Quick note to point out that today marks the 19th birthday of the Mets by the Numbers project, which went live for the first time on Feb. 22, 1999.

It’s worth pointing out that when I started this project a list of all numbers the Mets ever wore didn’t exist, at least that I knew of, and in its early days was more of a research project than a blog. Today you can click nearly anywhere and find this info so if you still come by I really appreciate it since what you get here is mostly my observations on the team through a uni-number perspective and if I may say so myself, a pretty impressive archive drop-down.

I haven’t planned much for this birthday — maybe we’ll do more for the 20th anniversary — but here are my rankings of the Met-liest 19s in club history:

There have been 35 36 (I was right the first time) different guys who wore 19 for the Mets including several (Roger Cedeno, Lenny Harris, Hawk Taylor and Tim Foli) to have taken it in non-consecutive periods. The below ranking is on Met-liness as judged by me, though I’ll say after 10 or 11 they’re all pretty much in a tie.

Rank	Name	Notes
1	Bob Ojeda	After heartbreaking ’85 division loss to Cardinals, Davey Johnson wanted his own John Tudor — a crafty lefty to break up the hard-throwing starters. Key acquisition for ’86 champs.
2	Anthony Young	Provided lesson in dignity and class while absorbing dubious record
3	Ken McKenize	Charter member of 19 club, lefty was the only pitcher for the 1962 Mets to have a winning record
4	Jay Bruce	Can’t believe he’s already this high
5	Roger Cedeno	Terrific 1999, awful upon big-money return
6	Ryan Church	Good player whose career was destroyed by concussions. Club’s poor reaction to it helped to spark awareness
7	Lenny Harris	Nifty pinch hitter, well-liked by fans and opponents, compiled a record in a Met jersey
8	Tim Foli	Would-be shortstop of the 70s couldn’t displace Harrelson or keep emotions in check
9	Ron Gardenhire	Would-be shortstop of the 80s slowed by too many hamstring injuries; went on to a good career as manager
10	Heath Bell	Heavyset reliever with a weird delivery who rollerbladed to work, felt underappreciated and never let us forget it while becoming a top closer elsewhere
11	Scott Erikson	Disaster veteran bolt-on starter who painted his shoes black and insisted on wearing 19. Famous for injuring himself warming up before first scheduled Met start.
12	Johnny Stephenson	Lives in infamy as last batter in Jim Bunning’s perfecto
13	Jason Hardtke	Switch-hitting bench warrior had some clutch hits and spanned Green/Valentine era
14	Mike Hessman	Minor-league HR champ finally got his big-league shot with forgettable Mets of 2010
15	Leo Foster	“Bananas” Reserve infielder
16	Daniel Ray Hererra	All we had to show for Francisco Rodriguez. Undersized screwballer with a good head of hair
17	Jim Tatum	I remember him as one of several guys auditioned to catch prior to Piazza acquisition. Not really a catcher.
18	Zach Lutz	Pretty good minor league hitter and high school teammate of Anthony Recker, did little as Met reserve
19	Jim Gosger	Journeyman gets credit for presence on, if not not contributions to, 1973 pennant winners
20	Brian Ostrosser	Also gets credit for ’73 connection. Canadian infielder. Good bio of him here
21	Kevin Collins	Wore 4 different numbers this was his shrt in 1968
22	Tom Hall	aka “The Blade” slender reliever from the Big Red Machine
23	Gary Matthews Jr.	Career sputtered to an end wearing 19 for the Mets
24	Lino Urdaneta	Nabbed for juicing
25	Butch Benton	1st round draft pick catcher who never quite made it
26	Jeff Conine	“Mr. Marlin” was a too-little, too-late acquisition to help ’07 Mets
27	Sandy Alomar Jr.	Veteran catcher put aside 19 when Conine arrived.
28	Cory Sullivan	AAA outfielder wound up with way too much playing time when entire ’09 Mets went on the disabled list
29	Ed Bauta	First Met from Cuba (I think?)
30	Hawk Taylor	Reserve catcher
31	Johnny Monell	Free-swinging catcher had a good spring training once
32	Luis Alvardao	Remember his thick mustache and afro, but not him
33	Tommy Moore	RHP, September call up in 1972
34	Jeff Gardner	September call up in 1991, one of those names who I can’t remember is a pitcher or a position player (he was a infielder)
35	Shawn Hare	Reserve outfielder in 1994
36	Bill Spiers	I left him off original list

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