Tag Archive for Joe Hietpas

52 and Out

We neglected to mention the last-inning, last-day appearance of catcher Joe Hietpas, who narrowly became the 52nd and final Met of 2004, its 747th overall, and the 17th No. 10 in team history. Also, we owe goodbyes to Todd Zeile 27, John Franco 45 (maybe?) and probably, lots of others who’ve played their last game in a Met uni. In the meantime, we’ll wish good luck to the RED SOX, who begin the ALCS against the Yanks tonight, and humbly suggest that as Omar Minaya retools the team for 2005 his first move involves re-hiring Bobby Valentine, whom (told ya so) just about everyone missed more than they realized the regrettable day they fired him. Hey Charlie — keep no. 2 warm.

Updates: Thanks to a note from MBTN reader Ken, we’re updating our records on Dan Norman. Norman wore 33 during September callups in 1977 and 1978, and didn’t switch to 8 until 1979. Thanks!

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We’re Back

Just like Richard Hidalgo, we took most of September off, but we’re back in time to wrap up the September moves. Thanks for hanging in there as we moved to new World Headquarters in Brooklyn.

Let’s plow through the September moves we missed (all updated now):
Sept. 1: Recalled Matt Ginter 13; Tyler Yates 33 and Craig Brazell 9 from Triple-A Norfolk.
Sept. 4: Called up veteran lefty Vic Darensbourg from AAA, and assigned him No. 39.
Sept. 8: Recalled Aaron Heilman 48.
Sept. 10: Sent Matt Ginter 13 to the 60-day DL and recalled AAA hitting machine Victor Diaz, who debuted the next day wearing No. 50.
Sept. 14: Sent Vance Wilson 3 to the disabled list and recalled catcher Joe Hietpas from AA Binghamton. An emergency catcher, Heitpas has somehow avoided emergencies since his recall and is still waiting to become the third No. 10 this season.
Sept. 24: The Mets finally get their table setters returned to them, Jose Reyes 7, who sat out with a broken bone, and Kazuo Matsui 25, resting a sore back.

Finally, let’s bid farewell and better times to manager Art Howe, who’ll be turning over his keys and the No. 18 jersey after the season, along with most of his coaching staff. Though we grant Art was little more than a caretaker and nobody’s idea of a brilliant strategist, we’re sure he did his earnest best and applaud his class and dignity as he takes the axe and unnecessarily absorbs three weeks of lame duckness for two teams that performed below expectations for reasons in, and often out, of his control. We were scratching our heads when he walked in the door, too. Good luck, Art!

As noted below, this was a weird year, even by Met standards, and we’re saddened that it ends with less promise than it began. The search for Art Howe’s replacement will kick off what ought to be a fascinating offseason and for the sixth straight year, join us for the soap opera here.

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