Tarp Trouble

Courtesy of friend and loyal reader, Jason Flynn. This is absolutely hilarious... and the commentary is golden, too. Let's go Mets!

"Jay: In honor of the current rain delay, we found this video of the Mets @ Marlins first rain delay in 93"

Outside the Box, Part 7: Convert Jeff Francoeur to Pitcher

I don't know if this has ever been discussed, and it is probably ridiculous, but... why not? This snippet from NYBD made me think of it:

Carter is almost certainly better, and actually strikes me as a decent alternative in right field, should Jeff Francoeur continue hitting like he has (.143/.200/.221 in his last 22 games). Great glove or not, that isn’t close to adequate for the position, unless the position is pitcher.

Jeff Francoeur is having an epic struggle at the plate. The odds of him ever developing into a serviceable corner outfield bat seem slim to none. So what are Jeff Francoeur's strengths? And how do we best leverage them?

Ridiculous cannon for a throwing arm.

Good, positive attitude and clubhouse demeanor.

Athletic.

Can hit a little bit.

Would he really be the world's worst candidate for a two-way player type position? Could he throw hard off a mound? Could be throw strikes? I have no idea -- but I'd love to find out.

There Has To Be a Better Way To Say This...

Something has to be done until the return of Carlos Beltran, who was in Colorado this week for a post-op checkup. - David Lennon, Newsday

No wonder it's taking so long for him to get back to baseball activities.

The linked article is worth reading, however, because of what it ACTUALLY says - namely, that Manuel is considering having Angel Pagan bat third in the lineup.

United Countries of Baseball

Slow day today so I figured I'd post something interesting instead. A few years ago Nike and Major League Baseball partnered to create a map of the United States (and Canada) according to their baseball allegiances. Pretty clever, right? It's worth a look if you haven't seen it yet.

click to enlarge

This was in 2007 -- do you think the map has shifted at all since then? I am guessing that the Rays area has expanded and the Mets area has shrunk. In fact, I was skeptical that the Mets owned New York City even when the map was first created. Long Island and North Jersey sure, maybe, could be Mets - but definitely not Brooklyn and the Bronx.

There are a couple other interesting things on the map already (the Nationals, really?) but I'd be curious to know what stood out to you.