Tonight’s infield is an odd one.
1 Castillo 2B
3 Easley 1B
5 Wright 3B
7 Reyes SS
9 DiFelice C
I’m going to guess this is the first time that’s ever happened.
Even More on Mike DiFelice
Got a cool message this morning from Met roster genius Jason:
Mike DiFelice became the first-ever New York Met to be added to the 40-man roster five different times. No other Met has ever been added more than 4 times in Met history.
5/16/05: Purchased from Norfolk (having been signed as free agent, 3/31/05)
6/2/05: Designated for assignment
6/6/05: Outrighted to Norfolk
8/21/05: Purchased from Norfolk (having stayed at Norfolk, 6/6/05-8/21/05)
10/28/05: Announced free agency
8/4/06: Purchased from Norfolk (having been signed as free agent, 5/31/06)
11/8/06: Announced free agency
7/29/07: Purchased from New Orleans (having been signed as free agent, 1/9/07)
8/2/07: Designated for assignment
8/9/07: Outrighted to New Orleans
8/12/07: Purchased from New Orleans (having stayed at New Orleans, 8/9/07-8/12/07)
Anderson, Beltran, Newhan and McKnight
Forgive me but it was hard to notice until last night that Carlos Beltran 15 was back. He was of course; he returned from the disabled list on Friday, while Marlon Anderson 23 hit the bereavement list. Last night, Anderson was back and David Newhan 17 was again sent to the minors top make room.
Mike DiFelice by now is getting all the playing time you’d think he wouldn’t and so firmly established as the 22nd official member of the Sons of Jeff McKnight, or the three-number club:
Jeff McKnight 5, 7, 15, 17, 18
Kevin Collins 1, 10, 16, 19
Ed Lynch 34, 35, 36, 59
Darrel Sutherland 43, 45, 47
Cleon Jones 34, 12, 21
John Stephenson 12, 19, 49
Jim Hickman 6, 9, 27
Mike Jorgensen 10, 16, 22 (thanks, Chris)
Hank Webb 22, 29, 30
Hubie Brooks 62, 39, 7
Clint Hurdle 7, 13, 33
Chuck Carr 1, 7, 21
Kevin Elster 2, 15, 21
Charlie O’Brien 5, 22, 33
Ron Darling 12, 15, 44
Jason Phillips 7, 23, 26
David Cone 16, 17, 44
Jae Seo 40, 38, 26
Roger Craig 13, 36, 38
Lee Mazzilli 12, 16, 13
Pedro Feliciano 55, 39, 25
Mike DiFelice 33, 6, 9
Party Like it’s 2005
Mike DiFelice is on his way back to the Mets this morning after Paul LoDuca 16 was sent to the disabled list with hamstring issues. This gives DiFelice a second shot at accruing some playing time while wearing No. 9 — his visit earlier this year ended without seeing any action.
It’s hard to say that another disappearance of LoDuca is actually going to hurt: He sadly has been of little help while he was in the lineups this year. But LoDuca’s not alone in his struggles.
More and more 2007 is resembling 2005, only instead of hanging around the .500 mark all year they’ve futzed around the ten-games-over-.500 mark. Like 2005, they’ve done it while Carlos Beltran secretly hides one or more injuries and players make too many outs on the basepaths. All we need now is for Shingo Takatsu to “bring the funk.”
Jumping the Clark
Brian Lawrence, who is scheduled to start this afternoon in Milwaukee, is expected to appear in No. 54. That would make Lawrence only the second Met player ever to appear in No. 54, which has traditionally been reserved for coaches and staff (including the recently whacked Rick Down, 1967 interim manager Salty Parker, and, for 14 years (1968-81), pitching coach Rube Walker.
The only previous playing tenant was non-alliterative starting pitcher Mark Clark, the best pitcher on a 1996 Mets team that’s remembered for its offense. Clark arrived in a trade from Cleveland for Ryan Thompson, won 14 games for the 96ers, and was traded to the Cubs as Steve Phillips took over as GM in the Turk Wendell/Mal Rojas/Brian McRae thing in 1997. Clark later got stupid money to pitch badly for the Texas Rangers.
Lawrence is a former 15-game winner or the Padres, but hasn’t pitched in the big leagues since 2005.
Yes He Is
Eat it, Anderson Hernandez.
Luis Castillo tonight became the 25th player to wear No. 1 for the Mets. Hernandez, who had been assigned No.1 for his on-again, off-again visits to the active roster since 2005, will, find something else to wear next time the Mets need a second baseman (what with Castillo, Ruben Gotay, Marlon Anderson and Damian Easley around doesn’t look likely but never say never. Not this year. The Mets finally got around to disabling Carlos Beltran 15, so Castillo slides into his roster spot.
Neglected to be mentioned below: On Sunday 7/29, the Mets designated Jon Adkins 39 and recalled David Newhan 17.
He’s No. 1 (Maybe)
Looks like we’ll have to wait until tonight’s game in Milwaukee to see what number new second baseman Luis Castillo alights in, though we’d be very surprised if it’s not his familiar No. 1.Castillo was acquired yesterday for two minor leaguers with dubious futures, so we can’t get too excited over Castillo, a chubby slap-hitter, especially while Ruben Gotay 6 iseems to have so much thunder in his bat. That said we’re on board with the upgrade in defense and the stability Castillo ought to bring to the lineup everyday.
Nor is the exciterment too high over the fact that Carlos Beltran 15 will be out of action for another 2 or 3 weeks (maybe 4). (Maybe 5). (Who knows). That the Phillies and Braves have been very aggressive at the deadline so far seem to indicate they’re ready to fight this thing to end. Still waiting to hear how the Mets will work out the roster, and there’s still 4 more hours to make a non-waiver trade, so updates soon.
Paul LoDuca’s Saturday injury and the recent demotion of Sandsy Alomar Jr. meant the Mets on Sunday recalled Mike DiFelice for the umpteenth time in the last three years (Umpteen = 4). The news here is that DiDelice is in his third uniform number (9) after previous stints in 33 (2005) and 6 (2006). Mike Pelfrey 34 was sent down to make room.
Ugh
Can’t take a day off without missing a few transactions anymore.
OK, indeed it was Chip Ambres 36 designated for assingment last week when Damian Easley 3returned for the bereavement list. Then after another poor outing Thursday, the Mets demoted Bazooka Joe Smith 35 with the idea of giving him some rest. In his place the Mets recalled Jon Adkins, the reliever acquired in the so-far lopsided Heath Bell trade. Adkins was assigned No. 39and debuted on Friday.
Also debuting Friday, it seemed, was some guy called Moises Alou who wore No. 18. Alou’s promotion from the disabled list, where he’d been since the late 1970s, accompanied a return to the minors for catcher Sandy Alomar Jr. 19, but also, news that Carlos Beltran 15 would sit indefinitely with one of his mysterious injuries — an injury he was apparently still feeling Saturday when Willie Randolph torched his entire 3-man bench and looked like a complete fool pinch-running and pinch-hitting 40-year-old pitchers while falling a run short against a guy making his major league debut.
The day-night debacle also required the Mets to recall Mike Pelfrey 34, and demote Anderson Hernandez 1 who arrived after the crippling of Jose Valentin 22. Pelfrey was evidently on his way back down to AAA but who is recalled becomes an issue now that Paul LoDuca 16 may be injured.
Oh, and the trade deadline is Tuesday.
Chips Ahoy
The Mets won what feels like their biggest game of the year Sunday, overcoming a few deficits en route to a 5-4, 10-inning victory sparked by an RBI single from Chip Ambres 36 about whom we’ll probably always say, “Remember that game in Los Angeles…?”
The 9th-inning rally to tie the game featured a trip around the bases for pinch-runner Anderson Hernandez, called back to the big-league roster for the first time this year and still wearing the No. 1 jersey he sported a year ago. Hernandez is back in action because Jose Valentin 22 broke his leg on a badly aimed foul ball Friday. That’s not the way we wanted to see the second-base problem solved.
Headed home again this week, the Mets are expected to reacquire Moises Alou 18 from a lengthy stay on the disabled list, and Damion Easley 3 from the bereavement list, though it’s not clear at this point who goes where to accommodate them.
Someone Must Pay
Back in the 80s, when comedy was funny, the National Lampoon ran a recurring comic called Mr. Vengeance, written and illustrated by Buddy Hickerson, who today illustrates The Quigmans. This comic typically illustrated the title character suffering some minor misfortune in the opening panel, and devoted the rest of the comic to his hilarously violent overreactions to it, i.e.: “Sure enough, there is a blemish on his wax job. He decides to get EVEN!!” This comic was genius in that it made the same joke over and over again — varying only over the question of how mundane the slight, and how creatively violent the reaction, would be each episode. Mr. Vengeance would torture not only those “responsible” for his pain but, feeling rightous, anyone who’d done anything wrong. “Someone MUST pay,” was his credo.
I’m reminded of Mr. Vengeance today — and incredibly frustrated that I cannot locate a comic online* (”someone WILL pay!”) — as Marlon Anderson returns to the Mets tonight to debut against the club that recently released him, the Dodgers. May Marlon find rightousness in his revenge. May David Newhan take it out on AAA pitching: He’s the one DFAed to make room for Anderson. And may his remaining Met teammates take out their frustrations from the recently completed Padres series on the Dodgers.
That was NOT a nice way to lose a series and whatever momentum Tuesday’s win might have provided. And, really, shouldn’t be enough that Heath Bell has a good season in an important role with his new team? Is it necessary that he chase down anyone with a rolling tape recorder to detail all manner of abuses and excuses stemming from his time at Shea? To kick us when we’re down? Who does he think he is, Mr. Vengenance? To paraphrase another National Lampoon product of my childhood. “He can’t say that about us. Only WE can say those things about us!”
Well, as far I’m concerned the time has come to get mad. To take some revenge, even if it’s not on Heath Bell. To get EVEN!
It’s not clear what number Anderson will appear in tonight. Despite the ruminations below, one commenter thinks 23 is likely because 8 is still in mothballs, and it may very well be. Anderson wore 21 with the Dodgers earlier this year (not available here). Twenty-three happens to be available due to the relase of Julio Franco. Yesterday, he since signed with the Braves where he’s doubt planning some revenge.
*-Ironically the best I could do is find a site where a former collaborator of Hickerson’s takes his own revenge. If you can point out Mr. Vengeance online, or send a copy of a scanned comic here, I promise to leave you out of my next rampage.
