Frayed Knot

metirish wrote: I thought Keith was spot on when showing how Wright had set himself up for the cut off throw he was expecting. Was that just a bad play by Murphy or lack of baseball instincts? Bad play caused by lack of instincts - at least lack of outfielder instincts. Murphy fielded the ball on the run and figured that getting rid of it quickly was more important than setting and throwing. Wrong! That works for 100 ft throws across the diamond but not 200 ft throws. His job there is to get the ball to the cut-off man inside the basepath - Wright in this case - so that he can decide what to do with it and so that the 2nd throw, if made, is the shorter and (hopefully) more accurate one. There's no reason for an OFer to go to the first cut-off man (outside the basepath) unless he had a go back for a ball to the point where he'd have trouble reaching the inner infield.

I think Murphy decided that it was best to throw on the run rather than set himself and that if he was going to do that then the longer throw to Wright was out of the question, so he went to Reyes instead. I'm not saying it was the right decision but I think it's what he was thinking. Oddly, that was about the only explanation that did NOT occur to Keith & Ron as they certainly tossed out enough other theories. Then, lost in the whole 'dumbth' of Murphy's play, was how bad of a relay Jose made. Maybe he was so surprised to get it that he never got a good grip on the ball but you can't be three-hopping a throw from deep SS. An even semi-good toss and that guy was dead meat.

Jim McAndrew Fountain Hills, AZ Retired Count me among the disappointed to find that Jim didn't choose to spend out his days in Lost Nation, Iowa

Perez - 3.8 Murphy - 0.5 Reyes - 0.5 Delgado - 1.9 Beltran - 1.0 Castillo - 0.5 Parnell - 0.8 Putz - 0.5 Wright - 0.5

="Rockin' Doc":15fno8yn]Wally Matthews strikes me as a self absorbed, unenlightened, Yankee shill. The more of his work I subject myself to, the more I end up regretting having done so.[/quote:15fno8yn] Not a Yanqui shill, merely a self-appointed curmudgeon. And while curmudgeon-ing certainly has a long and useful history in newspapers, as time goes on his version just seems more gimmicky and contrarian than anything else. More schtick, iow, than towards any useful purpose. Kong76 Apr 15 2009 09:11 PM He's a jilted Mets' fan. One of those Sell The Team NOW!!! guys from back in the day. (that's my opinion, I have no evidence, but I'm right) G-Fafif Apr 16 2009 05:14 AM ="SteveJRogers"]or worse throw up someone who never played for the Mets (curiously, at lunch today Whatever the original point of this message, the idea of throwing up someone who never played for the Mets, at lunch, would have to be worse. Particularly with Jerry Coleman in town and Rich Folkers having played for the Mets. metsmarathon Apr 16 2009 08:05 AM lets see... which one looks more like a mausoleum...? Edgy DC Apr 16 2009 08:16 AM The first step is admitting you're a tomb. Rockin' Doc Apr 16 2009 06:00 PM The Indians bury the Yankees under an avalanche of runs in the opening game of YSIII. So Wally, which NY ballpark is a tomb now? Elster88 Apr 16 2009 07:10 PM Seriously though, the house that roids built does look like a prison in that picture. seawolf17 Apr 17 2009 08:43 AM ="Rockin' Doc":7cmgze6l]The Indians bury the Yankees under an avalanche of runs in the opening game of YSIII. So Wally, which NY ballpark is a tomb now?[/quote:7cmgze6l] No kidding. Where's his story about how the place cleared out in the seventh inning yesterday? Ass. Edgy DC Apr 17 2009 08:55 AM How about a "Yesterday sucked, but that's largely because the Yankees have set impossibly high standards" story? Steinbrenner created a monster -- and a ballpark Wallace Matthews 11:27 PM EDT, April 16, 2009 Thanks a lot, Boss. Of all George Steinbrenner's accomplishments of the past 36 years, this is probably the most remarkable. Despite his reputation as an impossible-to-please taskmaster, he has succeeded in transferring the enormous pressure of winning from his players to his sons and his son-in-law, who now inherit the unenviable chore of keeping it alive. And they must do it not just every season, but every day. The seeds of this were planted in 1975, with the signing of Catfish Hunter, his first major free agent, and a year later with Reggie Jackson. Now, with the yearly payroll having ballooned to more than $200 million dollars, the Boss' garden is overgrown. The current Yankees roster is populated with the latest version of Reggie and Catfish, play-for-high-pay guys whose abundance on this team made such a ballpark not just possible, but necessary. It is the Boss' very own Catch-22: You simply can't charge the kind of prices the Yankees do without fielding a high-end roster, and you can't afford a high-end roster unless you charge the kind of prices the Yankees do. And then, they have to win. Yesterday's 10-2 loss to the Cleveland Indians on Opening Day of the third, and by far most opulent, incarnation of Yankee Stadium did more than merely ruin what had begun as a gala occasion. It also raised the specter of something much uglier, and more unthinkable: What if the Yankees revert to the team they were before Steinbrenner, a brash, unknown shipbuilder from Cleveland, stole them out from under the noses of Mike Burke and CBS in 1973 for the now puny sum of $8.7 million? The year before Steinbrenner took over, the Yankees went 79-76 and drew 966,328 people. Now, they are expected to win more than 90 games and draw four million. In fact, they need to, just to remain profitable. If not, empty seats and empty coffers are sure to follow. The seventh inning of yesterday's game, in which the Indians scored nine runs, including a grand slam by Grady Sizemore, gave a glimpse of that very prospect. To that point, what had been a pitchers' duel turned into a total skulldragging. And what had been a large, festive Opening Day crowd turned into an angry mob as disgusted fans headed for the exits. The good news to report is that the wide concourses and many exits make for a smooth and swift exodus, and that the big ballpark is every bit as gorgeous empty as it is full. But that is where the happy talk ends. Simply put, the Yankees, and to a lesser extent, the Mets, can't afford to have too many more days like the ones they gave their fans at their openers this year. This year, the Yankees have spent a league-high $200 million on players and $1.3 billion on the Stadium, the Mets a second-highest $149 million on the roster and $850 million on the crib. (Throw in the $500 million the Wilpons reportedly lost to Bernie Madoff and their number comes pretty close to the Yankees.) That is why, while watching the game yesterday, I tried without success to come up with a sobriquet that would effectively capture this ballpark the way "The House That Ruth Built" defined the old one. I toyed with The House That Jorge Built when Posada, like the Babe 86 years before, hit the first Yankees home run in the new park, but I didn't like the sound of it. If the fill-in third baseman had emerged a hero, I would've gone with The House of Ransom, to symbolize when Steinbrenner held the city hostage in the '90s with his baseless threat to move across the river to Jersey. Had the real third baseman been around, I might have christened the new park The House That Juice Built, but unfortunately, the return of Alex Rodriguez is still several weeks away. And when the ticket prices were originally announced, I had already used my personal favorite, The House That Ruthless Built. In truth, there's only one appropriate name for this ballpark -- The House That George Built. He created it and nurtured it. Now, he leaves it to others to figure a way to keep it filled. PiggiesTomatoes Apr 17 2009 02:53 PM I thought the son-in-law was bounced from management once GSS's daughter filed for divorce??? metsguyinmichigan Apr 17 2009 03:00 PM "skulldragging" What the hell is that? Frayed Knot Apr 17 2009 06:19 PM Edited 3 time(s), most recently on Apr 18 2009 08:31 AM ="PiggiesTomatoes":1d5bb52o]I thought the son-in-law was bounced from management once GSS's daughter filed for divorce???[/quote:1d5bb52o] This is son-in-law #3. For years while the brothers were uninterested in having anything to do with the team, older sister's hubby (Joe Molloy) was the guy slated to run things ... then she divorced him. Then the other sister's spouse was anointed as heir-apparent (Steve Swindal) ... then they went splitsville right after he got caught DWI on Valentine's Day at about 4AM). So now this new guy in the mix (Lopez) is first daughter's second husband. Hope you got all that straight cuz there'll be a quiz later. G-Fafif Apr 17 2009 06:22 PM I hear the Yankees suck and Matthews is a tool. OlerudOwned Apr 17 2009 06:53 PM http://www.theonion.com/content/news/mr_met_having_trouble_sleeping_in seawolf17 Apr 21 2009 11:07 AM Look! Wally's picking on the Yankees now! http://www.topix.net/forum/source/newsday/T6ABCQABNDESHS3O8 Well, maybe not. He's picking on Jason Giambi, blaming him exclusively for the MFY's failure to win a WS. Never mind the 209 home runs he hit, or the .900 postseason OPS, or the fact that the REAL thing that all those 2001-2008 seasons have in common are Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, and Mike Mussina, all of whom escape Wally's clutches. (Ignore Jeet's .800 OPS in the postseason since 2001, or Mussina's 5-7 postseason record as a Yankee. It's all Giambi's fault.) Dickhead. Vic Sage Apr 21 2009 11:44 AM ]In truth, there's only one appropriate name for this ballpark -- The House That George Built. In truth, when a German industrialist erects an architectural tribute to the greatness of his folk and the glory of its past, there's only one appropriate name for it -- Nuremberg. G-Fafif Apr 21 2009 12:03 PM I'm a little confused as to why Wally didn't use the occasion of Giambi's visit to blame the Mets for ruining the Yankees by being too cheap to sign him and thus preserve the integrity of the only dynasty New York had to rely on.

In the ranks of fielding Hundleys, this dude finishes well behind Todd & Randy. Even before that last inning clusterfuck he had boxed around a bunch of pitches.

"The Mets have released former Pirate Rob Mackowiak from Triple-A Buffalo in order to clear roster room for Brandon Knight, who is being activated for his first 2009 start on Monday. Mackowiak was 0-for-6 in two games with the Bisons."

I went to both Shea & YSI about that same time and there's no way that Shea looked older. And if you're strictly looking up at beams (like the one that fell down a few years back) YSII didn't look any younger either, including right after it was (re)built. Plus his "weird" list of things aren't really all that weird. Reminds me of a comedian who was doing a routine a bunch of years back where he claimed that the then-current TV show 'That's Incredible' was running out of material to the point where they should change the name to 'That's Kind of Interesting". The column, in other words, sounds like he came up with the idea first and then tried to shoe-horn into it whatever material he could mine. Changing topics on deadline is such a bitch.

Centerfield wrote: It wasn't a great crowd either ... And there were certainly lots of people there last night that weren't Mets fans. "Event" goers no doubt. Bloomberg was there, which is understandable. Trump was also which is never a good thing IMO. ] My only complaint about the ballpark is the outfield wall. I hate it. The weird configuration. The recessed wall in right, the high wall in left, the stupid high wall in center to protect the apple. Nobody is ever going to clear that. Plus they have one of those lines so you'll need replay to determine whether it was a HR or not. Why not just put a regular fence out there so that everything that's over it is a HR, and everything that bounces back is in play. If I were asked during the planning stage what one thing I'd want in a new park my answer would have been, 'no disputed HR areas'. I don't mind the asymmetry or varying wall heights and they can put all the nooks and crannies in there that they want (btw, what differentiates a nook from a cranny?) but just let a HR be easily distinguishable from an in-play ball.

I got Piazza, Dave Wallace, Pedro Astacio & CH Park

I suspect it could be a spring training game (wouldn't be the only time Piazza got huffy in ST. See: Mota, G.). Would explain why the Dodgers are playing the Jays and also the alternate unis. Looks to be a Jays insignia just above "Wells". And behind that guy looks like Canseco.

Over-sliding is treated differently than gaining possession of the base and then wandering off. It's looked at as if he was never really safe (ergo: no double) even though he did reach prior to the tag. Gerut gets the assist because his throw led to Reyes being out. Whether it was six inches before the bag or six inches beyond it is considered irrelevant.

="sharpie"]]Kevin Kouzmanoff (43 points in Scrabble - Actually 38 as there is only one K so the second would have to be a blank. Yeah, I chose to ignore certain inconvenient facts like where you'd get the second K. Also the part about how one would get 15 letters in their rack in the first place. And, yes, before I start getting cards and letters from the Scrabble mafia, I do realize that it is theoretically possible to get dealt the proper 6 tiles (E V O U Z N) plus a blank and use them on a board with an already properly aligned row or column of _ _ _ I N K _ _ _ M A _ O F F and spell KEVINKOUZMANOFF out of it. Of course then you'd still need to deal with the fact that it's not a legal word (or at least I think it's not) Come to think of it, that would be an interesting form of Scrabble; the only words that are legal would be ones that either pertain to baseball or are ML players' names. Baseball-Reference.com would become the final arbiter for challenged words.

Wright - 3.5 Castillo - 1.0 Murphy - 1.0 Green - 0.5 Putz - 0.4 Rodriguez - 0.6

="G-Fafif":20k4zf36]Richie Ashburn died in his Manhattan hotel room.[/quote:20k4zf36] Don Drysdale too. Well not in Manhattan, but alone and in a hotel room whilst on the road. Swan Swan H Apr 13 2009 12:34 PM I guess I last heard him doing the Puppy Bowl on Animal Planet for a few minutes this past February. He was clearly having a lot of fun doing the mock-serious play by play. His son Todd did radio for the Mets for a couple of years, 1992-93 according to a Wikipedia entry. I remember seeing Todd for half a second at a 'tour the stadium' deal for ticket plan holders. All I could think of to say was 'I really love your Dad's work.' I bet he never heard THAT before. He was very gracious about it. TransMonk Apr 13 2009 12:40 PM Legendary voice of both baseball and football. RIP G-Fafif Apr 13 2009 12:45 PM ="Swan Swan H":3f1zi9ng]I guess I last heard him doing the Puppy Bowl on Animal Planet for a few minutes this past February.[/quote:3f1zi9ng] Now I'm really bumming. Seriously. I love the Puppy Bowl (and kitten halftime show). It seemed somehow dignified with Harry K on board. Farmer Ted Apr 13 2009 06:05 PM Ryan Howard supposedly showing his respect to Harry by taking a puff with Jayson Werth. http://www.totalprosports.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/ryan-howard-smoking-during-the-pre-game.jpg themetfairy Apr 13 2009 11:01 PM Wow. We heard about this during the moment of silence before the game at Citi Field. As most of you know, I live in the no man's land between New York and Philly, and we get local channels from both markets. I've been listening to Harry for the past 13+ years, and have always enjoyed listening to him. Just this past Sunday, D-Dad and I turned on the game and commented about how much we enjoy hearing that voice each summer. RIP Harry. SteveJRogers Apr 14 2009 06:40 AM ="Farmer Ted":ru7cwiip]Ryan Howard supposedly showing his respect to Harry by taking a puff with Jayson Werth. http://www.totalprosports.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/ryan-howard-smoking-during-the-pre-game.jpg[/quote:ru7cwiip] All the Phillies took a drag of that as a "respect" thing.

I believe EI does nothing more than just pick up whichever telecast they're using from the top of the hour, meaning you'll see whatever that telecast shows during those 10 minutes (maybe more like 15 tonight). ESPN is carrying tonight's game (also Wednesday's) and you'll probably stand a better chance of getting some pre-game extras via them - even if only on tape.

Change Santana's name to 'Glavine' and fans would be roasting the hell out of him right now.

As you may have heard CitiField is opening its doors today. ESPN the Website is saying the Mets �at last have a place to call home� - so I guess you folks who thought we did have a home for the previous 45 seasons were in need of the �Worldwide Leader� to tell you that the Mets were just temporary squatters in that other place whose name we are apparently supposed to wipe from our memories. The Padres get the pleasure of being our first ever CF home opponents. Off to a 5-2 record thus far -- splitting 4 with the Dodgers before sweeping the Giants -- they are apparently ignoring the recent survey (Joel Sherman�s Sunday NY Post column) that picked them as MLB�s worst team. But, hot start notwithstanding, this should be a pretty bad team. Jake Peavy is a legit top of the rotation pitcher while Chris Young is OK. On the offensive side, A. Gonzalez is good and just hitting his prime but Giles is a shadow of his former self. Of their young players, 3b Kevin Kouzmanoff (3rd year) and OFer Chase Headley (2nd) show the most promise but may not be the kind of guys to build around. They�d probably love it if local kid (both HS & college) and presumed #1 overall drfat pick Steven Strasburg fell to them in this June�s draft, but are they going to be willing to pay the high rans ... I mean contract that super-agent Scott Boras is asking for? Sandy Eggo Dramatis Personae: C - Nick (no relation) Hundley & Hank White (aka Henry Blanco) 1B - Adrian Gonzalez (aka, the Good Gonzalez, brother Edgar backs up 2B) 2B - David Eckstein (his presence can only mean the Padres are going to win the WS this year because his �scrappiness� is the foremost key to winning baseball ... or so I�ve heard) SS - Luis Rodriguez (Is it wrong to call him �L-Rod�? ... Yes, yes it is) 3B - Kevin Kouzmanoff (43 points in Scrabble - and that�s not even counting any bonus squares!!) LF - Chase Headley (not to be confused with former �SI for Kids� character Hedley Kase) CF - Jody Gerut & Scott Hairston (that�s Scott, not to be confused with MLers brother Jerry Jr., father Jerry Sr., uncle Johnny, or grandfather Sammy) RF - Brian Giles (better than brother Marcus, although not nearly as annoying) Hot so far in 2009 (such as it is): Hundley, Gonzalez, Blanco, Rodriguez, & Hairston Not: Everyone else * Monday, 7:10 PM -- SNY & ESPN OK, first things first: This should be a day game. Not just for the weather aspect but that it�s fucking Opening Day dudes! Make it a festival while folks sneak out of work or school. Instead, it's just another night game like all others. Was getting the stadium opening game on ESPN THAT important to you? Pelfrey vs Walter Silva (1 start this season, 5 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 4 BB) - note that�s not Carlos but Walter Silva, a 32 y/o Mexican rookie who, I must confess, I�ve never heard of before now (and how many Mexicans are named �Walter�?!?) * Day off Tuesday. - If you go to the park you will be very lonely. * Wednesday, 7:10 PM -- SNY & ESPN Perez v Edwin Correia (3 - 8; 6.05 in 19 starts last season) - I guess Correia could be tagged with either the nickname �South� or �North� depending on whether or not he�s going well (or on whether or not he�s a communist) * Thursday, 7:10 PM -- SNY Maine v Jake Peavy (10 - 11; 2.85 in 2008; 1 - 1 w/18 Ks & 2 BBs in 15 IP this season) - Just one season removed from his CY win, I�m trying to look into the rumor that says Peavy is, in fact, Hungarian for �sucks during the WBC� ex-Mets: disgruntled relievers Heath Bell (3 appearances, 3 saves, 1 hit) and Duaner Sanchez (2 hitless/1 BB IPs) Mets who were Padres: Gary Sheffield (although I think this was back during the Nixon administration) & Ollie Perez (traded from there for Brian Giles) Forecast: cold and possibly rainy (hey, it�s April!) with frequent gusts of gushing over the new park plus the occasional outburst of Heath Bell vs Rick Peterson screeds even though that was years ago and Peterson�s not even here anymore.

Quickie review of PotG guidelines: http://archives.cranepoolforum.net/6200/f9_t6278.shtml Like the post says, we don't have a lot of rules around here but because this is an ongoing project that tabulates over the entire season and because that tabulation is automated so as to not be a lot of work for any one person, PotG is one of the few places where we're procedural sticklers.

Santana - 4.8 Parnell - 0.5 Beltran - 1.0 Delgado - 0.6 Church - 0.2 Castillo - 0.2 Wright - 0.2

="Edgy DC"]Not to invoke curses because I don't particularly believe in them, but the Angels seem to have been disproportionately touched by tragedy. Bill Madden enumerates: And so, the legacy of Angel tragedy - once dubbed the "Curse of the Cowboy" after original Angels owner, Gene Autry - goes on. It began in 1965 when Dick Wantz, a rookie reliever, died of a brain tumor. Three years later, Angels reliever Minnie Rojas was paralyzed in a car accident that killed his two daughters. In 1972, Angels utility infielder Chico Ruiz was killed in an automobile accident in San Diego. Another car accident killed a rookie Angel pitcher, Bruce Heinbechner, in spring training '74. Then in 1977, 23-year-old shortstop Mike Miley, the Angels' No. 1 draft pick and former LSU quarterback, was killed in yet another automobile accident. The next year, outfielder Lyman Bostock, whom the Angels had signed as a free agent after an All-Star season with the Minnesota Twins in 1977, was shot and killed in his hometown of Gary, Ind. The litany continued with the 1989 suicide of Donnie Moore, the closer who gave up the homer to Boston's Dave Henderson that cost the Angels the 1986 ALCS, right up until last year when 85-year-old Preston Gomez, a senior Angel advisor, was struck by a car in a Fullerton gas station and died of his injuries a few months later. In a sad twist of fate, that gas station was only a couple of miles from where Adenhart and his companions were killed.

Hernandez - 3.5 Reyes - 2.2 Castillo - 2.6 Delgado - 1.0 Church - 0.4 Rodriguez - 0.2

Non baseball fans seem to have an awful lot of problems with the amount of attention that baseball gets. They're quick to spout off to anyone who'll listen that it's no longer deserving of the moniker "national past-time" and yet seem stunned that there are many who continue to attend, watch, talk, and yes, even write about it - and apparently do all that willingly.

Maine - 2.4 Putz - 0.4 Murphy - 1.0 Beltran - 2.5 Church - 1.5 Reed - 1.0 Tatis - 0.2

]Isn't their local contract to a regional FSN affiliate-- what gives for skipping a Saturday telecast? Answers = Yes and I don't know (I don't think there's a Heat conflict). But not all teams televise every game (we New Yorkers have long been a bit spoiled on this topic) and Saturday nights are traditionally the worst TV slot of the week. Maybe they think it boosts weekend attendance to shun TV every once in a while. btw, first pitch in now scheduled for 6:25 so, at most, TV will miss 2 innings (and, at the rate these early games have been played, maybe less than 1)