Should Bannister wish to pay tribute to his dad Floyd, a cursory check through the baseball cards reveals he wore Nos. 19 and 38 in his career: Neither is available except in the case Heath Bell fails to make the roster or is traded -- both possibilities we've read in the last week. Perhaps too, numbers don't matter particularly to Bannister: It appears he wore 25 in Binghamton and 43 at Norfolk; 17 with Team USA and oddly, 3 at USC.

On Jan. 18, the Mets signed former Ham Fighter and Tokyo Giant Yusaku Iriki (You're So Fine), who looks to compete for the longman job. Iriki wore No. 49 with the Ham Fighters and No. 20 with the Giants, research shows.

We overlooked the late December addition of lefty sidearmer Mike Venafro. He has a minor league contract and spring training invite.

Photos from the Mets Caravan revealed players in new unis including Julio Franco in 23, Paul LoDuca in 16 and Jose Valentin in 18. Newly arrived reliever Jorge Julio was wearing a jersey with no number on it. MBTN reader Rich reports: Chad Bradford appeared in No. 35, Duaner Sanchez in 40, and Mets.com is selling Bret Boone jerseys bearing No. 9.

Additional photos show Xavier Nady wearing No. 10 and Steve Schmoll in the dreaded No. 46.

New Year Updates (Jan. 4, 2006): Met fans were wondering again today whether Omar Minaya can be trusted at a swap meet, giving up underappreciated starter Jae Seo 26, along with lefty reliever Tim Hamulack 46, in a trade for goggle-wearing Duaner Sanchez and his sidearm-throwing teammate, Steve Schmoll, both righthanded relievers for the Dodgers. We wish the best of luck to Seo, whose frequent bobs between New York and Norfolk resulted in three uniform numbers (he also wore 38 and 40). In case you're also wondering, Sanchez wore No. 50 and Schmoll No. 40 in Chavez Latrine last season.

The Mets also invited veteran second baseman Bret Boone to camp with a minor league deal. Boone was released twice last year but according to Omar "knows how to win," and will challenge incumbent Kaz Matsui for a job. Boone most often has worn No. 29.

Catching up with more winter moves, the Mets on Dec. 28 agreed to a one-year deal for freaky underhanded relief pitcher Chad Bradford, a hero of Moneyball and most recently, a patient with the Red Sox team doctors. He wore No. 53 for both teams.

On Dec. 23, former Met outfield prospect Endy Chavez was signed to a one-year deal. Chavez wore No. 19 with Expo-Nationals and 47 when he was traded to Philadelphia late last year.

The Mets also released maddening lefthander Kaz Ishii 23, and invited journeymen Darren Oliver, Jose Parra and Pedro Feliciano to camp. We last saw Parra and Feliciano in Met uniforms 46 and 55, respectively, in 2004 (unless we vacationed in Japan in 2005).

Meet More Mets (Dec. 10): Omar Minaya returned from the Winter Meetings with a new catcher, Paul LoDuca, acquired from the Marlins at full retail -- pitching prospect Gaby Hernandez, and minor-league outfielder Dante Brinkley. LoDuca is likely to dress in his familiar No. 16, vacated by 2004's disappointing first-base experiment, Doug Mientkiewicz.

In other moves, the Mets made official minor-league contracts and spring training invites for lefty Matt Perisho, formerly of the Marlins and Jose Valentin, the former Brewer and White Sock infielder most recently with the Dodgers. Valentin has worn No. 22 most often in his career, but was 10 last year. Both are theoretically available as both Royce Ring 22 and Shingo Takatsu 10 have been booted from the 40-man roster.

Late Season Updates! (Sept.28): Back from a vacation and better late than never -- Anderson Hernandez recalled from Norfolk Sept. 17; Danny Graves 32 recalled on Sept. 5; and Mike Piazza 31 back from the DL on Sept. 10.  MBTN was surprised to return from our vacation to see Hernandez dressed in No. 1 -- which we thought that number might have been in semi-retirement awaiting the 1986 anniversary next season and Mookie Wilson's continuing service to the organization. As argued here before, MBTN is generally not in favor of retiring numbers -- we'd prefer to see them strategically re-issued -- but hard to say from his play or lack of it thus far whether Hernandez is truly Mookworthy yet.

Hernandez, by the way, appears to be the 42nd and final player to wear a Met jersey this year -- the fewest Met uni wearers since only 40 suited up in 1996. We had 52 last year.
 

Santiago Up, Bell Down (July 16): The Mets arrived in Denver tonight with journeyman righthander Jose Santiago wearing No. 33. Santiago was recalled from Norfolk Sunday when Heath Bell 19 was demoted and informed he needs to develop a change-up. No. 33 was issued earlier this year to backup catcher Mike DiFelice.

Mientkiewicz Returns, Padilla Arrives (July 16): The Mets announced Friday that first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz 16 has returned from a rehab stint and that cobwebby pinch-hitter Brian Daubach 13 was returned to Norfolk. They also promoted Norfolk closer Juan Padilla and returned lefty Royce Ring 22 to the farm. Padilla comes to the Mets having had an excellent half-season at Norfolk and Ring's demotion seems to suggest that infuriating starter Kaz Ishii 23 will get a look in the pen. Padilla was assigned No. 28, which for two years sat patiently awaiting the return of Scott Strickland.