batmagadanleadoff

Topps 2011 Heritage Set (1962 style) is coming. Here's a preview of some Mets, photgraphed close-up and hatless, just like most of the Mets appearing in the '62 set:

From your link, it appears that I was remembering June.

You could be right. I realize that most of September is technically Summer, but I was referring to the hot dog days (July, August and perhaps some June) -- the middle of that season. Strawberry was at his Mets best then. And because this discussion considers a player's whole season, Straw's beginning and end of '90 probably knocked that season out of contention for purposes of this thread.

I remember Darryl playing his best ball ever as a Met during the Summer of '90. Shortly after Johnson was fired, Straw went fuego and practically put the Mets in first place all by himself. I thought he also played the best defense of his Mets career that Summer. Landed an SI cover, as well. Straw had something to prove in 1990 -- his walk year.

Gimme a break. Luis Hernandez sucks.

Was awarded one of the three outfield rookie cup trophies that didn't go to Steve Henderson.

So long as the Mets are in contention for a playoff spot, the issue isn't so much who is the Mets best second baseman, but rather, whether the Mets best second baseman is good enough.

If you ask me, I'd say that you can't even buy a bad seat at a decent price. The options aren't mutually exclusive. There's no reason why a fan can't have enjoyable seating, savory food choices and a hall of fame exhibit. But I'd say that seating options come first.

This hatred for Castillo baffles me. Especially since, flaws and all, he still might be the Mets best second baseman. So he was the goat in one of the ugliest losses in franchise history. Big deal. The Mets finished 23 games out in 2009. Within weeks of "the flub" the Mets were fielding a minor league roster that would've struggled to beat the de Roulet Mets. Compared to what Timo Perez [crossout:1eo7ebdp]did[/crossout:1eo7ebdp] didn't do in the WS, Castillo's error was a walk-off grand slam home run. Hasn't enough time passed to heal that wound? Castillo's making too much money? Good for him. Blame that one on the front office if you don't like the contract and blame you must. For that matter, I don't get any of the hatred being sent Ollie's way either. It's no skin off the Mets nose keeping him in Spring Training at this point. (Though I got the hate last year and even gave some of it myself, when he refused a minor league assignment while the Mets were still in contention.)

Nobody's wasting Spring innings on Ollie, according to Terry Collins: �We�ve got lots of innings, innings are not an issue, we can create innings,� he said. �Yesterday we had a couple guys throw on the back fields. There�s lots of opportunity here. There�s not a finite reservoir of innings.�

The Times had been reporting for weeks, that the Mets money problems are entirely independent of the Madoff litigation. With that article, they finally provided some of the details. I wonder who the Times' confidential sources are: persons from among the current candidates of potential buyers ... bankers/lawyers/finance guys or gals who reviewed the books in connection with the Mets recent loan applications?

Didn't we have a thread on this question before? I like Jones/Franco, myself.

Velocity isn't the last word but most pitchers can't adjust after their fastball drops by 10 MPH. I wasn't aware that Seaver's fastball was diminished by that much while he was still effective. I could be wrong, though. In his next to last season with the ChiSox in '85, Seaver was one of the AL's top 10 pitchers. But I thought he was throwing in the very high 80's, peaking at 90-91 then. Am I misremembering?

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: metirish wrote: It would be a desperate team to take him on with his fastball in the low to mid 80's.Moyer and his ilk have made careers out of that. It's called "pitching." It might be called pitching but for every pitcher that could retire ML hitters consistently despite losing 10 MPH off his fastball, there were hundreds who couldn't. Even Tom Seaver couldn't, among hundreds ... thousands of others.

dgwphotography wrote: Centerfield wrote: Alderson says contract talks during spring training are "unlikely". I repeat, this makes no sense to me. Up until now I've given Sandy the benefit of the doubt, but this just sucks. I think he's going to be a Phillie next year, and this team will be better in the long run due to the thinking behind it. If the MFY's get around to shifting Jeter out of the infield by 2012 ......

Ollie's throwing 84 MPH High School fastballs. He seems done. He's only auditioning because of his $12M contract. What would you prefer the Mets do with him?

Ceetar wrote: metirish wrote: metirish wrote: TransMonk wrote: Terry and Sandy are travelling to see Ollie pitch. I thought our GM wanted to see Reyes play. Hey, Sandy! Jose's in St. Lucie. Rubin rather smugly says this is Ollies last time in a Mets uniform. I take that back , he said this Tuesday marks the final start of Oliver Perez's Mets career I guess that can be taken many ways. The main theme there being that Collins and Alderson are not being open and honest with Ollie, and that he doesn't actually have a chance to win the rotation spot even if he throws 4 innings with 12 Ks at 95mph today. You have to wonder why they're bothering to watch then. I'd bet everything that if Ollie threw "4 innings with 12 Ks at 95mph", he'd climb the depth charts. If my mother threw "4 innings with 12 Ks at 95mph", she'd move up the Mets depth charts.

Edgy DC wrote: Red Schoendeist with and early appearance of a name on the back of the jersey. Were the Cards the first in that regard? That's some good work there. Sounds like Ricky's boys at the Tropicana. The ChiSox were the first team to put player's name on the back of the jersey. Cool video. Never heard that song before.

I'm thinking of going, but I'm scared that the Fairy is gonna whack me the back o' my head with a bottle of detergent if I show up. A full bottle.

Edgy DC wrote: There's still so much every one of us and every columnist doesn't know --- two huge factors being how much money the partial sale will bring in to help the corporation get their heads above water, and how much will Mario Cuomo take away from them to dunk them back down again. (Or conversely, potentially give them a favorable ruling, and unfreeze some of their funds.) Cuomo can't make any rulings ... only recommendations, suggestions, etc. He's a non-binding mediator. The parties aren't bound by anything Cuomo might suggest and Cuomo is powerless to enforce anything. I believe, like you do, that attendance probably won't drop to de Roulet levels, even if the Wilpons do conduct a fire sale. Baseball is significantly more popular today than it was in the '70's. When I was a kid/teen-ager growing up in the '70s, I would often buy Met tickets at the local Manufacturers Hanover Trust Bank branch. Whenever I bought tickets well in advance of the desired game, I always had the option of sitting in prime field box seat territory -- infield, infield about 20 rows behind the dugout, etc.. Looking back, knowing that today, those kinds of seats are owned by season ticket holders, I'm amazed that I was able to buy that kind of seating from the Mets and on an individual game basis. Today, those seats are owned by businesses and individuals that probably would renew their season tickets even if the Mets don't win a single game all season long. Back then, the season ticket base was tiny, compared to what it is today.

metsmarathon wrote: so let me get this straight. there's actually somebody who believes that, after a wilpon firesale wherein they whittle down the payroll to $70M, the mets would be able to pull in two million spectators to citi, presumably at the current ticket prices, and that with such an attendance-payroll ratio, the mets would be able to turn a profit? really? Not me. And not at those ticket prices. The Mets couldn't sell out their prime tickets when CF was brand new.

In this scenario, the Wilpons conduct a fire sale, selling even David Wright, to retain ownership of the Mets: Fans hate fire sales by their teams. And Mets fans detest the Wilpons. So putting the two together would seem a worse idea than giving Charlie Sheen a microphone. But, really, it is one of the few gambits the Wilpons have left in trying to retain the team. This is not about endorsing Wilpon ownership. Because it probably would be best for the team and baseball if the Wilpons were to sell the club as a way to restore finances and faith in the Mets. Nevertheless, the Wilpons are fighting ardently to retain the team, and it would not be unique for an ownership in financial hell to make its costliest players available. For the Mets, that would mean not only the free-agents-to-be, Carlos Beltran and Jose Reyes, but also Jason Bay, Francisco Rodriguez, Johan Santana and, yes, even seeing what would be available for organizational icon David Wright. Two executives heavily involved in major league finances said it would be wise for the Mets to reduce payroll dramatically; even to, say, the $70 million range as soon as the 2012 season. This hardly would solve all of the Wilpons� financial problems because they carry hundreds of millions of dollars in debt before even learning their ultimate fate in the Madoff debacle. But the two executives felt even a stripped-down version of the Mets still would draw no worse than two million spectators to Citi Field. That would allow the Mets to make money, moving banks to feel less edgy about current loans and, possibly, even consider future loans. �That approach would be helpful,� one of the executives said. �Banks like to see operating profits over losses and it also would eliminate the need to plug holes in operating costs, which is what forced them to seek extra loans from Major League Baseball.� General manager Sandy Alderson already has said the plan for 2012 is to bring the payroll significantly down from the current $140 million-plus. Much of that will be achieved with expiring contracts for the Pariah Brothers � Luis Castillo and Oliver Perez � plus Beltran, Reyes and possibly K-Rod. But why stop there? The 2012 Mets are unlikely to be legitimate contenders with a $110 million payroll, so why not get the long-term benefits � for the talent base and the Wilpons� finances � of going further? Here is the question: Are the Mets closer to being a champion by continuing to try to build around what they have or by starting over � with the head start that could come from adding prospects through a fire sale? The Mets long have conned themselves that they are just a player or two away from being of championship timber. But I don�t think any NL East team would trade all the players in their organization for those of the Mets. Even the Nationals can imagine their next three-to-seven years being better than the Mets� simply by having Bryce Harper and Stephen Strasburg under control. The Mets do not have a veteran making significant money who is likely to be a member of their next sustained contender, except perhaps Wright. So why not speed up the process of getting to that next strong roster? Because it will upset the fans? Really? Can they be more upset than they have been the past two years? �Everyone sees the elephant in the room,� an AL executive said. �They need all the moons to align just to win 85 games, and all the moons are not going to align. It is time to get real. And this is the perfect time. The smart fans will get it. They understand that the talent level is not nearly good enough in the majors or the minors. They see what is happening with Madoff. A total renovation is needed.� It would be up to the new front office to create a reservoir of young talent by making strong trades, and then use some of the saved money to invest wisely in the draft and Latin America. The Wilpons have not had the discipline or intellect to stick with a rebuilding plan in the past. But what are their choices now? This is not a desirable path, but probably a necessary one. And $70 million payrolls for a few years do not mean having to stay at that austere (for New York) level for good. Also, remember that a team with a $60 million payroll that spent much of last year in bankruptcy, the Rangers, went to the World Series. For now, though, the Mets must hope Beltran and Reyes are healthy, productive and, thus, viewed as desirable commodities in July. Perhaps Bay and K-Rod can build value, as well. If Santana comes back healthy, it is conceivable that, for example, the Yankees would be willing to absorb a 2012-13 salary of more than $50 million. Wright is the toughest call. He is signed for $15 million in 2012 with a $16 million option for 2013 (or a $1 million buyout). Will the Mets win during the remainder of this contract? If he wants to stay, will Wright be worth a significant extension in his 30s? Or is his best long-term value to the organization as a desirable trade chip? My suspicion is the Mets would get no less, say, than Kansas City received in the offseason for Zack Greinke, especially because the interest would be heavy. I could see teams such as the Angels, Orioles, Braves, Marlins, Cubs, White Sox, Blue Jays, A�s, Cardinals, Brewers, Dodgers, Rockies and Giants all having interest Again, this is not a desirable path. But if these Mets owners really are going to keep the team, then all options need to be considered to make the long-term picture better than the current one. joel.sherman@nypost.com

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Seemed like if you were a guy like me, always broke and slowly getting around to replacing your LPs, you could wait on Tower to drastically reduce something you could use almost every week. I think part of it was the record company retiring old CDs for newly packaged ones and stuff. I'd bet the house on the music industry coming up with another new and improved revolutionary music-listening format in the future. It's in their interests to have us replace our CD's and mp3's and run out to buy our 9th version of The White Album. I was never into the bargain bins. It's not that I was averse to saving a buck, but I rarely found anything I thought interesting there. But in this era of downloadable music and pricing pressure on CD's, the bargain bins are treasure troves. The Nilsson album I bought at J&R is a second version remaster, with as many bonus tracks as regular tracks, including a spanish version of Without You. The entire Monkees catalogue, second version Rhino remasters was on sale, a good number of Bob Dylan in his Columbia Records prime second version Cd remasters, the entire Elton John MCA catalog (also second version remasters), Iggy & The Stooges Raw Power, (the Bowie Mix if you're into Iggy and know what that refers to), the entire Steely Dan and Oasis catalogs, all of the early Who up to Live at Leeds, and much, much, much, much more. All for $5.00 a CD.

Benjamin Grimm wrote: You can't be Dutch and Jewish?