Comments on: Spring Update: Castillo Batting Second, Pagan Cleanup, Lets Play Ball!

By: theonlymaskman

theonlymaskman — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 17:13:09 +0000

62, Nope it’s Nokahoma. I googled it and here’s the link to a story about the tepee. http://georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu/nokateepee.htm

By: theonlymaskman

theonlymaskman — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 17:10:08 +0000

62, Oh yes, I certainly do and I hope that Alderson actually has the independce to act as you think. We will see how it goes. For the time being at least, I am of the mindset that the owners still call the shots and haven’t changed their stripes. Hopefully, they don’t wind up in striped suits in a padded cell LOL.

By: theonlymaskman

theonlymaskman — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 17:05:26 +0000

I can attest to that quote as well. It is quite a testament to the player that Jerry Grote was. We are fortunate as oldtimers to be able to look back upon that ’69 team as our own.

By: METS62FAN

METS62FAN — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 16:31:44 +0000

T, if u recall when Torre took them over they set a tHen record for blistering season starts with 13-0 start in ’82 from your recollections I was intrigued to see if it was the same season, thinking it served them right bact to about .500 & in my research I located this tidbit some may find amusing,interesting;
http://www.ballparksofbaseball.com/past/AtlantaStadium.htm

The Braves were really America’s first SuperStaion team(TBS) & as they had the near entire South to themselves No MLB teams in SC,NC,AL,TN,KY,LA, Ted often stole the Cowboy’s moniker of being “AMERICA’S TEAM”, when in fact it was clearly Southern Anmerica’s team Amazingly though they competed for decades from the cellar of the Western Division as the first yr of Div play(’69), like our’s was their first taste of playoff competition & it remained the only such experience until the mid 90s,. NOW THAT’S A DROUGHT! We’ve much to thank the Bravos for, #1 Seaver, #2 playing dead in ’69 post (3-0) and they’ve certainly claimed their pounds of our flesh in return! esp those Jones’ boys!
A little known fact I discovered a while back is that prior to Rockies’ innaugral season the Atlanta Fulton County Stadium had the record height in feet above sealevel for a stadium in MLB(any wonder it’s unofficial moniker was “THE LAUNCHUING PAD”. Turner was cionstructed adjacent to the old park

By: t agee

t agee — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 15:51:22 +0000

’62, I’m pretty sure it was when Torre managed the team, had ‘em in a pennant race and it was decided to take it down and the Braves immediately went on a double diget losing streak and they went and put it back up.

Good stuff.

By: t agee

t agee — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 15:48:33 +0000

I remember that quote ’62 about Bench saying he would have to play 3B. You really have to hand it to the talent evaluators we had back in those days.

Grote, Harrelson, Jones, Seaver, Kooseman, Ryan, McGraw, Kranepool. We also had so many of them here for a decade or longer.

Smart trades, good platoon matches, someone really knew what they were doing. Weiss, Devine, Murphy, Herzog, Hodges, Walker, Pignataro, who knows but that was some collection of talent.

By: METS62FAN

METS62FAN — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 15:42:58 +0000

T, actually I don’t recall dismantling; but I do recall those Braves didn’t require any explanation for losing streaks of that magnitude, blaming the teepee was tantamount to painting the “Galloping Gertie”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tacoma_Narrows_Bridge bridge & calling it safe for pedestrian & auto traffic lol

By: METS62FAN

METS62FAN — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 15:37:51 +0000

Marla, as I recollect your sentiments were, in a way, seconded by none other than Johnny Bench, who I recollect saying after an ASG where he dealt with catching the phenomenal “stuff” Seaver & Koosman were delivering into a comment that went like, “if he(Grote) were in Cincinnatti, I’d be a third baseman” I’ve ONLY my recollection as I’ve been unable to locate the quote on the net because my recollection has faced many challenges. I don’t recall the national pubication source(direct or AP); but I certainly remember the commentary making me proud as a very young?(teen) Met fan with little to be proud of at that pre-’69 period.
Trust me, I’ve no reason to lie & Bench had a ton of respect for Grote after that ASG, perhaps other than that evaluation, my fondest Grote recollection was not as a Met; but as a Dodger whereby he personally gave ‘Boss George’ apoplexy in thwarting successive attempts @ sacrificing runners to 2B in the WS throwing both out @ 2B, camera panning over to ‘Boss’ showed dire near heart attack levels of explosion, should he have had a BP cudff on @ the time most assuredly we’d see a cartoonish explosion of the device. good stuff, great recollections of a very underrated backstop who managed an extremely ubertalented staff of topnotch competitors.

By: t agee

t agee — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 15:24:04 +0000

Loved that remembrance ’62. Remember when they took the teepee down and the Braves lost something like 13 straight and they went and put it right back?

By: METS62FAN

METS62FAN — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 15:23:39 +0000

Mask, my friend, I believe u may have missed the paradigm shift. While what u say is certainly a statement of incontrovertable facts from last ST. Since Selig just bailed the chagrined elder Wilpon out of potential default on something, I truly doubt the oldman has the balls to stick it to Selig’s “GIFT” SELECTION as GM as easily as he would have plunged the dagger through Phillips & into Minaya’s ‘HEART’ OF HIS PLANS. It’s very doubtful Sandy will be forced to endure periods of being shorted on useful roster players Alderson signed Edmunds for 12M to play for typically financially strapped SD yet released him entirely just 45 days later, will HALF THAT AMOUBNT ON HALF THE POTENTIAL PLAYER IN A TWICE AS IMPORTANT POSITION CAUSE SANDY TO THINK TWICE? See what I mean?

By: METS62FAN

METS62FAN — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 15:13:23 +0000

Mask r u sure it wasn’t KNOCKAHOMER? lol

By: t agee

t agee — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 14:39:14 +0000

And according to him, in his own words Omar “put together a good team.” OK.

By: Marla Hooch

Marla Hooch — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 13:57:02 +0000

How the hell is the guy given a free pass, when every time he does screw up we hear about it for months on end and you bring up everything he’s done wrong for the past 5 years.

Definately areas of improvement in his game, and he knows it more then anyone, but for a guy that is consistently hitting 100+ RBI’s and 30 hrs every year, they aren’t ALL for nothing, despite the fact you say you SAW the game.

Consistently an ALL star – but you go out of your way to find every flaw.

Overrated/underrated – irrelevant

Under appreciated – Absolutely

By: theonlymaskman

theonlymaskman — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 13:54:57 +0000

Count on being in that bunker. He will be the starting 2B. The Wilpons will not pay him to stay home so learn to like it. You have one more year ahead of Luis. It could be worse if he had 2 more years on his contract. What happens with Beltran is more important so forget about Luis at 2B and just learn to like it.

By: Marla Hooch

Marla Hooch — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 13:52:04 +0000

I actually think the most underrated catcher on the Mets was Jerry Grote.

Gary Carter was in the right place and right time, and the shined with al the right pieces that year. The guy is in the HOF, he can’t actually be too overrated right?

By: theonlymaskman

theonlymaskman — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 13:50:17 +0000

And that was Chief Nokahoma by the way.

By: theonlymaskman

theonlymaskman — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 13:48:30 +0000

He WILL win the 2B job.

By: theonlymaskman

theonlymaskman — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 13:44:34 +0000

Ridiculous! Gary Carter brought more to the Mets than just those numbers. His enthusiasm was infectious and he was a superb leader. That maintained his value in his later years even as his batting productivity waned. Today’s team could use more of his dedication and fire. You would be better off searching for improvements in today’s Mets than sitting back and criticizing our past heros.

By: Metsie

Metsie — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 18:29:40 +0000

Even if he is hitting .300 at the time right?

I mean what is the point of determining which move you don’t like before seeing why the decision was made?

Then you WOULD be just like Harry!

Doesn’t matter if they make the RIGHT move just as long as it is the move you wanted to happen before it happened and regardless of WHY it happened.

By: trs86

trs86 — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 18:27:21 +0000

Whatever you say buddy.