The Crane Pool Forum

Phil Bickford, current MFY. As a Met, he was..

Stringy hair. Skinny. Looked like an alt-country hipster. Supposed to be ok but I didn't see much evidence of that.

Not any memories of him, but I do remember the Bickford restaurant chain.
Now he can serve up gopher burgers for the MFYs.

Later

Bony face, patchy facial hair, party-time mane. Kind of an ice hockey look. The kind of look that I've gotten used to from relievers on the Brewers, and maybe the Nationals.

Seemed out of place, therefore, on the Mets. But relievers come and go so frequently these days, it's hard to get them habituated into one's image of the team.

I couldn't hear his name without waiting for "State Farm agent if the game" to follow it.

The Mets got him and Adam Kolarek for cash on August 1. When they sold off so many parts that it didn't look like they'd have enough left over to field a team that could pass as major-league, they had the benefit of shopping for guys who were getting dumped off the rosters of contending teams who were adding players.

He kind of looked like Hanna-Barbera like to draw comic rustic folk from the hills. An old man's head on a young man's body, keeping his lips pursed tightly and grimly to project a distrust of outsiders and hide a lifetime of dental neglect.

MFS62 wrote: ↑Wed Apr 03, 2024 12:19 pmNot any memories of him, but I do remember the Bickford restaurant chain.

Right, in NE esp in Mass aka Bickfaahds.

Here's my "Fan Memory" of Phil Bickford:

"The Mets' front office conversation probably went like this:

"How can we make a disappointing season a completely hopeless season?"

"Acquire Phil Bickford?"

"Sounds like a plan."

The Mets went out and acquired—that is, they actively sought—a guy who had a 5.14 ERA and 85 ERA+ before he joined the team.

Which means his 4.62 ERA and 92 ERA+ with the Mets IMPROVED his season numbers.

I don't know why teams do this. You have a whole major league and an even greater minor league pool of players to choose from ... and you pick guys like Phil Bickford? Is it ego? Is it egotistical front office guys who think they have some special insight into a player's skills that everyone else isn't seeing? I don't know.

Anyway, Phil Bickford sucked."

They had just traded a lot of guys and needed to fill out the roster with affordable, modestly useful major leaguers, who might have something, probably won't, but beat throwing minor leaguers into the heat of battle before they're ready. All it cost was a little cash and a roster spot.

If the only indicator of what's going to happen is what has most recently happened, the game would be easy, but it's not, and 29 teams are out there trying to stomp on your best efforts. Sometimes you find a reason to give R.A. Dickey a chance before forcing up a 21-year-old.

In baseball, and in life, you have to be willing to allow yourself to be dazzled.