"There are plenty of Mets-related sites on the interwebs, that are connected with the 'official' media coverage of them--MLB.com and Mets.com, and all the online newspapers. But there are four websites, personal and unoffiliated, that I consider ansolutely essential to my Web reading on the team. And each of them offers something different. Today, I shall categorize them by comparing each website to a certain player in Mets history.
Mets by the Numbers is like Rusty Staub. MBTN is the only one of the four websites that does not update daily, and deals with a more esoteric aspect of the game (namely, uniform numbers), but it's still a well-run crowd-pleaser. Le Grand Orange, meanwhile, was a fan favorite in any city he played, including New York, which brought him back as a sentimental choice in the twilight of his career. Due to the briefness of his tenure his overall impact on the team is lessened, but while with them, he did it well, he did it with style, and he did it while being adored by the fans. Go up to a Met fan of a certain age and say 'Rusty Staub' and you'll be sure to elicit a grin.
Faith and Fear in Flushing is like Tom Seaver. No contest. Watching Seaver pitch or reading FAFIF gives you the same feeling: splendour, a joy at watching a master craftsman at work. (If you want, we'll throw prime Dwight Gooden into the metaphor, because it's a two-author blog, and we'll let Jason and Greg fight over who is who.)
Metstradamus is like Marv Throneberry. Now, bear me out on this one: I am in no way implying that Metstra is anywhere nearly as incompetent as his spiritual counterpart. But Marvelous Marv was lovably incompetent, famously so, and will elicit smiles from Met fans of any generation, bigger than those given by Staub. 'Damus, like Jason & Greg, is a blogger, but in contrast to them his blog is usually content with short, pungent, and extremely memorable posts, with lavishly Photoshopped images. It's like comparing a four-course dinner (when you're relaxing after a long day at work) to a nice juicy hot-dog-in-a-bun (when you're on the move and famished); or, to change the Met-aphor here to match blogs with pitchers, like Tug McGraw, the always-scrappy Met reliever who gave fans one of their favorite rallying cries: 'Ya gotta believe!'
And to cap things off, what else could The Ultimate Mets Database be other than Casey Stengel? The Ol' Perfesser of baseball and the Online Professor of Mets minutiae are a match made in virtual heaven.

TODAY'S BOOK: 'The Jewish Mothers' Hall of Fame', by Fred A. Bernstein ((c) 1982)"
--159th post, 8/10/08

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