Edgy MD

These gappers are fun, because Ward and Soler are so indifferent out there on defense that by the time Adell runs the ball down, his corner outfielders haven't even gotten in the picture.

Too bad Antonio couldn't have called that homer.

That is true and it is terrific. Also terrific is the statement above that the Mets have grabbed Rico Garcia back from the Yankees, as surely as U2 grabbed "Helter Skelter" back from Charles Manson. Good things come back. Bad things sometimes return also, of course, but still.

Are these sluggishly fielding, non-strike throwing Angels our real opponents, or are they just trying to lull the Mets into a rope-a-dope storm of counterpunches? You decide at 7:10 this evening, as Kyle Hendricks faces his fellow righthander Frankie Montas. [media=youtube]hLbzi0Dr6lc[/media]

Well, they did it last year with a Dominican Winter League matchup.

Yeah, I will stick with David Stearns.

Is this in addition to or instead of the DWL "Classic" they hosted last November?

I love when Diaz initially doesn't have his velocity or slider bite and finds them both as he progresses.

I realize that he's on the Injured List, but it's strange to see a Ron Washington-helmed team play such shlubby defense.

Infield too far in for the squeeze.

Squeeze time. Or, alternatively, now that they are going to the lefty, they can pinch-hit Torrens (for the pinch-hitting Mauricio), and Luis has not been striking out at all for a the last few weeks.

Frayed Knot wrote: A mighty RBI weak bouncer!!!! Lindor beating out the relay may end up being the Turning Point o' the Game.

What is with these weird cleavage shots on the big scoreboard?

It seemed like Nimmers had about 30 seconds to dodge that curve.

Álvarez for leadoff batter!

Sheesh, Trout, slide into the same zip code as the plate.

Frayed Knot wrote: They can't continue to lead the planet in BBs and expect to get away with it night after night. Especially seeing as how the offense has scored more than four runs just once in their last eight games. Plunking people doesn't take as many pitches.

These Angels don't lay out on defense.

I think this gets overturned, but it shouldn't have even been close.

So, cities that host (or at least have their name on) both an MLB franchise and a NASCAR track include: Atlanta (the Braves play in Cobb County and the speedway is in Hampton, but both of them identify with Atlanta, so ...),Cincinnati (Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, KY is purty close, plus Johnny Bench is, like, the NASCAR-iest Hall of Famer there is), Dallas/Ft. Worth/ArlingtonKansas City (the ball team is on the Missouri side and the speedway is on the Kansas side) Las Vegas (the ball team hasn't yet arrived), Miami (the speedway is in Homestead), Phoenix (track is in Avondale). Other kind-of-close-to-MLB-towns-but-not-really NASCAR tracks include Michigan International Speedway (ninety minutes or so from Detroit), New Hampshire Motor Speedway (75 minutes and a state border from Boston), and Sonoma Raceway (an hour on a good-traffic day from San Francisco). That is actually more overlap than I would have guessed, but obviously the two sports have a lot of unexplored room for synergy. It might make some sense to have future events at the home team's nearest track.

Hey, Yoán Moncada is still playing!

Sixty years ago last night, the Yankees' Mel Stottlemyre hit a grand slam off of Boston's Bill Monbouquette. Stottlemyre would add insult to injury 19 years later by taking the Mets pitching coach role that Mombo had been relieved of the previous year.

Edgy MD wrote: McNeil in center does not seem to be a thing in any hurry to go away. I'm still surprised they use McNeil there over Nimmo. But given the current state of the offense, there's very little room to put Taylor in the lineup. WORLD: Man, Taylor is mired in a long slump. McNEIL: Imma play center. WORLD: Nimmo's feet aren't 100%. McNEIL: Imma play center! WORLD: Siri's return doesn't seem to be approaching any time soon. McNEIL: Yeah, well, Imma play center! WORLD: The Mets have these two young infielders without available positions to play. Both have worked out in center and have more speed than you could dream of. McNEIL: IMMA PLAY CENTER, ASS! WORLD: OK, don't get the red ass, Jeff. I just noticed that Nimmo has been stealing a lot of late, and his wheels seem to be functioning fine. McNEIL: IMMA PLAY CENTER! WORLD: This was never going to be a permanent ... McNEIL: IMMA! PLAY! CENTER!

Our bubble-butt firstbaseman is back also. McNeil in center does not seem to be a thing in any hurry to go away.

Yeah, I expected the seating to be blacked out beyond the outfield, not behind home plate. I also kind of expected the field and the oval to be bisected along the same axis, but I guess the outfield corners would not fit inside the track that way. Dumb question, but why don't speedway stadia have tiers?