Minor League Bobblehead Dates

International League

Buffalo Bisons - Aug 23rd - Earl of Bud

Charlotte Knights - July 6 - Dayan Vicedio

Columbus Clippers - June 10 - Jack Hanna
                                 July 8 - James "Buster" Douglas
                                 July 29 - Jesse Owens
                                 Aug 12 - Woody Hayes

Lehigh Valley Ironpigs - June 26 - John Mayberry, Jr
                                       April 23 - Rich Thompson
                                       May 1 - Vance Worley
                                       May 15 - Jamie Moyer

Pawtucket Red Sox - July 28 - Daniel Bard

Toledo Mudhens - Aug 3 - Casey Stengel
                              Aug 10 - Jamie Farr

Upcoming Bobbleheads and Hats

Orioles - July 15 - hat
              July 27 - floppy hat

Yankees - July 13 - hat

Rays - July 1 - James Shields
           July 22 - Matt Moore

White Sox - July 7 - Alexi Ramirez

Indians - July 4 - Sandy Alomar, Jr.

Tigers - July 4 - Hat

Royals - July 21 - Buck O'Neil

Twins - July 15 - hat

Angels - July 24 - Hat

A's - July 4 - hat
         July 8 - hat

Mariners - July 28 - Randy Johnson & Dan Wilson

Marlins - June 27 - Josh Johnson

Mets - July 21 - Edgardo Alfonzo

Cubs - July 14 - Hat

Reds - July 18 - Jay Bruce

Astros - July 7 - Mike Scott
            July 27 - Orange retro hat
            July 28 - Chris Burke

Brewers - July 1 - Sausage Bobble
                July 26 - camo hat
               July 29 - Bob Eucker

Diamondbacks - July 21 - hat
                          July 28 - Justin Upton

Dodgers - June 28 - Eric Karros
                July 3 - Hat
                July 14 - Tommy Lasorda & Walter Alston
                July 31 - Kirk Gibson

Giants - June 30 - 1 of 5 random bobbleheads
              July 15 - Madison Bumbgarner

Johan No-Hitter Reprint Replica Tickets

The Mets are doing a bad job by re-selling no-hitter reprint tickets.  What it really should be is a promotional giveaway for next June 1st on the anniversary of the game (provided the Mets are home that game next year).  Other teams have given replica tickets away as part of a promotion.  The Mets should, too.

They'll make more money from people buying tickets to the game to get a reprint ticket than they will from selling reprints themselves.  Would you buy a replica for $50/pop?  I wouldn't.  Would you buy a $50 ticket to a game so you can get that same replica ticket?  I bet there are more people that would do that instead.  And you get people in the park to buy other things along with it.

The Next Gregg Jefferies?

Now I'm feeling old.  Gregg Jefferies son was drafted by the Nationals.  I remember when the elder Jefferies was in the minor leagues at the border crossing going into Canada.  He was in his electric blue Camaro that was being driven by his Dad and he had a license place with a NY Mets holder that said "4FOR4GJ".

We rolled down the window and asked him if he was Gregg Jefferies, and it was.

The Good is Good. The Bad is Bad

As of today, 9 of the 14 American League teams are .500 or better
In the National League, 10 of 16 are.

19 of the 30 teams are at least .500.  That's nearly 2/3 of the teams.  That number should be between 14-16, statistically speaking.

That means that the bad teams are getting beat up.

That also means that there are a few pretenders that will fall by the wayside as they start playing better teams.

Will the Mets be one of those teams?

I sure hope not.

ESPN Screwing Things Up Again

Not only did ESPN screw up the game time tonight, but they've robbed Mets fans from being able to see the Hall of Fame ceremony on TV.

A Celebratory Injury

I just heard that Ramon Hernandez hurt himself running in from the bullpen to celebrate Johan's no-hitter.

Looks like he'll end up on the DL.  That's almost as bad as ending up on the DL from sneezing.

Lucas Duda's Statistics

I was just looking at Lucas Duda's career stat line.  This is his first full season in the bigs - so up until now, he's had only 555 at bats, or the equivalent of one full time season.

Here's his line:

.268  22 HR  93 RBI.  32 Doubles, .346 OBP.  .456 slugging.  555 at bats, 60 BB, 70 runs, 149 hits.

That's quite respectable.

He's been proving me wrong.  At this time last year, I didn't think he'd amount to much.  I think he's got a shot at having a good major league career and may even be a big time power guy as he matures.

Updated Dead List

Now there are three.

Twins
Cubs
Padres

27 contenders left for 10 spots.

Missed Johan Santana's No Hitter

I was at work yesterday when I got a call at 5:50 offering me tickets to last night's Mets game.

I wanted to go - however, there was no way I'd be able to get to the park in any reasonable amount of time.  I was still at work, and if I had gotten the call about two hours earlier - I could have left work early and made it to the game.

Unfortunately, I had to pass.

By the time I got home from work, Johan had just gotten the third out in the top of the 8th - so I caught the end.  I've already watched the end of the game 4 times today.

Way to go Johan!

We're now 1/3 of the way through the season, and they're hanging tough.

May they end up surprising everyone?  We shall see.