Frayed Knot

Not movie-related specifically, but a couple observations by an ex-Spidey artist (and longtime Met fan).

If you think those statements are over the top you need to keep away from hearing Suzyn Waldman's announcement on the radio. Particularly around meal times.

I think the deal is for a pro-rated portion of $28.5mil - which turns it into more like $20-even, or, about $4.5/month. He will also get at least some of the "travel considerations" like he had with Houston ... y'know, the ones the Yanx said they'd never agree to.

Pelfrey - 1.5 Castro - 1.0 Chavez - 1.0 Schoeneweis - 0.5 Delgado - 0.5 Green - 0.5

Yes, the HoF has always had the final say on what the plaque looks like - which means they also have the right to defer to the player's wishes if they feel like it. There is no "Winfield Rule" and nothing changed on account of his induction except for public talk about this (non) issue. No way is Roger ready for the first Subway Series games so we'll have to wait until June to kick his ass.

Of course "popping of scar tissue" was the original diagnosis (guess) in March ... until it turned out to be a sperated bone which needed to be screwed back into place.

I remember Matlack as a bigger bat-breaker than Kooz.

That's the name of ESPN's Sunday morning round table sports discussion show, usually starring the likes of today's more recognizable sports journalists: Lupica, Boston's Bob Ryan, Detroit's Mitch Albom, John Feinstein, NYTimes reporters, etc. In other words, not just a silly scream-fest where a bunch of yahoos disagree with each other in some sort of bad 'Point-Counterpoint' impression (espn has those too). So I don't want to dis the show for tackling issues since that's its main purpose ... but is it too much for me to ask them to maybe once discuss baseball when the discussion isn't centered on some sort of scandal? Other sports seem to get their games talked about; today they touched on the boxing match, the Derby, hoops playoffs and the like. But baseball was touched upon exactly twice; in connection with the Hancock drunk driving death and the Bonds/steroids/HR story. And I wouldn't be complaining about that if it weren't what seems like the 35th week in a row where it's either scandal or nothing. I'm pretty sure things happen within the context of the games itself, you'd just never know it from checking in with that show.

Sosa - 4.2 Green - 2.3 Delgado - 1.5 Heilman - 0.5 Feliciano - 0.5 LoDuca - 1.0

There was a 'Monty Python' skit which was a game-show parody called 'Stake Your Claim'. In it the contestant had to stake his claim to something and see if it would stand up to scrutiny. So the first guy's claim is that he was the one to have actually written all of Shakespeare's works: "that's right, and me wife wrote all the sonnets" Emcee: "First question: How old are you Mr. Smith" Smith: "Forty-Three" Emcee: "Well these works are known to have been performed in the 17th century over three-hundred years before your birth, how could you have possibly done them then?" Smith: "Well ... that's where my claim falls to the ground. Y'see I was hoping you wouldn't bring up that particular point but now I can see you're more than a match for me" Emcee: "Our next contestant ... " Smith: "I was right"

]I used to get a lot of e-mails saying stuff like,"Why isn't my neighbor in your database? He told me he played for the Mets in 1974." The link I put on the roster page seems to have put a halt to those kinds of questions. I wonder now how many of those inquiries might have been for people who are now in the database as minor leaguers. Twice now in the last few years my nephew's Little League coach has told the parents that he was a former major league player - which prompts my sister to e-mail her baseball-savvy brothers wondering if they remember him. Except that both times the guy has failed both our memories and the Baseball-Reference test. We did dig up some minor league history and draft status on the last guy and it is possible that what he claimed was being in the StL Cardinal or Tex Ranger system not necc their MLB club and it was mis-understood. Either that or he's trying too hard to impress suburban moms figuring that no one will call him on it, who knows?

HR Broussard - 1 out in the 8th

The Mariner team which hung up a 15-spot last night now can't get a baserunner.

Sosa will obviously start tonight. Not sure why Ambiorix to N.O. rather than the Lino shuffle

Time for the 25-Game check-up, which is already over-due as some of the info is several days out of date, but I'll throw it up here now and not wait around for the Mariners to get to their 25th game. (records are as they were at the time each team reached their 25th game) NL East Braves: 16 - 9 Ryan Langerhans: 3 for 44 (.068/.192/.091) Any wonder he was traded? Mets: 15 - 10 Marlins: 12 - 13 Dontrelle Willis: 5 - 1, 5.35 ERA, 1.59 WHiP Phillies: 11 - 14 Ryan Howard: 5-for-37 w/21 Ks vs LHP Nationals: 8 - 17 Jesus Flores: 19 ABs, (.211/.348/.316) NL Central Brewers: 16 - 9 Jeff Suppan: 4 - 2, 2.55 ERA, 1.18 WHiP Reds: 12 - 13 Josh Hamilton: 17-for-64, 4 2Bs, 6 HRs (not bad for a 4 year layoff) Pirates: 12 - 13 Xavier Nady: 61 ABs, 3 HRs; .262/.318/.459 Cardinals: 10 - 15 Braden Looper: 6 GS, 3- 2, 2.84 ERA, 1.21 WHiP Cubs: 11 - 14 Cliff Floyd: 63 ABs; 2 HRs; .286/.318/.429 Astros: 10 - 15 Brad Lidge: 13 G, 11.0 IP, 15 Ks, 5.73 ERA, 2.36 WHiP NL West Dodgers: 15 - 10 Rafael Furcal: 74 ABs - (.203/.272/.243) D'Backs: 14 - 11 Brandon Webb: 63.7% Ground Ball Pct (leads MLB) Padres: 13 - 12 Heath Bell: 12 G, 16.2 IP, 5 H, 17 Ks, 0.54 WhiP Giants: 13 - 12 Barry Zito: 5 GS, 31.1 IP, 3.73 ERA, 1.28 WhiP Rockies: 10 - 15 Kaz Matsui: 36 ABs - (.361/.395/.472) AL East Red Sox: 16 - 9 Manny Ramirez: .215/.318/.323, 3HRs Blue Jays: 13 - 12 Victor Zambrano: 6 G, 5.1 IP, 8 H, 6 BB, 2.63 WhiP Orioles: 12 - 13 Steve Trachsel: 5 GS, 28.1 IP, 4.13 ERA, 1.27 WHiP D'Rays: 11 - 14 Scott Kazmir: 6 GS, 37.2 IP, 4.06 ERA, 1.30 WHiP Yankees: 11 - 14 Alex Rodriguez: 86 Total Bases (2nd place AL = 64) AL Central Indians: 17 - 8 C. C. Sabathia: 44 Ks - 8 BBs Tigers: 14 - 11 Gary Sheffield: 2 HRs - (.200/.369/.306) Twins: 14 - 11 Jason Tyner - 48 ABs (.313/.340/.396) White Sox: 12 - 13 Mark Buehrle: 30.1 IP, 0.86 WHiP Royals: 8 - 17 Brian Bannister: 2 GS, 11.0 IP, 4.91 ERA, 1.18 WHiP AL West Angels: 14 - 11 Vladamir Guerrero: .348/.459/.685 A's: 12 - 13 Mike Piazza - (.274/.337/.368) - 1 HR Rangers: 10 - 15 Sammy Sosa: 86 ABs - 7 HRs Mariners: 12 - 13 Richie Sexson: 86 Plate Appearances, 1 single (11 hits)

A quick review of rules for Schaefer Player of the Game voting. We don't have a lot of picky rules around here - but because these votes are tallied and the records kept, and because a system has been worked out for doing most of that automatically, this is one of the few places where we've got a set way of doing things. So, while all are invited to participate, to do so you'll need to follow a few basic standards. The rules will be classic Schaefer, just as Ralph, Lindsey, and Bob used to do it: Maximum of 10 points per game. Maximum of 6 points for any one player. No per player or team minimum. We'll continue to allow fractions, even though we're pretty sure that Lindsey Nelson never awarded anybody a 1.53. Any zero votes will be tossed, as they would drag down the totals of those who did vote. If you think there was a game where everybody sucked, just don't vote. Don't count on anyone to pester you to revise your vote. Anyone who votes more than 6 points for a player will have their vote tossed. Anyone who goes over 10 total points will be pro-rated down. Once the votes are tallied the decision is final. Any CPF member can open the voting threads. It will be announced in advance when the voting will close. This will typically be two or three days after the game, sometimes longer if the span includes a weekend. The official totals will be shown in the voting thread and then moved to the POTG forum. Season-to-date and month-to-date totals totals will be posted periodically. The best way to vote is to keep it simple: enter the player's last name followed by his point total. No nicknames, please, and try to avoid misspellings. (With Mientkiewicz gone, it should be less of a problem than a couple of years ago.) If you can also leave out colons or dashes and the like, that would be appreciated. Please put comments on a separate line from the votes. GOOD Martinez 5 LoDuca 2 Wagner 1.5 Beltran .75 Delgado .75 That double by Lo Duca turned the game around! NOT SO GOOD Pedro: 5 Lo Duca: 2 His double turned the game around! Billy Wags 1.5 Carlos .75 Degado .75 P.S.: Since Anderson Hernandez is still in the organization, we'll continue to vote for Orlando Hernandez as OHernandez. (No dot after the O, please!) Link to database page with historical Schaefer voting results

Maine - 3.5 Reyes - 1.5 LoDuca - 1.5 Franco - 1.5 Wagner - 0.9 Beltran - 1.0 Burgos - 0.1

I was at that Mercury Mets game also. The worst part was that the photos they put up on the Diamond-Vision not only had them in MM uniforms but they morphed the player's face into some sort of futuristic creature like he was a Star Trek villian or something.

Edgy DC wrote: That last call may have been a subconscious give-back. Nope. Replay showed it to be not only quite correct but not even all that close.

Nifty footwork. Open book ... insert game ... close book.

The guy who got Franco's HR ball (he picked it up out of the hot tub) was jumping around like it was him who hit it.

That absolutely hit his glove!

The days of turning your sets off if/when the Yanx got a multi-run lead are definitely over until further notice. (Off) Kei Igawa was handed a win tonight and then couldn't even get out of the 5th inning. Then, after the M's went up by 8 going into the bottom of the 8th, they still wound up needing to bring in their closer (J.J. Putz) to deal w/the save situation. Man I'm glad I don't have to watch too much A.L. ball. * Have a drink to my becoming Neil Allen!

"Cablevision said “Extra Innings’’ would be available immediately at a price of $159" Isn't that the usual price? If so then - in typical Cablevision fashion - for missing approx 16% of the season you're getting a 0% discount.

]Is there any rhyme or reason to how this works anymore? Not much of one. The idea is that - in addition to setting up the "natural" rivals (and isn't THAT a flexible term) - it's supposed to be a specific division vs another ... but that doesn't work for several reasons: * the odd number of teams between divisions * that some teams have the extra series against their 'natural rivals' while others don't. * that the NL has more teams than the AL so there's always 2 NL teams playing within league while the rest of MLB is going inter-league. So when the intended tidyness breaks down they just start throwing teams together based on who's left standing when the music stops and maybe on who hasn't played each other in a few years. There is no NFL-style "weighted" schedule based on last year's finish (iow, the Mets are just unlucky here and not being picked on) but they are willing to swap things around for various reasons. The Yanx, for instance, were penciled in to go to San Diego this season until Colorado specifically requested a NYY visit for attendance reasons and MLB agreed. For that reason alone it would serve the Rox right if they lost a playoff spot by just a game or two.