Put me down as pro-Willie, but Fred Pryor is conducting a seminar in my hotel. It's called "How to Communicate With Tact and Professionalism." Mr. Randolph might do well to attend.
For the time I spent in my car (nearly 5 hours round trip), the Ty Cobb Museum (a room-and-a-half in a doctor's office) wasn't worth the trip. And at this rate, neither are the Mets.
Yeah, the homemade ice cream shop about a half mile from the museum was pretty good, and the "Which fan looks like a Seinfeld character?" bit during the game was funny (Keith Hernandez as himself), but there weren't many other highlights.
A lowlight was seeing the commercial for the Braves version of the "Buy a Brick" program, which CitiField has as well. The sample brick shown during the commercial: "Glad to be back. The Glavine Family." More fuel for the "spy" fodder.
Two of my fanhood principles were significantly tested during this game. Early in the contest, an older gentleman a section over had a foul ball pop out of his hands. As he leaned forward in an unsuccessful attempt to retrieve it, he lost his balance, and fell face-first on the concrete. He bounced up quickly, but the huge gash on his forehead necessitated immediate medical attention.
As the wounded man was taken to get stitched up, a teenager who retrieved the loose ball was persuaded by others in our section to give the injured man the ball. I have mentioned in this space that there are VERY VERY few circumstances in which I'd give up a foul ball, but this was one instance in which the generosity was justified. For his efforts, the teen was applauded and rewarded by the Braves game staff, which gave him another baseball and a foam finger.
I have also stated in this space how I find it abhorent when people leave games early, and if ever if there was a game to depart before its conclusion, this would have been a good one. But I stuck it out and was rewarded by witnessing the following bits of history.
* This marked the first time in 183 games that Chipper Jones got hit by a pitch thrown by a Mets pither. It took until his 774th plate appearance against them for a Mets pitcher to hit Jones. It makes for an interesting list, thanks to Baseball-Reference.com
Most Consecutive Games vs Mets
Without getting hit by a pitch, all-time (minimum 1 PA per game)
Bob Bailey 205
Willie Davis 193
Hank Aaron 188 (never hit by pitch from Mets pitcher)
Chipper Jones 182<<>> Streak ended Wednesday
*By pulling a Houdini (Bill James term for escaping a bases-loaded, no outs jam) in the 8th inning, Billy Wagner maintained his quest for a perfect ERA.
Most Games Pitched
Maintaining 0.00 ERA From Start of Season, Mets History
Braden Looper 18 (2004)
Billy Wagner 17 (2008)
Joe Smith 17 (2007)
Pedro Feliciano 16 (2007)
Duaner Sanchez 15 (2006)
Eric Gunderson 14 (1994)
John Franco 14 (1992)
For the time I spent in my car (nearly 5 hours round trip), the Ty Cobb Museum (a room-and-a-half in a doctor's office) wasn't worth the trip. And at this rate, neither are the Mets.
Yeah, the homemade ice cream shop about a half mile from the museum was pretty good, and the "Which fan looks like a Seinfeld character?" bit during the game was funny (Keith Hernandez as himself), but there weren't many other highlights.
A lowlight was seeing the commercial for the Braves version of the "Buy a Brick" program, which CitiField has as well. The sample brick shown during the commercial: "Glad to be back. The Glavine Family." More fuel for the "spy" fodder.
Two of my fanhood principles were significantly tested during this game. Early in the contest, an older gentleman a section over had a foul ball pop out of his hands. As he leaned forward in an unsuccessful attempt to retrieve it, he lost his balance, and fell face-first on the concrete. He bounced up quickly, but the huge gash on his forehead necessitated immediate medical attention.
As the wounded man was taken to get stitched up, a teenager who retrieved the loose ball was persuaded by others in our section to give the injured man the ball. I have mentioned in this space that there are VERY VERY few circumstances in which I'd give up a foul ball, but this was one instance in which the generosity was justified. For his efforts, the teen was applauded and rewarded by the Braves game staff, which gave him another baseball and a foam finger.
I have also stated in this space how I find it abhorent when people leave games early, and if ever if there was a game to depart before its conclusion, this would have been a good one. But I stuck it out and was rewarded by witnessing the following bits of history.
* This marked the first time in 183 games that Chipper Jones got hit by a pitch thrown by a Mets pither. It took until his 774th plate appearance against them for a Mets pitcher to hit Jones. It makes for an interesting list, thanks to Baseball-Reference.com
Most Consecutive Games vs Mets
Without getting hit by a pitch, all-time (minimum 1 PA per game)
Bob Bailey 205
Willie Davis 193
Hank Aaron 188 (never hit by pitch from Mets pitcher)
Chipper Jones 182<<>> Streak ended Wednesday
*By pulling a Houdini (Bill James term for escaping a bases-loaded, no outs jam) in the 8th inning, Billy Wagner maintained his quest for a perfect ERA.
Most Games Pitched
Maintaining 0.00 ERA From Start of Season, Mets History
Braden Looper 18 (2004)
Billy Wagner 17 (2008)
Joe Smith 17 (2007)
Pedro Feliciano 16 (2007)
Duaner Sanchez 15 (2006)
Eric Gunderson 14 (1994)
John Franco 14 (1992)
Comments
Now scram!