [fimg=633]https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-dK0XvM4F3mQ/U0RX0sSX9FI/AAAAAAAAOcE/3zJ1Y8JoO9o/s863/73MetTEAMpicTEST1.png[/fimg] Why is Kranepool wearing #29? Did you do that?

I guess I should go back and watch the whole video. I shut it off after about three or four minutes, figuring I already got the gist of it and the rest would be repetitive -- just more riffing on the same joke they already made like 50 times already. I wonder how much the Stones charged them for permission to use Paint it Black?

SteveJRogers wrote: Thankfully Photoshopping card photos to reflect new teams greatly improved since that Ellis Valentine distaster...but not much when you can tell someone is wearing home whites in another team's stadium! Can you elaborate on this?

How many other guys got the floating halo this year? [fimg=250]http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/NzUzWDU1Mg==/z/ymoAAOxy7nNTR~y5/$_57.JPG[/fimg] That should've been Sadecki Spot West. Every Angel deserves a halo. Card Corner: Topps� top 60 and Billy Cowan December 10, 2010 by Bruce Markusen 4 Comments If you�re a fan in your 30s or younger, it�s possible that you�ve never heard of Billy Cowan. Heck, even if you�re my age (somewhere in the mid-40s), his name might escape your memory. That�s because Billy Cowan was the consummate journeyman. He bounced around both leagues�not to mention several minor leagues�from 1963 to 1972, putting in time with the Cubs, Mets, Milwaukee Braves, Phillies, Yankees and California Angels. For most of his career, Cowan was a fourth or fifth outfielder who played only in fits and starts. He was a regular outfielder for a grand total of one season; in 1964, he became the Cubs� No. 1 center fielder, hitting 19 home runs while hitting .241. Other than that, Cowan struggled to find playing time. He was never an All-Star or an MVP candidate. He never received a vote for the Hall of Fame. Yet, none of that has stopped Cowan from becoming a cult figure in the baseball card business. He receives more autograph requests through the mail than most journeyman outfielders of similar vintage�if only because of his amusing 1972 Topps card. Sometime during the 1971 season, the folks at Topps visited southern California to take photographs to be used for the psychedelic 1972 set. Opting to have some fun with Cowan, the Topps photographer lined his head up perfectly within the confines of the old halo at Anaheim Stadium, now known as Angel Stadium of Anaheim. At the time, the stadium featured a large halo at the top of a tower lwithin the perimeter of the ballpark. I�ve always wondered this about the Cowan card: Was he aware of what the photographer was doing? It certainly looks like the photographer intentionally set up the photo so that Cowan�s head was right in the middle of the halo, but I�m not sure that Cowan realized that. Either way, Cowan has maintained his sense of humor about it�along with his willingness to sign the card when it is sent to him in the mail. Other than his 1972 card, Cowan is perhaps best remembered for being one of the successful targets of Morganna Roberts, the onetime stripper known as the famed �Kissing Bandit.� Regarded as one of the better looking players in the major leagues, Cowan received an on-field kiss from Morganna during one of the Angels� games. That put Cowan in good company. He joined contemporary stars like Clete Boyer, Frank Howard and Pete Rose, all far better known players who had been smooched by The Bandit. There was at least one day during the 1971 season that Cowan clearly was not in a kissing mood. Legendary broadcaster Dick Enberg, at the time doing play-by-play for the Angels, ripped into the team for its awful performance in a game at Yankee Stadium. At one point, Enberg said the Angels were playing as if they were �half asleep.� Listening to the broadcast from southern California, Angels GM Dick Walsh called up manager Lefty Phillips, angrily asking him about the team�s disgraceful play. In response, Phillips conducted a Saturday night bed check, and ended up finding that half of his players had broken curfew. Phillips levied $200 fines against each of the offending players. Word came down to the Angels players that the fines had come about, at least indirectly, as the result of Enberg�s harsh on-air criticism. As Enberg boarded the team bus on Sunday, an angry Cowan confronted him. �You cost me $200, you son of a bitch,� Cowan shouted at Enberg. �I ought to take $200 out of your voice.� With Cowan on the verge of taking a swing at the mild-mannered Enberg, Phillips and his coaches arrived at the scene. Not wanting to fight in front of his manager, Cowan backed down, sparing Enberg any further wrath. Cowan would face bigger problems in 1972. He appeared in three games�all as a pinch-hitter�before drawing his release in mid-April. The Angels contended that Cowan was no longer a useful player; after all, he was 0-for-3 as a pinch-hitter and was coming off a season in which he had struck out 41 times against only seven walks. Cowan felt differently. Once labeled by The Sporting News as the �Clarence Darrow of the clubhouse,� Cowan filed a grievance against the Angels through the Players� Association, claiming that the release occurred for reasons other than baseball ability. The Angels� top pinch-hitter in 1971, Cowan contended that California had cut him loose because of his active role as the Angels� player representative, which was like being branded with a scarlet letter at the time of collective bargaining friction between the players and owners. Like Cowan, three other player representatives for the Angels had been relocated against their wishes, with infielders Jim Fregosi and Bobby Knoop (our favorite from the 1970 Topps set) sent packing in trades and catcher Buck Rodgers demoted to the minor leagues. The Angels players, like the 23 other teams in existence at the time, had dared to strike at the tail end of spring training, delaying the start of the 1972 regular season�and perhaps influencing the eventual end of Cowan�s major league career. Cowan could not find work with another major league team. As a result, there was no 1973 Topps card. And no chance to top one of the most creative baseball cards ever printed. http://www.hardballtimes.com/card-corner-topps-top-60-and-billy-cowan/

http://archives.cranepoolforum.net/9300/f1_t9314.shtml http://archives.cranepoolforum.net/9300/f1_t9365.shtml off-topic ---- About a week after the Randolph firing, two threads were started here about RA DIckey -- two years before he'd join the Mets. I found 'em while looking for the old Willie threads posted above. R.A. Dickey is --- http://archives.cranepoolforum.net/9400/f1_t9406.shtml R.A. Dickey --- http://archives.cranepoolforum.net/9400/f1_t9404.shtml

http://archives.cranepoolforum.net/9300/f1_t9314.shtml http://archives.cranepoolforum.net/9300/f1_t9365.shtml

In-and-Out Burgers, the last good Mets squad and the dumping of the Bunt-O-Matic manager who never should have managed in the first place. Mets return to Anaheim for the first time since Willie Randolph firing fiasco of 2008 When the Mets play the Angels Friday night, it will be their first time in the home of Disneyland since then-general manager Omar Minaya axed Randolph at 3 a.m. East Coast time. BY Kristie Ackert NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Friday, April 11, 2014, 9:22 AM ATLANTA - The second Kevin Burkhardt saw the itinerary for the Mets� first road trip of the 2014 season, the SNY reporter started having flashbacks to the Mets� last visit to Anaheim. He remembers sitting down to enjoy a late night In-and-Out burger when all hell broke loss. His phone started buzzing and just like that he was running to find a cab to get back to the Westin in Costa Mesa, California, where he would spend the early morning hours of June 17, 2008. "I looked at the itinerary and I couldn't believe it, we are staying in the same hotel," Burkhardt said this week. That hotel is where the Mets pulled their own version of midnight madness, firing manager Willie Randolph in the middle of the night. �I immediately started thinking about trying to stay awake in the lobby waiting to get Willie and (pitching coach) Rick Peterson after they were fired." When the Mets play the Angels Friday night, it will be their first time in the home of Disneyland since then-general manager Omar Minaya axed Randolph at 3 a.m. East Coast time. But it is a much different team, one with few connections to what some consider one of the most embarrassing moments in recent Mets history. A year after collapsing in the final weeks of the 2007 season, the 2008 Mets � featuring stars Carlos Delgado, Johan Santana, Carlos Beltran, Jose Reyes and David Wright � were a big-budget squad, expected to not only play meaningful games in September, but compete for a World Series title in October. But the 2008 team was struggling at a game under .500 when it kicked off a West Coast trip in Anaheim. EFE OUT Nick Ut/AP Mets GM Omar Minaya takes heat for the way he fired Willie Randolph. In his last night at the helm of the Mets, Randolph managed the Mets to a 9-6 win over the Angels. Mike Pelfrey beat Jered Weaver and Billy Wagner picked up the save. But Minaya proved to be the ultimate closer that night. A few hours later, Minaya gave Randolph - who went 302-253 as manager and led the team to its only division title since 1988 - the ax. The Willie watch had been on for some time and a 5-game losing streak the previous week seemed to seal Randolph�s fate. After a Father Day�s double-header split at Shea against Texas, Burkhardt and other reporters waited around at Shea Stadium expecting the Mets to fire Randolph before flying across the country. But the Mets let Randolph fly to Anaheim, it appeared he was safe for the time being. He was not. "It just got to the point that speculation about his job had become a distraction to the team," said Minaya, now with the Padres as a Senior Vice President of Baseball Operations. "It was a tough thing. Willie and I were friends. We still are good friends. "I know the optics of it looked bad, late at night on the West Coast, but I wanted to do it after the game," Minaya explained. "But it was my decision and a decision that had to be done. SNY Field Reporter Kevin Burkhardt reports as the New York Mets play baseball inside Citi Field in Queens on Wednesday, May 12, 2010. Anthony DelMundo for New York Daily News SNY's Kevin Burkhardt doesn't pull any punches as he blasts the Mets the next morning for the way in which the organization handled the firing of Willie Randolph. "I am rooting for Willie Randolph to get another manager's job," Minaya said. "He was over .500 as a manager. He deserves another chance." Wright, the only remaining player on the roster from that game, said he too still has a good relationship with Randolph. He said that he has very vague memories from those days. "I think managers understand it when they take the job, a lot of times, they take the fall for players underperforming, or injuries or a combination of both, that's been the case a couple times," said Wright. "Managers get a lot grief a lot of times about stuff they don't have a lot of control over." The Mets under Jerry Manuel, played well, finishing 89-73, but just like in 2007, had a chance to make the playoffs the final weekend of the season only to lose two of the three to the Marlins at Shea. The finale, a 4-2 loss in the last game ever played at Shea Stadium also marked the end of their last winning season. There have not been many highlights since then, but certainly that night stood out as one of the lowest points in the franchise�s history. Not only did fans and media members rip the Mets for their handling of Randolph, it turned a manager many thought should be canned into a sypathetic figure. It was a mess. New York Mets interim manager Jerry Manuel talks before the Mets' baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels, during a news conference in Anaheim, Calif, Tuesday, June 17, 2008. Manuel was promoted from bench coach after manager Willie Randolph was fired. (AP Photo/Nick Ut) Nick Ut/AP Jerry Manuel is named interim skipper of the Mets on June 17, 2008. Burkhardt, who spent most of the night in the lobby waiting to get a comment from Randolph and Peterson, went on the air live at 6 a.m. and fired away at the Mets for their handling of the situation. "I went on for 15 minutes and I wasn't shy what I thought about the situation�... I ripped into how they handled it for 15 minutes, I was exhausted. It was one of those things that when I got done, I was like�.hmmmm�.I wonder how that will be received," Burkhardt said with a laugh. In fact, Burkhardt never heard a peep about it from the front office or the Mets ownership. Now, Burkhardt, who is a national broadcaster with Fox as well as SNY, looks back at that 24 hours as a seminal moment in his career and for SNY, which gained some credibility when other announcers joined him in unanimous criticism of the move. "It wasn't just me, we were all pretty critical of how it was handled and no one said anything about it, so I think it was a pretty big moment where people though 'OK SNY is gonna be a little different,' it was big for," Burkhardt said. Almost falling asleep on the broadcast that day, with no sleep for over 24 hours, Burkhardt can't remember exactly what he said, but he has the same strong feelings. "You know what as a human being this is BS what they did to him," Burkhardt said. "He was home. Sunday night, you could have said 'Hey thanks for the memories.' "Omar told him after the game, they put out an email 3 Eastern, it was bad," he concluded. There is a right way to do it and a wrong way to do it and they did it the wrong way. No question." http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/mets/mets-return-scene-willie-randolph-firing-fiasco-article-1.1753227#ixzz2yhLobZ40

A special limited edition Angels Among Us version of "Who Am I?" [fimg=330:21byy2sq]https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3796/13803143704_80f0836598.jpg[/fimg:21byy2sq] [fimg=383:21byy2sq]https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7188/13803143854_f5ef1178a7.jpg[/fimg:21byy2sq] [fimg=644:21byy2sq]http://a.espncdn.com/photo/2012/0626/mlb_a_hawkins_gb1_576.jpg[/fimg:21byy2sq][fimg=333:21byy2sq]https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3734/13803143834_7b2691db97.jpg[/fimg:21byy2sq] [fimg=333:21byy2sq]https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7039/13803143714_6b891e5bb2.jpg[/fimg:21byy2sq] [fimg=305:21byy2sq]http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/board/attachments/ootp-mods-rosters-photos-quick-starts/185586d1272750306-gambo-t_wil1-photopack-gregg-jefferies-1998-angels-2.jpg[/fimg:21byy2sq] [fimg=311:21byy2sq]http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/board/attachments/ootp-mods-rosters-photos-quick-starts/251751d1334927115-krantzbucks-pics-colorize-dick-stuart-angels-180x.jpg[/fimg:21byy2sq] [fimg=544:21byy2sq]http://angelsphotosmlb.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/aps_w_130801_0191.jpg[/fimg:21byy2sq]

Anaheim road trips bring back some of my most favorite Mets memories of all time, and the greatest tabloid overreaction in franchise history. [fimg=644:e4qx1bf4]http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj176/rsjem23/mets-covers1.jpg[/fimg:e4qx1bf4]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Brooks, Swan, Fitzgerald. Had no idea they were Angels. I always knew that Swan was an Angel because but for the five innings he pitched for them to end his career, he would've had a MLB career of 10+ years, all of them with the Mets. Cleon Jones also just missed, by playing his last 12 games for the ChiSox.

batmagadanleadoff wrote: Is that Fenway? Pretty rare locale for a '60's card, no? Jack Hamilton pitched in a very famous (or infamous) game at Fenway Park in 1967.

Is that Fenway? Pretty rare locale for a '60's card, no?

[fimg=266]http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/NjQwWDQ2Ng==/z/mmwAAOxy7nNTR4Ie/$_1.JPG[/fimg] [fimg=252]http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTA1M1g3NTg=/z/xLcAAOxySoJTQxf2/$_1.JPG[/fimg] [fimg=263]http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTAwMFg3MTQ=/z/EpwAAOxym2BSD2Tc/$(KGrHqZ,!pIFH)bses49BSD2TcQM4w~~60_57.JPG[/fimg] [fimg=255]http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rEXm9bqrvGI/TsxT_zHJ_8I/AAAAAAAABCg/UbSDrVTKXSM/s1600/Dave_Kingman.jpg[/fimg] [fimg=261]http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTEwNlg3OTg=/z/b3IAAMXQllxRnII~/$T2eC16V,!yEE9s5jFKheBRnII-t5JQ~~60_57.JPG[/fimg] [fimg=278]http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/NzUzWDU1Mg==/z/ymoAAOxy7nNTR~y5/$_57.JPG[/fimg] [fimg=243]https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3810/13810610264_2e8f546d37.jpg[/fimg][fimg=355]http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/NTQ1WDc0OA==/z/m2EAAMXQRPRTHyny/$_1.JPG[/fimg] [fimg=355]http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTE0M1gxNjAw/z/FvQAAOxyeZNTRo1a/$_1.JPG[/fimg]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Not to criticize.... Criticize all you want. What would be the point of having this forum if you couldn't criticize anything? John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Also, scheduling it so soon after the other tourney may have increased the burnout rate. Totally agree. People barely even voted, let alone competed. John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: ... but with a finite set of tunes to select from having a fininite set of topics caused a little bit of a creative issue, I think that was all pointed out above. I see your point (and TMF's), but I'm not so sure that I agree. I thought it would've been mainly the available topics, both in number and in type that would've determined difficulty. I thought that it would've been just as easy to choose from a few dozen songs as from an unlimited amount, especially when the few dozen songs are as well known as the Beatles catalog.

themetfairy wrote: Congrats G-Fafif! Good job to all - there were some inspired entries here written within quite limiting constraints. What was so limiting? In the old school contests, you'd start with three, four or five players, and if you were lucky, you'd get one star or one player with a rich or colorful history. Here you had like a dozen or so players to choose from in the first round and an open category in the second round. I think a few others said that there weren't enough categories in the first round, which I didn't understand. What am I missing?

d'Kong76 wrote: batmagadanleadoff wrote: If you have something to say, then say it. I'm supposed to guess as to what you think my cause is? Because I don't even know what the phrase means in this context in a general sense. I don't even have the slightest idea what you generally mean by "cause", let alone what you think my specific "cause" would be. Cause? As in goal? Like to effect something? By posting that marriage proposal piece? Yes, you're supposed to guess. Let us know asap! If it helps, replace the word "cause" with "agenda" or something of the like. Please don't bother with a four sentence ramble of general this and context that or that specific something stuff. Just guess!! What is it? I'm so not in the mood to respond to this.

batmagadanleadoff wrote: This article identifies the Mets as one of three teams positioned to trade for Dodgers SS Hanley Ramirez (29 years old) if the Dodgers are unwilling or unable to extend the free-agent-to-be's contract. The Mets might have the trade chips to get Ramirez if he's put on the market, but how would the team keep him? The Mets can pay somebody $20-$25M a year? This I'd like to see.

I don't know if y'all know this, but there was a song parody contest going on here this week. Congratulation to this year's Liverpool to Crane Pool champion, G-Fafif and runner-up sharpie. Here are your updated world class song parody rankings: (old rank in parentheses where change) 1 TransMonk 2 G-Fafif (6) 3T sharpie 3T Edgy MD (2) 5 John Cougar Lunchbucket 6 LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr (4) 7 Zvon (9) 8 Lefty Specialist (7) 9 Kong76 (8) 10 Fman99 10 metirish 12 A Boy Named Seo 13 Ceetar 13 seawolf17 15 metsmarathon 16 Trachsel My Tears