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Gwreck wrote: Nicely done. ... Side question for those in the DC area: How does the split run in fans between the Orioles and the Nationals? Did the Nationals take over a substantial part of the Oriole fanbase when they came to town? Are they capturing some of those fans now due to a bandwagon effect? Thank you Gwreck. Baseball fans in DC reluctantly supported the Orioles until the Nationals arrived. Once they did, the Orioles were forgotten and their ticket office at Farragut North, within walking distance of the White House, closed. The split occurs at approximately the Montgomery County/Howard County border (in Maryland). I live in Montgomery County and if I drive 20 minutes north into Howard County, the clothing changes from Redskins to Ravens and from Nationals to Orioles. "Nova" (Northern Virginia), DC and Montgomery County, MD are within the DC TV markets and are Nationals areas. The other parts of Maryland are for the Birds. Each team is shown on cable (MASN 1 and MASN 2).

When the Mets DFA'd Q, the Orioles claimed him and gave the Mets cash. That was for 3 months and Q is the O's starting SS. When the Red Sox DFA'd Shoppach, the Mets claimed him and gave the Red Sox a former major league player. That was for less than 2 months and the player will play about half of the games. The Wilpons still only care about money.

Must be nice to have new ownership with new energy rather than owners that are just barely getting by... but not every team gets a loan from the Crypt Keeper's Office.

For the third straight month, the Mets visit the Washington Nationals. Well planned MLB! The Nationals are the #1 team in baseball, per smart guy Jonah Keri (the Mets are number 19). The Mets are 3 and 9 against the Nationals this season, including 0 and 4 with me in attendance. The standings: The Nationals are 73-45, the best record in baseball, and in 1st place in the NL East by 4 games ahead of the Braves. The Nationals host the Braves on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday so perhaps they�ll be looking ahead to that series. The Mets are 56-62, 3d place but only 3.5 games away from last place. The Nationals have the 2d best run differential in baseball. They do everything well, with the only possible question being in the bullpen as Drew Storen regains his strength following elbow surgery. The current closer is Tyler Clippard who has 25 saves. Davey Johnson keeps three left-handers in his bullpen (Sean Burnett, Tom Gorzellany, and Mike Gonzalez) so expect a lot of pitching changes. The managers: The selection for the all-time best Mets manager, Davey Johnson, is the manager of the Nationals. The Mets manager is Terry Collins. Areyoufriggingkiddingme? The opposing lineup: I could cut and paste the names and numbers, but they are right here. Bryce Harper is something to behold. Sure he�s a punk but I wish he was our punk. His swing is an act of violence. Still, he�s been slumping of late. You know the locals love him because they are making excuses for him. He�s not arrogant, he has �self-assurance� and �unassailable confidence�. The matchups, with a nod to the classic Elias Baseball Analyst: August 17 (7:05): Johan Santana, LHP, 6-8, 4.58, 1.33 WHIP Loves to face: Michael Morse, 0 for 8 Hates to face: Jason Werth, 8 for 20, 1 HR v. Ross Detweiler, LHP, 6-5, 3.18, 1.16 Loves to face: Jason Bay, 1 for 9 Hates to face: David Wright, 5 for 12, 1 HR, 4 RBI Weather permitting, I will be in Section 115, Row V and it�s my last chance to see the Mets win in DC this season. It�s also �Retro Cap Night.�. August 18 (7:05): Jonathon Niese, LHP, 9-6, 3.67, 1.18 Loves to face: Ian Desmond, 2 for 11; Jayson Werth 8 K�s Hates to face: Ryan Zimmerman, 4 for 11; Adam LaRoche, 2 HR v. Edwin Jackson, RHP, 7-7 3.74, 1.21 Loves to face: Scott Hairston, 0 for 7 Hates to face: Jason Bay, 3 for 11, 1 HR Third Eye Blind will be performing after the game. August 19 (1:35): Jeremy Hefner, RHP, 2-4, 4.76, 1.38 Loves to face: Ian Desmond, 0 for 3; Jesus Flores, 0 for 3 Hates to face: Michael Morse, 3 for 6, 1 HR; Adam LaRoche, 3 for 6, 1 HR; Danny Espinosa, 3 for 6, 1 HR v. Gio Gonzalez, LHP, 15-6, 3.29, 1.14 Loves to face: Jason Bay, 0 for 8 Hates to face: Ike Davis, 3 for 5, 1 HR Once again, the Mets miss Stephen Strasburg. He only has two starts this season against the Mets in five possible series. You will still probably hear several discussions between Gary and Keith or Ron about the innings limit that will shortly end Strasburg�s season. The locals: I�ve been told that I repeat myself in these KTE�s and I will do so again. Sports here (DC) is not like sports there (NY) as almost all of the locals root for the same team. There are plenty of transplants that retain their allegiances but a vast majority of the people in Washington, DC and the DC suburbs of Maryland and Virginia root for the Redskins, Nationals, Capitals, and Wizards. Oh, how insufferable Redskins fans are; loud, rude, arrogant, and that�s only for starters. I was at their crappy stadium last season when Sanchez hit Holmes for the go-ahead TD and it was one of the best sports moments I�ve had in a long time. After another terrible season (but great to me), the locals have bounced back as the Redskins did what they do best: win the pre-season. The fans have �RGIII� fever and their expectations are sky-high, as usual. There�s no middle-ground with them, no incremental progress. I look forward to their being disappointed once again. Schadenfreude, bitches! Nationals fans don�t deserve the joy of a pennant. That doesn�t mean they don't deserve happiness as at least two or three of them might otherwise be good people, but baseball happiness, no. They haven�t suffered. They don�t know what it�s like to collapse at the end of a regular season or lose in the playoffs. As a result, I don�t believe that they can appreciate winning a pennant. The Nationals have been no better than .500 since their arrival in 2005 so for their fans, it�s �my team sucked and now we�re great.� It shouldn�t be that easy. Winning now would be unfair to those of us that have felt so much pain. As a result, I have to confess that I have been rooting for the Atlanta Braves (other than when they play the Mets, of course). Not because they are the Braves but because they are not the Nationals and have the best chance to overtake the Nationals. I know that we hate the Braves (and wish nothing but the best for Davey Johnson) but I don�t live in Atlanta. I don�t have friends that are Nationals fans. I don�t work with Braves fans. Besides, it would be better for them. After some heartbreak, winning in a subsequent year would taste sweeter. I�m really doing them a favor. Victory Song: �Raise Your Glass� by Pink. After hearing it so often while departing Nationals Park, it�s achieved �The Pina Colada Song� status for me so whenever it comes on the radio, I slam the button. Let�s hope we don�t hear it this weekend. Thomas Boswell: The once great but now awful columnist must have oozed Nat juice all over himself writing his latest piece of dreck. Just about anything he's written about the Nationals over the past year is similar. The Nationals TV announcers: suck

I agree with FK. Believe me, I'm thrilled to see anybody other than Thole catch. My dislike of Thole as a Met is on the record. Having said that, why now? Thole stunk just as much in April as he does now and if they had Shoppach instead of Johnson and Nickeas, maybe they would have won a few more games when they counted. Sandy gave up a fringe major leaguer for someone that will play during these meaningless months and then might go elsewhere.

I'm listed as the thread's author but I wish I thought of something as clever as supplied by someone else. If an NL team wins the World Series in 7 games, will the championship be questioned as the NL team had home-field advantage in part because of the game play of a player that used performance enhancing drugs?

From Twitter: Giants OF Melky Cabrera has been suspended 50 games without pay after testing positive for Testosterone.

At bat music: Kelly Shoppach: "Kick It In The Sticks," Brantley Gilbert Per: http://www.nesn.com/2012/05/red-sox-at-bat-songs-pitcher-entrance-music-ranges-from-bon-jovi-to-pitbull.html

Jennifer Shoppach (left), in 2008: After making the playoffs in 2011. Remember that feeling, Jen:

G-Fafif wrote: Acquired for a player to be named later. Even better would be acquired for a player to be named Thole. But this is nice, too. Excellent!

I checked the email and it says "8/21".

Mets acquire Kelly Shoppach for a player to be named later. He should get rid of that Red Sox picture on his Twitter page, @ShopHouse10. High strikeout rate: http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=3867&position=C

Do the Mets even give a crap any more? What happened to the "great make-up of this team" that we heard about?

Edgy--I'll take the upcoming WSH series.

Objection sustained; let the record reflect that the Mets "may" lose Buffalo.

Minor league musical chairs and the Mets lose, again (remember New Orleans?).

Gwreck wrote: 2. It continues to baffle me that Bobby Parnell can only pitch one inning. He's effective...and then he's gone. If an inning lasted for 6 outs, Parnell could get all 6. Something apparently happens between innings to his head.

On tonight's broadcast, Josh said that "the Phillies phony baloney sell-out streak is over."

Holy crap, the Astros are embarassing. Look at how the Nationals scored the go-ahead run last night: http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=23685139&source=MLB&gid=2012_08_06_wasmlb_houmlb_1 Reactions: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/dc-sports-bog/post/the-astros-botch-a-bunt-and

You're welcome everyone! I saw it at Mets Police so he deserves credit as well.

Note the price--$12.99 http://www.espnshop.com/product/index.jsp?productId=13117891&clickid=cart Here's what it's supposed to be--$89.96: http://www.amazon.com/York-Mets-50th-Anniversary-Collector-2019s/dp/B007R5A22M Shipping is over $10 but here's a promo code: SHOPRUNESPN I got it for $22.28.

I love Amazin' Avenue's regular column, "This Week In SNY." Here's the latest: http://www.amazinavenue.com/2012/8/3/3214475/this-week-in-sny-featuring-terry-collins-bad-habit-snys-spelling

If NBC wanted farting to be an Olympic sport, the IOC would make it happen.

If NBC wanted baseball to be an Olympic sport, it would be. Perhaps if the NBC Sports Network gets a piece of the next national TV package, NBC will be interested. Out on a limb idea: make Olympic baseball a winter sport. Of course it would have to played in a different locale than the winter Olympics, such as Florida or Arizona. The players don't have a conflict (just like the NBA and European players don't have a conflict right now). It sounds crazy to have an event in a different location (and would the players want to give up a month of their off-season to train?), but it's better than shutting down MLB and certainly better than Bud's WBC which forces MLB players into a competitive environment after only a week or two of practice.

Ceetar: Ike is a possibility but first team Israel has to qualify and the preliminary round is in mid-September. http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-0617-down-the-line-20120617,0,2275237.story http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_World_Baseball_Classic_%E2%80%93_Qualification#Qualifier_1