batmagadanleadoff

D-Backs score eight in the top of the fourth and lead the Phillies 10-2. Not that I'm scoreboard watching here, but I am.

Perez 5.2 Easley 2.2 Heilman 1.1 Wagner .7 Reyes .6 Schneider .2

metsguyinmichigan wrote: As for Alou, I read today that he got hurt diving for a ball? I appreciate the hustle, but why is this guy diving for a ball in a Double-A rehab game? Damn, Moises. Let the thing drop in and throw it to the 21-year-old cutoff man and stay bleeping healthy. I'd bet that it wouldn'ta made a difference, other than to delay Alou's season ending injury to about when he woulda come back to play his next Met game. Moises was probably so fragile, his hamstring was hanging by a thread. I'd say that this latest injury was inevitable. OE- This just in - Moises Alou injures other hamstring while attempting to mount the MRI machine that was supposed to photograph his first hamstring injury. Hamstrung doctors can't determine the extent and severity of Alou's hamstring injuries.

During the player warmups before the '77 AS Game, there occurred a legendary contest among some of the game's best throwing outfielders, including obviously, Dave Winfield and Dave Parker. It is said that Ellis Valentine wowed everyone by throwing a perfect strike to home plate (on the fly - no bounces) all the way from the right field warning track. Of course, that being 1977, the whole contest was an unplanned, unchoreographed spontaneous spur of the moment event that probably grew from some good natured or not so good natured ribbing among some of the all stars. It happened before the ticketholders began to fill the stadium. MLB hadn't yet figured out that they could squeeze even more money from their fan base for that kind of stuff.

You reminded me of the Dusty Baker bunting Dunn incident from earlier this season. Among recent managers, I'm convinced that Willie Randolph is the dumbest manager who's name isn't Dusty Baker. And then I just to got to wondering, fantasizing really, - no -- hallucinating -- about Dunn batting in the second hole for a WWSB lineup. That idiot would've turned even Dunn into a goddamn sac bunting robot.

I can't, for the life of me, understand the dim view of Adam Dunn. Even with his anemic Batting Average and frequent strikeouts, he's still managing to get on base at an almost 40% clip and is having a better season than every single Met. I'd take this guy in the blink of an eye. And I'd bat him in the second hole on these Mets, if it was up to me.

What about this guy?

Do you wanna see this year's list of starting LF'ers? Cover your eyes if you do. Here it is: Angel Pagan (20) Marlon Anderson (15) Moises Alou (13) Endy Chavez (13) Fernando Tatis (11) Nick Evans (7) Trot Nixon (6) Damion Easley (2) Chris Aguila (2) Brady Clark (2) Andy Phillips (1)

With Alou Out, the Mets Seem Ready to Go Shopping By BEN SHPIGEL Published: July 11, 2008 If this is how it ends, Moises Alou�s time with the Mets will be remembered less for his glorious September last season than for four visits to the disabled list and unfulfilled expectations. Alou signed with the team anticipating another World Series championship, or at least trips to the playoffs, but his latest injury � a torn left hamstring � may signal the end of his career. The Mets may pursue Xavier Nady, a versatile outfielder who can also play first base. After feeling a cramp while diving for a ball Wednesday night during a rehabilitation game for Class AA Binghamton in Norwich, Conn., Alou, 42, had a magnetic resonance imaging test in New York on Thursday morning. The results revealed the severity of the injury, and General Manager Omar Minaya said the team�s medical staff recommended surgery. �He�ll have to decide that,� Minaya said after the Mets defeated the San Francisco Giants, 7-3. �The reality is that he�s going to be out for a very long time and possibly may miss the year.� Asked whether there were any circumstances under which he could expect Alou to return, Minaya shook his head. �It�s going to be tough based on what the doctor told me,� Minaya said. The Mets had hoped that Alou, already on the disabled list with a strained left calf, could return to help justify the $7.5 million option they exercised on him before this season. They have surged into contention without him and their other corner outfielder, Ryan Church, who is dealing with postconcussion symptoms. But with the July 31 trade deadline less than three weeks away, Minaya will explore deals for suitable replacements. �To overcome a loss of that magnitude, of our fifth and sixth hitters, at this level for an upper-division � what you consider yourself as an upper-division club � something else has to happen in the other parts of the game,� Manager Jerry Manuel said. The Mets have started 11 players in left field this season; together, their production ranks near the worst in baseball. Combined, they have hit .246 with four home runs, which ranked 29th before Thursday night�s games; 36 runs batted in, which ranked tied for 28th; and a .331 slugging percentage, ahead of only Toronto and the Dodgers, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.* As well as Endy Ch�vez and Fernando Tatis have played while Alou and Church have been hurt, it is unrealistic that they will maintain that level of production over the final 72 games. So the Mets would figure to pursue a versatile outfielder, someone they could acquire without having to dip into a farm system mostly barren of talent. The underachieving Mariners, having begun looking to the future, released first baseman Richie Sexson on Thursday and could be persuaded to deal the 36-year-old Ra�l Ib��ez, who had averaged 27 home runs and 114 R.B.I. over the past two seasons. A familiar name, Xavier Nady, could play both corner spots as well as first base. His Pittsburgh teammate, Jason Bay, is equally alluring but would come at a higher price. Jos� Guill�n has a few deterrents � his combustible personality, his streaky hitting, the $12 million owed for each of the next two seasons � but he would supply right-handed power and strong defense. �Are we going to be in the marketplace looking for guys to improve? Yes,� Minaya said. �But it has to be the right guy.� _______________ My edit: * The Met team record for starting the most Left Fielders was set by the pennant winning 2000 squad -12 LF'ers started that year - just one more than the current team. Your starting LF'ers in 2000 were: Benny Agbayani (88 games) Rickey Henderson (28) Darryl Hamilton (12) Jason Tyner (10) Joe McEwing (6) Joe Nunnally (6) Lenny Harris (4) Timo Perez (3) Melvin Mora (1) Bubba Trammell (1) Matt Franco (1) Mark Johnson (1) Jorge Toca and Jay Payton also played LF in 2000, though never as starters.

I'm back from a search and destroy mission where I almost destroyed one of my toes finding my Yogi Berra by Joe Trimble book (1965 Revised Edition, Metly Hardcover). There are no splendids to report in Casey's foreword, but there is this ironic pot calling kettlish quote: ="Casey Stengel"]Some people maybe thought he was a clown but Berra earned the respect of his teammates and his rivals in the American League. The book itself, at 224 pages, is almost entirely a Berra as Yankee read, with a brief final two page chapter covering Met Yogi added for the '65 edition.

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Nixon to me comes off like a guy who knows all too well his career is hanging by a thread.... And what if that thread just happened to be stitched inside of that #6 uni?

Maybe Nixon doesn't want #6 anymore. Or Nixon OK'd the uniform switcheroo. I don't know one way or the other. Yet. I'm just theorizing here.

metirish wrote: I'm not counting on him for this season. This would obviously be a huge blow to the Mets. Church pro-rated, is having about as good a season as David Wright. I don't see the likelihood of Church's fill-ins matching those numbers.

Food Stuff Barbecue and More for Mets Fans By FLORENCE FABRICANT Published: July 9, 2008 The starting lineup is being assembled for the food that will be offered at Citi Field, the Mets� new stadium, which is scheduled to open next spring. The management of the Mets and Aramark, the Philadelphia food service company that is in charge of food in the stadium, have confirmed that Danny Meyer�s Union Square Hospitality Group will open a Blue Smoke barbecue restaurant; a Shake Shack stand; Pop Fries, serving Belgian-style hand-cut fries; and a taqueria. Mr. Meyer will also run a high-end restaurant, cafe, bar and lounge complex behind home plate called the Sterling Club. �I�ve known Danny a long time and he�s tops in what he does,� said Jeff Wilpon, an owner of the Mets. �He also loves the Mets.� Mr. Wilpon said that the team management and Aramark are negotiating with other well-known New York restaurateurs to open elsewhere in the stadium. �We will have locations at every level,� he said. Some of them, like a restaurant in the Ebbets Club, will be run by Aramark.

According to my copy of Yogi Berra's Baseball Guidebook - Basic Plays and Playing Techniques for Boys (Featuring Yogi in a MFY uniform on the cover even though the book was published in 1966: - Yogi is pictured as a Met on the back cover though, with this caption: "Seen in this picture is Yogi and his youngest son and Junior Met, Dale, 9. Yogi's two older sons, Larry Jr. 16, and Timmy, 14, are good ball players too". Dale is in one of those period correct Little League style faux Mets uniforms that all the players' kids wore to Family Day at Shea in those days what with there being no Authentics or authentic looking uniforms available in 1966 that would fit a little kid). Anyway, Yogi said this in the Pitcher's section about backing up third: ="Yogi"]BACKING UP THIRD With runners on base, a hit to the outfield sets everybody in motion. This includes the pitcher. On a long hit to rightfield, the runner on first may try to reach third. The pitcher has to hustle over into foul ground behind third base, to back up the third baseman in the event of a bad throw from the outfield. Being there in the right place can mean the difference between a run scoring or the base runner staying put on third. In the event of a bad throw to third base, which the pitcher fields, it is possible that the base runner on first may try to run to second. The pitcher must be alert to make the play. Inconclusive or what? Should a pitcher back up third only when the hit is to rightfield? When the hit is a long hit? Did Yogi really write all that? Did Yogi ever even read this book? Here's a mid-60's printing of a 50's Yogi book by Joe Trimble. The cover went from MFYish to Metly after the (pre) Amazins acquired the HOF bound catcher:

At this stage of the season, those BP playoff odds are highly volatile. Thus, the Mets win three of four from Philly and have their odds escalate from slim to good. And that's not so much a knock on the BP system as it is an accurate reflection of the fact that there's still half a season left and for all of the Mets controversy this year, they were never far from the division leaders.

AG/DC wrote: Mike Gallego, John Kruk, Josias Manzanillo --- all men, among others, who boldly played the game with one testical. Pretty ballsy of those guys to play like that, wouldn't you say?

Frayed Knot wrote: Back when Met fans were whining about Benitez.... I never thought that Benitez was a Met problem. And I could never reconcile, for example, the venom directed against him, especially in light of all the implausible flattery given to someone who I believed was a truly crappy Armando teammate like Rey Ordonez. Until the end of his Met stint, Benitez was one of baseball's top five relievers, and that's a good thing. If you could stack a team with the third, fourth or fifth best player at every position, you'd have a playoff team.

I was a big Benitez fan. Benitez was one of baseball's best relievers during his years as a Met. I always thought that the fans expectations were unreasonable; that Benitez suffered the unfortunate sin of not being infalllible. And it didn't help Benitez's cause that he was a Met when baseball's best relievers belonged to the Mets biggest rivals (Rocker/Braves and Rivera/MFY's). I don't like Wagner's mouthing off in public against his teammates, either. Wagner is becoming more and more unlikeable as a person with each passing week. But strictly baseball, how many relievers have been better than Wags going back to 2005? Not many.

seawolf17 wrote: ="batmagadanleadoff"]Bud Parusha was a one-armed outfielder for the Ruppert Mundys. But that ain't no kids book. Wow, classic. And agreed. That book's sure got it's peaks and valleys. Some of the passages are among the funniest I've read in my entire life. I probably laughed out loud the first two or ten times I read the book. It's too long, though.

metsguyinmichigan wrote: Scholastic Books! I have the 1975 version.. Scholastic Books! That's where I got my _____Stars of 19xx books from. From school. Good memory. Who'da thought you could get books from school?

Bud Parusha was a one-armed outfielder for the Ruppert Mundys. But that ain't no kids book.

I remember all of those books. Steve Carlton was on the cover of Baseball Stars of '73. I remember that the cover was split, featuring another player, as well.. I also had Football Stars of 1973 with Larry Brown on the cover. And I remember going through a phase at around that time where I read just about every Matt Christopher book I could get my hands on.

Phils out. Seaver to pitch the 7th. Will face Willie Randolph. I know what'll happen.

Here comes another past future Met: Willie Montanez.