The Mets Police

Whoa….not only does he block people but looks like he blatantly cheats!

Great job by Gelbs…SNY has the full story and (a) they are being cheap with the embeddable videos and (b) their non-embeddable videos aren’t loading on Safari so I had to use Chrome but this is such a good job let them have their clicks.  Nice use of Gelbs btw after making him look like a buffoon Monday.  Gelbsy can do it, if you guys stop giving him punk assignments.

Anyway…seems that Soft Todd Frazier did not catch the ball. There was a rubber ball which got loose, and Todd handed the rubber ball to the umpire.  Oops.

I demand Todd be suspended for the remainder of the season so David Wright can play!

Watch the play here…and again you may have Safari issues.

Is THIS what we want youth baseball players doing Soft Todd?  SAD

SLACKISH REACTION:   I dunno, you think I stayed up to watch a game scheduled to start at 10?  Apparently they got whooped.  Who cares?  Play David Wright guys!

Whoa – watch this, Gelbs busted Soft Todd Frazier for cheating!

ICYMI I think I solved the whole Throwback NY mystery.  

The Mets do not understand their own product.

Take minute to read about all the cool things Matz does.

The AAIMBR tells you about today’s SP (Wheeler) in their Rubin Ripoff column, which would actually be a better title than what they lamely use.

The good news is today is one of those Actually Working days, which means there is a good chance the Mets make a major announcement when I am in a meeting.  Hopefully it involves David Wright.

It can be easy to gloss over these kinds of press releases, but I am glad I read through it. I had zero idea that Matz did and does all this stuff. I am glad to be able to share it with you.

STEVEN MATZ NAMED NEW YORK METS’ NOMINEE FOR THE
2018 ROBERTO CLEMENTE AWARD

Major League Baseball today announced that Steven Matz was named the NEW YORK METS’ 2018 nominee for the prestigious Roberto Clemente Award, the most prominent individual player award bestowed by MLB.

The Roberto Clemente Award is the annual recognition of a player from each MLB Club who best represents the game of Baseball through extraordinary character, community involvement, philanthropy and positive contributions, both on and off the field.

Each Club nominates one current player to be considered for the Roberto Clemente Award in tribute to Clemente’s achievements and character. Wednesday, September 5^th marks the seventeenth annual Roberto Clemente Day, which was established by Major League Baseball to honor Clemente’s legacy and to officially acknowledge local Club nominees of the Roberto Clemente Award. As part of the league-wide celebration, the Roberto Clemente Day logo will appear on the bases and official dugout lineup cards and a special tribute video will be played in ballparks.

Matz is one of the 30 Club nominees for the annual award. Here are some reasons why: Every Wednesday during the season, Matz – who wears number 32 – invited 32 First Responders consisting of NYPD and NYFD among other groups to the ballpark along with one guest. They watched batting practice, received an exclusive Tru32 t-shirt and then got a chance to meet Steven. The Long Island native took a photo and signed autographs for each and every honoree – almost 300 during the season. The honorees and their guests then stayed for the game.

Steven’s respect for first responders extends beyond Citi Field. He has visited numerous New York City firehouses and interacted with military service members and their families at Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington.

Earlier this year, Steven and some teammates spent the day with firefighters at Engine 69 Ladder 28 in Harlem weeks after the tragic line-of-duty death of Michael Davidson. Steven got to know Davidson’s wife, Eileen, and their four children, along with the men and women Davidson worked with at the firehouse.

Upon hearing the story of the late FDNY Lieutenant Christopher Raguso, who died in March in a helicopter crash near Syria while serving in the Air National Guard, Steven donated money to the FDNY Foundation to help Raguso’s two young children. Steven also created a video tribute to Raguso that aired on Mets social media channels on Memorial Day.

He also was one of the first players to volunteer for the Mets Spring Training Clinic for Champions in February in Port St. Lucie, Florida. He worked with Special Olympic athletes on pitching and helped create wonderful memories for more than 80 youngsters.

Steven has also traveled to rural Honduras to assist orphans and underprivileged children, visited patients at Stony Brook Children’s Hospital, worked with Citigroup to support area-little league organizations, and participated in the MLBPA Players Trust equipment-matching program to provide youngsters in the area with the equipment they need to play the game of baseball.

“I think it’s a true honor, to be in a group with as many guys who have been nominated in the past, as well as with Roberto Clemente himself. He was a bigger than life hero not just on the field but off the field as well,” Matz said about the nomination.

On Friday, September 7^th, Matz will receive the Award on Citi Field. In addition, he will present three organizations (Hispanic Brotherhood, El Puente, and Five Town Community Center) with checks as part of the Latino Leaders program, which aims to motivate, cultivate and empower Latino students to become exemplary leaders in their schools and their communities.

The league-wide winner of the Roberto Clemente Award, who will be announced during the 2018 World Series, will be selected among the group of nominees via a blue ribbon panel that includes individuals connected to the game.  The blue ribbon panel includes Baseball Commissioner Robert D. Manfred, Jr., representatives from MLB-affiliated networks (MLB Network, FOX Sports, ESPN and TBS) and MLB.com, as well as Vera Clemente (the late Roberto’s wife & MLB Goodwill Ambassador). Beginning on Roberto Clemente Day, fans can vote for the overall winner of the Roberto Clemente Award via a dedicated website. The site will feature bios of each of the nominees and will allow fans from Roberto Clemente Day on Wednesday, September 5^th, until Tuesday, September 18th. The winner of the fan vote will count as one vote among those cast by the blue ribbon panel.  Fans are encouraged to vote by visiting the following link: mlb.com/clemente21.

The concept of honoring Major League players for their philanthropic work was created in 1971 as the “Commissioner’s Award.” The recognition was renamed to the “Roberto Clemente Award” in 1973 in honor of the Hall of Famer and 15-time All-Star who died in a plane crash on New Year’s Eve 1972 while attempting to deliver supplies to earthquake victims in Nicaragua. Major League Baseball has commemorated Roberto Clemente Day each September since 2002.

 

The distinguished list of past Roberto Clemente Award winners includes 17 members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame:

1971	Willie Mays+**	1983	Cecil Cooper	1995	Ozzie Smith+	2007	Craig Biggio+
1972	Brooks Robinson+**	1984	Ron Guidry	1996	Kirby Puckett+	2008	Albert Pujols
1973	Al Kaline+	1985	Don Baylor	1997	Eric Davis	2009	Derek Jeter
1974	Willie Stargell+	1986	Garry Maddox	1998	Sammy Sosa	2010	Tim Wakefield
1975	Lou Brock+	1987	Rick Sutcliffe	1999	Tony Gwynn+	2011	David Ortiz
1976	Pete Rose	1988	Dale Murphy	2000	Al Leiter	2012	Clayton Kershaw
1977	Rod Carew+	1989	Gary Carter+	2001	Curt Schilling	2013	Carlos Beltrán
1978	Greg Luzinski	1990	Dave Stewart	2002	Jim Thome+	2014	Paul Konerko *
1979	Andre Thornton	1991	Harold Reynolds	2003	Jamie Moyer	2014	Jimmy Rollins *
1980	Phil Niekro+	1992	Cal Ripken, Jr.+	2004	Edgar Martinez	2015	Andrew McCutchen
1981	Steve Garvey	1993	Barry Larkin+	2005	John Smoltz+	2016	Curtis Granderson
1982	Ken Singleton	1994	Dave Winfield+	2006	Carlos Delgado	2017	Anthony Rizzo

I think I figured it out Scully.

Remember back in 1969 when baseball honored it’s centennial?

Let’s add 50.  You get 2019.    Baseball is going to celebrate it’s Sesquicentennial.

Now let’s add modern day merch and you get the idea that someone wants to do some Old Timey stuff as part of the celebration.   Like say using throwback logos for merch.  Look closer at how the website labelled this cap.  Batting Practice Mesh.

Let’s throw that term into LIDS and whaddaya know, a whole page of throwback logos.

Here’s the Cubs one…featuring my favorite of the Cubs logos…

So it could just be that someone had a cool idea for caps.   But as I asked yesterday, why would this clipart exist?

For those new to the discussion, this is a New York Giants NY – the edges of the NY are flatter, and I don’t believe the Mets have ever used that logo as their NY comes from the final years of the Giants, and the flatter NY is from the earlier days of the Giants (pre 1947/8 or so).

Below is an image the Mets tweeted out on Labor Day.

I think this is a leak Scully.  Or two leaks.  I think Throwback Something is happening for baseball’s 150th Anniversary and it has slipped out.

So I am throwing out my Nike Is Coming theory and going with this one:  MLB will be doing Old Timey Fauxbacks for Spring Training and/or BP and/or Theme Days.

The Truth Is Out There.

 

…

Adding some background since Uni Watch threw me a tweet and some non-Mets fans may drive by and be less familiar with the difference…..

A Mets NY is…

The Giants NY (pre 1948)

 

 

Imagine you go to see Van Halen but Gary Cherone is singing.  It’s kinda cool but not what you really want.

Imagine you go to see Star Wars but Darth Vader isn’t there and it’s a bunch of conversations about trade routes.  It’s kinda cool but not what you really want.

Imagine you turn on Happy Days and Richie is gone and cousin Roger is there.  Kinda cool, not what you really want.

Imagine you go to a baseball game and David Wright isn’t playing and the Mets are giving you Todd Frazer and The Virus.   Kinda cool….not what you really want.

The Mets don’t seem to understand The Sell.  I don’t care if Austin Jackson wins the MVP, it’s not what fans want.  Todd Frazier can grind it out all he wants, and that’s fine in an absence of The Captain, but guess what Mets – David Wright came back and you won’t let him play!

It doesn’t matter if the Mets go 72-90 or 70-92.   It doesn’t matter if David plays well or plays poorly – we want to see Vader, we want to see DLR, we want to see Richie Cunningham.

GIVE THE PEOPLE WHAT THEY WANT

I don’t understand why the Mets can’t understand this.  The entire business is based upon this imaginary relationship customers have with players.   No favorite players means no connection.

You guys read this site every day, even when they win I am barely hanging on here.  The sport is boring, and lacks stars.  Now one showed up and the Mets won’t let him play?   You’re breaking that connection with me Mets, and us old guys are all you have.