Skip to main content

Styx and Stones

Forgive me for skipping the post-game (Styx) concert and fireworks show on my final night in Pittsburgh, but I was in an "unfun" kind of mood.
Now it's on to Washington D.C. and I make no guarantees that the travelogue will continue, because I'll be "with people" on this part of my expedition, but I'll try to sneak in the necessary postings.
* Thursday was a game that was for the birds, literally, because it made the highlight of my day the National Aviary, America's only independent indoor non-profit bird zoo. I didn't expect to enjoy it, but it proved to be a good way to kill a couple hours (30 minute walk from the ballpark, an hour's worth of entertainment). My favorite bird was one named "Franklin" after Benjamin, the inventor of the spectacles. Franklin had a 'stare-of-death' for those who walked past him, akin to the one I had as I walked out of PNC Park on Thursday evening.
* Speaking of which, Guillermo Mota has turned into pigeon-droppings and it's probably best that he not be used in any situations in which damage would be significant and meaningful.
* When Endy Chavez returns, he and Lastings Milledge should be playing every game in which the Mets have a lead in the last two innings. Their defensive value is too great for them to be sitting on the bench.
* In the last two seasons, I have attended three Mets road series. The Mets have won two of three on all three occasions (Atlanta, Washington, and now Pittsburgh).
* I tried to rank my favorite and least favorite visiting ballparks while waiting for the hotel shuttle this afternoon. My top 5 at the moment would be
AT&T Park (San Francisco)
Camden Yards (Baltimore)
Rogers Centre (Toronto)
Old Busch Stadium (St. Louis)
PNC Park (Pittsburgh)
My bottom 5 would be (worst-first)
RFK Stadium (Washington D.C.)
Miller Park (Milwaukee)
Minute Maid Field (Houston)
U.S. Cellular Stadium (Chicago)
Dolphins Stadium (Florida)
Others I've been to that didn't make the list: Turner Field, New Busch Stadium, Citizens Bank Park, Veterans Stadium, Fenway Park, Yankee Stadium, Wrigley Field, and Comerica Park.
I'll try to get into my reasoning at another time.
* My favorite one-liner from this trip, one uttered by the fellow sitting behind me on Tuesday. "It's actually called Pee and See Park, because you can even watch the game as you're headed to the bathroom." Runner-up, said to me by a female Pirates fan on Thursday night: "They built this ballpark, but then they forgot to build a team to play in it."
True Metyx know...Paul Byrd had one walk-off win for the Mets, against the Giants on August 21, 1995. He also took the loss in a Mets walk-off defeat against the Rockies on July 24, 1996. Marlon Byrd beat the Mets with a walk-off hit on September 7, 2003. ... The national bird of Belize (on display in Pittsburgh) is the Keel-Billed Toucan, which has a canoe-shaped bill and four-colored feathers (green, blue, red, and orange) ... According to their Wikipedia entry, Styx is one of a handful of acts that had Billboard Top Ten singles in three decades (70s, 80s, 90s) and under four different presidential administrations (Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush).

Comments

Anonymous said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said…
Sept 7, 2003...I think I may have missed Byrd's hit that day..

Popular posts from this blog

Walk-Offs in Movies, TV, and Other Places

Note: I'm leaving this post up through the end of the week, a) because I don't have time to pump out something new and b)because I was hoping to build a really good list of entertainment industry walk-offs...so if you're looking for something new, check back on Monday or so... Of course, if there's a major trade or move, I'll adjust and try to post something... In the meantime, click on the "Table of Contents" link as well. It has been updated. SPOILER ALERT: Read at your own risk Caught the ending of "A League of Their Own" on one of the movie channels the other day and it got me to thinking that it would be fun to compile a list of walk-offs from movies, television, and other forms of entertainment. Here's the start, and only the start, as I spent about 30 minutes or so thinking it over Help me fill in the blanks by filling out the comments section. "A League of Their Own"-- Racine beats Rockford for the All-American Girls Profess

The best Mets ejections I know

When you think of the Mets and famous ejections, I'm guessing you first think of the famous Bobby Valentine mustache game, when after Valentine got tossed, he returned to the dugout in disguise. You know it. You love it. I remember being amused when I asked Bobby V about it while we were working on Baseball Tonight, how he simply said "It worked. We won the game." (true) But the Bobby V mustache game of June 9, 1999 is one of many, many memorable Mets ejection stories. And now thanks to Retrosheet and the magic of Newspapers.com , we have a convenient means for being able to share them. Ever since Retrosheet's David Smith recently announced that the Retrosheet ejection database was posted online , I've been a kid in a candy store. I've organized the data and done some lookups of media coverage around the games that interested me post. Those newspaper accounts fill in a lot of blanks. Without further ado (and with more work to do), here are some of my findings

The 'Duca of Earl (and walk-offs)

If I told you that the Mets had just obtained a guy who is a career .316 hitter with runners in scoring position? How about if I told you that the Mets just traded for a hitter who has consistently ranked among the toughest in baseball to strike out? Or if I mentioned that the Mets just dealt for a player who was selected to the NL All-Star team the last three seasons, with the last honor coming via a vote by his peers? So, although he's on the down side age wise, his throwing arm isn't as good as it used to be, and he doesn't provide much power, there are a lot of good things that Paul Lo Duca brings to the New York Mets. For example: He'll sacrifice his body for the good of the team The Dodgers and Braves squared off on August 23, 2002 and Lo Duca made an impact both on the start and finish of this game. Three pitches after being dusted by Greg Maddux, Lo Duca made him pay with a first-inning home run. The Braves rallied to tie the game, 3-3 in the ninth, but their bu