batmagadanleadoff

Johnny Lunchbucket wrote: Trevor May, I meant Nope. [FIMG=555]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52567987930_15c5f3beb7_h.jpg[/FIMG]

=MFS62 post_id=129702 time=1687625306 user_id=60] Lets' start with first things first

Edgy MD wrote: My guess is 5% (including meself) went with Carew, while a much larger percentage went with Mike Trout..... Because we're getting old. I thought of Alex Johnson before Trout. I wonder what the percentage is on AJ?

Edgy MD wrote: My 20-win .300-hitter was Don Drysdale, which they accepted. Mine, too. But I didn't log in my answers so I didnt get the percentages.

Benjamin Grimm wrote: My answers for June 23: Angels .300 hitter: Rod Carew 5% Only five percent got Rod Carew? Wow! We're getting old.

Jake deGrom limited himself to a small geographic area of America - namely the slavery belt or whatever else you'd wanna call the southeast. Ideally, he would've pitched for the Braves, a winning team about as close to his home as any other team in baseball. But the Braves had zero interest in deGrom. deGrom signed with the only team that showed interest in him, checked his geographic box, and was willing to spend the money needed to lure deGrom. I think that the stuff about deGrom buying into the Rangers' plans was a horseshit cover story, even though, as things turned out, the Rangers improved vastly and are one of baseball's best teams this year. What else was deGrom gonna say -- that he didn't wanna play in NYC for a team that just came off a 101 win season? But we'll see. No matter how the Mets finish this season, Cohen has more money than anyone else and NYC is the greatest city in the world, and those are huge advantages.

I already addressed this, if tersely. I don't believe that Ohtani wants to hear about hope and promises. I think Ohtani wants a more concrete winning environment. If the Mets continue at this season's pace, they will have had losing seasons in two of the last three years. Nimmo and McNeil and Alonso are an excellent core but the Mets have had those players for quite some time now and haven't won a goddamn thing with them yet. IF Scherzer and Verlander don't revert to form, the team has no starting pitching --- and nobody down below that can make a meaningful impact is close to major-league ready. Senga has had some moments of brilliance, but just as much ineffectiveness, mediocrity and awfulness. He's unreliable. And Scherzer and Verlander are gonna be a year older next year. The smart money bets that they're gonna get worse, not better. I can't see Ohtani wanting to play here under those conditions.

Absolutely. I don't think he wants to play for a three year plan or hear about "visions". I think he wants to win now. A baseball player's prime is extremely short in the grand scheme of things and that's even without sustaining any serious injuries. And Ohtani knows this. He's already had a serious injury and lost meaningful playing time. And he's a pitcher. So up the risk on that.

Johnny Lunchbucket wrote: Tommy Hunter? Not Hunter. [FIMG=555]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52997252644_93ec89a900_h.jpg[/FIMG]

If the Mets keep this up, why would Ohtani wanna come to play here? I mean, if he leaves the Angels, it's gonna be to play for a winning team.

Well, Escobar's not the third baseman Cohen probably wants if he wants to build a team like the Dodgers. So goodbye, Escobar. Now all Cohen has to do is to find a third baseman that plays like Mike Schmidt.

[FIMG=511]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52996431074_f7fa086727_h.jpg[/FIMG] [FIMG=411]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52996657705_86a7ceab40_b.jpg[/FIMG] [FIMG=411]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52995687957_cfe7e75097_b.jpg[/FIMG] [FIMG=411]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52996701195_2da0944050_h.jpg[/FIMG] [FIMG=411]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52995690172_8aa65828a3_h.jpg[/FIMG] [FIMG=411]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52996437834_1af98bd312_h.jpg[/FIMG] [fimg=411]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52995706577_dc6b0d5157_h.jpg[/FIMG] [fimg=411]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52996677615_ad8727dcd5_h.jpg[/FIMG] [FIMG=411]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52996670360_58541b29ae_h.jpg[/FIMG] [FIMG=511]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52996668860_76d8450da1_h.jpg[/FIMG] Nogosek was the only 2022 Met to not appear on his own Rock and Roll Part 2 baseball card. The card right above is an error card and that's not Nogosek pictured with Jimi Hendrix. So who's the impostor?

Edgy MD wrote: =batmagadanleadoff post_id=129342 time=1687316547 user_id=68]It isn't even remotely like what you preach every single game --- deciding and then committing to taking a pitch before that pitch is even thrown -- even if that pitch turns out to be a 70MPH meatball right down the middle of the plate. Please don't characterize what I preach every game. I don't preach anything every game. I don't preach.

Edgy MD wrote: Alonso shows why you take when down in the ninth. Because the pitcher didn't throw a single strike. Alonso took four balls. Taking a pitch that isn't in the strike zone is an extremely sound strategy. It isn't even remotely like what you preach every single game --- deciding and then committing to taking a pitch before that pitch is even thrown -- even if that pitch turns out to be a 70MPH meatball right down the middle of the plate. You know how fucked batters are when they're behind in the count. Not everybody's Keith Hernandez. Jesus Christ with the automatic taking of the first pitch. The best hitters in baseball are gonna make an out 60 or 70 percent of the time on every at bat, even with a clean count. They don't need to be hitting behind in the count on top of that. The pitcher has the advantage on every single at bat. If a batter's gonna decide to take a pitch before it's even thrown, it should be on a batter's count, like 3-0 or 3-1 --- not on the first pitch.

Lotsa hand-wringing and angst on the internet over the losing. As if anybody knows why Lindor is a coupl'a bad games from being under the Mendoza line. Or whether Scherzer is declining or simply out of whack mechanically, a bit. Or something else. Someone wrote an article demanding that Buck go all because Vientos sucked last month. If I keep on reading web Mets articles, I'm gonna eventually come across some piece explaining that the way to fix this bad Mets run is to retire Gary Carter's uniform number.

Grant Hartwig is the last piece to the puzzle.

"You wanna sit back down there and pay attention?"

"The mind is a strange thing. You must begin by asking it -- 'what is losing?'"

"Losing is a disease, as contagious as syphilis."

"Losing is a disease, as contagious as polio."

"Losing is a disease, as contagious as bubonic plague ... attacking one ... and affecting all."

Matt Harvey wrote: “I've always been interested in the many different aspects of real estate,” Harvey told The Post. Who the hell wrote Harvey's speech: Kim Kardashian?

Ex-Met Matt Harvey launches career at powerhouse NYC real estate firm Excerpt: Former Mets pitching ace Matt Harvey is now pitching loans. Harvey, who quit the sport last month after a tempestuous 10-year career, has quietly joined commercial real estate firm Newmark as managing director of its multifamily debt origination and advisory unit, The Post has learned. A source said Harvey's job will be to develop new client relationships while he undergoes a “crash course” as part of the powerhouse Capital Markets Strategies division. “I've always been interested in the many different aspects of real estate,” Harvey told The Post. “By joining an incredibly successful firm such as Newmark, I will be able to learn and grow from some of the best in the industry.” https://nypost.com/2023/06/15/ex-met-matt-harvey-starts-career-at-nyc-real-estate-newmark/https://nypost.com/2023/06/15/ex-met-matt-harvey-starts-career-at-nyc-real-estate-newmark/ Bureau Chief Harvey also sez that his favorite color is red, that he loves sunrises but hates long lines.

What in life isn't predatory? Who isn't being exploited in one way or another? One guy gets a full time 40 hour a week job at McDonald's and doesn't earn enough money to move out of his mother's basement. But the guy at the top of that food chain makes about a million dollars a week and has twice that in stocks and benefits.

I would guess that the borrowers are extremely informed. The PI plaintiffs have lawyers and the baseball players have agents who are usually lawyers themselves and in any event, work with lawyers and accountants. It's hard to resist the powerful lure of money.