Happy birthday, Keith Hernandez (with rare poster photo)

A salute to the 'stache. The immortal Keith Hernandez turns 55 years young today.

I thought this would be a good time to unveil to the internet world a poster that has been hanging in my room for as long as I remember. This is a poster that was hanging in a video store to promote the release of the World Series championship VHS, "1986 Mets A Year To Remember."

My dad asked the store owner if he could have it when the promotion was over, and he obliged. He had it framed, and hung it in my room to begin me on the path to Mets-fandom when I was born in 1988.So there it is in all it's glory. Keith, with Mookie Wilson, Darryl Strawberry, Gary Carter and some of the 1986 team.

Happy birthday, Keith. The fans loved you on the field, on Seinfeld, and now in the booth on SNY.

Come on, you won the MVP in '79. You can do anything.

Off Topic: Go Rays; The end of a dynasty

A terrific Game 7. Close game throughout, sprinkled with opportunities and clutch performances in key spots. Can't ask for much more than that.

I had a rooting interest, and it actually panned out. I was pulling for the Tampa Bay Rays. I said in a previous post that I miss "Uncle" Cliff Floyd, and I was very happy to see him on the top of the pile as David Price notched his four-out save to propel the Rays into the World Series.

This team is chock-full of great stories, and I couldn't be happier for them. From Floyd (at least for me), to Rocco Baldelli, to Scott Kazmir, and even Price, the Rays played great baseball all year, and were strong enough to take down the defending World Series champs, and live to play another day.

As if I didn't want them to win before, now I'm 110 percent in the Rays camp. I would love to see them beat the snot out of the Philadelphia Phillies. I think the layoff between the NLCS and WS is going to hurt the Phills, but I'm sure they'll be able to put up a fight.

Go Tampa Go!

And on to point number two: Last night, we watched the mighty fall. They did not go down easy, but they did bow out eventually. Could the Boston sports dynasty be coming to an end?

I used to respect Boston. The long-suffering fans and the classy, hard-nosed teams were always one of my favorites to watch and secretly pull for. Anything to anger a Yankee fan, really. But over the past few months, my mini-allegiance from Boston has eroded, and a new disgust has nestled in it's place.

It all started with the 2007 World Series.

Watching the Red Sox win the WS really had no effect on me. I was still reeling from the collapse of the Mets. Anyway, when the Sox won, a person who will remain nameless, who is a big Sox fan was running around screaming "It's been three long years!"

Three long years?? Give me a break. Try never seeing a championship in your lifetime. Try only being able to see your team win on VHS or SNY re-runs. Try watching your team come within outs of the '06 WS. Try watching your team fall flat on it's face and miss the '07 playoffs. And from there, I knew that Boston fans were starting to get spoiled.

Don't get me wrong. I know not every single Boston fan is as boisterous or as greedy as this one, but after experiencing life around more and more Sox/Pats/Celts fans, I think this is the greater majority.

It didn't end there. Cue up Super Bowl 42.

My New York Football Giants taking on the perfect New England Patriots. We all know how that turned out.

It has taken up until yesterday night for me to hear one Patriots fan say to me, "The Giants just played a better game. They deserved to win." I was floored. To this point in time, all I had heard was that the Giants "got lucky" or were the benefactors of "BS calls."

Even when the Giants play now, all they do is "get lucky," according to some fans.

But last night, was some sweet revenge, even if it was a dish best served by the Rays. With the Red Sox losing on Sunday night, and the Patriots poised to take on a mediocre Denver Broncos team, could this be the beginning of the end for Boston sports? Sure, the Celtics look to be amazing again, but watch out for those New York Knicks.

Yeah, right.

Go Rays.

He-Lowe again, Derek?

Another 180-degree turn in the Derek Lowe sweepstakes.

On Wednesday, I linked to a Ken Rosenthal column saying that free-agent-to-be, Derek Lowe, was against playing on the East Coast.

Rosenthal rebuked his own statement today.

In a recent item, I started that the Yankees shouldn't be confident of landing right-hander Derek Lowe in free agency, saying that some rival clubs believe that Lowe wants to stay on the west coast. Lowe told me that my information was wrong, that he actually wanted to go east. He backed up that remark by telling the Boston Globe's Nick Cafardo that the Red Sox were his first choice.

So, there is still hope for the Mets too, I guess.

It all depends if the Mets want to re-sign Oliver Perez, or let him go and seek an outside source.

Game 7 against the Red Sox

The Tampa Bay Rays dropped another game to the Boston Red Sox last night, and the teams will head to Game 7 of the ALCS to decide who gets to play the Phillies in the World Series.

That got me thinking, and thanks to the wonders of the internet, I found what I was looking for. Oct. 27, 1986. The Boston Red Sox at the New York Mets. Game 7 of the World Series.

Here's the box score and play-by-play of that game.

Now, I was not alive for this, as I was born two years later, but I thought I knew as much about the series as I could. I was wrong.

I had no idea Jesse Orosco had an RBI single in the bottom of the eighth inning.

Orosco came in for the bottom of the eighth after Roger McDowell allowed two runs to score. Orosco stranded a runner on second while recording three consecutive outs.

He had to hit in the bottom of the eigth to stay in for the ninth inning, as his spot in the order came up fifth. He singled to center field, driving in Ray Knight.

Interesting. Learn something new every day.

(Go Rays.)

Jake Peavy may be coming to the NL East

Seems like the Braves are the early leaders in the Jake Peavy trade talks.

According to MLB.com, the Braves are preparing a package of players to pitch to the Padres in return for the 2007 Cy Young winner. Peavy has a no-trade clause, but is said to be open to waiving it to play in Atlanta. Peavy is from Alabama.

A bunch of minor league prospect have been rumored, along with players like Kelly Johnson or Yunel Escobar.

The Braves seem poised for a good year, as they have a bevy of prospects who are just about major league ready. Watch out for them next season.

I really hope they don't land Peavy. I'd be much happier to see the Yankees trade for the 27-year-old. Obviously, I'd prefer the Mets, but I don't think they have the minor league talent to pull that off.

FJM takes on Jerry Manuel

Aww shucks. So far the Mets have been left relatively untouched by the critical mind of Fire Joe Morgan. Until now.

FJM pretty much rips apart some of the latest Jerry Manuel comments about "clarity" and "statistical numbers."

Either way, they do present some good ideas for batting practice. Four and five are the best.

4. Kidnap Carlos Delgado's kids and hold them at gunpoint while Carlos takes BP. "You like pressure, Carlos? This is what the playoffs feel like." Then, after Carlos strokes a home run, shoot one of the kids. Just in the leg, though. Remember, it's just a game.

5. Strap Luis Castillo to a speeding train. "Unless you hit in the clutch, Castillo becomes the meat in a train sandwich." Everyone comes through, and you reveal that you basically just wanted Castillo gone anyway.

So true about Castillo. So true.

Happy birthday, Joe McEwing

Today, Oct. 17, it Super Joe McEwing's birthday.

McEwing had his best season with the Mets in 2001, when he hit .283, posted an OBP of .342, and slugged .449 while driving in 30 runs and scoring 41 times in 116 games.

That season he appeared as (get ready):
Assorted OF position (62 games)
CF (2)
LF (48)
RF (25)
3B (25)
SS (12)
2B (5)
1B (3)
DH (1)

Talk about a utility guy.

Happy Birthday, Super Joe! You'll always be a fan favorite.

Giving up hope

I treat every game like the playoffs. Be it the third game of the season, or the end of September. That's why I was disgusted to see Boston fans, the self-proclaimed "greatest fans in the world," walking out after only a few innings of the ALCS.

The Rays jumped out to a big lead, and were up 7-0 at one point. Fans were standing up and heading to the exits. Come on people!!!

• It's the ALCS. You probably paid through the nose for these tickets. Get the most out of them.
• It was a nice night out. What else are you going to do? Beat traffic in the fifth inning?
• What happened to believing in your team?!?!?!?!?!?!?

So frustrating.

Just be happy your team made the playoffs, made it through the division series, and they're still alive in the championship series.

I found the Mets bullpen

Rough loss for Tampa Bay last night.

See? Other teams have major bullpen issues too.

Scott Kazmir may have been traded, but he was an honorary Met last night. 6 IP, 2 hits, 0 runs, 3 BB, 7 K. And then the Rays lost 8-7.

Sound familiar?

Randolph to the Nationals? Acta to the Mets?

Seems like Willie Randolph is a hot commodity in the baseball world. As is Manny Acta.

Even though Randolph will be paid by the Mets to sit at home and do nothing, Ken Davidoff says he's itching to get back to managing. Some teams that are interested are the Milwaukee Brewers, Seattle Mariners, and even the Washington Nationals, who already have a manager in Manny Acta.

Acta, you most likely remember, was with the Mets as a third base coach for some time, and seemed in line for the next managerial job with them before he signed with the Nationals.

From Davidoff:

Acta has huge supporters in the Mets front office, including COO Jeff Wilpon, general manager Omar Minaya and vice president of development Tony Bernazard. Many executives in the industry interpreted the Mets' tepid, two-year, $2-million contract to Jerry Manuel as a sign that, should the Mets falter in 2009 and Acta become available, the Mets could easily replace Manuel with Acta.

An update on Bernazard: He was not selected as one of the finalists for the Seattle GM job.

These seems like a confusing game of managerial musical chairs. I think Manuel will stick, barring a terrible start or half season with the Mets.

I never really loved Acta, but he was only a third base coach, something the Mets seem to have a hard time finding a decent one these days.