Manuel’s Musing

“Every time I have a meeting we seem to play that way so I guess we won't have anymore meetings.”

-Jerry Manuel on team meetings and losses

The difference between a good team and a bad team

Florida Marlins: 13 runs on 16 hits and seven walks.

New York Mets: 4 runs on 10 hits and three walks.

Game Chat: FLA @ NYM [Game 140]

Sean West (6-5, 4.61 ERA) vs. Bobby Parnell (3-7, 5.25 ERA)

(Chat removed. It was quieter than Citi Field in there.)

Lineup for Game 140

Carlos Beltran gets the finale off tonight, with Angel Pagan in CF.  Nick Evans gets a shot in LF.

1. Angel Pagan – CF
2. Luis Castillo – 2B
3. David Wright – 3B
4. Jeff Francoeur – RF
5. Fernando Tatis – 1B
6. Nick Evans – LF
7. Omir Santos – C
8. Anderson Hernandez – SS
9. Bobby Parnell - RHP

Citi Field Streaker banned from ballpark for one year (with video!)

You may remember this video that I shot at the May 12 game between the Braves and the Mets…

The man with the monkey around his waist, who had been identified as Craig Coakley of Queens, N.Y., has been banned from Citi Field for one year.

Coakley will also have to serve 20 days of community service and must pay a $1,000 fine and $2,000 in civil penalties, reports the AP.

Coakley ran on the field due to a bet with his boss, who claimed he would pay him a weeks salary if he did it.  I wonder if he’ll be using that money to pay his fines.

Mets all-time hit leaders

With some guy across town doing something special, I decided to take a look at the Mets all-time hit leaders.  Here’s the top 20…

#	Player	Hits
1	Ed Kranepool	1,418
2	Cleon Jones	1,188
3	Edgardo Alfonzo*	1,136
4	Mookie Wilson	1,112
5	Bud Harrelson	1,029
6	Mike Piazza	1,028
7	Darryl Strawberry	1,025
8	Howard Johnson	997
9	Jerry Grote	994
10	David Wright*	963
11	Jose Reyes*	960
12	Keith Hernandez	939
13	Lee Mazzilli	796
14	Kevin McReynolds	791
15	Felix Millan	743
16	Rey Ordonez	720
17	Rusty Staub	709
18	Carlos Beltran*	703
19	John Stearns	695
20	Wally Backman	670

*denotes active player.  And yes, Fonzi is still active.

What really intrigues me here are Reyes and Wright.  Both seemingly have very long careers ahead of them, hopefully with the Mets.  It would (will?) be kind of cool to watch as they climb the chart and possibly battle for the top spot, maybe game in and game out.

Also, would have never picked Rey Ordonez or John Stearns to be in the top 20 spots.  Sorry, guys.

Strange names abound for the Mets and their affiliates [Updated]

This morning, Joe Budd over at Amazin’ Avenue  (one of my favorite Mets sites), wrote this “Where did Kirk Nieuwenhuis come from? If I thought it was hard to learn how to spell Francoeur, it's going to be a nightmare season if Nieuwenhuis becomes something.”

Which got me thinking about weird names.  And off the top of my head, I could think of a few strangely named Mets players (at the major and minor league level).  Here’s a rough list…

Mets

Jeff Francoeur – OF -  I know his family is French, but I’m just not used to the combination of “c-o-e-u-r” and don’t think I ever will be.  I always think I spell his name wrong.

Omir Santos – C - “Omar” would be one thing.  “Omir” is something different.  Only 208 people pop up with the name Omir on Facebook.

Tobi Stoner – P - I mean…come on!

Bisons

Ricky Bones – Coach – This guy?

Derrick Ellison – P – There are too many letters in the “Derek.”

Chip Ambres – OF – Anyone (nick)named “Chip” must have been mocked in middle school.

B-Mets

Mako Oliveras – Manager – What is he, a shark?

Emary Frederick – P – Um…Emary?  I don’t even know where that comes from.  Heck, he’s from Florida!

John Madden – P – BOOM! FOOTBALL!

German Marte – P – Have you met his brother, Polish?  They used to not get along, but now they’re OK.

Jenrry Mejia – P – But hey, he’s good.

Elvys Quezada – P – Was he named for The King?

Kirk Nieuwenhuis – OF – Is that “new-when-house” or…um…something?

St. Lucie

Tim Teufel – Manager – I always found this name funny.  Like he’s a character on a children’s show or something.

Reese Havens – IF – Yum.

Brahiam Maldonado – OF – I will name my first child Brahiam.  Just don’t tell my future wife.

Sand Gnats

Jimmy Johnson – P – Nice hair.

Jean Luc Blaquiere – C – Oui oui!

Imbewer Alvarez – IF – I’ve got nothing here.  I’ve never seen this name before.  Ever.

Cyclones

Dock Doyle – C – Awesome name.

Jordany Valdespin – IF – I’m going to go by “Andrewy” from now on.  Just add a “y” to your name and you can be equally cool.

Kingsport

Yohan Almonte – P – If he ends up half as good as Johan, I’ll be happy.

Guillaume Leduc – P – Another name I can’t pronounce.  Is that “Gee-yam-me”?

GCL

ZeErika Hall – OF – I knew he existed, but I just couldn’t find him on any of the rosters.  He was drafted this year.  And he may have the greatest name of them all.  (H/T to Ted Berg, a.k.a. OGTedBerg) – Update: Further investigations finds him on the roster of the Gulf Coast League affiliate.

Jeurys Familia – P – Sounds like a really bad television show on Univision.  And let me tell you, there is some quality programming on that channel.

Lachlan Hodge – P – Lachlan spends his free time hunting kangaroos in the brush down under.

Jimber Mueses – P – My goodness.  This GCL team might beat out the B-Mets for greatest names.

Nelfi Zapata – C – Anyone named Nelfi is OK in my book.

Aderlin Rodriguez – IF – Aderlin!  Aderlin!  Aderlin!

Wilfredo Tovar – IF – By far my favorite name.

Ray Van Gurp – IF – No, this is my favorite.

Marinus Vernooij – IF – Actually, it’s this one.

There were a few others along the way that I snickered at, but didn’t think belonged on the list.  Did I miss anyone?  How about some historic silly Mets names?  Let’s hear them in the comments.

Manuel’s Musing

“Power doesn't always have to be in terms of home runs. Power can be in terms of triples, doubles and the sense that the opposition doesn't play you so tight. They play you fair.”

-Jerry Manuel on power

Game Chat: FLA @ NYM [Game 139]

Ricky Nolasco (10-8, 5.27 ERA) vs. Pat Misch (1-1, 3.25 ERA)

(Chat removed, as usual.)

More tomorrow. It's been a long day.

Lineup for Game 139

Looks like Jerry Manuel’s is going with the “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”  Too bad it is broken.

1. Angel Pagan – LF
2. Luis Castillo – 2B
3. David Wright – 3B
4. Carlos Beltran – CF
5. Daniel Murphy – 1B
6. Jeff Francoeur – RF
7. Josh Thole – C
8. Anderson Hernandez – SS
9. Tim Redding – RHP