Master Index of Archived Threads


Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

Edgy MD Jan 18 2012 08:27 AM

Anybody else feeling the Wilponian cloud across the Mets blogosphere? So many blogs I read, the first response and too many afterward is always a fuck-you-Freddie. Blog Theme: Tim Byrdak is capable of repeating his numbers or even improving them if he cuts his walk rate, but even if he backslides or falls apart, the Mets' investment in his arm is relatively modest. [list]First Response: I can't get overly excited about Tim Byrdak. Wilpons should sell.[/list:u] Blog Theme: It'll be interesting to see which number the new guy gets, considering the number he's worn throughout his career is unavailable. [list]First Response: The only numbers that matter are the time and date the Wilpon's sell the team.[/list:u] Blog Theme: Tom Seaver has been taken hostage at a strip mall in Portland! [list]First Response: We're all hostages to Fred Wilpon. Sell the team, Fred![/list:u] Paraphrasing. I certainly realize it's the story of our time, and bloggers are doing their best to discuss it (and in some cases, break parts of the story), but absent any other news, they try and look at the other angles of the team, and BAMMO! the Wilponian left hook from their readership.

Ceetar Jan 18 2012 08:34 AM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

Anybody else feeling the Wilponian cloud across the Mets blogosphere? So many blogs I read, the first response and too many afterward is always a fuck-you-Freddie. Blog Theme: Tim Byrdak is capable of repeating his numbers or even improving them if he cuts his walk rate, but even if he backslides or falls apart, the Mets' investment in his arm is relatively modest. [list]First Response: I can't get overly excited about Tim Byrdak. Wilpons should sell.[/list:u] Blog Theme: It'll be interesting to see which number the new guy gets, considering the number he's worn throughout his career is unavailable. [list]First Response: The only numbers that matter are the time and date the Wilpon's sell the team.[/list:u] Blog Theme: Tom Seaver has been taken hostage at a strip mall in Portland! [list]First Response: We're all hostages to Fred Wilpon. Sell the team, Fred![/list:u] Paraphrasing. I certainly realize it's the story of our time, and bloggers are doing their best to discuss it (and in some cases, break parts of the story), but absent any other news, they try and look at the other angles of the team, and BAMMO! the Wilponian left hook from their readership. Move the fences in! Freddy Coupon! There's always something.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Jan 18 2012 08:42 AM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

The ongoing Wilpon story is like a virus that infects the team's biggest supporters the most, which is why it comes out in blogs and commenters. If I'm honest with myself and all of mbtn's 5 readers, I got down on the Mets/Wilpon in September of '08 and haven't really recovered my old enthusiasms. I still want 'em to do good and win, but my faith in them getting anything right was badly damaged and events since then have only served to illustrate that further. I really do believe the Wilpons are irredeemable fuckups -- oftentimes well-meaning fuckups, but fuckups nonetheless -- who don't deserve the fans' faith anymore.

Edgy MD Jan 18 2012 10:38 AM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

What About Bob?

Gwreck Jan 18 2012 11:38 AM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

Edgy DC wrote: Anybody else feeling the Wilponian cloud across the Mets blogosphere? When was the last time the Mets came into a season having given up before it started? Serious question. There have been some bad years in the recent past, but they have mostly come about as a result of injuries/ill advised acquisitions that were expensive. Yet as annoying as those seasons are, the leadup to them in January/February/Spring Training -- before everything goes wrong -- is a lot more palatable. Here, we've got ownership who has no money to spend on players, let the most exciting player in the league, who was a homegrown talent, walk without making an offer, owes money to everyone, is being sued for hundreds of millions more -- yet WON'T SELL under any circumstances. I don't have a crystal ball but I can see clearly that the next few seasons are going to be BAD. I'm going to guess that other people can see that too.

Edgy MD Jan 18 2012 11:41 AM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

I'm kind of asking a more specific question than whether or not folks think the Mets will be good.

G-Fafif Jan 18 2012 11:55 AM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

There is a strain of blog reader who tends to cut through the esoterica and to the chase. I don't care what they wear/where they play/how the broadcasts sound as long as they win. It's kind of an all-purpose comment from people who can't wait long enough for the hardcore baseball posts, so they jump in at will. The Wilpon situation is the proxy for that right now, not without pretty good reason.

Ceetar Jan 18 2012 11:56 AM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

Edgy DC wrote: I'm kind of asking a more specific question than whether or not folks think the Mets will be good. I feel like it was this way last offseason too, although fresher and we didn't have the hard evidence about the actual team's functioning and there were quotes about the payroll being like $30 million more than it is now. (Think about what you'd feel about the Mets chances if they still had Reyes, had redone the bullpen as they did, AND added say Kuroda) But it sorta became background noise for most once the season started, and it will again. The limited major roster additions also make a lot of the normal offseason stuff, predicting lineups and production and how guys fit, a little redundant.

Gwreck Jan 18 2012 12:07 PM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

Edgy DC wrote: I'm kind of asking a more specific question than whether or not folks think the Mets will be good. I think I answered your specific question. Why is there a Wilponian cloud over everything? See above

Edgy MD Jan 18 2012 12:18 PM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

That's not my question nor what I'm speaking of, though it's very certainly emblematic of what I'm speaking of --- that the rage against Wilpon and the demands he sell are un-necessarily hijacking almost every conversation, whether relevant or not.

Gwreck Jan 18 2012 12:24 PM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

Now I'm confused. So your question wasn't really a question, but more of a comment? I still stand by my answer as a reasoned explanation, and object to any insinuations that it might be otherwise. People have been upset at the Wilpons for this, that or the other thing for years. I'll bet many fanbases have the same problem with their owners. Things are coming to a head now because 2012 is the season where it can reasonably be argued (or, at the very least, reasonably perceived) that the Wilpons have given up on the team being successful.

Edgy MD Jan 18 2012 12:31 PM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

Gwreck wrote: Now I'm confused. So your question wasn't really a question, but more of a comment? No, it was a question. I still stand by my answer as a reasoned explanation, and object to any insinuations that it might be otherwise. I object to your objection. And if you object to my objection of your objection, I object infinity. What? I asked if people noticed this cloud, not why it exists. I went on to describe what I meant --- the cloud I speak of not being, as I tried to note, how Wilpon sucks and has ruined everything, or even why folks object to that, but how folks are hijacking conversations and injecting the sell-now agenda into everything, and are almost bitchily offended that anybody should talk about anything else. Which I'm trying to do now. Ironically, relevant stuff, like the potential losses in the clawback suit being limited to the Mets withdrawals from their accounts beyond their principle, protecting $600+ million of their principle, and yesterday's ruling on the appeal, gets ignored.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Jan 18 2012 12:48 PM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

Maybe it's just me, but I find myself wondering where all the Norms went in professional sports. Really, though... the Wilpon thing hangs over everything because, well, the Wilpon thing hangs over everything; it's the story of the recent past, of the present, and the foreseeable future. If we are thinking about these time periods/anything in them, we are kindasorta gravitationally pulled to think of the Wilpons (even if these thoughts are not verbally expressed, suppressed with a deep breath and a pleasing placeholder-mental-image). Some people are better about being polite about it than others; for a lot of people, this is the mental arena to which they retreat when they don't feel like being polite, so... hijacking ensues.

Vic Sage Jan 18 2012 03:35 PM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

i understand the frustration over this type of "hijacking"; your trying to have a rational conversation about X and people keep interrupting with shouts of Y, Y, Y! But i reject the comment that the Wilpon bashing is irrelevant. The Wilpon financial problems hang over any discussion of this year's team; they affect discussions about the roster, the minors, speculation about FAs, trades, the stadium... i can't think of a topic about the team that isn't relevant to its financial resources (or lack thereof) one way or another.

Edgy MD Jan 18 2012 05:24 PM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

Whether Tim Byrdak has a chance to pitch well. What number Frank Francisco is going to wear. Tom Seaver being held hostage. I'm sure you and I can easily build a logical bridge from any of these topics to Wilpon's finances (who's going to pay the ransom?). But to immediately respond to these topics with brief and out-of-left-field (and extremely tired) attacks on Wilpon without bothering to build any such bridge is clearly just an exercise in being obnoxious.

Ceetar Jan 18 2012 05:30 PM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

Edgy DC wrote: Whether Tim Byrdak has a chance to pitch well. What number Frank Francisco is going to wear. Tom Seaver being held hostage. I'm sure you and I can easily build a logical bridge from any of these topics to Wilpon's finances (who's going to pay the ransom?). But to immediately respond to these topics with brief and out-of-left-field (and extremely tired) attacks on Wilpon without bothering to build any such bridge is clearly just an exercise in being obnoxious. Pretty much. Shocking as it may seem, there are plenty of Mets fans that don't even want to discuss finances, particularly in a thread about Tim Byrdak. Maybe I should start responding to all of them with "I think Duda will hit 30 home runs this year"

metirish Jan 18 2012 05:35 PM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

Great , if Duda hits 30 home runs then the Mets won't be able to keep him because of the Wilpon's finances. Ugh.

batmagadanleadoff Jan 18 2012 05:43 PM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

And that rotunda. How insulting. You could fit over a dozen Mets Halls of Fame into just one of those rotundas for a Dodger. But finish this analogy: Fred Wilpon: New York Mets       Raoul Hirsch: _____________

Fman99 Jan 18 2012 07:33 PM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

batmagadanleadoff wrote: Fred Wilpon: New York Mets       Raoul Hirsch: Some Shitdick I Never Heard Of

G-Fafif Feb 08 2012 09:49 AM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

Someone with the Zeile of the Converted. Underwent a transformation as the MFYs were about to choke and never looked back. Well, he looks back a lot, but you know what I mean. I hadn’t seriously considered switching allegiances until I had the reaction I did during the ALCS in 2004. My favorite team had been the Yankees, but my second favorite team was the Mets. There was no point to hating the Mets, because the baseball fan in me just viewed it as that much more awesome that I had that much more baseball to root for in my city. I would root for the Yankees over the Mets, but outside of those games, I wanted the Mets to win just as much as I wanted the Yankees to win. One of the greatest baseball memories I have is watching the 15-inning classic against the Mets and the Braves, the game everybody now knows as Robin Ventura’s Grand Slam Single. I remember being extremely pissed off at Kenny Rogers (a f%&in walk?) two nights later. In my study of baseball, I am extremely fascinated with the National League side of New York, even when I was a Die-hard Yankee fan. My cousin and uncle are Met fans, my grandfather was a Giants fan in Brooklyn, so when the transformation in 2004 happened in me, it only felt natural to join the die-hard Mets fandom mid-stream. Nobody thought I was genuine. The Met fans I had grown up with said, “You can’t be a flip-flopper, so don’t think you can go back.” And I said, “Of course not.” I had stopped identifying with the Yankees, and while the Yankees are a large part of baseball history and my personal baseball history, I feel much more a part of baseball being a Mets fan than I did as a Yankee fan in the latter years of that fandom. At first, my dad thought it was about him, and while he called me a traitor at the beginning, he eventually realized it wasn’t about him and only calls me a traitor jokingly now. He says he’s just happy that I love baseball and that he was a part of building up that passion.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Feb 08 2012 10:32 AM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

Interesting, honest. And deeply weird. He's weird. That's weird. And not, like, Gonzo weird, but, like, that-guy-on-the-train-won't-stop-staring-at-me-and-smiling weird.

Ashie62 Feb 09 2012 12:41 PM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

NY Times today "Mets on the Cheap." seems fair with the Sandy can't do much arguement.. [url]http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/09/sports/baseball/alderson-is-forced-to-remake-mets-on-the-cheap.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&ref=sports

Ceetar Feb 09 2012 12:53 PM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

A disturbing end of this list. On the other hand, every NY team imaginable has made the playoffs within 6 years so this probably doesn't look so dismal outside of New York. [url]http://www.faithandfearinflushing.com/2012/02/08/playoffs-playoffs/ • Last New York Giants (NFL) playoff game: February 5, 2012 • Last New York Red Bulls (MLS) playoff game: November 3, 2011 • Last New York Yankees (MLB) playoff game: October 6, 2011 • Last New York Liberty (WNBA) playoff game: September 19, 2011 • Last New York Knicks (NBA) playoff game: April 24, 2011 • Last New York Rangers (NHL) playoff game: April 23, 2011 • Last New York Jets (NFL) playoff game: January 23, 2011 • Last Long Island Lizards (Major League Lacrosse) playoff game: August 21, 2010 • Last New Jersey Devils (NHL) playoff game: April 22, 2010 • Last New York Titans (National Lacrosse League) playoff game: May 15, 2009 • Last New York Dragons (Arena Football League) playoff game: July 5, 2008 • Last New Jersey Ironmen (Major Indoor Soccer League) playoff game: April 12, 2008 • Last New Jersey Nets (NBA) playoff game: May 18, 2007 • Last New York Islanders (NHL) playoff game: April 20, 2007 • Last New York Mets (MLB) playoff game: October 19, 2006

Ashie62 Feb 09 2012 01:05 PM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

Almost as bad as the WHA New York Raiders, remember John Sterling as a rookie announcer there??? Well, do ya!

Ceetar Feb 09 2012 01:06 PM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

Ashie62 wrote: Almost as bad as the WHA New York Raiders, remember John Sterling as a rookie announcer there??? Well, do ya! no, JOhn Sterling has been the Yankee guy as long as I can remember.

Edgy MD Feb 22 2012 09:37 AM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

All Mets questions used on Jeopardy! since 1984, courtesy of Amazin' Avenue.

HahnSolo Feb 22 2012 10:35 AM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

I think I got all but this one: why weren't the Giants originally offered a ticker-tape parade? Was it because they were a "Jersey" team?

Mets – Willets Point Feb 22 2012 11:21 AM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

HahnSolo wrote: I think I got all but this one: why weren't the Giants originally offered a ticker-tape parade? Was it because they were a "Jersey" team? Yes, Ed Koch called them a "foreign" team and would not permit a city-funded parade but some corporate sponsors stepped in to allow the parade to happen.

Edgy MD Feb 29 2012 06:50 AM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

Holy gosh, what a difference.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Feb 29 2012 09:57 AM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

Edgy DC wrote: Holy gosh, what a difference. Oh, you bet. Perhaps it's mostly a function of the guy in the chair above him being who HE is, but Terry's been a fair-to-moderate surprise (Tejada "lateness" shtick notwithstanding) over his brief tenure.

Edgy MD Feb 29 2012 10:43 AM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

Yeah, that shtick --- and that's a good word for it --- was out of the Randolph playbook, I think. I'm sure he'll have a private conversation with Tejada along the "Here's why I said what I said" lines. Doesn't really make it right. Here's a more positive way to answer the "Are you pissed that Player X isn't here?" question. [list]"I've really got too much to work on with the players that are here to dwell on that. Look*, we have a mandatory reporting date for a reason. Our two rules are (1) be here on that date, and (2) be ready to work very hard. What you guys need to understand is that while players who report early should be commended, it doesn't mean players who report on the due date haven't been working their tails off up until that point. Carlos Beltran wasn't one to get to camp early, but he was there on time, and when he got there, he was a month ahead of some guys."[/list:u] He also would have done well --- if he insisted on contrasting Tejada's attendance with that of another player --- to cite an in-house example rather than a Yankee one. *President Obama is a master of prefacing his media redirects with a "Look... ." It has a great way of implying that somebody's got to be the reasonable adult in the room, without actually saying that.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Feb 29 2012 04:06 PM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

Edgy DC wrote: Yeah, that shtick --- and that's a good word for it --- was out of the Randolph playbook, I think. I'm sure he'll have a private conversation with Tejada along the "Here's why I said what I said" lines. Doesn't really make it right. Randolphian, yes... but also early-period Collinsian, no? Being a stick-up-the-ass with legs was the ostensible reason players chafed under his watch in Houston and Anaheim, wasn't it? And I like your answer, but there were several dozen ways he could have addressed it without dumping on a guy for showing up on time and sounding like the Friday's manager from "Office Space."

G-Fafif Mar 28 2012 05:24 AM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

Really good one from Ted Berg. Rooting for a team means emotionally investing in something, and that brings with it the risk of some pain –- not lasting physical pain, but pain nonetheless. But when that pain comes like it has the last few years, what’s the sense in wallowing in it? Passage best read in context...so go read it in context.

Fman99 Mar 28 2012 06:30 AM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

Thanks, that was a good read.

metirish Mar 28 2012 06:43 AM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

Yeah that was great, Lewin linked to it yesterday on twitter.....

Edgy MD Mar 28 2012 07:02 AM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

I was going to link to that today. It's a lovely open metaphor. A lot of folks can take different things from it. Hopefully not only self-affirming things, but yeah. I was also going to kick this one out today: "Dick Tidrow." OE: Holy crap, a response from his legendary brother.

Edgy MD Apr 09 2012 12:45 PM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

Pitchers and Poets thinks fantasy baseball is the enemy of baseball cards. No No-Hitters looks at yesterday's game and is reminded of the Curse of Clay Kirby. The Kranepool Society celebrates the home-grown-iness of the Met lineup, but spells mercenaries with an apostrophe.

SteveJRogers Apr 09 2012 03:45 PM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

Click on my sig around 6pm EST to see a blogger attempt to live blog from Citi Field on his mobile device!

G-Fafif Apr 12 2012 01:26 PM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

"The mornings are always chaotic on MetsBlog, because the news cycle seems to be different every day." [youtube]-0dXUkKHXVY[/youtube]

Ceetar Apr 12 2012 01:38 PM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

my arm briefly makes an appearance if you know where to look.

Edgy MD Apr 12 2012 01:42 PM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

Underneath your shoulder at the side of your torso, I would guess.

G-Fafif Apr 12 2012 01:45 PM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

WAITER: How did you find your steak? CUSTOMER: I merely looked under my baked potato and there it was. From Mad magazine, sometime in my childhood.

Edgy MD Jun 12 2012 07:26 AM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

Murray Chass, not above grabbing cheap photoshop jobs off the internet.

Edgy MD Jul 27 2012 08:55 AM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

Yells for Ourselves marks the 13th anniversary of the Mercury Mets.

Mets – Willets Point Jul 27 2012 09:26 AM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

Did anyone ever capture the image of Rickey Henderson-come-alien? I've never seen it.

batmagadanleadoff Jul 27 2012 10:03 AM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

Mets – Willets Point wrote: Did anyone ever capture the image of Rickey Henderson-come-alien? I've never seen it. I definitely have screen shots of Rickey's first at bat as a Mercury Met (which was necessarily the first at bat by any Mercury Met) on my hard drive, but I can't seem to find them. Rickey was, no doubt, surprised to see his altered image including an alien third eye between his human pair on the left field Diamond Vision scoreboard. But his expression was more astonishment than anger, I thought. As for me, my vitriol for those uniforms has tempered considerably over the years. With lotsa hindsight, I can see clearly now that the Mercury Mets were just a one-off novelty, and so no need to get so hot and bothered over the ugliness of it all.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Jul 27 2012 10:09 AM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

Turn Ahead the Clock was one of those league wide promotions through Century 21 which was one of the MLB-wide sponsors. There were only a few teams that didn;t participate: The MFYs, Dodgers and Cubs, I think. I thought it was a fun idea but it was executed badly, and the Mets' real sin in it all was doing it more enthusiastically than anyone else. I'm sure there was a rea$on for that because it's not often the Mets are out front on anything, and I'm sure they are loaded with self-pity about how they're considered a joke for their part in it.

batmagadanleadoff Jul 27 2012 10:10 AM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

Here's a Mercury Mets uniform trivia question: The Mets wore these caps for their Mercury themed game with Pittsburgh. At bat, though, they wore their standard issue 1999 batting helmets over their Mercury caps. But two Mercury Mets batting helmets were produced for the game. Which two Mets wore the Mercury helmets?

Edgy MD Jul 27 2012 10:12 AM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

Fuck it. I just changed the name of my rock band to the Mercury Mets. We got us a symbol and everything.

batmagadanleadoff Jul 27 2012 10:23 AM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

Here's a Mercury Mets uniform trivia question: The Mets wore these caps for their Mercury themed game with Pittsburgh. At bat, though, they wore their standard issue 1999 batting helmets over their Mercury caps. But two Mercury Mets batting helmets were produced for the game. Which two Mets wore the Mercury helmets? Hey Paul Lukas: If you ever lurk here, I'll betcha that this one'll stump you.

Ceetar Jul 27 2012 10:27 AM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

Turn Ahead the Clock was one of those league wide promotions through Century 21 which was one of the MLB-wide sponsors. There were only a few teams that didn;t participate: The MFYs, Dodgers and Cubs, I think. I thought it was a fun idea but it was executed badly, and the Mets' real sin in it all was doing it more enthusiastically than anyone else. I'm sure there was a rea$on for that because it's not often the Mets are out front on anything, and I'm sure they are loaded with self-pity about how they're considered a joke for their part in it. See, I love all this stuff. go over the top. be entertaining and quirky and different. it's a freakin' one off game. Go all out, don't give us half-assed star wars trivia and call it Star Wars Night. Change everyone's image to a wookie or a jedi or photoshop lightsabres instead of bats. There were bloggers BEGGING to help you out with this. Read The Apple made cards and sent them to you, all you had to do was load them into the scoreboard app.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Jul 27 2012 10:27 AM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

Just guesses: Matt Franco and Agbayani

batmagadanleadoff Jul 27 2012 10:30 AM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

Turn Ahead the Clock was one of those league wide promotions through Century 21 which was one of the MLB-wide sponsors. There were only a few teams that didn;t participate: The MFYs, Dodgers and Cubs, I think. I thought it was a fun idea but it was executed badly, and the Mets' real sin in it all was doing it more enthusiastically than anyone else. I'm sure there was a rea$on for that because it's not often the Mets are out front on anything, and I'm sure they are loaded with self-pity about how they're considered a joke for their part in it. See, I love all this stuff. go over the top. be entertaining and quirky and different. it's a freakin' one off game. Go all out, don't give us half-assed star wars trivia and call it Star Wars Night. Change everyone's image to a wookie or a jedi or photoshop lightsabres instead of bats. There were bloggers BEGGING to help you out with this. Read The Apple made cards and sent them to you, all you had to do was load them into the scoreboard app. If not for your age, I'd be convinced that you were on the Mercury Mets planning committee.

batmagadanleadoff Jul 27 2012 10:35 AM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Just guesses: Matt Franco and Agbayani Because I love being a hardass on these trivia questions, I'm gonna say that you're wrong, without saying whether both or just one of your guesses are wrong.

Ceetar Jul 27 2012 10:40 AM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

Olerud? Due to the "wears the helmet in the field" thing? and..Piazza?

batmagadanleadoff Jul 27 2012 10:53 AM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

Ceetar wrote: Olerud? Due to the "wears the helmet in the field" thing? and..Piazza? Pens down. Game over. Hats off to Ceetar. We have a winner! Baseball rules require that the team in the field (i.e., the defense) be attired uniformly. This includes headgear. Because catchers wear helmets in the field for protection, a Mercury Mets helmet was produced for Mike Piazza, so that his headgear would match the soft Merc caps worn by the other Mets fielders. Another Merc helmet was made for John Olerud, who always wore a helmet, even in the field, because of his prior brain aneurysm. Ironically, Olerud did not play in the Mercury game, the only game he'd miss all season. Still, Oly could be spotted wearing the Mercury hardhat in the Mets dugout.

G-Fafif Sep 04 2012 07:35 AM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

On his online home, Sports on Earth (sort of a Grantland without the frills), Joe Posnanski pays tribute to longtime Braves blogger Mac Thomason who just passed away. He prefaces the obit portion of his piece with what I think is a good contextual description of the genre. We used to live in a world where, if you were this sort of person (and I was), you could let the static-suffused voices of baseball play-by-play announcers pull you out of your own humdrum childhood and into another life. You could sit in a car in your driveway -- an antenna rising from the hood like a conductor’s baton -- and turn the dial slowly, let Bob Prince take you to Pittsburgh, hear Ernie Harwell tell you the comical names of the people catching foul balls in the stands of Detroit, let Jack Buck pull you into downtown St. Louis, catch Herb Score saying improbably that once more in Cleveland it was a beautiful day for baseball. In another part of the country you could hear Vin Scully, the master, tell you a story, or Dave Niehaus shout that baseballs in Seattle were flying away. You can still do this sort of thing, of course, in fact you can do it more effectively than ever -- you don’t even need an old Chevy Nova. The radio voices from all over the country come across your iDevice, your Sirius radio, your computer, your phone, and those voices aren’t covered in static, and they don’t fade away when the wind changes course. This is better, no question. And, maybe, at the same time, it’s also less of an adventure. And I think the point for us car-parked radio explorers was the adventure. You know what I think is an adventure now? Baseball blogs. Every team’s fans have them, of course, there are hundreds and hundreds of them out there, lurking in between error pages, waiting to be found in the midst of the spam and the politics and the family photos and the naked pictures. The blogs are all passionate, every one of them, because who else but a passionate fan would start a baseball blog? But passion is where the similarities end. Some are hopeful and some are angry, some are vicious and some are playful, some are shrewd and some get every detail wrong. Some are astonishingly well written and some use a lot of exclamation points so that you get the point!!!

Edgy MD Sep 04 2012 07:41 AM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

I stumbled on this tribute to Thomason the other day. Loved it. This post from Ephemeral New York, but the day after Labor Day is as good a day as any to remember the Straw Hat Riots.

Edgy MD Sep 06 2012 01:50 PM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

Covering the Mets ruins the Mets!

John Cougar Lunchbucket Sep 06 2012 02:00 PM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

He'll be back.

Ceetar Sep 06 2012 02:08 PM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

Edgy DC wrote: Covering the Mets ruins the Mets! Wait until someone tells him Ross and Rachel are just regular people in real life and aren't even dating!

Zvon Sep 06 2012 02:10 PM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

Covering the Mets ruins the Mets! Interesting article. Why do I feel bad for the guy? Cause his priorities have shifted? That's life pal. In the team's curvy logo script and goofy, anthropomorphic, hydrocephalic baseball mascot, I saw the boundless enthusiasm and good-natured irreverence on which I prided myself. I enjoy pieces that make me look up a word. Never can know enough words. hydrocephalic — n Nontechnical name: water on the brain accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid within the ventricles of the brain because its normal outlet has been blocked by congenital malformation or disease. In infancy it usually results in great enlargement of the head. Ha!

Edgy MD Sep 06 2012 02:12 PM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

That's the funny part. He doesn't even complain that the Mets are a pack of skirt-chasing, entitled douchebags, which would hardly surprise me, but that they're more or less as boring as most people.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Sep 06 2012 02:31 PM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

Ceetar wrote: Edgy DC wrote: Covering the Mets ruins the Mets! Wait until someone tells him Ross and Rachel are just regular people in real life and aren't even dating! What?!?

SteveJRogers Sep 28 2012 03:30 PM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

A Salute To The Mets 20 Win Club Hopefully a new edition to the Cy Young club to follow during the winter! Well, I'll probably do that article anyway, tailored around Metly finishes through the years.

Edgy MD Oct 01 2012 09:50 AM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

Third-best homegrown lefty starter in Mets' history? Jon Niese, sez Studious Metsimus, in a compelling argument.

seawolf17 Oct 01 2012 10:06 AM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

Edgy DC wrote: Third-best homegrown lefty starter in Mets' history? Jon Niese, sez Studious Metsimus, in a compelling argument. He even admits that it says more about their history of developing lefties than it does about Niese. If you want to play that game, Josh Thole is no worse than the fourth-best catcher the Mets have ever produced.

Edgy MD Oct 01 2012 10:16 AM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

Hundley, Hodges, and... Dyer? Trevino? Vance Wilson?

SteveJRogers Oct 01 2012 10:21 AM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

seawolf17 wrote: Edgy DC wrote: Third-best homegrown lefty starter in Mets' history? Jon Niese, sez Studious Metsimus, in a compelling argument. He even admits that it says more about their history of developing lefties than it does about Niese. If you want to play that game, Josh Thole is no worse than the fourth-best catcher the Mets have ever produced. 4th? I'm hard pressed to get past Hundley on such a list off hand. Unless you want to use "dependable big league backup backstops" such as Alex Trevino, Duffy Dyer, Vance Wilson, Barry Lyons, Jason Phillips, etc as part of that criteria.

Benjamin Grimm Oct 01 2012 11:18 AM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

Mike Fitzgerald?

seawolf17 Oct 01 2012 11:27 AM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

I was thinking Hundley, Hodges, Dyer.

G-Fafif Oct 01 2012 12:27 PM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

Edgy DC wrote: Third-best homegrown lefty starter in Mets' history? Jon Niese, sez Studious Metsimus, in a compelling argument. Not much competition among homegrown lefties for thirty-plus years, area blog reported in January.

Ceetar Oct 10 2012 08:49 AM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

on R.A. Dickey, good read. [url]http://deadspin.com/5947192/what-the-best-pitcher-in-baseball-taught-me-about-prep-school-socrates-and-the-art-of-not-selling-out

metirish Oct 10 2012 09:18 AM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

Ceetar wrote: on R.A. Dickey, good read. [url]http://deadspin.com/5947192/what-the-best-pitcher-in-baseball-taught-me-about-prep-school-socrates-and-the-art-of-not-selling-out It was

Edgy MD Oct 10 2012 09:55 AM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

Who wants to invite Sam Page to register?

John Cougar Lunchbucket Oct 10 2012 11:00 AM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

Great peice! Weird and spooky for that kid.

Ashie62 Oct 10 2012 12:33 PM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

seawolf17 wrote: I was thinking Hundley, Hodges, Dyer. John Stearns?

G-Fafif Oct 10 2012 12:48 PM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

That was an incredibly good piece by a gifted writer. Love when Deadspin runs something like that instead of what Deadspin usually runs.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Oct 10 2012 01:35 PM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

That's Sam Page, late of Amazin' Avenue, no?

Edgy MD Oct 10 2012 01:36 PM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

See, I think Deadspin pieces are usually well written, just fiercely amoral.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Oct 10 2012 01:39 PM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

You should read some of their takes on sports labor situations. Still, if it's going to lean too far one way or the other, I think I'd rather have amoral sportswriting than the kind that lectures me from the toy department.

G-Fafif Oct 10 2012 01:41 PM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: That's Sam Page, late of Amazin' Avenue, no? Same. Still writes for AA on occasion. And is in college. College.

Ceetar Oct 10 2012 01:44 PM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

G-Fafif wrote: LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: That's Sam Page, late of Amazin' Avenue, no? Same. Still writes for AA on occasion. And is in college. College. And I never realized he was that young either. Stupid young people.

SteveJRogers Oct 10 2012 02:13 PM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

Ashie62 wrote: seawolf17 wrote: I was thinking Hundley, Hodges, Dyer. John Stearns? Acquired in the Tug McGraw deal. Made his big league debut as a September call up Phillie in 1974.

batmagadanleadoff Oct 10 2012 02:48 PM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

(When [Dickey] signed a minor-league deal with the Mets, Chris "Mad Dog" Russo just read his name over and over and giggled, a second-grade comedy routine that kept me off WFAN for quite a while.) Did anyone click on the WFAN link embedded in Page's Deadspin piece? [youtube]-hzI_aBATO8[/youtube]

SteveJRogers Nov 05 2012 07:41 AM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

Anticipating R.A. Dickey's placement in the 2012 NL Cy Young voting, A look at Mets Cy Young Voting History.

Ceetar Dec 04 2012 07:36 AM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

The Devil & Angel on Sandy's Call R.A. Dickey weighs in on Faith and Fear's post discussing the possibility of his tarde. @RADickey43 wrote: @greg_prince @MetsGM @pdepo nice piece.... Very c. S. lewisish. Reminded me of the screwtape letters.

themetfairy Dec 04 2012 07:46 AM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

Ceetar wrote: The Devil & Angel on Sandy's Call R.A. Dickey weighs in on Faith and Fear's post discussing the possibility of his tarde. @RADickey43 wrote: @greg_prince @MetsGM @pdepo nice piece.... Very c. S. lewisish. Reminded me of the screwtape letters. Really Awesome!

Edgy MD Dec 04 2012 07:52 AM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

Wow. A hat tip from the man and a comparison to C.S. Lewis.

G-Fafif Dec 04 2012 11:03 AM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

Edgy MD wrote: Wow. A hat tip from the man and a comparison to C.S. Lewis. That was unexpected. I've always been more of a J.J. Lewis man.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Dec 04 2012 11:10 AM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

Whoa.

Edgy MD Dec 18 2012 09:12 AM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012

Boom-chocka-locka-locka-BOOM! Never read Mets Mama before, but winning illustrations are the key to making a reader out of me.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Dec 18 2012 02:08 PM Re: Dispatches from the Blogosphere 2012