There’s a lot to talk about since my last update including the City Connect unis (should have used more 7-train purple, don’t like the hats but better than I feared they’d be) the “new” black look (terrible), the new guys (the miraculous Luis Torrens and the dazzling Jose Iglesias), and the old guys (Darryl Strawberry and Dwight Gooden, rocketed to eternity). Then there’s the whole month-of-May thing where it’s plausible the Mets might not have won any games and it seemed at times our rookie manager, whom I liked in April, was getting in over his head.
But what we should be talking about is what happens after we die.
Take Jerry Grote. He’s a Met Hall of Famer who passed away in April, and the the Mets haven’t done a thing to remember him, beyond (I assume) a pregame scoreboard video. Yet there’s a patch for Grote’s longtime teammate and fellow Mets Hall of Famer Bud Harrelson there.
The Mets haven’t missed the opportunity to pay tribute to a late Hall of Famer yet (though Tommie Agee‘s patch was a one-day thing). Yeah with the new sponsor patch taking up most of the available real estate it might take some creative arrangement but in this era where Steve Cohen cannot wait to deify Met stars from the past you’d think this was too good an opportunity to miss but so far its crickets.
Back to Iglesias for a moment: I was surprised he didn’t come north with the team in March and it was obvious a versatile infielder who could actually play the infield belonged on the team. Now he’s getting starts ahead of Jeff McNeil who looks like he’s getting the Daniel Vogelbach Treatment. I was also mildly surprised to see them cut ties with Omar Narvaez, despite his performance, being a David Stearns Milwaukee stock.
Goodbye Omar. You won’t be getting a sleeve patch either.
If you believe the reports there wasn’t anything that could have been done to prevent Jacob deGrom to fulfill his childhood dream to play for the Texas Rangers, which I always thought to be one of those teams who every so often bang a fist on the desk and insist they win a free agency lottery.
As disappointed as we all are to learn the start of the baseball season has been delayed as part of the economic wreckage of incompetent U.S. preparedness for the coronavirus, perhaps there’s a silver lining in not immediately experiencing how dumb it’s going to be when new rules requiring relief pitchers throw to at least three batters takes effect. And the March 26 opening date seemed obscenely early anyway. I don’t often bother to show up in Flushing until May, given that place is guaranteed to be 20 degrees colder and twice as damp as anywhere else in the five boroughs, but let’s hope they get it going by then.
How are we going to pass the time though? I’d been suffering through the Islanders season and now that’s done too. So we’re rewatching The Wire on the stream, and reading some books.
There’s a little Met content too, with J.J. Putz, Lastings Milledge, Angel Pagan, Razor Shines, Ambiorix Burgos and Xavier Nady among those featured.
That’s what we did to and from Hawaii and now I’m back. Mets coaches in the meantime are busy flying into new and kinda weird unis, as you guys were astutely noting below.
Terry Collins pretty much spoiled the idea of returning to wear No. 1 once he invoked the name of Jim Leland, but it doesn’t mean Luis Castillo is in the clear yet. Newspapers last week were speculating that Mookie Wilson would be named to fill the vacant first-base coaching job — and maintain the proper quota of 1986 laborers in continuing employ with the Mets as stipulated in a secret contract somewhere.
Darryl you might know has a new 
here are videocaps from that historic occassion — not only one of the few games Torve spent wearing No. 24, and not only his best moment — his pinch double drove in 2 runs including the game-winner and made him a hero — but for the lengthy, violent, bench-clearing brawl that occurred only an inning before.
Gooden charged Combs after the pitch struck him in the leg in the 5th inning. “You go with your first reaction and mine was to get him,” Gooden later recounted. The ensuing melee, a “Pier 6 Brawl” as Bob Murphy might describe it, lasted nine minutes and halted play for 20. Strawberry went after Daulton but was interrupted by Von Hayes and they went at it. An obscure Phillie reliever we’d come to know, Dennis Cook, was yanked from the pack and thrown to the ground by umpire Joe West, and then he really got mad. Met outfielder Kevin McReynolds wrenched his back in the scrum. In all six players (Strawberry, Gooden and Tim Teufel for the Mets; and Combs, Daulton and Cook for the Phils) were ejected, along with Phillies bullpen coach Mike Ryan.
Expect this game to be referenced often as talk heats up of the Mets and Phillies renewing hostilities this season.
as #24, but to me, the notion that either Charlie Samuels or Met management forgot about the significance of reissuing the number is simply implausible, no matter how momentary this alleged lapse in memory was.
As you admire this awesome collection of historic Met bloodshed which Paul was cool enough to provide, give some thought to his points above: What should the Mets do with 24? How cool was this brawl? And how awesome do the numbers look without the awful drop shadow?
