batmagadanleadoff

(P.S. -- I still haven't made it to the Stengel entrance at CF).

Dead IGT tonight. Did everybody go to the game or something?

Life flows on within Ollie, but mostly without him. He's just above actress Diana Dors (far right, near bottom) -- in the space originally reserved for Gandhi. At the record label's request, Gandhi's image was removed from the final version of the album cover out of concern that the inclusion of India's political and spiritual leader would offend many. Too bad that Ollie, in the spirit of teamwork and compromise, couldn't exercise the same sensibilities and remove himself from the 25 man roster.

metirish wrote: Fehr can jump right in to the Ilya Kovalchuk mess. On Monday an arbitrator ruled that the NHL was within it's rights to void that contract he had signed with the NJ Devils. Did Kovalchuk beat up his girlfriend's father?

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/26/sports/baseball/26citifield.html �I�ve realized I do need to change my approach at the plate a little bit,� [Francoeur] said. �I�m not necessarily saying I�m going to take a pitch, but I want to work the count. Make guys work. I had some great at-bats off Josh Johnson. Made him work. When you do that, you can make it tough on a guy like that.� �We believe that he�s due,� Manuel said. Minaya, who acquired Francoeur on July 10, 2009, in a trade for Ryan Church, at first said �wow� when asked to assess Francoeur and his attempt to change his approach at the plate. �Jeff is a young man that could still get better in a lot of areas,� Minaya said. �He�s got some big hits for us. He can hopefully continue to contribute.� Jeff Francoeur's post all-star game numbers: .230/.286/.366. Is Jeff Francoeur auditioning for a spot on the 2011 team? A late rush into contention for the playoffs may quiet the speculation that Minaya, Manuel and Francoeur are in jeopardy. A surge by Francoeur may help all three of them.

Mets are down to their last out. I'd bet that if Castillo hits a homer, he'll start the next game.

I am humbled.

If there is to be a comeback, it must go through Frenchy. I must root for the manipulative **********. How distasteful. (Wright HR's as I write this post).

Hooray for Frenchy! His RBI single ends his 0-17 streak. Francoeur gets the hit he so desperately needs to keep his batting average over .225. We'll never get him out of the lineup now. The manipulative ********** will milk this single for another 25 plate appearances.

I don't know about this net business but maybe the Mets are better off with the Rockies win earlier today. The Mets began the day only two games behind Colorado; there's plenty of time to catch the Rockies. That's one way of looking at this.

Poor Jerry. He's probably getting mixed signals from the boys at the top and doesn't know how to please everybody. "We have to play the kids. For the future." "We're out of it. Bay's out of it. Our cleanup hitting star centerfielder is playing with a fire truck attached to his knee cap. Our cleanup hitting star third baseman is in the middle of an experiment to see if he can hit the ball while standing in the third base on-deck circle. Our star reliever is going to jail. And our beloved and adored cleanup hitting rookie first baseman who makes the highlight reels every week is just about the worst first baseman in the NL ... across the board, whether by batting average, getting on base or home run frequency. Look it up if you don't believe me. Oliver Perez is Steve Blass with Cy Young award money. Angel Pagan plays every day and bats at the top of the order even though he hits lefties like Wally Backman's sister. Jeff Francoeur plays every day and he can't hit anybody ... not even Wally Backman's sister." "But don't let on. This is our dire secret. We still need to sell tickets for September". "Play for the future". "But play to contend". "And fool the fans if you must. We need to sell tickets.". "You need to sell tickets". "It's up to you, Jerry. You can have the Cadillac El Dorado. Or the set of steak knives. Or we could fire you. It's your choice." "Let's see what the kids can do. But let's sell some tickets, too." "Let's compete" "Are we clear?"

Johan Santana's making his move on this year's elite pitchers .... Ryan Dempster cracks the top 20 ...... K-Rod still packs a mean wallop WAR RankPitcher/TeamWARIP/WAR1Josh Johnson/FLA6.125.412Roy Halladay/PHI5.732.463Adam Wainwright/STL5.631.494Ubaldo Jimenez/COL5.031.075Tim Hudson/ATL5.031.336Johan Santana/NYM4.438.867Livan Hernandez/WAS4.039.428Chris Carpenter/STL3.647.59Brett Myers/HOU3.544.8610Matt Cain/SF3.447.6511Mat Latos/SD3.240.5212Roy Oswalt/HOU-PHI3.246.3513Yovani Gallardo/MIL3.044.1114Cole Hamels/PHI3.048.6715Tim Lincecum/SF2.953.6816Barry Zito/SF2.954.1417Clayton Kershaw/LA2.853.6918Ted Lilly/CHIC-LAD2.552.0019Ryan Dempster/CHI2.562.9320Jaime Garcia/STL2.452.64.26K-Rod/NYM2.126.83.28R.A. Dickey/NYM2.148.57 updated through last night: WAR RankPitcher/TeamWARIP/WAR 1Josh Johnson/FLA5.727.852Roy Halladay/PHI5.732.463Tim Hudson/ATL5.529.944Adam Wainwright/STL5.532.065Ubaldo Jimenez/COL5.031.076Johan Santana/NYM4.438.867Livan Hernandez/WAS4.039.428Brett Myers/HOU3.843.169Chris Carpenter/STL3.548.8610Matt Cain/SF3.349.0911Cole Hamels/PHI3.346.6712Roy Oswalt/HOU-PHI3.246.3513Mat Latos/SD3.141.8314Yovani Gallardo/MIL3.046.4415Barry Zito/SF3.052.3316Tim Lincecum/SF2.953.6817Clayton Kershaw/LA2.853.6918R.A. Dickey/NYM2.642.69 19Ted Lilly/CHIC-LAD2.552.0020Ryan Dempster/CHI2.562.93.27K-Rod/NYM2.126.83 Updated through 8/18. No changes in the top 20. Santana drops to 7th. Lincecum clings. WAR RankPitcher/TeamWARIP/WAR1Josh Johnson/FLA6.027.782Roy Halladay/PHI6.032.173Tim Hudson/ATL5.630.654Adam Wainwright/STL5.632.745Ubaldo Jimenez/COL5.231.416Livan Hernandez/WAS4.338.297Johan Santana/NYM4.242.628Brett Myers/HOU3.943.859Chris Carpenter/STL3.452.0610Mat Latos/SD3.341.1111Clayton Kershaw/LA3.347.6812Matt Cain/SF3.350.9113Cole Hamels/PHI3.248.1314Roy Oswalt/HOU-PHI3.248.5415Barry Zito/SF3.054.0016Ted Lilly/CHIC-LAD2.946.9017Yovani Gallardo/MIL2.948.0518R.A. Dickey/NYM2.842.6219Ryan Dempster/CHI2.760.7420Tim Lincecum/SF2.563.73.27K-Rod/NYM2.127.30. 37Jonathon Niese/NYM1.873.89 Updated through games of 8/24. The riveting news: Lincecum and Gallardo are out of the top 20; Jaime Garcia and Fla's Anibal Sanchez are in. Memorize the chart. Quiz tomorrow. WAR RankPitcher/TeamWARIP/WAR1Roy Halladay/PHI6.630.302Josh Johnson/FLA5.829.603Tim Hudson/ATL5.532.304Adam Wainwright/STL5.534.615Ubaldo Jimenez/COL5.232.566Johan Santana/NYM4.343.497Brett Myers/HOU4.242.388Livan Hernandez/WAS3.844.479Chris Carpenter/STL3.749.8210Roy Oswalt/HOU-PHI3.645.0911Matt Cain/SF3.648.89 12Mat Latos/SD3.540.7613Ted Lilly/CHIC-LAD3.543.2414Clayton Kershaw/LA3.448.3315Cole Hamels/PHI3.251.8816Ryan Dempster/CHI3.057.3317Jaime Garcia/STL2.948.7418R.A. Dickey/NYM2.746.7919Anibal Sanchez/FLA2.754.9420Barry Zito/SF2.663.72.27K-Rod/NYM2.127.30.36Jonathon Niese/NYM1.972.63.44Mike Pelfrey/NYM1.789.22.48Stephen Strasburg/WASH1.642.50

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For the first time this season, R.A. Dickey has enough innings pitched to qualify for league ERA champ:

He's a manipulative **********, Frenchy is.

Jeff Francoeur last night said he met with manager Jerry Manuel and has been told he will get the bulk of the playing time in rightfield the rest of the season. Francoeur went 0-for-3 with two sacrifice flies in the Mets' 6-5 win over the Marlins. He is batting .227 with 11 home runs and 51 RBIs. "We've got to find a way to get Frenchy going," Manuel said before the game. "He's an important... To read the rest, get a subscription to Newsday. Or wait for the rest of the press to catch up

Jerry Manuel on Chris Carter and The Manipulative **********: This is what Jerry Manuel thinks of Jeff Francoeur: �I think he�s just an important part of the team and the makeup and the fabric of the team,� Manuel said before the Mets hosted Florida on Tuesday at Citi Field. �When he�s going well, we seem to be able to win some games.� This is what Jerry Manuel thinks of Chris Carter: �We really feel his best role is to find an at-bat in the game, when kind of the game is in [the] balance, you�ve got a chance to choose him,� Manuel said. �I think that�s kind of where he fits for us.� The rest: So Francoeur will not lose his role as the starting right fielder. Carter will remain a pinch-hitter. Manuel used Carter in the cleanup spot last weekend. The Mets won both games. Yes, both games were against Pittsburgh. Yes, Carter�s arm is �probably somewhat questionable,� Manuel said. But Francoeur still retains a .209 batting average against right-handers. Manuel will stick with him. He believes Francoeur�s approach has improved recently (not sure exactly when: Francoeur is in the midst of a 2-for-27 stretch). �We�ve seen some long at-bats, deep in the counts and those type of things,� Manuel said. �He�s hit some line drives in there. But he�s a guy that, when he�s right, we usually win, because he seems to be able to get that big hit for us.� http://www.nj.com/mets/index.ssf/2010/08/jeff_francoeur_remains_in_star.html

G-Fafif wrote: batmagadanleadoff wrote: Any opinion as to why Leon's in but Mickey's out? I honestly believe(d) that's Leo Foster's caricature (based on press packet photo) and the artist screwed up and drew "Brown". Leon Brown was off the radar heading into 1977. Lolich had made it clear long before Opening Day he wouldn't be back. My question is where's Ray Sadecki? He made the team for a brief second go-round. I'm not sold on your Brown/Foster theory. Even accounting for that Rigby was the caricaturist, that Brown cartoon looks a lot like Brown, and nothing like Foster.

I wondered if perhaps, Fracnoeur has his well against Josh Johnson in the past. Nope. Frenchy vs. Josh: .269/.286/.269 0 HR's, 8 K's in 26 AB's.