Edgy MD

Yeah, I don't see them keeping him on the bench forever without at least giving him enough rope to hang himself, with no guarantees that he will.

John Buck humbly accepts a minor league offer from the Braves. He'll probably have to learn his way around Gwinnett, but the Braves catching picture, while set, isn't that impermeable, as Christian Bethancourt still has perhaps too much dew on him and A.J. Pierzynski too little.

Pete Hamner also had Jack Aker as a Mets minor league manager.

Such a case could only serve to further dilute both parties' credibility. Might make sense to settle at 50% and walk away without another public war, but... A-Rod's already screwed himself out of the Hall of Fame, so what good, he might think, is trying to rebuild his credibility? Money is all he can garner at this point, so I'm guessing he's going to fight to garner all he's contractually entitled to.

From the George Bamberger years. I kind of associate him with Lou Gorman, as he came from Boston as Gorman was leaving for there. Pete Hamner in the UMDB wrote: I played for Monbo in Wausau, Wisconsin in 1976. We were pretty much horrible, but boy we had a good time. Monbo was a tough s.o.b. That big right forearm, the stories he had were priceless. The one thing he taught me which I've passed on to my son is "the hitter is there to take money out of your pocket, so screw him." Also, "the best 0-2 pitch is right under the chin." Monbo, if you read this, I'm doing good. Those were some long bus rides huh?

The winning streak continues, as Dilson skids in at #4 among all second basemen. We now turn to Jhoan Urena (or maybe Jeff McNeil?) to hold the fort amid attacks by rival third basemen.

[youtube:2jsd74fd]YrjJFNDQJbM[/youtube:2jsd74fd]

I have to be honest. I don't know how typical that alignment really was. Leaving only one guy on the left side instead of one in the infield and one in the outfield is totally EXXXTREME!!11!

Centerfield wrote: Fair points. Interestingly the ones proposing the rule were also arguing "integrity of the game". Meaning baseball has been played forever with two infielders on each side of second base, and now these new defensive shifts are changing the way the game is played. The alignment Ted Williams tended to see: [fimg=600]http://sports.mearsonlineauctions.com/ItemImages/000036/dcaa027c-92ad-400a-acb6-9717355bd97d_lg.jpeg[/fimg] The Bad News Bears also deployed an extreme defensive shift against Carl Paranski.

Manfred also mentioned a possible return to Montreal. I hope that's higher on the priority list than corralling the defense.

Edgy writes the author: Thanks very much for your article on Dave Hillman's memories of Ernie Banks. I'm a little concerned that something is off with that photo however. I don't pretend to have any knowledge of photo forensics, but details of the ball and Hillman's outline seem inked in. Hillman's profile seems oddly distinct, like his face was cropped in there. His eyebrow is inked in, and he seems to be lit by natural light, while Banks is in artificial light. Am I crazy or do you see what I'm seeing? And the author thoughtfully replies. I see your point, but I assume that's just the results of an old photo scanned in and toned multiple times -- first for a book on Steve Bilko and the 1956 L.A. Angels (where Hillman pitched almost the entire season in the PCL) and then whatever the guys have to do running our photos through processing at Press. In my opinion, Photoshop and another similar deal they also use at Press, almost gives a water colors type appearance to a lot of the color photos. I'd be shocked if Hillman and Banks weren't actually sitting there together when a camera clicked, because Hillman was talking about how photogs would get them sitting around in that era -- newspapers' glory years, unfortunately . The slug on the pic sent from "Bilko" author Gaylon White is 42_Hillman Dave 4608-68HTb_w Banks_AP ... so, I'd say it was an Associated Press shot. So, could the photo simply be too many generations removed from the negative?

Texas ends up throwing money down the hole, as they had no DFA buyers like the Mets and Yanks did, and so were forced to try to squeeze Germen through waivers, which they failed to do. Welcome to the Cubs, Gonzalez Germen. Expect to be DFA'd by Tuesday.

Dave Hillman remembers his old buddy Ernie Banks. [fimg=500]http://www.johnsoncitypress.com/data/graphics/newsroom/73835dff1099ca1d488f878fb3524376.jpg[/fimg] Am I some sort of crazy birther or does that photo look absolutely fake?

*Like*

I would say it's a terrible idea because, by limiting the liberty which players have had to move around and play where they will, since baseball was born � and the manager's liberty to position them � you're changing the very nature of the game, all for the sake of fixing something that isn't broken. Historically, defense makes an adjustment, offense either plows ahead with the standard strategy, or responds with an adjustment of their own. Offense makes an adjustment, and defense responds. That's part of the intrigue, and that's part of the game. Let Lucas Duda bunt once or twice a month to keep the defense more honest. Kingman did.

(sniff...)

d'Kong76 wrote: What's your stance on copious scoreboard upgrades? I'm mostly indifferent. But I guess upgrading and maintaining the park is part of their job, and it's certainly a part that fans have demanded they do more and better. If park improvements is what Jeff is focusing on, I'm OK with that. d'Kong76 wrote: When the Nationals win the division, we'll talk about transacting ain't winning? Cubs? Fair enough. See you at the finishing pole. d'Kong76 wrote: The fans that habitually cut the Wilpons some slack have gotten to me so much this off-season I can't even begin to explain how aggravating it is. I'm sorry to have been aggravating, certainly, but my survey suggests I'm in a pale minority, if that's any comfort. d'Kong76 wrote: Not transacting certainly is doing nothing. Transact not, improve not. I guess we'll see. My perspective (and it's nothing new) is that roughly 50% of transactions go south. More than that, from the Mets' point of view.

Nah, I'm a fan, not a nut.

I don't really root for the improvement that comes through offseason dealings. To my thinking, that's just what a team does in accepting that they've failed at something in building the team. When a team has the best minor league record of all 30 teams, I'm not in a rush to force them to admit failure. A lot of the best Mets teams came after doing little transacting in the offseason. A lot of the most improved ones and the best overall ones. And a lot of the crappiest teams have come after an offseason of copious transacting. Transacting ain't winning. It's... shuffling. And not transacting certainly isn't doing nothing.

Parnell, you'd be more likely to bump into on the Canadian timberline, by the looks of it.

If you told me the guy on the right was a beardshorn Justin Turner, I'd've believed you.

Benjamin Grimm wrote: I feel bad for Wilmer Flores. I think the Mets fans are going to give him a lot of undeserved shit for not being Tulowitski or Desmond or Honus Wagner. Maybe Mejia will stink enough to take the heat off of him.

Frayed Knot wrote: You've got Flores & Lagares swapped. Wilmer is the taller one with the badge turned backwards. You're right. Shame on me. Funny that I guessed the IDs right but with the wrong faces.

Some people, not all, would wear a hat in that situation. Fewer would take the extra step of wearing the jersey. But it takes a truly special person to walk out wearing a glove (Vedder's glove, he says), as if he's going to be called into action at any moment. Only Banks would bring a ball. Gotta stay loose.

Flores is still a little raw in that department. He'll learn.