Based on this clip, Koufax wasn't that great

Let's hope the Dodgers play like they did on this day:

One of the things I love about that clip -- besides the campy '60s production values -- is the laugh track. Reminds me of watching The Munsters on warm summer mornings growing up.

Canseco's new book on 'The Simpsons'

"The Simpsons" last night looked into the future for Jose Canseco's next book (and Marge's last one).

The 'King of Queens' at Shea

I took a bit of a break from blogging, even the internet in general (just a little), the past few days, hence the lack of activity. And so I'm a little bit behind on a query over at Uniwatch on Monday that concerns this screengrab from an episode of King of Queens:

The question is: Which game is it? Knowing that the answer would be posted in the comments to the post, I did my own research before reading those, and we all came to the same conclusion: It's from Sept. 8, 1999. Getting that was pretty easy. Never having seen the show, I first googled to find that the episode aired on Oct. 25, 1999, and presumed that it was filmed during the 1999 season. I then checked the dates when the Giants played at Shea Stadium that year, coming up with two three-game series, April 30-May 1 and Sept. 6-8. From there, it was a matter of matching the lineups -- specifically the pitchers, Shawn Estes and Octavio Dotel. Estes started both the April 30 and Sept. 8 games, but it was Dotel who started on Sept. 8 for the Mets.

Knowing I had the date, I went to the comments to confirm that it had been answered, which it was. But a couple of questions remain, one of which is why the clock reads 9:19 a.m. (because it is daylight). Another is the fact that Brent Mayne and Rich Aurilia are reversed in the Giants' batting order, and Daryl Hamilton (No. 18) and Roger Cedeno (19) are listed in the lineup for the Mets, but they were late-inning defensive replacements. One commenter also notes that the out-of-town scores are from Sept. 7, which you can see in the Cubs' 2-1 win over the Reds (Cincinnati won, 6-4, on Sept. 8), and the late scores of several other games that have identical finals.

Here's what I believe happened: The scene was filmed the morning of Sept. 9. The game on the 8th was a getaway game, with first pitch at 1:40 p.m. The next night, the Mets were on the road. So the production crew would've had all day on the 9th to shoot the scene. The 9:19 a.m. on the clock is probably accurate, and the scores were probably snapshots from two nights before. (As one commenter noted, "scoreboards in 1999 had a snapshot function, and the info was simply 'copy and pasted' from the night before.") As for the right fielder in the screenshot above and in the clip, it's got to be an extra in a Mets uniform, because he looks nothing like either Benny Agbayani or Cedeno, the two Mets who manned right on Sept. 8.

As you can see in the scene below, the dialogue was clearly shot at Shea, but the closely cropped view prevents seeing more of the stadium -- probably because they only hired enough extras to sit in a few seats around Kevin James and the rest of the cast. (Same goes for when Leah Remini goes to the concession stand.) So the crew was probably on the field, as it appears to be when James goes onto the playing surface. While some movies have shot scenes in the stands during Major League games, this show clearly wasn't. In the clip, James goes on to the field starting at about the 2:45 mark. Note the official game footage that shows the foul ball that starts the sequence features a Mets-Reds night game -- June 1 vs. the Reds, because the pitcher, you'll see, is Orel Hershiser:

As to why the Mets' lineup shows Hamilton and Cedeno in the game, when they were defensive replacements and did not start the game, I suspect that the lineups may have been input by hand (hence the flipping of Mayne and Aurilia). Cedeno entered the lineup as Agbayani's replacement in the top of the seventh and Melvin Mora replaced Rickey Henderson (No. 24, leading off) in left field in the top of the eighth -- but Hamilton didn't come into the game until the top of the ninth. In other words, Hamilton and Cedeno were not in the game together with Henderson still manning left. So a snapshot of the lineups is not likely. I suspect someone from the Mets input the lineups and either wasn't a regular operator of the scoreboard or simply did it quickly, without bothering (or really needing, in those pre-HD and DVD days) to ensure accuracy. So maybe the person started with Henderson leading off, but then chose Hamilton and Cedeno by the lower half of the batting order. As for the pitchers' spots still showing Estes' No. 55 and Dotel's No. 29? To me that's a simple explanation: They were the pitchers of record. Estes took the loss and Dotel got the win.

The only way we'd ever know anything for sure is if someone from the Mets or the King of Queens production crew recalled the details of that day, and I'm not expecting either scenario. In the absence of any insider confirmation, I'm comfortable with my hypothesis.

Stewart, Colbert on McGwire

The Mark McGwire news was big enough to warrant time in the alloted 22 minutes Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert had last night on Comedy Central. Their segments below.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
News of the Weird - Mark McGwire, Game Change & Sarah Palin
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Crisis

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Sport Report - Gilbert Arenas & Mark McGwire
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Economy

Now pitching, from '3rd Rock'

Not only is Tim Lincecum an outstanding, two-time Cy Young Award-winning hurler for the San Francisco Giants, but he was also pretty good on 3rd Rock from the Sun* in his youth.

(*I had to keep reminding myself not to type 30 Rock from the Sun.)

Stories of Seaver and Ryan on the Network

I've been watching MLB Network here and there, both at work and at home, and I really should start keeping it on in the background or as my default channel for idle loafing. ("Idle loafing" -- not oxymoronic, just hyper-loaf-like.)

First, there was the second part of an interview with Tom Seaver on "MLB Tonight" in which he talks about the Hall of Fame's Induction Weekend. The best part -- his favorite part, he said -- is the Sunday night dinner. There are only three types of people allowed into the room: Hall of Famers, the Commissioner of baseball and the president of the Hall of Fame (and, presumably, the catering staff, so I guess that's four types).

If I could have access to any room anywhere in the world -- perhaps at any time in history -- that room would be in the top five. Off the top of my head, I'd add: Independence Hall when they were hashing out the Declaration of Independence; the Oval Office at some seminal moment in history, perhaps when FDR learned about Pearl Harbor (or when, if the legend is true, he learned of a possible attack ahead of time and decided to let it happen to justify entering the U.S. into World War II); a pop-culture moment or two, like when Bruce Springsteen met Clarence Clemons or played "Thunder Road" for the first time, or when Jack Kerouac met Allen Ginsberg or Neal Cassady; and the ballroom or wherever Martin Luther King Jr. gave his "Mountaintop" speech the night before he was killed.

But back to the Hall of Famers dinner. Can you imagine that room? Seaver, Bob Gibson, Stan Musial, Reggie Jackson, Mike Schmidt, Ralph Kiner, Hank Aaron. And so many more. But maybe I wouldn't want to be in that room some day -- because it would mean I'd have to leave.

Later on the Network -- now, actually, as I wrap up at the office -- is a re-airing of Nolan Ryan's seventh no-hitter, from May 1, 1991. I remember reading about it the next morning. In New Jersey, of course, we didn't get the game on TV, and there was no MLB.TV or Extra Innings package on cable (not that my family had cable in 1991). It doesn't even appear that it aired locally in Texas. I've only been half-listening, but I got the impression that this was the Blue Jays broadcast. Part of what led me to that conclusion was one announcer -- the color commentator, so presumably a former player (he sounds young, and not like a veteran TV/radio man) -- noted how Ryan grunted when he threw his fastball. "Nolan only grunts on the fastball. As a hitter, if you can pick up on that, you know it's a fastball. He doesn't grunt when he throws a curveball."

But then there's the matter of physics -- light travels faster than sound, so by the time the batter hears the grunt, it's too late to catch up to the fastball.

For Maine, right may be wrong

The All-Star Game selection show on TBS yesterday had the feel of CBS' annual NCAA basketball tournament selection show. TBS did its best to drag out the blasted thing, revealing the American League starters, then "breaking it down" with Cal Ripken and Tony Gwynn, then moving on to the AL pitchers (and breaking it down), then finally giving us the AL reserves. And of course there were commercial breaks in there.

When they finally made it around to the NL pitchers could I start discussing with a friend of mine how idiotic it was that John Maine was left off the team -- and not even a Final Vote candidate! -- while Cole Hamels was on the staff despite having better numbers than Maine in only two categories. And then, perhaps because of the NCAA feel to the process, I brought up the head-to-head factor: Maine and the Mets beat Hamels and the Phillies on Friday night.

But let me illustrate it for you:

Remember the Maine
	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA	WHIP	BAA	OPS	K/9	H/9	BB/9	W	L
Maine	102	79	32	31	38	84	2.74	1.15	.215	.635	7.41	6.97	3.35	9	4
Hamels	111.2	107	51	48	29	116	3.87	1.22	.254	.758	9.35	8.62	2.34	9	4

Maine wins the head-to-head comparison pretty handily. In one less start, the Mets right-hander has 9 2/3 fewer innings, but the rest of his numbers far surpass those of Hamels. The only advantage Hamels has are in strikeouts and walks. The former is by a somewhat significant margin, but is more than balanced out by Maine's superior numbers in hits and runs allowed and the related batting average against and OPS figures. And the walks difference is only nine.

Obviously, neither pitcher was needed to fill the quota for his respective team, since both the Mets and Phillies had starters selected by the fans. The only possible explanation I can find is that Hamels is just one of three left-handers on Tony La Russa's NL squad. So maybe the micromanager felt he needed one more southpaw to neutralize the AL's lefties.

Maine's last hope lies in one of the current pitchers bowing out to rest a nagging injury or rendering himself unavailable because the game on July 10 comes too close to a Saturday or Sunday start. Sunday's starters, which would be the same as Tuesday's if rotations hold, show no pitchers currently on the NL team, though Carlos Zambrano and Roy Oswalt are up for the Final Vote. (Mine, incidentally, is going to San Diego's Chris Young.) Looking at tonight's starters -- and therefore Saturday's -- gives us only Brandon Webb, also a Final Vote candidate, and John Smoltz. So the "I'm unavailable because I pitched two days ago" route doesn't look like an option.

For the most part, this year's rosters don't seem to be too idiotic. There aren't too many players to argue over; instead, the arguments should be over whether every team should be given a representative (they shouldn't) and whether pitchers should hit (they shouldn't). Who wants to see Josh Beckett come to the plate with two outs in the first and the bases loaded? Instead, the designated hitter should be used for the game -- it is an exhibition, after all -- no matter where it is played. Vote for the AL DHs as DHs and have the NL's starting DH determined by the positional runner-up with the most overall votes.

Let's hope Maine gets his due before next Tuesday.

Tuning in to the WBC

Now that the World Baseball Classic has begun, I find myself interested. There was little chance of me truly getting pumped up for this new tournament beforehand, but now that the games have begun, several factors have drawn -- and held -- my interest.

The games. Quite simply, I'm drawn to the competition. I love baseball and I'll watch spring training games, but other than catching an at bat by Lastings Milledge and a couple of batters faced by Mike Pelfrey, I couldn't even stay glued to Sunday's Mets-Puerto Rico exhibition game. But for games that mean something -- even if that something is a trumped-up "world championship" -- it's held my interest. On Tuesday, when play began stateside, I kept the Venezuela-Dominican Republic game on at work and then watched the U.S. and Mexico both at work and at home. While I spent yesterday afternoon at the opening-round doubleheader for the Big East Tournament, I caught a little of the early innings of the U.S.-Canada game at a bar while I had dinner. Later that evening, I watched the end of the game -- the Miracle on Grass! -- at a friend's house.

Yankee-hating. George Steinbrenner hates the WBC. So I'm inclined to like it. Besides, the deeper into the tournament the United States goes, the longer the Yanks are without Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez and Johnny Damon. They're also without Al Leiter, but I don't see how that hurts them. The fact that Leiter -- a Jersey guy himself who pitched quite well for the Mets -- is even on the team is ridiculous. The guy is far from an effective pitcher. Obviously past his prime, he's also clearly past the point of being a solid contributor to a major-league pitching staff. Why he's believed to be a pitcher worthy of representing the United States -- actually, he's worthy of representing the U.S., but not worthy of helping them to a title -- is perhaps the biggest question on this roster.

The matchups. Yes, it's only spring training, but there are still some matchups I've been drawn to. Watching Carlos Beltran single in two runs against Billy Wagner in the exhibition on Sunday was nice when I realized, as a Mets fan, I don't have to worry about facing Wagner in the ninth inning anymore. He's ours! I know we're treated to a Johan Santana-David Ortiz at bat once or twice a season, but because the Twins can't seem to get past the Yankees in the playoffs, we've yet to see it in a setting any bigger than a Tuesday night July meeting. Ortiz's bomb on Tuesday seemed a little bit more impressive to me. And last night, as the U.S. tried to rally in the eighth, the Phillies' Chase Utley came to the plate with the tying runs on base and two outs. On the mound was Canadian Scott Mathieson -- one of the Phillies' top prospects. When Mathieson left a pitch out over the plate, Utley drilled it high and deep to center, flicking his bat away with the flair of a 40-home run hitter who had just hit one he was sure was leaving the ballpark. Only Utley hit it to straightaway center in a pretty expansive Chase Field, where Adam Stern sprinted back to the warning track and caught it just before he slammed into the wall. The kid let the young stud hit it, but he got him to hit it in the right place.

The best-laid plans ... The favorites are obviously the United States and the Dominican Republic, with Japan, Venezuela, Puerto Rico and Canada expected to put up a fight as well. Cuba is a wild card because they're isolated and so little is known about them as a team. The way the draw is set up, the U.S. and Japan would meet in the second round, ideally advancing and facing off in the one-game semifinal in San Diego on March 18. But Canada's upset of the U.S. yesterday means the Americans have to beat South Africa tomorrow and hope that Mexico either loses to Canada tonight or, at least, doesn't win by a score of either 1-0, 2-1 or 2-0 (something about the tiebreaker of runs per nine innings). A Mexican win by one of those scores means Steinbrenner gets his stars back on Sunday. Not having the U.S. get to Round 2 would be a nightmare for Bud Selig and his pet project. He's maintained that the primary purpose of the WBC is to expand global interest in the game, but having the U.S. eliminated so early would deal a significant blow to any efforts to increase American interest in the tournament. But hey, it might influence the International Olympic Committee to reconsider its decision to do away with the sport after the 2008 Summer Games in China. As I understand it, there is one last chance for another vote in 2009, but unless the rest of the world catches up quickly and the U.S. fixes the political mess its made in Iraq and elsewhere in the world, there's little chance that any further votes would produce a different outcome.

There are still some kinks to be worked out, but I think this is a tournament that could become something. Finding a way to ensure the best from each country participate is the biggest need; not having guys like Manny Ramirez and Vladimir Guerrero playing dilutes the whole package. But unless they find a way to fit the tournament into the November period after the World Series and before Thanksgiving, they're always going to have that problem. I can't say I felt a powerful urge to see such a tournament, nor do I think I'll miss it if it doesn't return in 2009 or 2013, but it's here now and so long as the games are on, I don't see a reason not to tune in.

It's still baseball, after all.

Future programming on MLB's own network

If the Yankees are the Fox reality TV show of MLB (the one you love to watch because you either want to see the next Kelly Clarkson do well, or you love the train wreck that is the talentless hacks getting their comeuppance while continuing to insist that they're great even as they're packing their bags and heading home), then the Red Sox are the daytime soap opera.

Like resin through the pitcher's fingers, these are the days of our lives -- as Red Sox Nation turns ...

It's no surprise that Theo Epstein returned as GM. If you ask those New Englanders, everyone's been saying he's been orchestrating Boston's off-season moves since November despite not being officially employed by the team. Everything they do in Boston, it seems, is punctuated by the dramatic background music and soft-focus lens of an afternoon serial production.

In the vein of aligning the major league franchises with characters from The Simpsons, how would the majors look if the teams were paired up with television shows? In some cases, but not all, the city is the obvious answer. In others, there's a distinct character to the team that lends itself to a comparison with television programming. More of a seat-of-my-pants impulsive comparison than a researched philosophical study, these pairings reflect a team's more recent trends than an overall historical characterization. Just so we're clear.

NL EAST

Atlanta Braves = Law & Order: Despite a rotating cast (and one or two older guys who are there through it all), they remain steady and consistent with a steadfast, businesslike approach.

Florida Marlins = The Planet's Funniest Animals: Campy and ridiculous, you have to either be a diehard or a child to sit through it.

New York Mets = Love Monkey: In the country's largest city, this is the story of a small-name label trying to compete with the big boys.

Philadelphia Phillies = Cold Case: Long dormant and forgotten by all except those whose loved ones are involved.

Washington Nationals = E-Ring: There's a gray, old man set in his ways who's unafraid to speak his mind and an outfit unable to affect any significant changes without first slogging through all the red tape. If they were still the Expos, they'd be Cheers -- sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name (and it's never too crowded) and there's always a seat for you right where the action is.

NL CENTRAL

Chicago Cubs = ER: Not only for the Chicago connection, but also for the propensity to feature several varied and recurring injury situations.

Cincinnati Reds = Emily's Reasons Why Not: Looks promising after the first pitch, but then you don't need much more than one viewing to see that there are major problems with development.

Houston Astros = The O.C.: Is it me, or does it seem like all of the principle contributors are white?

Milwaukee Brewers = I Love the 80s: Filled with people born just before (and now even in) the 1980s who are trying to bring back those 20-year-old glory days.

Pittsburgh Pirates = I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!: You wonder how these fringe "stars" are still considered celebrities and you know that the truly good ones, with talent, will put it to use somewhere else.

St. Louis Cardinals = Smallville: In small-town middle America, a super man with a red-and-yellow logo on his chest performs feats the likes of which no one has ever seen.

NL WEST

Arizona Diamondbacks = Star Search: In this competition of mostly unknown talents, who will emerge as America's next superstar?

Colorado Rockies = Star Trek: They're above us all, literally, trying to survive in the thin air.

Los Angeles Dodgers = America's Next Top Model: Where aspiring stars come from all over America to bask in the spotlight, but all too often tend to wither under the pressure.

San Diego Padres = Lost: Comes out of nowhere (well, virtually nowhere) to have a stellar 2005. Shot in a beautiful setting with a leading man who used to be a star several years ago and is looking to make a comeback.

San Francisco Giants = Matlock: They may be old, but don't put them out to pasture just yet. Plus, they have that enduring mystery in Barry Bonds. (Alternate: Antiques Roadshow, which doesn't need much explanation.)

AL EAST

Baltimore Orioles = The People's Court: Punctuated by characters ready to sue at the drop of a hat and with ridiculous defendants who paint themselves into a corner with statements that are soon proven falls. Not to mention former friends who then turn on their pals.

Boston Red Sox = As the World Turns: As discussed.

New York Yankees = American Idol: You either love 'em or you hate 'em.

Tampa Bay Devil Rays = Romper Room: Just a bunch of kids running around playing.

Toronto Blue Jays = Hockey Night In Canada: The excitement just doesn't quite translate south of the border.

AL CENTRAL

Chicago White Sox = Sports Night: Struggling to get noticed in their own field, they may not be loved by everyone, but you know there will be some entertaining comments and back-and-forth dialogue.

Cleveland Indians = Veronica Mars: Underrated and overlooked, but the fans know what everyone else is missing.

Detroit Tigers = Extreme Makeover: Home Edition: They spare no expense, have a guy who likes to shout a lot (Dmitri Young; Ty Pennington), and in the end you're probably in tears.

Kansas City Royals = Fear Factor: It's always fun to see just how far other people will go for big money. Some will eat bugs, others will voluntarily play in Kansas City.

Minnesota Twins = Arrested Development: Loved by fans and praised by pundits, but prematurely sent out to pasture by the head honcho.

AL WEST

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim = He-Man and the Masters of the Universe: One powerful young man and his slightly-less-gifted allies take on all comers. Plus, they attempt to claim most of the known universe as their home base. (Another option was TNT's The Closer, but I question how many people know of that show.)

Oakland Athletics = The Office: Not sure it would work without anyone else leading the way, so enjoy it while he's there.

Texas Rangers = Walker, Texas Ranger: No, wait, it works: Take a reliable concept (a cop show; a starting pitcher) and make him a Texas Ranger and somehow, it's just ridiculous (Chuck Norris as a martial-arts-master Ranger; Kenny Rogers).

Seattle Mariners = Yu-Gi-Oh: First a hit on the Pacific Rim, then a stateside success; also features a zippy, diminutive Japanese icon.

Ted Robinson, let's have lunch

Another reason I am growing to love Mets announcer Ted Robinson (other than the alma mater we have in common) is that he took a moment to use the Telestrator a moment ago to ridicule the Astros for their "pennant" recognizing them as 2004 Wild Card Champions. Of course, he's right. By definition, you're not a champion if you won the wild card. There's no wild-card division. You're the wild card winners. Not champions. It's even a stretch to say they're the 2004 Division Series Champions. Sure, you won the series, but that makes you champions of ... what, exactly? The first round? Do they give you a trophy for that series? Do they name an MVP? Do players get bonuses? No to the first two questions, and maybe a no to the last one.

The Mets and, I believe, the Rockies have it designated as such in their "banners" at the ballpark: Wild Card Winners. In fact, I think Robinson just talked about how "Wild Card Champions" in Denver irked him to the point where he would point it out to the officials there, and they eventually changed it. I need to get an accurate count of how many teams are under the disillusion that they're champions of the wild card, but I haven't been to all the ballparks involved yet.

Extra Innings Blogging

Don't know why I started to do this, but I had all these thoughts and observations as I was flipping through some ballgames in the early part of the evening before dinner, and before watching some other TV. So I wrote them out.

Mets at Braves, 8:10 p.m. I’d forgotten that Mets announcer Ted Robinson went to Notre Dame, until a friend just reminded me. I looked him up in the alumni directory – his major (American Studies) and dorm (Grace Hall) were the same as my own. Though he graduated (May 1978) four months before I turned 2 and seven months before my sister was born. … The Mets are getting guys on, and running (stolen bases for Jose Reyes, third, and Mike Cameron, second, in the first), but they’re stranding the runners. Mike Piazza struck out with two on in the first, and Doug Mientkiewicz hit into what I think Robinson said was his third double play in as many as bats, going back to last night’s game.

Phillies at Marlins, 8:15 p.m. Man, is Brett Myers on this year or what? He’s dealing again in Florida – four shutout innings now, a 2-0 lead. He’s become the stopper in that rotation – the guy they want going to the mound to end a losing streak. And for the Phillies lately, any visit to Miami has prompted a losing streak.

Mets at Braves, 8:23 p.m. Sorry, I’ll be coming back to this one a lot. Tim Hudson’s laboring tonight. Three hits, a walk, and he’s gone to three-ball counts on a couple of hitters already, and there’s two outs in the third. Fifty-two pitches after he gets Piazza looking at a full-count pitch clearly over the inner half of the plate, two runners left. Swing, man! David Wright’s continuing his tear with a single in his first at bat, now 4-for-4 with a walk in his last five trips to the plate. He’s 11-for-19 to this moment during his six-game hitting streak.

Rockies at Brewers, 8:32 p.m. Milwaukee’s staked Victor Santos to a 3-0 lead after one. I’m hoping for a second straight stellar spot start from a Brewers starter for my fantasy team. I had Chris Capuano last night and dumped him for Santos tonight. I figured the young Rocks – the youngest team in the majors, the graphic on FSN North just told me – will come through for me again. On the mound for Colorado is Jeff Francis, the Rockies’ young stud prospect, whom I drafted but had to cut loose.

Red Sox at Blue Jays, 8:34 p.m. Top of the sixth, 4-3 Blue Jays. David Wells is struggling this season.

Phillies at Marlins, 8:35 p.m. Kenny Lofton walks, drops the bat across the plate and sort of hot-dogs it down to first, and apparently Josh Beckett didn’t like it. There were words, and Lofton took a few steps toward the mound halfway down the line. There were discussions among umpires, and between umpires and coaches. Nothing happened, just a bunch of inflated egos brushing in the Miami night.

Twins at Indians, 8:36 p.m. It’s 1-1 with an out in the top of the sixth, but Minnesota has runners at first and third. I’d considered both Jake Westbrook, who’s pitched well against the Twins this season, and Cleveland starter Joe Mays for spot starts, but Santos’s numbers and matchup were too good to overlook.

Mets at Braves, 8:37 p.m. Woah. In the 15 minutes it took me to surf through all those other games, Tom Glavine’s dispatched the Braves in the bottom of the third and Hudson already has two Mets (including Wright) out in the top of the fourth. Still scoreless. Could be a pitchers duel between Hudson and the classic Glavine.

Tigers at Yankees, 8:39 p.m. Had to take a look. 7-0 Yanks, bottom of the fifth, runner on second, A-Rod up, no outs. Ho-hum. Yeah, the Yankees have won 12 of 14 since the big panic move of early May, but that could have been predicted when you realized that they had 12 straight against Oakland and Seattle. And the Mets should’ve won two of three over the weekend, but they gave away Sunday’s game to those Bronx boys. I might make it back to this game.

Mets at Braves, 8:41 p.m. Hey, Mientkiewicz is on first! Way to get Glavine to the plate now, rather than leading off the fifth.

Twins at Indians, 8:42 p.m. I guess Jacques Jones got that runner in from third. It’s hard to tell what I miss when I leave a channel, because Yahoo’s box scores aren’t updating and I don’t feel like jumping over to ESPN or one of the other sites. So I’ll just move on …

Phillies at Marlins, 8:43 p.m. One-hundred pitches for Beckett with two outs in the sixth. First and third, David Bell up with a 2-2 count. Still 2-0. Bell down looking on a curve – perhaps questionable – at the letters.

Mariners at Orioles, 8:44 p.m. Two outs with Rafael Palmeiro up. I’m hitting a lot of games when they have two outs in an inning at the moment. 2-1 Seattle in the third, runner on first. I haven’t seen many games at Camden Yards so far this season, but I don’t remember noticing that, behind the plate, not only do they have a brick wall creating the border between seats and field, but the gate behind the plate has a brick design on it. Kinda funny. Palmeiro down swinging on a changup.

Red Sox at Blue Jays, 8:46 p.m. This one’s moving along. Top of the seventh. You can kind of see where I’m flipping through the Extra Innings channels by looking at the order of the games. At the moment, I’m going up from 441 to 449 (those with games on at the moment); earlier, I’d gone from 449 down to 442. But now I’ve got to go eat dinner. It’s a late one tonight.

Mets at Braves, 9 p.m. The Braves went up 1-0 and they played that stupid, insulting, annoying tomahawk chant. Idiots. Then they tried to squeeze in a run, but Glavine dove and flipped the ball home for the out. Suckers.

OK, I’m done for now. Time to watch some other things, as per the lady’s wishes.

As seen on the radio

I don't often read in bed anymore, another lost pastime swallowed up into the sensory overload brought on by digital cable and sleep timers on the TV. But tonight, as I spread out in the center of our queen-size bed, my fiancee away for the night, I began my weekly ritual wherein I meander, page-by-page, through the latest issue of Sports Illustrated.

Just past the letters to the editor and the contributors page came Steve Rushin's column, which, once I finished reading, made me put the magazine down and give in to yet another diversion -- the computer in my lap, my lap still in bed. I couldn't put this off until morning. If XM Satellite Radio hasn't already begun thinking of how to use this column in advertising its product, it will soon. I was debating the purchase myself, strictly on the strength of having 15 baseball games a day at my earlobes, but I hesitated when consulting the Sunday circulars and discovering the awful truth about such technology these days: You can't have it all. Baseball is on XM, but the NFL is on Sirius. XM has CNN, MSNBC and the Weather Channel, but Sirius has ESPN and Notre Dame sports. And, sadly, XM has right-wing blowhards and football and basketball from the ACC, Pac 10 and Big Ten. But to read Rushin's experiences from one week of surfing the satellites pretty much sold me. In fact, I picked up my TV remote and turned the Indians-Angels game I was watching (with my MLB Extra Innings package) to the Dodgers-Padres matchup to hear Vin Scully tell me Mark Sweeney's degree from the University of Maine.

Clearly, though Rushin didn't tune into a Pirates game, or he might not have been misled by Dan Gladden on a Twins broadcast. For it was in Pittsburgh along the Allegheny that the aluminum beer bottle was developed and marketed, not the Twin Cities of the Mississippi.

But maybe he did and just got confused. If I had 15 ballgames per day, at least five days a week, at my disposal, I might mix up some of the minutiae too.

In a week or so, I'll probably know.

Then and Now: The Springfield Nuclear Nine

Homer at the Bat
Today I watched "Homer at the Bat," the episode of The Simpsons in which Mr. Burns hires nine major league players to token jobs at the power plant so that they can play on the company softball team. When Smithers goes out to hired the first of the ringers, his first stop is a baseball card show at which Jose Canseco is signing autographs. "I get $50,000 to play one game?" Canseco asks, sounding excited. "Well, it's a pay cut, but what the hey, it sounds like fun."

Looking back on it now — the episode originally aired almost 13 years ago, Feb. 20, 1992 — it's amazing to see what players were chosen, and the subplots that were explored. For instance, today Canseco is still looking out for Jose, trying to make money however he can. So I thought I'd take a look at the Springfield Nuclear Nine, then and now.

JOSE CANSECO
Then: The 27-year-old was coming off a 44-home run, 122-RBI season with the A's, his sixth full season. He'd hit 209 homers to that point. The 1992 season: He was traded to Texas in August for Ruben Sierra, Jeff Russell, Bobby Witt and cash. It was a deal that seemed like it could be one of the biggest ever and an exchange of two certain Hall of Famers. Now: I hear he's got a book out, based loosely on his playing days.

MIKE SCIOSCIA
Then: At the age of 32, Scioscia batted .264 for the '91 Dodgers in 119 games. He had what would probably be considered his career year in 1990, when he also hit .264, but with 12 homers and 66 RBI, both career highs. He knew how to work a count, though: In each of his 13 big-league seasons, he walked more times than he struck out, despite a career .259 batting average. The 1992 season: It was his last as a player. In 117 games, he hit just .221 with a career-low .286 OBP (.344 lifetime mark nonetheless). He retired with just 68 career HRs. Now: He's about to enter his sixth season as manager of the Angels, coming off his first division title. The team's 75th win this season will be his 500th. Show quotation: [Explaining why he actually enjoys working in the power plant.] "It's such a relief from the pressures of playing big-league ball. I mean, there, you make any kind of mistake, and — BOOM! — the press is all over you." And now he's a manager. Go figure.

OZZIE SMITH
Then: At 37, The Wizard of Oz had just come off his third straight season with exactly 50 RBI. The 1992 season: He hit .295 and stole 43 bases, but would have only one more season with 500 at bats before retiring in after the '96 campaign. Now: He may be the last player to reach the Hall of Fame for his defense and solid consistency moreso than his offensive numbers. Show moment: During practice, Mr. Burns takes the bat from Oz to show him how to bunt. The pitch comes in, and Mr. Burns is knocked to the backstop by the force of the ball hitting the bat.

DON MATTINGLY
Then: He played 152 games for the Yankees at 30, but hit just 14 homers combined in 1990 and '91. The 1992 season: He overcame his back problems enough to hit 14 homers in '92 and 17 in '93, with 86 RBI in each. Now: He's in Tampa, about to start his second season as the Yankees' hitting coach. Show quotation: "I still like him better than Steinbrenner." Airing six months after George Steinbrenner criticized Mattingly for wearing his hair too long (and had him benched for one game because he didn't cut it), Mr. Burns insists Donnie Baseball shave his sideburns. Mattingly doesn't see the problem (he has no sideburns) and ends up shaving the sides of his head up and over the top. Burns still isn't satisfied and kicks him off the team, prompting the comment.

STEVE SAX
Then: "Saxie" hit .304 with a career-high 10 homers and 56 RBI in '91 for the Yankees. He also stole 31 bases at 31. The 1992 season: In the first of two seasons with the White Sox, his average plummeted to .236, though he still stole 30. He played just 57 games in '93 and seven in '94. Now: Sax appeared to be the leading candidate to land the color commentator's role for TV broadcasts of about 50 Dodgers road games (those for which Vin Scully does not make the trip), but the team hired Steve Lyons instead. Show quotation: "But there's hundreds of unsolved murders in New York City." The police pull him over as he's driving through Springfield and harass him because he's from NYC.

ROGER CLEMENS
Then: The Rocket, 29, went 18-10 with 13 complete games (four shutouts) for the Red Sox, striking out 241 batters. The 1992 season: Clemens was 18-11 with 11 complete games (five shutouts) and 208 Ks. Now: He's signed on for one last, final last season with the Astros. Show moment: The Rocket's grounded from the softball game because the hypnotist brought in to convince the team (ringers and true employees alike) that they were outstanding athletes has made Clemens think he's a chicken. He walks around the field clucking. Eight years later, he'd throw a bat at Mike Piazza and then claim he "thought it was the ball."

WADE BOGGS
Then: The 33-year-old third baseman hit .332 for the Sox in '91. The 1992 season: His worst average, by far: .259. Not great for a contract year. In '93, he was in the Bronx. Now: All the money he earned in the bigs bought him a new full head of hair. And, he's in the Hall of Fame. Show quotation: "Pitt the Elder!" At Moe's, in a debate with Barney over who was England's greatest prime minister, Boggs gets punched out for disagreeing with Barney.

KEN GRIFFEY JR.
Then: He played three seasons before turning 22 and reached 100 RBI (exactly) for the first time in '91, hitting .327. The 1992 season: Continuing his steady rise, he batted .308 with 27 HR and 103 RBI. Now: After the difficult offseason of 1999-2000, when he forced a trade to his hometown Reds, this is the fourth straight spring folks in Cincinnati are beginning sentences with "If Griffey stays healthy ..." Show quotation: When Mr. Burns forces everyone to drink Brain & Nerve Tonic to "promote robust health," despite causing gigantism in rare cases, Griffey gets hooked on the sauce and develops a huge head. Since then, he's missed at least 20 games in eight of 13 seasons.

DARRYL STRAWBERRY
Then: His first season with the Dodgers produced 28 home runs and 99 RBI at the age of 29. The 1992 season: This is where the signing officially went bust. He played just 43 games and would top 100 only once (1998 with the Yankees) before retiring after the '99 season. Now: Returning to his roots, Straw will be a spring-training instructor for the Mets in Port St. Lucie. Show moment: As the only ringer who wasn't kicked off the team or otherwise kept from playing, Strawberry starts the game in place of Homer in right field. Upset that their father isn't playing, Bart and Lisa start chanting "Daaaa-rryl! Daaaa-rryl!" Marge scolds them, but Lisa explains, "Mom, they're professional athletes, they're used to this sort of thing. It rolls right off their back." Strawberry sheds a tear.

Crazy like Fox

Is there anything more annoying than the Fox network? It's so full of itself. It burns me up that they have the exclusive rights to the All-Star Game and World Series for something like the next five years, or whatever it is.

Watching the football games back on Thanksgiving, it was not hard to notice the big, distinct difference between the coverage of CBS and that of Fox. CBS occasionally and tastefully tied in holiday well wishes and sentimental acknowledgment of American troops overseas. Fox, on the other hand, made America's military occupations a centerpiece and referenced them constantly. The same thing was done last night, with Michael Douglas MC-ing a display of what I imagine were World War II veterans. (People at our party were still talking rather loudly at that point.)

It's not that recognizing these aging veterans was wrong, but to make any reference between what the troops are doing (and have done) in Iraq and what American forces did against Hitler's Germany or the Japanese empire is misleading. There's no comparison, and to think that it's anything but contrived by a network that has a clear slant to its news coverage and its coverage of our president -- a leader, in Fox's eyes, who can do no wrong.

Thankfully, though, football is over and spring training lies just around the weekend. We're days away from having our frigid northeastern days warmed by the sight of colorful batting practice jerseys shining beneath the sun in Florida and Arizona.

We'll deal with Fox's All-Star game coverage in July, when the telecast will undoubtedly be sprinkled with shots of the stars of Fox shows pretending to watch the game from choice seats close to the field. Then, most likely, they'll immediately vacate those seats for the cool comfort of an air-conditioned suite or, perhaps, exit Comerica Park for an exclusive party ... in L.A. or Chicago. Wrapping up last night's Super Bowl coverage with the final analysis from Darrel Waltrip (to promote Fox's coverage of the Daytona 500 in two weeks) was off-base too. What, they didn't have enough time during the eight-hour pregame show to squeeze in a mention of the NASCAR season?

What's in a name?

At Notre Dame, there's a women's dorm called Lyons Hall which chose as its sports mascot the mighty lion. The Lyons Lions.

A high school in Los Gatos, California, calls its sports teams the Wildcats. Translating the town's name into English gives you The Cats Wildcats.

Add The Angels Angels to the list.

In some sort of marketing move that's a bit above my head, California's Angels have gone and mushed together the team's original and current monikers, calling themselves the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Why didn't they just take a cue from Thornton Wilder's Our Town and go with The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, California, United States of America, Western Hemisphere, Earth, the Solar System, the Universe, In the Eye of God?

Clearly, the bang-up marketing job done by the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (they're a professional hockey team, if you can remember back to when there was professional hockey) has rubbed off on Angels owner Arte Moreno. Yet as of last January, those fightin' Mighty Ducks were ranked 18th among the NHL's 30 teams in merchandise sales, though the team was once named the best-dressed in professional sports. Why, exactly, would the team with the third-highest attendance last year need a name change to increase its reach? Moreno apparently wanted to change the name when he bought the team two years ago, but surely in that time he must've learned what really brings exposure: winning. The Angels signed Vladimir Guerrero and won the division, and only their neighbors to the north, the Dodgers (of Los Angeles) and the Evil Empire to the East, the Yankees, drew more fans. Oh, and all were playoff teams.

What Moreno really missed out on was a true stroke of marketing genius. How could his marketing people not turn on their TVs to Fox -- baseball's own network, no less -- and miss a souvenir sale gold mine right in their midst?

They should've renamed the team The Anaheim Angels of The OC. Think of the possibilities! Seth Cohen bobblehead dolls. Caps with attachments that make the wearer have bushy eyebrows like Peter Gallagher. Fans in eating contests with Marissa Cooper and Summer Roberts. Imagine what I could come up with if I gave it a full 15 minutes of thought!

For the moment, it seems that the name will be the only change. The Angels will still retain the "A" as their main logo, but by now putting "Los Angeles" out in front and "Anaheim" to the back, it moves the team from first in the alphabetical list of franchises to the middle of the pack. How will the AP list them when it comes to putting out the standings come April? "Los Angeles" seems to be the likely choice, but will it now necessitate "L.A. Dodgers" and "L.A. Angels" to differentiate? Or will they just stick with "Anaheim" for convenience? Will they be allowed to?

As more of a baseball purist than an advocate of change, I prefer classic uniforms with original colors (meaning only teams whose colors have always included black can use it for jerseys), team names on the home shirts and city (or state) names on the road ones. The Angels may stick with "Angels" on the road grays, or go with "Los Angeles," but I'd like to see them try to get "Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim" across the chest. There'd be so much stitching there, the batters would have an unyielding chest protector of sorts getting in the way every time they swung.

The problem is, this change opens the door for so many other teams to go after outrageous geographic marketing takeovers. What stands in the way of the Dallas Cowboys of America, since they already consider themselves America's Team? With the loss of the Hartford Whalers in Connecticut, the Nutmeg State and its siblings to the north -- Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine -- now have to settle for the Boston teams as their own, so we can expect "of New England" to appear behind the names of the Bruins, Red Sox and Celtics (there's no need for the New England Patriots to get redundant).

But there are much bigger regions devoid of professional teams, so that the reach of some teams goes far beyond the hometown area code. The Atlanta Braves of the Southern Atlantic Coast? The Minnesota Twins of the Great Plains? The St. Louis Cardinals of Middle America? The New York Yankees of the Entire Tri-State Area?

Back in September, an AP report talked about New Jersey's attempts to lure a team, starting with the Mets. The Giants and Jets have been in the Garden State for more than two decades, yet the only references to New Jersey come on gameday when 79,000 fans trek to the Meadowlands. Would the Mets drop "New York" for "New Jersey"? Would they trade the interlocking "NY" on the caps for "NJ"? Would they follow their football cousins' lead and stubbornly stick with "New York"? Or would the Angels become a model for the Metropolitans, who could go with the New York Mets of the Hudson?

Does Arte Moreno realize the Pandora's Box he's opened here? I shudder to think of what this will become if the Angels win the World Series this year.

Au revoir, Montreal

I watched as the ball fell into Mike Mordecai's glove just behind third base on the carpet of le Stade Olympique. Mordecai, himself a former Expo, tentatively jogged to the dugout, wondering if there should be more. It was, after all, the final out of the final play for baseball in Montreal. There was some history to it.

Before he reached the dugout, a coach came out and took the ball from him, looked over toward the Expos dugout on the first-base side, and tossed a one-hopper to Montreal manager Frank Robinson, who acknowledged the gesture with his index finger in the air and a nod of his head.

With that, baseball in Montreal was over.

The listed attendance was 31,395. Most of the closer shots, particularly from the outfield and foul line cameras, showed packed stands. But after the game, the view from behind the plate showed an empty upper deck down the lines and in the outfield. In the end, about 15,000 fans could have walked up to the window minutes before the first pitch and gotten a ticket to the last baseball game in Montreal.

I nearly did that. Not for last night's finale, but for Tuesday's penultimate game. Late Monday night, the Washington news began to leak out, and I knew I had Tuesday off. It was nearly midnight, but I had to check. I quickly ruled out flights ($500) and the train schedule didn't fit mine (I would have had to take an overnight trip back to be in New York Wednesday morning in order to get to work by 10 or 11). Greyhound was perfect: Just a little more than $100, roundtrip, I could be in Montreal after a nine-hour bus ride (shorter than the train, actually) and get on an 11:30 bus home that would allow me to be at work in time. But the bus north was leaving Port Authority at 8:30 or 9 a.m., and it was already midnight and I just didn't have the energy to pull it off. It also occurred to me that I was doing this solely for the historical aspect of it and that Olympic Stadium is a dump. I was more upset at not getting to visit the truly historical original Comiskey Park before its demolition than I am about missing out on baseball in Montreal. As I sat around the house on Tuesday while the leftover rain and wind from Hurricane Jeanne darkened the skies and soaked the ground, I was glad I wasn't spending the day on a bus cruising up through New York State to Quebec.

Tomorrow, the Expos begin a three-game series at Shea to close out their tenure as the Montreal Expos. They'll play their final game in the same stadium in which they played their first in 1969. I haven't yet decided if I'm going to make it out to Sunday's finale. It will be a gameday decision.

I think baseball in Washington is a good idea. I don't think Bud Selig and MLB went about it the right way -- making Orioles owner Peter Angelos happy shouldn't have been their first priority -- but the important thing is that they got it done. And in my opinion, I think the Texas Rangers should continue to hold onto the Washington Senators name. There's no need to go back there. That was last century, the team of Walter Johnson and, for a few years at least, Harmon Killebrew (in its first incarnation). That was the American League team. Of the possibilities, I think my favorite would be the Washington Grays, a permanent homage to the Negro Leagues and its teams and players. It would do as much, if not more, to honor them and Jackie Robinson than retiring every team's No. 42.

As we enter this final weekend of the season, I've got a fantasy team in a money league with a secure hold on second place (for the second straight year, I'll win back triple my entry fee) with an outside shot at the title if I can get good starts from my remaining pitchers (and those I can pick up off the wire and remain under the innings limit) and my hitters get hot and pick me up the points available in runs, home runs and the four-way tie I could cause with a one-point boost in batting average. It's looking grim. In a public league, I'm currently tied for first and I'm dying to make it into a winner's league next year. In a third league -- points-based scoring -- I secured first place two months ago.

Then there are the real pennant races. The Dodgers can wrap up the division with a win tonight and a Giants' loss in San Diego. If they don't, they'll host San Francisco for the final three games of the season, needing to win at least one, at most two games. The Giants will still have a shot at the wild card, currently the Astros' to lose with a 1/2-game lead over both San Fran and the Cubs (pending the outcome of Chicago's game in progress against Cincinnati). Then there's the AL West, which has the Angels up on the Athletics by one game entering this afternoon's games. Tomorrow, the Angels will be in Oakland for a final-weekend showdown. So much drama!

What a great game.

On fantasy trades and no-hitters

The Late Show's Top Ten Cool Things About Pitching A Perfect Game

As read by Randy Johnson on May 19, 2004:

10. "After this, I can go 0-15 for the year and honestly not give a crap."
9. "My pre-game dinner at Denny's tonight? On the house!"
8. "Shows everyone that even though I'm 40, I can still ... I'm sorry, I lost my train of thought."
7. "Cool to get congratulatory call from the President, even though he kept calling me "Larry."
6. "Can walk up to guys who've thrown no-hitters and whisper, 'Loser.'"
5. "All the pine tar I can eat!"
4. "Your catcher hugs you and it feels kinda ... nice"
3. "Maybe people will finally forget about the time I killed that bird."
2. "It's just one more thing about me that's perfect, am I right, ladies?"
1. "George Steinbrenner just offered me a billion dollars to sign with the Yankees."

Maybe two weeks before Randy Johnson's perfect game last week, a Red Sox fan in my fantasy league e-mailed to see if I'd trade him Curt Schilling for Johnson. He was wary of making the "homer" trade, thinking Johnson could be slightly better than Schilling this year. I thought otherwise, and turned it down.

Then Johnson went out and lost 1-0 to the Mets, pitching a great game. He followed that up with perfection.

My thinking was this: Schilling and Johnson can have very similar numbers on the same team, but now Schilling is on a better team. I figured his numbers had the potential to be better. Besides, Schilling's injury last year wasn't a common pitching injury -- he broke some bones in his hand on a hard hit up the middle. It wasn't a shoulder or elbow injury, no rotator cuff or ligament damage. If anything, it allowed him to rest his arm and throw less innings last year. Johnson's injury was different: It was his knee, and some reports say it's still suspect, that as long as the pain remains minor, or as long as he can pitch through it, he'll go on. But when that pain threshold gets too high, he's in trouble. Our league also doesn't have DL slots, a decision I abhor and a fight I've not been able to win with the majority of our 10 members voting against it. Without any DL slots and with our lineup settings, any injured players have to become part of our five-man bench. So if you have four injured hitters and two of your bench spots are taken up by pitchers, then you've got to cut somebody just to get another hitter to put into your lineup. So I couldn't take the chance that I'd be trading my No. 1 pitcher (and one of my three keepers from last year) for a very similar pitcher on a weaker team who, if he went down, would leave me without a No. 1 starter. Yes, if Schilling goes down, I have the same problem, but at least that's one that didn't have the warning signs of a potential Johnson injury.

* * *

As some writers and announcers are fond of saying, for the 6,706th time since the team's inception in 1962, a Mets pitcher failed to throw a no-hitter. Tom Glavine came close yesterday, taking a perfect game into the seventh inning and giving up the only hit in his 4-0 complete-game win with two outs in the eighth.

Four outs away. Again.

And, for the record, I was offered Glavine in a trade in the same fantasy league about a month ago. Turned that one down too. Decided to keep Juan Pierre.

I've watched so many Mets games get past the fifth with a 0 in the hits column for the opposing team. I once remained in the same horizontal position on the couch one night as David Cone mowed down the Phillies or the Braves or whoever it was in the late 80s that he nearly no-hit. I didn't move until he gave up that first hit, and by then I really had to go to the bathroom. I've seen two minor-league no-hitters in person, but I've yet to watch one in the majors even on TV -- most likely owing to the fact that the Mets are usually the only games I watch from the beginning and, well, you know. I was at the ballpark on September 2, 1990, when Dave Steib threw one for the Blue Jays, but that was in Cleveland and I was at Shea.

Maybe I'll see one tomorrow night. I'll be at Shea when Steve Trachsel, who threw one of the Mets' two one-hitters in three games last year, faces the Phillies. It's my fourth Mets game this season ... and my fourth Steve Trachsel start this season. He's quickly become the pitcher I've seen throw the most innings in person in my lifetime. Last offseason, I discovered Retrosheet and began the process of cataloging ever major league game I've attended. I remembered many of them offhand, not by date, but by pitcher, home run, event, etc. I remembered Lenny Dykstra's inside-the-park home run for the Phillies against the Mets, and found the date of July 24, 1990, in a Phillies media guide I have. I recalled Joe McEwing and Mike Piazza homering off Randy Johnson on a Sunday afternoon at Shea in 2000, so I browsed for that box score. I consulted friends and family who attended certain games for their recollections, and I dug out old scrapbooks for ticket stubs. I'm certain I got every one, which is now up to 85 games since my first one in August 1983, and I would also count the 1989 Mets-Yankees exhibition game at Shea at the end of spring training, since it was two major league teams in a major-league park close enough to the regular season, but I can't find a box score. Because I can't remember exactly when I got to the park, or if we left early, or when I was in the bathroom and missed an at bat or four, I used artistic license to just count all stats from every game for which I had a ticket. If I was in the ballpark for an inning, I was in the ballpark for five innings, and the stats count.

So Trachsel leads in individual innings pitched, and Mike Piazza has both games played (24) and at bats (91). I've yet to scour the data for leaders in all the other categories, but I do know this:

• I've been to 16 ballparks, including the now-retired (and, in some cases, razed) Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia, County Stadium in Milwaukee and Tiger Stadium in Detroit.

• The Mets are 21-22 in the 43 games I've seen them play. The Yankees are second with 22 (14-8), the Phillies third with 11 (4-7). The Braves and Pirates, with nine each, lead the teams more than a two-hour drive from the Jersey Shore.

• I've seen all 30 teams play at least once.

• At 3-0, the Royals are the only team undefeated in more than one game I've attended.

• The Dodgers are the opposite at 0-3.

• The Brewers are 2-0 as a National League team (a win each at County Stadium and Wrigley Field), 0-1 as an American League team (at Yankee Stadium).

• After attending one game in 1983 (Yankees 2, Angels 1, August 21) and two in 1985 (the Mets split at Shea, losing to Cincinnati and beating Chicago), I've seen at least one game every year since 1988.

• The 12 games I attended in 2000 are the most in one season, followed by 1990's 10.

• July's 21 games is tops by month, followed by June's 16 and September's 15.

• I've seen four October games, two of them postseason (the Mets' Game 1 NLCS loss in Atlanta in 1999 and their Game 5 NLCS clinching victory over St. Louis to send them to the 2000 Subway Series).

Tomorrow we'll see if the Mets can break .500 for 2004 and reach .500 for my career, and if

Trachsel can improve upon his 2.48 ERA, his 1.20 WHIP and his 2-2 record in 40 innings over six starts.

And just maybe a no-hitter.