Author: Shannon Shark @metspolice

Shannon Shark is the founder of MetsPolice.com, tweets as @metspolice, is an avid fan of Lee Mazzilli and Daniel Murphy, hates black uniforms and is the author of "Send The Beer Guy" available at Amazon.com. #imwith28
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All-Irish Mets Team 2011

Now, an annual tradition…it’s the All-Irish Mets Team.

Why am I publishing this today?  Because as an opportunistic blogger I know that with the off-day everyone will be bored and looking for stuff.

The rules?  Be Irish or “close enough” to make the list.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day from Shea Stadium (and a big thanks to Bill Shea for giving us the gift of baseball) – lets welcome Bob Murphy to the microphone (Tim McCarver is up in the TV booth) to introduce the Irish Mets – a list of Mets who have at-least Irish-sounding names.

First let’s meet the pitchers:

Our starters: Nolan Ryan, Tim Leary, Terry Leach, Jim McAndrew and David Cone

The bullpen: Tug McGraw & Roger McDowell (we could add brief 2009 Met Darren O’Day)

Behind the plate: catcher Mike Fitzgerald with some help from Duffy Dyer.

Third base: He played 38 games there in 1990, please welcome back our old friend Tom O’Malley

Shortstop: Roy McMillan

Second base: Doug Flynn

First base: Playing out of position as usual, Daniel Murphy!

In left: Our former “we need a body” supersub Joe McEwing. (I wanted to nominate the big redhead Rusty Staub but was overruled by the Mets Police Emerald Society).

In Center: Kevin McReynolds (33 games there in 1991)

The Right Fielder: Dave Gallagher

Pete Flynn will take care of the grounds, and to manage this not-so-impressive lineup, I have no idea what his ethnicity is but both Terry and Collins are names found in Irish households, so please welcome number 10 – Terry “Colactus” Collins!

Who did I miss?

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Review of New York Mets: The Complete Illustrated History

If you read the site regularly, you know how much I have been raving about The Mets Illustrated History.

I spent some time yesterday not just looking at the pictures but reading some of the text, and I learned quite a few things.

Back when there was talk of the Continental League, the American League was going to expand by adding a second team in New York, and then swapping that franchise for one of the Pennsylvania teams.  Maybe we could have had the Phillies in the AL East these days.

I also was dumbstruck by the events surrounding Gil’s death – try to imagine this one with today’s media.  The Mets Opening Day game was the same day as the funeral, and they didn’t cancel it.  Let the blogosphere catch fire, right?  Well there’s more.

Gil’s body flew back on the same plane as…..the Yankees!

Want to guess what team did cancel their game?  The Yankees.

Seaver said there was no way he’d pitch, and the strike made the whole thing moot.

Amazin’ stuff, beautiful pictures and a great way to catch up on the parts of the story you that might be before your time.

Coming up at 12:30 I will offer a chance to win a copy of the book via twitter (details will be published here), and tomorrow I will run a blog comment contest with a trivia question.

The book gets my all-star super review, get a copy today.

 

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Truly appreciating Ralph Kiner – but not why you think

Today friends, let’s celebrate Ralph Kiner.  No, not for all his years of broadcasting.  Nope, not for all those home runs.

Ralph Kiner is a Hall of Famer.  A different kind if Hall of Famer.

SI: During your playing days you dated Janet Leigh and Elizabeth Taylor (below). Today we’d call you “a player.” Did they have a name for athletes who dated movie stars back in your day?

Kiner: No, they didn’t [laughs]. At that time few players got a shot at dating the movie people. One of the reasons I was able to was that Bing Crosby was one of the owners of the Pirates. But I met Janet Leigh at Forbes Field when she was working on Angels in the Outfield. She was standing at the batting cage, and I got to know her by talking to her. So that was all on my own.

(more with Ralph in Sports Illustrated)

 

 

 

Today, let’s reflect on who Ralph reportedly dated.

1. Marilyn Monroe. Hello?  Marilyn Monroe.  The icon.  Right there Ralph wins.

2.  Jane Russell

3.  Liz Taylor. Don’t be distracted by old lady Liz.

4. Janet Leigh

5.  Ava Gardner. I see Ralph and I like similar things…like baseball and the Mets.

Ralph even had awesome friends:

the Dreyfuss family sold the Pirates to a group that included John Galbreath and Bing Crosby. The Hollywood crooner would befriend Ralph. In the off-seasons, Crosby liberated Ralph from his old room in Alhambra and introduce him to the inner circle of Tinsel Town. Ralph found himself hobnobbing with movie stars, and his name popped up regularly in the gossip columns, linked to this starlet or that one. Ralph later built a house in Palm Springs, which would soon become a Mecca for celebrities. Soon he would count among his friends and neighbors the likes of Frank Sinatra, Phil Harris and Lucille Ball.

Ralph, if anyone deserves a statue it is you.

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Mets pregame notes for Sunday 3/13

It’s a quiet day in the pregame notes.

If you missed it, there was some Santana flurry through the overnight (scroll down the site).  Also in Santana news, Johan is on twitter @johansantana – wish him a happy birthday (3/13/79).

Also worth scrolling down is that the Mets have created Mr. Met’s landing.

I’ll do a recap post after soccer, jumping a car, shopping, soccer and “cleaning my pile” (she says).

TODAY’S METS STARTER: LHP PAT MISCH is making his first start of the spring after three relief appearances…He is 1-0 with a 2.25 ERA, allowing two earned runsover 8.0 spring innings…Misch was 0-4 with a 3.82 ERA in 12 games, six starts for the Mets in 2010…He racked up 23 strikeouts in 37.2 innings…Misch began the season inthe starting rotation for Buffalo (AAA) of the International League before the Mets selected his contract on August 14…Misch struck out a career-best 10 batters in 8.0 innings on October 1 vs. the Nationals…The lefthander split his time with the Mets between the rotation and the bullpen, making six starts and six relief appearances.  Did not allow a run as a reliever throwing…4.0 innings…Went 0-4 as a starter, pitchingto a 4.28 ERA (16 earned runs/33.2 innings)

NEXT AMERICAN IDOL: The New York Mets announced they will hold their annualAnthem Search tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. at Citi Field for the opportunity to sing the National Anthem prior to a 2011 Mets homegame…The first 100 to arrive are guaranteed an audition and an opportunityto perform a song of their choice – excluding the National Anthem – a cappella 2008 Mets Anthem Search winner Pia Toscano is currently competing on Season10 of American Idol.

MONDAY, MARCH 14 – OFF DAY

TUESDAY, MARCH 15 VS. WASHINGTON 7:10 P.M. AT PORT ST. LUCIE

NATIONALS: TBA

METS: Chris Young (RHP), Oliver Perez(LHP), Pedro Beato (RHP), Francisco Rodriguez (RHP), Jason Isringhausen (RHP),Taylor Tankersley (LHP), Blaine Boyer (RHP)

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 16 VS. MINNESOTA1:10 P.M. AT FORT MYERS

METS: Mike Pelfrey (RHP), Manny Acosta(RHP), Boof Bonser (RHP), Dillon Gee (RHP),Mike O’Connor (LHP), Bobby Parnell (RHP)

TWINS: TBA

THURSDAY, MARCH 17 VS. BOSTON1:05 P.M. AT FORT MYERS

METS: Jonathon Niese (LHP), Mike O’Connor(LHP), Taylor Tankersley (LHP), Bobby Parnell(RHP), Pedro Beato (RHP), Taylor Buchholz(RHP)

RED SOX: TBA