Frayed Knot

Yes, but the starting pitching has been more consistently lacking than the offense (last night not-withstanding). 3 starters have ERAs over 7.00 Maine last night 1st inning: leadoff walk - 1 run scores 2nd inning: one-out walk - none scored 3rd inning: leadoff walk (pitcher) - 2 runs score 4th inning: one-out walk - 2 runs score 5th inning: 1-2-3 inning 6th inning: leadoff single - leaves w/2 out & bases loaded It's positively Oliver-esque !! And, in answer to my own question somewhere in this thread: No, Piniero did not have any strikeouts the entire game.

Beltran - 2.0 Fossum - 0.7 Stokes - 0.8 Murphy - 0.7 Wright - 0.5 Castillo - 0.3

- So O'Day arrives in Toronto with the Rangers-Jays game already in progress. - The Rangers tie it up in the 9th, getting 3 off BJ Ryan, so they go to extras. - O'Day gets called on with 2-on in the 11th and, while wearing someone else's jersey [Gabbard - 30] because they didn't have one made up for him yet, he serves up a walk-off gapper to Kevin Millar. It's never too late to make a first impression.

btw, several teams are wearing green-trimmed unis today. I assume it's for 'Earth Day'

="Swan Swan H"]and the only cure is.....

Phils lose 3-1 Braves beat Nats 1-0 on 3 consecutive walks in the 9th inning. So much for bullpen overhauls.

Not only are we hitting a bunch of stuff right at 'em (does Pinero have [u:7f6bfff160]any[/u:7f6bfff160] Ks?) but they're making plays on all the stuff we're not hitting right at 'em.

="metsguyinmichigan":3ix69awn]When and if they get to a Mets Hall of Fame, and if it were of decent size, I think it would be appropriate for a room devoted to National League baseball in New York. Then you could give poople like McGraw, Christy Mathewson, Mel Ott, Monte Irvin and Willie Mays their proper New York Love, along with the usual Dodger suspects like Campy, Pee Wee, Ersk.[/quote:3ix69awn] We don't have room for that sort of stuff. Ashie62 Apr 22 2009 08:15 PM Wouldn't adding NY Giants stuff on top of Dodger stuff on top of Mets stuff with more Mets stuff coming be too much stuff? If a woodchuck could chuck stuff. G-Fafif Apr 22 2009 08:51 PM There's probably some space where the 2009 World Champions pennant was supposed to go. Edgy DC Apr 22 2009 09:40 PM ="metsguyinmichigan":1nasyirq]When and if they get to a Mets Hall of Fame, and if it were of decent size, I think it would be appropriate for a room devoted to National League baseball in New York. Then you could give poople like McGraw, Christy Mathewson, Mel Ott, Monte Irvin and Willie Mays their proper New York Love, along with the usual Dodger suspects like Campy, Pee Wee, Ersk.[/quote:1nasyirq] Isn't this the exact opposite of what people are decrying? soupcan Apr 23 2009 07:50 AM ="batmagadanleadoff":dzaavb83]="soupcan":dzaavb83]="metsguyinmichigan":dzaavb83]I'm OK with not doing a ton with the Giants. They kind of pay tribute every time they put on a cap with that logo.[/quote:dzaavb83] That's an excellent point.[/quote:dzaavb83] Except that the Dodgers also get Met uni love from the color blue.[/quote:dzaavb83] Do people look at the 'W' on the Nats cap and think of the Senators (yes) or do they look at the red cap and think of the Expos (no)? The only people that know that the Mets orange and blue are from the Dodgers and Giants are the more-than-fair-weather Mets fans. The interlocking 'NY' is a much more identifiable symbol of the New York Giants than the blue (which is a different shade of blue) of the Dodgers. ="Ashie62":dzaavb83]="soupcan":dzaavb83]="Ashie62":dzaavb83] If they want to erase it..do it quietly and respect Doc...kinda like the respect that is shown to jackie Robinson. Enough with the rotunda..its' there, its not leaving..We're Mets fans..we're used to second class status from management.. [/quote:dzaavb83] Doc Gooden ain't no Jackie Robinson. [/quote:dzaavb83] All men are created equal[/quote:dzaavb83] But some men are more equal than others. batmagadanleadoff Apr 23 2009 08:55 AM ="G-Fafif":2nv25y2s]="batmagadanleadoff":2nv25y2s]It'd be keen if Citi Field is lacking in PG references because the stadium once housed the hated MFY's. [/quote:2nv25y2s] In which case, forget Shea and its clutch of poorly hosted "home games" in '74, '75 and '98.[/quote:2nv25y2s] Well ... like I said ... this thread is about the Mets ignoring their own history. soupcan Apr 23 2009 10:51 AM ] April 24, 2009 Some Fans Feel New Home Ignores the Old Mets By KEN BELSON Where have you gone, Tug McGraw? Apparently, to the windswept left-field entrance of Citi Field. The Mets have taken a lot heat from fans angry about the ticket prices and the obstructed views at Citi Field. A vocal minority of fans have also complained that the new $800 million ballpark does not do enough to honor the team�s history. �The Mets have always been a populist ball club; �Bring the kiddies, bring the wife,� everyman stars like Ed Kranepool, sign day, etc.,� James Conley, a Mets fan, said in an e-mail message. �The best way to recognize the history of the team is to recognize the close connection to the fan base the Mets club has always enjoyed.� Where, other fans complain, are the banners that used to hang inside Shea that could be seen from the escalators? (They were sold at auction.) What happened to the 1969 photo montage that adorned the outside of the right-field stands? (Gone like the stadium.) Where is the bronze statue of Mike Piazza hitting his famous home run in September 2001? (Not on the drawing board yet.) The Mets do nod to their past. On the left-field side of the stadium, there are a dozen or so black-and-white banners of Stengel and Hodges, Tom and Tug, Darryl and Dykstra and other Mets. They are classy photos, but seen by only a fraction of the fans since most people enter through the rotunda near the subway station. The four retired numbers hang on the left-field fence, and the team�s championship flags fly on poles in right field. The old home run apple sits near a picnic area in right field, and the skyline from the old scoreboard is above the Shake Shack. The 18,000 bricks on the Fan Walk are touching, and the Jackie Robinson Rotunda is a high-minded tribute, even if Robinson never played for the Mets. But some fans are irked by the team�s decision to model Citi Field after Ebbets Field. (The Dodgers left New York long before many of them were born.) A handful of other fans wish the Mets did more to honor the Giants and the Polo Grounds. The Mets are aware of these complaints, including the chatter on sports radio stations. But opening the stadium on time took precedence over adornments. �It was something we always intended, but it wasn�t given a priority,� said Dave Howard, the Mets� vice president for operations. Howard said the team was working to add more memorabilia, including a display of Topps baseball cards of Mets from each year since 1962. Banners like the ones outside the stadium could be hung on the concourses inside. The busts in the team�s hall of fame, which has not added a member since 2002, could be replaced by plaques with relief sculptures and descriptions. Life-size statues, like the ones at AT&T Park and Busch Stadium, are possible. These additions will take time, though, which means the Mets will have to endure more taunts from their fans. Howard is sanguine. �I�m never surprised and always encouraged by the passion of Met fans,� he said. �It�s great that people care this much and we listen to it.� John Cougar Lunchbucket Apr 23 2009 10:56 AM I can almost see Howard reading his quotes in the paper and saying "I think they bought it." G-Fafif Apr 23 2009 01:20 PM It is great people care this much. I doubt they listen to it. Now to get the passion of the players to match the passion of the fans. seawolf17 Apr 23 2009 01:48 PM ="nytimes":wyzq4ko4]including a display of Topps baseball cards of Mets from each year since 1962[/quote:wyzq4ko4] Ooh, I'd be thrilled with that, considering I'm working on that Mets Topps run myself. SteveJRogers Apr 23 2009 04:12 PM ]�The Mets have always been a populist ball club; �Bring the kiddies, bring the wife,� everyman stars like Ed Kranepool, sign day, etc.,� James Conley, a Mets fan, said in an e-mail message. �The best way to recognize the history of the team is to recognize the close connection to the fan base the Mets club has always enjoyed.� I like this fellow's passion in terms of emailing The New York Times and all, but... Well for one, it was called "Banner Day." And second, even though I'm typing this on a fourm named in his honor, why is it that Kranepool, who barely started most of the time he was a Met, always gets spotlighted as the symbol of the franchise? Edgy DC Apr 23 2009 04:45 PM He doesn't always get spotlighted as a symbol of the franchise. Kong76 Apr 23 2009 05:15 PM I caught up three pages, good thread. Nice job with The Spirit of Metsio. EDC: He doesn't always get spotlighted as a symbol of the franchise <<< Jeets has 20/20 vision, the rest of the world is wearing bifocals. (loosely from some movie that I can't think of right now, Paul Newman?)

Yanx load bases w/0 outs in bottom 7 - but then Melky K'd - and Gardner (PH-ing for Ransom) popped to the infield - and Jeter (Gasp!!) also popped up (but I thought he always ...) Tied heading to the 8th 7 earnies for Sabathia Between the DH, carrying a large pitching staff, and Nady out (not for the year they say now) so Swisher in the everyday lineup, the Yanx have shit for a bench.

Pirates broom the Marlins

Pitt w/their league-leading pitching staff, going for the sweep at home against Florida, leads 6-4 in their half of the 7th. 4 HRs in the MFY game so far -- not sure what field they all went to.

I thinking he means his 4 for the season Between that and Ryan Church's Two! Rib-eyes pretty much sums up things so far. Both have a decent amount of hits leading to far less damage then one would expect. ]I heard Beltran explain the lack of a slide with "i looked up and was too close to home to slide." say what? First of all, you knew when you took off from 3rd that you were heading to the plate, right Carlos? So you were caught unaware when you got there? And even if your mind wandered and your arrival at home came as such a surprise, then why aren't you barreling the catcher over? I think he simply assumed he was going to be safe until the speed with which the StL 3rd baseman retrieved the ball surprised him. By then he resorted to the long final stride in order to get in but landed on Molina's foot instead.

Reyes - 1.2 Castillo 1.7 Beltran - 1.0 Feliciano - 0.6 Stokes - 0.3 Wright - 1.2

A caller to Francesa's show the other day was talking about how not only are the (MFY) tickets expensive (he had good but not ridiculous tickets) but that many seats came only via a contract which locks you into those seats for two or more years with built-in price increases along the way. His point being that if the Yanx get the idea that they can sell some of the un-sold seats at reduced prices not only would they be screwing those who already bought at full price but even giving inducements via a discount for next season also screws those who bought early and are therefore already committed to to higher, not lower, prices.

The Cards made a pre-series trade, dealing reserve OFer Brian Barton (not to be confused with 3B Brian Barden) for Atlanta reliever Blaine Boyer (no relation to ex-StL great Ken Boyer). StL is now carrying 13 pitchers. I believe Barton was the black guy who wore his hair in dreads and spent several off-seasons working some high-tech science job for the Jet Propulsion Labs (really!). Gotta root for a guy like that to get back in the majors.

Jerry left Ollie out too long Maybe, but I'm not going to kill him for that Jerry had Church bunt a guy to second with no out. Leave yourself no margin for error and get screwed when a guy makes an error. I didn't like that either. I guess he was thinking lefty/lefty and trying to not set Castro up for the GiDP Getting thrown out at home? Sure, whatever, but slide. Murphy, Beltran, slide. He simply assumed he was going to be safe just like Delgado simply assumed he was going to get the call and therefore didn't feel the need to tag Pujols going by. Castillo, help Beltran out. I'm not of the belief that he play was all in front of Beltran. the ball came from the left side of the mound. Probably true, I didn't see where LC was. Bench Murphy, Beltran, and Castillo tomorrow. Start Racienello if you have to. Murphy for sure. Would also be interesting to know how many that are/will be complaining how his defense is killing us in LF were demanding over the winter that he be installed at 2B

As I said in the IGT, this was the worst and most frustrating game of the year - THREE runners erased off basepaths, including two of them at home - score early and then take the rest of the night off (I've seen that movie before and I know how it ends) - bad defense by Castillo/Delgado on the potential DP ball at 1st (yeah it was a bad call but still) - bad night by Murphy all around but especilly brutal in the field. The fall down was bad enough but even early on he air-mailed a throw to 3rd he had no business making allowing the batter to turn a single into a double - too many walks (Duh!) - and the usual lack of timely hits, especially later on Feel free to add more

What the fuck is that 2nd baseman doing there?!? That's twice now! This Franklin guy deserves a beating just for that beard alone.

Worst game of the year unless there's a miraculous comeback starting right now! (and seeing as how we haven't scored since the 4th inning ...)

Apparently the Gooden sig and related topics were a major part of Francesa's show yesterday (I didn't hear). But he opened today's by saying that he got a call from Jeff right after the show ended. Jeff said he and others were listening and were going to "steal" some ideas from the assorted suggestions. Specifically, they're going to take out whatever piece Gooden signed, put it under glass and use it to create a display somewhere in the stadium where other past Mets will be asked to create similar greetings. So while they don't want the Gooden signature where it is, they are going to take the idea and run with it. Good start, even if they weren't the ones that thought of it.

="metirish":pouc9sql]There is a story behind it and I know I asked the last time but I have forgotten.[/quote:pouc9sql] 'Big Al' was - or at least claimed to be - a left-handed pitcher whose career was scuttled by injuries while in the minor leagues. By the time we "met" him he was a (40-ish?) NYC-living, divorced father who regaled us with his bouts with his ex-wife, with bosses at his dead-end job, and, at least occasionally, the bottle. No one that I know of from that earlier forum ever actually met him so there's no way of knowing how much of that back-story was true. But, either way, he was a helluva entertaining writer and served as a curmudgeonly mature voice to a forum which was, for the most part, very young and given to wild swings of emotion. He would frequently disappear for long stretches of time only to return for brief flurries of posts. It's also possible that 'Big Al' was merely an alternate identity for a regular poster but, if so, no one ever owned up. Centerfield Apr 21 2009 12:30 PM I used to think it was a nice piece of fiction penned by Big Ralph, but over the years I've become less convinced. GYC Apr 21 2009 02:11 PM It reads as if Charles Bukowski wrote it. I'm a fan; of Bukowski and this, I mean. Methead Apr 23 2009 08:00 PM Edgy DC Apr 23 2009 08:35 PM Wow. It looks like a Conor McPherson play. Kong76 Apr 24 2009 04:15 AM Someone here has to know who Big Al really was. If it's been ten years I'd say the statute of limitations is up and the mystery ended. I have my guess hermetically sealed in a mayonnaise jar and I want to open it NOW!!! Edgy DC Apr 24 2009 05:15 AM The post predates my intenet insanity. Al supposedly re-surfaced --- posting as You Know Me, Al --- at the MOFo for a few weeks during my tenure. A Boy Named Seo Apr 24 2009 09:48 AM That "Christ. This world is fucked up, get me a beer," thing at the sausage cart gets me every time. Fman99 Apr 24 2009 09:58 AM Come back, Big Al. Holy hell, I love that post. batmagadanleadoff Apr 24 2009 10:03 AM ="GYC":3t3bl6py]It reads as if Charles Bukowski wrote it. I'm a fan; of Bukowski and this, I mean.[/quote:3t3bl6py] I read that post last night for the first time ever, and I was thinking Bukowski almost immediately. Were all of his posts like that one? John Cougar Lunchbucket Apr 24 2009 10:07 AM There were about a half-dozen that year that were just as good if not better -- that one just happened to be the only one that survived. My favorite was called "Valentine's Magical Thinking" which involved an analysis of Valentine's style and set within a tale of a visit to the Village Idiot bar. Edgy DC Apr 24 2009 10:12 AM There's got to be a way to recover them from the internet archives. soupcan Apr 24 2009 10:22 AM ="John Cougar Lunchbucket":8b670l7z]...the Village Idiot bar.[/quote:8b670l7z] Used to have best juke box in the City. John Cougar Lunchbucket Apr 24 2009 10:26 AM That was part of his story! He described it playing "You Never Even Call Me By My Name" by David Allen Coe, only he didn;t know the singer or the song, and was shocked when I replied with the lyrics. Edgy DC Apr 24 2009 10:30 AM I'm able to dig deep enough to get old forum pages listing thread titles, but not the threads themselves. Frusterating. http://web.archive.org/web/20001014000542/www.metsonline.net/home2.html soupcan Apr 24 2009 10:34 AM ="John Cougar Lunchbucket"]That was part of his story! I used to play 'Walkin' After Midnight' by Patsy Cline everytime I went in there. God that was so many years ago. Farmer Ted Apr 24 2009 07:14 PM I couldn't pull an Al story out. Hmm. Where have you gone Ambler, JSW52, & Met Jim?

Tell me the name is 'Kalin' and [u:1h546l2h]son[/u:1h546l2h] is my second guess.

We never did really. The signing was deemed illegal for some reason (age probably) so he went back on the market having never played a game in the NYM system.

="Benjamin Grimm":13td7nw4]Al Jaffee, a person who is still alive (AND contributing to MAD Magazine) at the age of 88. I remember him for the Mad Fold-In, ...[/quote:13td7nw4] I actually talked to Jaffe a bunch of years ago about those fold-ins (I used to love them). He said he hated doing them. Back to the Nats for a second: They won a tight game!!! Beat the Braves 3-2. So, at least for one night, the wholesale changes worked. Their rookie call-up Zimmerman pitched well (6 IP, 2 ER) in his 2-hour+ rain-delayed debut. Then the pen of (call-up) Kip Wells, (call-up) Garret Mock, plus holdovers Joe Beimel & the much-maligned Joel Hanrahan threw 3 innings of hitless ball. Couple with Florida's loss their deficit has been sliced to only 8-1/2 games. Not sure if their uniforms were spelled correctly. Edgy DC Apr 21 2009 07:32 AM I hope we scouted that game. We catch Zimmerman next, I guess. TransMonk Apr 22 2009 12:31 PM Company apologizes for jersey error Associated Press WASHINGTON -- Majestic Athletic spelled things out quite clearly Tuesday: It was the uniform company's fault that Washington Nationals Adam Dunn and Ryan Zimmerman wore jerseys reading "Natinals" during a game last week. Dunn and Zimmerman donned the shirts that were missing an "o" for the first three innings of Washington's 3-2 loss to the Florida Marlins on Friday night. They eventually changed into jerseys with the team nickname spelled correctly. "All of us at Majestic Athletic want to apologize to both the Washington Nationals and Major League Baseball for accidentally omitting the 'o' in two Nationals jerseys," Majestic Athletic president Jim Pisani said in a statement distributed at Nationals Park on Tuesday. "We take 100 percent responsibility for this event and we regret any embarrassment for the Nationals organization, players and fans," the statement continued. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4087695 Benjamin Grimm Apr 22 2009 12:38 PM The O was actually missing? Geez... I thought the jerseys were just somehow buttoned funny. soupcan Apr 22 2009 12:48 PM Upside-down 'N'... Benjamin Grimm Apr 22 2009 01:19 PM I do hope they lose 121 games this year. And let all their wins come against the Phillies, Marlins, and Braves.

No baseball on ESPN simply gives them 3 more hours to discuss the NFL draft. Marlins got thumped by the Pirates. If you're going to have an off-day might as well gain a 1/2 game while you're at it.