Edgy MD

I thought the two characters were from Milwaukee, but it was set in the Chicago region.

Bob Raissman, in a column ripping Reggie Jackson for ripping Billy Martin, also goes on to speculate --- with seemingly little to build on --- about the fate of Wayne Hagin. WHAT�S GOING ON WAYNE? Is Wayne Hagin out as one of the Mets radio voices? That remains to be seen. Hagin�s current contract expires Dec. 31. No decision on his future in the Mets/WFAN booth has been made. Radio moles say FANdroids and Mets suits are already in consultation, exploring broadcast booth options. This means they are looking at Hagin, as well as other candidates, to join Howie Rose at the Mets radio mike.

A guy won 210 games in the National League and I've never ever heard of him. Ever.

You think Thome is going to pull this off without Bono? Fat chance.

I know Dizzy Dean had 150, because I always thought it was cool that Dizz had 150 and Daff had 50. I don't think Carlton lasted long enough with them. Tudor neither.

Yeah, but I was fortunate enough to be given a few months to find another position, and doubly fortunate enough to find one. I kinda suspected that, when they scheduled my performance review for 4:00 on a Friday, it wasn't a good time to buy property.

Dwight Gooden, pitching apples... and the George Foreman Grill! Check out those chompers! Former Met �Doc Gooden� To Pitch Again In New York� Pitch Produce At The New York Produce Show And Conference Jim Prevor�s Perishable Pundit, November 4, 2011 We suppose we could write a lengthy and thoughtful essay on the importance of the produce industry aligning with athletics and physical activity so as to fight obesity and position the industry as a force for good. And we could explain how our understanding of this dynamic led us to invite �Doc Gooden�to The New York Produce Show and Conference. After all, we already explained that we invited Charles Oakley because of his cooking skills in a piece we called New York Knicks� Charles Oakley Will Be Cooking Up A Storm At New York Produce Show And Conference. How about if, instead, we just say that everyone works hard at The New York Produce Show and Conference �learning, networking, selling, buying, building relationships etc., and life should consist of not just meat, but also a little ice cream. So, along with Apio, which will be hosting him at its booth, we invited Dwight Gooden to come and add some fun: Dwight Gooden Major League Baseball Pitcher Q: Produce industry attendees are excited you will be coming to The New York Produce Show and Conference in November. Your amazing career in baseball and record-setting athletic achievements exhilarated and inspired fans. At the same time, you�ve faced many challenges and persevered through much adversity battling drug and alcohol addictions. Could you share your mission toward healthy living, getting in shape, and eating well? How does produce fit into your diet? How strong is the relationship between nutritious eating, athletic performance and overall well-being? A: Very important, not just for athletes. Eating nutritiously helps the body recover, stay balanced, and create energy. That�s one way I prepared myself for baseball. It was put on us at an early age to eat fresh fruits and vegetables. When I was growing up, I was told, �You have to eat your vegetables and then we�ll get to dessert.� It�s very important to establish good eating habits at a young age. When you are older, those habits have already been formed. Q: Did you ever feel resentful that dessert was dependent on finishing your vegetables? Produce industry executives and parents alike grapple with the right approach in enticing increased produce consumption� A: It�s important not to force it upon them, but to add vegetables into the meal to make it taste better, or start with fruit, which kids love. Eating produce is just as important for adults. When I was playing baseball, I was in the heat all the time and concerned about getting dehydrated. I was always grabbing oranges and bananas for the nutrients and to stay hydrated and energized. Early on, even when I was in little league and then on the travel teams, we always had oranges and other fresh produce at the practices and games to refuel, and we�d drink lots of water. Now kids want sugary sports drinks and salty, processed snacks. They get mixed messaging. Q: In what ways? A: Much of that comes from the television and food manufacturers. A lot of kids watching professional sports on TV want to identify with the athletes. They see their sports heroes drinking Gatorade or other power drinks that have so much sugar in them, but eating fruit is most important. With my own kids, I teach them to drink water. The kids have their backpacks on heading out the door and say, �Dad, I need my Gatorade, and I say you need fruit.� I try to pass down the lessons instilled in me as a child about getting enough fresh produce in the diet. Q: How old are your kids? I imagine they have inherited your athletic talents� A: I have all age kids, seven all together! There are five from my first marriage and two from my wife now -- a 19-month-old daughter, and six-year-old son. I live in New Jersey now and the weather is not always optimal for outdoor sports. One of my sons plays flag football, a son in Tampa from my first marriage plays baseball and football, and another plays basketball. The teams supply them with Gatorade, but I tell them, make sure you eat fruit. They have Gatorade, that�s fine, but have a banana. Q: Do you cook healthy meals at home? A: My wife is the cook. Thank God for the George Foreman Grill! I can grill up all kinds of vegetables, throw on a piece of chicken, and it�s easy. My wife works out all the time and is into running, so she is always preparing healthy dishes filled with produce. I�m from the South, so I like all the fried food. My wife grills stuff. When we first got married, I had to negotiate with her about fried food. My first wife would cook whatever, but my wife now is into working out her body and understands how eating well is connected. Q: It sounds like you are surrounded by a supportive environment. How important is that to staying on track? A: The positive environment helps me a lot in my quest toward healthy living and in overcoming my personal struggles with addiction. When the environment is good and you�re backed by a supportive team, if you�re craving ice cream, or induced by other temptations, it�s so helpful to know you�re not in this alone. When up in age, the doctor says you have to change, and it can be very tough unless you have support. It�s challenging for kids these days. They go to school and there�s a truck parked outside with greasy food. That�s why you have to start them on a path of healthy eating when they�re young. My 19-month-old will go for vegetables first, when others her age go for fatty foods. We started by putting fresh vegetables and fruit in her baby food. My wife would make sure she was eating nutritiously. Q: Hopefully, when she�s older, outside influences won�t derail your efforts� A: Now with computers, video games and texting, kids don�t want to go outside and they don�t understand the importance exercise and eating right plays in their health and well-being. My 16-year-old son has a lot of athletic ability and would do whatever the coach asked him to do, but he wouldn�t go out and run or take a bike ride on his own. Bike riding gets the heart rate up. Diet is essential but it must be combined with exercise. Athletes are in the limelight where they can make a difference. Athletes should step up more than anyone to encourage kids to eat healthy, ride a bike, throw a ball around with friends. Once kids see the guys they look up to talking about it, they will become motivated. We have to hit them with this message young, even if they are not into sports. I can�t emphasize enough the value of starting these kids on the right track at a young age. Q: As you�ve taken steps to lead a healthy, balanced life, are you looking to help others do the same? I remember reading about your plans to open a baseball academy back in 2009. Did that ever come to fruition? A: I�ve had a dream to open a baseball academy for a long time, and it is a dream that is going to come true. I�m working hard to open the Dwight Gooden Baseball Academy and Sports Complex, which will also have a nutrition center and other family support services. Obviously, it�s about baseball lessons and sports training, but it�s also about healthy living and a balanced life. I�ll be able to share my life experiences with drugs and alcohol, the life turns and challenges kids go through. In Florida where I grew up, weather allowed us to do outdoor sports all year round. But up here in the north, there are many months you can�t do that, so we�ve created indoor sports facilities for kids ranging from 8 to 18. I�ll be doing the pitching lessons; we�ll have softball training for girls, four batting cages, four pitching mounds, and an indoor track. If a brother or sister is not into baseball, we have a full basketball court, a half-size soccer field, and downstairs a video arcade and a golf area for putting, and other activities to keep them from being bored. At first, we thought we would build it in downtown Newark but now the plan is that the complex will be just outside of Rockland County, New York. Q: Could you tell produce attendees more about the nutrition center and support services? Produce industry executives might want to get involved and donate produce or help your cause in other ways� A: That would be great. Produce will be in the spotlight. There will be a health bar where kids can get nutritious shakes with all kinds of fresh produce. And we want to provide information about eating right and teach young kids ways to make healthy meals. We have to start there. My goal because of the struggles I went through is to show kids there�s a better way. I want to give them strategies to handle life challenges so they stay on track and don�t lose their way. I want to talk to kids about enjoying life to the fullest and, most important, creating balance. Come get an autograph from Dwight Gooden in Americas Hall II!

I didn't think you were the GM or the owner. But you're clearly speaking to the actions and choices of the management. If the reality that teams can't always afford everybody we want them to sign is enough to make you quit, then it is. But it's nothing new.

The scenario is whether he's worth the price, or whether, on the other hand, if the money he'll cost is better invested elsewhere. And that's not so simple.

Michael Mores is huge in Taiwan.

I hadn't thought about it, but I guess it's cool for Dillon to be bouncing around this tour with a chinophonic name like "Gee." MLB All-Stars win fourth straight in Taiwan Nats' Morse delivers go-ahead two-run single in sixth inning By Doug Miller / MLB.com | 11/05/11 5:35 AM ET KAOHSIUNG, Taiwan -- The venue changed, the weather heated up and the All-Stars of Major League Baseball kept on winning, but this one was close. Saturday's Game 4 in Cheng Ching Lake Stadium in the southern Taiwan city of Kaohsiung featured good pitching, timely hitting and crisp defense from both sides. Yet, MLB once again held on at the end, using a sixth-inning two-run single from Nationals slugger Michael Morse to beat the Chinese Taipei national team, 3-2, before another boisterous crowd. "It was a great game, really," MLB and San Francisco Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "I thought it was the best game so far in the series. It could have gone either way, and they played very well and pitched well. It also was a great crowd. It was a lot of fun out there today." MLB took a 4-0 lead in the five-game set heading into Sunday's finale, which also will be played in this ballpark and will air on MLB.TV and MLB Network at 9 p.m. ET on Sunday night. The matchup will feature Washington Nationals starter Chien-Ming Wang, the Taiwanese right-hander who was a two-time 19-game winner for the New York Yankees and is a national superstar. Wang will start for Chinese Taipei. "I think it's going to be a huge day here," Bochy said. "You have your local hero that has done a great job in the Major Leagues. He's got great stuff, and we expect that the fans are going to be behind him. We know we're going to be facing a very good pitcher and we're looking forward to it. "We respect what he's done on the field and what he's done for your country. I expect tomorrow to be a close ballgame and a lot of fun." On Saturday, MLB got five innings of one-run ball from Mets starter Dillon Gee. Chinese Taipei's left-hander, former Major Leaguer and current Detroit Tigers Triple-A pitcher Fu-Te Ni, matched him for 3 1/3 innings, giving up only one run on an Erick Aybar RBI triple in the third. "It was great to come back here and pitch," said Ni, who was removed because he reached his prescribed pitch count. "I spent a lot of time playing in this stadium, and it's always nice to be back." As for Gee, he gave up six base hits in his five innings, and he said the Chinese Taipei team impressed him with its tenacity. "Early in the game, it seemed like I couldn't get anybody out," Gee said. "It was just base hit after base hit after base hit. They put up a good battle at the plate. Luckily, I kind of found a groove and was able to keep them off the bases." The score remained deadlocked at 1 until the pivotal sixth. D-backs infielder Ryan Roberts worked a leadoff walk against Taiwanese reliever Yu-Hsun Chen, moved to third on a double by Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano, which was followed by Morse delivering the game-deciding hit for the second night in a row and putting MLB up, 3-1. Another key to MLB's victory on Saturday was the bullpen. Angels right-hander Trevor Bell tossed two innings after Gee departed. Bell escaped further damage by limiting Chinese Taipei to one run in the seventh after Wei-Ting Lin led off the inning with a triple and scored on a fielder's choice by Che-Hsuan Lin, a Boston Red Sox outfield prospect. Giants reliever Ramon Ramirez pitched a perfect eighth, and Reds lefty reliever Bill Bray secured the win with a shutout ninth. After the game, Lin said he was proud of how his team fought. "I think it was a good game today," Lin said through an interpreter. "Both sides played real well. It was a close game. Unfortunately, we lost by one run, but I think we're playing better and better, especially the young guys on the team." And that has been the real story of the series -- how quickly baseball is improving in Taiwan. The Taiwanese hitters worked at-bats, put the ball in play, ran down fly balls with aplomb and didn't give in. Their grit and talent has been on display all week against the highest level of competition. "They're getting better and better with each game," Cano said. "They're very emotional the way they play the game. "They pitched very well today and they play the game the right way. That's what I really like. They don't take anything for granted and they do everything the right way." Doug Miller is a reporter for MLB.com. Follow him on Twitter @DougMillerMLB and read his MLBlog, Youneverknow. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Ryan Howard stole the job from Thome when he was hurt back in 2005. Now he gets to try to return the favor. It's like Charles Manson stealing "Helter Skelter" from the Beatles.

Well, it's not like the organization isn't bleeding money apart from Madoff.

Killer. Mets� First Off-Season Move: Layoffs By RICHARD SANDOMIR The Mets announced Friday that they recently laid nearly 10 percent of their 180 front-office employees, a development that will only further discourage a fan base bracing for the possible departure of Jose Reyes, their free-agent shortstop. In a statement, the team said: �Several weeks ago, we made work-force reductions in both the baseball and business-operations departments, which amounted to less than 10 percent of our full-time staff.� Blahblah Reyes. Blahblah Madoff Ponzi blah blah. I bought it on a Friday also.

Declared Free AgentStarting PitchersRelief Pitchers Infielders =#0000FF]47 Miguel Batista DoB: 2/19/1971 =#0000FF]38 Chris Capuano DoB: 8/19/1978 =#0000FF]55 Chris Young DoB: 5/25/1979 =#0000FF]45 Jason Isringhausen DoB: 9/7/1972 =#0000FF]7 Jos� Reyes DoB: 6/11/1983 Outfielders =#0000FF]12 Scott Hairston DoB: 5/25/1980 =#0000FF]22 Willie Harris DoB: 6/22/1978 Your Projected 2012 Mets (Orange Indicates Players Have Options) Starting Pitchers =#0000FF]43 R.A. Dickey DoB: 10/29/1974 =#FF8000]35 Dillon Gee DoB: 4/28/1986 =#0000FF]49 Jonathon Niese DoB: 10/27/1986 =#0000FF]34 Mike Pelfrey DoB: 1/14/1984 =#0000FF]57 Johan Santana DoB: 3/13/1979Relief Pitchers =#0000FF]46 Manny Acosta DoB: 5/1/1981 =#FF8000]27 Pedro Beato DoB: 10/27/1986 =#0000FF]33 Taylor Buchholz DoB: 10/13/1981 =#0000FF]40 Tim Byrdak DoB: 10/31/1973 =#0000FF]77 D.J. Carrasco DoB: 4/12/1977Relief Pitchers Catchers Infielders =#0000FF]19 Danny Herrera DoB: 10/21/1984 =#0000FF]39 Bobby Parnell DoB: 9/8/1984 =#0000FF]9 Ronny Paulino DoB: 4/21/1988 =#0000FF]30 Josh Thole DoB: 4/28/1986 =#FF8000]29 Ike Davis DoB: 3/22/1987 Infielders =#0000FF]28 Daniel Murphy DoB: 4/1/1985 =#0000FF]11 Ruben Tejada DoB: 10/27/1989 =#0000FF]2 Justin Turner DoB: 11/23/1984 =#FF8000]63 Jordany Valdespin DoB: 12/23/1984 =#0000FF]5 David Wright DoB: 12/20/1982 Outfielders =#0000FF]44 Jason Bay DoB: 9/20/1978 =#FF8000]21 Lucas Duda DoB: 2/3/1986 =#0000FF]6 Nick Evans DoB: 1/30/1986 =#0000FF]16 Angel Pagan DoB: 7/2/1981 =#FF8000]20 Jason Pridie DoB: 10/9/1983 Also on 40-Man Roster Starting Pitchers Catchers =#FF8000]32 Jennry Mejia DoB: 10/11/1989 =#FF8000]66 Armando Rodriguez DoB: 1/28/1988 =#FF8000]63 Chris Schwinden DoB: 9/22/1986 =#FF8000]64 Josh Stinson DoB: 3/14/1988 =#FF8000]13 Mike Nickeas DoB: 2/13/1983 Infielders Outfielders =#FF8000]65 Zach Lutz DoB: 6/3/1986 =#FF8000]3 Josh Satin DoB: 12/23/1984 =#FF8000]23 Mike Baxter DoB: 12/7/1984 =#FF8000]26 Fernando Martinez DoB: 10/10/1988 Free Agents Starting PitchersRelief Pitchers =#0000FF]47 Miguel Batista DoB: 2/19/1971 =#0000FF]38 Chris Capuano DoB: 8/19/1978 =#0000FF]55 Chris Young DoB: 5/25/1979 =#0000FF]18 Ryota Igarashi DoB:5/28/1979 =#0000FF]45 Jason Isringhausen DoB: 9/7/1972 Infielders Outfielders =#0000FF]7 Jos� Reyes DoB: 6/11/1983 =#0000FF]12 Scott Hairston DoB: 5/25/1980 =#0000FF]22 Willie Harris DoB: 6/22/1978 Prospective Coaching Staff (Orange Indicates Purely Speculative Information Based on the Most Obvious Internal Candidates) ManagerBench CoachBatting CoachPitching CoachThird Base Coach =#0000FF]10 Terry Collins DoB: 5/27/1949 =#FF8000]57 Bob Geren DoB: 9/22/1959 =#0000FF]52 Dave Hudgens DoB: 12/5/1956 =#0000FF]59 Dan Warthan DoB: 12/1/1952 =#FF8000]81 =#0000FF]Tim Teufel DoB: 7/7/1958First Base CoachBullpen CoachBullpen CatchersHead Trainer =#FF8000]55 =#0000FF]Tom Goodwin DoB: 8/27/1968 =#FF8000]56 =#0000FF]Ricky Bones DoB: 4/7/1969 =#0000FF]53 Eric Langill DoB: 4/9/1979 =#0000FF]54 Dave Racaniello DoB: 10/15/1981 =#0000FF] Ray RamirezAssistant Trainer =#0000FF] Mike Herbst

Yeah, but isolate him against righties and that shoots up to .678, so...

I'll take that with a mine of salt.

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Two former Cardinals whose brothers were also big leaguers just died. If he believes that things happen in threes, Joe Torre is probably in panic mode right now. Or J.D. Drew. Or Chris Duncan.

Bad week for big-league brothers. Both threw no-hitters, I think. One of them, I think Bob, was also a pretty good hitter.

I don't know what that means. I guess "no" is the bottom line.

Please do less.

That's a lot of sarcasm.

And letting the market come to you, while terribly risky, is in no way analogous to setting your price ceiling at $5,000 at a Mercedes Benz dealership. Most obviously, the Mets haven't set a ceiling --- not one that he or I are privy to. Seriously, Sherman?

Edgy DC wrote on 4/8/2011: Centerfield: Rick Ankiel replaces Nyjer Morgan (dumped at the end of camp for Cutter F. Dykstra) but is looking like a bench player at this point in his career. Off the juice, he�s spent the last two seasons bouncing between teams, hurt, and absolutely useless against lefties (hitting like a pitcher, to be honest). I imagine Hairston will help him against lefties. How much, I don�t know, but he needs it. Ankiel went to Port St. Lucie High School of all places, so look for him to catch on with the Mets a little bit during his long trip into the sunset. Andy Martino wrote on 4/4/2011: His is a name loaded with Disney drama and back-page dishonor, but Rick Ankiel could be the right outfielder for the price. Team insiders - while noting that Pagan might still return, and that they have not contacted Ankiel�s agent or decided to pursue him - have not shot down the notion, and point out that Ankiel, the free agent who earned $1.5 million last season with the Washington Nationals, might be precisely the type of short-term replacement for Pagan that the Mets are seeking. Get in line with your wild-ass speculation, Tracky!

As far as slowing it down, he didn't play particularly well in July and August.