bmfc1

http://sonsofsamhorn.net/index.php?showforum=98 I was surprised to find a Mets sub-forum within the famous Red Sox board, Sons of Sam Horn.

OK, OK. I concede.

If he's in the NL, it makes an opponent better and The Mets will play that team more than the six times they play the MFYs. Of course, it hurts every other team, too. The big thing is that our guys could see that team earlier than the WS (which is the case with the MFYs)... if they manage to make the playoffs. Perhaps the joy we'll get from it hurting the MFYs evens things out.

Yancy Street Gang wrote: I really hope he's played his last game as a Yankee. I agree... if it means he stays in the American League. If it means that he goes to the Cubs or elsewhere in the National League, he can have more of a negative impact on The Mets than if he stays with the MFYs.

From today's Daily News: "The Mets are expected to play in the Civil Rights game March 29 in Memphis. Major League Baseball is still considering having the Mets officially open the season the following night at the Nationals' new stadium." That would be two showcase games for the Mets... not bad for a team that didn't make the playoffs. Oh snap!

I hope that the Mets don't open the season on Sunday March 30th in the first game at the new Nationals ballpark. That would mean flying from Florida to Washington and then back to Florida to start the season. Not that it's rough for them to travel on charters, but let somebody else do it.

There are a plethora of choices for David Wright's BD but I will go with May 19th against the MFYs. In a 10-7 win at Shea, Mr. Wright went 2 for 2, with 2 homeruns, 4 RBI, 3 walks. After homering in the 1st and 3d, Wright was walked the next three times up. After the game, Wright said "it was an honor being on the same field as the Yankees, a team with such an honored tradition and a manager that has accomplished so much." No, he didn't say that, but you believed it. I think that's it for the Best Days. Interesting how many players had the same BD. Thanks for thinking of this thread Edgy. Here's to even better Best Days in '08 (and may we not be able to start this thread at this time one year from now because they'll still be playing).

Jason Vargas only made two appearances for the '07 Mets. In the second, he gave up 9 ER in 3 1/3 against the future NL champion Rockies. In the first, he didn't pitch much better but he was part of a great day for the Mets so that qualifies as his BD. On May 17th against the Cubs, Vargas made his Mets debut and just wearing the Mets uni qualifies as a good day, if not a BD, for anybody. Vargas pitched 7 innings and gave up 5 ER. The Mets scored 5 in the bottom of the 9th for a thrilling victory, 6-5. By "holding" the Cubs to 5 ER, and pitching 7 innings (which we learned was quite an accomplishment for Mets SPs), this day was the BD of '07 for Jason Vargas. Enter Sandman!

Updated standings. For the WS, the point totals are 20 + 10. Those with a shot at the coveted title are in bold. Surviving picks are in parens. Good luck. 1 ELSTER88 45 (BOS 5) 2 JOHNNY DICKSHOT 40 (COL 7) 3 BMFC1 35 METS MARATHON 35 (BOS 6) 5 TRANSMONK 30 YANCY STREET GANG 30 (COL 6) 7 G-FAFIF 20 IUBITUL 20 (BOS 7) VLADIUS 20 10 A BOY NAMED SEO 15 GWRECK 15 HAHNSOLO 15 KID CARSEY 15 (BOS 6) NYMR83 15 15 METIRISH 0

Scott Schoeneweis' BD of '07 came on September 21st. It was a clutch performance that made you wonder where it came from and why he hadn't pitched like that all season long. On the night after a long, crushing loss, Schoeneweis relieved Joe Smith with 2 out in bottom of the 8th and the Mets clinging to a 9-6 lead (by then, 3 run leads meant that the team had to cling). Two were on and Jeremy Hermedia was up but SS "struck him out!" He stayed in for the 9th and retired the side in order, including two by strikeout to earn his first save of the season as the Mets defeated the Marlins 9-6. Next: Aaron Sele.

I enjoyed listening to part of it, not because I like the guy but because the media is almost united (Joel Sherman is the only apparent exception) in saying that the Yankees screwed this one up. However, the press conference changed to a love-fest and made me ill. After awhile, I expected Suzyn Waldman to run out and tearfully give Torre a kiss. And that wasn't sexist, as she claimed. I'd say that about any broadcaster, male or female, for any team that cried on air about a player or manager about to leave the team.

Mike Pelfrey's BD came on September 1st against the Braves. He followed John Maine's Friday gem with one almost as good as the Mets defeated the Braves 5-1. Beltran, Delgado and Milledge all homered. Pelfrey pitched six innings, gave up only one ER, one hit and walked three. Hope for '08? This is the second time that this game was somebody's BD, IMHO, as I also used this game for Pedro Feliciano. O. Perez, anyone?

Lasting Milledge's BD was not John Maine's BD as you shouldn't have to answer questions about your behavior on your BD. Instead, Milledge's BD was on July 24th in a home game against Pittsburgh. As with the penultimate game of the season, Milledge's heroics were in support of a John Maine victory. On this day, Milledge was 3 for 3 with one homerun and an RBI as the Mets defeated the Pirates and Ian Snell 8-4. Some of the time, Milledge looks like a future roto-God--he can hit, hit for power, run and throw--and on others, he looks like a dumb kid whose immaturity makes him a risk for an everyday job in '08. Maybe he's both. Maybe the later will diminish over the passing of time. G. Mota's final last day as a Met (he said hopefully) comes next. Good luck.

Paul LoDuca's Best Day of '07 was on September 4th when the Mets defeated the Reds 11-7 in Cincinnati. Ollie was ineffective but, get this, four relievers held the lead. Paulie went 3-5, with 2 3-run homers, 2 runs scored, and 7 RBI (a career high). This post-game quote from Paulie is in the AP story: "It's amazing," said Lo Duca... "Unbelievable. I'm really proud of this team, especially with what happened in Philadelphia. To play the way we have these last five days is huge." To me, this shows Paulie at his best: talking about the team, caring about the team, even when he could be talking about himself. I hope to see him wearing the Mets uni in '08. John Maine is next and that choice should be easy.

Ben Johnson came to the Mets last November in a trade with San Diego and many of us thought that he would be the '07 version of Xavier Nady who also came from the Padres. This optimism lasted until we saw that he couldn't a) hit field c) run. Other than that, he was fantastic! His best day as a Met was even less obvious than that of A. Hernandez. On May 31st, in his third game as a Met, Ben Johnson started against the Giants, batted 8th and played LF. He went 1 for 2 and scored a run on an Endy bunt single. Johnson was only 5 for 27 for the year with 0 HR, 1 double (in a blow-out loss so it didn't meet my BD criteria) and he scored twice. One of them came during his Best Day as a Met as he was part, albeit a small one, of a 4-2 Met win. Brian Lawrence is next on the list. I have no recollection of a Met by that name.

That's TWICE Edgy!

Oh my goodness gracious!

Even though Aaron Heilman isn't one of my favorite Mets (I love them all but some more than others), I wanted to write up his Best Day so somebody else has to write Anderson Hernandez's Best Day. Heilman's Best Day was the aforementioned Jeff Conine's Best Day: on August 25th, in a Mets victory over the Dodgers, Heilman pitched the 9th as Billy Wagner had a "dead arm." I remember Howie Rose caputring our mood when he said that the Shea crowd seemed nervous and anxious with Heilman on the mound. Heilman got Eithier for the first out and then gave up a single to Jeff Kent. Luis Gonzalez then came to the plate (Tom McCarthy's voice just came into my head saying that this was the "Foxwoods Casino Turning Point of the Game") and hit into a 1-6-3 DP. Heilman got the save, we said "phew!", and the Mets won 4-3. I remember listening to the post-game show and thinking how great things were in the Mets world. Alas. Good luck with Anderson Hernandez!

Ruben Gotay was one of the pleasant surprises of '07. He didn't go north with the team and is now somebody that looks like a definite member of the '08 Mets. His best day was one of the Mets best days--one of the games that SNY will play during the winter, one of the games that will get us revved up for the Mets to return. May 17th against the Cubs was a Thursday afternoon and Willie rested Jose Reyes, David Wright and other regulars. When you saw the lineup, you thought it was a ST game: Franco batted 5th and Newhan 6th. Starting in place of Reyes was Gotay who, like Reyes, batted lead-off and played short. In the 5th, Gotay doubled in Endy to tie the score at one. The Cubs scored four in the 6th to take a 5-1 lead and you might have thought that a comeback was impossible with "that" lineup. In the 9th, against Cubs "closer" Rayan Dempster, Newhan lead off with a single; Castro lined out, Gomez singled, pinch-hitter Beltran walked to load 'em, and Endy walked to make it 5-2. With David Wright on the bench, it was logical to think that he would bat for Gotay but sometimes Willie let a young player stay in at a key time to see what they could do under pressure (so he'd know for the playoffs... ugh). Gotay singled, scoring two runs. Wright and Delgado then singled and the Mets had a classic 6-5 victory on Gotay's Best Day of '07. Come on down, Shawn Green!

After a slew of posts to this thread, it was time for Tom Glavine and everything has come to a screeching halt. This is a surprise as it's easy to remember Glavine's Best Day of '07 as it only happened a few weeks ago... It was Game 162, September 30th, as the Mets played the Marlins. I don't have to remind you how important that game was but what stands out is how Glavine rose to the occassion. Glavine was sometimes called selfish and not a team player but on that day, Glavine showed why he's a future Hall of Famer. As the Mets waited to take the field, Glavine look to his teammates and said "get ready for the playoffs, I'm taking us there." Glavine strode to the mound and put on a pitching clinic. On the first pitch, home plate umpire Joe West gave him 6 inches off the outside part of the plate, and Glavine seemed to think "I'm back in Atlanta." He dominated the Marlins, coming up big--just as a 300 game winner was expected to do.... Aw hell, I just wanted to move the thread along. Glavine's best pitching was probably July 14th against the Reds as he pitched 8 innings, gave up 1 run, 2 hits, and 0 walks in a 2-1 Mets win. However, his best day was when he accomplished an individual honor: he won his 300th on August 5th against the Cubs. Sadly, he couldn't come up as big when the focus was on the team and not on himself. The first 200 innings he pitched in '07 were great overall, but it was the extra 1/3d that we'll remember (he also stunk in his previous two starts). Nothing he does will make up for his last appearance and for that, I say farewell. I will be neither devastated or disappointed if he doesn't return. Carlos Gomez, you're up.

Updated through the NCLS. Nobody had "Rockies in 4." Everybody but one picker has either Boston or Cleveland in the WS so the standings will change before the WS: 1 BMFC1 35 2 YANCY STREET GANG 30 ELSTER88 30 4 JOHNNY DICKSHOT 25 METS MARATHON 25 6 VLADIUS 20 G-FAIF 20 8 GWRECK 15 A BOY NAMED SEO 15 TRANSMONK 15 HAHNSOLO 15 NYMR83 15 13 IUBITUL 10 14 KID CARSEY 5 15 METIRISH 0

Pedro Feliciano's best day of the season came on September 1st against the Braves. Mike Pelfrey pitched a dominant 6 innings (1 ER, 1 hit), Mota pitched the 7th, and the Mets lead 4-1 when Feliciano came in for the 8th. He retired the first batter via a fly ball and then struck out Diaz and Johnson. He pitched so well that Willie Randolph actually altered his norm and left Feliciano in for the 9th--or perhaps it was the tack-on run that did the trick to make it 5-1. Feliciano then struck out C. Jones, Teixeira and McCann to end the game. 2 perfect IP, 5 K's and his second save of the season. Next up: Julio Franco.

It's Mike DeFelice MANIA!!! It was a two-run triple--the other RBI was a Sac Fly. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=270817120 Odd that we picked the same given, given the plethora of great Mike DeFelice games!

Mike DeFelice's best game came with yours truly in attendance on a Friday night at RFK, August 17th, as the Mets defeated the Nationals, 6-2. It was a nice, relaxed game as the Mets were doing what they were supposed to do: beat the Nationals (note the foreshadowing). Before the game, I said to my 14 year old son Dylan, "if DeFelice hits a grand slam, I'll buy you a personalized DeFelice jersey." DeFelice didn't do that, but he still went 1 for 3 with 3 RBI (a career high) including a two run triple that just missing leaving the big ball park. On deck: Damion Easley.

Jeffrey Guy Conine's best day as a Met came on August 25th as he drove in what proved to be the winning run as the Mets beat the Dodgers 4-3. Conine made his first start as a Met, batting fifth. He went 1 for 2 with a 7th inning double that scored David Wright. Conine also had two walks as he was pitched around in favor of slumping Carlos Delgado. This was the game that Aaron Heilman saved as Billy Wagner had a "dead arm" (an issue we heard more about as the season went on). Up next: Carlos Delgado.