Faces on the mound

Faces on the mound, originally uploaded by DC Products.

This is sort of a quick, rough draft of a project I was inspired to do because of work. I have to cut small thumbnails of photos, and when doing so for pitchers, I got to notice how some of them can make some pretty interesting faces during the act of pitching. So I thought it would make an amusing collage. I hastily put this one together yesterday, in about an hour, so I didn't pay too much attention to those that were a pixel off or that I didn't line up properly. I just wanted to get a basic idea of what it would look like. I do like it.

If you want to play along, there are 100 faces here, laid out in a pretty simple arrangement that you should pick up on once you spot a few you recognize. All but maybe 10-20 are front-of-the-rotation starters, All-Stars or otherwise big-name hurlers. There are two or three middle relievers and a No. 4 or 5 starter here and there.

Sticking it to the NL East for four more years

Jose Reyes, Shea Stadium, June 19, 2006

Outstanding move by the Mets to lock up Jose Reyes through 2010, or possibly through 2011. He's one of three players for whom you could make the case is the Mets' MVP. With Reyes, Carlos Beltran and David Wright all worthy of consideration, Albert Pujols is almost assured of taking it for the second straight year because those three Mets will split votes. If Beltran continues his torrid second half and finishes with numbers near Pujols', he'll have the best chance of giving the Mets their first MVP award.

It should be their second, following Darryl Strawberry's outstanding 1988, which was better than Kirk Gibson's season. But Kevin McReynolds seemed to take some of Strawberry's votes. I wonder if the results would have been different if we viewed OPS the same way in 1988 that we do today.

Signing Reyes -- and buying out his arbitration years -- just adds to the feel-good story of this 2006 season. Wright will probably be next, whether it's done this season, during the offseason, in spring training or next season. And this announcement should finally erase the memory of the bad dream I had a few weeks ago -- a dream in which Jose Reyes signed with the Yankees.

Shudder.

Not gonna happen. At least not during these formative, productive years.

Harold and the ladies

I just thought I'd chime in on the Harold Reynolds thing.

The word around Bristol was that the, um, friendliness with the ladies was a regular thing with HR. I mean, who doesn't like to be chummy with the women? Of course, when you're married and have a child, maybe you should cut back or be a little more discrete.

I caught a glimpse of his "jockular" personality a few years ago in Houston during All-Star weekend.

I received two extra passes to an event on Saturday night, the night I arrived. A college friend of mine, Laura, and her husband, David, came along. It was just a buffett at a bar, nothing much. But there were some VIPs there, like Jimmy Kimmell and Sarah Silverman. David and I had our picture taken with Miss USA.

There was also a photo booth set up. You put on a glove they provided, stand in front of a green screen and act like you're catching a ball. Then, on the computer, they mesh that picture of you in a crowd with an outfielder also jumping for the ball that's landing in your glove. So the three of us took one.

Then Laura, who's had a few drinks, somehow says that we should do the shot over, but that instead of all three of us lunging for the ball, David should grab her breast. For some reason, he thought that was silly or inappropriate or something. David says, "Dan can do it." I had also had several drinks, so I did it. Laura's all proud of the picture she has of her lunging for the ball, me cupping her breast, and David looking on in surprise.

Then we see Harold Reynolds. Laura, again emboldened by the drinks, takes the picture up to him.

"Hey, Harold, what do you think?" she asks him.

"I don't know if you're going to get it," he replies, meaning the baseball.

"No," she says, "what about him?" And she points to my hand.

"OH YEAH!" Harold says. "He's got it!"