Same As It Ever Was

Well here we are at the first opening day that hasn’t accompanied a rash of new jersey assignments since whenever.

So unless there’s some crazy reveal as they line up along the first base line today, only Josh Smoker (returning to his originally assigned No. 49) and new third-base coach Glenn Sherlock (53) require the records to be updated. History shows I usually need to type in a half-dozen or more this day. In the MBTN Era, the biggest update I ever made on this day was 2005, when 20 new players and coaches joined the roster for the first time. Twenty! Omar being Omar.

And so we begin 2017 with the same 1,026 all-timers we had at the end of 2016 with all 25 drawn from last year’s total collection of 46. It’s an interesting gambit: Same guys, healthier, deeper, only fewer baserunners sent to their deaths at home plate.

In general I’m hopeful the offense will be better than last year’s version, and that the depth in the bench and rotation can only be an asset over the course of the long year. And it speaks to the confidence with which Sandy built the team. I’d guess both he and Terry ride off to the sunset following this season.

Let’s Go Mets!

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. View all posts by Jon Springer