In an upcoming book, Mad Dog includes Mariano Rivera in his list of the 10 best baseball players of all time. TOP 10 OF ALL TIME!

the Sawx fan at work still remembers, and is not pleased by, my june-ish claim that the yanks would win the division byt a handful of games.

Fuck the Yankees indeed.

"Any coward can fight a battle when he’s sure of winning, give me the man who has pluck to fight when he’s sure of losing"-George Eliot

Fuck the Yankees.

I hadn't noticed until he got the win against the Mets last night, but Dan Wheeler is following up on his breakthrough playoff performance with a hell of a season. After the Mets traded him last August (while using roster spots for Franco, Stanton, etc), Wheeler pitched 8 scoreless innings in the playoffs. So far this year, he has a 1.54 ERA in 46.2 innings, with 47 Ks and 12 BBs.

Billy, if everyone in the Mets lineup sucked as much as Cameron, the Mets would be in first place.<sup>1

1</sup>According to BaseballSuckspectus.com, Cameron's SAAP (suckiness above average player) is -9.83. Multiply that by 8, and the Mets' lineup would have a league worst (or least suckiest) SAAP of -78.64.

Good to see Cameron back to his old tricks. 4 Ks in a game? Was Sam pitching?

It's time to dust off the website I made up last season with a name I can't remember... something like "mikecameronsucksprospectus.com"...

Sports Guy's quote of the day:

"You're not going to play for me if you don't put out." -- Mets manager Willie Randolph

As I make my final preparations to fail the Bar tomorrow, I'd like to point out that on May 11, I took issue with all the Jason Giambi doubters in the media and the Yankee organization who wanted to send him to the minors.
Since that time, he's had the second best OPS in baseball (behind Derrek Lee).

Playoffs?
Prospectus' Playoff Odds Report has the Mets at about a 25% chance of making the playoffs.
And, actually, looking at the standings, it doesn't seem that far-fetched.
Conceding that the Braves will probably once again win the division, the wild card is pretty wide open. The Mets are 5 back of the Nationals, but like many, I think the Nationals are due for a decline, and I think it's very likely that someone (Astros, Cubs, Mets, Phillies, Marlins?) will pass them. I don't necessarily think it'll be the Mets, but they are (very slightly) leading that pack right now. If a bunch of things go right (Meinty and Beltran starting to hit), the Mets could squeeze into the playoffs. Ya gotta' believe!

Don't fuck with Cow-Bell Man.

Hey, the Mets signed another guy to a big deal who'll never make the majors (most likely)!

From espn.com:

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic -- The New York Mets have signed a 16-year-old outfielder in one of the richest deals for a prospect from the Dominican Republic.

Fernando Martinez got a $1.4 million contract last week, even though he can't play in the United States until he turns 18.

"I didn't expect something of this size," Martinez said Saturday at his home in Rio San Juan.

Even with his lucrative deal, Martinez said he wants to attend college and study business administration. The Mets included $100,000 to pay for his studies as part of the package.

Martinez, who bats left-handed and throws righty, was signed by former major league shortstop Rafael Bournigal, the Mets' director of international scouting.

Because of his arm strength, a number of scouts had expressed interest in Martinez, comparing him to fellow Dominicans Raul Mondesi and Jose Guillen.

The Mets have a baseball academy in the Dominican and a team in the Dominican summer league. The training complex in San Cristobal is in operation all year long.

Three facts:
The Washington Nationals are in first place.
The Nationals have the second best record in the NL.
Today, the Nationals' cleanup hitter is Carlos Baerga.

That is the most useful bit of information Gammons has ever provided. Seriously.

from Gammons:
According to the Korean News Bureau, South Korean Doosan Bears' pitcher Park Myung-hwan twice lost his cap while delivering a pitch and each time frozen cabbage leaves fell off his head twice in a game on June 19. The frozen cabbage leaves inside the cap were used to keep his head cool.

The Korea Baseball Organization has been moved to rule that wearing cabbage leaves inside a baseball cap constitutes an "alien material" that may disrupt a game, prohibited according to the organization's rules, the organization said in a statement Tuesday.

From Will Carroll's column:
"The Mets have been looking for first base options and are hoping that Roberto Petagine becomes available at the start of July."

Hooray!

Yeah, I never understood why new stadiums weren't built in NYC. The Mets should have requested a new one right after 86, or even 88. I'm not really sure what the Yankee situation was, but I'm surprised there wasn't more pressure to renovate or replace their stadium after their late-90s run. And $800 mil? WTF?!?!

whatever your opinions are on public financing for stadiums or building new stadiums in general, i think it's worth noting that there has not been a new stadium built in the 5 boroughs since Madison Square Garden in 1968.

New York City has the oldest stadium in the NBA. (every team save the nets, knicks and warriors plays in a brand-new or very recent stadium)

New York City has the oldest stadium in the NHL. (every team save the isles, devils, rangers, oilers and flames play in a brand-new stadium)

New York City (metro area) has one of the oldest stadiums in the NFL. (the other old stadiums in miami, oakland and san fran have all been renovated)

New York City has the third oldest park in the National League (only Dodger and Wrigley are older)

Every other major city in Canada and the U.S. save NYC has built a new stadium since around 1990, most built two or more. (chicago 3, boston 2, seattle 3, cleveland 3, miami 2, toronto 2, los angeles 2, anaheim 2, houston 3, philadelphia 3, cincinnati 2, st. louis 3, detroit 2)

Major global cities like london, paris, barcelona, tokyo and munich have all built massive new stadiums.

Moreover, you could make the argument that every stadium in the metropolitan area is a depressing dump.

oh, except for the gleaming new $42 million Carl Ichahn Stadium on Randall's Island built for all those track and field meets that happen all the time and draw so many people.

i forgot the new Arthur Ashe stadium, which is an eyesore and is used for for 14 days a year and the 2 single-a ballparks, which are nice but quaint.

Quotes from Carl Everett:

"They need to implode Wrigley."

"it's proven that 99 percent of baseball fans have no idea what they're watching."

"I don't believe in gay marriages. I don't believe in being gay."

is there a reason why heilman never pitches?

if so, I just might like to know what it is.

Forget about Graves' attitude, what about his almost-8 ERA? Geez, how do other teams put together bullpens of scrubs who all end up with era's around 3 but the mets get guys like this?

reyes has twice as many walks as fancy pudge rodriguez in only 39 more ABs.