Francouer Fading

What if Frenchie is traded? What will I have to talk about when Frenchie is gone?

I have a few more weeks. I will make the most of them.

Francouer has 2 walks since June 15. 2! Granted, he isn't playing all the time, but 2?

On a somewhat related note, the Mets have had two games in a row (barring extra inning games, of course) where the pitcher's spot got exactly 3 ABs. Wow!

On to existentialism....

If the Mets lose at 1AM EDT or later, and no one in NY is watching, did it happen? If not, the Mets are undefeated since the all-star break. In fact, they are on a 2 game winning streak dating back to early July. Think about that!

Radical Solution to the Ollie Problem

This blog does not like Ollie. That is not news.

But he is back.

It has been suggested by an LR (Loyal Reader) James Solomon, that Ollie be returned to the rotation for a few weeks to let Pelfrey rest/work out his troubles. The Mets need Pelfrey, unless he is hurt, he has to pitch.

There is talk of using Ollie as a "situational lefty."

Here is my radical proposal.

Pelfrey and Ollie have some of the most extreme platoon splits in baseball.

Despite facing an equal number of LHBs and RHBs this season, Pelfrey has not given up a HR to a RHB all season. His OPS against is 61 points lower against righties. He dominates righties.

Ollie's OPS against is 268 points lower against lefties. Lefties have 8 total bases all season against him. He has faced 5X as many righties as lefties, as opposing managers stack their lineups with righties when he pitches. He dominates lefties.

Here's the plan: Every 5th day, put Ollie or Pelfrey in the starting line-up as the "Pitcher." Then, once the lineups are exchanged, instantly substitute one for the other. Then you get 5 or 6 innings of mostly excellent platoon matchups (where both of these guys are expected to be good). This would turn Ollie's "situational lefty" status into one that might last 5 or 6 innings (since the other team would not pinch hit their whole bench in the first two innings).

Then the guy who was in the lineup but doesn't pitch can pitch out of the bullpen once or twice until that spot in the rotation comes up again.

If the other teams catch on, and start playing more balanced line-ups...more's the better! Pelfrey faces more righties, Ollie faces more lefties, they are both more effective. Indeed, if Pelfrey pitched against mostly righties, his .741 OPS against (and no HRs allowed) would be quite awesome .

This is unconventional, but the Mets are in a freefall and Ollie's going to be on the roster. We might as well try to get some use out of him.

This was the same guy????

Do you remember that call last year when the ball landed fair on a Mauer double in the ALDS against the Yankees, but the LF umpire called it foul?

Well, the same umpire was behind home plate for the Met game yesterday.

Did you see it?

Well,

First, K-Rod throws a strike that’s called a ball. He complains. Blanco complains.

Then, rather than just ejecting them both (which he should have), Cuzzi angrily flexed his muscles to show his frustration. He looked insane.

Then, there’s a ground ball to third, Wright lollygags the throw, and the runner slides home safely. By a lot. Cuzzi calls him out.

Then, the next batter hits a swinging bunt that bounces behind the plate, then rolls a foot into fair territory (a fair ball). Cuzzi gets this one right, but then the 3rd base ump over-rules him, calling the ball foul from 110’ feet away, when no one asked for help.

Put aside the question of whether a 3B ump CAN over-rule a home plate ump on that call (the plate umpire has the fair/foul calls all the way to the base). Put aside whether that ump SHOULD over-rule that call (did he really think he saw it better than the guy standing right there?

Since the ball never came anywhere near hitting the batter (it was like 2’ away from him, in the other batters box) and, I assume, the 3rd base ump is not actually blind, there is only one explanation. The 3B ump was doing a make-up call for the plate ump (Cuzzi).

This crew works together all year. Maybe the 3B ump has to do this for all the calls Cuzzi blows during the season.

Can you imagine the pressure? To get all the calls right AND provide make-up calls for when your partner blows one that costs a team the game?

Can a Blog Have a "Bucket List"?

If so, this blog's "Bucket List" has one thing on it:

"Do a real time 'Keith Hernandez is an idiot' live blog." I have attempted it in the past. A guy can dream.

Until then, there is this nugget from tonight's game:

Gary: Cutter, on the inside corner for a strike.
Keith: That was a change-up!
Gary: At 86?
Keith: Maybe it was a sinker.
Gary: Well, something was going on there....

Gary didn't finish his sentence. I will. "....it was most likely a cutter like I said two minutes ago while you were doing a body shot off Mrs. Met."

Is there a Mrs. Met? Shouldn't there be? Maybe "Ms. Met?" No, that's not it. It's Miss Met. She should be a big baseball fan, and she should not be a feminist (so no "Ms."). She would constantly steal the remote to put BACK ON the Met game.

Now we're talking!

Don't make me angry...

Random musings...

1. Do you think if Votto had been named to the all-star game BEFORE today's game instead of later this week (when he will be named anyway), he would NOT have hit two HRs so far and the score would be tied? I do. (For those of you too young to remember, the title is a reference to The Incredible Hulk.)

2. How come Votto doesn't seem to have trouble with the dimensions of Citifield?

3. Did anyone else catch Keith Hernandez's comment when Travis Wood balked a runner from second to third with the pitcher up? He said that it had the effect of clearing the pitcher. Let that one sink in. Balks CAN'T clear the pitcher. The pitcher was already up (so he had already been cleared). The runner was on 2nd, so the balk didn't even break up the force play.

4. I think tomorrow's "text poll" should be a guess at Keith's BAC. In fact, that should be the text poll every game he broadcasts.

5. Am I the only one who noticed Pelfrey turning around to ask the second base umpire whether the 0-1 pitch to Drew Stubbs was a strike? It REALLY looked like he turned around and said "overturn that!"

Imagine no racism....

Man,

Chris Coghlan (white) retrieves an obvious double by Reyes and flings it randomly at 2nd base (was he going to get Reyes???), where nobody is covering because Gaby Sanchez (latino) lazily didn't roll to 2nd base where he was supposed to be, so Reyes makes the turn and takes 3rd.

Who does Keith Hernandez blame? Hanley Ramirez!

Where was Hanley? Exactly where he should have been, midway between Coghlan and THIRD base.

What's troubling isn't that Keith (a former 1b mind you) got it wrong. He is an idiot. He gets things wrong.

What's troubling is that it took 2 minutes of Gary convincing him he was wrong before he would hear it.

Hanley is like the 3rd best player in baseball. His team is going to win 78 games no matter what he does. Can we cut him some slack?

Is it possible this guy wasn't stoned? I guess so...

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/2010/06/09/2010-06-09_seattle_seahawks_second_round_pick_golden_tate_busted_for_trespassing_at_top_pot.html

Every Little Bit Counts

When the other team commences an intentional walk against, say, a #8 hitter, why doesn't he swing at the 3-0 pitch? What's the risk? What's the harm? You swing and its 3-1. Either the pitcher throws another intentional ball (and is a little aggrevated in the process), or he decides to pitch to you (which you probably want anyway).

At worst, the guy's thrown an extra pitch. Once in a while, he might even balk or throw a wild pitch.

No risk, all reward.

Unless your #8 hitter is Jeff Francouer, in which case he might dive across the plate to actually try to make contact.

(See how I turned this into a Francouer post? You like that don't ya!)

Kiner-ism

As a preliminary matter, I was wrong about Francoeur. At least for the week.

That's not what I am here to say, though.

Early in the game, Chip Hale held the runner at third, even though there were two outs and the Marlins were going to walk Cora and get the pitcher out.

This sparked a discussion about how great Chip Hale has been this year. That is true. He has been great.

Gary Cohen, in response to Ron Darling's comment to that effect, said: "I couldn't agree more, Chip Hale has done a great job."

Ralph Kiner chimed in with: "Yeah! Certainly much better than last year!" This was followed by the sound of crickets....

Lest we forget, Razor Shines (last year's third base coach) is still with the team (as the all important 1st base coach).

If Kiner and Shines meet in the clubhouse after the game, this could get ugly. I am betting on Kiner. Shines was off the mark so often last year, he would probably try to punch Kiner, and miss!

Solving Instant Replay and Saving Time

Here is the solution.

Each manager gets one incorrect challenge per game. The manager can challenge any call he wants, and the umps will go into the booth to look at it. If the manager is right, he still has a challenge in his pocket.

The manager's challenge can be invoked in two ways: 1) A "red flag" (like in football) is thrown out on to the field, or 2) the manager comes out of the dugout to question any judgment call, in which case the replay is immediately invoked.

There could also still be umpire driven replays on boundary calls (like there are now).

This would not slow the game down, as managers would not waste their challenge on an unimportant (or too-close-t0-call) call. Moreover, it would actually speed the game up, because managers would not come out of the dugout to argue every little thing, as he would risk the umpire raising his hand (or whatever) to indicate that the challenge had been invoked.

Also, unlike football, these decisions would be made instantaneously, because there would be no review after the next pitch, or, at the end of an inning, when the defensive team has left the field.

Problem solved. Next question?

This is a conspiracy...that's what this is!

Dave Trembley is getting fired.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=5249088

Juan Samuel (the Orioles 3rd base coach) is replacing him.

Wednesday night, I flipped on the Yankee game, and happened to see Miguel Tejada get thrown out at the plate with one out in the 8th inning of a game the Orioles trailed 8-1. It was base running play that reeked of Angel Pagan-ness.

This kind of base-running stupidity is exactly the kind of thing that should get a manager fired.

The problem? Tejada was waived home by....Juan Samuel, the Orioles new manager!

Granted, the writing had been on the wall about Trembley's firing for some time. But is it possible Samuel sent Tejada to seal Trembley's fate? I hope not.

I report, you decide...

Umpiring is hard....I get it!

I was an umpire. It looks a lot easier on TV, believe me.

On day one of umpiring school, they teach you...slow the game down, wait a beat, make your call.

Gallaraga's perfect game was broken up by what is tied for the worst call of the season. The guy was out by 1/2 a step. It wasn't even close!

http://scores.espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=300602106&teams=cleveland-indians-vs-detroit-tigers

Find a TV tonight, see the play. You won't believe it.

What was the upside to "kicking" a call like that? Call him out! Who would complain? Shouldn't you be leaning that way?

Miguel Cabrera almost got ejected with the ball in play while he was playing first base. I bet that would have been a first.

Jim Leyland almost got ejected from a game he had already won! That would DEFINITELY have been a first.

There was almost a riot on the field. The Tigers were literally attacking the ump.

Is it me, or has there been an outbreak of egregious umpiring lately? Joe West opining on the Yankees and Red Sox, then hiring a publicist and scheduling interviews. Hahn calling 2 balks on MarK Buehrle in the same game, then ejecting him!

Now this.

They have to be stopped.

A moment of silence...

Today, we mourn the loss of a vast and beloved place.

A monument to greatness (the '86 Giants) and all that we love about sports (the Jets' Monday night comeback against the Dolphins.

Today we mourn the loss of Giants Stadium. The picture above is of the old stadium, semi-demolished. Metaphors abound!

Thursday night, I went to the "New Meadowlands Stadium" for the first time. Here are some thoughts.

--The upper deck concourse is not covered. So when it rains or its windy (that never happens during football season, right?) all the commoners in the upper deck will get soaked and windblown.

-- There are special "rich people" only exit lanes. In other words, if you bought a PSL, you leave first. If you didn't, you can wait!

--The upper deck is 40 feet higher than it was at Giants Stadium, owing to the extra two rows of luxury boxes.

--The parking lot is separated by class. Rich people over here, poor people over there. I am going to have to take the George Washington bridge to get to my "assigned" parking area.

--To avoid any appearance of favoring the Jets or Giants, the whole stadium is grey. It looks like one of those computer avatars before you choose a color scheme.

-- THERE IS NOTHING BETTER ABOUT IT, at least for the 30,000 of us in the upper deck.

--To borrow a phrase from Titanic (and, I guess, actual cruise ships) the upper deck is STEERAGE (a place where they cram in as many poor people as possible).

In short, I am as disappointed with NMS as I was impressed by CitiField.

To quote Kramer: I may have to take it, but I don't have to like it!

Ryan Zimmerman, Hanley Ramirez, and "hustle"

I am sure you have seen the uproar about Hanley Ramirez not hustling after a ball he booted into the left field corner. Both the play and his comments about manager Fredi Gonzalez were pretty egregious. Basically indefensible.

Last night in the 5th inning, Ryan Zimmerman fell down trying to catch a pop-up that went over his head. After he missed it, he sat on the ground watching the shortstop chase the ball, rather than getting up and playing baseball. He sat there for several seconds watching the play as though he were a fan in the stands. Because he didn't get up and cover third, Francoeur made it to third and later scored on a sacrifice fly.

The only difference between these two plays was that Ramirez at least jogged after the ball, and Zimmerman laid on the ground like a dog.

I am not a big believer in systemic racism, particularly in professional sports. However, these two plays, happening only days apart, lead to an interesting conclusion.

Zimmerman is thought of as Mr. Hustle. See: http://zimsfoundation.org/news/news/washington-nationals-third-baseman-ryan-zimmerman-nominated-for-mlbpaa-heart-hustle-award/

Indeed, during the game, Gary Cohen compared him (in PHYSICAL APPEARANCE!!!) to Scott Rolen, a malcontent who "hustled" his way out of St. Louis.

Hanley Ramirez is thought of as wasting his natural gifts.

I couldn't even find a story about Zimmerman's lack of hustle, let alone a reporter questioning him about it. Who knows what he might have said if he was asked about whether he would apologize to his team and his manager (as Hanley was)?

Everything is about perspective. People are looking for examples of Hanley not hustling, and are ready to jump on him. Zimmerman meanwhile gets awards for his hustle.

I am not condoning not hustling. Not at all. But I think EVERYONE has a mental lapse every now and then. The Hanley play and the Zimmerman play had the same cause (they were both frustrated that they had missed the ball and now would make SportsCenter looking goofy). Who reporters choose to focus on and question about it severely colors (no pun intended) our perception.

Jeff Francoeur- Pinch Hitter!

As I was saying...I am prone to hyperbole.

Frenchie is not the worst player in baseball, if for no other reason than that he shows up every day. On the other hand, because he plays every day, we're forced to WATCH him every day. See: his blooper reel throwing error yesterday.

His rare days off serve as a welcome respite.

Frenchie's replacement today, Chris Carter, was raking all day. He had me at "hello." I know he can't field, but that is something I am willing to deal with at this point.

So what does Jerry do? He PINCH HITS Francoeur in the 7th inning, after the Mets score 3 and are trying to claw their way back into the game. I don't need to tell you what happened (in case I do, he fouled out).

I am sure Manuel will say something about platoon splits. Francoeur has 4 HRs against lefties since the beginning of last year. Big Whoop! That he has a serviceable OBP against lefties (.356 last year) doesn't mean you HAVE to use him the first chance you get. It's his first day off. Let him (and us) enjoy it.

Chris Carter is a no-field mashing DH. Frenchie is, at this point, a no-hit defensive replacement. I don't even think Manuel would dispute that anymore. To pinch-hit a guy with a .280 OBP for a professional masher like Carter is just plain ridiculous.

On the bright side, Niese's injury may mean we get to see RA Dickey, a knuckleballer!, start for us this week. If they aren't going to win, the least they can do is entertain.

Ball four, ball eight, ....

You might have thought Ollie getting pulled from the Mets rotation would decrease the chances of the first three opposing batters walking on 12 straight pitches.

If you did, you'd be wrong.

I can say without hyperbole...

....that I use hyperbole more than anyone else on earth.

On this blog, I often describe someone as the worst hitter in baseball, or the worst PLAYER in baseball.

I was watching Frenchie strike out tonight when I thought, "Man, he is the worst!"

So I looked it up. He's not the worst.

Among qualifying outfielders (71) he is 57th in on base percentage and 52nd in OPS. So, there are almost 20 outfielders that start in baseball that are worse than him. I believe his OBP is down to .290. WOW!

The thing is, when you look at the guys on that list (who are worse than him), they're all either making $20M (Carlos Lee), young and up and coming (Drew Stubbs, Adam Jones), were recently terrific (Carlos Quentin), or play CF. In other words, all those other teams have a REASON for playing these awful outfielders. Why are the Mets playing Frenchie?

I have no idea.

If we didn't have him, would we be trading for Lance Berkman? I guess we'll never know.

On a totally unrelated note....Omar Vizquel (4 hits this season) is batting 9th and playing DH for the White Sox tonight. ????????

You gotta love when a manager makes a lineup so stupid you wouldn't let someone do it in MLB 2K10 on Nintendo, because it would mess with the integrity of the video game.

Is Buster Olney Stealing My Thoughts (and blog posts)?

http://insider.espn.go.com/mlb/blog?name=olney_buster&id=5179752&action=login&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fmlb%2fblog%3fname%3dolney_buster%26id%3d5179752

Also, if Jeff Francouer had to hit against Ollie Perez this week, what would happen? Could Frenchie really swing at the first (and second and third) pitch while Ollie is assassinating mascots and damaging the screen behind the plate with every pitch? My answer: YES!

Interestingly, Frenchie's best chance to get on base against Ollie would be to hope that the third pitch of his at-bat (i.e., strike three) would be a wild pitch so he could run to first!

In The Cage With My Dad

I sucked at baseball.

SUCKED!

I was always worried the ball was going to hit me. In the field, and especially at bat.

I used to go to the cage, and my father would tell me not to "step in the bucket." He would tell me about the kids who would "run through a wall" to catch the ball. To be honest, I wanted nothing to do with the ball. The farther I was from the ball, the better. My dad was right.

Ever since David Wright got his bell rung last year, he has been "stepping in the bucket." He's scared to swing. He's scared to get hit. That explains his ridiculous platoon splits. It explains why he's striking out every time up. He doesn't swing until he knows the ball isn't going to kill him. It's sad, and pathetic, and (for me at least) completely understandable.

Watch him. Every curveball, he turns his back to the plate. What if it hangs???!?!?! He only hits slow meatballs that get nowhere near him.

David Wright needs some time in the cage with my dad.

Tastes awful! More Filling!

I went to opening day. Mets won. Hope sprung eternal.

Mike Jacobs batted clean-up that day. He has since been cut.

Tonight, Gary Matthews, Jr. (.152 BA) is batting lead-off.

Sweet fancy moses!

I have often complained of certain managers' (read: Jerry Manuel and Willie Randolph) penchant for batting the team's second worst hitter second because he has "bat control" or something.

Manuel has taken it a step further. He has, already this season, batted the worst player in baseball (Jacobs) clean-up. Now he bats the worst HITTER in baseball lead-off (AND Castillo second!).

When asked why, he will undoubtedly say something about the "length" of the line-up. Yup, configured this way, the line-up is a long line of crap.

Manuel makes $1M per year. His main job is to set the line-up every day. I am pretty sure a random number generator would produce a better line-up than the one the Mets put out there today. Santana leading off would not have been worse.

As I was writing this (as if to prove my point), Matthews grounded out in a way that got the runner on 2nd thrown out. Perfect!

From the mouths of babes....

No, I'm not talking about my wife (this time).

We went to the Met game today. Perfect weather. Livan v. Johan. Perfect game for the kids (Livan thows strikes and works quickly, Johan is good).

Didn't really work out as planned, as the Mets were down 4-0 before the head on my beer had subsided.

However, one good thing came out of it.

My oldest (Darien), unprompted, said:

"The Mets need to practice more before they play games in front of all these people!"

From her mouth to Manual's ears....

There's hope for us yet

Went to opening day.

Good times. Go to SNY.com and search on "opening day" to see how good.

Johan did the job. Gary Matthews caught the ball. Most importantly...Mike Jacobs SUCKED!

Of all the things that might bring the Mets down, Manuel falling in love with Jacobs would be the most frustrating. Today's line (two strikeouts, a pop up, and a weak ground ball) may prevent that!

And...we can't lose tomorrow!

It's enough to make you miss Daniel Murphy

Daniel Murphy stinks. Among 1Bs with as many ABs as him, he is 17th out of 18 in OBP (THANKS Aubrey Huff) and 16th out of 18 in SLG (Huff and Loney). As such his injury shouldn't be a back breaker. But it is!

His replacement, Mike Jacobs, is in the running for worst player in baseball. Among 1Bs with as may ABs has him, he ranks DEAD LAST (24th) in OBP, by a whopping 13 points. Said differently, he is the only 1B with an OBP lower than .300.

He is only 22 out 24 in slugging (again, thank god for Huff and Loney).

On top of that, he is the worst defensive player in baseball (short of David Ortiz). He played 15 games in the field for the lowly Royals, and his range factor was lower than ANYONE who qualified for the batting title at 1st base.

The worst part is that he is going to hit a Santos-style long home run, Manuel is going to fall in love with him, and we are going to get 150 games of him.

Mark my words.

The Mets would be better off having Castillo play first base.

A Fish Stinks

(Nope this isn't a random Marlins post!)

When I was in college, there was a running joke about our health center.

Basically, the idea was that you would walk in with a sprained ankle and walk out with an asthma inhaler.

I wondered whether that was a running joke at all colleges....until,

I walked into my college health center with a cold and walked out with steroids (prednozone, but still).

Why am I telling you his?

Because I think when my college health center doctor graduated, he became the Mets doctor.

Everyone (read: Lupica) is focusing on the HGH angle to Reyes's thyroid problem. Then there's talk about the Mets being cursed.

Here's my question: When it was first diagnosed, HOW WERE THE METS DOCTORS IN FLORIDA GOING TO LET HIM BACK ON THE FIELD IN A DAY????

Is that true? Is that possible? Don't they have copies of the Physician's Desk Reference down there?

Could they be THAT incompetent?

Alex Rodriguez's leg fell off last year, and he was back before the all-star break, and the damn thing healed itself, with no need for further surgery. Posada is still playing catcher. What is he 73 years old? Rivera is playing out yet another contract, perfectly.

It's not luck. The Mets have a policy of rushing everyone, and their doctors are complicit. Think James Woods in "Any Given Sunday" (is this the first time anyone has ever referenced that movie???).

Church's multiple concussions (remember Manuel hazing him in the press), Beltran's "bruise" (remember when they were still calling it that? The first full year bruise in history, I guess!), Reyes's hamstring turned quad turned hamstring tear, Ollie (if you believe he sucked because his knee was hurt, which I don't, they made him pitch on it ALL YEAR!), Santana pitched through pain all year as the Mets languished in 4th place, Putz ("Oh, he's hurt? We'll take him anyway. We just won't check to see if he's hurt! If we don't know, it's not true!").

This doesn't even include Cora playing through a torn ligament ALL YEAR. And Maine being rushed back.

Now they are going to do it with a 20 year old pitcher (Mejilla). Why do the Mets need a 20 year old middle reliever? How about we let him learn to be a pitcher?

A fish stinks from the head. Omar is the cause of ALL of this. It's organizational. Rush the players, treat them like interchangeable pieces of meat!

It's March and I was excited to get my Jets tickets in the mail.

OMAR MUST GO!!!!

Welcome Back!

Sorry this blog has been quiet. Work, family, Vegas, and blurry vision caused by the Jets playoff wins made it tough to post.

But now, I'm back, etc.

I heard Omar Minaya on FAN today.

He said he spoke to the team and told them:

"It takes more than talent to win."

[Now, at this point, I was feeling inspired. Was he talking about commitment? Effort? Teamwork? Not being Oliver Perez? I honestly couldn't wait! Was our GM admitting the team has been lacking something? But then came his next sentence]

"You've got to stay healthy!"

There it is!

Why would he say that to the team? Isn't that kind of like saying, "Be taller!"

And the lack of accountability is staggering. He is saying the team has the "talent," but that injuries prevented them from winning. Doesn't "talent" include a slightly below average left fielder in the minor leagues who could hit 22 HRs if given at bats? Guess not.

If you look at the current roster, the only "talent" they have is the talent they paid top dollar for, or the talent that was drafted by someone else.

Think about it.

Beltran- Bought

Delgado- no wait, not talented, and gone!

Reyes- someone else drafted

Wright- Someone else drafted

K-Rod- Bought

Bay- Bought (for twice what anyone else was offering)

Ollie- Bought (but not talented)

Francouer- Traded for (but not talented)

Gary Matthews Jr.... 'nuff said.

and

Santana!- Thank god the Twins took the pile of crap we offered! Gomez, Humber.... He gets credit for this trade, but really he just emptied the crappy farm system of the crappy "blue chips" because the Twins were trading Johan at any cost. That said, we traded everything we had AND paid him top dollar. I think if my 4 year old had permission to do that, she could be a GM.

Think about where we would be without him! Would Pelfrey be our ace? Yikes!

And that's it. Everyone else stinks except Mike Pelfrey and John Maine, who are on a wing and a prayer. I can hear the foul balls on Maine's fastball now!

Prediction 84 wins, third place.

Do crack addicts give up the pipe merely because it burns their fingers? Nope! So, I guess I'll still go.