dinosaur jesus

If he isn't, he should be.

Before John and Reuss, the record was held by Jimmy "Hot Poker" Doolan of the Louisville Eclipse and Old Goat O'Shaughnessy of the old New York Metropolitans, in the American Association in 1883. Doolan was 19, and O'Shaughnessy was 63. This was O'Shaughnessy's only major league game; he was a popular local character who was put in the lineup by Mets manager Jim Mutrie as a gag near the end of the season. He walked twelve batters in an otherwise successful inning (if the old Mets and the new Mets can be considered the same team, then that's a record Oliver Perez will be shooting for). The Eclipse won 16-3.

Older than me. Not by much, though.

Dan Brouthers's farewell tour? I missed that one. Big Dan hit home runs for the Troy Trojans, the Buffalo Bisons, the Detroit Wolverines, the Boston Beaneaters, the Boston Reds (Players' League), the Boston Reds (American Association; that's three Boston franchises in three leagues in three years), the Brooklyn Bridegrooms, the Baltimore Orioles, the Louisville Colonels, and the Philadelphia Phillies. He's probably kicking himself now that he didn't hit one in his brief comeback with the New York Giants eight years after he'd retired.

I went with two foreign women once to a ballgame. A German I knew and her sister. It was in St. Louis. I told them that in America people sometimes put sauerkraut on their hot dogs, and they were so intrigued by this that they spent half an hour running around Busch Stadium looking for a concession stand that had sauerkraut. There wasn't one, which seems odd. The game didn't engage them much, but they were very impressed by how cheerful and polite the crowd was, in contrast to a European soccer crowd.

John McGraw: Brings back the forgotten art of "inside baseball," with psychological intimidation as important a weapon as home runs and strikeouts. Larry "Chipper" Jones reduced to tears on the field by Mets' taunting, led by McGraw. During the course of the season, every single Met decks McGraw in the clubhouse. 102 wins. Casey Stengel: Platoons Valentin and Easley, Green and Milledge, Alou and Chavez. His confusing explanations for his strategic decisions satisfy no one, but somehow the result is 101 wins. Gene Mauch: Team falls apart in September as he alternates his forty-year-old aces Glavine and Hernandez for almost every game. 92. Cap Anson: Tosses the colored players off the team. Insists on playing first base himself; at the age of 155, his defensive range is somewhat limited, but his keen batting eye leads to a .305 average. 88. A lifesize cardboard cutout of Connie Mack: A fine figure of a man as he stands in the dugout, the Tall Tactician inspires the players by his very presence, leaving on-field decisions to coach Jerry Manuel. 90 wins, and a sentimental choice as Manager of the Year.

I hated that road blue. I also hated that 1987 road lettering--somehow I knew they weren't going to repeat when I saw that.

Howard had no more than a ten percent chance of hitting a home run. That was just bad luck. I'd probably rather have pitched to Burrell, but intentionally loading the bases is a dangerous move when your pitcher has control problems. I also think that some managers were getting a bit hysterical last year when they started walking Howard with a man on first.

In seven games, Reyes has scored ten runs and driven in eight. At this rate, he'll score 231 on the season and drive in 185. But will it be enough to win the MVP?

So you pull the guy who can't throw strikes today, and with the bases loaded you bring in the reliever who's never been able to throw strikes. And it works. Willie, you're a genius.

I like this kid Valentin. I think he's going to be a good one.

I know Green is batting .360, but I'd really like to see Milledge out there instead today.

I'd rather have Endy up than Green, but that's another question.

Yes, the 1978 juggernaut. I remember a wire service story with the headline "Mets Insisting They're for Real." They were 9-6 at the time. They lost their next six, and I guess they stopped insisting. The head cheerleader in the story was Bobby Valentine.

="Frayed Knot"]John Maine is the only pitcher in MLB history who's last name is a State...I bet Dice-man can't say that.Except for Pierre "Frenchy" South Dakota, who pitched in three games for the Indians in 1913.

iramets wrote: We appear to be operating under a "better safe than sorry" principle, which isn't so bad, but the possibility exists, at least for me, that a current manager could overwork his four starters and closer, concentrating an enormous (by current standards) number of innings in his five best pitchers, kick ass in his league AND suffer no more arm injuries to his pitchers than any one else.Billy Martin did it. Five pitchers on his 1980 Oakland staff started 159 games among them, and completed 93. None of them was ever the same again, and no manager has been willing to try something like that again. Obviously there are pitchers working today who could pitch 300 innings if called upon and not endanger their careers. But which ones, and is it worth the risk to find out?

"Scrappy" does tend to mean "white." But not always. It can be applied to any undersized, undertalented player. Juan Pierre is often described as scrappy.

It's a bit ironic if the Pirates don't have any black players, considering they were the first team to put nine on the field at the same time. That included Latin Americans, of course. But Shawn Chacon is African-American, isn't he?

Is 487 a lot of home-run hits? I don't think the Globe and Mail copy editor is too familiar with the game of "base-ball."

I hate the balk rule anyway. Why is it wrong to deceive the runner? Deception is a natural part of the game. Why outlaw just a few arbitrarily selected forms of it?

Wow.

The other thing that makes the comparison to Brock silly is that it ignores the context--there was a lot less offense in general when Brock played. His stats are quite good in that context. Pierre's aren't. Lou Brock was twice the player that Juan Pierre is.

It was spelled Noc-a-homa, that's why. There are some pictures here: http://www.cviog.uga.edu/Projects/gainfo/nocahoma.htm And here's a nice big autographed one from the Chief in later years. I've posted it as a link so it doesn't fill up this page. http://www.piedmontbettervision.com/uploadedFiles/images/Chief%20Noc%20A%20Homa%20minimized.jpg

That's all right. I only believe in the other half.

Centerfield wrote: It's really only five players if you don't count the Colorado crew (and I don't).In 1993, Galarraga hit .402 at home, .328 on the road. In 1997, Walker hit .461 at home, .286 on the road. In 2000, Helton hit .391 at home, .353 on the road--a damn good year no matter where he played, but .372 is still a bit inflated. In 1993, Olerud hit .346 at home, .379 on the road. In 1998, he hit .335 at home, .373 on the road. There's no question he would have hit .400, probably several times, if he had spent his career in Colorado. But there are probably hundreds of players who would have too. Cleon Jones could have hit .400 there, for Christ's sake. Larry Walker and Todd Helton are excellent hitters, but if the Rockies ever get someone like Boggs or Gwynn or Edgar Martinez--someone who could win a batting championship anywhere--he's going to put up some amazing numbers. By the way, that baseballreference tool has Bonds hitting .454 in 2002 if he'd played in Colorado. Only .396 in 2001--but with 98 home runs. Take it with a grain of salt.