Author: Jon Springer

Jon Springer is a writer in Brooklyn. Mets by the Numbers began as a goof in 1998, later became a book, then went back to being a goof.

Boom Boom

Jennifer writes:

Forgive my doubting your site…but I would have sworn that Mark Bomback wore number 26 in his brief stint with the Mets.

Not for nothing but Bomback in the 20s was a vague memory for me too (MBTN’s all-time roster lists him as wearing 36). I happened to check Jack Looney’s “Now Batting Number” and sure enough, he lists Bomback having dressed in 36 as well as 28 — not 26 — during his season here.

Both 28 and 26 were available, at least until September when Wally Backman and Scott Holman wore those jerseys, respectively. Bomback doesn’t appear in 28 or 26 on any scorecards in my inventory, but I hope you can check yours just to be sure (those dated prior to September would be most useful).

Let us know what you find! You can comment below, or send an email to mbtn /at/ mbtn dot net, or to our new addy mbtn01 /at/ gmail / dot/ com. Feel free to attach an image of your scorecard!

Pelfrey, Milledge, Hillman and Chiti

The Mets’ first in-season personnel move of 2007 comes as no suprise: Mike Pelfrey 34 has been recalled from St. Lucie to take over the vacant 5th starter role while outfielder Lastings “I’ve Got to Get My Grown Man On” Milledge 44 reports to AAA New Orleans.

Worthless Bonus Fact: The Mets debuted Nos. 34 and 44 on the same memorable day, April 28, 1962.

That afternoon, in the Polo Grounds, the Mets were trailing 5-1 to the Phillies when righthander Dave Hillman took the mound for the Mets wearing 34 for the first time, and promptly surrendered a home run to the first batter he faced, Don Demeter. Hillman, a former Cubs, Red Sox and Reds pitcher, had been purchased by the Mets prior to the homestand a day before as part of their very first series of in-season roster moves. Along with Hillman was catcher Harry Chiti, famously acquired from Cleveland for a player to be named — himself, as things turned out, and Sammy Taylor, a disgruntled former Cub catcher acquired in a trade for outfielder Bobby Gene Smith. Taylor by the way was dressed in Smith’s former No. 16, making that trade the first Uni-Swap in Mets history. In addition to Smith, gone were the ancient back-up battery of former New York heroes Clem Labine 41 and Joe Ginsberg 12, who were released.

Now back to the game: Chiti, christening the No. 44 jersey, entered the in the 7th inning as a defensive replacement for Chris Cannizzaro, who had been pinch-run for while the Mets hit three home runs (by Frank Thomas, Charlie Neal and Gil Hodges) and scored an astonishing 6 runs in the bottom of the sixth, taking Hillman off the hook and giving the Mets a 7-6 lead. (Hillman was pinch-hit for that inning by Taylor, who walked and was himself pinch-run for. Casey loved that kinda stuff).

The Mets hung on for an 8-6 win, only their second of the year against 12 losses. Though Hillman was technically the pitcher of record at the time the Mets took the lead, credit for the win went to Roger Craig 38, who pitched three scoreless innings of relief to nail it down.

As Pelfrey prepares to meet the Nationals tonight, and Milledge returns to the place he started, here’s to happy first transactions.

Willie to Wear 42

Manager Willie Randolph said he would wear No. 42 on April 15 when baseball honors Jackie Robinson.

“Any time I can be involved with the name Jackie Robinson, it’s an honor for me,” Randolph said Wednesday, according to MLB.com. “I want to be the one. He was such a special man who did so much for so many people. I’m looking forward to the ceremony and to seeing Rachel [Robinson, Jackie’s wife].”

Willie would be the 10th man to wear 42 for the Mets, Others include Larry Elliot (1964); Ron Taylor (1967-71); Chuck Taylor (1972); Hank Webb (1972); Ron Hodges (1973-1984); Tom Hall (1975); Roger McDowell (1985-89); Butch Huskey (1995-98) and Mo Vaughn (2002-03). Huskey and Vaughn were grandfathered into baseball’s leaguewide retirement of the jersey in 1997; and both wore the number in Robinson’s honor.

And Now a Word About Darren Bragg

It’s hard to be sure why the Mets can’t remember ever having Darren Bragg. Could be, Bragg’s just one of those guys you think of playing for another team. I associate Darren Bragg most closely with the 1998 Red Sox though his resume also includes stops in Seattle, St. Louis, and Colorado before he hooked on with the Mets in 2001, and with the Yankees, Braves, Padres and Reds afterward. In just about every stop, Bragg served a similar role as store-brand white hustling lefthanded hitting corner outfield reserve.

It could also have been the briefness of his stay, or the abruptness of his departure: He was a Met for all of 18 games from late May to early June of 2001, a period the Mets spent entirely in last or next-to-last, owing, not surprisingly, to their lousy outfield. Perhaps too, the Mets forgot they ever had Darren Bragg because their last memory of him was releasing him prior to the start of 2002: He’d been invited to camp but was cut and released, and eventually signed with the Braves.

But there are also reasons to remember Bragg. Like so many Major League vets receiving a late-career invitation to join the Mets, Bragg was a local guy (Waterbury, Conn.) playing for a Nutmeg State manager. He favored the unusual uniform No. 56, he said, as a tribute to New York football Giants legend Lawrence Taylor. And his release resulted in a bizarre reappearance in Shea Stadium only weeks later as a member of the Yankees. This is what we remember you for.

Bragg accepted a minor-league assignment to begin the 2001 season but had a contract stipulating he could become a free-agent if he remained in AAA through the end of May. Fortunately for him, the Mets outfield, shaky to begin with, suffered injuries to Jay Payton andDarryl Hamilton, and ineffective reserve work from alleged phenom Alex Escobar, resulting in Bragg’s mid-May callup. Inserted as the team’s new leadoff hitter, Bragg had a few highlights – he drove in 4 runs in one game, but barely distinguished himself as an upgrade over what was already around and was released in early June when the Mets added a white lefthanded hitting outfield reserve, but one with a little more power in Mark Johnson. The Yankees subsequently claimed Bragg on waivers, leading to his appearance as a pinch-hitter in a Subway Series game a short time afterward, but his career there would end when the Yankees added a reserve we’d come to know, Gerald Williams.

Bragg as a Met hit .263/.323/.368, with 6 doubles and 5 RBI in 57 at-bats. Bragg didn’t hit as hard as his footballing numbersake , but wasn’t completely forgettable either.

***

Nice to see the Mets wiping their butts with the Cardinals’ special gold-trimmed celebratory World Series uniforms. In tonight’s win Scott Schoeneweis became the first Met ever to wear No. 60 in a game.

Renumeration

Thanks to reader Glenn who below pointed out Ben Shpigel’s entertaining blog post detailing the news that Bazooka Joe Smith will dress in uni No. 35 and Aaron Sele is also changing — toNo. 30 36. ) 30 (I was right all along). The comments illustrate some of the politics of number selections: Rookie Smith is resigned to wear what is offered him; Sele can not only choose his jersey, but (jokingly) request re-numeration for that which he leaves behind.

A poor spring sparked not by iffy pitching but by a continuation of the paltry offense the Mets showed last September and October frankly has me more worried than usual about the new year but opening night isn’t a time to fret. Let’s Go Mets!

Your 2007 Mets

On opening night:

  • 47 Tom Glavine
  • 26 Orlando Hernandez
  • 33 John Maine
  • 46 Oliver Perez
  • 13 Billy Wagner
  • 48 Aaron Heilman
  • 60 Scott Schoeneweis
  • 40 Ambiorix Burgos
  • 25 Pedro Feliciano
  • 35* Aaron Sele
  • 70* Joe Smith
  • 16 Paul LoDuca
  • 11 Ramon Castro
  • 21 Carlos Delgado
  • 22 Jose Valentin
  • 7 Jose Reyes
  • 5 David Wright
  • 23 Julio Franco
  • 3 Damian Easley
  • 17 David Newhan
  • 18 Moises Alou
  • 15 Carlos Beltran
  • 20 Shawn Green
  • 44 Lastings Milledge
  • 10 Endy Chavez

Staff

  • 12 Willie Randolph
  • 2 Sandy Alomar
  • 51 Rick Peterson
  • 52 Howard Johnson
  • 53 Jerry Manuel
  • 54 Rick Down
  • 55 Tom Nieto
  • 56 Guy Conti

If things hold, Moises Alou would be the 800th Met and join Schoeneweis, Burgos, Sele, Smith, Easley, and Newhan for the first time on the All-Time Numeric Roster. Howard Johnson joins the ranks of Met coaches for the first time. Jose Valentin will appear for the first time wearing No. 22, while coach Manuel is in a new number, 53.

Sele as of Friday had not given 35 to Smith, who was out there again in No. 70.

Voice of Unreason

You may have seen the Village Voice this week featuring Jose Reyes on its cover and a provocative “Stealing Mickey’s Mantle” headline. Inside, Allen Barra’s article draws parallels between Reyes and Mantle, noting they shared a city, switch-hitting and stealing ability, a reputation as their era’s most exciting players, and of course, a uniform number (7).

If we going down that path though (and clearly Barra is) I’d sooner associate a pair of 5s in David Wright and Joe DiMaggio. And though he raises some interesting points, Barra ultimately bungles the story by getting the Met psyche all wrong:

If José Reyes is being overrated, it may be in large part because Mets fans want to will him into being the first truly great everyday player in team history.

This notion, central to the piece — the subhed says as much — would come off more believable had Barra bothered to include any points of view from an actual Met fan as part of the piece. (Had he asked a year ago, he’d have caught many of us hoping only that Reyes approach adequateness). But having built a case for Met fans being tortured and unrealistic, Barra then gets a guy who draws paychecks from the YES network (Goldman) to poke holes in his own trumped-up theory. (Oh, you poor delusional Met fans. Someone must show you tough love). Finally the entire thing is wrapped way too tightly in Yankee perspective: The Mantle comparison is one thing, but the nauseating Jeter showdown at the end is barely even honest (we get a “similar points in their career” comparison strongly favoring Jeter when comparing like-ages would tell a very different story). Bring back Billy Altman!

Roster Shaping Up

The Mets following a rare spring training victory today said Aaron Sele and ‘Bazooka’ Joe Smithwould be added to the big-league roster, a development that threw the Metly future of Chan Ho Park 61 into question. As things shake out it’s come down to Park, Ambiorix Burgos 40and optionless/hapless acquiree Jon Adkins 39 for the seventh and final bullpen slot; The Mets will go with four starters the first few times around before recalling Mike Pelfrey 34 to become the 5th starter. That may prove to reward precocious prospect Lastings Milledge 44 for a strong showing this spring seeing as outfielder Ben Johnson 4 was cut today (along with lesser hopefuls Mike Carp 64, Lino Urdaneta 68, Anderson Hernandez 1, Ruben Gotay 6, Mike DiFelice 30 and Sandy Alomar Jr. 90).

Spring leaders of the Ring-Bell for Adkins-Johnson trade are the Padres, who’ve gotten a 0.90 ERA out of Heath Bell thus far.

Word from the Daily News is the Mets will commemorate Smith’s promotion by slashing his uniform number in half, from 70 to 35. Ironically, that’s the same number they tried to assign to last year’s righthanded submariner, Chad Bradford, before Bradford fled for the quirkier 53.Troublingly, that’s also the number rosters list Sele as wearing, unless Sele switched while I wasn’t looking (entirely possible). Any help? Thanks.

Half A Joe

Adam Rubin at the Daily News this morning hints that ‘Bazooka’ Joe Smith “in a couple of days” will share something in common with Mike DeJean, Jose Offerman and David Weathers. That answers our question below about what number we’ll likely see the rookie in when he sheds the No. 70 he’d been wearing in camp and comes North with the big club.