What's all the hubbub about tonight, anyway?

We all know that New Year's is actually a moveable feast. It came on April 3 this year, it will fall on April 1 next time around. Properly, tonight is just another night in the waning of the Year of Our Mets 45. But plenty of deluded folks will spend tonight toasting and wearing funny hats and making resolutions about this thing called 2007 — so many that we ought to take notice, lest we get confused and think everybody's gathered in Times Square to celebrate word that Pedro's rehab is months ahead of schedule, or confirmation that the Marlins just sent the D-Train north for Shawn Green and Anderson Hernandez.

I'm writing these words at a quarter to three on a Sunday afternoon, which means my internal clock keeps nagging at me. Hey! Jace! There's gotta be a ballgame on somewhere. Probably in the fourth or fifth inning by now but plenty of action left. Maybe all this silly football has pushed it up the dial someplace, but it oughta at least be on the radio. No? So we're the Sunday night game, then?

Alas, no. All over but the hot-stovin', I have to remind myself, seeking comfort in the fact that the days are slowly getting longer, that winter's entrance comes with the promise of its exit. It's nice to see Halloween and Thanksgiving and Hanukkah and Christmas arrive — and since each key date off the calendar is one fewer between us and what matters, it's also been nice seeing them depart. So, welcome, Rest of the World's New Year's. Once you're behind us, all that's left is the Baseball Equinox, the Super Bowl, and Pitchers and Catchers, after which the days and nights will soon resume their right and proper patterns and rhythms.

Anyway, 2006 won't go down as a shining chapter in the American annals, staggering as it did under the weight of war and terror, division and anger. I won't miss any of that — and 2007 seems likely to deliver plenty more, anyway. But I will miss what happened in our own little orange and blue world. Because 45 MR (Mets Reckoning), it was…well, it was amazin'.

It was the first look around the friendly surly but still somehow beloved confines of Shea knowing that its days are officially numbered. So much history, glorious and futile, triumphant and farcical. With a bit more to be written before moving over a few hundred feet for another chapter.

It was new faces — of which not one but two of my signature moments were written by Paul Lo Duca. First there was the May afternoon that saw him slam the ball into the grass a la David Cone all those years ago in Atlanta. Then there was the October afternoon in which he slammed the gate on the Dodgers' postseason before it could really begin. It took me a minute or two to grasp that yes, Lo Duca had just tagged out Jeff Kent and J.D. Drew on the same deliriously unlikely play. It took me quite a bit longer to grasp that Lo Duca, utterly unable to hear his teammates on the field, had divined from some tenor to the deafening roar of the crowd that a second runner was inbound, or for me to notice around Replay #1,000 that after tagging Drew, Lo Duca sprang to his feet to see if he could erase Russell Martin as well. The first play was recklessly inattentive, the second astonishingly focused. I loved him for both.

It was old faces, too — none greeted more enthusiastically than Mike Piazza, none regarded more ambivalently than Big Mike after he celebrated his return by smacking not one but two home runs off Pedro Martinez, then came to the plate as the potential go-ahead run in the eighth — and hit an Aaron Heilman offering on the screws. That moment sparked a family feud on this little blog and throughout Metdom — do you want that third drive to come down in Beltran's glove, or disappear over the fence? Like most good arguments, there is no right answer: I cheered in relief when it turned into a loud out, but I also knew that if it had been unreachable, few losses would have been less disappointing. Speaking of old heroes, my first must-see date for 2007 will be the return of one Cornelius Clifford Floyd, the 2006 Met I'll miss most, and the player who just might be the coolest man to ever play the game.

And it was old faces seen in a new light. Carlos Beltran's 2005 (sorry, Year of Our Mets Forty-four) was a disaster: disappointing at the plate and in the field, marred by injuries small, medium and terrifying, and greeted by shameful boos from shameless fans. 2006 didn't start out much better — Beltran went into the first weekend of the year without a hit, and with that old familiar sound in his home ballpark. Then — bang! Home run! A home run followed by an old-fashioned baseball morality play — a moment that was a watershed for 2006, and maybe for Beltran and for this franchise. Beltran refused the request for a curtain call, which was just payback for his shabby treatment by the fans. Until the moment went on too long, and you knew that a) if he didn't come out, nothing he did might stop the boos; and b) there was no longer a dignified way for him to come out. And then Julio Franco found a way out of the trap, all but dragging Beltran to the top step. And with that, 2005 became past and April 6, 2006 became prelude — the precursor to a legitimate MVP season, and a love affair with the fans that not even a despairing look at a knee-buckling curve from Adam Wainwright will derail.

Not every crucial encounter between our center fielder and a Cardinals closer ended like that. In August, Beltran stepped to the plate with Lo Duca on base and the Mets down one in the ninth, setting up Gary Cohen's best call of the year and my personal moment of wildest, wildest joy in a season that offered plenty of them. “HE RIPS IT TO DEEP RIGHT! THAT BALL IS OUTTA HERE! OUTTA HERE! THE METS WIN THE BALLGAME!” If you ever, ever, ever play that call for me and I don't tear up or start beaming, please call an EMT.

That game ended with Beltran leaping into the arms of his teammates — in this marvelous photo you can see Dave Williams and Carlos Delgado and Lo Duca and others competing to be the first to dog-pile him. (Steve Trachsel's golf-clapping at the rear now seems like an icy bit of foreshadowing.) 2006 was about a Mets team that seemed to genuinely like each other, as evidenced by Lo Duca, Delgado, Beltran, Jose Reyes and David Wright on the cover of SI and Tom Verducci's wonderful article on “the adventures of Captain Red Ass and the intrepid Mets.” Contrast that with that other team in town, whose chief drama (also chronicled by Verducci) was whether or not the shortstop would ever release the third baseman from social purgatory.

That's just scratching the surface of an amazin', amazin', amazin' campaign — 2:45 has turned to 5:00 (it oughta be time for a last word from the booth, or maybe extra innings), and somehow I haven't turned to David Wright willing a ball over Johnny Damon's head, or Jose Reyes' helmet being left behind as he rounds second yet again, or the sheer pleasure in Gary Cohen on TV and Howie Rose on the FAN and Keith Hernandez on Planet Mex, or Delgado's trillion-watt smile, or the giddiest West Coast swing in 20 years, or the long-awaited, finally arrived crumbling of the Atlanta Braves, or what might just be the greatest damn catch in the history of the greatest damn game.

That's OK — there'll be time to think on all those things as New Year's Day 46 draws near, as well as time to wonder and then to witness what 2007 has in store. Can we surpass a season in which the margin between exhausted agony and a date with Detroit was a line drive that didn't tail, a breaking ball that broke perfectly? Will someone in orange and blue finally spring us from the Clubhouse of Curses? If so, will it be an old warhorse like Tom Glavine or El Duque? A young gun like Mike Pelfrey or Philip Humber? Or some hurler not even on our radar — the John Maine of 2007, perhaps? Or will that have to wait for Citi Field, rising behind the outfield fence as 2007 goes by?

Before too terribly long we'll be deep in the business of finding out, and 2006 will be part of our long history, a chapter recalled by other wins and losses and players and plays instead of one still to be fussed over. I'll remember it as a year in which a lovable, formidable, indomitable team fought all the way to the final pitch of the final inning of Game 7 of the NLCS, with the outcome undecided until the very last second. As I've said many a time since then, in response to offerings of consolation, you can want more than that, but if you've learned anything from watching baseball, it's that you damn well can't ask for it.

Maybe 2007 will be the fulfillment of 2006's promise. Maybe it'll be a disappointing retreat from it. Either way, it's got a hard act to follow — a campaign I'll always recall with a smile, an eventual sad shake of the head, and a struggle to sum up so many days and nights of amazement and excitement and joy.

Raise a glass.

As promised or perhaps threatened, here are what I humbly refer to as The Top 500 Songs of All-Time (1972-1999), determined solely by me and presented without commercial interruption in the WFUN-AM 790 Miami New Year's Eve countdown style I first encountered 34 birthdays ago today.
Less talk. More rock…
500. Dialogue (Part I & II) – Chicago (1972)
499. Shine – Collective Soul (1994)
498. Sail On – The Commodores (1979)
497. Behind Closed Doors – Charlie Rich (1973)
496. This Time – INXS (1985)
495. Hey Jealousy – Gin Blossoms (1993)
494. Let's Get It On – Marvin Gaye (1973)
493. We're Not Gonna Take It – Twisted Sister (1984)
492. S.O.S. – ABBA (1975)
491. 'Til My Baby Comes Home – Luther Vandross (1985)
490. Walls (Circus) – Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers (1996)
489. Steal My Sunshine – Len (1999)
488. Back Stabbers – The O'Jays (1972)
487. Gold – Spandau Ballet (1984)
486. Been To Canaan – Carole King (1972)
485. Hurricane (Part I) – Bob Dylan (1976)
484. Sucked Out – Superdrag (1996)
483. Let's Go All The Way – Sly Fox (1986)
482. St. Elmo's Fire (Man In Motion) – John Parr (1985)
481. Feels So Good – Chuck Mangione (1978)
480. Sultans Of Swing – Dire Straits (1979)
479. Radio Ga Ga – Queen (1984)
478. Swearin' To God – Frankie Valli (1975)
477. Southern Cross – Crosby, Stills & Nash (1982)
476. Call On Me – Chicago (1974)
475. Twilight Zone/Twilight Tone – Manhattan Transfer (1980)
474. Love Takes Time – Orleans (1979)
473. Linger – The Cranberries (1993)
472. Forever Man – Eric Clapton (1985)
471. Mambo No. 5 (A Little Bit Of…) – Lou Bega (1999)
470. Sleeping Satellite – Tasmin Archer (1993)
469. Losing My Religion – R.E.M. (1991)
468. Men Without Shame – Phantom, Rocker & Slick (1986)
467. Black Coffee In Bed – Squeeze (1982)
466. A Matter Of Trust – Billy Joel (1986)
465. Easy Lover – Philip Bailey & Phil Collins (1984)
464. I'm So Excited – Pointer Sisters (1984)
463. Love Rollercoaster – Ohio Players (1976)
462. Oh, Babe What Would You Say – Hurricane Smith (1973)
461. Nobody Does It Better – Carly Simon (1977)
460. Good – Better Than Ezra (1995)
459. Painted Ladies – Ian Thomas (1974)
458. With A Little Luck – Paul McCartney & Wings (1978)
457. O.P.P. – Naughty By Nature (1991)
456. Reminiscing – Little River Band (1978)
455. Out Of Touch – Daryl Hall & John Oates (1984)
454. The Show Must Go On – Three Dog Night (1974)
453. Only The Lonely – The Motels (1982)
452. Constant Craving – k.d. lang (1992)
451. The Main Event/Fight – Barbra Streisand (1979)
450. Delta Dawn – Helen Reddy (1973)
449. Street Life – The Crusaders (1979)
448. (Just Like) Starting Over – John Lennon (1980)
447. Invisible Touch – Genesis (1986)
446. Tired Of Toein' The Line – Rocky Burnette (1980)
445. Rockin' Roll Baby – The Stylistics (1973)
444. Cherchez La Femme – Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band (1977)
443. Here You Come Again – Dolly Parton (1978)
442. Bungle In The Jungle – Jethro Tull (1974)
441. The Fire Inside – Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band (1991)
440. Tight Rope – Leon Russell (1972)
439. Sit Down You're Rockin' The Boat – Don Henley (1993)
438. Army – Ben Folds Five (1999)
437. December 1963 (Oh, What A Night) – The 4 Seasons (1976)
436. Yes – Merry Clayton (1988)
435. One Of These Nights – The Eagles (1975)
434. Overkill – Men At Work (1983)
433. 99 Red Balloons – Nena (1984)
432. To Sir With Love – 10,000 Maniacs & Michael Stipe (1993)
431. Rocky Mountain Way – Joe Walsh (1973)
430. Baker Street – Gerry Rafferty (1978)
429. Ain't No Way To Treat A Lady – Helen Reddy (1975)
428. The Tide Is High – Blondie (1981)
427. Ain't No Woman (Like The One I've Got) – Four Tops (1973)
426. C'mon C'mon (We're Gonna Get It Started) – Sloan (1998)
425. Night Moves – Bob Seger (1977)
424. You Take Me Up – Thompson Twins (1984)
423. Tusk – Fleetwood Mac (1979)
422. Take Me Home Tonight – Eddie Money & Ronnie Spector (1986)
421. All Fired Up – Pat Benatar (1988)
420. It's Money That Matters – Randy Newman (1988)
419. One Step Closer – Doobie Brothers (1981)
418. I Shall Sing – Art Garfunkel (1974)
417. Hot Child In The City – Nick Gilder (1978)
416. Sunshine – Jonathan Edwards (1972)
415. Sun's Gonna Rise – Sass Jordan (1994)
414. Rush – Big Audio Dynamite II (1991)
413. Just You 'N' Me – Chicago (1973)
412. Strawberry Letter 23 – Brothers Johnson (1977)
411. On The Western Skyline – Bruce Hornsby & The Range (1987)
410. 12 Years Old – Kim Stockwood (1999)
409. Hooked On A Feeling – Blue Swede (1974)
408. I'll Play For You – Seals & Croft (1975)
407. Oh Very Young – Cat Stevens (1974)
406. Dance With Me – Orleans (1975)
405. Just Too Many People – Melissa Manchester (1975)
404. Photograph – Ringo Starr (1973)
403. Midnight Blue – Lou Gramm (1987)
402. Born To Be Alive – Patrick Hernandez (1979)
401. Handle With Care – Traveling Wilburys (1988)
400. Fall Down – Toad The Wet Sprocket (1994)
399. Abra-Ca-Dabra – The DeFranco Family (1974)
398. Praise You – Fatboy Slim (1999)
397. Brimful Of Asha – Cornershop (1998)
396. Freedom 90 – George Michael (1990)
395. I Can’t Cry Anymore – Sheryl Crow (1995)
394. Invisible – Alison Moyet (1985)
393. I Love You Always Forever – Donna Lewis (1996)
392. Mamma Mia – ABBA (1976)
391. Jack And Jill – Raydio (1978)
390. Mornin’ Beautiful – Tony Orlando & Dawn (1975)
389. Self Esteem – The Offspring (1994)
388. Hysteria – Def Leppard (1988)
387. Rock The Boat – Hues Corporation (1974)
386. Put Your Hands Together – The O’Jays (1974)
385. Dreams I Dream – Dave Mason & Phoebe Snow (1988)
384. Rocky Mountain High – John Denver (1973)
383. Lido Shuffle – Boz Scaggs (1977)
382. Bitter – Jill Sobule (1997)
381. Waiting For A Star To Fall – Boy Meets Girl (1988)
380. Love Song – The Cure (1989)
379. (I Believe) There's Nothing Stronger Than Our Love – Paul Anka & Odia Coates (1975)
378. Change The World – Eric Clapton (1996)
377. Goin’ Down – Greg Guidry (1982)
376. Livin’ Thing – Electric Light Orchestra (1977)
375. One Week – Barenaked Ladies (1998)
374. Chuck E.’s In Love – Rickie Lee Jones (1979)
373. Automatic – Pointer Sisters (1984)
372. I’m Coming Home – Johnny Mathis (1973)
371. All This Time – Sting (1991)
370. Your Smiling Face – James Taylor (1978)
369. Laid – James (1994)
368. Friends – Bette Midler (1973)
367. Jimmy Loves Mary-Anne – Looking Glass (1973)
366. Me And Mrs. Jones – Billy Paul (1972)
365. Paloma Blanca – George Baker Selection (1976)
364. Longfellow Serenade – Neil Diamond (1974)
363. It’s Still Rock And Roll To Me – Billy Joel (1980)
362. It’s A Miracle – Barry Manilow (1975)
361. Sowing The Seeds Of Love – Tears For Fears (1989)
360. I Live For Your Love – Natalie Cole (1988)
359. Only Yesterday – The Carpenters (1975)
358. I Want A New Drug – Huey Lewis & The News (1984)
357. Don’t Let Go – Isaac Hayes (1980)
356. Soldier Of Love – Donny Osmond (1989)
355. Why Can’t This Be Love – Van Halen (1986)
354. Drowning In The Sea Of Love – Joe Simon (1972)
353. Don’t Go Breaking My Heart – Elton John & Kiki Dee (1976)
352. The Language Of Love – Dan Fogelberg (1984)
351. Pressure – Billy Joel (1982)
350. Kung Fu Fighting – Carl Douglas (1974)
349. Head Over Heels – The Go-Go’s (1984)
348. This Is It – Kenny Loggins (1980)
347. Me And Julio Down By The Schoolyard – Paul Simon (1972)
346. You Make Me Feel Brand New – The Stylistics (1974)
345. Cruisin’ – Smokey Robinson (1979)
344. Living For The City – Stevie Wonder (1974)
343. This Little Girl – Gary (U.S.) Bonds (1981)
342. Doctor My Eyes – Jackson Browne (1972)
341. Be Near Me – ABC (1985)
340. Superfly – Curtis Mayfield (1972)
339. Breakout – Swing Out Sister (1987)
338. Some Kinda Wonderful – Sky (1998)
337. Back When My Hair Was Short – Gunhill Road (1973)
336. The Only Flame In Town – Elvis Costello & Daryl Hall (1984)
335. Sometimes A Fantasy – Billy Joel (1980)
334. Alive And Kicking – Simple Minds (1985)
333. More Than A Woman – Tavares (1978)
332. Hope Of Deliverance – Paul McCartney (1993)
331. Grease – Frankie Valli (1978)
330. Island Girl – Elton John (1975)
329. Life In A Northern Town – Dream Academy (1986)
328. Love Machine – The Miracles (1976)
327. No Myth – Michael Penn (1990)
326. Is She Really Going Out With Him? – Joe Jackson (1979)
325. Kodachrome – Paul Simon (1973)
324. Ghetto Child – The Spinners (1973)
323. Rebirth Of Slick (Cool Like Dat) – Digable Planets (1993)
322. Valerie – Steve Winwood (1987)
321. Be Thankful For What You Got – William DeVaughn (1974)
320. Night In My Veins – The Pretenders (1994)
319. Don’t Forget Me (When I’m Gone) – Glass Tiger (1986)
318. Anniversary Song – Cowboy Junkies (1994)
317. I Can Dream About You – Dan Hartman (1984)
316. Up On The Roof – James Taylor (1979)
315. I’ve Got To Use My Imagination – Gladys Knight & The Pips (1974)
314. A Life Of Illusion – Joe Walsh (1981)
313. The Old Man Down The Road – John Fogerty (1985)
312. Listen To What The Man Said – Paul McCartney & Wings (1975)
311. Haven’t Got Time For The Pain – Carly Simon (1974)
310. Across The River – Bruce Hornsby & The Range (1990)
309. Whodunit – Tavares (1977)
308. Daybreak – Barry Manilow (1977)
307. Tom’s Diner – D.N.A. Featuring Suzanne Vega (1990)
306. Mighty High – Mighty Clouds Of Joy (1976)
305. Spies Like Us – Paul McCartney (1986)
304. Jenny Says – Cowboy Mouth (1997)
303. Rikki Don’t Lose That Number – Steely Dan (1974)
302. Boogie Down – Eddie Kendricks (1974)
301. Natural High – Bloodstone (1973)
300. You’re The First, The Last, My Everything – Barry White (1974)
299. Back On The Chain Gang – The Pretenders (1983)
298. Burning Love – Elvis Presley (1972)
297. Pop Muzik – M (1979)
296. Mexican Radio – Wall Of Voodoo (1983)
295. Dead Giveaway – Shalamar (1983)
294. Everyday I Write The Book – Elvis Costello & The Attractions (1983)
293. Paper In Fire – John Cougar Mellencamp (1987)
292. Bette Davis Eyes – Kim Carnes (1981)
291. Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap – AC/DC (1981)
290. Dancing In The Moonlight – King Harvest (1973)
289. The Salt In My Tears – Martin Briley (1983)
288. Sister Golden Hair – America (1975)
287. The Warrior – Scandal Featuring Patty Smyth (1984)
286. Safety Dance – Men Without Hats (1983)
285. Drift Away – Dobie Gray (1973)
284. 867-5309/Jenny – Tommy Tutone (1982)
283. Thinking Of You – Loggins & Messina (1973)
282. Pillow Talk – Sylvia (1973)
281. Puttin’ On The Ritz – Taco (1983)
280. Lovely Day – Bill Withers (1978)
279. Centerfold – J. Geils Band (1982)
278. Sausalito Summer Night – Diesel (1981)
277. New Frontier – Donald Fagen (1983)
276. Pour Some Sugar On Me – Def Leppard (1988)
275. You Don’t Know How It Feels – Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers (1994)
274. Blinded By The Light – Manfred Mann’s Earth Band (1977)
273. Come Baby Come – K7 (1993)
272. Sweet Love – Anita Baker (1986)
271. Crumblin’ Down – John Cougar Mellencamp (1983)
270. Magic – Olivia Newton-John (1980)
269. The Entertainer – Billy Joel (1974)
268. Pray – M.C. Hammer (1990)
267. Birdland – Manhattan Transfer (1981)
266. Nightshift – Commodores (1985)
265. Cherish – Madonna (1989)
264. Horse With No Name – America (1972)
263. Regulate – Warren G & Nate Dogg (1994)
262. Right Back Where We Started From – Maxine Nightingale (1976)
261. Don’t You (Forget About Me) – Simple Minds (1985)
260. Tomorrow’s Girls – Donald Fagen (1993)
259. Man On The Moon – R.E.M. (1993)
258. Lawyers In Love – Jackson Browne (1983)
257. Summer – War (1976)
256. The Real End – Rickie Lee Jones (1984)
255. Every Morning – Sugar Ray (1999)
254. You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet – Bachman-Turner Overdrive (1974)
253. Dear God – XTC (1987)
252. Don’t Shed A Tear – Paul Carrack (1988)
251. Gel – Collective Soul (1995)
250. Son Of My Father – Giorgio (1972)
249. Don’t Call Us, We’ll Call You – Sugarloaf (1975)
248. The Sweetest Taboo – Sade (1986)
247. Doll Parts – Hole (1994)
246. Dreaming A Dream – Crown Heights Affair (1975)
245. Hey Nineteen – Steely Dan (1981)
244. Forever Your Girl – Paula Abdul (1989)
243. Band On The Run – Paul McCartney & Wings (1974)
242. Inside – Patti Rothberg (1996)
241. Carefree Highway – Gordon Lightfoot (1974)
240. Moonlight Feels Right – Starbuck (1976)
239. Boogie Nights – Heatwave (1977)
238. Heartache Tonight – The Eagles (1979)
237. Groove Is In The Heart – Dee-Lite (1990)
236. You Ought To Be With Me – Al Green (1972)
235. Good Time Charlie’s Got The Blues – Danny O’Keefe (1972)
234. Peg – Steely Dan (1978)
233. The Obvious Child – Paul Simon (1990)
232. Rock And Roll Girls – John Fogerty (1985)
231. Feed The Tree – Belly (1993)
230. Walk The Dinosaur – Was (Not Was) (1989)
229. Makin’ It – David Naughton (1979)
228. Dancing Queen – ABBA (1977)
227. Lovefool – The Cardigans (1997)
226. Old Days – Chicago (1975)
225. Black & White – Three Dog Night (1972)
224. Keeper of the Flame – Martin Page (1995)
223. Afternoon Delight – Starland Vocal Band (1976)
222. So Alive – Love & Rockets (1989)
221. American City Suite – Cashman & West (1972)
220. Under The Clock – Janey Street (1985)
219. Brick – Ben Folds Five (1998)
218. One Less Set of Footsteps – Jim Croce (1973)
217. Junior’s Farm – Paul McCartney & Wings (1975)
216. White Lines – Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five (1983)
215. Tin Man – America (1974)
214. Flagpole Sitta – Harvey Danger (1998)
213. You Get What You Give – New Radicals (1999)
212. Undercover Angel – Alan O’Day (1977)
211. Veronica – Elvis Costello (1989)
210. Mockingbird – Carly Simon & James Taylor (1974)
209. How Much Love – Leo Sayer (1977)
208. Get Down – Gilbert O’Sullivan (1973)
207. Smoke From A Distant Fire – Sanford/Townsend Band (1977)
206. Beautiful Sunday – Daniel Boone (1972)
205. Pretty Fly (For A White Guy) – The Offspring (1998)
204. Borderline – Madonna (1984)
203. Magic To Do – Cast of “Pippin” (1973)
202. You Better You Bet – The Who (1981)
201. The Way To Your Heart – Soulsister (1989)
200. When I Come Around – Green Day (1994)
199. A Long December – Counting Crows (1996)
198. Let's Stay Together – Al Green (1972)
197. I Feel For You – Chaka Khan (1984)
196. Sideshow – Blue Magic (1974)
195. Nights On Broadway – The Bee Gees (1975)
194. Need You Tonight – INXS (1988)
193. Sundown – Gordon Lightfoot (1974)
192. Like The Way I Do – Melissa Etheridge (1988)
191. Mysterious Ways – U2 (1991)
190. U Can't Touch This – M.C. Hammer (1990)
189. Come Out And Play – The Offspring (1994)
188. I'm Your Baby Tonight – Whitney Houston (1990)
187. To Be With You – Mr. Big (1992)
186. The Name Of The Game – ABBA (1978)
185. Bad Blood – Neil Sedaka & Elton John (1975)
184. Rock This Town – Stray Cats (1982)
183. Rubberband Man – The Spinners (1976)
182. I'll Be There For You – The Rembrandts (1995)
181. Semi-Charmed Life – Third Eye Blind (1997)
180. I Touch Myself – The Divinyls (1991)
179. Someone Saved My Life Tonight – Elton John (1975)
178. Come And Get Your Love – Redbone (1974)
177. Brother Louie – Stories (1973)
176. Head To Toe – Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam (1987)
175. I'm Stone In Love With You – The Stylistics (1972)
174. Why Can't We Be Friends – War (1975)
173. You Oughta Know – Alanis Morissette (1995)
172. A Change Would Do You Good – Sheryl Crow (1997)
171. I'm Too Sexy – Right Said Fred (1992)
170. Piano In The Dark – Brenda Russell (1988)
169. Battleship Chains – The Georgia Satellites (1987)
168. You Make My Dreams – Daryl Hall & John Oates (1981)
167. Lonely Ol' Night – John Mellencamp (1985)
166. In The House Of Stone And Light – Martin Page (1994)
165. Straight Up – Paula Abdul (1989)
164. Lucas With The Lid Off – Lucas (1994)
163. Better Days – Bruce Springsteen (1992)
162. Glory Days – Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band (1985)
161. Breaking Away – Balance (1981)
160. Don't You Write Her Off – McGuinn, Clark & Hillman (1979)
159. Special Lady – Ray, Goodman & Brown (1980)
158. My Girl – Chilliwack (1981)
157. Centerfield – John Fogerty (1985)
156. Then Came You – Dionne Warwicke & The Spinners (1974)
155. Shake It – Ian Matthews (1979)
154. Whenever I Call You Friend – Kenny Loggins & Stevie Nicks (1978)
153. Dancing In The Dark – Bruce Springsteen (1984)
152. The Boys Are Back In Town – Thin Lizzy (1976)
151. Mr. Jones – Counting Crows (1994)
150. The City Of New Orleans – Arlo Guthrie (1972)
149. Mother And Child Reunion – Paul Simon (1972)
148. Human Touch – Bruce Springsteen (1992)
147. Garden Party – Rick Nelson (1972)
146. Scenes From An Italian Restaurant – Billy Joel (1978)
145. That Thing You Do! – The Wonders (1996)
144. Spiders & Snakes – Jim Stafford (1974)
143. Saturday In The Park – Chicago (1972)
142. Up In A Puff Of Smoke – Polly Brown (1975)
141. Hearts On Fire – Randy Meisner (1981)
140. That's The Way Of The World – Earth, Wind & Fire (1975)
139. Native New Yorker – Odyssey (1977)
138. Tennessee – Arrested Development (1992)
137. Operator (That's Not The Way It Feels) – Jim Croce (1972)
136. She's So Cold – The Rolling Stones (1980)
135. Could It Be I'm Falling In Love – The Spinners (1973)
134. Stomp – Brothers Johnson (1980)
133. On The Radio – Donna Summer (1980)
132. Dance Hall Days – Wang Chung (1984)
131. Right Between The Eyes – Wax (1986)
130. What You Won't Do For Love – Bobby Caldwell (1979)
129. Let My Love Open The Door – Pete Townshend (1980)
128. Sky High – Jigsaw (1975)
127. Endicott – Kid Creole & The Coconuts (1985)
126. What Are We Doin' In Love – Dottie West & Kenny Rogers (1981)
125. Maria's Wedding – Black 47 (1993)
124. Use Me – Bill Withers (1972)
123. Rockin' Chair – Gwen McCrae (1975)
122. Heaven Knows – Donna Summer & Brooklyn Dreams (1979)
121. Jet – Paul McCartney & Wings (1974)
120. Driver's Seat – Sniff 'N' The Tears (1979)
119. Help Me – Joni Mitchell (1974)
118. Rock Me Gently – Andy Kim (1974)
117. Higher Love – Stevie Winwood (1986)
116. Jazzman – Carole King (1974)
115. Damn, I Wish I Was Your Lover – Sophie B. Hawkins (1992)
114. One Headlight – The Wallflowers (1996)
113. Little Willy – The Sweet (1973)
112. Until You Come Back To Me – Aretha Franklin (1974)
111. Radar Love – Golden Earring (1974)
110. How Do You Do – Mouth & Macneal (1972)
109. Tell Me Something Good – Rufus (1974)
108. I'm Doin' Fine – New York City (1973)
107. Keeper Of The Castle – The Four Tops (1973)
106. My Maria – B.W. Stevenson (1973)
105. Mighty Love – The Spinners (1974)
104. Corner Of The Sky – The Jackson 5 (1973)
103. Allentown – Billy Joel (1983)
102. Tommy, Judy & Me – Rob Hegel (1980)
101. This Will Be – Natalie Cole (1975)
100. Couldn't Get It Right – Climax Blues Band (1977)
99. The Look – Roxette (1989)
98. Hold On – Wilson Phillips (1990)
97. Leave Virginia Alone – Rod Stewart (1995)
96. Brilliant Disguise – Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band (1987)
95. Where Have All The Cowboys Gone? – Paula Cole (1997)
94. The Valley Road – Bruce Hornsby & The Range (1988)
93. I'm Alive – Jackson Browne (1994)
92. Time And Tide – Basia (1988)
91. Yes We Can Can – The Pointer Sisters (1973)
90. Got To Get You Into My Life – The Beatles (1976)
89. I Got A Name – Jim Croce (1973)
88. Iko Iko – The Belle Stars (1989)
87. You Can't Get What You Want – Joe Jackson (1984)
86. You Little Trustmaker – The Tymes (1974)
85. I Want You – Savage Garden (1997)
84. Deacon Blues – Steely Dan (1978)
83. Jungle Boy – John Eddie (1986)
82. Stay – Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories (1994)
81. One Night In Bangkok – Murray Head (1985)
80. Two Princes – Spin Doctors (1993)
79. Brandy (You're A Fine Girl) – Looking Glass (1972)
78. Misdemeanor – Foster Sylvers (1973)
77. Steppin' Out – Joe Jackson (1982)
76. Time Passages – Al Stewart (1978)
75. Don't Make Me Over – Sybil (1989)
74. Wild, Wild West – The Escape Club (1988)
73. Heaven On The 7th Floor – Paul Nicholas (1977)
72. Driedel – Don McLean (1973)
71. Life Is A Highway – Tom Cochrane (1992)
70. Bad Time – Grand Funk (1975)
69. I Gotcha – Joe Tex (1972)
68. You're So Vain – Carly Simon (1973)
67. People Make The World Go Round – The Stylistics (1972)
66. Stumblin' In – Suzi Quatro & Chris Norman (1979)
65. Always Something There To Remind Me – Naked Eyes (1983)
64. Keep On Truckin' – Eddie Kendricks (1973)
63. Once Bitten Twice Shy – Great White (1989)
62. Keep It Comin' Love – K.C. & The Sunshine Band (1977)
61. '65 Love Affair – Paul Davis (1982)
60. Downstream – The Rainmakers (1986)
59. Life Is A Rock (But The Radio Rolled Me) – Reunion (1974)
58. Copperline – James Taylor (1991)
57. Freddie's Dead – Curtis Mayfield (1972)
56. Kiss Him Goodbye – The Nylons (1987)
55. We Built This City – Starship (1985)
54. Let The River Run – Carly Simon (1989)
53. When Doves Cry – Prince (1984)
52. Who Do You Think You Are – Bo Donaldson & The Heywoods (1974)
51. Paradise By The Dashboard Light – Meat Loaf (1978)
50. Free Man In Paris – Joni Mitchell (1974)
49. Just Don't Want To Be Lonely – The Main Ingredient (1974)
48. Nothing Compares 2 U – Sinead O'Connor (1990)
47. Call It Love – Poco (1989)
46. Stand By – Roman Holliday (1983)
45. Everything Falls Apart – Dog's Eye View (1996)
44. Forever In Blue Jeans – Neil Diamond (1979)
43. Beach Baby – First Class (1974)
42. Girls With Guns – Tommy Shaw (1984)
41. Walking In Memphis – Marc Cohn (1991)
40. Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia) – Us3 (1993)
39. I'll Be Around – The Spinners (1972)
38. Magic – Pilot (1975)
37. I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) – The Proclaimers (1993)
36. Magic Man – Heart (1976)
35. Let It Ride – Bachman-Turner Overdrive (1974)
34. Everybody Plays The Fool – The Main Ingredient (1972)
33. Tainted Love – Soft Cell (1982)
32. Thunder Island – Jay Ferguson (1978)
31. My Life – Billy Joel (1978)
30. Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go – Wham! (1984)
29. Lump – The Presidents of the United States of America (1995)
28. Everlasting Love – Carl Carlton (1974)
27. Am I The Same Girl – Swing Out Sister (1992)
26. Personal Jesus – Depeche Mode (1989)
25. My Sharona – The Knack (1979)
24. They Just Can't Stop It The (Games People Play) – The Spinners (1975)
23. The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia – Vicki Lawrence (1973)
22. Rock And Roll Part 2 – Gary Glitter (1972)
21. Wonderwall – The Mike Flowers Pops (1996)
20. Seasons Of Love – Stevie Wonder & The Cast of “Rent” (1996)
19. Hang On In There Baby – Johnny Bristol (1974)
18. You Are The Sunshine Of My Life – Stevie Wonder (1973)
17. Love Shack – The B-52's (1989)
16. Convoy – C.W. McCall (1976)
15. Waterloo – ABBA (1974)
14. Kiss – Prince And The Revolution (1986)
13. Another One Bites The Dust – Queen (1980)
12. Mary's Prayer – Danny Wilson (1987)
11. Only The Good Die Young – Billy Joel (1978)
10. One Of A Kind (Love Affair) – The Spinners (1973)
9. Baby Baby – Amy Grant (1991)
8. Rosanna – Toto (1982)
7. Ice Ice Baby – Vanilla Ice (1990)
6. Ariel – Dean Friedman (1977)
5. Get Used To It – Roger Voudouris (1979)
4. Come On Eileen – Dexys Midnight Runners (1983)
3. Roll To Me – Del Amitri (1995)
2. The Night Chicago Died – Paper Lace (1974)
1. American Pie – Don McLean (1972)
There you have it. The Top 500 Songs of All-Time. Thanks for tuning in today and throughout 2006. Happy 2007, everybody.

It’s what I do
It’s what I do
It’s not some game I play
It’s in my DNA
It’s what I do
—Donald Fagen

Tomorrow, Sunday, is my birthday. It’s my 44th birthday overall, the seventh among them to fall on a Sunday. When I think of having a Sunday birthday, I think of one in particular.

Few are the days of our lives that not only can we pinpoint in hindsight as momentous but that we know while they’re in progress are gamechangers. My 10th birthday — the second I ever celebrated on a Sunday — was one of those days.

December 31, 1972, 34 years ago tomorrow, opened up a whole new way of looking at the world for me. It validated an impulse that was, to borrow a phrase from a source I would learn about soon enough, bubbling under my own Hot 100. It altered the way I think about everything.

On the day I turned 10, I heard my first year-end countdown on the radio. It was like a light went off in my ears.

You mean there are people who make lists who aren’t told to go away? You mean there are people who get to broadcast them? You mean there’s honor to this thing I like to do?

As a child in my single digits, I liked to make lists, but they were shapeless, formless, without context. What I heard on Miami’s WFUN on the final day of 1972 was something else. It was the Top 79 songs of the year, fitting in that WFUN was 790 on your AM dial.

Pop music had emerged as the third leg of my obsession triad in the spring of ’72, following the Mets and politics. I was essentially set for life in terms of overriding interests. There had been music before, but I hadn’t linked it to the specificities of time and place and it wasn’t something I sought. Via WNBC in the spring and WGBB in the fall, I heard songs that I knew were new. They were what were known as hits. I loved being in on the hits. It made me feel as if I were a part of the world, not some outcast who was the only one who wasn’t told the joke or didn’t receive the memo.

Come late December, our family took off on its annual holiday trek for North Miami Beach. For the second year in a row, we stayed at a motel on Collins Avenue called the Chateau. I brought with me the transistor radio I inherited from my musically indifferent sister. I assumed Miami had a station that played the hits. It did: WFUN. Great call letters. Great records. I listened to WFUN every spare moment I was allowed to (I was supposed to be outside getting some sun, we didn’t pay all that money to come down here so you could sit in the room all day and listen to the radio).

I don’t remember what it was I was supposed to be doing on my birthday but I do remember that my sister took ill with a stomach virus. She was stuck in bed and I told my parents, you guys go to the pool, I’ll keep Susan company. It scored me some “what a good brother” points. What I did, actually, was sit on the balcony and listen to ‘FUN and discover the art of the countdown.

The Countdown! What a concept! It was a list that went from back to front. It was drenched in suspense. It was an instant history lesson, both for the songs I hadn’t heard much since June and for the songs that I managed to miss during 1972. I took a pen and wrote down in my notebook The Top 79 as it unfolded.

And I was hooked. I wanted to make this kind of list. In fact, I did. When we went home I made my own Top 100 songs of 1972. I kept reworking it into March, oblivious to the reality that nobody needed my list. But I was onto something that I enjoyed. Every year’s end I made a Top 100 list. Not my favorites, mind you, but the Top 100, based on how much I perceived the hits of any year were played on the radio. I kept this up to the end of the 1980s. I also did weekly Top 20 lists on and off during the ’70s.

I’ll admit to myself now that those were pretty pointless endeavors. WFUN may have faded from the South Florida scene but other radio stations in other places counted down songs. Casey Kasem counted down songs. Billboard existed to count down songs. I turned my attention to thinking in terms of favorite songs. My favorite songs.

I have favorite songs nobody else seems to have, at least judging by every friend’s, critic’s or institution’s ranking that comes down the pike. Perhaps it was the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame declaring in the mid-’90s that there were 500 songs that shaped rock, providing a de facto canon for the genre, that inspired me to create my own list. Perhaps it was just my jones for milestones — in 1996, I sniffed the 25th anniversary of my musical birth just up the road. Perhaps it was WFUN and my 10th birthday from that Sunday, December 31, leaving an imprint on my DNA.

Whatever it was, I made it my mission to craft a Top 100 Songs of All-Time list, to be completed by April 7, 1997, the exact 25th anniversary of the day on which my pop radio connection first clicked.
So I did.

I liked it so much, I made it a Top 200. Then a Top 300. Then a Top 400. Finally, on the 30th anniversary — or 5th anniversary of the first hundred — The Top 500 Songs of All-Time.

Then I stopped. Because to do any more than 500 would be crazy.

My Top 500 Songs of All-Time would be meaningless without self-inflicted parameters. So here are the parameters.

• To be eligible, a song had to be in general circulation between the beginning of 1972 (because great songs from before then could never have quite the same impact as songs that I greeted upon their arrival into the atmosphere) and the end of 1999 (more or less the end of the century; had to cut off eligibility somewhere). General circulation means released as a single or a video or a widely played album cut or a featured number from a Broadway musical. In other words, it had to have been played somewhere at least once where anybody could have heard it. Sometimes it took me only once to love it.

• I had to own a copy of it or at least think I did and if I didn’t, I had to run out and buy it.

• I had to be aware of the song more or less within the timeframe that it was released. There is, however, the WFUN Exception. Any 1972 song that I met on my 10th birthday is grandfathered in. But a 1972 song I didn’t find out about until 1992? Not the same sensation, thus it would be ineligible.

• I had to love these 500 songs more than any other song within the parameters of eligibility. The reasons didn’t matter. It could have a great beat and you could dance to it. It could be incredibly deep. It could be catchy to the point I couldn’t rid myself of it. It could be something that I was playing when I was over there doing that or over here doing this. It could be by an artist I couldn’t get enough of or an act I couldn’t take except for the one great song he/she/they produced. It could be considered great by every scholarly musical source or it could be routinely despised by every sentient human except me. Maybe I loved it when it came out and the depth of my association with it from my youth survived my later decision it wasn’t that great but damn it it’s still one of my favorites. Maybe I only tolerated it when it was all over the airwaves but had come to appreciate it in adulthood.

Whatever. If I heard it, I knew it.

But I had to listen and listen closely. That’s why I took six years to compile my list. There were thousands and thousands of songs in my mental jukebox. There were lists inside lists inside notebooks to make certain I didn’t miss a trick. When it came down to the final hundred, the final ten even, I sat up through the night and played every compact disc, every cassette tape, every LP, every 45 under consideration. I wanted to construct the most airtight Top 500 I could imagine.

Even then I probably blew it. To this day, I’ll hear a runnerup and think, “I’m surprised this didn’t make it,” which might strike you as odd since I am the sole judge and jury. But it’s that WFUN training at work. Even when it’s all about my subjectivity, I know there has to be a strain of objectivity, if that makes any sense. There has to be a measure of merit, however I define merit, or it won’t merit inclusion.
It’s almost five years since I completed The Top 500. I stand by it in full.

Tomorrow, in honor of that seminal Sunday — and as a birthday indulgence to myself that hopefully you will enjoy as well — I will this one time and one time only step away from the stated mission of this baseball blog and share with you The Top 500 Songs of All-Time.
If this comes off as trivial, well, so am I.

On with the countdown.

Springer and Spiers, Paul Gibson no Bob
Rick Parker, Kevin Lomon — who game them a job?
—From “Ode to the Unamazin',” by the author, 1997
I've got Barry Zito off my mind. I've got Steve Springer on my head.
Steve Who?
The Metsologists among us don't blink. We know Steve Springer was a minor league lifer who sipped a cup of coffee with the Mets at the end of his career: four games with us in 1992 when The Worst Team Money Could Buy was rooting around for spare change between its cushions. Springer, an infielder, was recalled when another fella who was about done playing, Willie Randolph, went on the DL with a broken bone in his left hand. The recall grows sketchy from there. The entirety of my recollection of Steve Springer is that he didn't appear all that athletic (I say from my state of perpetual sloth) and he didn't slow the Mets' descent into oblivion.
Steve's stay at Shea lasted eleven days. He was sent down on August 25, 1992. Two days later the Mets filled their second base hole by trading for Jeff Kent. Kent's still playing, albeit not here. Springer was never heard from again as a player.
Steve Springer, it turns out, could teach Jeff Kent a few things about hitting. He could teach a lot of people and apparently he has. Steve Springer took what he learned in his years in baseball as a player, a scout and an agent and poured it into an instructional CD called Quality At-Bats: The Mental Side. It's endorsed by, among others, Billy Beane, Clint Hurdle, Eric Valent and Brent Mayne.
You recognize those names, don't you? They, like Steve Springer, were Mets. None was one of us for very long, but they are in The Holy Books and there was a moment or more when we applauded them and accepted them as our own.
But none of them — nor Piazza nor Hernandez nor Seaver, for that matter — can say what Steve Springer can say.
That I'm wearing his hat.
And for that, I thank one of nature's noblebloggers.
A little over fourteen years after Steve Springer completed his Met tour of duty, I met Dave Murray for the first time. Metsosphereans will recognize that name as synonymous with Mets Guy in Michigan. He and I became correspondents shortly after each of us started our respective blogs in 2005. E-mail led to friendship. Friendship led to bagels. Dave may be Michigan's leading Mets Guy today but in his youth he was simply another Mets fan from Massapequa. Last winter, he mentioned on his blog that while he can find Mets boxscores on the Internet, he can't find a decent bagel in the Midwest, certainly not the kind we grow here on Long Island.
So I sent him a dozen. Dave has been trying to repay me ever since.
Dude, we're even.
For Christmas/Chanukah, Dave sent me Steve Springer's 1986 gameworn Tidewater Tides cap. It's a beauty. The Tides were still riding the bicentennial cap wave of a decade earlier, so it's a pillbox model: orange bill, blue field, three white pinstripes circling the head, a big orange T for Tides. And in faded ink on the underside of the visor, “Steve Springer #10”.
Holy cap! I'm wearing what Steve Springer wore!
Dave sent authentication along with the gift, but it was unnecessary. Even if somebody sent me a pretend Steve Springer 1986 Tidewater Tides cap, I'd be pretty overwhelmed by the thoughtfulness and generosity. He said he purchased ten Tides hats at some point and figured he could get by with nine. I've got one now and it's one of the greatest things I've ever been given.
I mean it's a baseball cap worn by a Met when he was a Tide! Geez!
Like any veteran fan who's seen 'em come and seen 'em go, I have a tendency to be a little snarky toward those we would loosely term obscure Mets. I will probably fall back on that pose, but maybe I'll think twice before chuckling at the CVs of the journeymen who were or are just passing through Flushing now that I share a bit of nogginry with one of them.
Steve Springer's first game in the minors was at Little Falls in 1982 when he was 21. He spent eight consecutive seasons at Triple-A, including stints in the White Sox, Mariners and Indians organizations. He played four games for Cleveland in 1990, then the four with the Mets two years later. And that, despite a .278 average in eleven years in the minors, was it. He was 31 in his last season.
Steve Springer came to bat all of five times as a Met. That's five more at-bats — and two more hits — than I'll ever have. That's something to admire, not deride.
Thanks to Dave. Thanks to Steve. Thanks to both of you for sticking my head more into the game than I could have imagined.

Springer and Spiers, Paul Gibson no Bob

—From “Ode to the Unamazin',” by the author, 1997

I've got Barry Zito off my mind. I've got Steve Springer on my head.

Steve Who?

The Metsologists among us don't blink. We know Steve Springer was a minor league lifer who sipped a cup of coffee with the Mets at the end of his career: four games with us in 1992 when The Worst Team Money Could Buy was rooting around for spare change between its cushions. Springer, an infielder, was recalled when another fella who was about done playing, Willie Randolph, went on the DL with a broken bone in his left hand. The recall grows sketchy from there. The entirety of my recollection of Steve Springer is that he didn't appear all that athletic (I say from my state of perpetual sloth) and he didn't slow the Mets' descent into oblivion.

Steve's stay at Shea lasted eleven days. He was sent down on August 25, 1992. Two days later the Mets filled their second base hole by trading for Jeff Kent. Kent's still playing, albeit not here. Springer was never heard from again as a player.

Steve Springer, it turns out, could teach Jeff Kent a few things about hitting. He could teach a lot of people and apparently he has. Steve Springer took what he learned in his years in baseball as a player, a scout and an agent and poured it into an instructional CD called Quality At-Bats: The Mental Side. It's endorsed by, among others, Billy Beane, Clint Hurdle, Eric Valent and Brent Mayne.

You recognize those names, don't you? They, like Steve Springer, were Mets. None was one of us for very long, but they are in The Holy Books and there was a moment or more when we applauded them and accepted them as our own.

But none of them — nor Piazza nor Hernandez nor Seaver, for that matter — can say what Steve Springer can say.

That I'm wearing his hat.

And for that, I thank one of nature's noblebloggers.

A little over fourteen years after Steve Springer completed his Met tour of duty, I met Dave Murray for the first time. Metsosphereans will recognize that name as synonymous with Mets Guy in Michigan. He and I became correspondents shortly after each of us started our respective blogs in 2005. E-mail led to friendship. Friendship led to bagels. Dave may be Michigan's leading Mets Guy today but in his youth he was simply another Mets fan from Massapequa. Last winter, he mentioned on his blog that while he can find Mets boxscores on the Internet, he can't find a decent bagel in the Midwest, certainly not the kind we grow here on Long Island.

So I sent him a dozen. Dave has been trying to repay me ever since.

Dude, we're even.

For Christmas/Chanukah, Dave sent me Steve Springer's 1986 gameworn Tidewater Tides cap. It's a beauty. The Tides were still riding the bicentennial cap wave of a decade earlier, so it's a pillbox model: orange bill, blue field, three white pinstripes circling the head, a big orange T for Tides. And in faded ink on the underside of the visor, “Steve Springer #10”.

Holy cap! I'm wearing what Steve Springer wore!

Dave sent authentication along with the gift, but it was unnecessary. Even if somebody sent me a pretend Steve Springer 1986 Tidewater Tides cap, I'd be pretty overwhelmed by the thoughtfulness and generosity. He said he purchased ten Tides hats at some point and figured he could get by with nine. I've got one now and it's one of the greatest things I've ever been given.

I mean it's a baseball cap worn by a Met when he was a Tide! Geez!

Like any veteran fan who's seen 'em come and seen 'em go, I have a tendency to be a little snarky toward those we would loosely term obscure Mets. I will probably fall back on that pose, but maybe I'll think twice before chuckling at the CVs of the journeymen who were or are just passing through Flushing now that I share a bit of nogginry with one of them.

Steve Springer's first game in the minors was at Little Falls in 1982 when he was 21. He spent eight consecutive seasons at Triple-A, including stints in the White Sox, Mariners and Indians organizations. He played four games for Cleveland in 1990, then the four with the Mets two years later. And that, despite a .278 average in eleven years in the minors, was it. He was 31 in his last season.

Steve Springer came to bat all of five times as a Met. That's five more at-bats — and two more hits — than I'll ever have. That's something to admire, not deride.

Thanks to Dave. Thanks to Steve. Thanks to both of you for sticking my head more into the game than I could have imagined.

The Giants will lead the world in Barrys this year. It's a dubious distinction.
We didn't get our man. Barry Zito signed with San Francisco for money that makes Jeff Suppan look positively impoverished. Not the paltry six years, $96 million talked about in Texas and surely not the five years, $75 million reportedly proposed by the Mets.
Seven years. $126 million.
When it gets that high, you put your bidding paddles away.

The Giants will lead the world in Barrys this year. It's a dubious distinction.

We didn't get our man. Barry Zito signed with San Francisco for money that makes Jeff Suppan look positively impoverished. Not the paltry six years, $96 million talked about in Texas and surely not the five years, $75 million reportedly proposed by the Mets.

Seven years. $126 million.

When it gets that high, you put your bidding paddles away.

The only president never elected president or vice president liked to deprecate himself as “a Ford, not a Lincoln”. And while he was president, the National League representative of his favorite city was definitely no Big Red Machine.
From the day Gerald Ford took the oath of office until the end of the final baseball season of his presidency, the New York Mets compiled a record of 192 wins and 186 losses.
Sounds about right.
Here's to President Ford, a .500 or so chief executive uniquely suited to the .500 or so life and times that defined not just our ballclub but our country in the mid-1970s.
An interim manager thrust to the helm of an outfit in dire need of steady, reassuring guidance following an age of tumult.
Low-key in a town chock full o' self-promoters.
Universally liked by those with whom he served.
Probably not destined to keep the job all that long no matter who begged his pardon.
Made a nice run there toward the end.
By all accounts, by whatever standards one chooses to interpret the won-lost record, a good and decent man.
As presidents go, Jerry Ford wasn't a Lincoln. He was America's very own Roy McMillan.