batmagadanleadoff

="metsguyinmichigan":1f4tptwo]4) Teams wearing their batting practice jerseys and those awful caps during games. (But the Mets get credit for wearing their real uniforms.)[/quote:1f4tptwo] Do you think it gets any better during the regular season? It seems to me that half of the regulation uniforms out there look like BP jerseys, beginning with the Mets hideous black tops. metirish Mar 26 2009 09:21 AM Whoever in the booth telling us that it gets "cold" down here during the night...having a right old laugh they are. G-Fafif Mar 26 2009 09:30 AM I miss Al Lang. It was always sunny in St. Pete, or at least the televised version (I once went to a game that was rained out there). It always seems overcast and windy in St. Lucie, even though that's a meteorological unlikelihood. The games feel like a commodity now, stick 'em on as background noise. The games from St. Pete on Channel 9 always felt like a treat, like you really were opening a crate of oranges from Florida. They always talked about the high sky in Florida. You really got that sense at/from Al Lang. The Mets were part of a web of teams in the area: the Cards, the Jays, the Phils, the Pirates, the Reds and the White Sox within close driving distance (or walking distance where the Cardinals were concerned) and the Tigers, Red Sox and Royals not far off. Now they seem stranded in the middle of nowhere. There's more baseball talk and baseball media and baseball opportunities in the offseason now which is a plus, but I think it's diluted from how Spring Training used to hit us. Also, the WBC didn't help this year. John Cougar Lunchbucket Mar 26 2009 09:42 AM How excrutatingly long and boring it is. SteveJRogers Mar 26 2009 10:06 AM 6. The constant use of scrubs that aren't anywhere on anyone's actual roster sheets, usually with no names on their backs as well. There is a reason why broadcasters comment about their scorecards during long regular season games with tons of substitions look like "spring training scorecards." Edgy DC Mar 26 2009 10:24 AM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Mar 26 2009 05:32 PM 7. Fans whinging about fringe major leaguers being given a look. You know why they picked up Nieve? Fernando Tatis, that's why. And then, when they start in with "The Yankees get Sabathia ad we get fuckin' Nieve?" that's when I start shooting. LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Mar 26 2009 11:28 AM Whaaaaaaa! I hate seeing promising prospects and other potential midseason callups I wouldn't ordinarily have the option of seeing without traveling to Binghamton or Buffalo! Nymr83 Mar 26 2009 02:31 PM things i wont miss about spring training: 1. a lack of fantasy baseball to check in on every 5 minutes 2. arod stories, with the inevitable jeter ass-kiss thrown in (ok, those will still be there in the regular season, but i wont be reading them as much.) SteveJRogers Mar 26 2009 04:50 PM ="Edgy DC"]7. Fans whinging about fringe major leaguers being given a look. You know why they picked up Nieve? Fernando Tatis, that's why. And then, then they start in with "The Yankees get Sabathia ad we get fuckin' Nieve?" that's when I start shooting. You know I was just pointing out a negative of keeping score or trying to follow the game in ST and not being a whiny twat right? Edgy DC Mar 26 2009 05:34 PM Well, I wasn't really addressing you. I figure you were referencing the filler from the minor league camp and not drifters like Nieve and Dessens. TheOldMole Mar 26 2009 07:10 PM I love spring training. Rockin' Doc Mar 26 2009 07:20 PM I love spring. Fman99 Mar 26 2009 08:35 PM ="Nymr83":nq2ax0xe]things i wont miss about spring training: 1. a lack of fantasy baseball to check in on every 5 minutes[/quote:nq2ax0xe] Amen to that. I have like 5 teams just racing their engines.

PECOTA implies that Johan Santana and Rich Harden will be this year's strongest candidates for the NL Cy Young Award.

[u:ueja8910]Hint #5[/u:ueja8910] - Whatever it is that these Mets have in common (Ed Kranepool, Jerry Koosman, Bud Harrelson, Jerry Grote, Wayne Garrett, Rusty Staub and depending on how the answer is phrased - Tom Seaver), they did it three times. [u:ueja8910]Hint #6 [/u:ueja8910]- Actually, Bud Harrelson did it four times; thrice as a player and once as a manager/coach. But for the purpose of this question, I only counted the three times Bud did it as a player.

... and the NY Bets. (mid 70's OTB ad campaign tying into that whole MetsJetsNetsSets thing)

Who's Sal?

="LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr"]Debuted on Saturdays? Nope. So did Al Jackson, (Saturday, April 14, 1962) among many others. ="John Cougar Lunchbucket"]Got Flender Downey's autograph? Yes I do. Flender once posed for me while autographing my Sidd Finch pitched MLB regulation baseball. I also have twenty seven eight-by-ten color glossy pictures of Flender posing for me while autographing my Sidd Finch pitched MLB regulation baseball with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one explaining how Flender posed for me while autographing my Sidd Finch pitched MLB regulation baseball. Boy was he skinny. Downey, not Finch. What do you think the headlines read on the day after Downey was involved in a minor auto collision? Slender Flender in Fender Bender. ="Edgy DC"]All-Stars under Yogi Berra. If this forum existed 35 years ago, my handle might've been batgarrettleadoff. Thirty-five years ago, Wayne Garrett typified the kind of Met I like to root for; the flawed baseball player who nevertheless should be playing regularly given the prevailing composition of the team. (See, also, Leach, Terry; Magadan, Dave; Mora, Melvin; Castro, Ramon - when he's in the mood). Wait! Garrett did bat leadoff - as many as 80 times in 1973. Who would've thought that manager Yogi would know enough to bat Wayne the walking machine Garrett leadoff instead of the base stealing but otherwise offensively challenged Bud Harrelson who more closely resembled the leadoff hitter, circa 1973? Where's the credit for Yogi? And he was hung like Harry Reems, too. Uhh. No. ="G-Fafif"]Six guys who made it their life's work to give Cleon Jones and Tug McGraw the cold shoulder? Cleon just missed making the list of Mets in my trivia question. I guess that's hint #3. Hint #4. I could just as easily include Tom Seaver in the list of Mets in my trivia question, all depending on how I choose to phrase the answer to the trivia question. It's only a matter of semantics, because including Seaver in the question wouldn't affect the answer. I chose to ask the Seaverless version of the question. But take him or leave him. It works either way.

What do the following Mets -and no other Mets- have in common: Ed Kranepool, Jerry Koosman, Bud Harrelson, Jerry Grote, Wayne Garrett and Rusty Staub? Hint #1. The answer is in connection to their Met careers. Hint #2. Note that Tug McGraw and Cleon Jones are not included in the question. This last hint might help you to avoid wrong answers, more than anything else.

Big deal. Sidd Finch's fast ball was once clocked at 168 mph.

delete

="SteveJRogers"]From a Baseball-Fever.com poster, the Left Field Gate's mural is complete! One more banner space left around the corner, inbetween Casey and Gil. The detail in the Stengel banner (your lower right) appears to be the Grote/Koosman embrace , Game 5, 1969 WS, yada yada, although it's not the iconic angle that includes Ed Charles' dance of joy.

This is another in a never-ending series of idiotic Mets articles by Wally Matthews, as everyone else here noticed. In this latest, the Mets are failures, not only because they aren't as successful as the Yankees, but also, because their sins aren't as sinful as those of their crosstown rivals. I'm not defending Wally in this paragraph; the article's obviously contrived and dumb -like most of his other Met pieces- to the point where the man cannot be said to be objective about the team. And a writer without objectivity is irrelevant. But don't get me started on Wilpon, either. He's a bad baseball man and really, under the guise of a baseball owner, still a ruthless businessman whose main purpose always, always, always is to squeeze every single penny out of life at the expense of everything else.

Steve Garvey? Ugh.

="Edgy DC":24mj4044]I think your record's kind of stuck, there.[/quote:24mj4044] I think that Marlon's record is stuck. Until he does something more memorable than when he delivered his blueprint. There's actually a Marlon Anderson thread here? I'm just the messenger.

="Iubitul":3nzo1sfn]="batmagadanleadoff":3nzo1sfn]Iubi's really good at this.[/quote:3nzo1sfn] I just remember a lot of the old Bermanisms. some of his originals were classics...[/quote:3nzo1sfn] You mean youve been plagiarizing from the man? Say it ain't so, Iubi! LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Mar 16 2009 09:11 PM REBOOT: Rich "Sweet" Chiles "of Mine" versus J. J. Putz "the lotion on its skin, or else it gets the hose again"

In Marlon's next blueprint, Marlon promises to improve the accuracy of all of his future blueprints. So it is written, ....

Iubi's really good at this.

That's what I was askin'.

Who the hell cares?

="Iubitul":qzy0y9q0]Wayne when the moon is in the seventh Housie vs. Carlos In Delgado Da Vita[/quote:qzy0y9q0] Carlos In Delgado Da Vida vs. Scott Workin' too hard can give you a heart attack a ka ka Kazmir Edgy DC Mar 03 2009 10:30 AM Carlos In Delgado Da Vida vs. Chuck Baby You Can Drive My Carr dgwphotography Mar 03 2009 12:50 PM Carlos In Delgado Da Vida vs. Hubie Babbling Brooks Edgy DC Mar 03 2009 01:25 PM Iubitul taking on the reigning champ Iubitul. Met Hunter Mar 03 2009 05:31 PM I will dethrone Carlos with a twofer Tuesday. Carlos In Delgado Da Vida vs. Tommie This is the Dawning of the Agee of Aquarius Tommie This is the Dawning of the Agee of Aquarius vs. Pat People are Strange LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Mar 04 2009 07:09 PM Um... yeah. That's, like, against the rules. Carlos In Delgado De Vida vs. Endy-is Mama Cried Chavez Met Hunter Mar 04 2009 09:30 PM OK. Carlos In Delgado Da Vida vs. Dan Keep Your Eyes on the Road Your Hands Upon the Wheeler. LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Mar 04 2009 09:37 PM Carlos In Delgado De Vida versus Ed Bouchee Bouchee Ya Ya Da Da Edgy DC Mar 04 2009 09:47 PM Ed Bouchee Bouchee Ya Ya Da Da vs. Shawn Bows and Flows of Angel Hare LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Mar 04 2009 10:32 PM Ed Bouchee Bouchee Ya Ya Da Da vs. The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down/Of the big lake they call Kaz Ishii Edgy DC Mar 08 2009 05:37 AM Ed Bouchee Bouchee Ya Ya Da Da vs. Ty I SAID, What's that on your HEAD?! A WIIIIIG!!-inton dgwphotography Mar 08 2009 05:44 AM Ed Bouchee Bouchee Ya Ya Da Da vs. Rick "see ya later" Aguilera batmagadanleadoff Mar 08 2009 08:59 AM Iubi's really good at this. Met Hunter Mar 08 2009 05:27 PM Rick See Ya Later Aguilera vs. Rich Sweet Chiles of Mine dgwphotography Mar 08 2009 06:22 PM ="batmagadanleadoff":1jca620l]Iubi's really good at this.[/quote:1jca620l] I just remember a lot of the old Bermanisms. some of his originals were classics... LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Mar 08 2009 06:38 PM Rich "Sweet" Chiles "of Mine" vs. Raul "Blame it on the" Casanova batmagadanleadoff Mar 08 2009 08:37 PM ="Iubitul":3nzo1sfn]="batmagadanleadoff":3nzo1sfn]Iubi's really good at this.[/quote:3nzo1sfn] I just remember a lot of the old Bermanisms. some of his originals were classics...[/quote:3nzo1sfn] You mean youve been plagiarizing from the man? Say it ain't so, Iubi! LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Mar 16 2009 09:11 PM REBOOT: Rich "Sweet" Chiles "of Mine" versus J. J. Putz "the lotion on its skin, or else it gets the hose again"

="John Cougar Lunchbucket":38thmw2y]Just turned this on only to find they're showing Game 1 of the 06 NL[D]S instead.[/quote:38thmw2y] It's obvious that SNY read my post and decided to get with it and show some older games.

="batmagadanleadoff":26olukv0]This won't answer the question, but statistically, Murphy's first Met season is very comparable to that of another past Met first year sensation -- Mike Vail. Murph's debut was a little better.[/quote:26olukv0] By the way, Mike Vail's most comparable player (per Baseball Reference) is Glenn Adams. Timo Perez is fifth most comparable. duan Mar 03 2009 05:46 AM 1 Frank Catalanotto 1998 64 2 Brad Mills 1981 63 3 Mike Lamb 2000 59 4 Matt Stairs 1992 59 5 Benny Distefano 1986 58 6 Brian Traxler 1992 57 7 Jordan Brown 2008 57 8 Chad Tracy 2004 56 9 Matt Franco 1994 56 10 Shawn Hare 1991 55 11 Luke Allen 2003 55 12 Chris Padget 1987 55 13 Jamie Dismuke 1994 54 14 John Kruk 1985 53 15 Daryl Sconiers 1983 53 16 Ron Henika 1986 53 17 Barry Jones 1989 52 18 Matt Watson 2003 52 19 Jay Gibbons 2001 52 20 Scott Cooper 1992 51 is pecota's comparable list. Not much to get crazy optimistic about there, but if he is Frank Catalanatto that's worth something. [/list] Frayed Knot Mar 03 2009 07:26 AM Any comps based off of 130 ML ABs is pretty meaningless (yeah they probably take minor league stats into account too, but still). Having said that, John Kruk's on that list and he might not be a bad comp. LH batter; strictly a corner guy; career of .300 BA/.400 OBA; hit to the opposite field a lot (a [u:1vqhnzp9]helluva[/u:1vqhnzp9] lot in Kruk's case); only occasional power. Murphy might be a bit more flexible defensively and could develop more power -- but one could do a lot worse than a 10 yr career and a 3x All-Star with occasional back-of-the-pack MVP votes. Benjamin Grimm Mar 03 2009 07:48 AM I've been getting a Gregg Jefferies vibe from Murphy, and I'm the (so far) lone vote for Jefferies in this poll. I just checked to see what Gregg's average season was, assuming 150 games played, and I came up with the following: 566 AB, 78 R, 163 H, 31 2B, 3 3B, 13 HR, 68 RBI, 48 BB, 36 SO, 20 SB, 6 CS, .289 AVG, .344 OBP, .421 SLG Those would be fine numbers for Murphy if he turns out to be a middle infielder. Not quite as good if he's a corner outfielder. I think, at worst, he'll be Joel Youngblood. duan Mar 03 2009 08:23 AM the pecota comps are not based on majors stuff, they're based on minors & majors. LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Mar 03 2009 09:47 AM A not-at-all-terrible best-case scenario: Rusty Greer, mebbe? (Selectivity, with SOME minor power in the minors... which blossomed at 26-27.) The thing about having no power... it's more likely to change as a player ages than someone's plate approach is. Which is to say, it'll be easier for Murphy to develop power than it is for a toolsy guy without baseball instincts/tutelage to do a 180 on "plate approach" and selectivity. Frayed Knot Mar 03 2009 10:52 AM Greer was fine until he petered out early due to injuries just as his big contract kicked in. Kruk's power was actually a bit better than I remembered. A bunch of doubles and twice topped 20 HRs to wind up with a career .145 IsoP number. About .150 is about average these days but pre-'94 strike levels were probably less. Not great for a 1st/LF but a bit more than the singles/doubles hitter I thought. I suspect Murphy could grow into a somewhat better "slugger" than that.

This won't answer the question, but statistically, Murphy's first Met season is very comparable to that of another past Met first year sensation -- Mike Vail. Murph's debut was a little better.

I knew that.

="Gwreck":2ktjqog1]I believe that game was won on a bunt, actually.[/quote:2ktjqog1] But was it a base-hit bunt, or the out-making kind of bunt that Willie loved? LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Mar 02 2009 05:47 PM Walk-off bunt single. Endy's second finest moment in blue y orange. batmagadanleadoff Mar 02 2009 06:09 PM I knew that. John Cougar Lunchbucket Mar 02 2009 06:10 PM I was at this game. I have to say, Easley's HR was a much bigger thrill. It was the absolute last thing I expected. Guy on 3rd, tie game in the home 12th, you're gonna win somehow. Edgy DC Mar 02 2009 06:42 PM Damion Easley, still jobless. Gwreck Mar 02 2009 07:13 PM ="John Cougar Lunchbucket":3g7r2yy9]I was at this game. I have to say, Easley's HR was a much bigger thrill. It was the absolute last thing I expected.[/quote:3g7r2yy9] So was I. My recollection was that Easley was down to his final strike with 2 outs as well, with Fuentes pitching. We were packing up to go home when he hit it out. John Cougar Lunchbucket Mar 02 2009 07:50 PM Just turned this on only to find they're showing Game 1 of the 06 NLCS instead. Gwreck Mar 02 2009 08:51 PM I can't remember them ever showing that before. One of Glavine's finest pitching performances as a Met. John Cougar Lunchbucket Mar 02 2009 09:34 PM Oh, sorry. I meant the Dodgers series. I think that's the one where John Maine gets his butt saved by the Dodgers' 3rd base coach. themetfairy Mar 02 2009 09:42 PM Yes - the double play at home plate was a thing of beauty. batmagadanleadoff Mar 03 2009 01:15 AM ="John Cougar Lunchbucket":38thmw2y]Just turned this on only to find they're showing Game 1 of the 06 NL[D]S instead.[/quote:38thmw2y] It's obvious that SNY read my post and decided to get with it and show some older games.