Frayed Knot

Now he's gotta make this pitch fat because he shirley doesn't want to go 3-2

Well, another bases-loaded AB ...

Has Reyes ever been on base 5 times in a game and NOT scored? Stop bunting Angel !!!!

I think both Keith & Gary are simply left-handed people. I assumed dad was also if that's the hand he threw with but hitting is less a hand-specific thing. The data there could also be wrong.

Just peaked in on an Astros board and folks there are gaping over the 101s and 102s from Parnell, saying they haven't seen readings like that since the days when Wagner was young. So if that IS a fast gun it's apparently not one that's always fast.

You kind of got the feeling after that bases-loaded debacle that this wasn't going to end well.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=hernan001joh As discussed during the game tonight, Keith's father - who I remember from his book is named John - played with the Houston Buffs in 1947. The birth date would be about right. The death date seems a bit early to me but maybe not and California is the likely spot. It lists him as a righty hitter and 'unknown' thrower. I know he threw lefty and the righty hitting would seem unusual. The team roster shows him playing 1B The John [u:4jajnfyj]Jr,[/u:4jajnfyj] indicates that English names for a Spanish family goes back at least 3 generations now. At some point you'd expect to find a Juan mixed in.

Nice, btw, that we burned two PHers in that last inning to not get the ball out of the infield.

And what does this indicate? poor preparation for "approach at the plate" in different situations? (Like how the Mets were/are bad at getting the run in from third with less than 2 outs?) Unprepared in general? just pressing to much? If anyone knew it would be easy to fix. Usually you could write these things off as just a quirk but the size of the sample starts to argues against that.

The bases-loaded stats for the Mets are just stunningly bad, and the fact that it's both a team-wide and season-long outage is even worse. Of all the situational stats - most of which are vastly over-blown and over-quoted by mediots and others - the bags-loaded one probably means more than any of them because it represents a HUGE advantage for the batter knowing that the pitcher can't walk you and so really should give a cause-and-effect "clutchness" boost. Except for us it's an anti-clutch thing.

Just a terrible 2-0 hack by Ike

Watching this offense is painful.

Mex17 wrote: What Zvon posted (and Frayed Knot paraphrased) is what happened. . whatever word or term you want to use to describe it is fine by me. But the basic truth of it is that it is not what Doubleday intended to have take place. I never claimed it was what Doubleday had in mind, but that hardly makes it a "swindle" or even something remotely underhanded. Rights of first refusal aren't uncommon business practices and that Nelson was blind-sided by it is his fault not Fred's. The greater, and more important, truth is that the result of it has had a severe negative impact on the team's ability to succeed. Doubleday made things better via means of passive noninterference. Wilpon then attempted to re-invent a wheel that had already produced a World Champion. That's a whole lotta speculation because it all pre-supposes that the winning was destined to continue if only laid-back Nelson had stayed in charge and meddling Fred never bought a bigger share. But no team wins forever and nothing was going to keep Hernandez & Carter from getting old (or Cashen for that matter), or Gooden & Straw on the straight & narrow, or guarantee that the next generation is going to be as good as the last one. And, make no mistake, if/when the team started going downhill there'd be screams for the owner to 'Don't Just Stand There - Do Something' . IOW, a more activist ownership would be seen as the solution in that case and not the problem. Which brings me back to my original point. Despite everything, I am still holding out hope that they can learn from their mistakes. Methinks that there is a jumble at the top right now. If one of the two Wilpons were to excuse himself from the stage voluntarily, and if authority was then properly shifted down the chain a bit (for real this time), then perhaps we can get back on the right track. By every account, in spite of the rather ruthless business tactic of 24 years ago, these are good men with noble intentions. But another "Apology Day" media blitz one day after the season ends ain't gonna cut the mustard this time. Fundamental change is needed. No one - least of all me - is trying to claim that the Wilpons are running a glitch-free empire here or that their interference (some might call it simply running the team they own) is always for the best. My only point earlier is that I just don't think having Fred maintain titular control even as Jeff becomes more the public face as opposed to bestowing the crown on Jeff's head while Fred does little more than sit in the background whispering things like 'remember, whoever comes to you about the Barzini meeting is the traitor" in his ear amounts to a hill of beans in this crazy world. [mixed classic movie metaphor alert]. Real change isn't going to come merely by shuffling title acronyms around.

smg58 wrote: It would seem that some sort of objective definition of what a player needs to do to "fail, refuse or neglect to conform his personal conduct to the standards of good citizenship" ought to be established. That, presumably, is what arbiters are there to determine. And, for the most part, they've determined that there aren't any standards that meet the definition.

Even from the 'Fugly' list I like: - Play Misty for Me (1971) -- Back when all the fuss was being made upon the release of 'Fatal Attraction' I was stunned that hardly a mention was made that it lifted virtually its entire plot from PMfM, right down to the abused pet - Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997) -- not a great flick, but took a good source and, while changing it a bit, still kept it interesting and worked in the Mercer music well - Absolute Power (1997) -- A lesser D.C. political-based caper movie than 'Line of Fire', but not bad - Letters from Iwo Jima (2006) -- much better than 'Flags of our Fathers'

I doubt it means a thing. Are potential FAs really likely to steer clear of the Mets because they believe the other 29 ownerships will let them punch guys in the head in family room and do nothing? No matter how this turns out it'll be viewed as an isolated incident, not a trend.

Dickey - 5.9 Beltran - 1.3 Wright - 1.3 Hessman - 1.0 Pagan - 0.3 Blanco - 0.2

Misch - 2.0 Parnell - 0.5 Dessens - 0.5 Rodriguez - 0.5 Reyes - 1.2 Pagan - 0.3 Wright - 0.3 Beltran - 0.3 Thole - 0.3 Carter - 0.3

Pelfrey - 2.5 Reyes - 2.0 Beltran - 0.4 Wright - 0.4 Carter - 0.4 Castillo - 0.6

MFS62 wrote: I would like to see the specific wording in the contract that allowed them to unilaterally change the nature of it to non-guaranteed. Well, the specific wording seems to give them the power to unilaterally void the thing altogether - although history tells them that things aren't always as they seem. By going at it the way they are: DQ-ing him while he's hurt and claiming the right to decide his fate in the future, they are, in effect, inviting a grievance process which is "expected to be this fall" and will get their answer on whether they actually have the power to do so prior to spring training which would be the time for them to use if they choose to go that route. If they were to try for the whole enchilada now they'd risk getting slam-dunked and have to pay him his entire deal, possibly even including the 2012 option, and would be stuck with a contract and a player who they've effectively told to get lost. By taking this thing in smaller bites they'll at least know in advance if they're on the hook for the loot and I suspect that if they're going to be forced to pay him they'd prefer to pay him to pitch for them rather than do so while he's pitching elsewhere. I think this is probably their most sensible strategy even if it's not the ideal one in the minds of a lot of fans.

metirish wrote: @Joelsherman1: Union head Mike Weiner on K-Rod: The #Mets actions are without basis and I expect the union will challenge them right away I'm sure they will, but I think the team going the restricted list route rather than preemptively trying to void the entire contract now is a kind of intermediate step which makes it more likely that they'll get away with it.

The statement -- The Mets today announced that they have placed pitcher Francisco Rodriguez on the Disqualified List for conduct in violation of his Uniform Player�s Contract. In addition, the Mets notified the player, his agent, and the MLB Players Association that it has exercised its right to convert Rodriguez�s contract with the club to a non-guaranteed contract. Additionally: - The Mets� decision follows the season-ending injury to the thumb on Rodriguez�s right pitching hand as a result of an altercation following last Wednesday night�s game at Citi Field. - Rodriguez will not be paid or accrue major-league service time while on the Disqualified List. - Dr. Andrew Weiland of the Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan this afternoon performed successful surgery to repair the torn ligament in Rodriguez�s thumb this afternoon.