Tag Archive for Willie Randolph

A Very Boswell Birthday

Here’s Ken Boswell’s 1971 Topps baseball card. That’s the Cardinals’ Vic Davalillo arriving too late to break up the double play as Boswell works the pivot between shortstop Al Weis and first baseman Art Shamsky. The card — which must be one of the only Mets cards that includes a view of the Whitestone — was shot on May 28, 1970, in the 6th inning of a game that Mets were losing 6-0 to the Cards. Boswell, however, was having a good afternoon. He’d go 3-for-3 in this game with a double, a sac fly, and both Met RBIs in what became a 9-2 loss. Against Bob Gibson, not bad.

Boswell wore No. 12, which is apropos in that this month marks the 12th anniversary of Mets by the Numbers, which I’ve determined “went live” for the the first time on Feb. 22, 1999. This makes MBTN one of the real dinosaurs of the Metosphere; the Ultimate Mets Database, whose awesome powers I use to determine things like what happened to the Mets on May 28, 1970, debuted at around the same time. A site called Mets Online, founded by the current Yankees beat writer for MLB.com (!) and whose offspring today operates as NY Sportsday, was around then too, but not sure of many others. No. 12 was then in a dark period following Jorge Fabregas’s departure and the coming of the Shawon Dunston Era later that year.

Boswell was a Met for eight seasons and possessed a pretty good left-handed bat for a second baseman, especially for his era. A few injuries interrupted his early progress, and he’d eventually be displaced as the regular second baseman by Felix Millan, but he remained a useful player who batted 1.000 in the 1973 Word Series (3-for-3, all pinch hits) and clubbed home runs in consecutive games in the 1969 NLCS rout of the Braves. When Willie Randolph namechecked Ken Boswell while taking the No. 12 jersey, it might have been his finest moment as Mets manager.

12The No. 12 jersey has been an interesting one in Mets history. The all-time No. 12 was probably John “Bad Dude” Stearns, a four-time All-Star and all-time tough guy. Twelve was also the best of Ron Darling’s three numbers as a Met: He went 68-38 with a 3.38 ERA wearing 12 — and 31-32, 3.73 wearing other numbers (44 and 15, respectively).  Darling’s the only Mets pitcher to ever have worn 12.

Twelve belonged to Tommy Davis during his outstanding (and only) Mets season in 1967; and to maddening chatty hacker Jeff Francoeur in 2009 and 2010. It currently belongs to Scott Hairston, who’s likely to be a pinch-hitter and hopefully not a full-time player for the 2011 squad. One day, we may remember 12 as the number belonging to two Hall of Famers who endured difficult stays in Metville: Jeff Kent (who probably deserves in) and Roberto Alomar (who’ll be enshrined this summer).

Who’s your favorite 12?

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By the Dozen

So as we saw last night in his Mets debut, Jeff Francoeur wore No. 12, becoming the first Met to wear that jersey since Willie Randolph left town.

I didn’t think to reseach it beforehand but as you can see in the jocky images below, 12 was Francoeur’s number in both baseball and football at Parkview High in Atlanta (the school actually retired the jersey). Go Panthers! When he debuted with the Braves in 2005, 12 belonged to catcher Eduardo Perez.

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A Hard Day’s Night

Just like the Mets to eviserate the momentum of their resounding day-game victory (and series sweep) at Yankee Stadium with a stinker against a sack of crap making what is likely to be his only effective start of the year. Tyler Clippard? Dwight Gooden? No, this time, it’s Sidney Ponson. Kill me.

Thanks for hanging in during the break — I spent an almost entirely Metless week in the wildnerness — dim nighttime radio reception brought me bits of two horrifying losses to Seattle and pretty good reception of a Binghamton Mets game in which their manager was ejected and suspended (for what? I dunno). Reading up on the transactions and comments, I see the Mets designated Claudio Vargas for asignment and recalled reliver Carlos Muniz.

They also acquired infielder Andy Phillips via waivers and added him to the active roster while sending down pointless third catcher Robinson Cancel. Phillips was issued No. 29 — the third time that number was issued this season.

Oh, and Willie Randolph was fired again — this time by the NL All-Stars. Ouch.

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New and Improved

While so many of his colleagues spent the past week hysterically fermenting fake outrage and making a martyr of deposed manager Willie Randolph, beat writer Adam Rubin of the Daily News gets the real story on the complicated unraveling of the Willie Randolph Era, revealing not only Willie’s wild paranoia and churlishness, but the politicking that could make Tony Bernazard the new king of Metland before long. As always, the real story is considerably more nuanced than a 144-point headline would indicate.

As I’ve said before, I felt bad for Willie right up until the end but I have begun to think that the Mets very much did him a favor by firing him as “controversially” as they did, since it detracts from the very strong argument for having done it in the first place. Three games in and I’m thrilled with the Jerry Manuel Era.

Manuel is the 19th manager in Mets history, and the first to wear No. 53: Following is a list of all Met managers and their uni numbers:

Manager Years Number
Casey Stengel 1962-65 37
Wes Westrum 1965-67 9
Salty Parker 1967 54
Gil Hodges 1968-71 14
Yogi Berra 1972-75 8
Roy McMillan 1975 51
Joe Frazier 1976-77 55
Joe Torre 1977-81 9
George Bamberger 1982-83 31
Frank Howard 1983 55
Davey Johnson 1984-1990 5
Bud Harrelson 1990-91 3
Mike Cubbage 1991 4
Jeff Torborg 1992-93 10
Dallas Green 1993-96 46
Bobby Valentine 1996-2002 2
Art Howe 2003-2004 18
Willie Randolph 2005-2008 12
Jerry Manuel 2008 53
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Mets Whack Willie

Pitching coach Rick Peterson too and because they can, first-base coach Tom Nieto.

And just when I’d begun to tune out all the rumors.

Stay tuned for the press conference today to see whether Ken Oberkfell, promoted from Norfolk to the big league staff along with pitching coach Dan Warthen and infield coordinator Luis Aguayo, alights again in No. 0, and whether Jerry Manuel’s first move as interim manager is to shed No. 53.

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Unwise

Stop us if you heard this before: The Mets on Tuesday sent ineffective reliever Matt Wise to the disabled list for the second time this year and for the second time this year, recalled New Orleans closer Carlos Muniz to replace him.

As you might also know, Wise’s arrival over the offseason inadvertently triggered Muniz to switch from his first-issuedNo. 38 and alight in 32, which he was also dressed in earlier this year.

As you also already know, the Mets held an especially unsatisfying press conference Monday during which Omar Minaya acted as if he didn’t want Willie Randolph fired and Randolph continued pretending his team was OK and plays hard for him. They gave vaguely encouraging lip-service to a need to try and improve the team and suggested they had a lot of the same ideas (such as?) while perpetuating the myth that Randolph’s remarks to Ian O’Connor deserved the attention and scrutiny they received, and that Randolph necessarily had anything to apologize for but the revolting play of his team.

* * *

A few more book-related events this week not to be missed: Tonight (actually Wednesday morning at 1 a.m., along with Matthew Silverman, guesting live in-studio on the Joey Reynolds Show on WOR-radio (and simulcast nationwide). You can listen to an archive of the event at the same address.

On Friday May 30, Matthew and I will host a book signing and pregame schmoozing at LaGuardia Holiday Inn‘s Pine Bar & Restaurant, at 5:30 p.m. Come on over, have a drink, buy a book for your Dad, or get yours signed. Afterwards we’ll hoof it to Shea and catch the return of Joe Torre.

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Rocky 9

8Despite Gary Carter’s assurances that he’s only a phone call away, the Mets dialed Binghamton instead Friday to call up their newest guy, Nick Evans, who’s expected to be in uniform today when the Mets continue their series in Colorado.

Evans will replace Marlon Anderson, who while fast approaching the day where the team would have to make a hard decision on him one way or another, pulled a hamstring and hit the disabled list instead.

Evans, we hear, is a right-handed power hitter who can play first, third and fake it in the outfield. He may be in the lineup this afternoon against Jeff Francis.

He’s listed as No. 24 on the Bingo roster… we’ll update you on his digits when we know ’em. … but I like Gene’s ida from thne comments in the below entry: Show Carter what you think of his grandstanding and dress him in 8.

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It Smells a Little Bit

You said it, Willie.

Not about racism (for the record, the intimation Willie “played the race card” is a joke — he just raised the issue, as is his right to do), but about the fact that something stinks around here.

The Randolph Era is beginning to look like another mangerial tenure destined to end unhappily and soon, and that’s a shame: While I’ve never been a great Willie fan I feel terrible about how the fans (and players… and some journalists) have been treating him. I admire his iconoclasm and desire to be dignified: It’s just that this team isn’t lending itself to either end. We don’t need tortured interpretations of pinch-running tendencies and pretend outrage based on willfull misinterpretation of since retratcted quotes (complete with the “I-can’t-believe-I-used-to-idolize-this-guy” piling on). The team is at sea, and it doesn’t appear that Randolph is capable of rallying them to greater success anymore.
If he’s lost the team, that’s when he goes, and no sooner.

That job won’t be easier now that Moises Alou is out injured again. The Mets on Thursday recalled Raul Casanova from AAA New Orleans to take his spot on the roster.

Interesting factoid about Mike Piazza: He was assigned No. 31 in Los Angeles when it became available following Roger McDowell‘s switch from 31 to 17. McDowell, the former Met, switched to 17so as to honor his ex-Met teammate Keith Hernandez. Hernandez, of course, wore 17 in New York because 37 — his number in St. Louis — had been retired for Casey Stengel (and 727 and 47 were already issued).

That means that 17 and 31 — the numbers considered most likely for potential retirementfor the Mets — can be directly traced to the first number the team retired.

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When Black Friday Comes

Just like the Mets to have a solid game against the league’s best team on the same day that stories suggesting the org whack the manager (New York Sun) and pitching coach (Daily News) appear. But that’s the Mets.

Part of it could be a lift from the return of Moises Alou to the lineup, though I’d argue that the drag of anticipating his return was every bit as bad. They activated Alou by the way, by demoting Gustavo Molina while Brian Schneidershowed up in an emergency mode.

And don’t get me wrong — it’s great to see Jose Reyes driving the ball again, and I want to see a cycle as much as the next guy, maybe more, but Sandy Alomar Sr. is a horse’s ass for sending Reyes after the inside-the-parker with no outs. Not only was he out by a mile but he could have gotten hurt. And he certainly would have scored given the three bats in the lineup to follow him. Alomar got away with the same kinda boneheaded calls all last year and was never held accountable.

Worth noticing in the game was the fact they were in their black jerseys again… a get-up that to this point has been worn on each Friday of the season and only on Friday. A friend pointed out these jerseys do not include the Shea Stadium patch as their white ones do. Not sure offhand is that is peculiar only to the black jerseys or to black road jerseys. Do you know? Let us know.

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Wahoo

How about that Paul Byrd?
Wore No. 43 in 1995 and 1996 (thanks) as a Met youngun, just ended the Yankees season in humiliation for the seventh straight time, the third straight in the first round. Heh.
There’s been an awful lot of talk about the Mets’ collapse, but I have to admit to being perfectly satisfied with the Championship Serieses, confident that the teams playing in them are the most deserving. And I don’t much mourn for what was lost. This Met team just didn’t have it; and I’ll be honest: Other than being convinced by Greg back in April that we might have something; and excited by the possibilities suggested by midseason wins over another team destined for failure, I never much offered my heart to this team for them to break.
They pretty much got what they deserved, and so enter the offseason at an interesting crossroads in their evolution. They say Willie Randolph won’t be held solely responsible: That’s OK with me provided they also show some faith in him and allow him to build a staff of his choosing and demonstrate he’s the leader of men he purports to be. I’m not a big fan of Randolph’s tactics but I think tactics are overrated. I want a manager to slap lazy ballplayers in the head when they deserve it, and get them to play together when they have to. I can only guess the Met brass feels Jose Reyes’ head-up-ass problem wasn’t caused… and can be cured… by Willie.
And for all the talk I don’t believe Omar is particularly safe either: He’s going to have to show some creativity in keeping this team going strong while guys like Alou, Wagner, Hernandez, Delgado, etc. continue to creep toward the points at which their stretches of ineffectiveness and injury grow longer and more frequent.
Thanks, Tom. Now scram. Go Kaz.
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