Sunday, September 10, 2006

Faith, Fear, And Five

Cody Ross has brought the magic number to a very slender five.

And since I don't want to waste the half-ast photoshop I've created for the five slot in our very special magic number countdown, allow me to rip off...er, pay homage to the boys at Faith And Fear In Flushing by creating five ways to celebrate the number five:

  • 5.01 Davey And Kong: Davey Johnson wore five...and during spring training 1981, so did Davey Kingman. But that's not why those two are inexplicably linked in my mind. Johnson was named manager of the Mets soon after the 1983 season ended, and one of the first quotes I remember from him was that he would emphasize the "RBI" swing rather than the home run stroke. When I heard that, I had this image of a crusty Kingman watching Johnson demonstrate a level swing at the batting cage, then snicker as he walks away while resuming a home run derby contest with George Foster. That awkward situation never materialized however, as Kong was released in January of 1984. Too bad these two never got to work together...let's just say the phrase "clubhouse melee" comes to mind.
  • 5.02 Sweet Music: Frank Viola was traded for five players in 1989 and went 5-5 the rest of that season. Viola actually pitched better than that, and was three pitches and a Kevin Mitchell home run away from being 8-2. The Mets, of course, finished six games back so it hardly mattered (if they had finished five games back it would have made for a better finish to this vignette, but that's probably why I should leave this to Greg and Jason).
  • 5.03 Hate is a virtue: I have five slots for my hate list. With the Mets playing as well as they are, it becomes harder and harder to fill those slots. But people still call me grumpy. Why? Why is this? Is it because I complain about everything? I suppose that I should work on that.
  • 5.04 Tools: We thought Alex Ochoa had five tools. And we were right! The strikeout tool, the throw to the wrong base tool, the lose the fly ball in the sun tool...well I don't know the others, but the Mets traded Bobby Bonilla to acquire Ochoa. And Bonilla is the ultimate tool.
  • 5.05 So money and you don't even know it: If I'm going to win my fantasy baseball playoff game this week, I'm going to do it on the back of number 5 in your scorecard (and number one in your hearts), David Wright...who went 3 for 3 with two rbi's during today's win...and as you know, three hits plus two runs batted in make five. Wright, you see, is straight cash money.

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. In reality, imitation is the sincerest form of "I've run out of original ideas". But the photoshop looks nice, doesn't it?

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Some nerve stealing an idea like that! It almost makes me insulted that I kind of co-opted it from Toasty Joe in the first place.

Anonymous said...

get some sleep greg, you've had a busy day.

Anonymous said...

And another one in the mezzanine coming up.

No sleep til clinching.

Toasty Joe said...

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, I should be doubly flattered right now!

Anonymous said...

and, until i hit publish on this, 5 comments.

despite the u.s. open finals, am thinking about buying a walk-up to the game today, since this is the last home game BEFORE they clinch.

was also thinking that if things fall just right, they might clinch in pittsburgh. i've never been to that ballpark, and there are some very cheap fares to pittsburgh.
that said, i'm not rooting for this to stretch out any longer than it needs to.