Reports out there this morning say newly imported lefty reliever Dario Alvarez will wear No. 68, becoming the first man in team history to wear that uni.
As noted in the below post, Erik Goeddel retains his 40-man assignment in No. 62, while Josh Satin (13) and Juan Centeno (36) retain the digits they had in previous appearances this year.
It’s a special day across the Major Leagues today: The annual celebration of greatness and human spirit demonstrated when players from all 30 teams suit up in No. 42 to honor the contributions of Mets outfielder Larry Elliot in 1964.
Fans needn’t be reminded of Elliot’s historical significance but he was the first player in Mets history to wear No. 42, buttoning the flannel for the first time shortly after he was purchased from the Pittsburgh Pirates on a conditional deal during the 1963-64 offseason. Recalled abruptly from the Buffalo roster when unhappy Duke Snider was traded away as the ’64 campaign began, Elliot was employed in a strict in a center field platoon with Jim Hickman. He launched 9 home runs over 80 games in ’64, including becoming the first Met to hit home runs in four straight games. That stretch in late July actually included five home runs in 6 days, the last being a thrilling three-run, pinch-hit blast off the Braves’ Bobby Tiefenauer highlighting a 7-run 7th inning that surely would have held up if the Met bullpen hadn’t surrendered 8 runs in the final two innings and stumbled into a heartbreaking 15-10 loss. And who could forget Larry being carried off the field on a stretcher after taking a throw into the head from Phillies’ infielder Ruben Amaro Sr. while breaking up a double play, suffering “severe contusions of the neck and base of the skull,” The Sporting News reported.
In all seriousness, Elliot was hardly what went wrong for the dreadful 1964 Mets (101 OPS+, 1.0 WAR in half a season despite a shaky glove) — and has a (minor) connection to another famous 42 whose memory might also be celebrated today. For reasons that aren’t immediately apparent, Elliot spent all of 1965 and ’66 in the minor leagues before resurfacing with the 1967 Mets, this time wearing No. 17. In early May, the Mets would deal him to Kansas City for veteran third baseman Ed Charles, whose story of drawing childhood inspiration from Jackie Robinson would be included in the film 42. Elliot would retire from baseball following the 1969 season and become a phys-ed teacher and well-regarded coach near his native San Diego.
Happy Larry Elliot Day, everyone.
Middle-infield reserve candidate and local Jersey guy Anthony Seratelli is wearing No. 2. Guess who for. And I was gonna root for the guy. At the risk of sounding like a crotchety old man, I’m already sick of the retirement Victory Lap.
As suspected, Andrew Brown is now hanging around wearing No. 30 and looks like Jose Valverde has taken over 47.
Brown notwithstanding, it’s a little bit weird how the Mets have tended recently to flip the traditional assignments between infielders and outfielders. That could just be an impression and could be explained in part by Murphy and Davis occupying digits in the high-20s (and I have to tell you, I don’t much like that). But some potential starting outfields this year could combine to as little as 10 (Young-den Dekker-Granderson) or more realistically, 16 with Lagares there instead.
I’ll still wager Ike Davis won’t make it to opening day with the Mets, and it may not have anything to do with Stephen Drew. Rather I still believe it makes too much sense not to turn our redundancies at first base, the outfield (Eric Young?) and young pitching (to the extent you can have enough young pitching) into the things we still could use (a shortstop).
On this day in 1999, Mets by the Numbers was born. That’s 15 years ago! While the very earliest stuff has been absorbed into Internet heaven you can get a glimpse of our hard-hitting take on the breaking Rick Reed-Matt Lawton trade from 2001 here. Those posts and more are of course all backed up here using the archives tab.
I was too excited to notice it, but worth mentioning that last May 3, David Wright’s stunning, game-tying solo home run off Atlanta’s Craig Kimbrel did more than spark one of the best wins of the season (the Mets rallied to win 7-5 in 10 innings at Turner Field). It also propelled Mets who wore No. 5 into the all-time lead for home runs-by-a-uni-number.
Wright, who finished 2013 with 222 career home runs – all while wearing No. 5 — has accounted for more than half of No. 5’s 407 total home runs. And his 18 last year was more than enough to overcome the men of No. 20, who’d led in this category for at least a decade and even got help last year with six fresh dingers from Anthony Recker. That group owes nearly half of its total to Wright mentor (and new Seattle coach) Howard Johnson’s 190 home runs
A solid 2014 season could see David Wright overtake the Mets’ all-time lead in home runs, yet the ever-increasing likelihood of his being the last player who’ll ever wear No. 5 as a Met will someday put this accomplishment in jeopardy.
(Thanks a million to Shorty for pointing this out in comments last year).
Following is a list of the Mets’ all-time Home Runs by Uni Number (through 2013). Note the tight race at positions 4-6 which could certainly change if the Mets give Lucas Duda a shot this year:
| No. | Home Runs | Leaders |
| 5 | 407 | David Wright (222 and counting); John Olerud (63); Steve Henderson (35) |
| 20 | 399 | Howard Johnson (190); Tommie Agee (82); Jeromy Burnitz (37) |
| 18 | 377 | Darryl Strawberry (252); Joel Youngblood (38); Jose Valentin (18) |
| 15 | 338 | Carlos Beltran (149); George Foster (99); Jerry Grote (35) |
| 9 | 335 | Todd Hundley (123); Jim Hickman (56); Gregg Jefferies (42) |
| 21 | 332 | Carlos Delgado (104); Cleon Jones (92); Lucas Duda (44 and counting?) |
