batmagadanleadoff

My very first baseball board game. I got da fever for the game! GRASS-CUTTER UP THE MIDDLE! I have that game, but only because I collect Mets memorabilia. Didn't have it when I was a kid. The makers of that Gil Hodges game also produced a hockey version: Rod Gilbert's Violent World of Pro Hockey, which I owned and played intensely for about a year when I was about eight or nine. Ironic because I don't follow hockey at all, and today, I probably couldn't name you two active NHL players. My time spent with that Rod Gilbert game was the most time I ever spent on pro hockey. Here's a metal Tom Seaver board game that came out around 1969, replacing the Carl Yastrzemski version (same game). Same deal, here. Own it now, but not as a kid, although I remember the older kids in the neighborhood having that game. When I discovered Strat-O-Matic, I had no interest in those types of games, now deemed childish by the childish nine-year old me.

Lefty Specialist wrote: We already know [Duda's] an awkward, lumbering outfielder, and that's not going to change no matter how long he's out there. I think so, too. Duda is never gonna be an adequate major league outfielder.

I've been re-reading William Ryczek's Amazin Mets, 1962-1969 lately (skipping around the book at random) and I came across a reference to Jim Hickman's throwing arm in a passage about the first Mets-Cubs game of September 1969, played at Shea Stadium. Hostilities between the two teams had increased significantly since they last played, months ago. This was the game where Koosman famously drilled Ron Santo as retaliation for Bill Hands' knockdown of Tommie Agee, an inning earlier: The Cubs tied the game in the sixth, but in the bottom half of the inning, Agee hit a shot between Kessinger and Santo. On any other day, it was a single, but the wet grass slowed the ball in the outfield and, Agee never hesitating, slid into second with a double. Wayne Garrett singled to right and Agee took off for the plate. In right field was Jim Hickman, now 32, but still the possessor of a powerful arm. As Agee rounded third and streaked for the plate, Hickman cut loose a strong, accurate throw to Randy Hundley. Hundley had the ball in his mitt before Agee reached the plate, and tagged him on his left side as Agee slid in through the right hand batter's box. Umpire Satch Davidson's view was obscured by Agee's body as it crossed in front of him. Davidson spread his hands in the safe sign, and Hundley leapt high in the air in disbelief. Durocher charged from the Cubs dugout. Hundley and Durocher carried on for some time, but to no avail, and the Mets had a 3-2 lead, which Koosman, throwing harder than he had in weeks, held for the last three innings. (can't find that famous picture of Hundley leaping in protest)

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Other than Matt Harvey, none of this has happened.... Parnell's improved, no?

This would have made a great Sporcle quiz, and yes, I think the least guessed there would have been the ones you listed, and I would throw Jorgensen in there as well. Already is one. http://www.sporcle.com/games/PaulyVercillo/Mets_MLBManagers So it's only bad Mets teams that yield lots of managers, eh? I say Buck, Turner, Hawkins, and Ankiel. The toughest answers, according to that quiz, are Sherry (solved by 6.2% of test takers), Marshall (9.8%), Pedrique (20%), McMillan (20.9%), Samuel (21.3%), Boyer (24.4%) AND Jorgensen (24.9%).

Ike Davis could soon be Ike Vegas If he doesn't turn things around quickly, says Mets insider, he'll be off to Triple-A By Adam Rubin | ESPNNewYork.com NEW YORK -- David Wright's intervention helped shield Ike Davis from a demotion to the minors while struggling a year ago. And teammates again are backing the New York Mets first baseman this season. This time, though, the support is unlikely to forestall relocation to Triple-A Las Vegas much longer. "I don't think there's a ton of rope, but I don't think there will be something tonight or tomorrow," a team insider told ESPNNewYork.com on Wednesday night about demoting Davis. Translation: Davis should be at Citi Field on Friday when the Mets open a series with the NL East-leading Atlanta Braves, but there is little assurance he remains with the major league club much beyond that point without a quick demonstration of improvement. Davis is 1-for-his-past-38 and hitless in his past 25 at-bats with runners in scoring position. And unlike a season ago -- when the Mets could more easily overlook Davis' batting skid because the team was eight games over .500 in early June -- this time they are not getting the production elsewhere. After getting swept by the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday afternoon despite having phenom Matt Harvey on the mound, the Mets (17-27) dropped 10 games under .500 at the earliest point in a season since May 19, 2001. How historically bad has the 26-year-old Davis' production been this season? He is hitting .147 with four homers and nine RBIs as June approaches, despite occupying the cleanup spot in more than half of his 37 starts. He has the lowest batting average through 143 at-bats for a major leaguer who hit 30 homers the previous season since Cleveland Indians first baseman Andre Thornton also was hitting .147 at this point in 1985, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Fielding has been problematic, too -- although Davis' relatively modest four errors mask the issue. At Wrigley Field last Friday, Davis failed to catch a clean hop from shortstop Ruben Tejada, allowing Anthony Rizzo to score from second base. Then, in Monday's series opener against Cincinnati, Davis incurred a costly obstruction call when he mindlessly watched a baseball scoot into right field and unintentionally interfered with Joey Votto. In the ninth inning Wednesday, he let Brandon Phillips' grounder down the first-base line go by him, incorrectly thinking it was foul. The double plated the tiebreaking run in a 7-4 loss. "I know I'm going to play better, especially hitting-wise," Davis said. "I can't do any worse." Said Harvey: "He's our teammate. We all love him. And we're behind him every step of the way. It's unfair for everybody to be bashing him. He's working his ass off. He's part of the team. And we're always going to be behind him." A scout who recently watched the Mets for several days offered a detailed explanation to ESPNNewYork.com of why pitchers are dominating Davis. Boiled down to its simplest form: Davis is susceptible to high heat as well as offspeed pitches below the strike zone. "Basically, you can beat him with velocity that's up, and you can beat him with low-zone, 'chase,' softer breaking balls and changeups," the scout said. "How I describe it is he has 'in-between' swings. And with all that excessive hand movement, once you get ahead, all you have to do is continue to pitch off the plate -- not in the strike zone -- and he's going to get himself out. There's no reason to go back and challenge him. So once you get ahead, immediately make sure that nothing is on the plate. If nothing is on the plate, the worst thing he can do is get a base hit. But he can't hit for power." How does a player who finished with 32 homers in 2012 despite a massive early rut get into this bad of a funk again? Is it possible the aberration was last season's torrid second half -- when Davis' 20 homers were second-most in the NL behind San Diego's Chase Headley -- and this is really who Davis is? "No, no, no," the scout said. "We were talking about this amongst ourselves, a group of guys. He needs to go down someplace and get it right. It's a hard place to get it right up here. All these guys are the best. Any flaws or holes are going to be exploited with the better stuff. What I don't grasp is: How does it not serve him going someplace [in the minors] without that pressure, where he's forced to make some of those adjustments, which are in his best interest? Forget about the team. "He would have been better served spending some time down there last year, just for the reality of, 'OK, whatever it is that I'm doing, I have to change it,'" the scout continued. "The reality is he didn't change last year. Until you make those changes, you're just flying by the seat of your pants. You can't do that up here. "Last year, Wright stepped up and vouched for him. That could certainly happen again. I guess my point is: A lot of times, what I hear is that he doesn't like changes. Guess what? If the carrot is the big leagues, you're more likely to get him to make some of those changes if you're not in the big leagues. You want to get back there bad enough." A demotion would not be unprecedented. While Davis avoided Triple-A last season and eventually hit .255 with 20 homers and 41 RBIs in the second half, Lucas Duda did get dispatched to the minors in 2012. Also last season, comparably established first basemen Gaby Sanchez with the Miami Marlins and Adam Lind with the Toronto Blue Jays found themselves in the minors after struggles. The prototypical Mets example: Right-hander Steve Trachsel, with his consent required because of his veteran status, went to Triple-A to reboot back in mid-May 2001 with an 8.24 ERA. He returned a better pitcher, going 10-7 with a 3.35 ERA in 20 starts that season after returning to Flushing. One problem, though: What would the Mets do to plug first base while Davis rights himself? Andrew Brown, who shifted from the outfield to first base last weekend with Triple-A Las Vegas, strained an oblique muscle Sunday, removing him from consideration. Josh Satin has since returned to manning first base over Zach Lutz with the Pacific Coast League club, and Satin is not on the 40-man roster. On the major league team, moving Duda or Daniel Murphy to first base might not make a ton of sense for a relatively short Davis absence because it might disrupt their progress at their adopted positions. Which might leave Justin Turner among the few viable options. Turner happens to be 2-for-his-past-22. "Honestly, I'm never, 'Why me?'" Davis said after Wednesday's game, as he analytically broke down his latest miscue at first base. "It is what it is. � if my teammates weren't behind me, it would be the worst thing in the world. I'd probably be at Triple-A already if my teammates didn't have confidence and want me to be here. They're a huge part of why I come in every day with a positive attitude and try to work and help them. "I'm hard on myself anyway, because I want to do well and I know I'm a good baseball player. Sometimes in this game it's not very easy. You can't get down. You've got to keep grinding it out." Said Wright: "There are certain guys, I guess, you root extra hard for. Ike's at the top of that list -- the type of teammate that he's been through this whole stretch. It's very easy to pull your hair out and mope around and hang your head. And he's been the opposite. He's rooted on his teammates. He's done everything he can to help this team. It's tough to watch, especially with how hard I know the guys are rooting for him to break out of this. It's one of those stretches that you wish on nobody." http://espn.go.com/new-york/mlb/story/_/id/9303025/new-york-mets-ike-davis-seems-destined-demotion

On Baseball Everything Is a Struggle for No-Hit, No-Field Davis Ike Davis watched the game-winning hit by Brandon Phillips bounce past him. By TYLER KEPNER Published: May 22, 2013 The man with the lowest batting average in the major leagues was not thinking of his offense in the top of the ninth inning Wednesday at Citi Field. Ike Davis, the son of a major leaguer, had enough on his mind. Davis had gone hitless again, with two walks, dropping his average to .147, last among the roughly 170 players with enough plate appearances to qualify for a batting title. None of that mattered with runners at the corners and one out in a tie game. Instincts took over for Davis, the Mets� first baseman, who processed several factors in an instant. Davis was holding a runner at first and shifting to cover the hole, believing it was unlikely that the right-hander at the plate, Brandon Phillips, would hit the ball down the line. He knew that the runner at third, Shin-Soo Choo, would be fast enough to beat his throw home on a softly hit ball. When a grounder came his way, Davis ruled out throwing home to get Choo. He also decided against an aggressive attempt at a double play. On a ball like that, Davis said, stepping on first base would remove the force at second, meaning Choo�s run would count. Davis did not want to concede the run, because he knew the overpowering Reds closer Aroldis Chapman would come in for the bottom of the ninth. As the ball skittered down the line, Davis said, it seemed to be bouncing foul. If it stayed on that course, the count would be 0-2 on Phillips. So, in far less time than it took to read about those options, Davis made the call: do nothing. Naturally, the ball stayed fair, skipping over the bag for the go-ahead hit. The Reds won, 7-4. �Everything that can go wrong for me right now is going wrong,� Davis said, but that was as close as he came to self-pity. Davis has 1 hit in his last 38 at-bats, and for the season, he has 4 homers and 9 runs batted in. The Mets are talking openly about sending him to the minors. Davis has responded with admirable professionalism, even if he cannot explain his slump. �There are certain guys you root extra hard for, and Ike�s at the top of the list,� David Wright said. �The type of teammate he�s been through this whole stretch, you might be ready to pull your hair out or mope around, and he�s done the opposite. He�s rooted on his teammates, done everything he can to help the team. It�s tough to watch, especially with how hard I know the rest of the team is rooting for him to break out of this.� It is little consolation to most Mets fans that Davis is well liked and accountable. Jason Bay was the same way. Production always matters most, but for now, character may be all that is sparing Davis from a demotion. �It�s not like my teammates are going to tell Sandy not to send me down,� Davis said, referring to General Manager Sandy Alderson. �It�s just, if I was a bad teammate, a cancer in the clubhouse, it would be a lot easier. If I was selfish, and every time I got out I brought people down with a bad attitude and stuff like that, then I�m really affecting the team. I try not to let my struggles affect anyone else and, in fact, show more support than if I was going good.� The Mets are a season-high 10 games below .500, at 17-27. Predictably, they are going nowhere, slipping into irrelevance before Memorial Day. If they had a compelling replacement for Davis, it might make sense to send him down. They do not. The Mets could move Daniel Murphy from second base or Lucas Duda from left field. But who would be worth trying in the vacated positions? The Mets are not contending this season, a path they chose with their moves last winter. To win in the future, they must determine if Davis is a viable major league first baseman. On this date last season, Davis was hitting .156 with 5 homers and 15 runs batted in. Manager Terry Collins said it was easy to dismiss that start because Davis had missed most of the previous season after Wright ran into him on a pop-up near the mound � Davis had a nearly identical collision Wednesday with shortstop Ruben Tejada � and dealt with valley fever in the spring. �But he feels absolutely great this year and had a great spring,� Collins said. �So this is baffling to everybody. We base what we�re doing on the fact that we�re looking down the road, we�re trying to look at the big picture here, and we�ve got to get this guy going, because we�ve got to figure out: where is he going to fit?� Last season, Davis recovered to hit .254 from May 23 through the end of the season, finishing with 32 homers and 90 runs batted in. Corner infielders who hit like that do not come cheaply and rarely become free agents. The Mets need Davis to be that guy. It would be rash to determine, after less than two months, that Davis has no chance to recover as he did last season. If the Mets believe Davis needs a mental break from his struggles, they should send him down. Otherwise, let him keep trying. It is not as if the team is playoff bound, either way. �I know I�m going to play better, especially hitting-wise,� Davis said. �I can�t do any worse.� http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/23/sports/baseball/ike-davis-the-mets-no-hit-no-field-first-baseman.html

What can the Mets do about Ike Davis? Ike Davis watches the ball go by. MLB.com By Howard Megdal 10:16 am May. 23, 2013 The New York Mets have plenty of self-inflicted problems. Ike Davis is not one of them. But Davis is a problem, and there aren't any easy solutions for the Mets. Davis, who has shown in the past that he possesses plenty of talent, has struggled to an absurd degree at the plate this season, with a .147 batting average and just six extra base hits all season. Now he's having problems in the field to. On Monday night, he stood in the baseline after a ball got by him down the right field line, leading to an obstruction call. Wednesday afternoon, he failed to charge a ground ball in the seventh that tied the game, then, astonishingly, let a ball he thought was foul go by him with the go-ahead runners on base in the ninth. It wasn't foul. The Reds went ahead and stayed there. As Davis put it, accurately and simply: "Everything that can go wrong for me right now is going wrong." So what are the Mets to do about it? Remember, Davis went through similar struggles in 2012, after missing most of 2011 with an injury the team repeatedly misdiagnosed and mistreated. Then Davis contracted Valley Fever, which fatigued him for much of the spring. But Davis recovered quite well last year. On this date in 2012, Davis was hitting .159 with five home runs. From that day forward, Davis put up an .872 O.P.S. and 27 home runs. There was ample reason to believe he'd moved past Valley Fever and the layoff, and brighter days were just ahead. It is much harder to buy into that idea now, with a recurrence of the kind of extended slump almost nobody has, and Davis has dealt with two years in a row. The chorus grows louder each day to send him to Triple-A, and there may be merit to that idea. There is also risk. Forget the fact that the Mets don't have anyone to replace Davis at first base; the 2013 concerns for a 17-27 team simply don't matter. The advantages for Davis to going to Las Vegas are giving him the chance to get away from daily questions about getting sent to Triple-A, while removing him from a toxic fan atmosphere and a major league club where he isn't functioning at bat or in the field. But not only would sending him down be against his wishes, denying him a chance to replicate his 2012 resurrection, but there's also no guarantee it will work. Mets fans seem to have an outsize belief in the restorative powers of a Triple-A trip, thanks, maybe, to a pair of successful ones a decade ago by Steve Trachsel and Bobby Jones. In both cases, struggling pitchers returned after a spell in the minors, and helped the Mets greatly. Davis might not figure anything out in Las Vegas, though, further destroying his confidence. Or he might succeed, but doing so against Triple-A pitchers in a great hitting environment wouldn't necessarily translate into big league success. The Mets, building on a foundation of David Wright and Matt Harvey, are finding that some of the other buildling blocks they were counting on have turned to dust. The dramatic reversal of Ike Davis' career leaves the Mets with another hole to fill, and no one in the organization to do so, other than, possibly, the adequate-hitting Lucas Duda. Davis will stay through the weekend, reportedly. What happens next is anybody's guess. http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/sports/2013/05/8530304/what-can-mets-do-about-ike-davis

Fernandomania comes to New York and blows up big-time. Amid a media presence fit for the seventh game of a World Series, Valenzuela makes the cover of SI after he out-pitches Met Mike Scott in a battle of future Cy Young Award winners. Dodgers edge Mets 1-0 on an unearned run. Scott pitches seven brilliant innings in what is easily the best outing of his mediocre Mets career. I was at that game. Valenzuela's shutout streak remains intact.

Or Mets Junk In The Trunk 2013! Looking for Metly SI covers, and caught what looks to be Ron Hodges sitting on the bench in this 1978 SI cover: Oddly enough this type of situation happened two more times, with Ozzie Smith and later Matt Williams, but the Mets in the dugout are too blurred or blocked to make out who they are. I'm gonna like this thread. Rose's cover was shot at Shea Stadium, where he tied and then passed Tommy Holmes, the holder of the then NL hit streak record. (I was at that game, and was appalled at the ovation Rose got during the pre-game ceremony in his honor. I hadn't gotten over 1973). But I'd hardly call those covers "Met collectible" stuff.

There's a paucity of Mets players who went on to manage a MLB team post 1980's. The only Met player from the 1990's on to manage a team, other than Ventura and Alomar, Jr. is Smallballs. Some of that is by design: players need to pay their dues - they rarely go from the playing field straight to the manager's office. ([u:2rcx32xm]But[/u:2rcx32xm], [u:2rcx32xm]see[/u:2rcx32xm], Hodges, Gil; Torre, Joe)

I like Jason Phillips' chances. He was a catcher. And he wears glasses.

Edgy MD wrote: Joe McEw and Jay Bell will definitely manage. Among guys who haven't hit the MLB coaching ranks yet? Jos� Valent�n. I'd follow that guy anywhere and so would you. And you, and you. I'd consider all three as feasible future Flushing fodder too. So all of that fuss about having to tolerate the uber-crappy and super-sucky "ballplayer" (if that's what you wanted to call him) Alex Cora because he'd make a great manager someday was for naught?

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Who would you consider to be the most likely managerial candidates from recent Mets vintage? Maybe Nickeas or something. What's recent? Oldest, or earliest, Mets squad not to have yet spawned a MLB manager: the 1990 Mets. Last Met squad to have spawned a MLB manager: the 2007 team (Alomar, Jr.); before that, the 2001 team (Ventura).

Edgy MD wrote: Somebody punch Harvey in the nose. That's what I'm gonna do.

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Was that the guy you thought would come last? Funny. I had long known four 1962 Mets had become managers, but I couldn't for the life of me think of the last one. I thought the last manager standing would be between Marshall, Sherry and Pedrique. I was surprised to see Pedrique go so early. I woulda missed him, totally. Other Mets teams to spawn four managers: 1966 (McMillan, Harrelson, Green, Boyer) 1977 (Mazzilli, Torre, Valentine, Harrelson) 1981 (Gardenhire, Mazzilli, Jorgensen, Cubbage) I only remembered Pedrique because he was so unusual. Was he the guy who they got instead of Backman? I guessed Chuck Hiller wrong, was convinced he was a Padres manager at some point. Pedrique the Padre is so alliterative. So's Padre Pedrique. Wally Backman and Dave Magadan frequently come up as managerial candidates. If the two of them were to break on through (RIP, Ray Manzarek) they'd give the '86 (Mazzilli, Knight, Gibbons) and '87 squads (Mazzilli, Hurdle, Pedrique) five mlb managers.

batmagadanleadoff wrote: Was that the guy you thought would come last? Funny. I had long known four 1962 Mets had become managers, but I couldn't for the life of me think of the last one. I thought the last manager standing would be between Marshall, Sherry and Pedrique. I was surprised to see Pedrique go so early. I woulda missed him, totally. Other Mets teams to spawn four managers: 1966 (McMillan, Harrelson, Green, Boyer) 1977 (Mazzilli, Torre, Valentine, Harrelson) 1981 (Gardenhire, Mazzilli, Jorgensen, Cubbage) I'd rephrase my response to note that the last manager standing isn't the best way to determine which answer was the toughest, given the format of this quiz. Because someone with a good working knowledge of Mets history might log on at the beginning of the quiz and decide to go with the toughest answers first. But if this were a written sit-down quiz, like in school, and each contestant or quiz-taker was asked to name these 27 ex-Mets/mlb managers, I'd say that Marshall, Pedrique, Sherry, Boyer and Bochy would be the most missed Mets.

This was expected. The results, anyway. How they'd get to the bottom was arguable. I mean, you'd think that Ike would have two or three more HR's, but instead, Buck's got Ike's missing HR's. But that they'd be pathetic should not surprise anyone.

Edgy MD wrote: Was that the guy you thought would come last? Funny. I had long known four 1962 Mets had become managers, but I couldn't for the life of me think of the last one. I thought the last manager standing would be between Marshall, Sherry and Pedrique. I was surprised to see Pedrique go so early. I woulda missed him, totally. Other Mets teams to spawn four managers: 1966 (McMillan, Harrelson, Green, Boyer) 1977 (Mazzilli, Torre, Valentine, Harrelson) 1981 (Gardenhire, Mazzilli, Jorgensen, Cubbage)

0 Jim Marshall was the last manager standing. Marshall was one of four '62 Mets to manage a major league team (Hodges, Zimmer and Craig).

1

Gwreck wrote: I was 100% sure he played for the Mets. But only about 60% sure that he managed the Cardinals I knew that Jorgy managed a team, but I forgot which one.

Gwreck wrote: Didn't Mike Jorgensen manage the Cardinals in the mid-90s, between Torre and LaRussa? Was there some doubt there?

2

Edgy MD wrote: Does the brief off-season tenure of Wally Backman count? Not in this quiz.