Frayed Knot

Vic Sage wrote: somebody please explain why Flores is hitting 3rd and Nimmo 7th. Ell Ache Pee Well, for one turn around the lineup anyway.

So this is going to be, what, about 8-10 minutes between pitches? And that's before you get into the nonsense of pretending to know where the runners would have ended up. And if the reliever retires the batter on one pitch then it could be ONE live pitch thrown in around a 12 minute span. Please stop improving the game.

Edgy MD wrote: What I'm learning from this rat chase is that the [crossout]visitors' dugout at Fenway is[/crossout] major league dugouts are filthy.

We ain't afraid of no Sox

Odd move by Joe Madden in Washington Thursday night. Cubs go ahead on a bunt single in the top of the 10th. Then a walk loads the bases with one out bringing up reliever Pedro Strop. Now Strop has already thrown 1.2 innings in this game, has just 3 ABs in his ML career, and the Cubs are in a tight division race with a chance to break the game open. So the worst possible outcome is a GiDP with Strop then having only a one-run lead to protect, right? No, the worst possible outcome in a GiDP [u:er64xgr5]AND[/u:er64xgr5] Strop pulling a hammy trying to beat it out. So what is Madden doing NOT PH'ing?, especially in September with expanded bullpens. Because he really, really wanted to use a pitcher entering his 3rd season of work (even though just 21 pitches) and was comfortable with a single run lead?!? Obviously he had to go to a different pitcher after the injury (Randy Rosario) for the bottom of the 10th. They got the win anyway, but a strange (non) move and now Strop is out for at least the remainder of the regular season.

Small note in one of the tabs today about David possibly PH-ing a few times prior to that game - no reason why he couldn't/shouldn't really. The game noted in the presser sounds like that's been tabbed as the only game in which he's going to be in the starting lineup.

Only the songs are naked, and you don't really hear those anyway. Nor, by the way, is there anyone in it named Juliet. So just like Alice's Restaurant is not the name of the restaurant it's just the name of the song, Juliet naked is just the name of the movie.

Nightcap? Sorry I don't wear them -- Me either, but I'll have one Man, if Conforto could just cut out some of those horrible roll-over ABs where he tries to pull the outside pitch and grounds it weakly to 1B or 2B. He had two of those in the first game tonight and both looked like they were hit with a wet newspaper. And now, since then, he's cracked a long game-tying HR and an equally hard go-ahead double.

I was just about to ask when last time a NYM catcher made a back-pick at 1st base ... but never mind.

Rom-Com adapted from the 2009 Nick Hornby novel, one where Hornby plows some familiar ground for him of relationships, music, and relationships through music. Annie and Duncan live together in a small, nothing-ever-happens-here seaside town in England. But they’re in a rut and Annie is starting to think that maybe her time with Duncan have been wasted years due in no small part to him spending much of his time obsessing over, and running a chatroom about, an obscure American rock star and the supposed masterpiece album ‘Juliet’ he recorded many years earlier prior to dropping off the face of the earth. (a bunch of dudes spending all their time on line discussing a single topic … what a bunch of losers!!) But then a bootlegged, alternate version of the album -- dubbed 'Juliet, Naked' by the obsessed fan boyz for it's stripped-down version of the songs -- shows up in the mail and nothing will ever be the same. Rose Byrne & Chris O’Dowd as the couple, with Ethan Hawke as the mysterious musician Tucker Crowe

I guess you could label it a sci-fi film since it involves aliens and a post-apocalyptic near-future. But that's mostly just the set-up; the plot plays out more like a horror flick: Are they in the house? ... will this maneuver buy us some time? ... How can they be killed?...

seawolf17 wrote: bmfc1 wrote: They aren't saying "retirement" they said "medically unable to play". This must mean something with the insurance money paying some of the remainder of his contract. And aren't the Wilpons finances really the biggest issue? I'd bet. They probably have to be careful about the wording. I'm pretty sure that the insurance company isn't going to pay of the remainder of the policy based solely on the wording of a NYM press release.

Wheeler = 57 pitches thru 6 innings. Now I realize this game is being played under different circumstances than many, but 57 pitches is known as the top of the 2nd when Matz is on the mound.

seawolf17 wrote: John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Or you know, Greg Yup. I see Noble as an MFY guy, no? Noble claimed to have no rooting interest in the teams that he covered -- as he was pretty much required to be -- but he covered the Mets forever (not exclusively, but mostly) and his writing was often very cognizant of their history. He lived for a time (and maybe still) in Port Washington which is where a good number of the '80s era players lived and is generally considered a NYM area, and was a friend of the late rock DJ Pete Fornatale who was a unapologetic Mets fan and far too classy to socialize with Yanqui fans.

[fimg=300:2qpamx43]https://img.discogs.com/N-lE-f66Aoc45rSOjfI5woyRgW8=/fit-in/600x597/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-2476279-1404699859-5245.jpeg.jpg[/fimg:2qpamx43] And the beat goes on

It's officially one game now, but it's stunning that it took them until nearly 10 PM before they made that official. Were they really thinking that starting a game at One AM-ish was a possibility?!?

There was only one Terry Malloy [fimg=300:q12azn5p]https://static.rogerebert.com/redactor_assets/pictures/far-flung-correspondents/he-coulda-been-a-contender/on-the-waterfront260pix.jpg[/fimg:q12azn5p]

Just one game I'm assuming? And I won't make it through the one anyway.

So one of these division leaders is not like the other. Can you find the outlier? (I'm pretty sure they never used the word 'outlier' on Sesame Street but whatyagonnado?) BOSTON: (RS/RA +/-) = +224 CLEVELAND = +142 HOUSTON = +241 ATLANTA = +132 CHICAGO = +111 COLORADO = -3 How the fuck are they 14 games over .500 with a negative run differential?!? 24-14 in one run games helps. So does being 13-19 in blowouts. But still ... And with the Dodgers (+126) and DBacks (+73) right on their tail. Dodgers finally beat (63-83) Cincinnati this afternoon, the first time in seven meetings this year that they did. 0-6 and outscored 16-33 prior to today's game. If the Dodgers miss the playoffs this year (and right now they're on the outside looking in) they've got nothing to blame but their performances vs Cincy. And more specifically they can blame Scooter Gennett: 16 for 22 vs LAD with 6 Runs scored and 10 RBIs [727/739/1035]

Dan Martin, NYPost: David Wright and Mets COO Jeff Wilpon met regarding a plan for the third baseman’s future and according to a source, the two sides are expected to have a press conference Thursday. And signs are pointing to them announcing he will return this season. There's no indication of what those "signs" are.

Edgy MD wrote: It's a doubleheader. Evahbody plays. I understand that even Terry Malloy is going to be available out of the bullpen in game 2

And a well-spoken young lad he is.

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree. In my opinion, an extra year of control has tremendous value. Even if the player is not the level of Kris Bryant. Sure there's value in getting an extra year of control, but it can't be the deciding factor in the call-up timing of every Tom, Dick, and Harry prospect that comes down the pike. You bring up guys when they're needed, hopefully also at a time which coincides with them being ready, but not at a time which hopefully / maybe works out seven years from now. Carry the deadline-FA notion to its logical conclusion and no one would ever get called up after May because there'd always be the lure of delaying until the end of the following April. Was Muffy's mid-season call-up, for instance, a half-season too early which prevented us from that 'extra' season out of him, or was his final season in Queens the extra one we got out of not calling him up months earlier? And is it great that we have one more year out of Wheeler or short-sighted that we don't have two? And the same could be said -- moving the timeline either way -- for Familia, d'Arnaud, Flores, or just about anyone. So I'll put it this way: IF whoever is running this ship this winter decides that Alonso's time is now and that he's ready to be the everyday starting 1B going forward, and IF he takes all the other proactive actions (dumps Smith, Wilmer, Bruce, whoever) to make sure the path is clear by spring 2019, then, by all means, count off 12 days from Opening Day (or maybe it's 16 now) before making the call. And if he's a good, serviceable player a half-dozen years from now without ever seeing the minors again then those two weeks of having Jay Horowitz playing 1st base in the interim will have absolutely been worth it. My point is that there are just not a lot of players who pre-fit that kind of action and that teams will miss a lot more than they gain by allowing their call-up decisions to be influenced by FA deadlines. And, remember, this discussion essentially started over the idea that Fred wanting to squeeze an extra year (and therefore save future money) out of Alonso was the only reason he wasn't called up two months ago when he so obviously deserved it. Talk about your ownership meddling!!.

Or, in his case, hand, foot, and beak disease.

I think this, along with the free agency of 2025 are both factors. As I've said, I think the first part is a piece of the puzzle while the second is, if anything, way down towards the bottom on the list of considerations. In general I think that whole planning a guy's call-up date so as to squeeze an extra year out of him stuff comes into play a whole lot less than often than is discussed. It's something teams do with the Bryce Harpers and Kris Bryants of the world: guys you believe are destined to be stars, that you know are ready, and you know will be installed as everyday players right off the bat. So then, yeah, it makes sense to plan the timing of their call-up so as to best suit your needs. Bryant had an Apr 17th debut, Harper was Apr 28, and we'll see how the Blue Jays handle little Vladdy next spring. But the Peter Alonsos of the world aren't in the same area code as those guys much less the same neighborhood, and there are so many other variables at work that's it's unlikely to matter in the long run. The Mets are going to have at least some of the same 1B issues next Spring that they have now -- what about Dom?; what about Wilmer?; what about our aging and under contract corner OFs (Bruce & Cespedes) or even our aging and under contract 3B for that matter? I'm not sure it's even money that Alonso will be a part-time starter next year much less be the guy tabbed as the obvious incumbent for years to come.