Marshmallowmilkshake

Bochy out in Texas. Offered a front office role. Bob Melvin might start packing boxes.

Did you eliminate the Tigers?

Newsday had a headline, "Who is to blame for the Mets' Collapse" but it ended up to be clickbait. It listed the culprits in descending order: 3) Carlos Mendoza 2) David Sterns 1) The players Way to go out on a limb there, guys. I think this is going to turn out to be the transition season that last year was supposed to be.

When you say moving forward, do you mean the next six games or next season?

I like to collect some fun Mets things when I can, which is not always easy where I live. But the Tigers authentic shop page has a section where you can purchase game-used balls from particular games. As we know, I went to the Sept. 1 game that the Mets won 10-8. It was the glorious Juan Soto game with the grand slam and triple. So I splurged a little and bought a ball from that game. In that game, the Mets were ahead 6-5 in the bottom of the fifth when Gregory Soto gives up hits to Spencer Torkelson and Andy Ibanez with a Riley Green strikeout between them. Out goes Soto, in comes Ryne Stanek, much to the chagrin of every Met fan in the building. Catcher Dillon Dingler comes to the plate. He took a strike then a ball before Stanek throws one very wide, sending it to the backstop and allowing Torkelson to pretty much jog home to tie the score. Soto's triple that put the Mets ahead again came the next inning, but at the time I was like, "Are you effing kidding me?" My box from the Tigers arrived today. I excitedly opened it. Each MLB authentic ball has a hologram on it, and you can go to the website and enter the code to learn the batter, pitcher, and what happened. I was pretty excited, given all the Met stars in the lineup that day. The website spits out: Batter: Dillon Dingler Pitcher: Ryne Stanek Second pitch: Ball, slider, 88.4 mph, Ball1 1, Strikes 1. Third pitch: Wild pitch. Torkelson scores. Andy Ibanez to second. Well, at least it was a memorable play.

How about if that "need" for absolute positivity costs the team a playoff spot? Then it kind of looks like cowardice, a lack of judgment, dithering, weakness in the decision-making process, poor personnel evaluation, and general schmuckerie, don't it? But they made the moves before it cost them a playoff spot. If they called them up in late September when out of the wild card by 5 games, that might fit your point. But when they started getting worried, they brought them up, ahead of some very big series. I think it shows the opposite of what you are saying.

I don't think there was ever any evidence that they lacked confidence in the AAA pitchers. I just don't think you remove a veteran like Senga, Montas, or Manaea - whom you are paying a hefty price to pitch - without being absolutely positive they are not going to reverse course and that takes some time. They did promote Blade Tidwell earlier in the season.

Multiple reports say he's on his way up! https://sny.tv/articles/brandon-sproat-strong-consideration-mets-start-9-4-25

Losing Griffin Canning had a far bigger impact than I thought it would.

Sorry guy! Tough day at work got in the way of getting an IGT out there!

Sweet! I love it when they play the White Sox in Chicago. I'll be there for sure! Thanks for sharing this!

It was 6-0 when I went to get my steps and 6-5 when I came back. Incredible.

Congratulations to one of my favorite Mets podcasts, National League Town, on a milestone 200th episode! Great stuff, Jeff and Greg!

This is true! We were looking to retain the name of our college team and come up with a mascot. I met with consultants who worked with us on ideas. I have to imagine that actually changing the names has about five more layers of complexities. The food things are all "alternate" identities. Some are neat, lots not so much. Then they all have the "Cupa de Diversion" latino identities, also with some neat, and lots not so much. I think Rumble Ponies is not a great name, but the Brooklyn Cyclones is brilliant! Almost all of those cutesy two word names for minor league sports teams emanated from the same marketing firm. I forget the name but, IIRC, they were based in San Diego. So, yeah, they'd find something 'unique' about the location and hunt around for a name off of that: 'Hey, I hear horsey carousals are big in Binghamton ... I've got it, Rumble Ponies!!!!' And the Jacksonville Suns abandoned their longtime name in favor of Jumbo Shrimp, and then there's the Yard Goats, Iron Pigs, etc. There's nothing like acting like everyone else in an attempt to be unique. Yup. The company is Brandiose -- https://www.brandiose.com/.

This is true! We were looking to retain the name of our college team and come up with a mascot. I met with consultants who worked with us on ideas. I have to imagine that actually changing the names has about five more layers of complexities. The food things are all "alternate" identities. Some are neat, lots not so much. Then they all have the "Cupa de Diversion" latino identities, also with some neat, and lots not so much. I think Rumble Ponies is not a great name, but the Brooklyn Cyclones is brilliant!

It means you're a Foreigner as far as he was concerned. Yeah, he looked at me funny.

I had a glorious baseball road trip last weekend with games in Pittsburgh, Baltimore, and Cleveland. Oriole Park at Camden Yards has been a goal for me since I enjoyed a stadium tour while it was under construction, but just never had the opportunity to get there. It is spectacular. I arrived around 1 p.m. on Saturday, staying at the Marriott Inner Harbor, which is a short block from the ballpark. The Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum is a very short walk away so I visited there, got my Baseball Attractions Pass Port stamped and explored the exhibits. It's not a big museum, but the volunteers are pleasant and passionate, and there is enough there to enjoy an hour of your time. Popped my head into the Orioles Team Store then took the short walk to the Inner Harbor to explore and grab a bite before heading back to get ready for the game. I had a lobster roll. This was probably a mistake. The park is absolutely beautiful. I entered through the right field area at Eutaw Street. I love that the team preserved - or recreated, I'm not sure -- some of the lettering from the sign on Memorial Stadium with a nice display outside the park. Gates on Saturdays open two hours before game time to allow more time to take part in the festivities. Eutaw Street, the space between the seats and the warehouse, was abuzz with activity. The first floor of the warehouse is shops and restaurants. The authentics shop had some actually affordable things, which was really neat. I learned that caps were 40 percent off throughout the stadium, which is a huge deal! I bought an Armed Services Day cap and a City Connect batting practice cap! Working around to the other side I head live music. There was a band playing in the statue area. A pretty good one, too! The statues are Cal Ripken, Earl Weaver, Jim Palmer, Eddie Murray, Brooks and Frank Robinson. Walking around, the stadium concourses are really wide so I never felt crammed in. The usual stores and concession stands mixed in with some things I assume are local favorites. Lots of crab on things. I did get a crab cake sandwich, which was crazy expensive but tasted really good. The guy at the counter asked if I wanted Old Bay on it and I wasn't sure what that was. One really cool thing: If you buy the souvenir cup you get free refills. The best part about that is that the team has self-serve soda refill stations throughout the concourse. It was a really hot day, so it was nice to keep filling that up to stay hydrated. The Orioles do a really nice job celebrating the team's history and I enjoyed taking time to read the displays and snap photos. I was disappointed there were no programs or yearbooks, but the team does give away free scorecards at the fan assistance booths. Those booths are plentiful, and every staff member I encountered was pleasant and helpful. Worked my way to the seats and here is where I started to see the stadium showing its age. I sat on the first base side in one of the sections behind the dugout. The seats were cushioned, but they clearly needed some updating. There was a fair amount of green duct tape. The scoreboard and its graphics seemed small and dated. The sound system was a little difficult to hear. Those aren't deal breakers, because I've been to stadiums where the music is cranked to 11 and that is overpowering after a while. It was a little hard to find the ball and strike count, but once I found it I was OK. But so many cool details, including oriole weather vanes in each side of the board. Lots of thought went into details! The Rockies are in fact awful and the Orioles crushed them 18-0, taking a one-hitter into the ninth inning. Our new friend Cedric Mullins made an amazing catch and hit his 100th career homer. I got up the next morning and made the short drive to Fort McHenry, which is a national shrine. I arrived to the center of the fort in time to hear a ranger give a presentation about what transpired there, then asked all the guests to form two lines to hold the large, 15-star flag as it was raised to the top of the pole. This was really very moving. Walking back to the stadium in time for the afternoon game. This time I had a waffle for lunch, which was really good, and had more time to look at all the plaques on Eutaw Street where home runs landed, and the plaque on the side of the warehouse marking Ken Griffey Jr.'s blast during the home run derby. I sat along the third base side for this game, and the view was just as beautiful. The Orioles beat the Rockies again, but by a smaller margin. Got goosebumps during the anthem realizing that the lyrics were written just a few miles away. The next night in Cleveland I was sitting in front of a dad and sons who also were on a baseball trip. They are from Baltimore heading the other direction. They mentioned that Oriole Park is getting some upgrades in the next couple of years including a new scoreboard and sound system, which was nice to hear. Overall, this is a wonderful ballpark and I'm thrilled I finally got there.

I don't think McNeill was bad. it's just that the other guys are better. Soto is not a tremendous fielder so he needs someone in center with a ton of range.

Is Stearns saying he's done? We have some time before the deadline ends!

Herman Tommy Davis!

I saw both games in Baltimore this week and he made some great catches and hit his 100th home run. Keeps McNeil at second base or DH so it will be interesting to see where the kid Mets all end up playing - unless one of them goes in a deal for a starter tonight. I think they made excellent deadline deals.

I saw him pitch in Pittsburgh this year. His first relief appearance after Peterson gave up five runs. He seemed to be doing well, until he gave up a three-run homer.

This can be for all the non-Mets activity. The Diamondbacks must have decided to sell, because Josh Naylor is headed to the mariners, per MLB.com.

Well, I'd rather they'd go back in the box and get rid of the ghost runner and some other little silly things. But no, they'd rather focus on lining the maga pockets of racetrack owners with gimmicky things like this instead of keeping baseball baseball. Put it together and whatya got? Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo... (I know, it's actually boogity, boogity, boogity) I was thinking the Field of Dreams game, the Rickwood Stadium game, the Williamsport, Pennsylvania game, the international games, and things along those lines. No love for the ghost runner from me.