[Amazin69]

There was a nice crowd for all five…but dang, those Seattle fans can make the noise. Big ovations for The Big Unit, Junior, and Edgar. Congrats to Ichiro for bringing out such passion.

Of all the ex-Mets mediocrities, I didn't expect a Doug Henry shout-out. But Wee Willie Wags shouted out every man he shared a Houston bullpen with. I did flinch a bit at the talk of how Wags succeeded despite his small size, given that Billy had three great first halves as a Met, but wore down in September every single time, where perhaps a larger man would have been healthy enough to have a better post-season in '06 than the 6.53 ERA he posted, or been able to keep us from having to depend (unsuccessfully) on the Luis Ayalas of the world to avoid the collapses that ruined the final two seasons of Big Beautiful Shea. I can get on Tom Glavine for his game 162 disaster in '07 (or his running back to Atlanta without facing the press)…but at least Glavine was there.

I grant you that Billy made the most of the body he had, but it's a bit odd to see him inducted next to Carsten Charles Sabathia, the big pile of meat who was renowned for pitching complete games down the stretch (often on short rest) to get his teams the post-seasons that Billy failed to deliver for the Mets, including literally taking the spot from us in 2008 that ensured that the beautiful closing ceremonies that followed (with one of the two men wearing a Mets cap on his HoF plaque pitching to the other) were truly the end, instead of the warm-up to one final playoff run.

Interesting to see CC, Manly Manfred's golf buddy, coming thisclose to calling out MLB's failure to keep as significant a black presence in MLB as before.

Ichiro's speech was damn hilarious (including the Rick Rizzs impression) and deep about the focus on preparation, including the loose strings on the glove. So meticulous.

Who was the kid whom Dick Allen took to mentoring and who was at the ceremonies? I never caught his name .

David Parker II did a great job with his speech, but I wish that "Pops" had been able to recite that delightful poem he wrote. (And it would be great if the Buccos would get on the stick and build the statue referenced therein…or at least retire the Cobra's number already!)