Frayed Knot

Already more than an average inning's worth of pitches from Giles and he still only has one out.

He's using Giles?!? Your closer with a six run lead?

So there's been this add running during the playoffs for a service that apparently ships you 'daily contact lenses', like it's a copy of these mail delivered razor blade companies or, I suppose, diapers. But does anyone need a new set of contracts on a regular basis? What are these things, disposable? I've never worn contacts so I may just be clueless, but there appears to be something here I'm not getting.

So dropping relay throws that turn sure outs into runs appears to be Gary Sanchez's go-to move.

I think Altuve should have said to Todd Frazier as he rounded 3rd: "Hey big boy, we can do cheap HRs here too"

Altuve gets the run right back!!

Mets Willets Point wrote: Frayed Knot wrote: Thank you cousin George!! Ha! Considering that his grandfather was a black immigrant form Panama and my clan landed in New England in the pre-Revolution era, the odds of us being kin are pretty small. But I'm claiming him as a relative anyway, at least for the remainder of this series.

The culprit is: Mr. Peacock, with the BP fastball, in Minute Maid Park

MFS62 wrote: 41Forever wrote: Looks like Dusty Baker is suddenly available. Just like he has been available each time he has been let go, or not rehired, by a major league team. There must be reasons. And they might be different, or the same, at each stop along the way. I'll pass too, but Dusty's been employed as a ML manager for 19 of the last 22 seasons and reached the playoffs in nine of them so it's not like he's a toxic asset that no one want to touch. He lasted 10, 4, 6, and 2 seasons at his four stops.

Now we'll see if the Astros bullpen can get through 2 innings. They haven't been able to yet.

Thank you cousin George!!

The ups and downs of Dusty Baker's managerial career: 22 seasons from 1993 - 2017 interrupted only by him being jobless in 2007 and again in 2014-2015 Nine times his teams reached the post-season ... but that's where the trouble started. SFG: 1993-2002 1997 - 1st place NLW, 90-72; Lose in 1st round to Marlins 3-0 2000 - 1st place NLW, 97-65; Lose in 1st round to Mets 3-1 2002 - 2nd place WC, 98-63; * Win 3-2 over the 101-win Braves; * Win 4-1 in 2nd round over 97-win Cards; * Lose 4-3 in WS to Anaheim after having a 3 games to 2 lead including a 5-0 lead in the 7th inning of Game 6 (giving Russ Ortiz the game ball) CUBS 2003-2006 2003 - 1st place NLC, 88-74; * =#008000]Win 3-2 over 101-win Braves (his final post-season deciding game win!!); * Lose 4-3 to WC Marlins after holding a 3-2 game lead and a 3-0 lead in the 8th inning of Game 6 (Two words: Bart Man) and again they held a lead in Game 7 REDS 2008-2013 2010 - 1st place NLC 91-71; Lose in 3-Game sweep to 97-win Phillies in 1st round (including a Roy Halladay no-hitter) 2012 - 1st place NLC 97-65; Lose 3-2 in 1st round to Giants after leading the series 2-0 2013 - WC 90-72; Lost one-game WC play-in game to Pirates NATIONALS 2016-2017 2016 - 1st place NLE 95-67; Lose 3-2 to Dodgers in 1st round after holding a 2-1 lead 2017 - 1st place NLE 97-65; Lose 3-2 to Cubs in 1st round despite a lead in the final game and Scherzer on the mound So that's nine straight losses in games where his team had a chance to put away a post-season series and 11 of 12 dating back to the final two games of the 2002 World Series It can't all be his fault of course, but it's hard to divorce him from it all also. The Nats say it was a "baseball decision" to not rehire him although that contradicts previous rumors. And while they deny it was over contract specifics, it needs to be remembered that Dusty wan't their first choice when they were looking around for a replacement for Matt Williams. They had targeted Bud Black (now with Colorado) but that fell apart over ... contract specifics and so they moved on to Baker. GM Mike Rizzo (or the folks he reports to) apparently have ideas of what a manager is worth and they don't want to go over that. As a long-time vet going for his second deal with this team, maybe Dusty wanted a raise they weren't willing to give. Also his star RF'er notably went all non-committal when asked about Baker in the aftermath of their elimination ("that's not my decision"). btw, none of the Washington coaches are being kept either -- although it's possible they could re-hire some of them once they decide on a new skipper. So this makes highly respected and long time pitching coach Mike Maddux at least theoretically available. Know any teams looking for a replacement PC?

He wouldn't be my first choice. I thought Dusty was a good choice for the Nats when he first got there, although maybe mostly because he was following the not hard to follow Matt Williams. I think of Dusty as someone who runs a good clubhouse, doesn't let the inmates run the asylum, and keeps a good rapport with his players. On the other hand, then there's his in-game management. Plus, what's his streak up to now, like ten straight losses in potential post-season clinching games?

TEAM MANAGERCONTRACTSTATUSANGELSMike Scioscia2018 ASTROSAJ Hinch???ATHLETICS Bob Melvin 2019Signed ext for 2019 on 9/28/17BLUE JAYS John Gibbons 2019 + 2020 OptionBRAVESBrian Snitker 2017 + 2018 OptionOption for 2018 picked up on 10/5/17 BREWERS Craig Counsel 2020CARDINALS--- Mike Matheny 2020CUBS Joe Maddon 2019DBACKSTorey Luvello 2019DODGERS Dave Roberts 2018 + 2019 OptionGIANTSBruce Bochy 2019INDIANS Terry Francona2020MARINERS Scott Servais2018MARLINSDon Mattingly 2019METS Terry Collins 2017Will not return =#0000FF]NATIONALS =#0040FF]Dusty Baker 2017=#0000FF]Will Not Return for 2018ORIOLES Buck Showalter---2018PADRES Andy Green 2021Signed Extension Aug ‘17 PHILLIES Pete MacKanin 2018 + 2019 Option ---Signed ext in May '17 -- Will not return in 2018PIRATES Clint Hurdle 2021Signed 4 year extension - Sept ‘17 RANGERS Jeff Banister 2018 + 2019 Option RAYS Kevin Cash 2019 RED SOX John Ferrell 2018Will NOT return in 2018REDS Bryan Price 20182018 Option exercised - Sept ‘17 ROCKIES Bud Black 2019 + 2020 Option ROYALS Ned Yost 2018 TIGERS Brad Ausmus 2017Ron Gardenhire hired - Oct '17 TWINS Paul Molitor 2017WHITE SOX Rick Renteria 2019 YANKEES Joe Girardi 2017

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Also, it seems that the Mets won't have to compete with the Tigers for any of the remaining candidates, because they've reported hired Ron Gardenhire. Several reports last night reported that Alex Cora to the Red Sox is essentially a done deal although nothing even close to official. One was from some Spanish language outlet which then withdrew the claim. Another is just some TV guy in Boston who says he hears that "no doubt" it'll be Cora and that all parties are simply waiting on the Houston season to end before making it formal. But of course people hear all kinds of things. I'm kind of leaning towards team Super Joe as well.

If Corey Seager is healthy enough, I'm thinking that Granderson might find himself not on the WS roster. He did have 7 pokes since the trade so could be a threat off the bench, but he also hit .161 with a 30% K-rate, and in the post-season he's 1/15 with 8 Ks

An hour earlier tonight with a day off in the AL series - 8:00 EDT Kershaw vs Quintana

You can scratch Ron Gardenhire off your wish lists (assuming you had him on in the first place) as the Tigers just Gardenhired him Deets still to come. TEAM MANAGERCONTRACTSTATUSANGELSMike Scioscia2018 ASTROSAJ Hinch???ATHLETICS Bob Melvin 2019Signed ext for 2019 on 9/28/17BLUE JAYS John Gibbons 2019 + 2020 OptionBRAVESBrian Snitker 2017 + 2018 OptionOption for 2018 picked up on 10/5/17 BREWERS Craig Counsel 2020CARDINALS--- Mike Matheny 2020CUBS Joe Maddon 2019DBACKSTorey Luvello 2019DODGERS Dave Roberts 2018 + 2019 OptionGIANTSBruce Bochy 2019INDIANS Terry Francona2020MARINERS Scott Servais2018MARLINSDon Mattingly 2019METS Terry Collins 2017Will not return NATIONALS Dusty Baker 2017ORIOLES Buck Showalter---2018PADRES Andy Green 2021Signed Extension Aug ‘17 PHILLIES Pete MacKanin 2018 + 2019 Option ---Signed ext in May '17 -- Will not return in 2018PIRATES Clint Hurdle 2021Signed 4 year extension - Sept ‘17 RANGERS Jeff Banister 2018 + 2019 Option RAYS Kevin Cash 2019 RED SOX John Ferrell 2018Will NOT return in 2018REDS Bryan Price 20182018 Option exercised - Sept ‘17 ROCKIES Bud Black 2019 + 2020 Option ROYALS Ned Yost 2018 TIGERS Brad Ausmus 2017Ron Gardenhire hired - Oct '17 TWINS Paul Molitor 2017 WHITE SOX Rick Renteria 2019 YANKEES Joe Girardi 2017

Farmer Ted wrote: Brand spanking new stadium with over 6,000 max. Which is about half the size of a typical AAA park. Making a quick check of all the Int'l Lg stadiums finds they all seem to be in the 10 - 17 K range so I'm guessing that 10K is probably the minimum requirement for that league. Not sure if the city of Hartford itself -- pop = 125K and now only the 4th largest city within Connecticut behind Bridgeport, New Haven, and Stamford -- would qualify.

WHY IS DAVID WRIGHT GOING TO RETIRE AND GIVE UP ALL THAT MONEY????? Answer: He wouldn't. He won't, and he shouldn't. Then can we please stop bringing up these scenarios where Wright willingly retires because, after all, that's the path which will cost him the most money, and also the one where the insurance company, now relieved of their obligation to pay Wright's salary, continues to do so anyway because, after all, that's the choice which will cost them the most money, all because these entities are apparently dead set on choosing the path based on which one saves the Wilpons the most money? Because he's going to be manager, duh. Oooooh, I forgot about that one!!

But this has come up in numerous threads over the last year and I've yet to hear a decent answer to it: WHY IS DAVID WRIGHT GOING TO RETIRE AND GIVE UP ALL THAT MONEY????? To do favors to the Wilpons? So they can better sign FAs for a team that he's not going to be on? Advocate for Frazier or against, but please set aside this notion that DW is going to voluntarily step away for him because his chief concern is that the Mets owners don't have a cash flow problem when trying to cover 3rd base over the next couple years.

Yanqui fans of the late '90s/early '00s thought of themselves as scrappy underdogs too, this is nothing new nor is it even the most annoying part. The real annoying part is where anything that goes right for them is only due to their brilliance and anything that goes wrong is simply something out of their control. There was stuff during the telecast yesterday (what, did they have some lackey call the booth in mid-game in order to feed this stuff to them?) and it's all over the papers today about how their superior scouting/preparation was responsible for "solving" Keuchel. Well shit, prior to yesterday he was 6-2 in 8 starts with a 1.09 ERA and in playoff matchups he had skunked you starting with the 2015 WC game and as recently as a day I like to refer to as LAST FRIDAY. Somehow all this knowledge about how to hit him apparently didn't occur to you until the 9th of the last 9 games when the 4 runs/7 hits (5 singles) drubbing you put on him suddenly revealed that it was your brilliance which was behind it all. Sounds more like either random variation or just the advantage of seeing someone twice in the same week to me. There are, however, guys they seem to never be able to figure out but those are simply written off as "Yankee-killers", players whose success against the pinstripes is both unexplainable and uncorrectable as if said player have made some kind of deal with the devil. IOW: if it works out to our advantage then it's credited to our brilliance. If it doesn't work out to our advantage then it can't be counted against us. Brian Cashman explains trades and free agent signings this way too. Pedro Feliciano: Not our fault (Mets overused him); Jeff Weaver/Kevin Brown: Not our fault (How did I know they couldn't handle NYC?); Cuban import doesn't work - We were shocked, SHOCKED, to find out he was older than he claimed.

MFS62 wrote: And if they could pay at least part of his contract because Wright retires, that would be a win-win. Plus, he's got that local guy thing going for him (Toms River, NJ). I'd be for that. [?]So basically, David Wright is going to say to the Mets: 'Y'know that money you owe me, I'd much rather you give it to Todd Frazier instead.'[/?]

Speaking of Reggie, today (Wednesday) was the anniversary of his 3 HR WS game so I happened to see and hear the clips from that game. Not sure who the p-b-p guy was because as soon as he got the first two words out of his mouth Cosell jumped in and completely took over by stomping all over the other dude's call and out-shouting him. He then did the exact same thing on the other two ABs.

Writer Tom Boswell once referred to steroids as a 'Jose Canseco Cocktail'. Unfortunately this was back when Canseco was denying it rather than bragging about it and angrily demanded a retraction which Boswell, admitting he lacked the proper proof, wound up doing just that even though he turned out to be 100% correct. Of course now we can just describe anyone banking the ball over the fence using his noggin to be 'Pulling a Canseco'