batmagadanleadoff

Of the above, the only one that tickles me is the Mets Maulers one, which I don't think I had ever seen before. Here's a few more '67 "teammates" cards: Which of these five is not like the others?

seawolf17 wrote: Topps has three series now, 330 cards each. They'll do the other 15 team cards in series two, which comes out around midseason; then they do an "update" series, which hits right around the end of the season, which sometimes includes "traded" players who have appeared in the first two series, but also just other players they haven't hit yet. For example, the 2010 Topps Mets: Series 1: 2010 Topps #60 David Wright 2010 Topps #103 Daniel Murphy 2010 Topps #104 New York Mets 2010 Topps #184 Jeff Francoeur 2010 Topps #218 Fernando Martinez 2010 Topps #227 Josh Thole RC 2010 Topps #249 Jon Niese 2010 Topps #278 Carlos Delgado 2010 Topps #299 Gary Sheffield 2010 Topps #314 Angel Pagan Series 2: 2010 Topps #339 Jose Reyes 2010 Topps #394 Luis Castillo 2010 Topps #395 Jenrry Mejia RC 2010 Topps #416 Ruben Tejada RC 2010 Topps #436 New York Mets 2010 Topps #450 Omir Santos 2010 Topps #507 Francisco Rodriguez 2010 Topps #533 Gary Matthews Jr. 2010 Topps #567 Mike Pelfrey 2010 Topps #573 Johan Santana 2010 Topps #624 Carlos Beltran 2010 Topps #629 Oliver Perez Updates: 2010 Topps Update #US4 Alex Cora 2010 Topps Update #US15 Ike Davis RC 2010 Topps Update #US20 Jason Bay (card 170 in the main set) 2010 Topps Update #US26 Jesus Feliciano RC 2010 Topps Update #US92 Pedro Feliciano 2010 Topps Update #US180 David Wright 2010 Topps Update #US223 Henry Blanco 2010 Topps Update #US316 Rod Barajas (card 224 in the main set) Now I know what R.A. Dickey can't do: get his own 2010 Topps baseball card. I'm blaming Cora.

I'd like Dan Uggla. I liked Kevin Mitchell at short. And Melvin Mora. You can't win if you don't put runs on the board.

Edgy DC wrote: Whatever they do to filter that photo makes that hat even more of a horror show, however. Plus, the artist gave Wright Ben Turpin's eyes.

What's your source for the "spray charts"? Thanks.

metsmarathon wrote: well, he didn't really need to reinvent his swing did he? Oh c'mon. Citi Field probably fucked up Jason Bay's season as well. (Before the concussion did). I'd bet anything that Bay hates Citi Field as much as David Wright ever did and that he's being mum on the topic only because he's the new guy and he has enough self-awareness to realize that complaining won't garner him any sympathy.

The 2007 Bowman Heritage set (see Joe Smith against the Wonder Wheel, above) includes many secret pleasures. Here's David Wright's 2007 Bowman Heritage card, an homage to the '52 Bowman Gil Hodges card:

My favorite part was when Pete smashed Tommie Smothers' guitar.

HahnSolo wrote: batmagadanleadoff wrote: That's Gary Carter squatting on the left side of his 1988 Topps Big card. No doubt about it. I have a doubt. I don't think it looks at all like Gary Carter. Well you're wrong. So's the rest of this thread. What? Is everyone fucking nuts here? This isn't even worthy of a debate. You're probably not used to seeing Carter without his fake politician's smile, that's all.

I already miss the symetrically dimensioned parks. These new parks look all the same with their contrived differences.

That's Gary Carter squatting on the left side of his 1988 Topps Big card. No doubt about it.

Not necessarily one of my all-time faves, but one of my faves from the recent crop -- Ramon Castro, 2008 Topps Heritage (1959 style Topps). A whimsical shot of one of the most whimsical Mets ... the apple red cheeks ... the ridiculous grip on his bat, only good for bashing Jerry Manuel over the head should he ever again call Cancel in from the bullpen to pinch-hit

New avatar? (Just wait'll you get to my revised post! Hah.)

Sounds like you should be the batting coach.

metirish wrote: dgwphotography wrote: They should just replicate the Shea dimensions where possible, and just be done with it. Makes far too much sense.....it will never be done.....I agree though... Put me down on the agree list. That the Mets have a David Wright, a perennial all-star and MVP candidate, an all around good guy, the centerpiece of the franchise, and that they build a new stadium with dimensions so cavernous that Wright would have to practically re-invent his swing is something only the dumb Mets would do.

batmagadanleadoff wrote: Edgy DC wrote: I also think Howard Johnson's been an enabler, trying to help him adjust to he new situation. I mean, the guy was hitting what? About eight homers to right center per season at Shea? How much damage can Citi really do? Two or three of those homers still go out, two or three become outs, and two or three become doubles. Is that worth screwing up your swing over? Because the acknowledgment that he's knowingly screwed up his swing is the real story here. But it wasn't simply losing two HR's; Wright hit 10 in '09. And how many of Wright's can of corns over the last two years were the result of simply trying to compensate or adjust to Citi Field? Only Wright would know, if anyone. I hope the Mets move the fences in because I have a personal theory that it's extremely difficult to build a winner in a stadium that takes HR's away in every part of the field -- left, center and right. I left out that Edgy's post assumes that the distribution of all of Wright's batted balls (location/distance/speed of ball) essentially was unchanged after the Mets moved to Citi. But Wright likely altered his swing to compensate for the dramatic differences in the dimensions of Shea and Citi, thus changing Wright's distribution of batted balls.

Ceetar wrote: Frayed Knot wrote: I hope the Mets move the fences in because I have a personal theory that it's extremely difficult to build a winner in a stadium that takes HR's away in every part of the field -- left, center and right. As opposed to those theories I seem to hear all the time about how a team in a hitter's environment can't win -- a theory which obviously took a hit after the Phils won the WS. Look at the Mets record at Citi Field, specifically before Manuel completely lost the team late in the season, and it suggests that if anything the _opposition_ finds Citi Field extremely imposing and scary. Now imagine that the Mets actually compete to their level of talent or above, and we're into it as fans, and in addition to whatever scares the Goose Egg Phillies, you've got 40k screaming fans. But the Mets were getting killed on the road.

Frayed Knot wrote: Frayed Knot wrote: I hope the Mets move the fences in because I have a personal theory that it's extremely difficult to build a winner in a stadium that takes HR's away in every part of the field -- left, center and right. As opposed to those theories I seem to hear all the time about how a team in a hitter's environment can't win -- a theory which obviously took a hit after the Phils won the WS. You think i'm done with you over in that CPF rankings thread? I'm not. I'll take non-sequiturs for $200 Alex. When was the last time you saw Wayne Hagin?

Frayed Knot wrote: I hope the Mets move the fences in because I have a personal theory that it's extremely difficult to build a winner in a stadium that takes HR's away in every part of the field -- left, center and right. As opposed to those theories I seem to hear all the time about how a team in a hitter's environment can't win -- a theory which obviously took a hit after the Phils won the WS. You think i'm done with you over in that CPF rankings thread? I'm not.

Edgy DC wrote: I also think Howard Johnson's been an enabler, trying to help him adjust to he new situation. I mean, the guy was hitting what? About eight homers to right center per season at Shea? How much damage can Citi really do? Two or three of those homers still go out, two or three become outs, and two or three become doubles. Is that worth screwing up your swing over? Because the acknowledgment that he's knowingly screwed up his swing is the real story here. But it wasn't simply losing two HR's; Wright hit 10 in '09. And how many of Wright's can of corns over the last two years were the result of simply trying to compensate or adjust to Citi Field? Only Wright would know, if anyone. I hope the Mets move the fences in because I have a personal theory that it's extremely difficult to build a winner in a stadium that takes HR's away in every part of the field -- left, center and right.

Edgy DC wrote: I can't. I have a rape scene-averse date. What can I say? John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: It's like 45 seconds out of a 2-hour movie. It's a love story tell her! What can he say? It's a minor miracle that he can ever say anything what with his mouth jammed full of arguments that other people keep on sticking in there.

Edgy DC wrote: I really dislike when you force an argument on somebody that they are not making. The number 30 is a factor, not a product. And what argument would that be? Edgy DC wrote: Gooden[85] scores higher [than Maz80], not because he had better teammates, but because he towered above better teammates. And Benitez02 scores 11% higher than Carlton72 (5,880 to 5,310) because of the way Armando towered over Estes and Mcewing, right? And would Doc85 have scored higher if he struck out an additional 50 batters in '85, and allowed a half a run less per game?

Sign advertising first scheduled Mets game (4/10/62). The game was rained out. But not before about a dozen Mets on the way to the ballpark got stuck in their hotel elevator for 20 minutes. Scheduled starter Sherman "Roadblock" Jones was scratched: while lighting a cigarette, the match-head flew off and landed in his eye.

Frayed Knot wrote: Yeah, well opinions vary.... Every system ever invented is merely an approximation of what the "true" answer is - especially when the basis of it is nothing more than opinion to begin with. I acknowledge the "opinion" element to ranking ballplayers. But you're using subjectivity to cover too many egregious sins. Defending a system that ranks Carlton72 lower than Hendu80 and just barely better than Swan79, to me, constitutes an absurd stretch of the imagination. Carlton's '72 is the highest rated WAR pitching season in the history of the NL (20th and 21st century). Any 2010 Met that receives a ranking of 26 or higher (variable R) will have outscored Carlton72. Thus, in all probability, the system will rank Johan10 and Dickey10 higher than Carlton72. (and three other 2010 Mets). But try telling Jerry Manuel that he had five ballplayers in 2010 that were better than Carlton72. FrayedKnot wrote: Feel free to ignore this one if it offends you so. Nice one. But again, if you think that Maz80 should get the same 30 that Doc85 gets, then that's what you think.