Author: Shannon Shark @metspolice

Brian Costa who does a great job for the Star-Ledger has the list of which Mets get the 13 closest parking spots.  Kelvim Escobar does, John Maine does not.  Full list here.

The other day I mentioned this alternate Mets logo that you see on the bags.  See how the Y overlaps the N?

The folks an njbaseball pointed me toward this link (scary warning there makes me afraid to show you here) but the caption says it is from spring training in 2007.  Perhaps this is some sort of Spring Training NY logo?

Take it away njbaseball:

I think it’s just the fact that it’s an iron-on (or something) logo instead of stitched. I found a pic from last year and this one from 2007 and it’s the same on the bags. The logos here sort of meld the two letters together, though, so it’s interesting that the bags show the outline of the Y and not the N.

What does this all mean?  Not too much.  I find it interesting, and I find it ugly.  It also gave me something to pre-write about while I’m at a major sporting event today.

Batting leadoff this morning, this video – see a young Expos catcher named Gary Carter, see Andre Dawson hit one over Mets LFer Dave Kingman’s head, and see a young broadcaster named Tom Seaver.  That was the strike year, the one with the awful split-season standings, the Reds had the best record but didn’t win either half, and Tom went 14-2 and did not win the Cy Young.   75-46 in 6 years with Cincy, but what was up with that 5-13 in 1982?

Thnaks to jonahkeri.com for pointing that one out, and you may want to check out Jonah’s rankings of the MLB parks.

Thanks to Deadspin for pointing this out to the world:

The Inaugural (Sponsor MetsPolice won’t mention)® First Chance Pre-Sale offers Chicago Cubs fans the first opportunity to purchase individual tickets at a premium for all Cubs home games, including Opening Day, in advance of the February 19th on-sale date.

Starting Monday, February 15th at 10am CT, fans will have first access to all Chicago Cubs 2010 regular season home games by going to Cubs.com and paying a 20% premium on the face value of the ticket. However, if you use a (particular brand of credit) card during this Pre-Sale promotion you will save 5% on the pre-sale price. In addition, you will receive a 20% discount on your next purchase at the Cubs.com Shop when you enter this code (CHC20FEB) and use your (sponsorcard).

Let me translate for you.  Tickets go on-sale on Thursday.  However, if you’d really like tickets today you can pay 20% more.

I’m no lawyer, and I don’t know if these Illinois scalping laws are accurate or up to date, and I’m confident that the Cubs and all MLB teams are honorable folks always well within the law, but if you’re a lawyer and see an opening, hey who am I to tell you what to do with your free time?   To my non-lawyer eyes I imagine the below might cover them:

Nothing contained in this Act was ever intended to prohibit nor shall ever be deemed to prohibit a ticket seller, with consent of the sponsor of such baseball game, football game, hockey game, theatre entertainment or other amusement, from collecting a reasonable service charge, in addition to the printed box office ticket price, from a ticket purchaser in return for service actually rendered.

See, it’s probably just a reasonable service charge.   My opinion is that it is scummy.

Baseball is a business folks.  A business.  You are just a cash register.

Any bets on when this comes to New York City?  I will predict 2011 in the Bronx, and 2013 in Flushing with the All Star Game as bait.