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.

Updates

Depending on what you read the Mets may have some disabled list moves to make by gametime today. The Daily News seems to be pessimistic regarding the health of Jose Valentin’s knee and suggests the Mets would recall New Orleans middle infielder who’s outperforming Ruben Gotay — Anderson Hernandez, though not by much.

Gotay wore No. 6 in spring training and his recall would make him the 33rd No. 6 in team history, the most ever of any number. That would also qualify the trade that brought Gotay into the organization as a Uni Swap, seeing as he was acquired for another No. 6, Jeff Keppinger.

We hope above all that Valentin’s OK.

Orlando Hernandez 26 is battling shoulder soreness. Should he be unable to go tonight, word is the Mets will call New Orleans for Chan Ho Park, who’s rested. Should Park arrive, he’d be the fourth No. 61 in team history but the first to be happy about it. His three predecessors in the No. 61 jersey — Jesse Orosco in 1979; Mario Ramirez in 1980 and Jeff Duncan in 2003 — all eventually turned to more dignified numbers.

Jack is Back. So Are the Mets

While a monsoon ruined the scheduled Jackie Robinson Day at Shea last Sunday, the celebration has been rescheduled for tonight: Appropriately, considering Willie Randolph’s No. 42 jersey would have been beneath a heavy coat or scuba gear Sunday while today, it finally looks like spring.

It also feels pretty good, considering how the Mets ravaged the opposition in a rain-shortened roadtrip this week. Four runs in the first off Willis; six runs with 2 outs in the 3rd last night: These are the kind of achievements I’ve been waiting to get from this team, and that Greg at Faith and Fear has saved me from having to go into more detail about. It’s early to say this, but Moises Alou is already eliciting feelings that Orel Hershiser took half a season to in 1999: That being, the a veteran enemy I’d never had a lot of appreciation for, coming here late in their career to show me, at long last, what I’d missed. Man can that guy hit.

They Call Him the Streak

Congratulations to David Wright, whose single last night extended his hitting streak to 24 games, tying a Met record shared by Hubie Brooks (1984) and Mike Piazza (1999).

Leaving aside for a second the idiotic debate over whether Wright’s “around the corner” hitting streak should “count”– the correct answer is, of course it should – and the larger question as to whether random counting records like this are important – they’re not – it does provide an example to muse briefly on the men who set the records.

It’s easy to associate David Wright with Hubie Brooks. Both were organization-bred third basemen wearing single-digit uniform numbers. And at the time they set hitting streaks each would be considered “answers” for the organization’s storied struggle to find third basemen. That story today is more like a legend seeing as since Brooks (Johnson, Ventura, Wright) third base has been a position of strength for the Mets.

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.