RealityChuck

Hell, by the 80s, only a fool would think current cards would be worth all that much. Prior to 1970, maybe, but that was because people would throw out their cards. Older cards were rare, which made them valuable. But by 1980 everyone knew not to throw out their cards. So no rarity, no value. BTW, this pattern has occurred in other hobbies. Stamp collecting, for instance, went through something similar in the 60s or so: stamps became valuable, bringing in speculators, inflating the prices and driving out the casual collector, and, when the bubble bust, leaving the hobby a shell of its former self. I was lucky -- the majority of my cards are from 1970 or older. I assume they have dropped a bit in value, but I do see my Bill Denehy Rookie Card is currently over $200 on eBay.

My list changes all the time, but for now: 1. Singin' in the Rain 2. Citizen Kane 3. Duck Soup 4. The Maltese Falcon 5. North by Northwest 6. Love and Death 7. Playtime 8. Stagecoach 9. Chicago 10. The General

Now it looks like a Milledge for Bobby Abreu is the hot rumor. According to Jayson Stark of ESPN: ]It's beginning to appear that the Phillies and Mets have the makings of a Richter Scale kind of deal -- one that would send Abreu to Flushing Meadow for an earth-rattling package topped by the Mets' marquee position-player prospect, Lastings Milledge ... Clubs that have spoken with the Mets say they've concluded there is no gettable starter with better stuff than the just-recalled Mike Pelfrey. So they have turned their attention to the one guy on their list they think could be a major difference-maker -- Abreu ... Sources who have been in touch with both clubs say nothing is imminent ... teams also would have to work out who pays what of the $37 million or so Abreu has coming. But with the Tigers and Red Sox showing no more than kick-the-tires interest, and the Yankees balking at dealing anyone in the upper tier of their prospect pool, this is the one burner on the Phillies' stove where you can feel the heat building around Bobby Abreu's fabled casserole.

I'd say forget about any rental players. It's not worth it, and the team could probably pick them up via free agency. If the team doesn't win the series, so be it. They will make the playoffs, and should be at least as strong next year offensively, and have several young pitchers in the wings for when Pedro and Glavine get too old. Let's not give everything away at this point; I'd keep Milledge, Pelfry, Humber, and Bannister no matter what pitchers are being offered now.

3B and CF were big problems in the early years of the team, and one sportswriter started keeping tabs at 3B. CF stopped being an issue after Agee joined the team, but here are the numbers of third basemen: 1962 -- 9 1963 -- 11 1964 -- 10 1965 -- 8 1966 -- 5 1967 -- 11 1968 -- 4 1969 -- 6 1970 -- 3 1971 -- 5 The numbers are more reasonable from here on, but the issue is still the fact that there was incredible turnover, and no player ever had a long run at the position. Regular third baseman (i.e., most games at the position): 1962 -- Felix Mantilla 1963 -- Charlie Neal (Jim Hickman played only 7 games less, though) 1964 -- Charlie Smith 1965 -- Charlie Smith 1966 -- Ken Boyer 1967 -- Ed Charles 1968 -- Ed Charles 1969 -- Wayne Garrett 1970 -- Joe Foy 1971 -- Bob Aspromonte 1972 -- Jim Fregosi 1973 -- Wayne Garrett 1974 -- Wayne Garrett 1975 -- Wayne Garrett 1976 -- Roy Staiger 1977 -- Len Randle 1978 -- Len Randle 1979 -- Richie Hebner 1980 -- Elliott Maddox In '81, Hubie Brooks took over, and the position has been relatively stable since. And the list doesn't indicate players during this time who were supposed to be a real 3B prospect but who never panned out. In retrospect, the team should have been satisfied with Garrett playing the position; if they had made that decision, Foy and Ryan would have remained with the team. Hojo and Garrett both played a lot of games, but the numbers drop off quickly. David Wright is almost certainly in the top ten already.

No current Mets, but three former Mets (and three current MFYs): http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/story?id=2518991 List only: ]1. Carl Pavano, RHP, Yankees 2. Adrian Beltre, OF, Seattle 3. Richie Sexson, 1B, Seattle 4. Jaret Wright, RHP, Yankees 5. Jeff Weaver, RHP, Angels/Cardinals 6. Sidney Ponson, RHP, Cardinals/Yankees 7. Cristian Guzman, SS, Washington 8. Jeromy Burnitz, OF, Pittsburgh 9. Braden Looper, RHP, St. Louis 10. Esteban Loaiza, RHP, Oakland

My first memory of Seaver? April 13, 1967. I watched his first start on TV. The win went to Chuck Estrada, and it put the Mets at .500 for the season. It was also Estrada's last win in the majors. He was one of the "Baby Birds" of the 1960-61 Orioles, with Steve Barber, Milt Pappas, and Jack Fisher (who was the Mets ace when Seaver debuted). Estrada was waylaid with arm troubles after winning 33 games in his first two seasons, though the others had nice careers (Pappas was the best, winning more games than Pedro has so far*, but had the misfortune of being traded for Frank Robinson, considered one of the worst trades of all time, even though Pappas gave the Reds pretty much what they expected when they made the trade, winning 28 games for them in his first two seasons). Back to Seaver. Well, plenty of memories: [list:008d164785]Starting the first game of the 69 season and losing to Montreal, inspiring me to shout, "the year the Mets win the pennant, they'll still lose their opener." (BTW, despite losing their first eight opening days, the Mets have the best opening day W-L record in baseball). The Jimmy Qualls game (watching on TV). J.C. Martin pinch hitting for him in the '69 series. Seaver appearing with the not-so-immortal Hank Webb on Kiner's Korner, and doing better than Kiner with the interviews The trade to Cincinnati after Dick Young basically ran him out of town. I actually met Young on the field of the All-Star Game that year**, but refrained from punching him out. Seaver on crutches on the sidelines of the '86 series. [/list:u:008d164785] He could be a little crude at times (though nowhere near as crude as that human garbage heap, Dave Kingman), but he is clearly; the greatest of Mets. Oh, and take a close look at my Avatar. *209. Pedro will pass him by the end of the season. **I had been named as a substitute. No, actually, I was able to get press credentials and was on the field as the players warmed up.

Bannister, Brian -- 8 (definitely need him) Delgado, Carlos -- 10 (too pricy to trade, especially if his BA numbers don't improve) Floyd, Cliff -- 0 (his contract is up, he doesn't want to ride the bench. Glavine, Tom -- 2 (slight chance he'll go off to Atlanta, but most likely will win #300 in orange and blue) Heilman, Aaron -- 5 (his value is low right now, and might go in some deal) Hernandez, Orlando -- 5 (depends on how he holds up. If he wins a few games in the postseason, then it goes up to 8) Maine, John -- 7 (will probably keep him, but not if a great deal comes along) Milledge, Lastings -- 10 (don't want another Kazmir, and he'll replace Floyd) Trachsel, Steve -- 9 (10 and 5) Valentin, Jose -- 8 (Most likely will resign, but you never know.)

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/writers/jon_heyman/07/14/daily.scoop/index.html ]A decidedly drab pitching market is on the verge of receiving a major shot in the arm. The White Sox are sending out word they're willing to trade one of two veteran front-line starters -- either Freddy Garcia or Javier Vazquez -- if a team will relinquish a top-flight set-up man. One potential target is Phillies All-Star closer Tom Gordon. ... The White Sox are targeting a list of top relievers, and it's believed that roster includes the Mets' Duaner Sanchez.

MFS62 wrote: You're right. I forgot Jackson was with the '60 Bucs. I shoulda' known that. He was also with the '68 Cardinals.

MFS62 wrote: ="RealityChuck"] He and Jackson (along with you-know-who) are the only Original Mets to play for a Mets pennant winner. And, original Met player Gil Hodges managed one. You made me think of Original Mets who had played for another team's pennant winners before joining the Mets. This is what I remember: Charley Neal - LA '56 Richie Ashburn - Phl '50 Gene Woodling - NYY - several Roger Craig, Don Zimmer, Gil Hodges - Brooklyn several Vinegar Bend Mizell - PGH - '60 Jay Hook, Gus Bell - Cincy '61 Hobie Landrith - SF - '62 Also, Al Jackson and Bob MIller (again).

Al Jackson helped a bit in the bullpen and Todd Zeile wasn't a bad fill-in, but neither could be called "best." Bob Miller had a respectable year with the team once he returned. He and Jackson (along with you-know-who) are the only Original Mets to play for a Mets pennant winner.

]"The kid is a good defensive catcher, but it is his bat what will take him far in baseball. We could say that he is a combination of Tony Pena's defense and Mike Piazza's bat," said Leo Mercedes, who runs the young player's career. Come on: it has to be true. Mercedes is Pena's agent. What possible reason does he have to exaggerate his client's ability? How could he possibly benefit from that?

Try this quiz: http://proxy.espn.go.com/chat/sportsnation/quiz?event_id=2191 I got 41.

I can't find the image but: Dr. Q. A. Wagstaff: That's not how you carry ice. Where are your tongs?

I fail to see the issue. Starting pitchers who pitch on Sunday nearly always opt out of the All-Star Game. I doubt the AS manager is ever upset, since they wouldn't be available to pitch.

With luck, Palfrey may end up with the most famous tongue since this guy:

It's explained in the article: the searched for screensavers with the various names and counted how many of the ones that showed up were really spyware delivery systems.

http://www.siteadvisor.com/surveys/baseball_july2006.html ]All-Star Game of Spyware MLB's greatest players and teams ranked by the danger of their screensaver searches Barry Bonds, Derek Jeter, and Albert Pujols are household names for any baseball fanatic. They also lead the pack of the most hazardous players in McAfee SiteAdvisor's survey of the most risky baseball screensaver searches. We tested each of Major League Baseball's 1,224 players by passing their names through Google and adding the word 'screensaver.' We compared the results with our own database of over 4.5 million site ratings for Web safety. Searching for screensavers for Bonds, Jeter or Pujols and clicking on one of the results will give a PC a .600 Earned Risk Average (ERA) � in other words, a 60% chance of landing at a risky site. Josh Fogg of the Colorado Rockies is the only player to score higher, with 75% of his results tainted by sketchy behavior and software. Nearly three hundred players scored 30% or worse. The average ERA for the entire league was 18%. This activity doesn't surprise us. We frequently observe spammers and spyware distributors targeting fun and games. Our recent look at the safety of screensaver searches for World Cup soccer players produced a comparable outcome. The average Web consumer, however, is not getting the message. According to Yahoo's keyword selector tool Yahoo! had roughly 3.5 million searches in May for "screensaver," "wallpaper" and related search terms. Given that Yahoo accounts for 23% of all searches, an estimated 15.1 million total searches for these desktop visual enhancements are conducted each month. We hope this survey sends a message: baseball fans beware. Your computer can easily be demoted to the minor leagues of operability if you're not careful where you click. Exploiting Baseball's Most Famous Rivalry After scoring each player search for its percentage of red and yellow results, we averaged each team roster and then ranked the teams. SiteAdvisor rates sites red and yellow for a variety of security threats and annoyances including spyware, viruses, pop-ups, e-mail practices like spam, scams and browser exploits. Teams with higher numbers have, on average, more hazardous player searches. Clubs with lower numbers will usually have less harmful crews. Of MLB's thirty teams, the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox duke it out for the top dishonor. The Pittsburgh Pirates are the safest. Rank Team Risky Results 1 New York Yankees 24.0% 2 Boston Red Sox 23.2% 3 Houston Astros 23.1% 4 St. Louis Cardinals 22.7% 5 Chicago White Sox 20.2% 6 Milwaukee Brewers 19.2% 7 Minnesota Twins 18.2% Toronto Blue Jays 18.2% 8 Cleveland Indians 18.1% Washington Nationals 18.1% 9 Philadelphia Phillies 18.0% 10 Texas Rangers 17.9% 11 Oakland Athletics 17.6% 12 Arizona Diamondbacks 17.5% 13 Baltimore Orioles 17.3% 14 Colorado Rockies 17.1% 15 Chicago Cubs 17.0% Cincinnati Reds 17.0% Kansas City Royals 17.0% 16 Los Angeles Angels 16.9% 17 San Diego Padres 16.2% 18 Los Angeles Dodgers 15.7% New York Mets 15.7% 19 Detroit Tigers 14.9% 20 Seattle Mariners 14.8% 21 San Francisco Giants 14.2% 22 Atlanta Braves 13.7% 23 Tampa Bay Devil Rays 13.6% 24 Florida Marlins 13.5% 25 Pittsburgh Pirates 11.6%

I agree wholeheartedly. His section on the six stages of art is a brilliant analysis.

So what exactly are you looking for? Players who had a really great season, but who were overlooked? Players who had one really great season, never did that well again, and are overlooked? What exactly is the point you're trying to make?

How about this, then: Herb Score: 20-9, 2.53 ERA, 263K. Injured the next year and never won more than 9 games afterwards.

Has anyone read (or tried to read) any of the "Left Behind" books?

You mentioned "A Contract with God," but you should also take a look at some of Eisner's other books. "A Life Force" and "Dropsie Avenue" are particularly good. Bill Willingham is doing some fascinating work; his "Proposition Player" is pretty good, and his various "Fables" comics are even better, though outside the scope of what you're looking for. Michael Kuppeman's "Snake 'n Bacon's Comic Cavalcade" pushes the boundaries of the definition (hell, it pushes the boundaries of everything, but there does appear to be some sort of narrative behind the whole thing. Scott McCloud's "Understanding Comics" is nonfiction, but an essential discussion of the medium. It's not autobiography or reportage, but rather a philosophical essay.