Wait, there's a guy in there?

The Villager catches up with the original Mr. Met, Dan Reilly, who reminisces about his time as the best mascot ever.

“It was a snowy February morning the day of my interview,” Reilly said last week, as he walked the grounds of the soon-to-be-demolished stadium. “From the outside, it looked like an orange-and-blue skeleton. Nothing was happening and nobody was around. Inside, they were still putting the seats in. And now I’m watching them take those seats out. It’s sad.”

"But Reilly’s fondest memories began on May 31, 1964, when he donned the papier-mâché, baseball-shaped head of the first mascot in Major League Baseball history. The Mets lost both sides of a doubleheader that day to the Giants. But, between games of that doubleheader, a star was born."

“Baseball is tradition,” Reilly said, as he bid final farewell to Shea from a departing 7 train. “Mr. Met touched people then, and he still does. I think it’s important to remember how we used to do it, what Shea used to be like. If we do, there will always be a Shea Stadium.”

This is like the E! True Hollywood Story, love it.

For more info on Mr. Met, go here and here.

John Romano at the St. Petersburg Times writes about how certain Rays fans were treated at Game 3 of the World Series.

Romano writes:

I'm sure this is just a small sample of idiots making everyone else look bad, but it's inexcusable at the same time and falls right in line with common Philadelphia fans' stereotypes.

Yesterday, the Mets announced their coaching staff for the 2009 season. Their new third base coach will be a man called Razor Shines.

I never heard of Mr. Shines before yesterday but after hearing his name I immediately thought of Razor Ramone from WWF (before it was WWE) fame. Obviously I needed to do my research.

Razor's first name is really Anthony, but if my middle name was Razor, you can bet I'd go by that too.

From Wikipedia:

In 2001,  Shines managed the Kannapolis Intimidators of the White Sox organization.  In 2007 he was the third base coach for the white Sox, and most recently managed the Phillies' Single-A squad to a 64-76 record.
Over his major league career, Razor batted a hefty .185 with no home runs and 5 RBI in 81 at bats. If Andres "Big Cat" Gallaraga hadn't come up, who knows how Shines' career would have turned out. Shines was a former teammate of Jerry Manuel while in Montreal.

He gave his son the middle name Razor also to keep the family tradition alive. Lucky kid.

While watching the ALCS I couldn't shake the question, "Where did all these Rays fans come from?"

I mean, the Rays were in first place all year in a tough division and were averaging 22,259 fans per game, fifth worst in the majors (the Mets were second to the Yanks this year with 51,165 per game). Now, Tropicana Field is packed with 48,000 PLUS standing room fans clanging bells and rooting for Rocco Baldelli.

As glad as I am to see it, aren't they embarrassed? Do they think we don't notice how fair-weather they all are? Are they paying people to come? Free oranges perhaps? Were half of them Sox fans?

I suppose any winning team will get their "fair-weatherers", and it's probably not as noticeable in a stadium that's full all year so perhaps I shouldn't be quick to judge. I'm just thinking out loud here.

That being said, I hope they continue to pack out the Trop, and take down the Phils in Phour.

Well, there you have it. The Tampa Bay Rays have won the American League Pennant. Maybe the Mets should change their name next season for good luck also.

Since the Mets were eliminated from postseason contention, I have been rooting for whoever will have the best chance of beating the Phillies. Two of my sisters are Red Sox fans so I couldn't root against them, but I was secretly hoping the Rays would get through to the WS because hey, this might be their only chance, like ever.

A Boston co-worker of mine mentioned how she almost didn't want the Sox to win because she didn't want them to become hated like the Patriots or Yankees - other "dynasties". I couldn't quite sympathize. I can understand where she's going with that but I mentioned to her that the Mets are already hated for some reason by other teams in the league so we might as well have a few more championships to justify that.

Anyways, here it is. The Phillies and Rays. I am going to buy a cowbell (or whatever they were clanging), snag a TB jersey, and spitefully root for those perennial losers. A) because I always root for underdogs (which they were all season in my opinion despite being in first place) and B) because I hate the Phils.

Go Rays!

Click here to download a list of what is remaining to be sold from Shea Stadium. Everything in yellow is already sold.

Be forewarned, you are about to pay way too much and most likely feel buyer's remorse.

Manny Ramirez didn't bring his 1967 Lincoln with him to LA and now it can be yours!

Check out eBay to see his ride. Is that Manny's Mini I see in the background too? First a grill, now this. Do you really need the money that bad Manny?

The Boston Red Sox, Tampa Bay Rays, Philadelphia Phillies and  Los Angeles Dodgers are all up on their divisional series opponent 2 games to none. If anyone can, which I doubt, I think the White Sox can come back against the Rays. What about you?