Edgy MD

My MLB.tv frame says David Robertson is pitching, the chyron says Eric Orze is pitching, and the announcer says minor league floater Justin Courtney is pitching. The camera says Courtney is correct. Or, at least, someone with “COURTNEY” on the back of his shirt is on the mound, and giving up a homer for the first Astro run. Courtney is wearing #30, which is the number that the roster above says belongs to Robertson, which I guess explains some of the confusion.

Has Luis Guillorme done something incredible yet? I feel like it's not spring until that happens.

But will stolen bases still be stolen bases in the same sense when we are handcuffing the defense?

Looks like La-Keisha stepped up.

　　"Do you watch baseball?" 　　　　"No, I don't. Not really." 　　"Why not?" 　　　　"I don't like it. I guess it's not my game." 　　"What would make you watch more of it?" 　　　　"Nothing." 　　"Nothing?" 　　　　"I don't want to watch." 　　"OK. What would make you more likely to watch?" 　　　　"I dunno. Less baseball might make me more likely to watch baseball." 　　"You want baseball to have less baseball." 　　　　"Well, I don't like baseball, so I guess that's logically and epistemologically true. Yeah." 　　"This is going to be so easy. Thank you so much for your help! See you at the games!" 　　　　"Whatever."

=nymr83 post_id=118739 time=1677125414 user_id=54] and whose fault is that? Manfred's maybe. not ours!

I wrote that it was questionable, hardly that it was definitive. As for Gore, I think he's fielding offers. With the runner-on-second nonsense perpetuated, I think everyone is going to be looking for a pinch-running specialist, if only to stash at AAA until the big series approaches.

As Darin Ruf was the upgrade-that-was-actually-a-downgrade for J.D. Davis at the 2023 deadline, it's questionable whether Tyler Naquin was any kind of an upgrade himself over Dom Smith. Naquin's tenure, unlike Ruf's, dissolved into free agency at the end of the season, and now he finally has a nu employer, joining the Milwaukee Brewers on a minor league deal. The inkage leaves Terrance Gore as the last standing of the 2022 Mets' impressively sized MLB free agent class.

We're comparing MLB to pro wrestling now. Just wanted to step back and write that.

Throwing baseballs. He's ethnically Irish on the side of his athair, but ethnically Italian on the side of his madre.

Frayed Knot wrote: =nymr83 post_id=118677 time=1677031779 user_id=54] Gonna be tough to prove, though I suppose if anyone is dumb enough to leave a paper trail, it would be The Wilpons. Regan's claim, in an account I read, is that BVW specifically told him that he was being let go on account of being too old. But that's just 'He said/He said' unless someone was wearing a wire (and wouldn't THAT be cool!).

You see? This matters!

One of youse fantasizers ought to get in on this.　　

Since it was 37 1/2 years ago, the costs have been absorbed. The residual effects of a cottage industry of recalling that game for nearly four decades has probably more than made up for it. This is why people openly wonder if the people in charge actively dislike the game. They only point to one side of the ledger.

I was thinking about him yesterday, remembering that when the Mets arranged the 2020 staff, part of the reportage said that Regan wasn't really considered for retention, as he hadn't been a member of the staff so much as an interim placeholder. I don't remember if that was a direct quote from management or an inference drawn by the reporter. It's unfortunate that he held off on the suit until now, when they've taken away his development role. Hopefully, it'll be a quick and quiet settlement, and if he wants to keep working, there ought to be room in the Oriole org.

Looking at the rosters, there is going to be Mets DNA all over this thing, especially if you are generous in how you regard trace elements of Mets DNA. Early favorite has to be Puerto Rico, as they and Japan usually go hardest after this thing, but new Mets pitcher Kodai Senga is sitting out. I wouldn't sleep on Netherlands though, as they are stacked with players from the Dutch Caribbean. Their infield alone includes Xander Bogaerts, Didi Gregorius, Jonathan Schoop, and Andrelton Simmons. Jurickson Profar is absent, but his Frontier League-playing brother Juremi is, perhaps as an incentive to get Jurickson on board. Also absent is Brandon Nimmo, who pulled a hammy playing for his beloved Italy in 2017, and now that his profile is high enough for him to play for the US (you're allowed to switch flags, unlike the football World Cup), he's sitting out. Michael Conforto has also been a non-Italian Italian in the past, but alas. The politics of the whole thing seem to be all over the place. Some nations collect talent from their colonies and/or protectorates, but others such entities field their own team. (I would imagine that Curaçao alone could field a better squad than The Netherlands if they limited the rosters to natives.) The ringeriest team continues to be Israel, for whom 33 of 35 players are US-born, including the returning Ty Kelly. Taiwan is competing as "Chinese Taipei," because nobody wants to piss of the Chinese, but South Korea is listed as "Korea," or "Republic of Korea," because I guess, folks aren't as sensitive about pissing off North Korea. They seem to have the "pools" divided into something resembling global regions. One group is mostly Pacific Asian countries, but not quite. One group is mostly North American, but not quite. This leaves the team composed of South American and Caribbean nations (Pool D) utterly stacked with Puerto Rico, Venezuela, and the Dominican Republic left to tear up each other in the first round when they should be considered to be three of the top five seeds. Korea and China also share the shameful distinction of bringing no personnel with Mets pedigree. Metly participants are below, although I'm sure I've missed some. The largest group will be found in Group of Death Pool D. [th]Pool A[/th][th][/th][th]Mets[/th][th]Mets Minor Leaguers[/th][th]Ex-Mets[/th][th]Ex-Mets Minor Leaguers[/th][th]Chinese Taipei [/th][th][fimg=90]https://flagpedia.net/data/flags/h80/tw.webp[/fimg][/th]Tzu-Wei Lin [th]Netherlands [/th][th][fimg=90]https://flagpedia.net/data/flags/h80/nl.webp[/fimg][/th]Hensley Muelens (manager)Roger Bernadina [th]Cuba [/th][th][fimg=90]https://flagpedia.net/data/flags/h80/cu.webp[/fimg][/th]Yoenis Céspedes(!) [th]Italy [/th][th][fimg=90]https://flagpedia.net/data/flags/h80/it.webp[/fimg][/th]Claudio ScottiMatt Harvey(!!) Mike Piazza (manager) [th]Panama [/th][th][fimg=90]https://flagpedia.net/data/flags/h80/pa.webp[/fimg][/th]Jonathan Arauz Humberto MejiaAlberto Baldonado [th]Pool B[/th][th][/th][th]Mets[/th][th]Mets Minor Leaguers[/th][th]Ex-Mets[/th][th]Ex-Mets Minor Leaguers[/th] [th]Japan[/th][th][fimg=90]https://flagpedia.net/data/flags/h80/jp.webp[/fimg][/th]Masato Yoshii (pitching coach) [th]Korea [/th][th][fimg=90]https://flagpedia.net/data/flags/h80/kr.webp[/fimg][/th] [th]Australia [/th][th][fimg=90]https://flagpedia.net/data/flags/h80/au.webp[/fimg][/th]Graeme Lloyd (bullpen coach) [th]China [/th][th][fimg=90]https://flagpedia.net/data/flags/h80/cn.webp[/fimg][/th] [th]Czech Republic [/th][th][fimg=90]https://flagpedia.net/data/flags/h80/cz.webp[/fimg][/th]Martin Cervenka [th]Pool C[/th][th][/th][th]Mets[/th][th]Mets Minor Leaguers[/th][th]Ex-Mets[/th][th]Ex-Mets Minor Leaguers[/th] [th]United States of America [/th][th][fimg=90]https://flagpedia.net/data/flags/h80/us.webp[/fimg] [/th]Pete Alonso Jeff McNeil Adam Ottavino Brooks RaleyJerry Manuel (bench coach)Lou Collier (first base coach) [th]Mexico [/th][th][fimg=90]https://flagpedia.net/data/flags/h80/mx.webp[/fimg] [/th]Luis Cessa Oliver Perez (!!!) Taijuan Walker Elmer Dessens (bullpen coach) [th]Colombia [/th][th][fimg=90]https://flagpedia.net/data/flags/h80/co.webp[/fimg][/th]José QuintanaNabil Crismatt Carlos Ocampo Ezequiel Zabaleta [th]Canada [/th][th][fimg=90]https://flagpedia.net/data/flags/h80/ca.webp[/fimg][/th]Rob ZastryznyAdam Loewen [th]United Kingdom [/th][th][fimg=90]https://flagpedia.net/data/flags/h80/gb.webp[/fimg][/th]Cam OppAkeel MorrisVance Worley [th]Pool D[/th][th][/th][th]Mets[/th][th]Mets Minor Leaguers[/th][th]Ex-Mets[/th][th]Ex-Mets Minor Leaguers[/th] [th]Puerto Rico [/th][th][fimg=90]https://flagpedia.net/data/flags/h80/pr.webp[/fimg] [/th]Edwin Diaz Francisco LindorDominc HamelAlex Claudio Marcus Stroman Javier Baez Hector Santiago Ricky Bones (pitching coach)Luis Rivera (third base coach) [th]Venezuela [/th][th][fimg=90]https://flagpedia.net/data/flags/h80/ve.webp[/fimg][/th]Eduardo Escobar Omar NarvaezElieser HernandezRobinson Chirinos Andrés GiménezAnthony Vizcaya [th]Dominican Republic [/th][th][fimg=90]https://flagpedia.net/data/flags/h80/do.webp[/fimg][/th]Rafael Montero Robinson Canó [th]Israel [/th][th][fimg=90]https://flagpedia.net/data/flags/h80/il.webp[/fimg][/th]Ty KellyJosh Zeid (pitching coach) [th]Nicaragua [/th][th][fimg=90]https://flagpedia.net/data/flags/h80/ni.webp[/fimg][/th]Erasmo RamirezCheslor Cuthbert Kevin Gadea

From a perspective of something-that-represents-the-city-to-the-outside-world-and-the-natives-identify-with-as-well-but-is-NOT-NOT-NOT-about-politics-or-the-military, they were a huge win. It's a franchise that not only stole the already-played-out character-race idea pretty much at their outset, but did it by using the four presidents off of Mt. Rushmore, which is 1,600 miles away, so they've seemingly had an identity crisis from the outset. As suspicious as I am of the "City Connect" thing, anything that makes the teams more distinct from one another is good to me, and being the first team to put blossoms on their hat certainly does that.

I don't follow the NFL, so I'm just now learning that scoreboards abbreviate Jacksonville as JAX. I'm not sure if that is genius or profane. Possibly both.

Hold everything!! (Got a source?)

I don't see anything in that piece to suggest that the Mets have decided to "hold everything," or that they have a "new plan" for Lee. I didn't even get that there was much of an "everything" to hold, or an "old plan" to update.

This supposedly happened on the 15th, wasn't announced until yesterday, and then disappeared from the Mets transactions page today. Transactions, 2/15/2022 [th]Direction[/th][td90]COMING[/td90][th]Transaction [/th][td90]Invited to Campy Camp[/td90][th]Position Group [/th][th]=#FFC2C2] Outfielder[/th][th][/th][td90][fimg=90]https://img.mlbstatic.com/mlb-photos/image/upload/w_213,q_100/v1/people/666137/headshot/67/current[/fimg][/td90][th]Name [/th][td90]Khalil Lee [fimg=50]https://thecranepool.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/US-flag.png[/fimg][/td90][th]DoB[/th][td90]6/26/98[/td90][th]B/T[/th][td90]L/L[/td90][th]High Level[/th][td90]MLB (2021)[/td90] Time moves on, but would be nice if somebody in the scrum pressed Billy Eppler on the matter. [media=youtube]jzX5MsTWlPU[/media]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Ralph was comatose throughout the 1982 season when he was partnered with Lorn Brown. Adding Tim to the broadcast team (and Steve Zabriskie too) really brought him back to life. The Mets became a lot of fun to watch, not only because of the great stuff that was happening in the field, but also because of the great stuff that was happening in the booth. Ralph becoming disengaged when his band broke up, but reluctantly revitalized after seeing an opportunity to join this new guy's act. That whole story is all captured here in a cool one minute and 29 seconds. [media=youtube]Xq5dnNpEud4[/media]

Edgy MD wrote: Yeah, that last one isn't fair. And resignation at the lack of power we have isn't really the same as embracing something. And the rules about catcher runner contact were a shitshow and still kind of are. The idea that we can't enjoy virtually any safe/out call on a play at the plate without waiting for the judges is a huge loss and having learned to soldier on with that loss doesn't make it any less of one. At least they were a shitshow in the name of safety though - many of these new rules - banning the shift in particular - serves no purpose but to benefit acertain group of players over a different group of players as compared to the current rules The thing is that the rules weren't actually changed. They just re-worded the rules that were already in place as a pretext to get the umpires to enforce them more aggressively. Instead, it just muddled the rules and you can't get agreement (still) from one umpire to the next about what is licit and what is not.

Yeah, that last one isn't fair. And resignation at the lack of power we have isn't really the same as embracing something. And the rules about catcher runner contact were a shitshow and still kind of are. The idea that we can't enjoy virtually any safe/out call on a play at the plate without waiting for the judges is a huge loss and having learned to soldier on with that loss doesn't make it any less of one.

She liked to cause trouble on the ol' Dave show.