Lindsey Nelson and the New York baseball broadcasters’ southern connection

“Hello everybody I’m Lindsey Nelson,” was the first phrase ever proclaimed on the very first New York Mets MLB broadcast, back in April of 1962. Nelson delivered that phrase in a cheerful, upbeat style, as he would for the rest of his broadcast days. He also spoke it in the distinctive twang of his native [...]

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Daniel Murphy: Hitter

When Daniel Murphy reported to his first minor league team, a coach asked him what position he plays. Murphy’s reply was, “Hitter.” He wasn’t kidding. Murphy came up to the Mets in 2008 and played left field. He worked hard on adjusting to left field on the major league level even though he appeared in [...]

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An update on members of the Mets’ 2015 World Series roster

It was a tough week for fans of the 2015 Mets, the last team in club history to make the World Series. The Mets traded away Steven Matz and Daniel Murphy announced his retirement. Let’s check in on the guys who were active for the World Series in '15 and see where they all are [...]

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Mets did addition by subtraction on December 11, 1981

Most of you can probably put a name/event to dates pretty easily in Mets’ history. 9/24/69 – Mets win first World Series 6/15/77 – Mets trade Tom Seaver and Dave Kingman 1/24/80 – Nelson Doubleday buys the Mets 6/15/83 – Mets trade for Keith Hernandez You can probably cite half a dozen more, too. But [...]

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Jerry Koosman in the bullpen (1970)

Back in 1970, the Mets were the darlings of New York and the sports world. They had just come off the miracle championship season. I was 13 and my father took me to see them play at Shea Stadium. Jerry Koosman was the starter. I had gotten a Polaroid camera for Christmas that year and [...]

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Three days in Monterrey: The Mets’ historic trip south of the border

After a rough stretch in the early 1990s, the 1996 season was a transitional season for the New York Mets. The team finished with a dreadful 71-91 record, good for fourth-place in the NL East, but gave fans a foreshadowing of the success which followed in the later part of the decade. Generation K was [...]

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Ray Knight threw a right – started a fight

On July 22, 1986, the New York Mets played a road game against the Cincinnati Reds.  Bobby Ojeda started against rookie Scott Terry.  The Red led 3-1 with two outs in the 9th inning when Dave Parker dropped what should have been the final out of the game.  In the 10th inning, pinch-runner Eric Davis [...]

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Ron Hunt and the 1962 to 1967 Mets

Could we put together a division made up of the different Mets eras? Who would be victorious? What team would finish in last? How competitive would the different eras be? Let’s start with developing the 25-man roster for the Mets teams prior to the Gil Hodges era that began in 1968. The New York Mets [...]

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The top 10 Mets teams in defensive runs saved

The Mets historical performance defensively has been, in a word, bad. As we have examined the best and worst fielders in Mets history, it was evident identifying bad players was a little easier than identifying outstanding players. At second base, the answer was largely “no one.” It is never easy to explain *why* the Mets [...]

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George Foster left left field

The 1986 team is now a cherished memory among New York Met fans.  Many players on that roster still rank high on any all-time favorite Mets list.  There was one player who was released though who caused some controversy prior to his departure.   That player was none other than George Foster; he wore number 15 [...]

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The best and worst hitters against Seaver, Koosman and Matlack

Back in the day we were constantly told how journeyman Tom Hutton did great against Tom Seaver. And Hutton did begin his career against Seaver off strong, going 9-22 against him in his first three years. But by the end of his career, things had turned the opposite way. In his last 11 trips to [...]

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Who’s the greatest Mets hitter: Darryl Strawberry or David Wright?

Ever since David Wright retired, there has been a feeling that he is the best Mets position player of all time. Looking at Baseball-Reference’s Mets team page, Wright is #1 in At-Bats, WAR, oWAR, Hits, Singles, Doubles, Runs, RBIs, Total Bases, Walks, Extra Base Hits, Runs Created, Sacrifice Flies, Times on Base, Double Plays Grounded [...]

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