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="Elster88"]Zvon wrote:
I've never seen one of those "Hit it here and win" signs hit before. |
There was a clothier in Brooklyn (named Abe Stark?) who had a sign that was at ground level and across the bottom of the right field scoreboard in Ebbets Field. The "Hit Sign, Win Suit" was famous if only because no ballplayer ever hit it with a batted ball. It was so close to the ground that any ball headed for it was easily caught.
Later
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G-Fafif
Jul 11 2006 09:13 AM
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Elster88 wrote:
He was also the only player to refuse a Gatorade after his first round. |
David has a deal with Glaceau (vitaminwater, smartwater, et al). Gatorade has on-field exclusivity for events like this via MLB. No wonder he went thirsty. Did notice a guy sitting behind him in the gaggle wearing a Glaceau t-shirt.
For a season or two in the early or mid-90s, one of the rotating signs on the upper right of the Shea scoreboard was for Pergament: Hit this sign, we'll paint your house. Nobody ever hit it. (It was before Mo Vaughn.)
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Gwreck
Jul 11 2006 09:17 AM
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G-Fafif wrote:
For a season or two in the early or mid-90s, one of the rotating signs on the upper right of the Shea scoreboard was for Pergament: Hit this sign, we'll paint your house. Nobody ever hit it. (It was before Mo Vaughn.) |
Now that you mention it, I don't think any Met between Darryl and Mo Vaughn ever hit the upper part of the scoreboard.
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Edgy DC
Jul 11 2006 09:22 AM
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I seem to remember Roger Cedeño, of all people, putting a dimple or two into it.
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Elster88
Jul 11 2006 09:23 AM
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David's 16 home runs in a round is the third most ever in a single round. The top 4 single-round scores were all set between 2004 and 2006.
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Elster88
Jul 11 2006 09:26 AM
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Fun and posterity:
PITTSBURGH -- In the world of the Mets and their fans, it's still all good and all Wright.
David Wright, dismissed as a Home Run Derby lightweight whose inclusion in the field of eight was a nod to the Mets' dominant showing and their huge fan base, continued Flushing's magical season with a charmed evening.
An eye-popping first round carried Wright into the finals of Monday night's CENTURY 21 Home Run Derby, where he was finally cut down to size by Ryan Howard of the Phillies, 5-4, in an all-NL East showdown.
"It's all right. It's a little disappointing, but Ryan Howard can have the Home Run Derby if the Mets can have the National League East," Wright, sweat still glistening on his forehead, said a few minutes after the night's final swing.
Spotting his adversary four inches and 55 pounds, Wright rebounded from a weary second round but couldn't hold off Howard, who seemed to be just hitting his stride and clinched the Derby with half of his 10 outs remaining.
That culminated a comeback affair for Howard, who had finished the opening round with half of the homers hit by Wright, who was spent by that early display.
"I was unconscious in the beginning," Wright said. "Then we had the break, and I cooled off. I was brought back down to earth. I wish I would've had all my 30 outs in that first round. I might still be hitting."
Wright electrified what had been a sluggish first round. With teammate Paul Lo Duca pitching to him, the Mets' cover-boy third baseman jacked 16 balls into faraway PNC Park seats.
That was the third-best opening round in the 21-year history of the Home Run Derby, ranking behind only the two monster exhibitions in last year's edition -- Bobby Abreu's 24 and David Ortiz's 17.
The opening show also set up Wright nicely for the second round, considering the new rule of carrying over first-round totals. With Ortiz's 10 the runner-up total, Wright took a sizable edge into a second round that also included Miguel Cabrera (nine) and Howard (eight).
Admittedly worn down by his 26-cut first round, Wright muscled only two more balls out of the park in the second round. But Ortiz, considered the Derby favorite, similarly declined to three, while Cabrera passed him with six, before Howard eliminated both of them with a second round of 10 to match Wright's cumulative total of 18.
Wright's basic approach clearly worked, at least until he came out of the chute so strong that he emptied his tank.
"In regular batting practice, we usually take six to eight swings a turn," Wright said. "I was pretty tired with all the swings in that round."
Wright lost the Derby, but there was no doubt in his mind he had won over the doubters. He was sent off by the razzing of his teammates, including Cliff Floyd, who had essentially predicted he would go deep only twice and go home.
"Cliff owes me," Wright said with a broad smile. "I'm very happy. I can go back to my teammates and hold my head high.
"The guys had been giving me a hard time ... 'You'll be lucky to hit one,' stuff like that. I can definitely walk back in there with a little swagger.
"It was a lot of fun, definitely a blast," he added, no pun intended.
"It's all right. It's a little disappointing, but Ryan Howard can have the Home Run Derby if the Mets can have the National League East."
-- David Wright, on his second-place finish on Monday night
Wright's plan had been simple, and he carried it out to perfection.
"I'll swing hard, try to keep the same swing I've been using," Wright had said before the competition began. "I'll try to elevate the ball a bit, try to get a good backspin on it."
Taking an acerbic approach to their eccentric teaming, Lo Duca had told him, "Just hit a couple. Don't get embarrassed."
The Mets catcher had also predicted good-naturedly that if his teammate flopped, "I'm sure he'll blame me. He blames me for everything."
Neither happened, to say the least. Lo Duca kept throwing pitches into Wright's wheelhouse, as they made beautiful noise together.
This wasn't the first time Lo Duca pitched gopher balls. But it was the first time he did it in front of 38,000 in the seats -- or in front of even seats.
"I pitch batting practice to my junior college when I go back home," Lo Duca said. "This is just something I wanted to do."
Lo Duca's simple plan was to "throw straight fastballs, over the top. He told me to pitch him down and in, and that's what I'll try to do."
As has most everything else the Mets have tried to do this season, the plan worked to perfection. After Wright's first four swings produced three outs, the tandem found a groove.
Twice, Wright struck five straight homers, most of his drives digging an aerial tunnel to left-center -- including his longest shot of 476 feet.
Afterwards, Wright wasn't sure who was more worn out, swinger or thrower.
"I guarantee you I'm gonna go in there," he said, nodding toward the clubhouse, "and Lo Duca's gonna have ice on his shoulder. And he's going to complain. Tom Glavine is already concerned about Paul's rotator cuff."
Ahh, the sweet sound of winners chirping.
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Edgy DC
Jul 11 2006 09:44 AM
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| ]"I'll swing hard, try to keep the same swing I've been using," Wright had said before the competition began. "I'll try to elevate the ball a bit, try to get a good backspin on it." |
I'll try not to pick something out of here to worry about.
Fun to hear Ralph Kiner giving a blueprint for home run derby success last week.
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Rockin' Doc
Jul 11 2006 09:56 AM
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"It's all right. It's a little disappointing, but Ryan Howard can have the Home Run Derby if the Mets can have the National League East."
-- David Wright, on his second-place finish on Monday night
I like his thinking. I hope his plan carries through to fruition.
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metirish
Jul 11 2006 10:11 AM
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From reading this article it seems like Ozzie Guillen wants to win bad while Garner wants the boys to have fun.
http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkxMDYmZmdiZWw3Zjd2cWVlRUV5eTY5NTk5NDQmeXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk2
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Nymr83
Jul 11 2006 10:21 AM
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metirish wrote:
From reading this article it seems like Ozzie Guillen wants to win bad while Garner wants the boys to have fun.
http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkxMDYmZmdiZWw3Zjd2cWVlRUV5eTY5NTk5NDQmeXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk2 |
because Guillen cares about homefield while Garner's team is going nowhere. this whole homefield thing is stupid and gets stupider every time. use the best record or go back toalternating years.
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86-Dreamer
Jul 11 2006 10:28 AM
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i don't like that LoDuca was the pitcher. It was a cool piece of camraderie, but his arm is not that great to begin with, and I bet he made more throws last night than he ever has in one day during the season.
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Frayed Knot
Jul 11 2006 10:36 AM
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Selig claims that MLB needs more notice (for hotel/media reservations,
etc.) than just the last minute timing that 'best-record' would provide them.
Personally, I never had a problem with alternating years.
The one thing that almost never gets mentioned in the whole debate over
WS home field advantage is ... that it rarely matters!
Over the last 50 years:
- 23 WS have gone to 7 games (home field doesn't matter until you get to game 7)
- and of those 23, the team w/the home field in game 7 won ... 10 of them
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Edgy DC
Jul 11 2006 10:47 AM
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Yeah, but maybe it matters anyway, after controlling for which the better team is.
There is a statisticlally-measured home-team advantage in baseball, but I'd imagine that it's only a few percentage points and lower than that of other major team sports, perhaps because baseball action isn't as feuled by adrenaline.
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Frayed Knot
Jul 11 2006 10:54 AM
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Home teams in baseball win around 53-54% of the time.
Translate that into a small sample (only one game and only once every few
years) and it becomes a statistical toss-up.
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metirish
Jul 11 2006 10:59 AM
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The AL team is just so much better looking than the NL, Vladimir Guerrero hits fifth for the AL while Edgar Renteria hits fifth for the NL,hopefully they can get to Rogers tonight.
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Elster88
Jul 11 2006 11:58 AM
Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Jul 11 2006 01:48 PM
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]Selig claims that MLB needs more notice (for hotel/media reservations,
etc.) than just the last minute timing that 'best-record' would provide them. |
Amazing that they can get everything set up for the league playoffs, and that other sports can handle it.
Edit
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Edgy DC
Jul 11 2006 12:56 PM
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Yup, yup, athletic cup.
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Frayed Knot
Jul 11 2006 01:27 PM
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Bud's answer is that the WS is just that much bigger than the LCSs and
also the NBA & NHL championships as far as the size of the contingent
that follows in its wake. He's even said that waiting until mid-season to
decide which cities could possibly host games 1, 2, 6 & 7 as opposed to
3, 4 & 5 is "cutting it close".
The Super Bowl is obviously bigger but doesn't have the same home field
problems since the site & date are picked out years in advance -- although
remember when the SB needed to be delayed for a week after 9/11 they
had to strike some sort of deal with the group (UAW?) who had all the
New Orleans hotel rooms booked for that week.
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Elster88
Jul 11 2006 01:48 PM
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Bud is full of shit.
]He's even said that waiting until mid-season to
decide which cities could possibly host games 1, 2, 6 & 7 as opposed to
3, 4 & 5 is "cutting it close". |
Last I checked, they still don't know which cities will be featured in the WS until the LCSs are over.
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MFS62
Jul 11 2006 03:18 PM
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86-Dreamer wrote:
i don't like that LoDuca was the pitcher. It was a cool piece of camraderie, but his arm is not that great to begin with, and I bet he made more throws last night than he ever has in one day during the season. |
Unless you've seen him against teams that know his arm strength and like to run.
You don't need someone who throws 90 MPH in these things; just someone who can throw the ball in the strike zone with no movement and consistent velocity so the hitter can get into a timing groove. David thought Paul could be that guy. I didn't have a problem with Paul, especially considering the results.
Later
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metirish
Jul 11 2006 03:20 PM
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Plus he throws the ball back to the pitcher all the time during games, throwing BP will hardly cause any problems.
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Nymr83
Jul 11 2006 03:32 PM
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| ]The AL team is just so much better looking than the NL, Vladimir Guerrero hits fifth for the AL while Edgar Renteria hits fifth for the NL,hopefully they can get to Rogers tonight. |
bad lineup construction helps too.
Utley 2b
Beltran cf
Wright 3b
Pujols 1b
Bay lf
Soriano rf
Renteria ss
loduca c
looks alot better
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Frayed Knot
Jul 11 2006 04:34 PM
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Maybe, but I don't have the ammo to argue against him and I've yet to hear
anyone in the media do so either.
It also seems odd that he'd make up that reason for not going with best
in-season record just to avoid it as a factor.
| ]Last I checked, they still don't know which cities will be featured in the WS until the LCSs are over |
No, but they can start eliminating (starting tomorrow) specific dates for
certain cities. They'll know after tonight that they'll need to reserve hotel
space in Boston, for instance, for these dates but not those, while doing
the opposite in St Louis, San Diego, etc.
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86-Dreamer
Jul 11 2006 04:37 PM
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metirish wrote:
Plus he throws the ball back to the pitcher all the time during games, throwing BP will hardly cause any problems. |
you are right. I am looking too hard for things to worry about.
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ScarletKnight41
Jul 12 2006 07:39 AM
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ScarletKnight41
Jul 12 2006 07:40 AM
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I love how Big Papi toweled him off -
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Edgy DC
Jul 12 2006 08:34 AM
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]It also seems odd that he'd make up that reason for not going with best
in-season record just to avoid it as a factor. |
Well, since he insituted the new stakes to the All-Star Game, he has an interest in defending its institutionalization.
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Elster88
Jul 12 2006 08:43 AM
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Frayed Knot wrote:
| ]Last I checked, they still don't know which cities will be featured in the WS until the LCSs are over |
No, but they can start eliminating (starting tomorrow) specific dates for
certain cities. They'll know after tonight that they'll need to reserve hotel
space in Boston, for instance, for these dates but not those, while doing
the opposite in St Louis, San Diego, etc. |
So he reserves them for a few extra days. No big deal.
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Elster88
Jul 12 2006 03:40 PM
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Elster88 wrote:
="Frayed Knot"]| ]Last I checked, they still don't know which cities will be featured in the WS until the LCSs are over |
No, but they can start eliminating (starting tomorrow) specific dates for
certain cities. They'll know after tonight that they'll need to reserve hotel
space in Boston, for instance, for these dates but not those, while doing
the opposite in St Louis, San Diego, etc. |
So he reserves them for a few extra days. No big deal. |
Another hole. He can't start reserving hotel space right now anyway because he won't know exactly which dates the games will be on until the LCSs are over anyway.
At least I think. Next year I think they have a specific date set aside for Game 1 of the WS. Not sure.
Either way, Bud's a jerk about this.
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Yancy Street Gang
Jul 12 2006 03:53 PM
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I can tell you right now which date the World Series will start on.
The last day of the regular season is October 1.
That means the division series will run through October 8. The League Championship series will start on October 10 and finish by October 19. The World Series will then open on Saturday, October 21. Game 7, if necessary, will be played on October 29.
Playoff series ending early don't advance the dates of the subsequent series. The only thing that would change these dates is several days of rainouts.
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Elster88
Jul 12 2006 03:57 PM
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Bud's a jerk anyway.
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