Snowman On Fire

Jose Reyes hit for the cycle tonight. My son and I saw the triple, which made him 3-3 and left Reyes only a single away from accomplishing the feat, and then we managed to catch his single that put him on this list of rare accomplishments.

What other baseball statistical class includes Willie Stargell, Honus Wagner, Kirby Puckett, Ted Williams, Stan Musial and Joe DiMaggio, but excludes Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Barry Bonds and every Yankees player since 1995? Hitting for the cycle requires power, speed, bat control and sometimes a bit of good mojo at the plate.

It’s one of those goofy, unimportant sports events you remember for a long time. The first player I saw hit for the cycle was Richie Zisk of the Pittsburgh Pirates, in a 14-1 drubbing of San Francisco in 1974. Brought up to replace Roberto Clemente, Zisk proved himself a hitter in all aspects that day, and he became the first Buc in 10 years to hit for the cycle. At that time, the last Pirate to join the club was Willie Stargell, who hit for the cycle in his third season. A generation from now, we won’t remember who won the game (the Mets blew it in the 9th), or who else was playing, but my son and I will smile when we think about the last school night of 2006. Sure beats studying for a social studies quiz.

Lou Lamoriello has his hands full. He needs a coach that the players will respect and to whom they’ll respond. He needs to sign a line or two of free agents, and shore up the blue line with more speed and less size. What’s a GM to do first?

Here’s my guess: build a base, then sign Elias. Prediction: we see Scott Gomez with a deal done soon, maybe by the end of the month. How do I know? A trick taught to me by a former McKinsey consultant: look at the cars in the parking lot. Speculate about a deal, people in town, or who’s at work in a particular building by checking out the rides. There were cars at South Mountain this week, parked in the players’ lot. That’s someone on the path to a permanent exit or an extended stay in New Jersey. While trying to survey the situation and not overshoot Dunkin’ Donuts, I can’t lay claim to specific information, but I’d lay even money that I spotted the Gomez-mobile (yes, I do know what it is, and yes, it is unique among the players).

If I’m right, it would be a good deal.