Edgy MD

What an out-and-out mess. What a totally predictable out-and-out mess.

https://twitter.com/tntsports/status/1799860701076377661 Good call I initially thought the announcer asked, "Are they gonna get the rubber at home?!" The Mets need to bring that guy back with them. I think we've found Gary's backup.

The Mets used three thirdbasemen in today's game, combining to go 2-for-3 with a walk, an RBI, and a run scored, with all three contributing to those totals.

I was at my wife's piano recital today, so I didn't get to participate much in thread. I followed along by phone, though, and I laughed and laughed and cried and laughed again. Yesterday, the Mets were rallying for a ninth-inning comeback. One out and the bases were loaded, J.D. Martinez swung, put the ball in play, and the game was quickly over on a ground-ball double-play. Today, the Mets were rallying for a ninth-inning comeback. NONE out and the bases were loaded. There we go again, BUT ... on a 2-2 cutter down by the his shoe tops, Francisco Lindor swung and missed for strike three. At least he had the wisdom or what have you to take strike one, but strike three was a chase, but hey, he had two strikes and presumably did what he could. And he didn't hit into a double-play! But there we were again. One out and the bases were loaded. Pete Alonso was up this time, fortunately with J.D. two batters away. Alonso DID swing at the first strike he saw, foolishly enough, but rather than grounding into an inning-ending double play, he fouled it off. He didn't chase anything out of the strike zone, though, and so was fortunate and skillful enough to STILL BE ALIVE when he got hit by a 2-2 cutter. The Mets scored the go-ahead run, by NOT swinging. Brandon Nimmo kept the damned bat on his shoulder for all three strikes. Useless, huh? NO! IT WASN'T! For you can't hit into a double play if you don't swing, so even though he struck out looking, he was still alive when José Alvarado and J.T. Realmuto conspired to let a pitch get away, allowing another run to score. The Mets went up by two runs — and this second run was the ultimate margin of victory — again by NOT swinging. J.D. Martinez then came up again. The need to stop swinging wasn't as urgent, because first base was open with two outs, so the double-play was totally not in order. So, I'm not going to give J.D. grief for swinging at the first pitch he saw, but he did and he grounded out. But it was not swinging — at least until they had to — that won this game for the Mets. And that's what I'm saying. Aggressively taking is the skill they have been lacking. They had a guy who threw 99-100 up there with the bases loaded and no out in a tie game. Letting the pressure be on him and forcing him to throw strikes was the way to go. And that's got to be the strategy. Don't swing until you gotta. Especially in the middle of a rally. This "Three and oh may be the only pitch to hit" garbage is killing them. Make the opponent throw strikes. Make the opponent throw every pitch possible. With everybody on a pitch count and teams insanely protective of the amount of usage each of their pitchers sees, every game is a war of attrition. Every inning is a battle in that war. Ever batter is an engagement. The takeaway from baseball organizations in Moneyball was to try to be an early adopter with the next revolution. Shifts or launch angles or whatever. What they failed to realize is that they never maximized the advantages of the original Moneyball revolution. Take pitches, avoid outs, get on base, and runs will add up in given time. When facing a monster throwing the ball through walls at 100 mph, but not hitting his targets, it's totally the way to be. Somebody did manage to end the game and ruin his team's comeback by swinging at a pitch outside the strikezone and hitting into a double-play, but fortunately, it was Nick Castellanos, and not anybody on the Mets. So please, Mets, try not to swing until you gotta. It's not swinging that spared you the embarrassment of leaving the E.U. without a win. Sorry about the long post, if you read this far. I probably should have paid more attention to the piano recital. [FIMG=600]https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSOMJDxGQb80uFtUunkfg4O31gmx_N1MWQ6Dg&s[/FIMG]

I'm following via radio, but the idea of Michael Kay and Chase Utley sounds kind of hilarious.

Fat, drunk, and watching strike three is no way to go through life, Son.

Keith Raad just described Winnie Churchill as "The Prime Minister of London during World War II." Ralph Kiner lives.

Taijuan in 2024 is sort of the soft, tender underbelly of this first-place team. Even as he gets the Mets easily in the first as he just did, he usually folds his cards pretty early in games. Kinda sorta like Sean Manaea did last inning.

London Neighborhoods Ranked by a Guy who Has Never Been to London, but is Dimly Aware of the City, Mostly from Rock Records 1) Soho — It's where Roger Daltrey woke up in somebody's garden and it was the epicenter of all that was swinging in 1968. Also, Shane MacGowan snogged some girl there while taking shelter on a rainy night, and I'd like to do the same. 2) Mayfair — On the London Monopoly board, Mayfair is their Boardwalk. Also, it's where some hairy-handed gent was spotted by Warren Zevon after he ran amok in Kent. 3) Waterloo — Sure you can take in a play at the Old Vic, but if you don't want to watch a sunset with Ray Davies here, you and I can't be friends. 4) Hampstead — God damn it, when Chrissy Hynde describes fat cats driving past corrugated tin shacks full up with kids, she specifies that she doesn't mean a Hampstead nursery, and I can only conclude that Hampstead has the finest nurseries in the world. If you want to fuck with rich House of Lords kids, this is clearly where to find them. 6) Covent Garden — Robyn Hitchcock says he's been hanging round here for centuries, and I can only conclude that it's clearly never boring. 7) West End — If you're gonna go nuts, pointing a gun in your hand at your head, kicking in chairs and knocking down tables, this is the place to do it. Otherwise, there's probably a Miss Saigon revival you can take in. 8) Brighton — Go to the beach, or rumble with The Stray Cats — really, it's up to you!! 9) King's Cross and Euston — It's where the Pet Shop Boys found themselves lost and it's where I can visit the British Library. 10) Notting Hill — It's where Mark Knopfler formed The Notting Hillbillies and the epicenter of some of the Londoniest parks. 11) Kensington and Chelsea — All the best museums are there, even if Elvis Costello didn't want to go there. 12) Shoreditch — Rod Stewart didn't want to get married there, but it has a badass name and I think it would give me some street cred to be able to claim I've been there. 13) Islington — Apart from the lovely strolls upon the canal, Marillion identified this as where The Thief of Baghdad hides, presumably when he's not in Baghdad. 14) The City — The Jam says there's a thousand faces here and they're all shining bright. Also, the kids there know where it's at, so this is a place I'd totally want to check out on my first visit to London. Plus … St. Paul's Cathedral!! 15) Camden — A world-famous market, and The Devil Moon took Shane MacGowan up here in pursuit of a London girl.

McNeil!!

It's also a financial capital and and an easily workable destination for fans wanting to make an overseas trip to an English-speaking nation. I would imagine that more US-based fans made the trek for this series than went to Tokyo or Seoul. The intersection of wealthy economies and a hegemony of baseball affinity is not vast.

Even just looking at his terrible 2024 numbers, Jeff McNeil has a .299 OBP vs. righties, as compared to J.D. Martinez at .295, and that last at-bat was, of course, a situation where a walk was seemingly as good as a homerun. That he was less a candidate to make two outs on the play is obvious.

I was kind of pulling for a McNottinghill pinch-hit appearance in lieu of J.D. Martinez, so depressingly suspicious I was of a looming GiDP.

Traid Martinez!!1!!1!

LET'S! GO! METS!!!

Could have used a little more Vientos in this game.

=kcmets post_id=158373 time=1717874153 user_id=53] Summoning some inner-Rudie... it's time to stretch... [media=youtube]gG3G8XAkqzw[/media]

Bryce Harper strikes out swinging.

Missing that 3-2 pitch is killing us.

Johnny Lunchbucket wrote: It's a Marte partay Hey, we're in Britain. It's a do.

Francisco Lindor!! First Met to score a run in Europe!!!

Francisco Lindor!! First Met to get a hit in Europe!!!

It looks like the McNeil and Nido marginalizations translate to sterling.

=kcmets post_id=158314 time=1717861763 user_id=53] Why no one on Roosevelt Ave has never called to ask us to just run certain aspects of the franchise is and always will be beyond my scope of comprehension.

Good quote. Here's the Mets sleeve with the Harrelson patch. Plenty of room. [FIMG=550]https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:720/format:webp/1*JcOrmEY1wAFqVwISB_MGCA.jpeg[/FIMG] Here, using my prototype above of a Grote patch with the same dimensions, is a possible sleeve with both patches. To keep them within the width of the Mets skyline logo, they overlap slightly, which adds a poignancy, as the two players were linked as longtime teammates, defense first players, and key cogs on the same pennant-winning and championship-winning squads. [FIMG=500]https://metsrostercentral.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/double-patch-1.png[/FIMG] If you are willing to go a little wider than the skyline logo, you could have the corners of the patches not overlap, but just barely kissing, allowing the sleeve to bend more on the seam between the two, and creating a nice tiling effect. [FIMG=500]https://metsrostercentral.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/double-patch-2.png[/FIMG] Or you can position the two patches opposite each other, as cubist satellites pulled in by the gravity of the skyline-logo sun. [FIMG=500]https://metsrostercentral.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/double-patch-3.png[/FIMG]