Farmer Ted

Ted: Wow, that was a great national anthem today. Who was that guy? Milton Davis? Branford: That's MILES Davis. Ted: Right. He was fan-freaking-tastic. Branford: Actually it was Branford Marsalis playing the national anthem. Ted: No, you mean Wynton Marsalis. I think he's also known as George Clinton of the P-Funk. After 81 home games I guess they can't find anyone new that can sing that damn song. Not like I know the words. Man, you have some big cheeks.

Somewhere there is a file room in the basemet that once served as a bomb shelter. Horrible radio reception down there. Sounds to me like the perfect afternoon to have Mel Hall, Jr. down there cleaning up some old files.

I'm smelling a Gentry-'69 WS-esque performance by the Maine Man today. Dodgers blow.

Scutaro doubles in JayPay. Ex-Mets getting it done.

The TV suits didn't care that Mets fans were watching the playoffs v AZ with 11 pm start times on the east coast.

PA plates have a 7-digit limit for vanity plates or I'd be using that one, too. That is, if I got to the DMV before Cooby.

Twins. I'm still bitter about '73. Plus, when thinking of the A's I always picture roided up Canseco, McGuire.

Noticed the box score in the morning paper that Jose Reyes is listed as JBReyes. The Cubs have another Jose Reyes on the roster so our Jose is listed with his middle initial, B (Bernabe). The other Jose's middle name is Ariel. I believe in an instance like this the established, more poplular player shouldn't have to distinguish himself with an initial. It should be up to the new guy to perform well and displace the non-intialized player.

Had the chance to meet Ron on the 7 platform after a playoff game in 2000. Like the article states, front car.

Hate sex, or the thought of it, is acceptable.

Jim Kaat and Luis Tiant go on my ballot.

This sucks. I'm guessing by the severity of the injury, he tore his soleus muscle which runs along the achilles between the gastrox (the meaty part of the calf) and the ankle. I tore the same muscle last year and it took six weeks of physical therapy before I felt perhaps 75 percent. 18 months later it's still a bit tight when I stretch it.

An ad on the Gnats website proclaims that the local Jeep Dealership is Gnuts About the Gnats. I like it. http://www.sandgnats.com/

I was one of the lucky bastids that, after registering on the Mets site for the playoff ticket lottery, got an email back stating that I was among the lucky ones selected for the first-come, first-serve ticket purchase for the NLDS. Just 10 minutes after getting the email, then going to to the ticket site and putting in my order for "up to 4 tickets for one game"...TICKETS UNAVAILABLE. After all the hype on SNY directing fans to the site, any guesses as to how many tix were actually made available for this promotion? If I got the email at the same time everyone else did, I'd guess no more than 1,000. That being said, I'm free the nights of games 1 and 2 for anyone with a generous heart!!!

The Junior Cranepoolforum of sorts... http://www.nola.com/forums/zephyrs/ Our Tides peeps must be bummin' today.

The owner of the Zephyrs, Donald Beaver, was the one who tried to buy and move the Twins to North Carolina circa 1997-98 but the voters shot down a stadium referendum in the Greensboro/Winston-Salem area. He owns several minor league clubs.

From the NOLA TImes-Picayune. Swoboda is in the house. Zephyrs strike deal with Mets N.O. to be home of team's Triple-A affiliate Friday, September 22, 2006 By Bob Fortus The Zephyrs have adopted a new parent. On Thursday night, they reached agreement on a two-year, player-development contract with the New York Mets. "The Zephyrs are delighted," General Manager Mike Schline said. "The Mets were our first choice. They're a potential World Series team this year, they're a winner, and we're very happy to be affiliated with the New York market." Adam Wogan, the Mets' director of minor-league operations, said an affiliation with the Zephyrs is a "a great opportunity" for the organization. Wogan also said that the Mets are eager to help the city. "We want to be the best part of the community that we can be," Wogan said. The Zephyrs' two-year deal with the Washington Nationals ended this season. On Wednesday, the Nationals signed a player-development contract with Columbus (Ohio) of the International League. The Mets and the Norfolk (Va.) franchise in the International League didn't renew their deal. Wogan was the Nationals' director of player development before going to the Mets. "We have a great relationship," Schline said. "I think Adam was what it's about. . . . Adam brought the Nationals to the Zephyrs, and he brought the Mets to the Zephyrs." The contract will be signed today, Schline said. Concerning the caliber of players who might appear in New Orleans, Wogan mentioned outfielder Lastings Milledge and pitcher Mike Pelfrey as current young Mets who had advanced from Triple-A. "Our desire is to build through scouting and development," Wogan said. "We believe in players playing at that level (Triple-A)." The Mets, who this week clinched the National League East title, entered play Thursday with the best record in the majors. They will be making their seventh postseason appearance. They won the World Series in 1969 and 1986, and won NL pennants in 1973 and 2000. The Mets will be the Zephyrs' fourth parent team since the Triple-A franchise moved from Denver to New Orleans in 1993. From that season through the 1996 season, New Orleans was the Triple-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. From the 1997 season through the 2004 season, the Zephyrs were the Triple-A affiliate of the Houston Astros. The Zephyrs will be introduced to New York on Sunday. Schline said the Mets are flying him, Ron Maestri, the Z's Chief Operating Officer, and Ron Swoboda, a former Mets player who is a Zephyrs radio announcer, to New York to take part in a press conference with the media.

I did some googling and found the old AAA stadium in Maine is not only vacant but moreless abandoned. No room, no lockers under stadium. A mess and the town is trying to sell the land as commercial space. I go with Brooklyn. They can always find a low-level A town somewhere.

Back to the minor league issue, it appears the Yankees are locked on Scranton with the Mets haggling over the two cities left, NO and Norfolk. It looks like Norfolk wants more cash. No other reason to let this drag on. Are there no other options, say a vacant minor league stadium? Isn't that place in Maine, where the Phillies AAA once played, vacant? Perhaps Newark would be an option? Keyspan holds 8,000, more than many AAA fields. Why not?

Whoever summoned Mark Spitz and brought the goggles to the champagne-fest is a genius.

My nrother lives in Columbus and confirms the Nats AAA squad is going there AND possibly retaining the Clippers name. He and I both believe that the Clippers name was born out of Nazi-brenner's loves for boats and a tribute to his father who was a ship-building magnate. Researchers, please confirm or deny.

Mets officials were in Scranton yesterday. Heard it on the radio.

Yeah, we took Baby Ted. She's almost a year old so this was a big measuring stick for us. We bought three seats knowing we'd need the extra space...that was a good call. She was grumpy for the first inning so I put her in the Bjorn and walked along the concourse so she could sleep and I could still watch the game. I spent the first four innings on my feet but it was cool. After that, she sat in her seat, ate snacks and played with her Pirate Parrot doll (it was giveaway day). We started leaving after the Mets 8th and watched the final six outs on the exting concourse. It was a good day but I could see how brutal it could have been if she was younger. Weather was great. We'll send the Dickshots some snapshots.

Just back from PNC and I have to say, it sucked. They played like shit. I admit, since buying the tix a few weeks ago, we were hoping this would be clinch day. The losses the past two nights, coupled with Philly's wins, put smiles on our faces. A bit selfish, but this could've been a special day. There were 34,000 announced and prolly 15-20 percent Mets fans. A lot of NY and NJ plates in the parking garage across the river. It was my first time to the park and like everyone says, it's gorgeous. Only two slight negatives...the main concourse is a bit narrow and the jumbotron was too small. The Primanti Brothers sandwich stand was awesome. Mrs. Ted/Sponge noticed that half the people rooting for Pittsbugh were grossly overweight, the other half looked like they lived in double-wides. The PGH fans in our section were complimentary toward the Mets and were well behaved. The Mets fans, of course, were beautiful. I hope the Mets brass spent the weekend at PNC looking around.

It will be Sunday in Pittsburgh because I'll be there dammit.