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Mets By the Numbers

cooby Feb 22 2006 07:49 AM

Happy 7th Anniversary to a great Mets website!

Johnny Dickshot Feb 22 2006 08:06 AM

This means it's also the 7th birthday of the Ultimate Mets Database, or just slightly beyond its 7th birthday. I recall coming across it (not literally, but kinda) for the first time just as I was finishing up the original version. I wrote an email to the UMD guy saying I used the data I found there to do my website and the reply was "you did?" Earliest archive capture here. The horrible graphics are prolly on a zip disc somewhwere. Note the shout-outs to JSW52 and KC. [url]http://web.archive.org/web/19990429042421/http://www.akula.com/~pax/metshome.htm[/url]

KC Feb 22 2006 08:24 AM

Congrats, JD ... to continued success **clink of Rheingold bottles**

Yancy Street Gang Feb 22 2006 08:27 AM

You know, I had always thought that the UMDB went online in March 1999, but I recently found this in my e-mail archives. It was dated February 4, 1999: Great site! I tapped this site gathering info while putting together a history of the Mets that I recently posted on line: http://www.akula.com/~pax/metshome.htm But when I went to check the Mets all-time season leader in walks, it spit out strikeouts, and vice versa. You might wanna check it. I couldn't find my response in my "out box" though. I'm not surprised that I was surprised to hear from you. You must have discovered the UMDB when it was only a few days old.

Johnny Dickshot Feb 22 2006 09:23 AM

Wow! Happy birthday. By the way, that strikeout-walk screwup resulted in my taking an unwarranted shots at Mark Clark and Dave Mlicki in the earliest published versions iirc.

Edgy DC Feb 22 2006 09:27 AM

Happy birthdays. I like that Dickshot was addressing us in the journalistic "we" from the very begiinning.

Yancy Street Gang Feb 22 2006 09:28 AM

So MBTN was already online by February 4, since you sent me that link. And the UMDB doesn't likely predate it by much. Maybe I should designate the UMDB birthdate as January 31, 1999.

metirish Feb 22 2006 09:29 AM

Happy Birthday guys, both sites are amazin.

cooby Feb 22 2006 09:29 AM

That's kinda cool, that you guys started up at about the same time.

Elster88 Feb 22 2006 09:54 AM

metirish wrote: Happy Birthday guys, both sites are amazin. Agreed.

Johnny Dickshot Feb 22 2006 10:44 AM

Yancy Street Gang wrote: So MBTN was already online by February 4, since you sent me that link. And the UMDB doesn't likely predate it by much. Maybe I should designate the UMDB birthdate as January 31, 1999. Well then that means my Feb. 22 birthdate isn't correct either, though I think that must have been a super-early version. The Feb. 22 date coincides with the public unveiling, such as it was, as that is the date I included on the "about this site" page when I first published.

Johnny Dickshot Feb 22 2006 10:49 AM

I just looked at the original guestbook, which remarkably, still exists out there. The first visit was from me pretending to be someone else on Feb. 11 and the first "real" visitor to leave a comment was Feb. 21.

Yancy Street Gang Feb 22 2006 10:52 AM

I suspect that neither one of us had any idea that our little websites would still be going strong seven years later. I know that if I had, I would have noted the date. The UMDB isn't exactly eBay, but it's been much more popular than I ever imagined. I just wish I was making money off it!

Johnny Dickshot Feb 22 2006 11:02 AM

As I recall it, the UMDB was connected to some other site called "rain delay central" which included a bio of Christy Mathhewson. Was the Matthewson stuff also your work, and what was RDC?

ScarletKnight41 Feb 22 2006 01:08 PM

Happy Anniversary to two great websites. Great work guys!

Yancy Street Gang Feb 22 2006 01:11 PM

I feel a little gay that we're celebrating an anniversary together! Yes, that Matthewson stuff was mine. RDC wasn't anything really, though I guess it could have grown to be something. It was just a place to paste that Matthewson stuff.

SI Metman Feb 22 2006 04:01 PM

Happy Anniversary. The 10 year anniversary of Mets Online (later MOFO Sports / NYSD) is coming up on April 15th.

cooby Feb 22 2006 04:27 PM

Wow, Al Gore himself must have started that up

seawolf17 Feb 22 2006 04:35 PM

A thousand props to MBTN and the UMDB. Brilliant!

metirish Feb 22 2006 04:37 PM

Gore probably didn't start it up but he'll take credit for it.Dickshot, on MBTN you ask people to search out things like all even numbered Mets team and all odd numbered Mets teams,you then point us to UMDB and Retrosheet for Box Scores, problem is that Box scores don't give you the uni #, or am I blind?

Yancy Street Gang Feb 22 2006 04:59 PM

="seawolf17"]A thousand props to MBTN and the UMDB. Brilliant! Thanks! Which one of those two is me?

seawolf17 Feb 22 2006 05:01 PM

The one with the mustache.

Elster88 Feb 22 2006 05:07 PM

cooby wrote: Wow, Al Gore himself must have started that up ="metirish"]Gore probably didn't start it up but he'll take credit for it. Al Gore was highly influential in the way the Internet was developed and became part of everyday life. The "I invented" thing was blown way out of proportion and was basically a quote taken out of context. Just thought you should know. (And I didn't even really like the guy.)

Willets Point Feb 22 2006 05:08 PM

Elster88 wrote: ="cooby"]Wow, Al Gore himself must have started that up ="metirish"]Gore probably didn't start it up but he'll take credit for it. Al Gore was highly influential in the way the Internet was developed and became part of everyday life. The "I invented" thing was blown way out of proportion and was basically a quote taken out of context. Just thought you should know. (And I didn't even really like the guy.) Elster how dare you offer context and insight on a great cheap-shot on Al Gore?

ScarletKnight41 Feb 22 2006 05:17 PM

Here's what [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Gore#The_internet]Wikipedia[/url] says about Al Gore and the Internet - ]The internet Gore is a frequent target of satire, based on his supposedly having claimed to have invented the internet. In fact he never made such a claim [23]. Rather, during an interview with Wolf Blitzer on CNN's "Late Edition" on March 9, 1999, Gore stated: During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet. I took the initiative in moving forward a whole range of initiatives that have proven to be important to our country's economic growth and environmental protection, improvements in our educational system [24]. The phrase from the statement above which sparked the debate, "I took the initiative in creating the Internet," referred to Gore's involvement with and sponsorship of the High Performance Computing Act of 1991 which advanced the growth and mainstreaming of the Internet during the 1990s [25]. This statement was later defended by Internet pioneers Robert Kahn and Vinton Cerf [26]: ...as the two people who designed the basic architecture and the core protocols that make the Internet work, we would like to acknowledge VP Gore's contributions as a Congressman, Senator and as Vice President. No other elected official, to our knowledge, has made a greater contribution over a longer period of time.

KC Feb 22 2006 05:32 PM

Inventing the internet doesn't come to mind when I hear the name Al Gore, for some reason I always think of these guys and I can't remember why ...

mlbaseballtalk Feb 22 2006 05:53 PM

One early thing that I liked was on the page with 31 there was a nice "prognostication" about 7 years later about the contract may become a burden. Well despite persistant rumors Mike Piazza did manage to complete his contract

mlbaseballtalk Feb 22 2006 06:01 PM

By the way, I had always wanted to do something that both MBTN and UMDB became and just well "gave up" when they came online. Maybe I'll go back some day and work on more the memoribillia aspect of what I had hoped would be "The Total Mets Dedication And History Website" but really no time to do the upkeep. Well being in my mid-late 20's getting what I want to do with a career gets in the way of my hobby plans. No offense guys But early on I probably promised to send some helpfull info to you guys but never got around to following up (again hobby vs career time wise) like sending Yance some mug shots of broadcasters and Spring Training rosters from the 70's to Jon. Hopefully I made up for something by sending Jon that late 84 program! =;) Well anyway can't say enough about these great sites! Steve

TheOldMole Feb 22 2006 06:51 PM

] Well anyway can't say enough about these great sites! I'll say. They're amazing and wonderful.

KC Feb 22 2006 07:15 PM

I admire the longevity and solid content. I have dozens of half-finished Mets web pages and projects and I was just never able to pull it all together in one fully completed presentation - I've been consistent in that regard my whole life. I have a lot of respect for what you've both accomplished and maintained.

Zvon Feb 22 2006 11:21 PM

Congrads guys. These are two of my most viewed and visited Met sites since I found em in 2002. Its nice to know when I need any Met info that these two sites are there and full of all kinds of Met related info. Heres to many more happy birthdays!

Frayed Knot Feb 22 2006 11:44 PM

Yancy Street Gang wrote: I feel a little gay that we're celebrating an anniversary together! The simultaneous celebrating isn't so bad. But it's the fact that you two then went to pick out drapes together that has us a bit worried.

Yancy Street Gang Feb 23 2006 09:01 AM

They were manly drapes, though. Thanks to everybody for the nice words about the UMDB. And let me add my congrats to Johnny on his reaching the seven-year mark. It's pretty cool that both sites started within a couple of weeks of each other and are both still going strong all these years later.

Edgy DC Mar 23 2006 10:21 PM

Marty Noble alludes to John Stearns and Lee Mazzilli switching numbers today. Maybe MbtN can write him and find out if he knows why. Edit: 'Course, maybe MbtN is Noble's source.

Johnny Dickshot Mar 23 2006 10:54 PM

I think we steal from one another. I wrote him recently to thank him for passing along the "John Maine switches to 33" story, inferring that we fans really eat that kinda stuff up, and that I associate 33 with Ray Sadecki. He wrote back a brief note saying he remembred Ron Hunt as 33. I didn't whore my site and he didn;t acknowledge he knew it.

Frayed Knot Mar 23 2006 11:34 PM

I think Noble's def a numbers freak. It was he who put the note in his paper (still w/Newsday at the time) when Rickey took #24 that it was the first Met to be that digit since Say-Hey except for a 10 day period when Kelvin Torve wore it. You don't know that kind of stuff w/o a good sense of both history and minutiae. I also caught him on the radio one time with long-time rock DJ Pete Fornatale - they're apparently friends/neighbors from the Pt Washington area and Pete is a long-time Mets fan. Anyway, the date was 2/2/02 and Marty was a guest DJ on Pete's show spinning "#2 hits" and B-sides from various albums & singles in honor of the date. Fornatale's a sucker for theme shows and Noble was eating up his guest shot - spinning mostly early/mid '60s near hits.

Edgy DC Mar 24 2006 07:40 AM

Number two is a hit in my book. Nobles column was 16 prominent 16s in Met history.