After avoiding platoons for most of the past few seasons, the Mets could be moving back to this strategy in 2011, with potential platoon situations at both catcher and second base. With the LaRussification of bullpen usage, platoons have fallen out of favor throughout the majors in recent years, as spots that would go to [...]
Before moving into brand new Shea Stadium in 1964, the Mets played their first two seasons in the Polo Grounds, the former home of the New York Giants. The Polo Grounds were located in Upper Manhattan and one of the reasons the Giants wanted to move is that the neighborhood was not exactly five-star quality. [...]
1979 TOPPS SERGIO FERRER #397 Someone had to stand as a symbol of the colorless ineptitude of the late '70s Mets. Sure, the practical avenue would have been to focus on ownership and/or management. But I was a kid. I needed a more visceral symbol. I needed Sergio Ferrer. In 1979, I heaped all my [...]
Most baseball fans know the story of Roberto Clemente. The Hall of Famer played 18 years in the majors, all with the Pirates. A 12-time All-Star, Clemente also won 12 Gold Glove Awards in his career. A four-time batting champion, Clemente played on two World Series winners and was chosen World Series MVP for his [...]
1971 TOPPS KEN BOSWELL #492 I have a thing about bridges. An armchair analyst would probably trace it back to my childhood trips across the Throgs Neck (or Frog’s Neck, as I called it), on the road to Uncle Buddy’s house in New Jersey. My older brother would work hard to convince me that we [...]
Among baseball statistics, the save is relatively new. It was created by sportswriter Jerome Holtzman in 1959 and officially adopted by MLB in 1969. The Mets have had their share of the top closers in the game. Nine of the top 26 players on the all-time saves list played for the Mets at some point [...]
Perhaps no issue in baseball today is more divisive than pitch counts. Advocates of pitch counts claim that it helps to protect young arms and that it is better to get 15 years of a guy throwing 200 IP a year than risk just getting five years of a guy throwing 300 IP a year [...]
If you asked most Mets fans what is the greatest individual game in team history, most would answer Tom Seaver and his outing on July 9, 1969. Seaver took a perfect game into the 9th inning, when with one out Jimmy Qualls broke it up with a single. Seaver retired the next two batters and [...]
1974 TOPPS TOM SEAVER #80 It was all too rare during the Golden Age of Topps (1952-1980) for star players to get cards that matched their luster. I think of cards like the 1967 Mickey Mantle. I’ve seen more flattering photos on DWI mug shots. The 1973 Willie Mays did its best to make a [...]
Former Mets batting coach Phil Cavarretta passed away yesterday at age 94. Cavarretta joined the Mets in 1973 as a batting instructor, working with major league hitters during Spring Training and then the minor league hitters once the season started. In 1975 he was added to the major league staff on a full-time basis, where [...]
Seems to me… …there’s something missing in the Mets’ front office these days: panic. It’s beyond refreshing to have another team in the division – our arch-rival, even, if you will – make a big, splashy move and have the reaction from Flushing be…well…nothing. The Phillies, of all teams, signed Cliff Lee to a contract [...]
If you ask most fans to name a four-team deal, the one that jumps to mind is the 2004 deal among the Red Sox, Twins, Cubs and Expos that sent Nomar Garciaparra out of Boston and brought Orlando Cabrera, Doug Mientkiewicz and a World Series title to the Red Sox. But the one that jumps [...]