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Edgy MD wrote:
Add your own!
— The Mets Will Win the Pennant
William R Cox
G.P. Putnam's Sons (New York), 1964
That's from the October 1, 1978, entry within The Bronx Zoo by Sparky Lyle & Peter Golenbock. The next portion of Lyle's diary deals with a phallus-shaped cake he adorned with a sign that read "FOR WOMEN REPORTERS ONLY," sort of undermining whatever interesting points he was making that Sunday. "Some people can't take a joke," according to the co-author.
In the ensuing offseason, George Steinbrenner did, in fact, get rid of Sparky Lyle, who had helped him win the year before (1977) if not so much in the year the book covers. And the Yankees wouldn't win it all again for a very long time.
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batmagadanleadoff
Nov 07 2022 01:53 PM
Re: Random Baseball Book on the Shelf, Randomly Opened to a Random Paragraph
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Oh, I get it now. The trick is not as I thought, to get 40-HR hitters and pitchers that could whiff 250 batters in a season. The trick is to stockpile players that were on prior playoff teams. I'm sure there's overlap, but if I was choosing from players who don't Venn diagram those categories, I'll take Ernie Banks over Al Weis all of the time.
Gimme a break with the winning attitude players. That's why playoffs baseball is so unwatchable.
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Edgy MD
Nov 07 2022 02:51 PM
Re: Random Baseball Book on the Shelf, Randomly Opened to a Random Paragraph
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That's not my copy of the Cox book, but mine is in pretty sharp shape too.
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G-Fafif
Nov 07 2022 02:59 PM
Re: Random Baseball Book on the Shelf, Randomly Opened to a Random Paragraph
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| In the clutch, bats grew slow and tentative. On the bases, veterans found their instincts gone haywire as they inexplicably ran in the wrong direction. The worst of all contagious baseball diseases — pressing under pressure — became epidemic. Journeyman players, made confident by their reincarnation in pinstripes, suddenly reverted to humbler pedigrees. Like clowns at a masked ball removing their masks, folks like Rick Reuschel, Larry Milbourne, Aurelio Rodriguez and Jerry Mumphrey began resembling the lowly Cubs, Mariners, Senators and Padres they once had been. |
—Tom Boswell, “Indecent Exposure,” Inside Sports, December 1981
Another of those quotes that stayed with me for more than four decades, written after the MFYs fell to the Dodgers. I was moved to look it up this summer when the Mets had suddenly imported a Pirate, a Red, a Cub and a Giant, three of whom were nowhere near the postseason a year earlier.
Seeing as how two World Series before 1981, the Pirates were, to a tangible extent, propelled by in-season trades for Bill Madlock and Tim Foli, this pedigree business is probably hogwash. Boswell saw a throughline he liked and rode it. I do appreciate he got in a plug for his long gone hometown Senators.
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Edgy MD
Nov 07 2022 07:38 PM
Re: Random Baseball Book on the Shelf, Randomly Opened to a Random Paragraph
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I did not remember Rick Reuschel being on the 1981 Yankees (or ever in the American League, for that matter). What a weird post-season that was.
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MFS62
Nov 10 2022 03:53 PM
Re: Random Baseball Book on the Shelf, Randomly Opened to a Random Paragraph
Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Nov 10 2022 03:56 PM
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"What about Aaron?" asked Powers.
"Knock him down, first pitch" said Pete.
"Curve him away" said Willard.
"Jam him good. He'll swing at the ball a foot inside, sometimes," said Brooks.
"Change up on him once every trip," I suggested.
"Boys, I think Pena struck him out on a spitter", said Deal.
"Good pitch" we agreed. |
From The Long Season by Jim Brosnan. Hard cover, Second edition. Page 259
https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51Ltdz3lywL._SX373_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg
Later
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Edgy MD
Nov 14 2022 07:53 AM
Re: Random Baseball Book on the Shelf, Randomly Opened to a Random Paragraph
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| "Ron Fairly kept hitting balls to the warning track and was frustrated," Davis said. "One time, he came back to the dugout and slammed his bat into the bat rack tube. Well, there was concrete at the other end, so the bat came flying back out, right past Walter's head. Walter looked at Fairly and said, 'Next time that happens, I'm going to kick your ass'. Well, the next time Fairly returned with his bat, he was like Dennis the Menace in the dugout, sliding his bat back in the rack very easily." |
— Long Before the Miracle
Bill Sullivan
Self-published (San Bernadino), 2016
Page 251, first edition, paperback
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Johnny Lunchbucket
Nov 14 2022 08:12 AM
Re: Random Baseball Book on the Shelf, Randomly Opened to a Random Paragraph
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| One of our jocko things is to mince around like a fairy, which is kind of funny sometimes especially while wearing baseball underwear. THere is something hilarious about a lumpy, hairy guy trying to act like a queer while wearing the things we wear under a baseball uniform. Take my word. |
Ball Four
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Edgy MD
Nov 14 2022 08:32 AM
Re: Random Baseball Book on the Shelf, Randomly Opened to a Random Paragraph
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You can't win 64 games in a season without that sort of clubhouse camaraderie.
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G-Fafif
Nov 14 2022 09:26 AM
Re: Random Baseball Book on the Shelf, Randomly Opened to a Random Paragraph
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| Also, doesn't the word "uniform" mean that players are actually supposed to be dressed the same? I thought they were supposed to be standard. When I played, we all generally looked the same. Now guys have compression sleeves, and a lot of other things. Nine guys in a lineup are dressed in nine different ways. And during the playoffs, Joe Maddon wears a beanie. I can't imagine any of the managers when I played doing that. Have a little class. |
--Rod Gaspar with David Russell
Rod Gaspar: Miracle Met, BPB Publications, 2019
Page 202
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Edgy MD
Nov 14 2022 09:30 AM
Re: Random Baseball Book on the Shelf, Randomly Opened to a Random Paragraph
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That's great. Cranky Old Man Publications oughta be a thing.
In my day, we'd be embarrassed to have netting in front of the field level seats. You paid attention to the game, or you died! That's just the way it was! It was sad when a distracted kid took one off the bean while searching for his Cracker-Jack prize, but the way we looked at was survival of the fittest. We went right on with the game knowing the gene pool was that much better!
— Me and the Game
Tommy McSpitchew
Cranky Old Man Books (Omaha), 2017
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Benjamin Grimm
Nov 14 2022 09:44 AM
Re: Random Baseball Book on the Shelf, Randomly Opened to a Random Paragraph
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Tommy is probably hitting on Lauren Boebert on Twitter this week.
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Edgy MD
Nov 14 2022 10:18 AM
Re: Random Baseball Book on the Shelf, Randomly Opened to a Random Paragraph
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Wow! I thought you were kidding, but ...
  https://metsrostercentral.files.wordpress.com/2022/11/spitchew.png>
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Benjamin Grimm
Nov 14 2022 10:52 AM
Re: Random Baseball Book on the Shelf, Randomly Opened to a Random Paragraph
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I wish this forum had a LIKE button!
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MFS62
Nov 14 2022 12:43 PM
Re: Random Baseball Book on the Shelf, Randomly Opened to a Random Paragraph
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Benjamin Grimm wrote:
I wish this forum had a LIKE button!
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Should we bring back the BOC?
Later
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G-Fafif
Nov 15 2022 06:43 AM
Re: Random Baseball Book on the Shelf, Randomly Opened to a Random Paragraph
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Wilpon was grooming his son Jeff to become involved in the organization and asked a favor of Valentine as the manager prepared to hold a season-ending meeting with his coaches: Could Jeff Wilpon sit in on the meeting? Fred Wilpon wanted his son to be immersed in all aspects of the organization and told Valentine not to worry about disruption, as Jeff Wilpon would be there to listen and not talk. As Valentine recalls, the elder Wilpon insisted that Jeff Wilpon would not speak up for two years. The plan was for his son to be seen, but not heard. Valentine was fine with the arrangement.
Tom Robson, the team's bench coach, had been a respected hitting coach with the Mets previously. During the coaches' meeting, Robson began speaking about the team's hitting woes, prompting Jeff Wilpon to violate his gag order. Wilpon insisted that Robson's analysis was amiss, and began interjecting his own thoughts on hitting philosophy. Wilpon cited the swing instruction he had received from some of the country's best golf professionals, whose teaching differed from what Robson was preaching.
Valentine, remembering Fred Wilpon's vow that Jeff Wilpon would be seen but not heard for two years, later conveyed his disgust to the owner: "Have two years gone by already?" Valentine said to the elder Wilpon.
The following day, Valentine says he was told by Fred Wilpon that he had changed his mind: Valentine was fired. |
--Mike Puma
If These Walls Could Talk: Stories from the New York Mets Dugout, Locker Room and Press Box, 2021
Pages 36-37
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Johnny Lunchbucket
Nov 15 2022 07:11 AM
Re: Random Baseball Book on the Shelf, Randomly Opened to a Random Paragraph
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bombshell
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Benjamin Grimm
Nov 15 2022 07:30 AM
Re: Random Baseball Book on the Shelf, Randomly Opened to a Random Paragraph
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| Wilpon cited the swing instruction he had received from some of the country's best golf professionals, whose teaching differed from what Robson was preaching. |
Holy crap!
You know, I'm beginning to think it's a good thing that Jeff isn't around anymore.
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MFS62
Nov 15 2022 09:44 AM
Re: Random Baseball Book on the Shelf, Randomly Opened to a Random Paragraph
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Benjamin Grimm wrote:
| Wilpon cited the swing instruction he had received from some of the country's best golf professionals, whose teaching differed from what Robson was preaching. |
Holy crap!
You know, I'm beginning to think it's a good thing that Jeff isn't around anymore.
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He doesn't have enough intelligence to run for Senator from Georgia.
Later
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G-Fafif
Nov 16 2022 11:42 AM
Re: Random Baseball Book on the Shelf, Randomly Opened to a Random Paragraph
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| Baseball wives, then, are their own club. "I always joke that when you get traded they kind of throw you into the family room and say, "Pick a friend," said Lory Ankiel, wife of former Nationals outfielder Rick. "And you think about it. What if I would not be friends with any of these girls? Who would understand? |
--Barry Svrluga
The Grind: Inside Baseball's Endless Season, 2015
Page 27
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Edgy MD
Nov 16 2022 02:26 PM
Re: Random Baseball Book on the Shelf, Randomly Opened to a Random Paragraph
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That's some good random.
Lori kind of looks like she fell through the La Brea sinkhole/time portal.
 https://media-exp1.licdn.com/dms/image/C4E03AQE9_hN0xNKTrQ/profile-displayphoto-shrink_800_800/0/1516809480463?e=2147483647&v=beta&t=A12eZitF7qt2pKL-mBhb_oarsvsE-egtofyJhZCSw4I>
Of course, that passage is kind of a dis to the wives of Rick's Mets teammates. On the other hand, Alyson Cowgill could occasionally rub a person the wrong way.
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G-Fafif
Nov 17 2022 09:20 AM
Re: Random Baseball Book on the Shelf, Randomly Opened to a Random Paragraph
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| Satch didn't often get to the railroad station. He had spent so much of his life hopping from town to town by himself that he had a rather cavalier attitude toward communal travel. It can be said of Satch that he missed countless trains but no scheduled games. He had the plane schedules committed to memory. When the game was due to start, Satch and the umpires would be there. It was a mark of the special esteem in which he was held that the other players permitted him this special privilege. |
--Bill Veeck with Ed Linn
Veeck -- As In Wreck, 1962
Page 194 (Paperback Edition)
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Edgy MD
Nov 21 2022 08:59 PM
Re: Random Baseball Book on the Shelf, Randomly Opened to a Random Paragraph
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| "I'll tell you what I hate. I loathe the trading that goes on in baseball. It's tragic. You commit yourself to a friendship, and the next thing you know, the guy is traded and shipped out. Baseball players and their families live in great fear of this cruel practice. Being a baseball widow isn't much fun. I hate being alone, but most of all, I hate the question, 'What's it like being married to Tom Seaver?' Ugh!" |
— The Superwives
Jeanne Parr
Avon Books (New York), 1976
Page 121, first edition, paperback
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