dinosaur jesus

Edgy MD wrote: It's a shame we never saw even a shadow of that Randy Jones pitching for the Mets. Oh, we got a shadow. He gave them a good six weeks to start his last season: 6-2, 2.74. Everything went to hell after that, but still. The last game of that stretch was a shutout in which (as I remember, anyway) he didn't throw a single pitch over 66 miles an hour. The man knew how to pitch.

Jim Hickman!

Yeah, Hunter Pence is who I meant. The Captain part kind of screws it up. Sorry. They should make him a captain, though.

Madison Bumgarner and Jason Phillips. James Garner was actually a Bumgarner. His brother, John Bumgarner, was my mother's teacher in junior high.

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Mickey Lolich has to pitch for that club. Except Lolich took a year off and ended up pitching a couple more seasons for the Padres. Must have needed the money.

Dick Hughes is an interesting story. He wasn't a kid. He was 29 years old, and he'd been in the Cardinals organization since 1958. He never really showed that much, but in 1966 the Cardinals loaned him to the Yankees, and he was terrific for them in AA. So the Cardinals called him up in September, he pitched well, and he made the team in 1967. And he was great--he kept them in the pennant race when Ray Washburn and then Bob Gibson went down. (Basically, while Gibson was out, Hughes pitched like Bob Gibson.) And then--rotator cuff. A few games in 1968, and that was it. The Cardinals fans still think he was robbed in the Rookie of the Year voting. That isn't exactly true, but they're not totally wrong. He was awesome. Plus he looked like Stork in Animal House, or a skinnier Billie Sol Estes.

Mike Hampton

Bad Jenrry

batmagadanleadoff wrote: batmagadanleadoff wrote: Here's another Cards tragedy with a Met connection: Cards trade perennial MVP candidate superstar who's also the greatest fielding first baseman in baseball history to the Mets for two barely memorable pitchers. And another one: Cards trade their former MVP, future Hall of Fame corner infielder, who's still got a .300 season left in him, for a couple of relief pitchers, one of them washed up and the other never any good. At first base the next year they're forced to play a big-headed rookie who hits .250 with no power, and they go from a game and half out of first place the previous year to nineteen games out, tied with the Mets. I don't know how Bing Devine kept his job after that one.

Zvon wrote: Ceetar wrote: That said, it's important not to get distracted and so focused on taking the perfect picture that you don't actually absorb the moment. This would be my problem. For me it would be a trade-off. I want the perfect picture so I'll concentrate on that and "see" it later. The whole thing might just be my problem. Because I don't think of a photographer looking thru a viewfinder (old style-not digital) the same as I do a person viewing something on a screen thru a device. And there's really not much of a difference. Yikes, I'm such a dinosaur. I'm the dinosaur here. This is one of those issues that puts me in full curmudgeon mode. People walking through a museum, for instance, stopping at each famous painting just long enough to snap a picture, then moving on to the next. I wish that were illegal. I realize a ball game is different, because you can see as much or more through your viewfinder, and look at it again (and share it) later. But to me, the difference between watching with your own eyes and watching through a camera is the difference between actually being there, part of the experience, and standing apart from it, like a tourist.

Ceetar wrote: dinosaur jesus wrote: It's just not something you want to bank on. Duda against the righties and just an average major league hitter against the lefties adds up to an All Star. While technically he wasn't an All Star this year, his numbers are certainly already on that level, despite the splits. His 136 wRC+ is tied for 10th in the NL. 10th in slugging. 22nd in OBP. 3rd in HR. His 1B and defense hurt him, but tied for 28th in fWAR. That's not only All Star level, that's "get a couple of MVP votes in the 9th or 10th spot" territory. Sure. And it's built on the fact that against lefthanders he was the best-hitting first baseman in the league. Better than Gonzalez, better than LaRoche, better than Rizzo, better than fucking Freddie Freeman. (He was my secret weapon in three fantasy leagues.) Put in a righthander against the lefties--just an ordinary .700 OPS guy--and between them you've got the best-hitting first baseman in the league, period.

You've got to platoon, and you've got to make that your plan. Don't just stick in some random righthander from your farm system once in a while; go out and get somebody who can hit a little and play the outfield as well as first base. I'd love it if Duda started hitting lefties better, but he's going to be 29 next year, and his career OPS against them is .610 (and he's getting worse, as Edgy points out). It's just not something you want to bank on. Duda against the righties and just an average major league hitter against the lefties adds up to an All Star. The problem is that with all the spots being taken up by relief pitchers, platooning has become much more difficult. In 1969, Hodges used a lefty-righty platoon at least part of the time everywhere but center and left. In 1986, Davey had everyday starters only at catcher, first, and right. This year, Terry really didn't platoon at all, except a bit in left field. Someone would start every day until he got hurt or was so awful that someone else had to take his place. But given the roster he had, I don't know how much more he could have done.

That's incredible. The bottom left is my favorite.

There's something about Wilmer's body language that bothers me. It's so sloppy-floppy, gangly and stooped-over at the same time. He just doesn't look like a good player. He reminds me of a kid in the college dance program where my wife teaches. He was an excellent dancer, I was told. But I found him ugly to watch, with his shoulders around his ears and his head thrust forward and his arms dangling like a flaccid Slinky. In the concerts he'd be in every damn piece, since there's always a shortage of boys who know what they're doing. It made me cringe every time he came on stage. Obviously Wilmer is a terrific athlete, whether or not he's a major league-quality player. And I really shouldn't be judging him by my own weird aesthetic standards. But seeing him just doesn't inspire me with confidence. Prove me wrong, Wilmer. Stand up for all the clumsy guys who aren't really clumsy at all.

Every time you write him off, he turns up again. Like a Brad Penny.

d'Kong76 wrote: I was wondering about those, does one hang their cleats down there on them? Hard to tell here; looks like a towel, or maybe underwear. I've found a picture of Chase Utley's locker, and on one of those lower hooks it looks like he's got a jockstrap and cup, and on another maybe some socks. mlblogsphilliesphollowers.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/051309b1.jpg

Mets � Willets Point wrote: The Poison Control Center advises keeping a copy of this handy in case accidental ingestion of poisons requires induced vomiting. Actually, reading this I'm wondering if Poe's Law needs to be invoked. No comments allowed on the ESPN site? What a shame.

Since this was techically an umpire's review, not a manager's challenge, Gary and Keith might be right that the umpires were looking at whether the catcher was illegally blocking the plate. If Terry was saying the Lagares beat the throw, I assume that would be a challenge. It's possible that the it wasn't an illegal block, but that Lagares was safe anyway. And was he really being blocked? He did get his hand in--if the pads were all the way down, he's got a broken hand. Dumb play on his part.

Edgy MD wrote: A steroid suspension might. Nah. If he got caught, they'd just have to legalize steroids.

The infield defense has been insanely good this year, or at least lately. I love the shot last inning of Mejia laughing at the play Quintanilla just made.

d'Kong76 wrote: If I'm making statues for citifield (which, let's face facts, probably never crossed the minds of the Wilpons while they were busy building luxury suites) I'm commissioning the following: * Seaver with the leg dragging. * Dwight in his high leg kick * Strawberry awaiting a pitch with his right knee turning in * Hernandez in the fielding stance (knees bent, first baseman's glove turned out, anticipatory gaze * Mookie's jacknife * David Wright with the bat in his armpit, adjusting his batting gloves * Jose Jose arising on his hands after a head-first slide into 3rd * Casey sitting back on the bench, legs crossed, answering questions * Ed Kranepool kneeling in the on-deck circle and * Piazza taking the first steps from the box following massive chemically enhanced home run * Tug slapping his glove on his thigh * Ray Knight punching Eric Davis in the face Payson and Shea would be nice somewhere too. Who's gonna pay for all this bronze? And the sculptors I'm sure don't work on the cheap. The WPA, of course. There are tons of good sculptors on the dole these days. But maybe for a few of the statues we could get some of those famous European guys to come over. They'd be glad to get some American dollars. Giacometti, for instance--he was born to do George Theodore. Rodin, if he's still working, could do Casey. Brancusi could do Mookie. And Duchamp could probably find something good in the restroom.

Benjamin Grimm wrote: If it had actual, DNA-tested Jeter barf in it, you could probably sell it for $2,000 on eBay. That would suggest that Jeter himself is sickened by the fawning, which somehow I doubt. Remember, Jeter is French for "hurl."

Ceetar wrote: That was scored a base hit.

They're proud of being the most hated, though. Their fans are, anyway. It's an affirmation for them. They're the sort of people, like Laker fans, who think it's good for the sport if nobody likes them. I'd rather not take the bait. What I want on Facebook is a "You annoy me sometimes, but that's only when I pay attention to you, which is basically never" button.