Ceetar

my picks: IBWAA went with Cabrera and McCutchen too. 1 Mike Trout 2 Miguel Cabrera 3 Chris Davis 4 Josh Donaldson 5 David Ortiz 6 Robinson Cano 7 Max Scherzer 8 Felix Hernandez 9 Edwin Encarnacion 10 Adrian Beltre 1 Andrew McCutchen 2 Paul Goldschmidt 3 Joey Votto 4 Matt Carpenter 5 Troy Tulowitzki 6 Clayton Kershaw 7 Shin-Soo Choo 8 Freddie Freeman 9 Jayson Werth 10 Carlos Beltran

batmagadanleadoff wrote: Ceetar wrote: And the best way to do this is to humanize the players. The best way to humanize baseball players would be to cap their salaries at $100K a year. When Derek Jeter's selling insurance in December, freezing his balls off while waiting for a train in 10 degree weather, then you might be able to relate to him. well, that's anti-capitalism. I don't want to relate to the guy, just humanize him. (well not Jeter, he's a PED-fed robot)

Edgy MD wrote: As for being afraid of fools attacking players, bah. That's exactly what we need to combat. The fans grow more hostile, the players grow more distant, and the fans feel justified in their hostility. We've got to restore good faith between the parties, and the nightly crowd walk (if only at the beginning of games) is just the gesture to get it started. I read yesterday that folks go a hold of the Dolphin's GM's phone number and filled his voicemail with hostile BS. Make it stop. yes indeed. And the best way to do this is to humanize the players. If they're actually _right there_ it's harder to think of them as the robot representations of our fanaticism. It's part of why Spring Training is such a great experience. Sticking around for post-game "woah, you had a good game!" moments with the walk-off guy is part of that, as silly as the pies are. I think instead of an hour of talking heads yelling at each other before the game, they should just televise batting practice. no host. just stick a couple of cameras there. or stream it to mets.com. We get so much of the business of baseball these days and so much less of the behind the scenes work these guys put in. Watching them mill around on the field, taking grounds, chatting, etc..it's good.

metsguyinmichigan wrote: Back in the heady days of late September, Mets fans could dream of Shin-Soo Choo, I call BS. Was anyone dreaming of Shin-Soo Choo? He's a guy firmly in the "might be kind of nice, if we sign him to a short contract for a decent price" kind of place. This is a weak free agent class. Overspending on a guy who is not worth it just to appease Howard and his ilk would be a mistake. It's how you get people like Jason Bay and Vince Coleman. I still contend Jason Bay wasn't a horrible choice, merely an iffy one that wasn't complemented by others. Free agent class is never going to be perfect, at some point, you need to make lemonade. irregardless of payroll.

just for specifics: �We�ve got a couple more meetings. And there might be hopefully something cooking later. Right now, it�s quiet. Sandy�s been in meeting all morning. He�s got a couple more meetings this afternoon. So we�ll see where we are.� He literally said "right now, it's quiet" and people took that to mean OMG SIGNING

metsguyinmichigan wrote: metsmarathon wrote: realizing it would be an escape from the team's colors, but what would work a hell of a lot better on a digital camo uniform would be if the team name were piped in matte black, with tan/olive fill, matching the actual uniforms on our soldiers. have the only color be the colors of the flag. and probably the manufacturers logo because they can't help themselves... it wouldn't solve the gi-joeing of the game, but it would help the aesthetic a ton. also, ugh, god, no mascot races. unless everybody is going to dres up in jay horowitz mascot costumes, i don't want to see it. we don't need giant costumed skyscrapers, or giant costumed bridges, or happy bouncing checks, or... whatever... running around. maybe giant costumed apples could work. tying in nicely with the home run thingy (and sponsored in part by fruit of hte loom?)... but i still really don't want to see it. Giant cats! In Mets jerseys. Shea was famous for all its stray cats -- especially the black on that ran in front of the Cubs dugout in 1969. People in cat costumes named Casey, Felix, Terrific and Mookie. And have 'em all running away from a mangy cat in a Phillies or Cubs jersey?

Lefty Specialist wrote: As an every-game routine, I think this can only end badly. They'll be searching fans for eggs and overripe fruit at the entrances. When it's a surprise, it's cool. When it's expected there's a real potential for mayhem. bah, NHL does it all the time. (visitors get the John Rocker tent treatment though) Get to high five the players or fist bump or whatever as they head in. They also do the "Three stars of the game" thing after each win, and the players skate a quick circle, toss a puck into the crowd, and retreat again. Not suggesting we mimic that, but Kevin already interviews guys on the field after huge moments, why not every win, ask him a layup question or two, have him wave and toss a baseball, and boom. There's actually already an entrance to the tunnels from behind home plate that passes fans (albeit the rich ones), it's the long way around but I think that was the point you had in mind anyway.

Lefty Specialist wrote: Odds of a David Wright commercial appearing on a Yankee broadcast? Zero. I don't watch much Yes, so I don't know if Lincoln advertises, but if Wright whored himself out as much as Derek does, there'd be no avoiding it. But back in '07ish, there were definitely Beltran/Delgado "Visit Puerto Rico" type commercials on YES.

metsmarathon wrote: also, i'm not sure how many other teams do "kids run the bases" promotions. i'm sure they all must (and certainly should), but i ain't looked into it. so i'll tentatively give them a whisper of a credit for that one. Every weekend! When did it stop being called dynaMets dash and start being called Mr. Met's Dash, and what was a dynaMet anyway?

seawolf17 wrote: I hate Mets twitter. I'm slowly unfollowing people because most of them are fucking idiots. to be fair, this is something else that's not specific to the Mets. People are mostly fucking idiots.

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: I don't think Keith's burger thing was there last time I looked for it. By then of course 70% of the concessions were closed. Keith's burger place is in left center. I think they opened up a satellite one up in the Promenade in 2012, but it didn't stick.

FREE-SHIRT FRIDAYS, SATURDAY CONCERTS & FIREWORKS, FAMILY SUNDAYS HIGHLIGHT 2014 METS PROMOTIONAL SCHEDULE Single Game Tickets Go On Sale Saturday, November 23 at 10:00 a.m. At Mets.com and (718) 507-TIXX Huey Lewis and the News, Boyz II Men to Perform in 2014 Mets Concert Series Presented by Duane Reade Mets to Host Three Fireworks Nights FLUSHING, N.Y., November 13, 2013 � The New York Mets today announced their promotional schedule for the 2014 season at Citi Field. All promotions will take place on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays highlighted by Free-Shirt Fridays, Saturday Concerts & Fireworks and Family Sundays. Single game tickets for all 81 Mets home games including Opening Day and the Subway Series go on sale Saturday, November 23 at 10:00 a.m. at Mets.com and (718) 507-TIXX. An exclusive presale for Citi cardmembers starts Monday, November 18 at 10:00 a.m. at Mets.com/CitiPreSale. Mr. and Mrs. Met will appear at the Citibank branch in Union Square from 12:00-1:00 p.m. on November 18 to help celebrate the exclusive presale. Fans are also encouraged to utilize their Citi ThankYou Preferred Card on all Mets offers throughout the season as they will receive 2 points for every dollar spent on all dining out and entertainment purchases. The 2014 Mets season will begin with Opening Day, March 31 when the Mets host the Washington Nationals at 1:10 p.m. All fans in attendance will receive a 2014 Mets Magnetic Schedule presented by SNY. Free-Shirt Fridays On the following Friday dates, all fans will receive a uniquely designed Mets themed T-Shirt: � April 4 vs. Reds � April 18 vs. Braves � April 25 vs. Marlins � May 9 vs. Phillies � May 23 presented by GEICO vs. Diamondbacks � June 13 vs. Padres � July 11 vs. Marlins � August 1 vs. Giants � August 15 vs. Cubs � August 29 presented by Pepsi vs. Phillies � September 12 presented by Budweiser vs. Nationals � September 26 vs. Astros Saturday Post-Game Concerts Four Saturday home games will feature post-game concerts: June 14, July 12, August 16, and September 27. The 2014 Mets Concert Series presented by Duane Reade will be headlined by Huey Lewis and the News (July 12) and Boyz II Men (August 16). The other two acts will be announced in the coming weeks. Huey Lewis and the News will perform following the Mets-Marlins game on July 12. The band is best known for its third album SPORTS, a 10-times platinum chart-topping smash that generated four Top 10 singles including �The Heart of Rock & Roll� and �I Want a New Drug.� Huey Lewis and the News also scored three No. 1 songs: �Stuck With You,� �Power of Love,� and �Jacob�s Ladder.� Boyz II Men will take the stage after the Mets-Cubs 7:10 p.m. game on August 16. The Grammy Award winning, multiplatinum iconic pop group has sold more than 60 million albums worldwide with No. 1 hits such as �End of the Road,� �I�ll Make Love to You,� and �One Sweet Day.� The performances will begin approximately 20 minutes after the conclusion of the game from a stage in the outfield behind second base. Admission to the concert is included in the price of the game ticket. Fireworks There will be three fireworks nights in 2014 starting with a special 4th of July celebratory show following the 7:10 p.m. Mets-Rangers game. Fireworks Night presented by Duane Reade will take place Saturday, August 2 following the 7:10 p.m. Mets-Giants game and Saturday, September 13 after the 7:10 p.m. Mets-Nationals game. Fireworks will be launched from Citi Field's roof and the centerfield grass, providing a 360-degree experience for fans throughout the ballpark. Saturday Premium Giveaways At the following Saturday games, the first 20,000 fans will receive the following premium giveaway items: � 2014 Mets Calendar � April 5 vs. Reds (1:10 p.m.) � Shea Stadium 50th Anniversary Canvas Print � April 19 vs. Braves (7:10 p.m.) � Replica Mets Batting Helmet � April 26 vs. Marlins (7:10 p.m.) � Nolan Ryan 1969 Commemorative Bobblehead from Delta Air Lines � May 10 vs. Phillies (7:10 p.m.) � David Wright Canvas Print � May 24 vs. Diamondbacks (TBA) � Floppy Hat � July 5 vs. Rangers (TBA) � Mr. Met Canvas Print � August 30 vs. Phillies (7:10 p.m.) Family Sundays Sunday games will cater to families with Family Sundays at Citi Field. Each of the promotional items will have a kids theme, and the Mr. Met Dash, where kids run the bases after the game, will take place every Sunday. For Mother�s Day (May 11), there will be a special giveaway item for moms and their children and they will have the opportunity to run the bases after the game in the Mr. Met Dash. Similarly on Father�s Day (June 15), dads and kids will receive a special item and participate in the Mr. Met Dash. The following is the complete list of promotions on Sundays. Promotional items will be given out to the first 15,000 fans unless otherwise noted. All Sunday games are scheduled to start at 1:10 p.m. � Player Poster #1 � April 6 vs. Reds � Recyclable Tote Bag presented by MLB Network � April 20 vs. Braves � Loom Bands � April 27 vs. Marlins � Mother�s Day Moms & Kids T-Shirts � May 11 vs. Phillies (all moms and kids) � Banner Day � May 25 vs. Diamondbacks (pre-game parade) � Item TBA � May 25 vs. Diamondbacks � Father�s Day Dads and Kids Cap � June 15 vs. Padres (all dads and kids) � Cereal Bowl � July 6 vs. Rangers � Player Poster #2 � July 13 vs. Marlins � W.B. Mason Truck� August 3 vs. Giants � Batting Practice Cap � August 17 vs. Cubs � Lunch Cooler Bag presented by GEICO � August 31 vs. Phillies � Player Poster #3 � September 14 vs. Nationals � 2015 Magnetic Schedule � September 28 vs. Astros (all fans) � Fan Appreciation Day � September 28 vs. Astros Times for Saturday and Sunday games may change, subject to Major League Baseball�s national broadcast agreements with FOX and ESPN.

Alderson said "no".

IBWAA: NL Cy 1st Place: Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers 2nd Place: Adam Wainwright, St. Louis Cardinals 3rd Place: Jose Fernandez, Miami Marlins 4th Place: Matt Harvey, New York Mets 5th Place: Cliff Lee, Philadelphia Phillies AL Cy 1st Place: Max Scherzer, Detroit Tigers 2nd Place: Yu Darvish, Texas Rangers 3rd Place: Chris Sale, Chicago White Sox 4th Place: Hisashi Iwakuma, Seattle Mariners 5th Place: Bartolo Colon, Oakland Athletics Seem like the obvious two winners for the BBWAA too. I went Scherzer, Hernandez, Sale, Iwakuma, Sanchez and Kershaw, Wainwright, Lee, Bumgarner, Harvey

Benjamin Grimm wrote: The Daily News had something this morning (can't find it online) saying that according to hittrackeronline, all but nine of Granderson's last 91 homers would have gone out of Citi Field. And of course, if Granderson was a Met, only half of his games would have been played at Citi, so if the numbers are accurate, Citi Field would only have cost him about 4 per cent of his home runs. well, would be different road parks too. And you can never really account for the wind differences (never mind the pitcher differences) in these comparisons. But I do believe that Granderson's power wouldn't suddenly vanish in Citi Field. I'm warming to the idea of Curtis more and more.

I think he said "may have something" rather than Humongous Announcement, but really anything short of an Davis for Trout trade will be disappointing given the whipped into a frenzy Mets fans on twitter now.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: I think that the whole point is that they're not any sort of outlier. They've aimed square at the middle, in virtually every respect. And the thing is, even if you take into account the cost of failures, it actually behooves them to try different things; their main local competition is the hidebound, traditionalist selling-pinstripes-to-a-pinstripe-crowd folks, and trying new and different and goofy and populist-- along with, y'know, being a Senior Circuit team in a Senior Circuit town-- is how they got their first set of diehard fans. Differentiating yourself from the competition (locally and otherwise) and giving folks an ethos-- however prefab it is in actuality-- gives you insulation from the economic vagaries of stock-market weirdness or "rebuilding years." I mean, hell, leave aside the what-the-Mets-should-do vs. Corporate Entity leitmotif for a second; originality draws attention and eyes, and making your corporate strategy "damage avoidance/limitation" guarantees that when the inevitable embarrassment comes, you'll have no cover. I'll spend time and a little bit of money for old-times' sake. You want the rest? Come get it. Give me-- a baseball-inclined New Yorker-- a reason to spend my money here instead of at the other place, or the Big Apple Circus, or the Met. Give me a Lazy Mary lip-synch contest, or weirdo Mandarin/Korean/Spanish/Hebrew versions for the Cultural Days. Give me a miltary-veteran Wiffle Ball Home Run Derby, or Talent Contest. Give me a "7 Train" bullpen car. Give me an onsite "Piggie's Garden" that fans can visit, and maybe one that provides onsite vendors with fresh, ultralocal produce. Give me Agee, Cleon, Piazza, and Mo Markers in the seats/concourses. Business Entity in The World's Most Diverse Set of Zip Codes-- woo my fucking business. Oh I agree, I just don't think the Mets are unique in that (haha) they're aiming at the middle. the "If I wasn't already a fan I wouldn't be one" stuff seems over the top. But I think you're overstating the cost of failure in these ventures or the value in succeeding. I don't have kids right now, so I'm not sure I can speak to the family outing angle, but it does seem like I see a whole lot of facebook and Twitter posts and photos of kids having blasts at games. Why spend your money at a Mets game instead of the Circus, or the Movies, or the Hall of Science? well, because it's baseball. Because you're allegiances already lean one way, it's Mets over Yankees. But yes, there are probably millions of people in the middle that bandwagon and flip flop. But I'd argue that the mains reasons they'd go to Citi over Yankee stadium are things like location, winning, their friends are going, it's not across any bridges, I can park, or the tickets are cheaper. Things like "I want to check out that cool mascot race!" or "Star Wars night!" are way down on the list that I think the return on the investment to make these things really truly interesting isn't worth it for them, even if maybe it should be for simple quality of experience purposes. And I would love them to go that extra mile. This is how I described Oktoberfest at Citi Field, clearly a melding of two of my big interests and the only reason I went to that particular Mets game. Better than nothing, but nothing special. And I guess to sorta disprove my point.. http://oakland.athletics.mlb.com/oak/schedule/events/beerfest.jsp Oakland's beerfest put's it to shame. They do in fact go the extra mile.

batmagadanleadoff wrote: batmagadanleadoff wrote: Mascot races? And they're polling fans on this? I didn't even know about this but what another embarrassment. This was 2010, so it wasn't yet stale, only done. But not done the Mets way! Now that's a mascot race I'd pay to see. As far as something gimmicky to watch between innings, I'm all for mascot races. Although it really should be airplanes. And there's really no reason they still can't represent the Shea levels. Hell, pick out 4 cute kids from the stands, strap on silly colored arm-wings and have 'em flap-race for a prize. Or is that too minor leaguish?

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Let's just pretend for a second that Ceetar's right and that the Mets are no lamer than any other franchise when it comes to their lack of originality, lack of imagination, lack of conviction and lack of self awareness. How is that OK? oh, It's not. but holding up the Mets as some sort outlier seems silly to me. It's baseball as a whole that's the conservative un-imaginative lump. But on the other hand, they're under no obligation to innovate either, not is it ever going to make everyone happy if they did decide that their self-image was going to be a different one. Of course, if they are going to get original, I prefer they keep it based in entertainment and leave politics and the military out of it. You can honor and promote those things, and those causes, but don't intermesh it with your identity. But again, give me some examples of other teams, even other sports, doing something that you like/find imaginative and fun? G-Fafif wrote: It's the straight-out "let's do 'Sweet Caroline' because it's awesome at Fenway" kind of thinking that's depressing. Of course, the Fenway-Caroline was itself copied from somewhere else, a local college team or something if I remember correctly. And that's what I mean about the entire sport being full of this stuff. (and hell, the NY Rangers were playing Sweet Caroline as well, so it's not like it's a Mets copy-cat thing either)

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: The fucking "Shea bridge" is a lame ripoff of PNC Park's setting. You got me on the apple. Good for the Mets on that. Maybe. It's a bridge, NYC is known for bridges. bridges though, aren't exactly original, no. Of course, the Mets birth was all via copycat. 1960s heritage would hardly be unique, and they get killed for any hint of the Dodgers on one hand and killed for not honoring the Giants enough on the other. Tributes will never be unique by definition, but were the Mets not a part of the whole Jackie Robinson Day thing to begin with? (I don't know how it all went down, but I doubt the Mets just sat back and let MLB tell them exactly what to say and do) What about los Mets? Latin outreach is something the Mets seemingly have been on the forefront of, but maybe not. I don't remember other teams doing the los thing before them, though that's just as gimmicky as the camo really. Of course they could always do more. I'm a big fan of pushing boundaries and all that, but the Mets, and baseball, are a very conservative bunch. Does anyone dare not play Take Me Out To The Ballgame? Every really different uniform idea gets routinely lambasted. A lot of people are even against making sure umpires get calls right. I've gotten more and more into the Mets as I've become an adult myself. It seems like some of you are ashamed to be a Mets fan, and I just don't get it. It's a corporate entity and it always has been and always will. It's not going to run the way I think it should, to my moral or aesthetic compass, and I don't expect that my view is the majority or even what gets fans to the park and watching games and spending money.

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: For god sakes Ceets, just look at anything the Mets do and you can trace it back to someone else's idea. Black unis. Camo unis. Their ballpark. There's hardly a thing the Mets do that is in the least bit innovative or unique unto themselves anymore and much of what did distinguish them (banners, service dept hats, their 1960s heritage) has largely been ignored and/or forgotten. They were polling fans on whether they should have a mascot race for god sakes. Are you really so in the dark on this? Home Run apple, Lazy Mary, Orange foul poles, Shea Bridge, etc. I'm in favor of a mascot race. My point was, this is how sports are. it's not unique to the Mets. Look at all the ridiculous mascot races out there for example. I don't know if the Mets home run apple was unique in the sense of HR celebrations, but the Marlins home run thing is an extension of that, as much as it's artsy and "original".

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: I disagree with just about all of that. Well, what original ideas are other teams trotting out there regularly? I don't find myself stumbling upon "woah, that's neat." a lot during road broadcasts. Booming nightclub in LF? Does that count?

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: The uniform, I'm talking about. San Diego's been doing it forever. The Mets in the meantime lack the courage to do anything innovative or original or meaningful on their own (the service department hats for example) and wait instead to follow someone else's lead on a uniform tweak. The service dept hats were original and meaningful originally. Doing it now would be the same as these uniforms are. A "look at us, we're patriotic!" display. But 99.9% of all these things things in sports are copying someone else. It's not just the Mets. 1 time in a 1000 someone does something neat and then everyone copies it for all eternity.

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: I think the thing that bothers me most about this is the fact that the Mets once again are doing what some other team did better 5+ years ago and passing it off as an innovation. I am in favor of whatever the Mets/MLB charities can do to reduce the worsening epidemic of fucked-up veterans but they needn't make a spectacle of themselves to do it. Or maybe they do, I dunno. Maybe we should stop engaging in wars. I'm a big supporter of creating no more veterans. Mets have probably been been at the front of support, if you can really measure those things, with the inviting service people to games and honoring one a game and my cousin's husband was on the field for Opening Day colors a couple of years ago as a Coast Guarder. Edgy's probably right, this has a lot more to do with Wilpon and his Welcome Back Veteran's foundation. It's not the Mets so much copying things that happened 5+ years ago, because Fred was probably a big part of pushing those things then and now.

A Boy Named Seo wrote: Ah, there it is. Thanks. Guess I'll start with these chumps... the Brettanomyces Tart-ans. Suckers. They all suck!