One of Mets360’s favorite blogs, “2 Guys Talking Mets Baseball,” is shutting down . We’re all going to miss Mike & Jimmy’s daily argy-bargy, so in tribute, my friend Brian Joura and I started musing on a few last acts, including the final overs of 2014…
Charlie Hangley: For all the guff Terry Collins gets, it’s good to see the Mets trying to get second place. They’re playing hard, but they’re pretty much outgunned, missing Juan Lagares, Dilson Herrera, Vic Black and shutting down Jacob deGrom.
Brian Joura: Well, shutting down deGrom gives Rafael Montero a shot to start again, so I’m happy. Still, I wish that deGrom had said that he wanted to finish what he started and one eight-inning performance against the Astros wasn’t going to be his downfall. Would Matt Harvey have taken the news that he wasn’t going to make his final start so willingly?
CH: Not even a little bit. If by some miracle they win out & finish .500, I’ll be over the moon and chomping at the bit for next year. Anyway, the end of the season has brought out my annual end-of-summer melancholy and got me thinking about endings in general. Have you heard anything about any major stars hanging ‘em up? Who am I thinking of…?
Oh, I know: Paul Konerko is retiring! Anyone else?
BJ: Perhaps a different kind of “big,” but Bobby Abreu jumps to mind. I guess he hasn’t announced he’s quitting — we’re all just kind of hoping. I read that he may be in line to be the team’s next hitting coach. Does he speak English and does it even matter? What’s Spanish for “Take the pitch?” Would he just say Tome el terreno de juego to each guy on the team?
Still, I can’t shake the feeling you were thinking of someone else…
CH: All seriousness aside, I think the Yankees are overdoing a bit on Derek Jeter.
BJ: It’s the Yankees: I’d be disappointed if they didn’t do it to excess. Besides, there’s no way the Captain was going to let them go cheap after they pulled out all the stops for Mariano Rivera last year.
Other teams could take a page from the Yanks. Look at the Marlins and the home run sculpture they have in the outfield. The problem with that thing isn’t that it’s gaudy; it’s that it isn’t gaudy enough. Anything worth doing is worth overdoing.
Really, the perfect way for the Yankees to end the Jeter Farewell Tour would be to put a gift basket under every seat tonight.
What other farewells are on your mind?
CH: Well, I’m a sucker for the “psych!” retirements, where somebody quits, then comes back: Michael Jordan – twice, mind you! The Who in ’82. Brett Favre. Cher. Doonesbury…
BJ: If only I could turn back time and convince Cher to stay retired…
My favorites are the ones who threaten to do something, then are shocked when people take them up on it. Like Derek Bell and “Operation Shutdown,” or when the umps gave a mass resignation to try and force contract negotiations.
Whatever anybody thinks of Sandy Alderson now, you have to love his response to that tactic. If you recall, Alderson said: “This is either a threat to be ignored or an offer to be accepted.” The umpires were a little out of their league there.
Any retirements that seem well done or perfectly timed?
CH: I can only think of two: Barry Sanders and Mike Mussina. Oh, wait. I tell a lie: Law & Order went out well, too…
As all things end, so does this post.
Follow me on Twitter @CharlieHangley.
Shutting deGrom down was the right thing to do since his fastball velocity supposedly dropped 2mph and he appeared fatigued to the staff. It is strongly believed that fatigue can lead to injury. He should easily win the ROY after Hamilton’s second half collapse.
I saw the Who twice since they retired, in 2000 and 2002. I guess deGrom could be singing “People try to “shut” us down, ( talking bout my generation.)”
Brian I love the idea of the gift baskets. I was thing maybe the Mets could use the same idea on their final home game at Citifield this year. Will consist of only 2 things as the Mets really can’t afford to splurge on their dwindling fan base. A luxurious box of dog biscuits and a gift certificate of 10 dollars for redemption at your local Bernie Madoff investor seminar. As for Abreu becoming hitting coach? Well Latin players are taught that the word for taking a pitch is Don’t! So I wonder if SA will go for that. maybe you guys can re visit on a monthly basis just to recap current events?
Shoot – the Mets wouldn’t have gift baskets. Instead, they’d have an empty envelope taped to the top of the seat marked “donations” and collection boxes at the end of every aisle. Additionally, ushers would come through twice a game with a basket affixed to the end of a long staff and they’d go up and down each aisle requesting more money.
Awesome analogy Brian! And remember no coins for they make the basket to heavy to carry. And no funny money or George Washington inside the envelopes.
Maybe they could have the ushers walk down the aisles during the 7th inning stretch and get everyone while they’re standing up? Gives new meaning to the 7th inning stretch! (for your wallet)
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I remember Alec Baldwin saying he was going to move out of the US if GW Bush was elected
Thanks for the sendoff. My own take on Jeter is that after the career he had it was nice for him and his fans that last night went the way it did. I’m sincerely happy for him.
However, I lost a lot of respect for Derek this year with the early announcement, which created the year-long spectacle. His inability to leave gracefully told me a lot about him, none of it good.
Back in ’95, ’96, ’97, around there, the old AOL Mets Message Boards (fueled by my modem!) enjoyed a crazy, long-running debate about who was better, Jeter or Rey-O. I mean, there were huge arguments!
This was before any of today’s (still dubious) defensive metrics, so people would claim that Rey saved at least 100 runs defensively and so on.
I always thought that it was obvious that Jeter was better. He’s had a great career. I never hated that Yankee team back then, and was happy for them to actually win something, finally. By 2001, boy was I glad to see those creeps go down.
I wouldn’t mind Abreu as the next hitting coach. Or Kirk Gibson! Also, the best finale of any kind was Star Trek The Next Generation. 20 years ago, and it still brings tears to my eyes.