Frayed Knot

Not participating in the HR Derby clearly messed up McNeil's whole approach.

The Marlins have 6 hits plus a walk. Four of those hits were in a six batter span in the 3rd inning, and now the other two plus the lone walk come consecutively here in the 6th. Mets have 3 hits plus 5 walks but the only inning with multiple runners was the 3rd where they managed to wedge a BiDP in the middle so as to ensure the run total would be at the lowest possible amount. Getting out-HR'd 3-0 and out-XBH'd 4-0 isn't helping either.

This game is really dull and not all that well played ... but at least it's slow.

We gotta quit scoring runs ... it only causes our pitchers to give up more in the next half.

=G-Fafif post_id=15717 time=1562945868 user_id=55] BVW will also be on with Francesa at 4:30.

I've speculated in the past on what the odds might be of a batter being clued in enough to the situation to where he'd intentionally swing at a wild pitch w/2 strikes in order to have the chance to get onto 1st base. Lots of conditions would have to be right: -- 2 strikes but not 3-2 and most likely you'd want a 0-2 or maybe 1-2 count -- 1st base would need to be open or there'd have to be 2 outs (or both) but probably not bases loaded so as to give the defense an easier out at home -- the pitch would have to be really wild (Juuuuust a bit outside[/uecker]) so you'd KNOW that the catcher wasn't going to get a glove on it -- and you'd have to have some confidence in your speed and hope that it wasn't an unfriendly bounce. Not sure if that's ever actually happened, but a quick thinking batter could get himself out of a hole against a good pitcher it he was able to recognize the situation and savvy enough to pull it off. This rule would add a wrinkle to that where the swing part isn't required, only a good jump.

http://www.jimbouton.com/nyt6_21_98.htmlMichael Bouton's column It was June of 1998; Mantle was dead by this point, Yogi was absent due to his feud with George, and Bouton had been retired for more than a quarter century save for a brief five game comeback in 1978 w/the Braves at the age of 39. He was a full 30 years removed from his last game as a Yanqui and had been barred from their Old Timer's Day for that same amount of time - OTD being a much bigger deal then as compared to now and a bigger deal for that team than for others. At some point over the next several weeks the NYY front office managed to find the phone number they had apparently misplaced for three decades and extended an invite.

BAM! I knew he had had a stroke in recent years which affected his speech. Hadn't heard much since. Fifty years after the season that inspired BALL FOUR; the book was released in early 1970 An outspoken ballplayer when most were expected 'not to say shit even if they had a mouthful', (a phrase I likely first read in that book) and a 1960's leftist in a world up til then dominated by country boys with crewcuts. That that kind of stuff made him fall out of favor with the very corporate Yanquis isn't surprising, nor was his friction with the stuffy and lawyerly Bowie Kuhn. I mostly missed his pitching career as his best years were prior to my awareness and the time he did have was then marred by injuries followed by exile in Seattle. But mostly I remember was a treat -- note that there's no h between the t and the r Bowie -- it was to read BALL FOUR as a young teen. It didn't make me think less of ballplayers, it made them human and funny, or at least a little bit goofy and maybe not always the sharpest knives in the drawer. And that's not a bad thing. The other memory I have is of the kick-in-the-gut Father's Day column in the NY Times penned by his oldest son (w/o Jim's knowledge) about how it was long past time for the Yanx to put aside whatever 'insult' they felt from his non-conformity or his non-worshipping of Mickey Mantle, by taking him off their blacklist for the team's celebrated annual Old Timer's Day. The prompt for the letter was the death of Jim's daughter/Mike Bouton's sister several months earlier in a car crash. In an era where news concerning a celebrity relative didn't fly around the world in half a day, the revealing of Laurie Bouton's death was a shock to most of us who knew her only through small mentions in the book as a feisty (6 y/o?) girl trying to elbow her way into the world amid a jock father and two older brothers. Apparently she was exactly the same during her brief time as an adult. The letter, which occupied a large portion of the front page of the Sunday NYT Sports Section, achieved its goal. Bouton's phone number was suddenly found by the MFY PR department and he was invited to the next OTD where he received a rousing ovation -- in addition to the book there was also the matter of him winning 37 games plus two more in the World Series in 1963 & 1964 and him being a very popular player in his time. The ballpark, IIRC, didn't fall due to his presence.

Should have let the NYM scoreboard operators handle things. Sure some of the players might have been listed as dead, but at least they'd have the right pictures and be on the right teams. (at least we think they would have)

Eh, anyone can make a mistake. Besides, all them skinny-faced white boys look alike anyway.

The rule about having the previous batted ball land before the next pitch could be thrown certainly went by the wayside in the HB derby. Fans of whoever it was that Bryce Harper won against last year screamed their way across social media that Bryce and his father "cheated!!!!" their way to victory by throwing "illegal" pitches during Harper's final swings which put him over the top. This year there didn't seem to be any attempt by anyone to follow that supposed requirement even though it was one of the rules flashed up on the screen numerous times.

Yeah, only 8 HRs for little Vladdy but he's also been in the bigs for like 20 minutes so far. I'd say the roster of mostly young players: Vlad, Alonso, Acuna, Peterson, Bregman, makes this a better thing. You don't NEED to have Harper & Trout to make this work, certainly not in the same way the NBA dunk contest lost all its glamour once the stars quit participating and rosters became a roll call of guys no one ever heard of. Plus if Pete, or one of the other rookies or near-rooks win it, they'd come close to tripling their salary for the year. With the ML minimum salary somewhat above 500K, the $1 million prize -- something Harper, Machado et al consider tip money -- suddenly bumps the winner up to over $1.5. Lots of incentive & enthusiasm.

I almost never watch the HR darby and if I do it's drop-in/drop-out. I understand they've pared it down somewhat so it now takes less than the 9 hours it used to go. Mainly though it's just a gimmick and I could do with less of those. It's one of those non-event events that have become popular to televise in recent years: drafts, selection shows, schedule reveals, signing days, and the like. And like those, this is an example of a perfect ESPN event which ESPN then proceeds to ESPN the hell outta it. Perhaps I'm still afraid Chris Berman is going to show up and scream at me all night even though the four-letter network recently put him out to pasture. Maybe I'll DVR it tonight so I can FF through most just to see how Pete is doing. I can probably turn it into a half-hour show that way.

Johnny Lunchbucket wrote: The comparison to Lagares isn';t valid beyond both guys not walking enough. Larages is 30, and in decline offensively and defensively, and is a whole level worse than an ascendent Rosario now Yeah, it's easy to see Rosario, because we've been hearing about him for so long, as if he's been around forever and therefore should be a finished product by now. Except that he's a year younger than Alonso, 2-1/2 younger than both Nimmo & Conforto, 3-1/2 younger than McNeil, etc. Not many guys have 1,000+ ABs on their resumes a half year prior to turning 24. There's room for growth with him. Besides, who knows what he'll look like in CF, Lagares was a converted SS too "stuck" behind Matt den Decker on the depth chart.

I don't know what to make of Rosario. If you had asked me as late as the second half of last season if he was a legit ML SS I'd have said 'Yes' without hesitation. Maybe not top of the pile defensively but more than adequate. But we've all seen what he's been this season. And it's not just that early spate of errors where he seemed totally lost, it's the plays not made -- borderline H/E plays that he doesn't make plus he virtually never 'steals' an out -- and the ones he does make but which seem almost accidental if he gets all the parts (glove + transfer + throw) synched up at the same time. We got so 'out-defenced' by the Phils in this past series that it wasn't close to funny and it's mostly NOT the makeshift OF that's been the problem (although that hasn't helped). I'd be all for trying to morph him into a CF with Hech (or someone Hechie-like) as a bridge until Gimenez is (hopefully - he's not exactly burning down the park in Bingo) ready. Might take some time, though, before you'd know if/how well it's going to work.

=HahnSolo post_id=15334 time=1562592891 user_id=63] =metirish post_id=15329 time=1562589083 user_id=72] I never watched MFY games, unless playing against the Mets, but is Girardi a great in game manager as articles have suggested?

Sounds like I liked it a bit more than you. I kind of liked the way the story played out for the most part, including the parts with the two characters who showed up halfway through and I was OK with the scene in question towards the end. Not saying it's a great movie by any means. It's typical rom-com sappy in parts and the Sheeran & McKinnon parts are a bit broadly drawn. But mostly well done all around. An article in the NY Times about a week ago gave the story of what the producers had to go through in order to secure rights to the music. In this case, is not just the bling you have to cough up but you need enough known names attached to it, like a director of Danny Boyle's status for instance, to where the holders of Beatle rights -- one group for John/Paul songs and a different one for George's -- deem your project sufficiently worthy of their blessing rather than risk tarnishing the band's image. They're trying to avoid another Sgt Pepper fiasco iow.

So you probably already know the plot of this one via trailers and ads. Through a brief (and never explained) 12 second planet-wide glitch, Beatle music and indeed the history of the Beatles has been erased from human memory. The memory/existence of a few other things is gone too, a few of them kind of funny. But our film's hero, Jack, a marginal and somewhat awkward English singer/songwriter, is seemingly alone in that he does remember their music and so is in a unique position to claim those songs as his own. Or at least he would be if he could only remember all the lyrics seeing as how all those albums are now missing from his record collection and a Google search turns up only crawly insects. The truth is too unbelievable for him to tell anyone and that includes his childhood friend/manager Ellie played by the terminably cute Lily James (BABY DRIVER) which is a shame since Jack's monopoly on the Beatle catalog is matched only by his cluelessness to Ellie's crush on him. So hi-jinx ensues with more than a few bumps along the road. Ed Sheeran stretches out his acting chops to play Ed Sheeran, the guy who helps discover Jack only to quickly feel himself being surpassed by him. Former SNL'er Kate McKinnon is a stereotype of a soulless music industry exec who of course wants to wring all the coin out of Jack that she can while she can. Essentially it's a reasonably funny Rom-Com. There's a scene towards the end which you'll either find totally charming or a bridge too far depending on your POV. And, y'know, it has Beatle music, as well as an unexpected cameo by CitiField!

Edgy MD wrote: You really want to get into the bullpen with four innings to go, Mickey Callaway? I don't mind removing Syndergaard who's been walking tightrope for the entire game ... but now they're pulling Wilson after two batters and going to Gsellman to pitch to the 9th slot in the lineup with 2 outs on no one on??? So if they're burning those two this early, exactly who is doing the 8th & 9th tonight? The not-so dynamic duo who gave up like 12 runs last night?

Fuck 'em in the ear Nido!

And Mickey's right here. What's the point of the warning if you're then not going to follow through on it!!!! So now the Mets get three free plunkings, right?

Not sure why Frazier is mad. No reason for warnings to be issued. If they're not going to issue a warning immediately then they are, in effect, admitting that they're only doing it because Frazier reacted.

So at least we didn't leave any runners on that inning. We got them pre-thrown-out on the bases instead. 8 hits plus a HBP plus a Philly error in just 3 innings somehow equals only 3 runs Put another way, Arrieta has retired less than half the batters he's faced. A pitcher who does that should be either losing big or already be out of the game.

So that's two slide/tag plays in two games messed up by the same ump.

Before I forget about this and lose the spreadsheet, here are the same 30 guys (most ABs in NYM history) sorted by Isolated Slugging Average rather than walk rate STRAWBERRY - 257 [.263 BA, .520 SLG] PIOAZZA - 246 KINGMAN - 234 BELTRAN - 220 DUDA - 211 H. JOHNSON - 208 HUNDLEY - 198 WRIGHT - 195 McREYNOLDS - 188 MILNER - 170 FOSTER - 170 AGEE - 157 ALFONZO - 153 REYES - 151 SWOBODA - 145 STAUB - 143 MURPHY - 136 MAZZILLI - 132 HERNANDEZ - 132 C. JONES - 125 M. WILSON - 118 STEARNS - 116 KRANEPOOL - 116 GARRETT - 106 BROOKS - 105 GROTE - 73 BACKMAN - 61 MILLAN - 59 ORDONEZ - 59 HARRELSON - 53