Thanks to readers Gene and Matt for pointing it out.

Willie and the Boz (Feb. 26): Willie Randolph, as quoted by Bill Madden in the Daily News: "I'm gonna wear No. 12. Why? You remember Ken Boswell? Second baseman on the '69 team? He was my favorite player growing up. No. 12. It's a nice number."

We remember Ken Boswell too, and even if his sideburns might not fly in Willie's clubhouse, it speaks well of the new Met manager that he has a sense of his place in history. This is probably a natural result of the era we grew up, but 12 has always seemed more Boswellian to us than Kent-like or Alomarish. And as glorified ticket salesman Darryl Strawberry makes a grand reappearance at Shea this weekend, may it serve as a reminder of this team's horribly miscast former manager, who wore No. 18 but was no George Theodore either.

We found Madden's piece, by the way, from a link at the extraordinary new blog co-authored by veteran MBTN reader Greg -- highly recommended for fans of good writing and historical Metdom.

Comings and Goings (June 26): Onto the disabled list: Karim Garcia 20. Off it: Orber Moreno 49. Designated for assignment: Ice Williams 21. Rescued from oblivion: Tom Wilson 6.

Welcome Home (June 20): Jose Reyes finally returned to the Mets. To make room for him the team designated catcher Tom Wilson for assignment, leaving the team temporarily with two catchers and six outfielders and importantly, freeing up uniform No. 6 for another issue. Reyes looked great in 7, hustling in one run and tripling to set up the gamewinner.

In another move the Mets once again sent Pedro Feliciano 55 back to Norfolk before seeing any action in New York. That Feliciano's replacement, Jose Parra, saw action in his first opportunity probably didn't make the return trip any sweeter for Pedro. Parra, a veteran righthanded reliever who was closing in Norfolk, suited up in the dreaded No. 46.

Short People (May 29): The Mets on May 25 officially surrendered in their attempt to make Tyler Yates 33 a starter and returned him to Norfolk with orders to rejoin the bullpen. In his place the Mets recalled Pedro Feliciano 55. (Update: Feliciano was sent back down without having made an appearance June 1 so as to make room for the return of Al Leiter from the disabled list).

Leiter DLed, Snead Visits (May 21): With Al Leiter's sore shoulder forcing a disabled-list stay, the Mets on Thursday recalled Norfolk outfielder Esix Snead for a short visit. It's expected the Mets will send him back Saturday so that Tyler Yates 33 can take Al's turn in the rotation. You might remember Snead from his brief appearance in 2002 (including his game-winning HR against the Expos in a meaningless September game). He wore No. 23 then; this time he appeared in No. 1 and displayed a Mookielike quickness scoring from first base as a pinch-runner.

Cone, as in Done (May 30): Leave it to the Mets to see a player retire -- and have him replaced by guy even older. That was the news today when 40-year-old worn-out warrior David Cone 16 called it a career and was replaced on the roster by 42-year-old rehabbed reliever John Franco 45. Good luck to David, who joins Mo Vaughn among pretty good players who seem to have spent their last days of their careers with the '03 Mets.

Injury Update du Jour (May 26): The Mets finally got around to disable-listing gimpy outfielder Timo Perez 6 and re-calling grumpy infielder Rey Sanchez 10. Meantime, David Cone 16 has re-joined the team, taking the place of lefty reliever Jaime Cerda 43, who was returned to Norfolk for the second time this year.

Howe Now: (Oct. 26). Here's former A's and Astros manager Art Howe accepting the No. 18 jersey to manage the Mets next year. Howe will take over for the victimized and jobless Bobby Valentine 2, whom the Mets whacked the day after the season ended. (Coaches Charlie Hough 54 and Tom Robson 57 summarily left of their own accord). The move temporarily leaves Jeff D'Amico numberless, although he may wind up jobless as well.

Howe becomes the 17th Met manager (and the first to wear No. 18). See more at MBTN's All-time Coaches & Managers list.

Strange but True: (Sept. 12) The Mets today called up promising minor league pitcher Pat Strange and issued him No. 38. Strange got the call as an emergecy reliever in light of Steve Trachsel's injury yesterday. Jae Wong Seo served the same purpose earlier this year, also wearing 38. Also: Grant Roberts 36 is back from the DL.

Fonzie to the Rescue: (Aug. 24) Totally without coincidence, the Mets managed to break their embarrassing 12-game losing streak with the return of Edgardo Alfonzo 13 to the active roster. Ty Wigginton 9 was returned to Norfolk where he'll presumably work on his fielding. Alfonzo missed 20 games overall -- the Mets won only three of them.

Player To Be Named Now: (Aug. 21) The Mets today received outfielder Raul Gonzalez from Cincinnati as the first of the two players to be named in the Shawn Estes deal. The Mets dressed Gonzalez in No. 21, making 21 the first number issued to three players in one season since No. 10 get used three times in 1997 (Thurman, Morgan, Petagine). The 21 hot-potato went from Bobby Jones to Mark Little to Gonzalez in a span of three weeks.