A Boy Named Seo

1. First hit - REYES 2. First double - BELTRAN 3. First triple - REYES 4. First home run - DELGADO 5. First stolen base - REYES 6. First baserunner caught stealing/picked off - REYES 7. First guy to hit into a double-play - WRIGHT 8. First batter to strike out - DELGADO 9. First fielder to commit an error - WRIGHT 10. First guy to score a run - REYES 11. First guy to drive in a run - BELTRAN 12. First Met player to field a batted ball in fair territory - CASTILLO 13. First Met to draw a walk - MURPHY 14. First Met relief pitcher to make an appearance - FELICIANO 15. First Met to reach base on an error - MURPHY 16. First winning Met pitcher - SANTANA 17. First Met pitcher to be relieved in the middle of an inning - MAINE 18. First Met to to plunk an opposing batter - MAINE 19. First Met to be hit by a pitch - MURPHY 20. First Met pinch-hitter - ANDERSON

Twist my arm, I'll go see that maniac pitch.

Some nice pixfrom the guy who runs that Wright Stache blog. (Full size photos, and more of 'em, if you click the link) This one I thought was cool because it's the first real photo of the rotunda taken from the same angle as the computer-generated ones were when they first released the plans for "Mets Ballpark". The people still look fake. --- Finally the ladies get their own Mets team shop and it's powered by Alyssa Milano's sequins and velour engine. --- Pavilion Bar. Nice. Very similar to Petco. --- Caesar's Lounge. Also reminiscent of Petco and Staples Center and bunches of other stadiums with lounges that I don't think I'll ever go into. Looks nice enough, though. --- This is the first time I ever really noticed the hightened LF wall. Up and over, Davey. --- Better look at the LF wall, plus the one part of the CF wall that's a little taller and its only purpose appears to be to hide the apple and to give Beltran some weird angles to make awesome catches around. --- Speaking of weird angles, the recessed right-CF "cove". --- View from CF: --- Steve J. Rogers' Asian doppelganger? --- Oh.

That kid would probably hit like 109 on FOX's playoff gun.

USA gettin' clobbered, 5-1 in the 2nd.

Oops. Already covered, it seems. Nothing to see here.

Details magazine catches Alex Rodriguez for an interview and their timing is, unfortunately for them, quite miserable. The Selena Roberts steroids confrontation happens their morning before the interview and hits the media just 2 days after. Subsequently (and understandably), the interviewer tries to cover that ground after the fact anyway. Alex is predictably bland, but the pictures make it all worthwhile.

Fman, why do you hate America so?

You guys are makin' me remember my of my old set of Garbage Pail Kids.

Sounds fun. I've always wanted to try an auction. Ron Shandler's "Baseball Forecaster" talks about roto drafts, and they have a section on strategy with a cheat sheet w/ suggested values in the back. The LIMA Plan (Low Investment Mound Aces) is the first and most widely used, where they advocate spending no more than $60 of your $260 (or, like 1/4 of your budget) on starters (EDIT: meant pitching, not just starters), and half that on saves. There's a few other strategies, too, probably all of 'em a little flawed, but fun to read. At the very beginning of the book, he says not to get married to any of the values, though, because they'll change depending on how your draft is shaking out, depth of position, specific owner needs, and even locale (Mets/Yanks tend to be overvalued in NY, Dodgers/Angels at a draft in LA, etc.). He says what he does is try to group guys by position in $5 increments that he thinks of as "interchangeable", it helps him stay on budget while filling his team out. He notes the purchase price for every player as they're drafted and compares w/ his chart to see if players are going over or under value. He says paying attention to your opponents drafting and bidding tendencies as they develop, is as important as anything. Anyway, have fun and report back. Thumb through the book if you see it at a shop, too. This is my third year in a row getting it.

He gave another hit and a run, then K'd the last 2 dudes. FB was 83-84. Didn't look so hot. I thought he won a raise pre-arb? The Mets would eat that money, wouldn't they? Duaner looks dejected in the dugout.

Poor Duaner's throwing slow, straight, belt-high fastballs and The O's have a run in, 2 on, and just one out.

He's already a single A Dodger. Pedro looked great. Fun to see the Dutch win anyway.

Edgy DC wrote: Jonathan puked up a pair of runs in the second, courtesy of a two-run single by Khalil "The Prophet" Green, who is a key to hopes in Cardinalia this year. "The Prophet". Love it.

Agreed that everyone's a suspect (Batch included), but that was a lame piece of writing. This part was especially douchey and unprofessional: ]When steroids became a daily subject in newspaper articles I wanted to write about Piazza�s acne-covered back. I was prepared to describe it in disgusting living color. But two or three times my editors at The New York Times would not allow it. Piazza, they said, had never been accused of using steroids so I couldn�t write about it. But wait, I said, if I write about it, I will in effect be accusing Piazza of using steroids and then someone will have accused him of using steroids. No can do, I was told. I always took the veto to stem from the Times ultra conservative ways, but I also wondered if it maybe was the baseball editor, a big Mets� fan, protecting the Mets. Get off your old Andy Rooney ass and go and do some investigative journalism if you want to turn something up. Jocks do stupid shit like writing checks for drugs, so maybe the minimal effort by Chass could pull up a nugget.

Cool, didn't know that was on. Japanese fans are awesome.

That stupid Olympic extra-innings rule was adopted this year and will be in effect for every inning starting with the 13th. Hopefully we won't even see it.

You channeled Fran perfectly on the Castillo pic.

Quisenberry - (n.) 1. A mustachioed relief pitcher for the Kansas City Royals from 1979-1988. 2. A style of pitching where the pitcher delivers the ball using an underhand, rather than overhand, motion. Writer Roger Angell called it "a swallowlike, harmless-looking thing that rose abruptly... then changed its mind". 3. A controversial quince/raspberry hybrid fruit jam created by Knott's Berry Farm in 1976.

Me and TM's gay sim scores off the charts.

Beautiful pictures. Hi-larious captions. Maine the only guy not wearing the new hat patch. No Citi sleeve patches anywhere yet. Chef-Rod looks kinda tubby. Not even kinda tubby in shot 2, just tubby. Get that guy a colonic and 2 weeks on the Marlon Anderson diet NOW!!! I know it was for the ladies, but I'm still hopelessly locked in the tractor beam that is Johan Santana's gaze. Help.

Nice to see Pagan's name on a boxscore again. And he picked up right where he left off. And there are apparently two Riveras on the team and I have no idea who either one is.

I think we covered bush league. Well done, Edge.

Bush League - 1) A term used to describe an unsportsmanlike play. The term is a reference to the very low minor leagues. Ex. "A-Rod slapping at the pitcher's glove was fuckin' Bush League, man." 2) A Pearl Jam song about President Bush. 3) Fman's Fantasy Baseball League Name.

="Kong76"]Side note: I don't do names and numbers on my jerseys. If someone wants to buy me a jersey with a name and number, I'll take a road grey with either Koosman, Matlack, or Kingman on it. I almost got a Carter #8 moons ago, they way he turned out I'm glad I didn't succumb to the temptation 'cause I probably wouldn't wear it. I was gonna ask. A Kingman would be pretty neat, man. The first time I was at Shea, I almost almost ponied up the dough for a Rickey Gutierrez #6 that was on sale in the pro shop. I only wanted it cause it's my last name, too. It was '05, I guess, and he was already gone from the team, but they still wanted close to two hundy for it. Awesome souvenir, but I couldn't let myself. Someone gave me a black Piazza replica and the letters are in white and it looks cheesy. This style: