Edgy MD

It was a slog, is what it was.

Seems to me like a good chance that Piazza falls out of the money. And that Pedro falls below the Seaver threshold. I mean, two or three guys will turn in a blank ballot, right? And they won't be the ones to write a column about it beforehand.

A great power in the region goes down. Several strongmen and their muscle rush to fill the void. [fimg=600:234yta7k]http://cdn.screenrant.com/wp-content/uploads/The-Hobbit-Battle-of-the-Five-Armies-poster-9-691x1024.jpg[/fimg:234yta7k]

Sorry, who's blackyballing ye?

That Falk quote. What time of the year might that be? I like to think it refers to one or both of the June 15 deals to acquire Doc Ellis and Andy Hassler.

Don Bosch: One of the worst hitting outfielders in Mets history, but no one could deny the man loved his Fruit Loops.

Marlins acquired Dan Haren in the Dee Gordon trade. Dan Haren said he insists on playing with a west coast team or he will retire. He even declined the Fish's invite to a press conference following the deal. So, the Marlins want a pitcher, but he's not looking to fit the bill. So, Mets send one of their three starters to Miami, Haren goes back to the west, and said west coast team (San Francisco? Seattle? Shmanaheim?) sends the Mets a shortstop. is this a possibility?

Mike Beradino, St. Paul Pioneer Press, somehow turned in this ballot. Jeff Bagwell Craig Biggio Edgar Martinez Mike Mussina Mike Piazza Tim Raines Curt Schilling John Smoltz Alan Trammell Larry Walker This may be the guy using the style endorsed by batmagadan --- withholding votes for surefire winners like Martinez and Johnson in order to give them to candidates he likes but are getting lost in the shuffle (Martinez, Mussina, Raines, Schilling, Trammell, Walker).

Raines gaining. Bagwell fading a little. Sosa and Sheffield escaping oblivion. 99.1 - R. Johnson 98.2 - P. Martinez 89.2 - Smoltz 83.8 - Biggio 79.3 - Piazza ������������ 69.4 - Bagwell 63.0 - Raines 58.6 - Schilling 44.1 - Mussina 44.1 - Bonds 43.2 - Clemens 27.9 - E. Martinez 23.4 - Trammell 16.2 - McGriff 16.2 - Lee Smith 13.5 - Kent 9.0 - L. Walker 8.1 - Sheffield 6.3 - McGwire 5.4 - Sosa ������������- 2.7 - Mattingly 1.8 - Pete Rose (Write-In) 0.9 - Garciaparra 0.9 - Delgado

It's going to be a hard-to-solve mystery, not least of all because that is a road uniform. Any surviving clippings from Exotic Birds at the Park Day are likely gathering dust in some other team's pile of historical press notes.

[fimg=500]https://metsinpeace.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/kgrhqrhjbye7z8-ukgboinryw60_57.jpg[/fimg] That's a solid, if spookily lit, Sadecki Spot photo, Don. But do you have anything a little more, I dunno.... colorful? [fimg=500]https://metsinpeace.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/kgrhqrhjcwe90pzq9wcbplz27jvq60_57.jpg[/fimg] Awww, that's sweet. That kid's probably about 51 years old now. What else you got? [fimg=500]https://metsinpeace.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/b6tox69ccaaninv.jpg[/fimg] WtF!! (Insane toucan photo the discovery of the ever-alert Jason Fry.)

Rich and entitled Parisian couple are at loose ends when their longtime maid abruptly quits. They hire a young Spanish replacement. She becomes an object of fascination for the husband, who breaks some sort of code of his class by insinuating himself into the lives of all the maids living in squalor on the top floor of his apartment building. Set in the early sixties, but it seemingly could have been any time, because as horribly snotty as these people are, their fashion sense is impeccable. nearly flawless. Frenchies.

Pics.

Mussina was 270-153, 3.57 in an historically offensive era, with 83 WAR, according to BB-R's formula. He threw 3,562 innings and another 2/3 of a season of a post-season ball, going 7-8, 3.42. He consistently got 17-19 wins before finally winning 20 in his last season and then hanging it up, the first player to retire after a 20-win season since... Sandy Koufax. Smoltz got 69.5 WAR, though BB-R probably undervalues relief pitching. What puts him over the top is probably his post-season record. While Mussina was solid to good, Smoltz, in 27 starts and 14 relief appearances, was great, going 15-4/2.67, with an additional four saves. The difference in WAR is notable to me. But Smoltz's between Smoltz's post-season edge and my notion of relief being undervalued by WAR, I'd have to call them pretty close. They have a pretty similar class of comparables, with a lot of the same names appearing on both lists. Most Similar to SmoltzMost Similar to MussinaCurt Schilling (876)Kevin Brown (867)Jim Bunning (864) *Luis Tiant (863)Orel Hershiser (859)Bob Welch (855)Jim Perry (848)Catfish Hunter (848) *Billy Pierce (841)Don Drysdale (841) *Andy Pettitte (912)Juan Marichal (866) *David Wells (863)Curt Schilling (860)Jim Palmer (855) *Carl Hubbell (855) *Kevin Brown (844)Tim Hudson (840)Jack Morris (838)CC Sabathia (837) Both lists are filled with borderline candidates, but I'd say Mussina's is a slightly stronger field of borderline candidates. And of course, the similarity scores don't account for era. Funny that Mussina gets a handful of lefties on his list.

Tampa's rotation: Alex Cobb: 10-9, 2.87 and 11-3, 2.76 in 2013. Chris Archer: 10-9, 3.33 and 9-7, 3.22 in 2013. Drew Smyly: 9-10, 3.24 and 6-0, 2.37 in 2013 with Detroit. Jake Ordizzi: 11-13, 4.13 as a rookie. Nate Karns: 1-1, 4.50 and 9-9, 5.08 in AAA Plus: Matt Moore: 0-2, 2.70 and 17-4, 3.29 in 2013, out until late June or early July after recovering from TJ surgery. Alex Colome: 2-0, 2.66 and 7-6, 3.77 in AAA. So it's not like they can't use Gee (or Niese or Colon), pushing Karns and Colome back to AAA until a need arises, but that's a pretty solid young rotation.

Yeah, that price would be high. But since every team in baseball can use a guy like Zobrist, he's perhaps going to be bid up. And if that happens, the Mets may be better off giving Eric Campbell a Zobrist jersey and calling the bluffs of any fans on ledges.

So, what do you think we're talking about here? Plawecki and Campbell? Do the Rays need one of the Mets pitchers?

Nymr83 wrote: Edgy MD wrote: If acknowledging your name is a dumb because of sports associations, I'd rather be wrong. The girl's only sin is loving her father. Unless you are someone who uses it for work purposes (like a sportswriter, a publicist, etc) using your real name on twitter is not a great idea. This doesnt take away at all from how wrong anyone attacking her is, but still not smart. Maybe not, but let's not confuse the gravity of foolishness and malice.

One more asset: Knows. How. To party. Although he and wifey, a Christian signer apparently, have a book out that talks about "the importance of his faith, life, and athletic career" and "gives fans a first look into the heart of an athlete whose talent and devotion to God, family, and baseball make him one of the most loveable figures in the Major League today" ... so maybe those parties won't be as wild as we hope. You haven't partied until you've partied with an athlete whose talent and devotion to God, family, and baseball make him one of the most loveable figures in the Major League today. I'll merge this into the shorty stop thread.

A lot of heat out there in response to Mark Simon at ESPN speculating that Ben Zobrist is the shortstop that Sandy's been waiting to become available all along. Solid, durable super-utility guy with a square contract, he's an asset to about 30 teams out of 30, but is an only sometimes shortstop turning 34 in May, is not so obviously the answer for the Mets. Not stopping folks from climbing out on ledges over whether the Mets get him, despite no reports indicating actual pursuit. One more asset: Knows. How. To party.

It's listed as a February 2014 release in the US on the list I saw. How does the Academy judge US films with earlier foreign releases?

If acknowledging your name is a dumb because of sports associations, I'd rather be wrong. The girl's only sin is loving her father.

Now, wait. I know you're one of the few others (only other?) to see The Lunchbox.

Stop being awful, Mets fans.

Future Mets partner riding shotgun.