Zvon

Vic Sage wrote: i know for a fact that every time i've walked in front of my TV while a Met game was on, they've lost. But i'm finally at a place in my life where i can own it and accept the responsibility. That's the funniest thing Ive read in a while. I should make clear my superstitiousness doesn't apply to baseball in general. Just the Mets.

Ceetar wrote: Zvon wrote: Hey, I want to make the IGTs where you can't lose! Or win. well rules state that the winner makes the next one, and since the Mets didn't win this one, you get the next "game" thread if you like. You guys know that I'm always avoiding starting IGTs cuz of my (baseball only) superstitious nature. I'll stop in again during Colbert. If the next one isn't up yet, I'll take on this most serious responsibility. I am almost to the point where I really know that nothing I ever do or say will effect how the Mets play. Almost.

batmagadanleadoff wrote: Like Seaver. So many action photos to choose from and they go with having a belly laugh on the mound. The Seaver In Action shot isn't even from a real game. Check out the roped in outfield and Seaver's comically oversized glove. That's from Family Day: The Mets vs. the Mets' own kids. Tom probably just struck out a four-year old. That is an amazin' observation! I never noticed that and I'm the kind of person who usually would. Very kool batmags.

My youngest brothers are twins and they got Sure Shot BB one Christmas. We also had a pitch back after we moved to Jersey, set it up in the back yard and played a game I can only compare to "stoop-ball".

Great KTE update, thank you.

Benjamin Grimm wrote: I happened to see this on the Internet, and I'm quite impressed. If only they had known not to use an action shot for a 1972 card. So Topps themselves forgot they weren't action shots? Sloppy/lazy/shitty of them. The first time I saw an "IN ACTION" card I screamed AWESOME!!!!. And it was even more awesome to me that they chose to use many odd pictures. Like Seaver. So many action photos to choose from and they go with having a belly laugh on the mound. Grimm, you're the master of the '72 re-makes and that's just the way it is.

All you guys say is true. It was far from a perfect game. But it was fun. And we were very aware if we wanted a true/fair spin the disc would have to be sitting properly in the transparent holder thing (never had the warpage of the plastic holder experience), and if it wasn't it hurt your chances for a good call (the pointer shadow would never properly line up with the line). Even with this system, we would have brawls, so you may have a point Edge. I remember once when it was a big play in the game and a disputable homer, I called for the lamp ump. When we got up to look my brother accidentally knocked the table. All hell broke loose.

Hey, I want to make the IGTs where you can't lose! Or win.

I took frame by frame screenies of the crowd scene looking for me, but I'll spare you guys that. I can't find me for sure. But my path from the stands puts me in that area. There are a few candidates but nothings clear enough to see for sure. Even the pic I posted a while back that I thought could be me, probably isnt. Alls I remember about my appearance in those days is that I was skinny and had long hair, and that I ran from the stands towards third, then towards home, then to the mound. After that everything seemed like a dream. I've said it before, the most surreal scene was mounted police officers auctioning off large ripped down sections of the outfield wall. I didn't bid.

batmagadanleadoff wrote: (can't find that famous picture of Hundley leaping in protest) I'm very surprised that I cant find that pic of him jumping on-line. The one below is another view, and my first attempt at colorizing a B&W photo in 2002. This throw below by Bo Jackson is freakin unbelievable, especially seeing that when he caught the ball, he was moving backwards.

More Game Talk: I was playing Gil Hodges Pennant Fever in around 71, I guess. I liked the game but it was slow moving. Couldn't get my brothers into it. Some how we ended up with this game, All Star Baseball, and we played this for years. It was a much simpler game and we got all into it. We would use a coiled desk lamp for an ump, setting it up so it would shine right down over the top of the board. If any spin was protested by an opponent for landing on "the line", we would consult the ump, which consisted of looking at the shadow of the pointer on the game board. It saved quite a few arguments. These games went quick and we'd play 2 or three a sitting. We even kept entire scorebooks that covered 162 season games. We were pretty nutty with this game. My best player by far was Rod Carew, who batted over .400 one season.

CAPTION THIS PIC:

I'm gonna break my own rule and the boards rule, because these next ones are not baseball. But I have to share these. I ran into these surfing Tumbler. Not even sure who made them. But really great comic spoof stuff:

Arizona-raised Ike explains why he's so durn stupid. Ike Davis, who allowed Brandon Phillips' tiebreaking double to bounce past him at first base in the ninth inning Wednesday, calmly explained his reasoning after the 7-4 loss to the Cincinnati Reds: Davis said, at least in his mind, he saw the one-out grounder with runners on the corners bounce foul the hop before it got to him. It was close, though. And he figured with the spin off a righty's bat, it would kick further into foul territory and be clearer for ump Phil Cuzzi if he let the ball go. Obviously, that turned out to be the incorrect decision, because Cuzzi ruled it fair. Davis said he subsequently watched replays multiple times and could not discern whether the ball was fair or foul. He noted Shin-Soo Choo would have scored from third base with the go-ahead run anyway had he fielded the ball because it was hit too slowly for a play at the plate. For that same reason, Davis said a 3-6-3 double play that would have negated the run was impossible as well because of how slowly the ball was hit. Davis suggested his only option would have been to get the force out at first base and then attempt to get Joey Votto headed for second. But Votto then would not have been forced. So Choo would have scored anyway, Davis noted. "I couldn't get the guy at home," Davis said. "Choo runs really fast. And it was really slow to my backhand side. I was trying to get off the bag to get in the hole because it was a right-handed hitter. They usually don't hit it down the line like that. The second bounce ... I thought it bounced foul. In my head, I can't turn two. I can't catch it, touch the bag and then throw it to second and get the guy out, because then it's a tag play and the guy [Choo] scores anyway. So, in my head, when I thought I saw it bounce foul, I pulled my glove back, because then we'd be 0-2 on Phillips [if it were foul] and the run wouldn't score. That was my thought process on that. I still can't tell if it was foul or fair on replays. But I definitely did think it bounced foul right before I got it. He made the call fair. "Everything that can go wrong for me right now is going wrong." The dog ate his glove, in other words. If he's still here by Friday, then the complacency is galling. It does look like a well thought out response but unfortunately its based on the assumption that there wasn't another option. Like a recent similar play, if he aggressively charged the ball in, if he played it as Kieth would have (no one will ever be Mex but we all know Davis can be great fielder), he had a chance and that run was big. Also, getting the sure out should have been a priority as soon as he decided not to charge and waited for it. Anything more than that is over thinking. I love Davis too, and I want so much for him to succeed. But right now his head is no longer completely into whats happening at the moment, and what has become a rally point for the media is becoming a distraction to the entire team. I strongly feel he should not be a starting player for the big club until further notice. The minors is the logical move if they want him to continue getting regular at bats as he works this out. Carrying a non hitting Ike is one thing. Carrying an Ike that isn't hitting or fielding his position,....what's the point?

Zvon: Cut and paste that stuff into a new thread if you want to discuss the '73 NLCS. This thread is soon to be filed away into the archives anyway so you're just going to lose it again. Plus, last time I checked, we're no where near our quota of threads for the month so it's OK to start a new one. I dunno if its worth a whole thread. I just wanted to go over that last out, and say that there is no doubt that Im somewhere in this frame> If there's enough interest to continue this can be branched off.

I want to talk more about the '73 playoffs. I thought I started a thread once but I can't find it so I'll continue on here. This should only be a few (probly big) posts. So its the 40th anniversary of the Mets appearance in the NLCS in 1973. They showed some clips from the games during this broadcast. I'm always looking for clips from the series. They are rare and it seems like only the same ones we see them show all the time exist. No recordings of the individual games exist as far as I can see, and I have looked real hard. Relistening to Garys talk about the series: He was the same age as me at the time (which I suppose makes him the same age as me now , 15. And he not only was there for the '73 clincher, he attended the '69 clincher vs. Atlanta and got some turf then, at age 11. Wow, I did not know that. I envy Gary. We are so fortunate to have a play by play guy who really lived the Mets. This is the last out of the series. Seeing the clip reminds me of how scary a scene that really was. I mean, have you EVER seen a pitcher under more pressure on a play when he had to cover first base? I think not. Dan Driessen at the plate as Tug throws the last pitch. The ball is hit to first baseman John Milner. Now Milner may have an inkling as to whats going on behind him, but the play is in front of him and McGraw is all he is looking at. Tug, however, can very well see that the last out has yet to be made, and theres a flood of fans already on the field. But Tug is one cool customer, and he is not distracted from completing the out. Tugger makes the play and runs smack dab into a sea of unauthorized people. Look at the funny usher hat, ha! Tug goes from baseball mode to football mode. Tug knows whats going on, he knows the deal. McGraw literally fights his way through the crowd. He looks like Superman! Okay, maybe an insane Superman... I really don't think I ever saw a play with a pitcher covering first that was any more pressure packed than this one.

Murphy 2.5 Ankiel 3 Tejeda 2 Harvey 0.5 Rice 1 Lyon 1

Mets lose. Ikes lost.

This is tough to watch. A lil bloop single makes it 7-4. Bad job Bobby Pee! oe: what am I yelling at Parnell for? HORRIBLE JOB IKE!

un fuckin' believable. Ike decides not to catch a grounder. He DECIDED not to glove that!!!

GAH! DP! I don't think Votto was on the bag there. Replay inconclusive? Looked off to me.

We'll take it. Ike draws a walk. Your big Buck!

Bruce don't catch that gapper by Duds coulda been a lead off triboom. Nice catch. Byrd reaches on error and Ike can do something here. Anything would be nice.

Frayed Knot wrote: Take that tattoo boy! Did he have tattoos before the game or did Ankiel do that?