Edgy MD

Did Simmons touch the bag on that DP?

Cheapie by Satin knocks out Medlen and brings the tying run to the plate.

Yup. Torres looking generally impressive. Follow his lead.

Duda looking reasonably comfortable at first.

Broken bat ties the game. So, these are those strange creatures they call "the breaks." I've heard tell of them.

Wow, getting two runs out of a triple-play grounder.

My fault. Had to use the bathroom.

Just had to check the boxscore to make sure Quintanilla wasn't playing second.

The gray numbers and letters on the blue jersey make some sense in theory, but don't work at all in execution.

He pulls a Larry Yount, and gets credit for an appearance without actually participating. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/gl.cgi?id=atchisc01&t=p&year=2013

Told ye. Nieuwie's now a leftfielder.

Shortstop depth chart is likely: [*:1awlju5c]Quinty[/*:m:1awlju5c] [*:1awlju5c]Valdy[/*:m:1awlju5c] [*:1awlju5c]Youngy[/*:m:1awlju5c] [*:1awlju5c]Sugar[/*:m:1awlju5c][/list:o:1awlju5c] Probably will never get to slot three and possibly never get to slot two, but I'd have no complaint if Wright were ahead of Young.

batmagadanleadoff wrote: Edgy MD wrote: I've clearly conflated Bob Shaw with Seaver/Koosman-rookie-era relief filler Don Shaw. I used to do that all the time, until I read Ryczek's book in 2010. A Shavian conflation. A Shavian Conflation, by the way, is opening for The Run-On Sentences tonight at The Grasshopper Lounge. All-ages show!

I've clearly conflated Bob Shaw with Seaver/Koosman-rookie-era relief filler Don Shaw.

Maybe, like getting Mike Torrez after Gooden and Darling in 1984 or maybe Bob Shaw after Seaver and Koosman, but sometimes vet guys find themselves too. I'm counting on it, anyhow. The guy turned in one of the most remarkable relief outings in the team's history last week. Somebody's got to fill a hole until other rooks make their marks. Might as well be him.

Certainly not. I just need to find out if the "get your own" account is something I made up or something that's actually out there, and if it is, from what time does it date from.

Those actual tabloid headlines kinda stink.

seawolf17 wrote: Except EYJr is basically Jordany without the pop. I don't get why he'd replace him, unless they're really fed up with JV1 in the clubhouse. Initially, he's replacing Turner. But Jordany's shrinking profile is clear.

Greg posts a version of the Brock/Coke story in the Wookie thread that may well be definitive. But it seems key elements differ in different tellings. Despite my claim below, though, I can't really find one that explicitly backs up my "Get your own Coke," account, but I'm sure I heard that version somewhere. But the old brain is going. (If you don't know the story, Brock saw him in the Anaheim Stadium clubhouse, mistook him for the clubhouse kid and asked him to fetch him a soda...which Tom did.) The way I've read it is that Seaver said, "Get your own Coke, I'm on the team." A few weeks later Lou Brock would mistake him for something other than a big league ballplayer. Tom had been chosen to the National League All-Star [team], a singular honor for a rookie, especially a pitcher. When he walked into the N.L. clubhouse he passed Brock, who was pulling off a shoe. Brock glanced up, saw the youthful face, and mistook an All-Star pitcher for a clubhouse boy. "Hey, kid, get me a can of soda, would you?" Seaver didn't say a word. He walked straight to a box, opened it, took out a can of soda, popped the lid, brought back the can and handed it to Brock. Someone laughed and a moment later Brock discovered his error. "Oh, hey, look, Seaver, I'm sorry." "No, that's all right," Seaver said, more embarrassed now than when he'd been asked to fetch the soda pop. (Actually, he explained later to a friendly reporter, he'd been very much awed walking into this clubhouse filled with players he'd watched from the seats atop Dodger Stadium only a year earlier.) --John Devaney, Tom Seaver: An Intimate Portrait, 1974 I do like the alternate version, however. "Stick it, Brock. You can't outrun Grote and you can suck this through a straw." Some other variations: http://blogs.artvoice.com/avdaily/2012/07/11/tom-seaver-regales-buffalo-faithful-with-baseball-stories/ Seaver had the press corp in stitches has he shared a story of his first encounter with Lou Brock. Seaver was a rookie and with his boyish looks was easily mistaken for one of the clubhouse attendants. As he passed by, Brock called out, �hey kid, get me a Coke.� Seaver replied, �I can�t tell you what I told him there�s an adjective I used you guys can�t print.� (Hey Tom, Artvoice is an alternative newspaper we�d be glad to print the adjective.) Continuing, Seaver said, �For 20 years I played in the big leagues, and every time I saw Lou Brock, he said �hey kid, get me a Coke.� You talk about the beginning of earning your stripes of believing that you can perform at that level, and also the relationships that you begin to put the ground work of the people you play with and against. That phrase is one of our shared special memories that we have and we still chuckle about it. He doesn�t even say hello! �Hey kid , get me a Coke� and I know who it is.� http://blogs.artvoice.com/avdaily/tag/aaa-all-star-game/ -Mets Hall of Famer Tom Seaver and his �Hey kid get me a Coke� yarn. At the All Star luncheon he said it was Lou Brock, then later at the game he shared the story again with the press and said it was Willie Mays. We�re thinking this is all one tall tale. (Edgy: This may be the Lyme Disease at work. http://redroom.com/member/steven-robert-travers/blog/excerpt-from-the-1969-miracle-mets-the-improbable-story-of-the-wor Excerpt from THE 1969 MIRACLE METS: The Improbable Story of the World's Greatest Underdog Team Seaver earned a spot on the National League roster for the All-Star Game, played near his college stomping grounds, at Anaheim Stadium. This meant more embarrassed mistaken identity. Cardinal superstar Lou Brock thought he was the clubhouse boy and asked him to fetch a Coke. Seaver dutifully did that, but Brock had to apologize when he was informed who he was.

I'm telling you, Swannie is on fire. Feed him the ball and stay the hell out of his way.

The outfield is so complicated. I think there are seven guys for 3 jobs at the moment. Brown Duda Nieuwenhuis Lagares Young Byrd Valdespin I suppose for the moment we can take Doodoo out of the mix and consider him the 1B but still. Is Young a bad enough CFer that Lagares/Nieuwy continue to platoon there? Does Brown take over for Byrd, or the LF of the day? Now that Young is here, does Valdy make any sense to keep around? I have it this way: LF: Nieuwenhuis/Brown CF: Young/Lagares RF: Byrd, with odd appearances by Valdy, until Byrd stops hitting or Valdy starts and the equilibrium changes. Duda is at first. And, as circumstances on the ground warrant, Duda can become an outfielder again, and perhaps Young can become an infielder. Basically enough PT go around that anybody who can make a statement will have an opportunity to. Such is the way of things on teams that aren't hitting.

It's a different world from the city I used to live in. In my day, they spent the Cadillac money on blow. Caddies were for suburban women that they were contemptuous of (but destined to become).

G-Fafif wrote: (If you don't know the story, Brock saw him in the Anaheim Stadium clubhouse, mistook him for the clubhouse kid and asked him to fetch him a soda...which Tom did.) The way I've read it is that Seaver said, "Get your own Coke, I'm on the team."

metirish wrote: I think I'd be pissed too if a big amad�n did that to me. Certainly. * //Looking up "amad�n" But think of the lose-lose situation that Rauch --- clearly unable to see two moves down the chessboard --- found himself in. If he backs down, he loses his teammates' respect and his future with the team is in doubt. But if he lays so much as a finger on the Mets' most precious and fragile asset, he has no future whatsoever on the team and probably in baseball. If he hurts Harvey in a fracas he absolutely provoked, he possibly gets sued by both the player and the team and loses his entire career's earnings. (He could at least see one move down the chessboard.) And so he backed down. Smartest move of his career.