dinosaur jesus

Another name you might actually know: manning the Marlins' bullpen phone is former Met and legendary bel canto singing instructor Dr. Reid Cornelius.

Napoleonic Chaconic McGravian Ageean Mazzillian Wilsonian Johnsonian Bostonian (Ave atque) Vaily Grote Gasparoid Byrdlike Parnellite

I want that commemorative shirt.

I hope they've got something left. I have three of them on my fantasy team.

That's really great. But why do I have the feeling the last two paragraphs aren't really about dogs?

Even out of the context of the time, I think Buddy compares pretty well with Tejada offensively. Similar OBP, with a lower batting average but more walks. And he was a better baserunner. I like Ruben, though, and I see him continuing to progress: getting a little more patient, adding a little power. Just a little. I'll call a bit of a breakthrough this year: .294, .365, .380, with 30 doubles and 2 home runs.

Centerfield wrote: The self-fulfilling prophecy stuff is not going to make him evil fast enough. I thought about tempting him to the dark side of the force, but even that took three excruciating movies. We need something that works faster. I say we find the Ring of Power. If that doesn't work, there's always Lola. Does anyone here have her number?

There was Candelaria in 1987, traded by the Angels to the Mets for a couple of minor leaguers on September 15, in time to make three starts. The deal almost paid off, too: he stunk it up in the first one but the Mets almost pulled it anyway (would have been half a game out if they had), won the next two (the last one keeping them two games out with five to play).

Edgy MD wrote: Bradley Randle, son of Lenny and UNLV Rebel halfback. Skipping his senior year to enter the NFL draft. His mom was a UNLV halfback?

metirish wrote: I watched a few innings......enough to hear the crew wonder and talk about why Gil is not in the HOF...... Gil Gamesh? He's still a pretty controversial figure, I think. But Mike Mazda and Luke Gofannon belong there, no question.

vtmet wrote: Frank Frank is one of those guys like Armondo Benitez or Branden Looper that are better suited as a "setup man" with an occasional save opportunity than actually being the every day closer...the guy on his career only has 72 saves vs 67 "holds" and 24 "blown saves"... 15 saves; 8 blown saves...4.5 ERA as the "closer"...3.3 ERA when he gets demoted to the 7th/8th inning role... That's 139 saves or holds in 163 opportunities, or 85%. Which really isn't that bad--it's pretty much what Jason Motte, for example, did last year, when he saved 42 and blew 7. And all that proves is that in most save or hold opportunities you can stick just about anyone in there and get away with it. But I'd rather have an actual competent major league pitcher. I'll go with my heart on this one: Parnell wins the job, and Francisco never throws another pitch for the Mets.

"The magic is back! For real this time!"

Well, if there's anyone who's got some fielding tips to pass on, it's Lucas Duda. You know he's heard plenty of them.

If you go back to the nineteenth century, there were quite a few pitchers who played various positions in the field. Monte Ward played second, third, and short while he was still primarily a pitcher, and became a shortstop when his arm gave out (which means he had some arm strength left). Dave Foutz both pitched and played first base through most of his career, and was excellent at both. A little more recently (meaning the 1910s and '20s), Doc Crandall often played second and short when he wasn't pitching, and Clarence Mitchell and Johnny Cooney played first sometimes, as well as the outfield; Cooney became a full-time outfielder. I'm sure you could find more examples from those days. As far as pitchers playing catcher, my guess is that you'd have to go a long way back to find that happening. Too dangerous.

The Bad Dude.

vtmet wrote: Also, some pitchers were converted infielders (such as Brian Bannister, who I believe was originally a 2nd baseman; and Rick Aguilera, who I believe was originally a 3rd baseman)...and some of these guys, like Ike Davis or Micah Owings, also played 1st base in college on days that they didn't pitch... So you'd make Ike Davis play first? It's worth a shot, I guess.

Mookie!

Okay, I'll go for an obvious one this time. Keith. OE: Too late.

Buddy.

Tats not quite so visible in this one.

Something went really wrong, because he's a good pitcher. He's the kind of reliever that Sandy should be looking for--setup men who are secretly better than most closers. I'm sorry this one didn't work out.

Lefty Specialist wrote: Edgy MD wrote: The big secret of homeruns --- they're a cathartic thing in general when they happen, but they generally make baseball more boring. I wouldn't know about home runs. I'm a Mets fan. A woman I used to know who'd been a Mets fan in the sixties and seventies said that the "Knocking those home runs over the wall" line in "Meet the Mets" used to make her cry. And I remember having ethical qualms in the early eighties about the heavy hitters the Mets had acquired--meaning Kingman, Ellis Valentine, and George Foster. There seemed something disreputable about winning games with those boughten sluggers. Fortunately, my worries were unfounded. I was never meant to be a Yankees fan.

Not for nothing, but his career may at some level speak to the wisdom of using the hit-by-pitch as an offensive weapon. Obviously most of his injuries can't be directly tied to taking one for the team, but Johnson took one 104 times as a minor leaguer. That's once every 5.67 games (ouch). In 1999 alone, his hide absorbed 37 baseballs in 132 Norwich Navigator games. That's a plunk every 3.57 games. YAH!! As a major leaguer, with more consistent pitching control, Johnson curtailed his masochistic hobby to once every 11.24 games, but these things have a way of adding up. That does seem to make sense, but I I'm not sure it actually works that way. You could actually argue just the opposite: that guys who get hit by the pitch a lot last longer than average. The players with 25 or more HBPs in at least one season post-1900 are Ron Hunt, Don Baylor, Craig Biggio, Jason Kendall, Steve Evans (in 1910), Craig Wilson, Fernando Vina, David Eckstein, Chase Utley, Kid Elberfeld, Andres Galarraga, and F. P. Santangelo. Galarraga and Utley were (are) notoriously injury-prone, Evans and Wilson were done at 30, and Santangelo was a utility player who didn't have very many full seasons. But all in all, that's a pretty long-lived group. It could be that that if you get hit that many times, you're probably doing it on purpose, and taking the hit in places that won't do too much damage. Whereas someone like Johnson is just too slow to get out of the way, and has to take it wherever.

Yes, let's only get good players if they don't cost anything. There've got to be a lot of guys like that, right? The thing is, if you want players who are good right now--players you know are pretty good, not ones you might be good, if you're lucky--you have to be willing to overpay. That's how free agency works. I don't know if the Mets are a serious contender for Bourn--he seems like the kind of player who can help a good team, but won't do much for a bad one. But what the hell. The guy can play. Don't we want some guys who can play?