Lundy

]I remember when the D-Rays first came into existence there was not only an uproar from the religious right about the 'devil' portion of their name but it was also related that the word 'Yar' which as we all know is 'Ray' spelled backwards also is a reference to Satan. This team is doubly demonic. By this logic I suppose Drake's split the difference when they named the Devil Dog.

Little League was a nightmare for me. I couldn't hit to save my life, so I ended up taking a lot of pitches and getting on base that way. But I was (and still am) pretty speedy on the bases. I played softball a bit and slightly improved my hitting skills. But I was a horrible fielder with a below-average arm. In general I suck at most sports, although I am a decent bowler.

Yes, practices can be great fun, and more often than not, the players are more willing to carry on conversations and sign autographs. This is going back a little bit, but I went to the West Palm Beach facility back in 1985 when I was 12. This was at a facility the Braves and Expos shared. We watched the Expos practice. I remember seeing Mike Fitzgerald--this was right after the Gary Carter trade--walk past, sees that I'm a Met fan, drops his bag of bats that he was carrying, and paused to sign an autograph. "I'll sign anything for a Mets fan" was what I recall him saying. After we left the Expos camp, we saw a lone Brave running sprints in an empty playing field. We couldn't tell who it was, but as he came closer, it became clear. It was Dale Murphy, the two-time MVP of the National League. There was no one bigger in baseball than him at the time. So he's running toward us, I asked if he could sign an autograph. He said, "Sure, let me finish up here." So we wait, half-expecting to get blown off, but he slowly walks back to where we are. He takes the program, gives it a sign, pauses long enough for a photograph, and went back to doing sprints. He seemed to go out of his way just for us, and I've never forgottten that. So yeah, practices can be fun! Sometimes even more fun than a game.

I voted like. I like it that the Mets are more balanced team right now. Last year it got kind of crowded when Steve Trachsel came back. If in fact we're done dealing, it's a clear sign to Heilman that he's got a slot in the rotation. That's good. And I think Kris Benson is overvalued. He really hasn't pitched like a No.1 overall draft pick, either with the Pirates or the Mets. He's really been a mediocre pitcher who I think we're overvaluing because of his draft status and his attention-grabbing wife. As for Jorge Julio--relivers get no respect. With starters going six innings max becoming the norm, their importance cannot be ignored. Whether or not he becomes the next Mel Rojas or the next Roberto Hernandez remain to be seen. But on paper, we're much better in the bullpen than last year. Add in John Maine, and what he can potentially give us, and I think it's a good deal.

Was that article actually published in the Village Voice, or is it part of a blog? It's not clear to me.

The team that holds special significance to me was the 1982 team. I was eight years old and just discovered baseball, and thought the world of the Mets--Dave Kingman, George Foster, Ron Gardenhire, and even Rusty Staub off the bench. My first game was a night game against the defending World Champion Los Angeles Dodgers. I didn't understand why there were seemingly more Dodger fans in the stands than there were Mets fans. I didn't quite understand back then how good those Dodger teams were, and how bad the Mets were. BTW, say what you want about the cover, but the 1982 yearbook was great. 1982 was the 20th anniversary of the Mets, and the yearbook had a mini-retrospective of all the significant events in Mets history And they reprinted every yearbook cover in one of the spreads.

"hitting pitch after pitch well beyond the outfield walls" + "mercurial freshman"= Dave Kingman?

No Met shares my birthday, June 29, but Harmon Killebrew and Pedro Guererro do. My daughter, born April 1, shares an April Fool's birthday with Rusty Staub and Willie Montanez. My wife, born December 15, shares a birthday with Met-busts Mo Vaughn and Art Howe.

I checked my dusty VCR tape box, and unfortunately my Mets-related material is limited to 1986--the final half inning of the NL East clincher, the final half inning of the 16-inning thriller in the NLCS, and the final half inning of the 1986 World Series. I also recorded the end of the famous 1986 game in Cincinnati where Ray Knight clocked Eric Davis and Hojo helped the Mets win with an extra-innings home run. This may be a rarity though--I recorded a special that Channel 9 made about the 1986 Mets, which aired shortly after the Mets clinched the NL East and right before they were to face Houston in the NLCS.

New TV network, but the same ol' radio station: Mets and Sports Radio 66 WFAN sign new multi-year partnership for radio broadcast rights FLUSHING, N.Y., Nov. 14, 2005 -- The New York Mets and Infinity Broadcasting's Sports Radio 66 WFAN, New York's sports talk radio leader, today announced an extension of their broadcast partnership for live play-by-play coverage of Mets pre-season, regular season and post-season games through 2008. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Under the new agreement, WFAN will produce exclusive Mets programming with players and coaches, daily highlight packages, and pre-game and post-game reports. The three-year extension is slated to begin February 2006 with live coverage of the team's training camp from Tradition Field in Port St. Lucie, Fla. "We are delighted to extend our relationship with WFAN, our long-time flagship radio partner," said Dave Howard, Executive Vice President, New York Mets. "WFAN's extraordinary coverage, programming and promotion commitment, and signal strength will bring the excitement of the Mets to fans in the tri-state area - and well beyond." "Our 18-year affiliation with the New York Mets has been a true success story," said Lee Davis, Vice President and General Manager of the station. "This partnership is not only valuable to the station but also to WFAN's listeners, and we're thrilled to provide them with extensive coverage of their favorite baseball team." Mets broadcasts have been a staple of WFAN's marquee programming since the station's inception in 1987.

This is the "trophy"

Willie Mays must be here.

]During the 1963 World Series, in which LA swept his beloved Yankees, Mel must have resorted to a differnt type of "fluid". By the end of the fourth game, he sounded so smashed that he was almost incoherent. A Yankee fan officemate and I were having a conversation about announcers recently. He recalled when Mel Allen was teamed with Fran Healy on the early 80s Yankee cablecasts. He recalls one of Mel's home run calls: ALLEN: He hit that one over the 808 sign! HEALY: Uh, Mel...that's the clock.

The 1969 World Series (the shoe polish incident specifically) was featured prominently in Frequency.

http://www.prnewswire.com is one of the online press release sites. I think you have to be a member to submit something, though.

]34. In my final appearance as a Met, I ended the game -- and season -- on a pinch-hit groundout. They gave me a big hand anyway. Lenny Harris, 2001?

]22. I struck out as a pinch-hitter in my final appearance as a Met. Because of another trade that happened that day fans barely noticed when I was traded. From the clue it sounds like the year is 1977--Dave Kingman?

]26. In my final day as a Met, I had 2 hits -- one each off a future Hall of Fame pitcher. Weirdly, only 1 showed in the boxscore. This has got to be Joel Youngblood in 1982. I'm guessing Fergie Jenkins in Chicago and Steve Carlton in Montreal.

I'm with JD. I've got nothing against the Braves. I hope they go far this post-season.

bob Knepper

Don't know if this helps, but this roster was included in the scorecard from a game on July 2, 1966 (my dad was at this game, twas before my time)

I got one for May 11, 1985. The Mets won 4-0, but the date will be remembered as Darryl Strawberry in this game broke his thumb while sliding for a ball and was out for six weeks.

Also, I have an April 1985 scorecard from "K Day"--that's when they were handing out free K cards with a picture of Dwight Gooden on the back. I'll have to dig it up though.