It’s Not Like They’re Going to Sell Out of Jerseys With PUTZ on the Back Anyway

At the press conference this afternoon introducing JJ Putz as a member of the Mets they issued him a jersey with No. 40 on it. That jersey most recently belonged to chubby reserve catcher Robinson Cancel and before that, Ambiorix Burgos who was not offered a contract last week and became a free agent at least in baseball terms.

Putz remarked to reporters afterward that he’d ask coach Howard Johnson about the possibility of taking over his No. 20 jersey when the games start this spring. I’d guess HoJo gives the OK, though I’ve always preferred the No. 20 jersey stay on the back of hitters (like HoJo, Agee, Burnitz… and Ken Henderson).It hasn’t been worn by a pitcher since Ricky Bottalicoin 2001 2004 (thanks commenters).

Bonus Trivia: Without looking it up, how many Met pitchers can you name who wore No. 20? (there have been six including Bottalico)

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One comment

  1. Jon Springer says:

    Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 12/19/2008 – 9:08am.
    Was Bottalico in 2001 or 2003?

    delete edit reply report to Mollom
    Bottalico was 2004. He

    Submitted by Matt B (not verified) on Fri, 12/19/2008 – 9:18am.
    Bottalico was 2004. He originally wore 34, but gave it to Kris Benson and switched to 20.

    delete edit reply report to Mollom
    My bad. 2004 is correct.

    Submitted by Jon Springer on Fri, 12/19/2008 – 10:18am.
    My bad. 2004 is correct.

    delete edit reply report to Mollom
    Rick Ownbey and John Pacella

    Submitted by Ranjrz5 on Sat, 12/20/2008 – 12:19am.
    Rick Ownbey and John Pacella are two

    delete edit reply report to Mollom
    Bottalico, Rick Ownbey, John

    Submitted by gored82 on Sun, 12/21/2008 – 10:29am.
    Bottalico, Rick Ownbey, John Pacella, Greg Harris, and Bob Friend – that’s 5…I give up on the 6th…

    delete edit reply report to Mollom
    Craig Anderson!

    Submitted by Jon Springer on Sun, 12/21/2008 – 1:47pm.
    Craig Anderson!

    delete edit reply report to Mollom
    That Anderson pitched in

    Submitted by gored82 on Sun, 12/21/2008 – 11:20pm.
    That Anderson pitched in the Polo Grounds era, I think…BTW, I just got the book and it’s great reading!

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