[net.sport.baseball] the magic is back

rainbow@ihuxe.UUCP (12/12/84)

  
Newsgroups: net.sport.baseball
Subject: The Magic Is Back, and Then Some!

> GARY CARTER IS THE METS' NEW CATCHER!

> Carter, however, is one of the great
> catchers of his generation, both defensively and offensively.  He
> is 30, which means he will probably have only a few more productive
> years behind the plate; but I would guess his bat will outlast his
> knees, and if he can play other positions, he will be around the
> Mets for a good while.  The middle of the batting order should
> be astounding: Hernandez, Carter, Strawberry, Foster.  
 
I recall when the cubs made some shrewd trades last year the mets jumped
up and down screaming its not fair, the cubs went out and bought a pennant.
Now that the shoe is on the other foot, everything is ok. I see where you
are coming from. Well, at least your not pretending to condemn the Mets
behaviour while gloating inside. In any case, you'll have to forgive me 
for not congradulating the mets on their crime(trade theft)
and wishing the mets the best of luck. Rather I'll call the expos 
ignorant fools.

>If I were pitching for another NL team, I would take a high colonic before
>I went to the mound. . . .  

How short your memory is. I doubt even Carter can boost your anemic offense
against the cub pitching.

rs55611@ihuxk.UUCP (Robert E. Schleicher) (12/12/84)

I was in Canada when the Carter trade news broke (in Toronto and Ottawa,
though, not Montreal), and the fan opinion there appears to be basically
against the trade, as you'd expect.  However, interviews with other Expos
were not all that negative.  Steve Rogers (who would also appear to be
up for near-future trades) had some nice things to say about the
incoming players, and pointed out that Carter's total performance over
the past two years has been slightly erratic.  In 83 Carter had a very good
defensive year, but slipped markedly on offense.  After criticism from
the Montreal management, Carter vowed to improve his offensive performance.

He certainly did this in 1984, with a very fine offensive year.  According
to Rogers, though, his play behind the plate was merely average last year,
with big increases in passed balls, and very marginal performance in throwing 
out people stealing 2nd.  I got the impression that many of the Expos
were secretly liking the trade, possibly because without Carter around,
media and fan attention would increase for the rest of the team.

Bob Schleicher
ihuxk!rs55611

PS - The Toronto paper (or was it Ottawa) had a big headline about Carter
leaving, and then a much smaller article about the arriving Mets players.
The headline of this smaller article was "Who are these guys, anyway?"
(although fans up there are presumably at least familiar with Hubie Brooks).

ktw@whuxi.UUCP (WOLMAN) (12/14/84)

I'm not one of the people who claimed the Cubs "bought"
themselves a team.  No more than did the Mets or any other
team in this crazy market.  Nor am I gloating: the season
hasn't started yet, so far as I know, and I'm not going to say
much in the way of "Tee-hee" until the Mets have a 24-game
lead going into mid-September.  If they do.  I mean, I'm a
fan, but I'm not crazy either!  As for the "puny offense":
come on, ChiFan, be fair.  Yes, the Cubs were better than the
Mets: you beat the hell out of us.  In fact, the only team that
kept us out of first place was the Cubs because of those 
beatings.  I suspect it will be a bit different this year.  

Ken Wolman
whuxi!ktw

gadfly@ihu1m.UUCP (Gadfly) (12/14/84)

--
>> I'm not one of the people who claimed the Cubs "bought"
>> themselves a team.  No more than did the Mets or any other
>> team in this crazy market...

>> Ken Wolman

I'm not either, but it's true.  Today's Chicago Tribune featured
the final "payroll standings" of all the major league clubs with
their actual finish position in parentheses.  *LAST* in the NL
East payroll--the Mets.  *FIRST*--the Cubs.  So the Mets actually
got a lot more "bang for the buck."  Other bargains, near the
bottom on payroll but near the top in games won, were Minnesota
and Toronto.  Unfortunately, no dollar figures are given, only
rankings.
-- 
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sherm@wucs.UUCP (Sherman Lee) (12/14/84)

<>

> I'm not one of the people who claimed the Cubs "bought"
> themselves a team.  No more than did the Mets or any other
> team in this crazy market.  Nor am I gloating: the season
> hasn't started yet, so far as I know, and I'm not going to say
> much in the way of "Tee-hee" until the Mets have a 24-game
> lead going into mid-September.  If they do.  I mean, I'm a
> fan, but I'm not crazy either!  As for the "puny offense":
> come on, ChiFan, be fair.  Yes, the Cubs were better than the
> Mets: you beat the hell out of us.  In fact, the only team that
						     ^
					             |
						     |
					really?? ----'

	Come on, not the *only* team.  Being able to see the Mets
	only at Busch stadium or on network/Cardinal TV (Someday, St. 
	Louis will have cable),  I saw the Mets win none of their games
	at Busch in the second half of the season, and very few at Shea
	during that period.  I don't recall exactly, but if the Mets could
	have split their games with the Cards last year, they would have
	won the division.


> kept us out of first place was the Cubs because of those 
> beatings.  I suspect it will be a bit different this year.  
> 

	It should be different this year.  At least Met fans are excited
	for the first time in years.  The best thing about all of these
	winter dreams is that Cashen/Johnson are thinking long-term
	rebuilding for the future.

	As for the Cards:  bye bye mega-bucks Sutter (you're not worth your
			   own parking spot with a fence around it),
			   and so long to "Silent" George Hendrick;
			   Whitey's going to have a tough time without you.

-------------------

Sherman Lee
Drug Design Group 
Washington University in St. Louis


-- 
_________________________________________________________________________

Sherman Lee

david@fisher.UUCP (David Rubin) (12/16/84)

True, the Mets dropped two series to the Cards in August and
September,  but over the course of the season, I think the Mets and
Cards split their season series.

					David Rubin