For all sad words of tongue and pen
The saddest are these
It might have been
You probably recognize this quote but probably don’t know who first uttered it. John Greenleaf Whittier, a Quaker poet and abolitionist from the 19th Century, is the one to credit for the inspiration to today’s post.
I’m going to start with 1966 and redo one move per year for the Mets. Why 1966 and not 1962? Frankly, I don’t know enough and it probably wouldn’t matter to do just one move anyway for those first few years. But there’s a clear move to make starting in ’66 and the ramifications would be huge. So, let’s get to the list.
1966 – With the top overall pick in the draft, the New York Mets take Reggie Jackson
1967 – Keep Tommy Davis or at least don’t trade him for Tommie Agee.
1968 – With the top overall pick in the draft, the New York Mets take Thurman Munson
1969 – Keep Amos Otis
1970 – Tell Gil Hodges that Wayne Garrett is okay at 3B and that they don’t need an upgrade
1971 – Keep Nolan Ryan
1972 – Hire Whitey Herzog as manager
1973 – Have Felix Millan bend over and field that ball in the third inning of Game 1 of the World Series.
1974 – Keep Duffy Dyer
1975 – Tell Cleon Jones to stay out of that van
1976 – Have Dave Kingman not try to do a handstand in the outfield with all of the weight on his thumb
1977 – Ban Dick Young from the clubhouse
1978 – Have Joel Youngblood take off his cap just once while my sister was watching so she could see he was bald
1979 – Never, ever trade for Richie Hebner
1980 – Convince John Pacella to get a haircut so his hat could stay on his head.
1981 – Sign Roger Clemens, their 12th-round draft pick
1982 – Start Wally Backman at second base
1983 – Sign Matt Williams, their 27th-round draft pick
1984 – Don’t expose Tom Seaver to free agent compensation pool
1985 – Keep Dwight Gooden away from cocaine and Mel Stottlemyre
1986 – Don’t let Nelson Doubleday lose control of the Mets
1987 – Have one returning SP besides Ron Darling make 30 starts
1988 – Not have Gooden pitch the 9th inning in Game Four of the NLCS
1989 – Don’t trade Lenny Dykstra
1990 – Don’t’ let Darryl Strawberry walk as free agent
1991 – Don’t watch any games after the All-Star break
1992 – Don’t hire Jeff Torborg
1993 – Don’t hire Dallas Green
1994 – With the top overall pick in the draft, the New York Mets take Nomar Garciaparra
1995 – Get more than Arnold Gooch for Bret Saberhagen
1996 – Don’t trade Jeff Kent
1997 – Don’t expect a .356 BABIP again from Bernard Gilkey
1998 – Don’t make me watch Todd Hundley play the outfield
1999 – Don’t swap Jason Isringhausen for Billy Taylor
2000 – Have first base coach yell at Timo Perez to run the bases
2001 – Sign Alex Rodriguez
2002 – Fire Steve Phillips instead of Bobby Valentine
2003 – Don’t sign Kaz Matsui
2004 – Bribe the Tigers to take someone besides Justin Verlander with the #2 overall pick
2005 – Sign new right side of infield to replace Doug Mientkiewicz and Miguel Cairo
2006 – Never let Duaner Sanchez get into that taxi cab.
2007 – Re-sign Cliff Floyd
2008 – Don’t bring in Scott Schoeneweis with the game on the line and a RHB available
2009 – Don’t trip over the black cat while walking under a ladder which caused us to break the mirror that led to all of the injuries.
2010 – Don’t bring back Jerry Manuel as manager
2011 – Re-sign Jose Reyes to a long-term contract before the season
I don’t really understand 1967 – Agee is a Met legend and I don’t think Tommy Davis hit at all after ’66.
Hodges and Otis did not really see eye to eye. Not acquiring Agee is necessary to play Otis in CF once he’s ready.
As sacriligious as this my be, I would add a 2nd one for 1972: don’t trade for Rusty Staub.
My hope is that an OF with Cleon Jones/Ken Singleton, Amos Otis and Reggie Jackson that they don’t feel the need to trade for Staub.
Exactly.
I suppose making a different, very specific pick in the 12th round of the 1999 draft is getting a little too greedy, isn’t it…
2008– Tell Bud Selig to suck it, and sign Barry Bonds for the pro-rated league minimum, as opposed to filling the LF slot with 12 different starters, including Marlon Anderson, Angel Pagan, Nick Evans, Endy Chavez, and special guest free agent signing Trot Nixon (79 OPS+ in 2007, 54 OPS+ as a Met). Hmm, might Bonds have made a 1-game difference?
I like it!
Small correction: Trot Nixon wasn’t a free agent. His big bat came via trade from Arizona’s AAA team.
2009 should be do not resign Ollie Perez and Castillo.
Probably I would swap a 1999 resign John Olerud for a long term contract. This probably would have prevented Mo Vaughn from becoming part of the Mets. Nothing personal about Vaughn. He seems to be a decent fellow, but he was done as a player by time he got here.
Olerud chose to sign with Seattle, his hometown. Mets did want I him, I believe.
OK, the entry for 1974 might be the least-significant personnel might-have-been on the list, but it might also be my favorite.