The Final Score

Funny how much commotion LaTroy Hawkins caused when he pulled the ungodly act of wearing Paul O'Neill's 21. But on the other side of the Triboro, Mets fans essentially shrugged when Tatis picked 17, Keith Hernandez's old number.

He's the latest in an illustrious list of no-names, has-beens and never-was players to don the number since Mex. David Cone started the trend in 1991 when he did it to honor Mex. "It's my way to show Keith some respect," Cone said that day.

Other who have shown Mex respect, according to this site, are:

Jeff McKnight, 1993
Bret Saberhagen, 1994-95
Brent Mayne, 1996
Luis Lopez, 1997-99
Mike Bordick, 2000
Kevin Appier, 2001
Satoru Komiyama, 2002
Graeme Lloyd, 2003
Jason Anderson, 2003
Wilson Delgado, 2004
Dae-Sung Koo, 2005
Jose Lima, 2006
David Newhan, 2007
Fernando Tatis, 2008

I was filling in Jim on some of the things he missed while he was in Italy:

-- Willie Randolph almost got fired
-- Joba Chamberlain is being transitioned to the Yankees rotation
-- I feel lucky when I pay only $4.15 for a gallon of gas

But this might be the biggest development of all. From the AP today:

Carl Pavano (elbow ligament replacement surgery) might be ready to start throwing off a mound next week. He has been working on a half-mound since last week.

So the Yankees have that going for them. Which is nice.

Please comment on the following:

Should we keep Chicago Norm on full-time now that Baumbach is back?

Also, still waiting for someone to tell me what Spam tastes like.

Thanks.

Apparently the interview Andrew Marchand did with me about the thing I did 13 years ago was on ESPN 1050 during "The Michael Kay Show" today at about 4:20. I didn't hear it because I was in the Mets clubhouse at the time waiting to find out about Ryan Church's concussion.

Marchand also wrote a story about the interview. You can read it here and listen to the radio piece too if the audio link is working.

Here at Final Score HQ, where we like debates, we have one going on about whether Chicago Norm should become a permanent fixture of TFS or a regular guest-host, like Jay Leno used to be on The Tonight Show.

What do you think, TFS loyalists, should Chicago Norm get his picture in the upper left hand corner and his name in big lights? Please vote in the comments section.

We know that thousands of people read TFS but don't comment. Please, if you only comment once in your life, make it this one.

The picture above is the one I think Chicago Norm should use for his logo --if he gets one.

I just thought of another way to increase page views that's even better than trying to make the Final Score big in China:

Mentioning the (retired) pro wrestler Chyna.

It's a blog fact that if Jim, Chicago Norm and I mentioned pro wrestling more often -- or at all -- our page views would be through the roof. We have resisted such shennanigans.

Until now.

Carrie Bradshaw hooks up with Derek Jeter, becomes enamored with baseball chic and begins wearing a pink Yankees cap as part of her daily ensemble.

The two are seen on a bench in Central Park, spoon-feeding each other from a can of Spam.

Then, Jeter text-messages Rieber and Baumbach to ban Chicago Norm from the Final Score, and the screen fades to black.

First things first. It's so incredibly hard to follow American sports from Europe. I was able to sneak onto the Internet for maybe a total of 10 minutes over the past 10 days in Italy, so I knew Willie Randolph hadn't been fired. But, wow, it seems as if I missed a helluva lot. Did I read that right - a college actually hired Mike Jarvis?!?! Oy. I have a lot of catching up to do.

Quick details on the trip - I did not see Isiah Thomas, who reportedly was in Italy the same time on a scouting mission. But I did see this guy walking the streets in Venice:

Yes, Richard Simmons. Let the record state my wife noticed him first. I was too busy burying my head in a map trying to figure out how to get around the maze of canals. But it really was hard to miss him. He was wearing spandex shorts and a workout t-shirt and his hair was all frizzy. I tried to convince my wife to ask for a photo with him, to no avail.

I enjoyed the posts I've read so far from Chicago Norm in my absence. Maybe he'd like to stick around permanently? What do you say, Norm? Anthony, help me convince him.

And, no, I've never tried Spam.

Since Anthony asked . . .

I'm sorry to say that Chicago Norm's anti-Spam filter has been in effect since birth. However I have tried Hormel Corned Beef Spread, which is pretty much Spam in a different can.

Did you know that George A. Hormel, the granddaddy of Spam, once worked in a Chicago meat-packing plant?

Although I have not tried Spam (and hopefully never will), I'm pretty sure that my Oklahoma in-laws have, and have probably fed leftovers to the hogs. The hogs also have also enjoyed Twinkies, Hostess Cupcakes and Suzy-Qs on occasion.

Another did you know . . .

That fine casinos everywhere have Spam slot machines? Quite the eye candy. I'm sure they sense that I'm not a big Spam fan and have therefore sucked me dry every time I've played one.

Don't worry; Baumbach will be back soon. I'll bet he's tried Spam.

Just saw a newspaper column calling for Willie Randolph to NOT be fired. It's by Pete Colaizzo of the Poughkeepsie Journal.

See, Willie? Not all of the writers are against you.

And no one knows why. Here's the story.

I don't really care about this issue, but we're coming up to the end of the May page views period, and maybe this item will get linked to in China. Can you imagine the page views if the Final Score becomes popular in China?

Watch out, Best. One day one of these page view ideas of mine is going to pay off and you are going to be toppled from your lofty page view perch.