RealityChuck

The money is distributed as the team sees fit, so batboys and front office secretaries, etc. are usually given something. Full shares usually go to those on the roster plus coaches; partial shares go to people who only got a cup of coffee or were traded mid-season (unless the team is being generous). It used to be the players that voted on who got shares; I don't know if that's changed.

Three, if you count the Otis for Foy trade.

Rule #1 about hot stove reports: Never believe anything until the contract is signed. Everyone is playing games. GMs are pretending they're not interested in players they really want (to keep prices down). They make statements that they really don't need anyone at a particular position (also to keep prices down). Players pretend that teams are making offers when they aren't (to get better offers). They pretend they're interested in playing for teams they wouldn't even want to play against, let alone for (the more offers, the more money they stand to make). We only have Furcal's word that the Mets made an offer to him. He has every incentive to lie about that (if the Mets are offering, then the A's may up their offer). All we should do about that rumors is say "That's interesting" and move on. They are not worth getting bothered by.

On a baseball-oriented board, you have to ask?

Stengel Stadium. Yes, he was known for the MFY, but also managed in Brooklyn. And he was instrumental in making the team a success in 1962 (it certainly wasn't the players on the field) by the way he charmed the press and the fans. Other options: Chan Ho Park Sell the naming rights to Field Enterprises and call it Field Field. Prince Fielder has a lot of money. Why not Fielder Field?

Great little movie. Dinklage and Clarkson were amazing.

Will you still need me; will you still feed me. When I'm 64?

They don't like the fact that the Mets have signed some high-profile free agents while their teams had to make do without. It's similar to the feelings for the MFY in the 80s.

Salty Parker may have played under Mickey Cochrane, who came up as a player under Connie Mack. Cochrane managed most of the season when Parker came up, but may or may not have been manager when Parker was on the team. It does seem likely that the two men met on the team, however.

Doesn't anyone even realize what Omar is doing here? Certainly he's going to say "we might stick with what we have." Only a fool would say anything else. It's known as "driving down the price." It's the first rule of negotiating: don't let them know you're desperate. And that the best negotiating position is with your back to the other person as you head for the door. So Omar says he might stick with the current bullpen. And free agents' agents say that a particular team is a good fit. And names are leaked that the team has no real intention of signing or trading for. And the players they really want are glossed over. It's how the game is played. Everyone is posturing, because if they hint at their real thoughts, they're at a disadvantage. No one in baseball really believes Omar -- but, just in case, they might ask for one less player in a deal, or for less money as a free agent. "We could use you, but if not, we're happy with what we have," is exactly what a smart GM should be saying. Yet, despite the fact this happens every year, and it's as much a part of baseball as the infield fly rule, fans get all ballistic over every pronouncement this time of year made by GMs, players, and agents. You can bet that the pros aren't gullible enough to believe Omar is telling the absolute truth. It's just newspaper reporters and clueless fans.

="Frayed Knot":2j1f4sag]Razor Shines is in my all-time baseball names Hall of Fame -- great to have him abordick.[/quote:2j1f4sag]We definitely need a sharp, bright coach at third base. Benjamin Grimm Oct 23 2008 05:32 PM I just discovered that he was in the UMDB as "Ray" Shines. I was wondering where he got the nickname, but as it turns out, his given name is Anthony Razor Shines. Now I'm wondering where he got the middle name. metsguyinmichigan Oct 23 2008 06:03 PM Anybody else surprised that Oberkfell got shipped back? Benjamin Grimm Oct 23 2008 06:12 PM I think I'd rather be a Triple A manager than a big league first base coach. You don't get to visit the nicer cities, but you do have more responsibility. metirish Oct 23 2008 06:19 PM Yeah I think if he were to stay with the Mets then I would have hoped he would be the bench coach , I think as an in season replacement it was OK to have him of first but I can't imagine it was the track he wanted. metirish Oct 24 2008 07:35 AM Randy Niemann in 2007. Benjamin Grimm Nov 14 2008 02:01 PM ="Mets press release":3kcfdzka]FLUSHING -- Manager Jerry Manuel completed the New York Mets' coaching staff today by naming Luis Alicea the team's first base coach. For the last two years, Alicea was the first base coach for the Boston Red Sox. Luis also was a manager in the Red Sox Minor League system for three seasons. He directed Lowell (A) of the New York-Penn League from 2004-2005, Greenville (A) of the South Atlantic League in 2006 and Peoria of the Arizona (A) Fall League, also in 2006 Luis, 43, a native of Santurce, PR, played in the Major Leagues for 13 years with the St. Louis Cardinals (1988, 1991-1994 and 1996), Boston Red Sox (1995), Anaheim Angels (1997), Texas Rangers (1998-2000) and the Kansas City Royals (2001-2002). He compiled a .260 batting average with 47 home runs and 422 RBI in 1,341 games. Primarily a second baseman, he also saw action at the other three infield spots and in the outfield during his big league career. Luis, a switch hitter, experienced his best season in the majors with the Rangers in 2000, establishing career highs with a .294 bating average, 139 games, 85 runs, 159 hits and 63 RBI. In 1992 with the Cardinals, he ranked fourth in the National League with 11 triples. In 1995, Alicea hit .270 and was the Red Sox regular second baseman, helping them capture the American League East Division crown. Luis was St. Louis' first round pick in the 1986 First Year Player Draft. He earned first team All-America honors at Florida State University in 1986. Alicea joins Dan Warthen (pitching), Howard Johnson (hitting), Sandy Alomar, Sr. (bench); Razor Shines (third base), Randy Niemann (bullpen) and Sandy Alomar, Jr. (catching instructor) on the Mets coaching staff.[/quote:3kcfdzka] John Cougar Lunchbucket Nov 14 2008 02:25 PM Jerry's obviously been reading Doris Kearns Goodwin's TEAM OF LIGHT HITTING INFIELDERS

Which one do you mean? If you mean the Jacques Tati film, I'd give it a 7. If you mean the drug dealing film, I'd give it a 3.333, since only a third of it wasy any good.

]Mets pitcher Ambiorix Burgos in alleged hit-and-run that killed two By DAVE GOLDINER DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER Wednesday, October 1st 2008, 4:56 PM Troubled Mets relief pitcher Ambiorix Burgos allegedly struck and killed two women in a hit-and-run crash in his homeland of the Dominican Republic, cops told a local paper. Burgos, 24, who missed the whole season with an elbow injury, was driving a Hummer that struck the two women Tuesday evening near the town of Nagua on the island's north coast. WHAT THE METS NEED TO DO IN OFFSEASON Josefina Minaya Mart�nez, 38, and Angely Fa�a, 29, were killed in the crash, the Dominican paper El Nacional reported. Witnesses told cops that Burgos was driving the Jeep and he later turned himself in for questioning. He is also wanted for a gun possession charge. METS: KEEP 'EM OR DUMP 'EM? YOU DECIDE Burgos, who came to the Amazin's in a trade with the Kansas City Royals, also plays for Eastern Toros in the Dominican winter league. Just last month, Burgos was arrested for allegedly manhandling his girlfriend in a Queens hotel. He punched, bit and slapped the unidentified women in a Holiday Inn room on Sept. 8, cops said. Bolding added. A rather bizarre juxtoposition. (Merged from At least someone wants Burgos now., 10/1/2008)

How does the team rank in GIDP?

="Frayed Knot"]With all due respect to the Baseball Prospectus project, which is terrific to follow in the final weeks because they take everything into consideration when you & I couldn't possibly boil it all down. Uh, no they don't. As I've pointed out before, they are not calculating odds. They are showing the results of their simulation. But any simulation has a bunch of assumptions, any one of which, if changed, can change the result (note that AIG's computer simulations of the use of mortgage-backed securities consistently showed that there was no danger of them causing AIG to fail, and that NASA's flight simulations said that the loss of tiles on the Columbia would not put its crew in danger). If I were to assume, say, that the Mets bullpen wouldn't give up a run the rest of the season, it would lead to a different result than if we assume they'll always give up four runs. With all the assumptions built into the BP simulation, a change in any one of them would give different results. This is chaos, not a system -- small changes that result in different results. So, ultimately, the numbers are meaningless, even if they have decimal points. Further, there's no way to verify that the Baseball Prospectus odd mean anything other than "the team that's leading the division has a better chance of winning than any other team in that division." All that work to state the obvious. (But they have decimal points! So they must be scientific!) Your combination of outcomes is no more nor no less accurate than Baseball Prospectus, simply because they have no accuracy. Yours has the advantage of showing what combinations are favorable.

Greasy Kid Stuff, of course. He should have switched to Vitalis.

Wayne Garrett in September 1973. OPS of 1.013. OBA of .411.

It's like when a small car drives into the circus and a thousand clowns come pouring out.

It is an interesting idea. I can see issues with pitch counts, but, really no one's arm will automatically fall off on the 101st pitch. Part of the reason for the Mets' bullpen troubles this year is that Willie would pull pitchers who hit 100 pitches in the fifth inning, adding extra innings for the relievers. I doubt we can go back to the days were complete games are expected, of course. But there's nothing wrong with challenging a pitcher to go seven innings. I also note that pitch count people try to have things both ways. They're complaining about the number of innings Pelfrey is pitching, and not the number of pitches. If you throw 100 pitches over five innings or 100 pitches over eight, there's no real difference in the stress on the arm.

Benjamin Grimm wrote: And when was there first a concept of a single "MLB"? My initial thought would be around 1920 or 1921 when the two leagues agreed to have a single Commissioner.Well, actually, it probably dates from those years in the 19th Century where the National League was the only major league.

="AG/DC"]And, had he not been promoted, folks who prefer using statistics over scouting analysis to project a prospect's future likely wouldn't have overlooked his AA performance. Or they would have. And even if they had, they would have been a year too late. You can be pretty damn accurate if you're using hindsight and what if's. But that's not very useful in evaluating a player before he's promoted.

Frayed Knot wrote: Plus, if he really wants to divide things into two distinct camps, Murphy is probably more a "stats" guy - college pick, high OPB/plate discipline, decent power - than an old-fashioned, speedy and oozing with athleticism scouts' kind of pick. So if he is a "stats" guy, why didn't the stats analysts mention him? Hmmn?

So, what is the record for number of players with the same last name on one roster? The Giants had the Alou brothers all playing outfield one game, so it can't be less than three.

"I felt I needed a change, and the white one was starting to chafe."

metirish wrote: Of which not one penny will be ours to pay. As long as you're not buying tickets.