The Mets’ glory days of the 1980’s seem even further away this afternoon, with news of the passing of former GM Frank Cashen.
Cashen arrived in New York in the winter of 1980, at the behest of new owners Nelson Doubleday and Fred Wilpon. He took on the daunting task of reinvigorating this moribund franchise, with little to work with other than ash. Immediately, he brought in his people, the so-called “Baltimore Mafia” — Lou Gorman, Joe McIlvaine and his eventual successor, Al Harazin. Laying out a painstaking — some would argue overlong — timetable, they set about rebuilding the farm system, then using that renewed supply line to make canny trades. Thus were drafted Dwight Gooden, Daryl Strawberry, Lenny Dykstra, Wally Backman, Ron Gardenhire, Billy Beane — yes, that Billy Beane — John Gibbons, Ed Hearn, Herm Winningham and Floyd Youmans. These last five were turned into Gary Carter and David Cone.
With his dream squad firmly in place, Cashen proudly presided over a fierce contender for seven seasons. It sounds strange to say nowadays, but the Mets had the Majors’ best overall record for the period 1984 – 1990, and but for some bad luck and poor personal choices, would have been a dynasty to rival the Yankees’ of a decade later.
Suffice to say, every Mets’ fan over the age of 40 owes a huge debt of gratitude to The Man In The Bowtie: without him, our conversation would start and end at 1969.
Editor’s Note – The Mets originally said that Cashen was 91 but updated the story to say he was 88. We have done the same.
Without a doubt, Cashen is the Gold Standard when it comes to Mets GMs.
I think it’s important to note that his teams finished below .500 for four consecutive seasons before breaking through with a 90-win team in Year Five. The most wins by the Mets in Cashen’s first four years was 68.
I think one of the great trades he made was for Kevin McReynolds. Hardly ever gets mentioned.
I had the pleasure of hearing Cashen speak a couple of times. He was the right guy at the right time. He was always trying to make the club better and did his best.
RIP Mr. Cashen.
[…] the aftermath of the passing of beloved Mets GM Frank Cashen, much has been made of Cashen’s first four wildly unsuccessful […]