Had a terrific day on Sunday. I finally go to the Glory Days of New York Baseball yesterday and it was outstanding.  There are 10 components to the exhibit labeled from 1^st Inning to the 9^th Inning and an Extra Inning which features our beloved Mets (more beloved today as they swept the Braves, more on this in a moment) There are old yearbooks and score cards from the era. Game worn uni’s like Mickey Mantles’ from 1956 and the uni top worn by Johnny Podres that was ripped to shreds by Dodger fans after he beat the Highlanders in Game 7 of the ’55 World Series. There is a booth with a microphone where you can call the play by play of a World Series game of the era. There are seats from Ebbits Field, the Polo Grounds and Highlander Stadium on display. I have put Mrs. Kranepool Society on notice that I will be taking out a loan on my pension to obtain any artifacts I can get my hands on when Shea Stadium is ready to come down. Put the best part of the exhibit for me were the letters written by players to the GM’s of their teams looking for a raise off their last year’s production.

One letter was by Pee Wee Reese, writing to Branch Rickey after the 1949 season as he was sending back his contract for 1950 unsigned, as it there was no raise in salary. Another was Carl Furillo writing to Buzzie Bavasi letting him know that another “little Furillo” was on the way so he needed a bump in pay for the coming season.  Also there is a letter by Gil Hodges to Ty Cobb where Hodges is asking Cobb for advice on hitting to the opposite field.  The letter that was the most interesting was one written by Jackie Robinson to Mel Allen chastising Allen over an interview he gave to Mike Wallace where he questioned Robinson’s handling of civil rights issues.

By the way if you go the museum (it’s the Museum of the City of New York on E 102 St and 5 Ave right on Museum Mile) go on a Sunday between 10am and 12:00PM. Admission is free then and there is plenty of street parking.

 

After the museum we headed down to the Village to eat.  We caught the last couple of innings of the Mets sweep of the Braves at the Calente Cab Co. on Bleecker  St. I was ready to throw some glaucmole at the screen when Billy Wagner started his high wire act but then he settled down to get the save.

I’ll chalk up the Mets resurgence to all the ranting and raving that was done here, on talk radio and by Mets fans in general that woke up this Mets team to let them know how pissed off the fan base is. But whose fooling who, the 2007 baseball season has gone like this all year, very unpredictable.

How do you explain the Phillies taking four from the Mets then losing two of three to the Fish? When the Mets went to Philly they were six games in front. When they left it was down to two and Mets fans were ready to over throw the front office. Today the Mets have a four game lead and our spiritual leader taking the mound for the first time in a year with a repaired shoulder and a bright outlook. So after all the screaming and yelling the Mets are just two games off where they were on August 27^th and three games off their high water mark of seven games in front on August 25^th . Still the rant was cathartic.

Tom Glavine pitched big yesterday and he has pitched well in eight of his last ten starts but there are a couple of issues I have with Titan Tommy. First, I am sick and tired of this Brokeback Mountain relationship he has with John Smoltz and the Braves organization. Fox is also to blame as the interview they did with both players on Saturday not only took away from the game action it was sickning. Glavine wants to be a Brave soooooooooooo badly and from reading the paper this weekend he now feels like he will pitch next season.  He wants to finish his career as a Brave, there is no doubt in my mind but he wants New York money as well. I hope he does go back to Atlanta next season as he will always and forever be a Brave to me. But I bet he runs his fingers thru Jeffy Wilpon’s hair and tells him how much he loves him and the Mets and gets another $12 mil out of us for ’08.

Willie Randolph should have grabbed Julio Franco by his middle aged neck and tossed him out of the Mets clubhouse on Saturday.   

Speaking of Willie, Joel Sherman tells us some in the Mets hierarchy, (Freddy Skill Sets? Jeffy? Uncle Saul? Dave the Lawyer? ) are not happy with Randolph’s “skill sets” as it comes to in game management. Line forms to the left fellas.

The Mets went crying to Baseball Cop Bob Watson that the Phillies were stealing their signs. WAAAA! WAAA! WAAA! Stop crying! A well placed fastball under the chin of Jimmy Rollins or Chase Utley or even better Met-Killer Pat Burrell would have stopped the thievery.

Mets fans get your vocal cords ready for this weekend when David Wright comes to bat-MVP! MVP!MVP!

Can Appalachian State change their nickname to the Fighting Irish?

   

 

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