Edgy MD

After two seasons away from the game, he came out of retirement and remarkably had his best season at the plate, backing up John Wathan for the Royals in 1981. Check out this insane mid-summer extended week he threw together in early June. [th]Date [/th][th]Opp [/th][th]PA [/th][th]AB [/th][th]R [/th][th]H [/th][th]2B [/th][th]3B [/th][th]HR [/th][th]RBI [/th][th]BB [/th][th]IBB [/th][th]SO [/th][th]HBP [/th][th]SH [/th][th]SF [/th][th]GDP [/th][th]SB [/th][th]CS [/th][th]BA [/th][th]OBP [/th][th]SLG [/th][th]OPS [/th] 31-May@ MIN21010000000010000.219.257.250.507 2-Junvs. SEA44131000000000000.278.308.333.641 3-Junvs. SEA44131017000000010.325.349.475.824 5-Junvs. MIL32010000101000000.333.370.476.846 9-Junvs. NYY44120100000000000.348.380.522.902 That seven-RBI career day included a grand slam off Ken Clay! But look! He also had a triple and a stole base during that streak! And a sacrifice bunt! The guy was suddenly an all-purpose offensive player! The surge briefly had him moved up to #1 in the Royals depth chart, and the crazy buzz around the team was that their unretired 38-year-old backstop was the "catcher of the future." But after two more games as the starter, Grote's "future" was undermined, like so many, by the player walkout. He got hurt during the brief training session before the return from the strike, and after he got back on the field for a single game, the team's first personnel move under brand new manager Dick Howser was to place him on waivers. Perhaps Howser saw Grote as a rival for authority. I'm going with that. He caught on with the Dodgers — with whom he had reached the postseason in 1977 and 1978 — for two brief appearances. While he wasn't eligible for their postseason roster this time, the team finally got past the Yankees for the World Series championship, and Jerry got to go out on top.

I think infield coach Mike Sarbagh and the infielders themselves also buy some of the blame on that third-shortstop misplay. But the real telling things with mistakes like that is whether they lead to corrections or further confusion.

These are changes I've been bouncing through my head for a while. I've been meaning to propose them, and then the Mets booth started shooting similar ideas around yesterday after Alonso was hit but wasn't awarded the base because he failed to attempt to elude the pitch. So I thought the time was right. PROPOSED NEW HBP RULES PROTECTING PITCHERS: 1. While a better is welcome to come to the plate wearing any reinforced armor that they might choose, if the batter gets hit on any armored part of the body, apart from the neck or head, they are not ruled as hit by the pitch, they do not get a base, and the pitch counts as a ball or strike as called by the umpire. The play is called dead, and runners are returned to their bases. 2. A ball that nicks the batter on the body or uniform but is caught on the fly by the catcher is not ruled as a hit batter, the batter does not get a base, and the pitch counts as called by the umpire. The play is live, and runners may attempt to advance. Much as a foul tip into the catcher's mitt is counted in all ways as a swing and a miss. 3. A ball that nicks the batter on the body or uniform that the catcher fails to catch shall, as before, be ruled as the batter being hit by the pitch, with the batter awarded first base, and the runners advancing as forced. PROPOSED NEW HBP RULES PROTECTING BATTERS: 1. A batter who is judged to have been officially hit by a pitch with ball four shall be awarded two bases, with runners advancing as forced. 2. A batter who is judged to have been officially hit by a pitch in the head or neck shall be awarded two bases, with runners advancing as forced. 3. When a batter is officially judged to have been hit by a pitch in the head or neck, the pitcher shall be removed from the game, regardless of any apparent intent or lack thereof.

Casey / Grote / Mookie / Mikey

He would have made a really interesting manager. The Mets should have three black stripes on their sleeves when they get home.

Yeah, I'd be pretty surprised to see him get 19 decisions as a Met. I do think he'll get chances with San Diego and Cleveland as well this year. I'll give him 1-3, 4.63. He'll have a moment or two.

A man out of time and a man out of place, somehow debuting tomorrow on a very familiar mound. I make no sense and I make all the sense in the world. There's only one photo out there in the whole Internet of me photoshopped in a Mets uniform. That's how foreign this all is. How much more of a wildcard can anybody be? The answer is none. None more wildcard. And yet, here you are, with your surfeit of baseball wisdom, forced to imagine what my 2024 Met season contributions will look like. If you even come close, you will have achieved a new level of awesome. [FIMG=704]https://media.istockphoto.com/id/165722418/vector/anatomy-of-a-strikeout.jpg?s=612x612&w=0&k=20&c=RWm9CxK7YJS4oHpQdpXd-v7cnfX5r0GdfrIJAsUf4_Q=[/FIMG] [FIMG=450]https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/https-3A-2F-2Frisingapple-com-2Fwp-content-2Fuploads-2Fimagn-images-2F2017-2F07-2F16499851-850x560-6a20d514e232c088f6bf27038090853b.jpg[/FIMG] [FIMG=250]https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GKbHxUaXoAIQ4LT.jpg:large[/FIMG]

I was thinking that after the Rubber Soul Game would come the Revolver game.

Edwin Díaz doesn't hurt his knee celebrating.

I think "Buck Farmer" is an NPC.

And Otto gets his work done. On the other hand, pulling Manaea after five suggests the less on of yesterday wasn't learned.

López in the sixth, Raley in the seventh, Ottavino in the eighth, and presumably Diaz in the ninth, gives us a good idea of how Mendoza ranks his relievers. I guess Smith is next behind López.

The ad behind home plate just says Charlotte's Web. I'm all for ballpark advertising dedicated to the literary marketplace, but is there a new film adaptation coming out?

Not only do the Reds have Abbott wearing Seaver's number, but they have Suter wearing John Franco's.

Saying there is nothing to be done to save pitchers from ever-more-frequent injury is unacceptable, guys.

Yeah, he's had his big boy pants on. When to bunt is simple — bunt when the defense plays back, and don't bunt when they play in.

McNimDor batting average now adds up to .324!

Keep bunting, you fools!

Everybody bunting consecutively until the defense figures it out is my dream game. God bless the Mets!

Bunting is for winners.

A sign of life from Lindor! Combined NimmoLindorMcNeil batting average up to .269!!

Has Steve Gelbs given us in-game odds updates this season, or have we been spared?

Even more reason to be bitter and detached. The retirement ceremony probably was planned based on a buyout plan that fell through. He instead stayed "active" and kept collecting.

The thing is, while a mediocre reporter should be able to sniff out the details, there is financial motivation for all parties to stay silent. As in the David Wright retirement, when a guy gets what looks like a career-ending injury in the midst of a long-term deal, he has a motivation to keep rehabbing, keep rehabbing, keep rehabbing, even if the work is futile and farcical, because just walking away would leave too much money on the table. So the guy pretends he wants to get back on the field, the team pretends they care, the insurers pretend they don't notice everybody pretending, until a deal is finally negotiated where the team can claw back some of their commitment, the insurer can claw back some of their obligation, and the player can claw back some of his dignity. He finally gets to retire after a few years of silliness, having earned 65 cents on the dollar by playing no baseball, but everybody's got to stay hush-hush about the terms, because the agreement sort of means everybody agrees to look the other way at everybody else's fraud.

Manaea and Houser stuck pretty nicely through their first turn in the rotation. Severino stuck a whole lot better today. I just wish he could have stuck around for a few more batters.