Zvon

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Zvon wrote: In this light I hope we are not in the running come September. That's ridiculous. You know, you're right. I say that but I'd give anything for the Mets to be in the hunt come Sept.

I found him to be inspirational.

I respect his confidence and all that but, jeeze, I hate to say this, but I'd rather he completely sit out 2014 and do all the proper training and workout things to return at 100% (plus?-dribble) in 2015. In this light I hope we are not in the running come September. Or that if we are I really still think he should not hasten his return for that reason or any other. Take the time to rebuild that strength. If the doctors say it'll take till after the 2014 season you trying to prove them wrong serves no useful purpose. This is your career Mattman. Do it right.

batmagadanleadoff wrote: Having never been to either the Basketball or Football Halls of Fame, I can't figure out what your trying to say, or what those pictures depict. OE -- OK. I see that the football HOF'er busts are logoless. Head shots. That's probably so because a football helmet would obscure the HOFers' facial features ... not some compromise related to the teams each HOF'er played for. So basically "off with their hats!" Thats a tough sell for a few reasons. I would endorse hats on if the choice was left in the players hands. Since its not I have np with hats off. Cept for Piazza. And Wright.

Ashie62 wrote: Well..at least money is replaceable lol... If certain major league teams are worth a billion or more why don't they spend more on payroll? It is supposed to be an investment.. I mean the Mets are being outspent by the Royals this season..so far anyway...Never would have guessed that could happen five years ago... What are the Royals ticket prices? I used to think: hey, it's only money. But unfortunately I've come to think its more like: Hey, its our freakin' ticket prices. I really don't care what they pay players. Sometimes I find it funny, like with this Tanaka guy. I am very concerned about ticket prices. An average family should be able to afford a night at the ballpark.

Is he right though? At first I thought yes, the Mets should not have put out that info prior to being able to actually do anything with Ike. But then I thought that back when papa Davis played there wasn't this huge media frenzy caused by the age of instant information. I guess the Mets felt compelled to say something because people were waiting to hear something. Still, I think it an unwise decision to have, in a sense, smeared Ike all winter long.

After the Mets won the World Series Bill Shea had these made and gave them to all the wives of the World Champion Mets. I never knew of this and that's pretty kool of him. Now that's a collectors item I'd like to have, one a those. Surely limited, rare, kind of unknown. That looks to be the one given to Mrs. Ron Taylor.

Edgy MD wrote: Duda's in the fold!! kool. I'm down on him sometimes but I have to admit he's a fine young man.

Edgy MD wrote: Everybody else approaching arbitration has come to an agreement at or around the halfway point between the team's offer and the player's request. It certainly could be the team drawing a hard line. I imagine they draw up their budgets by taking whatever their offer is and adding 25% to it. And maybe in The Dudes case deducting 25%.

Benjamin Grimm wrote: He'd probably be happy with a bright shiny object. Flip him these, tell him their the keys to the Citi. Why is it postulated that Duda is "holding out".

batmagadanleadoff wrote: I always remembered the "white" wall appearing in the early '70's Mets intro to Met games. So I searched youtube, and found it. Look at the 18 second mark. [youtube]918K4Hp-xWo[/youtube] It's deja vu all over again! Didn't we touch on this vid already? John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: But, just old footage is all. On a related note, my brother and I would "do the 'dan-na-na'" whenever this part was on, sliding along the floor, making pretend diviing catches, delivering pitches, etc as this aired. HAha, ditto JCL. With 3 brothers.

From Paul Lukas's ESPN column: Also in 1967: The wall got a new color scheme. Instead of Shea's familiar dark green with white distance numbers, it was very light green with black numbers (you can just make out the numbers in the background of this shot). But this proved so unpopular that the original colors were restored after only seven home games. http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=lukas/080926 A shame he didn't have the Cleon pic you posted last page: So is that the final answer? I wanted this story to be more interesting than that. Stupid boring Mets. Who's the guy behind the wall? Is that a spy type trenchcoat? Are those sunglasses from the future?

I would be interested in a PC version.

batmagadanleadoff wrote: Did the Cleon picture disappear? I can't see it anymore. not to me. yet. Ive seen that happen here tho. Then they mysteriously return. Maybe we should investigate that.

Edgy MD wrote: Zvon wrote: Benjamin Grimm wrote: My guess is that it was intended to be permanent, but didn't look as good in reality as it may have looked in the imagination, and they fairly quickly reversed course. It may have been that they rethought the aesthetics, or else the problem was with the batters' ability to see the pitched ball with that light colored fence in the background. I don't believe that at any time in baseball history would anyone anywhere think that a white outfield wall was,..not even a good idea, it shouldn't even be an idea at all! The ball is white! There has to be a more interesting story here. Though if someone did approve this "idea", the persons level of stupidity would make it interesting. Who was this stupid? I need to know. Standards were different, and bad ideas are allowed to float around all the time. There have been crippling chain link outfield fences and there have been murderous concrete outfield walls. Ask Bobby Valentine about the fence that turned him from a phenom to a journeyman. The most beloved park in the National League has brick walls all around. Behind the plate and down the line too. Stupid, yeah but it looked so good, your retro parks have all imitated it. This is true and a good point but that's material. Color is another matter. How long has baseball had stadiums make sure the area behind the pitcher, the batters eye, is a dark color? Whenever they decreed this is when they realized that a light, especially a white, backdrop was an unacceptable thing. I thought it's been that way as long as I've followed the game tho I could be wrong. If it was planned to be painted that color Id have to say it must have looked darker on the swatch sample they were lookin at, or something. If not it's crazy wacky stuff. Details! I want details!

oooh, but then again an off white (green,lilbit) would probably look white like that too on B&W film. Back to square one. Maybe it's not the color of the wall we should investigate, but the color of the numbers. We know they are not white.

batmagadanleadoff wrote: batmagadanleadoff wrote: From Opening Day, 1967 -- Cleon Jones chases a double off the bat of ex-Met Jesse Gonder. 4/11/67 [fimg=633]http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7315/11957544955_5544ae6a9a_b.jpg[/fimg] Some of the letters (words, actually) in the Rheingold Ad appear to be raised. oooh wow. That IS white. I really think it is. No washout to that film. Maybe the raised bit are neon lights under there. Wow, good find. But how white? The wall wasn't whiter than the ball, or whiter than the Mets home unis. I would say that's white enough to be called white. Dates match, black numbers too, so that's the real deal.

Benjamin Grimm wrote: My guess is that it was intended to be permanent, but didn't look as good in reality as it may have looked in the imagination, and they fairly quickly reversed course. It may have been that they rethought the aesthetics, or else the problem was with the batters' ability to see the pitched ball with that light colored fence in the background. I don't believe that at any time in baseball history would anyone anywhere think that a white outfield wall was,..not even a good idea, it shouldn't even be an idea at all! The ball is white! There has to be a more interesting story here. Though if someone did approve this "idea", the persons level of stupidity would make it interesting. Who was this stupid? I need to know.

batmagadanleadoff wrote: From Opening Day, 1967 -- Cleon Jones chases a double off the bat of ex-Met Jesse Gonder. 4/11/67 Some of the letters (words, actually) in the Rheingold Ad appear to be raised. oooh wow. That IS white. I really think it is. No washout to that film. Maybe the raised bit are neon lights under there. Wow, good find.

I kinda like the taunting Molina part. No wonder pitchers aim for his balls.

haha, what a goon. I told ya he'd never "get it".

Edgy MD wrote: Well, let's get to lobbying. I think it'd make a great conference presentation to reveal the most dramatic changes that would occur in the historic record if records were adjusted to give credit to the guys actually managing affairs in the dugout over their superiors who were unavailable, absent, or ejected. The Yankees got 21 wins while Torre was out. That doesn't change the all-time rankings as they currently sit, but it's a five-week-or so difference if Dusty Baker or Bruce Bochy or somebody come climbing up the charts. I'm not even concerned about how it might effect the current all-time rankings or knocking anyone down or up the list. I'd just like to see the guys who fill in get credit where due. I'd bet every manager on that list would agree.

Absolutely classic. Big laugh at Clemens. He knows his shit. Those kids were great too.

Can't get any of my brothers to commit to playing so I'll have to pass.

Edgy MD wrote: Even illness/prolonged absence won't do it. Don Zimmer doesn't have any of the wins and losses on his record for the 36 games he filled in for Joe Torre during the latter's prostate cancer treatment. Only one guy is eligible to get those credits/demerits. If a guy is the manager on the payroll, all wins and losses are his, whether he is in the dugout, in the hospital, or in prison. That's a shame --- if only a minor one --- I think. I feel its more than minor.