Ceetar

themetfairy wrote: My QBC Festivus list - The food options were better this year, but still not great. When you have several hundred people at an event for seven hours, having a couple of salad/sandwich/non-fried food options would be nice. Speaking of options, OMG - does nobody refill McFadden's beer supply over the winter? I have finally gotten into wheat beers, and I had to go back to Coor's Light yesterday. Over breakfast today, D-Dad suggested that the doors open at 10:00. Have coffee and danish available for purchase, let people show up leisurely to mingle, peruse the merch, etc. Then have programming from 12-5. Then maybe still keep the place open another hour or so for more mingling, another beer or two, etc. That way people wouldn't feel quite as rushed nor would they burn out and leave before the end (it was a shame that more people weren't around at the end to hear Ed Charles, who was so incredibly poignant). no, I don't think anyone refills, or cleans the lines, for McFaddens over the winter. This wasn't quite as bad as last year, but it's pretty clear they don't clean between The7Line Calendar party in December and the QBC. (or probably, after the end of the season) I do like the mingling idea. I think there's a large subset of people mainly there for autographs/players. But if you had a free time in the beginning with trivia and the mascots walking around and looking at the vendors..that'd probably be good. I did notice it clear out a bit both years after those. Most of those are limitations of McFaddens (food, etc) that will be revisited. There's a certain cost level associated with renting a place that's not closed for the winter, uncleaned sports bar. I wonder if the Gil Hodges award should be the kickoff and not the finale.

bmfc1 wrote: I'm hoping that the Mets let us inside CF next year. (300 Mets fans in an adjoining restaurant and the team store was closed--stupid!) Well, you might be able to hold your breath on that one. Feels like it might be a possibility. And yeah, the Acoustics, even with the better setup, weren't great. McFadden's just isn't set up for that and the ambient noise and high ceilings just seem to suck it up. And the light/glare. yikes. so many windows. But I hate McFaddens. I wish they could've somehow put it somewhere with a view of the field. I'd almost say ditch the CF entrance and the whole Mo's Zone and turn that area into a bar/group area. I don't know the details of the workings of the Mets Executives, but I feel like this was one of those necessary evils type thing. It's obviously just talking heads and a sales pitch. Anyway, post up any other complaints or ideas and I'll mention them. Unless it's about the bathroom guy/gal in the back bathroom. We can't figure out why McFaddens feels that's necessary.

well..is there anything that would draw the non-geek/non-hardcore/non-signature-hunting crowd to Citi Field in January anyway? A football Saturday at that? I mean, more than "Cheese Tasting With Matt Harvey"

I took most of the pictures/video with staff camera, forgot my own. I can confirm about 40 cases of Big Hurt beer in a back storage area but none behind the bar.

Benjamin Grimm wrote: And for every Gary Cohen or Bob Costas or Vin Scully out there, there are at least eight or ten idiots who happen to have a job sitting behind a microphone.

Edgy MD wrote: If he returns with any degree of usefulness. He was never consistent in getting the offspeed pitches over. If his fastball is meaningfully diminished, he'll be just another guy. well, consistent enough. really only 2011 was a bad control year. 3+ K/BB rates from 2010-2013 with very good results. And variable fastball rates. In fact, 2011 was the year he threw the hardest. He's probably got a little diminished velocity cushion in him, though the long layoff could be problematic.

well, they've already expanded it to electronic media. When these guys get a vote (oh, and most of them don't get a vote until AFTER Bonds and Clemens fall off the ballot due to the time on the ballot rule change, isn't that awfully convenient?) it's already gonna start to swing things a bit. But I'd have to think it should be limited to guys that focus on baseball, and on the games themselves not just 'Sportscenter' type coverage. So like the guys that do the MLB Live Look Ins every night type thing.

did anyone check his back for acne?

Nymr83 wrote: -they need more voters than just writers, but i'm not sure who this should be Jesse Spector suggested fan vote (since, you know, we're the ones that are supposed to be wanting to celebrate these guys?) via paper ballots when you go there or by request. Then that fan vote counts for 1 total vote. minor impact but meaningful imo.

Was wondering when the Mets would go Euro football style and start selling official fan club memberships. Has this been around or is new for this year? http://newyork.mets.mlb.com/nym/fan_forum/club_mets.jsp?partnerId=ed-8887518-767935653 It's about 4 years old or so. includes gameday audio so it's generally worth it (And generally they toss you a free game in early April and sometimes otherwise) Though perhaps less so now that I don't need GameDay audio since I have the At-Bat app.

Edgy MD wrote: I mean, in the first year of voting, Babe Ruth received votes on but 95.1% of the ballots, so it's not as if things are necessarily and definitively deteriorating. It's that they were iffy to begin with and that the 'integrity' of journalism maybe isn't what it was purported to be. The digital age is exposing a lot of assumptions like that to be mostly BS. I don't think the system is broken so much as could be so so much better. the simple part is to change to a yes/no system of voting, but also to cull the voting class to people actually covering baseball. Writers no longer far and above the most likely people to have seen and covered all the players either, but the ones that don't actually cover baseball anymore, even if they covered all the of the players on the ballot, are too far removed to need a vote. Yes, we got 4 players worth celebrating. For the most part the system elects HoFers and that's what it's intended to do, but.. their is something valuable about honoring the guys on time. It's a game, and a museum, and entertainment. While it's not going to be lesser to celebrate Piazza as a Hall of Famer next year, that's three years we haven't really had that opportunity. I'm sure it's part of the reason the Mets are waiting to retire his number. It's obviously going to happen, and while it wouldn't be bad to do it separate from celebrating his entry into the Hall, it's a nice tie-in to the overall game of baseball and what not. It's a game and fun, but think about how much fun it would've been doing the ASG if we got to hold up Piazza as a HoFer as well?

Centerfield wrote: I seem to be having issues with the embed code for this video. Can someone smarter help me? http://geekologie.com/2014/05/wife-gets-husband-millennium-falcon-for.php can we embed vimeo here?

Ike son of Ron Davis

Sons of Sam aren't quite as good.

that guy..b..ba..something. Barry Bonds? yeah, he was pretty good right?

ooh, me me me. Sounds like fun.

Sherman's the Post right? They tweeted out all their staff's picks. I don't think they have any particular Mets bias, but there's a little bit of 'pick on the Mets' narrative around the club and lesser writers, national ones in particular who don't have time/energy to dig deeper, tend to jump on the narrative which often has the affect of feeling like it's piling on or bias. Anyway, give the Mets a year or two and we'll be fighting off East Coast Bias type stuff as national guys are lavishing praise on our rotation and pissing off everyone else.

Biggio and Jeter I presume?

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Ceetar wrote: This isn't some pinnacle of humanity inducting humans into some pillar of humanity, they're just people picking great players. I just think it's ridiculous to assert that someone would have trouble being selected because they're Catholic or Republican. Probably not him specifically, but it'd be more about something he said or did rather than his specific ideology. I don't know what specific thing SJR was referring to. Of course, that's because Piazza's in the majority. It's almost definitely happened to other guys that we haven't noticed, especially along the fringes. Delgado caught some flak once upon a time for a political stance he took, rather quietly, but it's only a couple of votes more that would've kept him on the ballot. Who else? What happens when a gay player becomes known? What happens if say Ken Griffey Jr comes out before next year? The voters hardly seem to be voting with any sort of integrity, and I only see it getting worse.

Vic Sage wrote: Even if a writer wants to use the "character" clause to keep out the roiders, they should still use the same journalistic standards for determining who fits that definition that they would be obligated to use if they were to file a story accusing such players. It can't be just based on rumor or a "feeling", any more than it could if they were going to publish such an assertion and then be liable for defamation. yes, they SHOULD use the same journalistic standards they supposedly abide by. Doesn't mean they agree with that, or that they do. Since writers have flat-out said "It feels like he used" as justification, they clearly don't.

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Why would writers not vote for him because of his politics or his faith? I know he's a devout Catholic. I don't see why that would be controversial. Is anyone afraid that he would be a pawn of the pope at the annual Cooperstown gatherings? And what are his politics anyway? Republican, I guess? I doubt he'd be the first, or even the two hundredth, Republican in the Hall. Because people throw hissy fits and literally kill people over politics and faith? I don't know that that's the case with Piazza who seems to fit all the right molds, but it could certainly be the case with others. Hell I wouldn't be surprised if there are writers who try their hardest not to vote for black guys. This isn't some pinnacle of humanity inducting humans into some pillar of humanity, they're just people picking great players.

Also when he showed up the the Last Game At Shea he didn't talk to Murray Chass about bacne so..

SteveJRogers wrote: themetfairy wrote: I blame Long Shot. The book made him look like a petulant child, and probably cost him enough votes to keep him out. I've seen a tin foil theory put forth that his faith and politics actually may have something to do with people who do not share his political or religious beliefs not voting for him. 'character clause' means "hey, I don't like you." but the book came out after the first vote. In fact, I imagine the publishers/agent figured he'd get in and it'd be great for sales since he'd be in the news and all that. But there were actually writers who said things like "I want to see if he admits to PEDs in the book" and left him off. (Heyman I believe)

Gwreck wrote: Ceetar wrote: Valadius wrote: Jim Thome - 612 HRs. Should be first-ballot guy. Sosa had 609 and got what, 6% of the vote? Jim Thome career WAR 72.9 (9th all time for first basemen) Sosa career WAR 58.4 (outside the top 20 for right fielders) They're not anywhere close to the same player, before any other nonsense comes in about steroids. I dunno, that's 58-73 isn't a huge difference for a stat that's not a precision stat. I get positional adjustments and all that, Thome's a better player, not sure I see him as a shoe-in though, nor based solely on the '612 HR'

Valadius wrote: Jim Thome - 612 HRs. Should be first-ballot guy. Sosa had 609 and got what, 6% of the vote?