batmagadanleadoff

Here's Jim Hickman at Butterball Field (c. 1962). It's the original field,without the cage, and with the original taller back fence that doesn't have that horizontal middle beam/pipe/bar/whateveryoucallit dividing the back fence in half, more or less. There's a water fountain that we're seeing for the first time, back and to the left of Hickman. Back and to the left. Back and to the left.

Zvon wrote: Not sure. Roger Craig possibly at Butterball Field. That's Craig. That's Butterball Field. And in my next coupla posts, I'm gonna prove that the 1962 version of Butterball Field underwent renovations, including a back and side fence change and a cage addition .... and that The Sadecki Spot is located on Butterball Field. The same Butterball Field that Roger Craig is photographed at, above. This is so exciting. I can't wait.

themetfairy wrote: batmagadanleadoff wrote: The Hammer, the stands, the cage, The Sadecki Spot and the clubhouse, all in one shot. John Milner. I recognized him even without you giving away his nickname.

batmagadanleadoff wrote: Yogi by the stands. Some pole sticking out of the ground, just like in the Milner picture a few posts above this one. Are the stands the same in both photos? What about the clubhouse in the background?

Yogi by the stands. Some pole sticking out of the ground, just like in the Milner picture a few posts above this one.

This 1966 Topps photo of Larry Milller is the earliest dated photo in this thread showing the cage at Butterball Field. There's also an undated photo of Wes Westrum near that cage. Westrum was with the Mets from 1964-1967. I think that this is further proof that the cage wasn't there in 1962 and that the Mets eventually renovated that field. Otherwise, we would've found at least one picture of a Stengel era Met by that cage. There's an overabundance of Stengel era Spring Training Mets photos.

Met Hunter wrote: batmagadanleadoff wrote: Zvon wrote: This one might not be fair because you can't really see his face. But he has been named in this thread so I'll throw it up. Played for the Mets. According to the caption to this photo, which I've learned in many instances can be wrong with these online photo places, this is that ex-Met player pitching batting practice for the Dodgers in 1973. Who is he? His name is in this thread somewhere. That doesn't look like anything like Chris Cannizzaro but he was the only one-time Met on that team. Valentine was on the Angels in '73. I wonder if the Dodgers would've retired Gil's number had they remained in Brooklyn? Tom Paciorek was on that team too. Doesn't look like him either. I forgot about Paciorek. Can you blame me?

Gwreck wrote: batmagadanleadoff wrote: This back page isn't aging well. I suppose it's an open question as to why it is posted every time the Mets play the Phillies. I dunno.

It is Wright. When I first posted that back page three years ago, there was also confusion over the identity of the 2d Met. That was three weeks before Dickey was brought up.

Zvon wrote: This one might not be fair because you can't really see his face. But he has been named in this thread so I'll throw it up. Played for the Mets. According to the caption to this photo, which I've learned in many instances can be wrong with these online photo places, this is that ex-Met player pitching batting practice for the Dodgers in 1973. Who is he? His name is in this thread somewhere. That doesn't look like anything like Chris Cannizzaro but he was the only one-time Met on that team. Valentine was on the Angels in '73. I wonder if the Dodgers would've retired Gil's number had they remained in Brooklyn?

Tracy Stallard (1964) on the the Butterball Botz diamond before the cage was built. It's the same diamond that includes the Sadecki Spot. You can tell by the parking lot behind the fence. Therefore, the cage was built after the Spring of 1964 but no later than 1967, the last year when Westrum would have been in St. Petersburg with the Mets. The Mets replaced the back fence, too -- maybe because the old fence could not have provided proper support for the cage. I'm gonna call that particular diamond Butterball Field.

This back page isn't aging well.

The Hammer, the stands, the cage, The Sadecki Spot and the clubhouse, all in one shot.

batmagadanleadoff wrote: John Glass and Tug McGraw at some other cage near a tall conical structure. Glass and McGraw were photographed on the same day, probably no more than minutes apart. In both photos, the cage door is open at the precise same angle; there's the same rock/object on the ground at the same location near the cage door; and there's the same streak in the sky, maybe from an airplane.

Kong76 wrote: Edgy MD wrote: The obsession is another matter. And Bingo was his name-o!

Collins eyes Friday for Wright return September, 19, 2013 By Adam Rubin | ESPNNewYork.com http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/mets/post/_/id/77917/collins-eyes-friday-in-philly-for-wright-return NEW YORK -- Terry Collins expects David Wright will play in his first major league game in seven weeks in Friday's series opener in Philadelphia, assuming Wright makes it through Thursday's workout without issue. Wright suffered a Grade 2 right hamstring strain on Aug. 2. "He went back-to-back days with pretty good intensity, so I just want to see how he feels," Collins said. "... I just know it's going to be the top of the ninth inning tomorrow night and there's going to be a runner at third base with two outs, and he's going to hit a chopper and he's going to bust it down that first-base line. So we've got to make sure his legs are ready." Wright was a little more cautious in assuring a Friday return. "When you start making predictions and they don't come to fruition, then all of a sudden it's viewed as a setback, and that's not the case," Wright said. "I'm not ready to make any predictions or anything. We'll see how I feel today and then we'll discuss what tomorrow holds. I feel as good as I can. It's tough kind of being away from doing those types of things for so long, and then all of a sudden doing it, and doing it trying to rush everything to play as soon as possible. "I'm not really too sore. The doctors' point of view and trainers' point of view is that it takes time. It's just not something that you can be away for six weeks and all of a sudden just snap your fingers and go out and play in a baseball game. It might look like it doesn't take all that much athleticism to play, especially with some of the guys that we've got, but you've got to be in that baseball shape. I think that it takes a little bit of time to get into that baseball shape, and I'm getting pretty close." Wright acknowledged there is no way to test the hamstring with a burst until he gets into a game. "As much as I'd like to say I go out there and I try to give as much effort as I can on the bases, there's a different switch that goes off when you get into a game," he said. "If you need to get to first, or you need to score on a single, or something like that, that just can't be replicated." Wright would like to regularly play once he returns, but will defer to Collins' and the medical staff's wishes. "I hope it's not that," Wright said about playing every other game or something comparable. "I would hope they let me play the majority. If Terry comes up and says, 'Hey, look, this is what it's going to be,' then this is what it's going to be. As much as I'd like to play -- it's important for me to finish the season, personally, as I've mentioned -- but it's equally as important for me to finish the season healthy. I don't want to go into the offseason having to rehab something and the uncertainty of coming into spring training a little hurt." Wright remains resolute that it is smart to return before the season ends, rather than wait until spring training after several months of the hamstring avoiding bursts. "If I'm able to play, I want to play," Wright said. "I don't understand somebody that's healthy, that can play, that doesn't play. I'm going to probably have to do those bursts in February in a game, so at some point you've got to figure out and feel confident being healthy. "I've said it a number of times, there's a number of different reasons [for returning now]. One, this is what I want to do. I want to play. Also, I'd like to obviously play in front of the fans the last homestand. And then mentally, for the team and myself, I'd like to finish this year strong, going into next year with at least a little bit of momentum. With how things have gone this year, there's not too many positives you can take away from this. At least you want to try to win some of those smaller battles down the stretch where you have some things to feel good about going into the offseason."

John Glass and Tug McGraw at some other cage near a tall conical structure.

"Like I can't do whatever Sadecki can do"!

batmagadanleadoff wrote: batmagadanleadoff wrote: That's definitely the Sadecki Spot coming out of Dani Torre's right hip. There's no doubt. If you enlarge the photo, you can easily see the tarp covering the front opening to the frame structure. So it only took the Mets like 15 years before they thought, hey, maybe we should put some stands here. Nah, thats far back by the "Clendenon Corner". Maybe they always were there. We need an aerial view. Yo, maybe we could find this spot through Google map! The photos aren't necessarily inconsistent. You just can't see the stands from the Clendenon angle. But the stands should be there -- just out of frame. Wait a minute! I didn't mean that Torre's lying on the ground at the Sadecki Spot. I meant that you can see the Sadecki Spot in the background to the Torre photo.

Zvon wrote: batmagadanleadoff wrote: That's definitely the Sadecki Spot coming out of Dani Torre's right hip. There's no doubt. If you enlarge the photo, you can easily see the tarp covering the front opening to the frame structure. So it only took the Mets like 15 years before they thought, hey, maybe we should put some stands here. Nah, thats far back by the "Clendenon Corner". Maybe they always were there. We need an aerial view. Yo, maybe we could find this spot through Google map! The photos aren't necessarily inconsistent. You just can't see the stands from the Clendenon angle. But the stands should be there -- just out of frame.

I'm gonna guess that Butterball, photographed above in 1962, was in fact standing at the Sadecki Spot, and that the Mets, since then, changed the back fence and built the mysterious cage structure that, from our photos, first appears in the Westrum shot minus the tarp. I base this on the line in the grass --- it's jutting out from near the corner where the two back fences meet and angling toward the field. It's in every photo.

This throwback is captured by The Man From Topps throwing the ball back. To Ray Sadecki, most likely.

batmagadanleadoff wrote: Who am I? This Giant is not pictured in the original post to this thread because he never played for the Mets. Never appeared in a Mets game. Was never on the Mets 25 man roster. But he did get his own Topps Baseball card in a Mets uniform. Don't tell Davey Schneck.

batmagadanleadoff wrote: batmagadanleadoff wrote: batmagadanleadoff wrote: Johnny Stephenson? Boy, these quizzes don't stay unsolved for more than a few minutes. Lucky. I was just working with the '66 cards. Ha! Great b&w of Clendenon up above. That's the widest angle we've seen of that practice field. Now we know that there's no outfield beyond the first infield -- just another infield. I ran into two in the same slide show. Not positive about this one tho. It's hard to tell but I wouldn't rule it out. What about the tree on the extreme left side of the photo -- to the right of Torre's wife? How does that tree compare with the trees in the other shots? That's definitely the Sadecki Spot coming out of Dani Torre's right hip. There's no doubt. If you enlarge the photo, you can easily see the tarp covering the front opening to the frame structure. The Torres on the beach in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Btw, do you know who created this card? I'd like to use that for my '65 Spahn card post. http://cardsthatneverwere.blogspot.com/search?q=spahn