soupcan

Elster88 wrote: I've never watched a practice before. I wonder if it would be fun or just boring. We'll be there for the actual games so we can pretend they count.

Anyone ever go? Looks like I'll be taking my oldest down the first weekend of March for his 9th birthday. I think we're set with where to stay 'Best Western - Official Spring Training Hotel of The Mets', but what about tickets to games, autograph hounding etc.? Any tips? S'funny because going to Spring Training to see the Metskies was something I always wanted to do but in the past 5-10 years my inteest in a trip like that has definitely waned. My son though will absolutely explode when we tell him (not going to until the morning we leave). Ironic huh, Alanis?

Here's what I do - I like the game and I like the Mets. The players and owners however do not feel the same as I do about baseball. I look at it as a game with loyalties, etc. THey look at it as a money-making enterprise first and foremost. Its good if they win games but ultimately what they want most is money. So I will go games because I enjoy that, I will watch the games on TV and I will root for my team. What I do not do a lot of is buy merchandise with the team and/or MLB and/or 'Nike' or any other apparel maker displayed prominantly on it. In short I'll pay what I have to pay to get MY enjoyment out of it. After all, they are providing me with a form of entertainment and that's worth something, but I refused to be extensively gouged. So far that's working out okay. The problems however have to do with my 9 year-old who wants everything Mets-ian, Nike swoosh-adorned, etc. You do what you can to rationalize it in your own head.

Diamond Dad wrote: The Mets couldn't bring him back for $2 million to split time at Catcher? Why the F not?? That's what I keep saying!

How could you not root for the guy? Hall of Fame player, class act, won a pennant with the Mets, married a Playboy bunny and he's an all-around good guy. Go Mikey go.

Were Nicole (Wong) Bell and Keri Heilman in a hospital room together?

Bruce Berenyi's gay? When did that happen?

He could do worse, San Diego's a nice town.

Floyd's a funny guy. "What does it feel like to see a fan in the stands wearing your jersey?" 'It feels awesome, it feels great! You should head out to the store and buy one, too!"

- Cause he just 'let the kids play' with hands-off style managing and 'what me worry?' attitude. - Thought it was pretty cool that the guy who made the last out of the '69 Series was the manager that brought a champeenship back to Shea. - His nasty, tough-guy scar on his neck from getting spiked when he was a player. - Just ballsy as hell. Next...

Put me down for 'don't care one way or the other'. vtmet said it best - it's time to move on.

Loved this movie when I saw it way back when. The scene near the beginning when they have the 'gang conclave' and the leader of the Riffs(?) gets killed was filmed in a playground in Riverside Park in the low mid 90's (as in 'streets' not 'years'). I used to play there as a kid so I thought that was pretty neat.

This morning was the first I'd heard about the gorilla suit. A guy I commutre in with told me that a ticket broker in Boston had a girlfriend who asked him for a fur coat. So the guy went to a charity auction and bought Theo's gorilla suit for like $9,000.00 or something and then presented it to the girlfriend as a 'fur coat'. She was not impressed and said gorilla suit is now supposedly hanging on display in the guy's office.

I don't know how you could verify its authenticity, but if real that would be a cool thing to have. You should definitely bid Edge. OE: Upon further reading - I'm not an ebay guy - is the price $1,000.00? That's ridiculous, don't bid Edge.

Willie Stargell's got to be in the top ten

i know nothing about him but I like his name. Very Roy Hobbs-esque.

Its amazing to me that Healy could be so universally disliked by everyone who either follows or is a fan of this team, yet somehow the guy was a fixture for years. How the hell did that happen? January 13, 2006 Mets' New Network Makes Great Calls By RICHARD SANDOMIR Before a single Mets game has been seen on the fledgling SportsNet New York, the team's new network can be praised for ending the announcer chaos that once reigned at the MSG Network and Fox Sports New York. Two months ago, Gary Cohen was hired as the sole play-by-play announcer for all 150 S.N.Y and Channel 11 games. And yesterday, S.N.Y. named the former Mets Keith Hernandez and Ron Darling as the analysts. Thus ends the population boom in the Mets' cable and broadcast booths, where Hernandez, Ted Robinson, Ralph Kiner, Fran Healy, Tom Seaver and Dave O'Brien worked last season. Kiner and Seaver will play some type of unspecified roles at S.N.Y., but not during the games, apparently. And perhaps no sweeter words could be expressed about the dim prospect of Healy following the Mets to their new network than those uttered on a news media conference call yesterday by Jon Litner, the president of S.N.Y, who said, "He's under contract to MSG for another year." Sanity breaks out. (soupcan - 'Ouch') Having three announcers completely identified as the Mets' voices is reminiscent of the days when Kiner, Bob Murphy and Lindsey Nelson called all the games on television and radio. It's no longer quite so cozy; the Mets' radio games will be called by Howie Rose and Tom McCarthy. "I grew up in San Francisco," Hernandez said, where the Giants games were called by Lon Simmons and Russ Hodges. "They were the two guys, on radio and TV. You turned the game on, and it was Lon and Russ." The hiring of Hernandez and Darling had been expected, especially with David Cone unwilling to call as many games as S.N.Y. needed and Al Leiter continuing his playing career. The fact that all four were Mets was not a prerequisite to being considered, but their connections to the team did not hurt, said Curt Gowdy Jr., the executive producer of the network. "I wanted the best people available," Gowdy said. The inaugural year of S.N.Y. coincides with the 20th anniversary of the Mets' second World Series championship, so having two members of that team in the booth is a promotional and a historical advantage. "One thing about that team is they owned this town," Darling, 45, said on the conference call. Hernandez, 52, played down the hard-partying image of that team, at least in terms of other teams he played with during his career. "I can't say that those Mets were No. 1 on the list of carousing on the road," he said on the call. He suggested that young, athletic men on his teams were not going to play tiddlywinks on the road after a game. Hernandez has been calling games for about a decade, but last year his MSG-F.S.N.Y. schedule was cut to 32 games from 50 or 55 in previous years, a decision he preferred not to discuss. "I always wanted to do more games," he said, then added, "This is the biggest job in my post-playing career." Darling spent his first year in the booth last season, working with Mel Proctor on 150 Washington Nationals games. He and Proctor met for the first time in a taxicab on the way to their first game, in Philadelphia. "Somehow we pulled off the first game and went on from there," Proctor said by telephone. The arrangements, first to put the Nationals on the air, and second, to hire Proctor and Darling, were made so hastily that Darling slept on Proctor's couch for three weeks before finding his own place. Proctor said that Darling's biggest adjustment was to maintain his energy over 150 games, a greater load than most TV announcers have. "He's usually low-key," Proctor said, "but one game, he came running in late, runs into the booth, out of breath, in a hurry, all pumped up, and it was the best game he ever did. I said, 'Ronnie, that's the energy you need to bring every time.' " Darling and Hernandez will generally work one-on-one with Cohen, although Gowdy said that he may tinker with using all three, a trial process that will begin in spring training. S.N.Y. has not scheduled its first game. Darling is a lesser-known commodity than Hernandez, who has improved, after a rocky start, with more work. There was a time, after he finished playing, when continuing in baseball was a remote idea. "In 1991, I got away from the game for four years and I barely watched," he said. "I cleared my head and realized it was a beautiful game." He has also preserved the hair hue of his youth with Just For Men coloring ("The Rejuvenator!"), which he has promoted with Walt Frazier. So let us recapitulate what S.N.Y. has wrought: Cohen. Darling. Hernandez. No Healy. A good start. E-mail: sportsbiz@nytimes.com

I have a crapload of autographs on the team picture fold-out from the '78 book. I must've gotten half of that god-awful team that year. This is definitely a top ten yearbook cover by the way...

I'll defer to KC on the worth of the 'Offical' book. Don't remember where I got the info. Mebbe I read it somewhere years back. In any case it is a cool piece of Metsdom. Cooby did you feel like Charlie Bucket opening up a Wonka Bar with a golden ticket in it when you saw that yours was 'Offical'?

How many have Mets yearbook collections? Raise your hands. A complete collection? If not what do youi need? Do you display them or just keep them in a box somewhere? I collect only the first editions not the revised though I have some reviseds in my collection. I need '62-66 to complete my collection. I keep them in binders on a shelf in my office at home I saw '62 in a store once for $500.00. Went to the bank to get the money by the time I got back she was gone.

Yeah baby! KC - is that yours?

="Johnny Dickshot"]B y the way, the illustrations on the 60s YBs were a billion times better than those of the 70s, 80s +. Thee Willard Mullins one where Casey and the Met baby are pulling the welcome mat out from under the ballplayer looking at the stadium is prolly my favorite (1964), followed by the one where the cartoon Met guy is climbing a staircase where each step represents their record in descending order. I guess that was 68, not sure offhand. Totally, totally, totally agree! I like the steps where each step up represented the Mets W/L record getting better each year of their existence and then there's one broken step representing a year when they slid backwards. Very cool. On edit:

Yup. Not many peeps do know so if you ever see a '74, look at it closely and if its got the typo and not priced accordingly - snap that baby up. Not that it'll pay for your kids college education but its still a cool piece of Mets history to have.

'79 was also the team I came to love the most as well. The batting order escapes me but I'm pretty sure Frank Tavarez led off. It was usually Montanez at first, Flynn at second, Tavarez at short, Hebner third, Stearns catcher, Youngblood, Mazzili and Henderson among others in the outfield. Pitchers were Swan, Kobel, Espinosa, Bruhert. Was Lockwood still there? I think Orosco even made an appearence that year. As for yearbooks - 1980 - Worstest. Bestest cover for me (for obvious reasons) is probably 1987: There was also this yearbook - that had a misprint on the cover of the initial printing. Instead of 'Official Yearbook' it read 'Offical Yearbook' omitting the second 'i' in 'official'. It was reprinted pretty quickly and the originals are hard to find. Supposedly fetching upwards of $400 or so. I saw one in a memorabilia store priced at what the reprint should have been (the owner either didn't know about it or didn't catch the typo) so I snapped it up.at a what I think was maybe $20 several years back. If I ever get that scanner I'll show youse guys.

cleonjones11 wrote: If you do not post regularly on this "board" you are generally ignored. Post more, read less. Problem solved. Next.