Frayed Knot

Yeah, typing too fast cuz pissed off.

Well, we should have had more runs all along. Two seperate innings started with a lead-off Reyes single [u:ba7d8cff9f]AND[/u:ba7d8cff9f] a SB (one steal, one a pick-off error). Then there were THREE productive outs mixed in (one bunt, one Sac Fly, one groundout) but a total of only 1 run was scored. Showing once again, in my mind, that so-called productive outs are nearly as important in run building as many seem to think. They rarely do squat unless you also get hits to go along and if you do that then you don't need to move-up outs.

Probably more to replace Ben Johnson than any attempt to have him play in New York. Willie on Beltran (not literally): Swinging better from the left side, still questionable from the right. Will check him out tomorrow which is the first day eligible to play. Sounded to me like he's not going to play Thursday - especially since holding off til Friday night gives him an extra day and a half as Thursday is another "Nooner".

I think the deal is that she's a Willie fan more than anything else. They are apparently neighbors - and she and Gretchen Randolph are buddies. Not sure the NJ native could tell you much about the Burnitz years.

"Now Al Downing and I can go out and do card shows together" -- Mike Bacsik onserving up Bonds's record breaking HR.

Nice that he's wearing not just one but two Met shirts for his moment in the sun. Nice also that he survived the scrum, particularly if you see the film of the fat guy in a orange shirt who decides to take a flying dive onto the pile about 10 seconds into it as if that lame attempt would net him the ball.

Newhan - 1.5 Feliciano - 0.5 Mota - 0.5 Milledge - 1.2 Delgado - 0.5

More barely significant Met-related trivia: - the guy who snagged the ball is a Queens man who was wearing a Met shirt at the time Wild-Assed possible future coincidence: - the same night Barry hit #756, 19 y/o Justin Upton hit his 1st. Upton, younger brother of Tampa's B.J. and another member of the recent Norfolk, Va invasion of players, was the first round draft pick of the D'Backs just 2 years ago. He was called up last week amid much fanfare from touts calling him the best looking prospect since Griffey or ARod and is off to a 7-for-17 start including 5 for extra bases (3 2Bs, 1 3B, 1 HR). It would be a wild coincidence - given the juxtaposition of the one player's record-breaking HR and the other's 1st HR - if he were to eventually reach Bonds's total. That such an event will be incorrectly cited as "irony" by some broadcaster won't be a coincidence, it will virtually be a given.

And former Met Mike Bacsik is the answer to your trivia question

cleonjones11 wrote: I did suggest Alou be waived a week ago..but hey..I'm never right

]Seriously, if local broadcasts --- frequently staffed by contemporaries of Joe Morgan --- are making fun of Joe, how long can ESPN ignore it? Morgan's been taking a beating from that section of the print press that covers the media beat. On the other hand, I don't think ESPN cares. I think they just like star power and assume Morgan still has it. Morgan, meanwhile, seems to think that since he played the game that his observations are correct ones ... no matter what those peksy fact things say.

Keith & Ron making fun of Joe Morgan's comments from Sunday's game (without explicitly saying so) -- the one about Castillo being unfamiliar with Natl league parks.

Reyes fulfills his 2 pop-up a day minimum.

Nice play Carlos ... but it's not like Castillo wasn't waiting there for it.

"Is their pen any good?" Not so good all year - but they've recently added a few new pieces in Mahay & Dotel sp there's more depth now then there's been in a while. And Cox, moreso than most managers, will go to his pen early and use the whole lot of them trying to nail down the game at hand and then worry about the next game when he gets there.

Cox not taking any chances with Carlyle. He'll empty his bullpen trying to hold onto this one.

I forgot to mention the newly acquired Octavio Dotel in the pen.

Which, unfortunately, doesn't tell us anything new.

I had a hunch in advance that this movie was going to suck.

That [u:2fdc04cf15]he's eligible[/u:2fdc04cf15] to come off the DL Thursday or that [u:2fdc04cf15]he's going to[/u:2fdc04cf15]? I suspect he meant the former since I doubt anything's been decided yet. ESPN radio was reporting today (I forget who they were quoting) that Beltran is saying that his ab muscles are "still tight" and that he was NOT likely to be ready at the first elibible day.

A quickie KTE/update since it's been a while (May) since we last saw them. Check out the hitting numbers on this squad; only MOST of them are hitting .300+ We all know about Mark Teixeira (.294/.395/.540) coming over in the dealine deal to replace the mostly awful Scott Thorman and mostly old Julio Franco at 1st Kelly Johnson - the one-time SS prospect, turned OF suspect, now reinvented as a 2nd baseman - is putting up great numbers (.301/.397/.497) at the top of the lineup Edgar Rentarea is out after rolling an ankle the other day. so Yunel Escobar is the sub who, in what seems like Brave tradition, comes out of nowhere to hit .331/.373/.414 Chipper still at 3rd, still hitting well - .334/.429/.582 Matt Diaz & Willie Harris are manning LF and hitting the hell out of the ball when they do - .347/.376/.490 for the RH hitting Diaz, and .328/.397/.414 for the LH Harris Andruw is really the only one having a sub-par season at the bat - .217/.316/.426 Jeff Francouer is still a bit raw but turning into a more complete hitter every day - .304/.349/.450. Good fielder, great arm. Brian McCann gets the job all to himself now (thanks to the trade and a long-term contract) cooled off after a hot start but is still dangerous - .268/.319/.455 Buddy Carlyle - currently on leave from doing two shows a night at Grossingers in the Catskills - is the un-sexy name & record (5-8, 5.76) we'll see this week. We never faced him as a Brave. John Smoltz missed a few starts around the AS break - will go against El Duque. We smacked him around once this year: 5.2 IP, 6ER, then lost to him twice: 6 IP, 2 runs; and a 7 IP shutout Tim Hudson (12-5, 2.87) - has been most of the year and faces Maine coming off his worst start of the season. He shut us out over 7 innings in April. Closer Bob Wickman is a mediocre at best kind of closer. Aussie pick-up Peter Moylan (1.94) has been the best set-up man lately, much better than high-priced imports Mike Gonzalez (injured) or Raphael Soriano (erratic), or ex-Met Tyler Yates (too many walks) Ron Mahay (2.72) - came from Texas in the Teixeira trade and will be their main LHP out of the pen.

]What on earth happened to Ambiorix Concepcion? He got some short-term buzz as a result of his "toolsey" athleticism and a good year at Brooklyn (MVP of the NY-Penn League, IIRC) to the point where the Mets felt the need to add him to the 40-man roster for fear of getting him snatched in the Rule 5 draft. But he was also old for that league and, once promoted to full-season leagues, was never able to repeat that brief stint of dominance. He's since been taken off the 40 and probably has a ceiling of being a bit player in the majors at best.

I agree with all my posts in that thread. btw, 1-2/3 yrs post-trade comparison: Jacobs - 708 ABs, 28 HRs, .258/.318/.452 Delgado - 939 ABs, 55 HRs, .260/.342/.501

I guess I don't mind "catch" phrases as long as they're; a) not annoying -- subjective as hell, I realize used somewhat judiciously rather than just because you can and, perhaps most importantly, c) used in addition to calling the play rather than instead of The last one is the main objection to Sterling's 'it is high ... it is far ...' call. Not only is it a call he uses for all HRs, even those which are neither high nor particularly far, but it makes all HRs sound the same. Howie's 'Put it in the Books' is nothing more than an after-game exclamation point; and even Gary's 'It's Outta Here!' HR call isn't used every time (he sometimes skips if for less dramatic ones) and is only used after he decribes what lead up to the ball being 'Outta Here'

Well, considering that covering sports media is his beat and has been for a long time I would think it's specifically the place to bring it up. As for the jokes - tired or otherwise - it's barely an exaggeration to what is already the case.