Full Nelson (plus Bonus Triva)

27Sure, Nelson Figueroa may have completely screwed up the one and only thing he was asked to do tonight, but let’s not be too quick to brand his latest recall a complete failure. After all, this cry for help marked Figueroa’s fifth addition to the Mets’ 40-man roster, tying him for the all-time lead in this category with the illustrious Mike DiFelice, whose late career yo-yoing was so magnificent the Mets finally gave him a permanent job — in the minor leagues. He’s managing the Mets’ Appalacian League club in Kingsport, Tenn.

Yes, it’s a special kind of ballplayer that can be cut loose four times and rehired five times, and Figueroa deserves extra credit for having done so in a single big-league uni number, 27 (DiFelice collected three unis over his five appearances). In fact, notes MBTN Roster Scientist Jason E., only nine men in Met history (including the aformentioned two) have been added to the 40-man roster as many as four times.

For fun, I will provide six of the remaining players. You tell me the seventh!

Pedro Feliciano, Clint Hurdle, Mark Johnson, Terry Leach, Josias Manzanillo and Jorge Velandia have all been added to the Mets 40-man roster on four occasions. Who is the remaining 4-time addition? Winner gets a beer on me.

Figueroa’s addition by the way resulted in Pat Misch being optioned to AAA Buffalo. On Sunday, Gary Sheffield returned and Robinson Cancel was returned to Buffalo.

It’s the Magic Number

29In an attempt to add more offense the Mets on Thursday recalled Robinson Cancel, the chubby hero of a few of 2008’s most inspiring victories, and designated Elmer Dessens for assignment.

Strangely, the Mets issued Cancel No. 29, even though the No. 40 he’d worn most recently was available (he’d worn 40 after first receiving 4, then seeing the Mets re-issue that number toArgenis Reyes. Cancel however wore 4 again this spring only to see the Mets issue that number twice this year (to Wilson Valdez and now Angel Berroa).

At any rate, No. 29 grants Cancel entry into the exclusive Three-Number Club whose membership is listed below. As for Dessens, he didn’t pitch so badly while not buried in the pen, and so barely had an impact other than having become the team’s first ever No. 64.

I had a short panic attack the other day worried that Omar Minaya would attempt to rehabilitate his mangled image by making a large and unnecessary trade at the deadline for Roy Halladay (32 is available, you know) but that’s mostly subsided. How about an actual hitter though?

The Three Number Club (updated!)

Jeff McKnight 5, 7, 15, 17, 18

Kevin Collins 1, 10, 16, 19

Ed Lynch 34, 35, 36, 59

Darrel Sutherland 43, 45, 47

Cleon Jones 34, 12, 21

John Stephenson 12, 19, 49

Jim Hickman 6, 9, 27

Mike Jorgensen 10, 16, 22

Hank Webb 22, 29, 30

Hubie Brooks 62, 39, 7

Clint Hurdle 7, 13, 33

Chuck Carr 1, 7, 21

Kevin Elster 2, 15, 21

Charlie O’Brien 5, 22, 33

Ron Darling 12, 15, 44

Jason Phillips 7, 23, 26

David Cone 16, 17, 44

Jae Seo 40, 38, 26

Roger Craig 13, 36, 38

Lee Mazzilli 12, 16, 13

Pedro Feliciano 55, 39, 25

Mike DiFelice 6, 33, 9

Marlon Anderson 18, 23, 9

Ramon Martinez 22, 26, 6

Robinson Cancel 4, 40, 29

Anderson Hernandez 1, 4, 11

Behold: Numbers That Don’t Count

MBTN reader Matt today sent along a scan of a 1983 Daily News article showing the accompanying photograph of Davey Johnson posing with jersey No. 31. As we all know, by the time Johnson managed his first game with the Mets in April of 1984, the 31 jersey was long gone and Johnson would wear No. 5. Although the article this story accompanied (click the photo to see it) appeared in a December of 1983 and concerned Johnson’s eligibility for the Hall of Fame,  the photo itself was taken that October, on the day the Mets introduced Johnson as their next manager.

This was an interesting find though. I’ve got copies of Newsday, the Times and the Post from that day, all of which used the same closeup of Johnson’s face to illustrate their stories. But it’s not unprecendented. Back in 2004, on the November day the Mets introduced another new manager, Willie Randolph, they presented him with jersey No. 1 and not the 12 he’d show up in once it was time to play. Similar photo-op phollies struck Mets-in-waiting like Roger Cedeno (11 in the press conference, 19 on the field); Xavier Nady (10; 22), Duaner Sanchez (40; 50); and Chad Bradford (35; 53).

Which brings me to an interesting discovery I made while fleeing a rain delay earlier this season at the new park. Ducking into a Promenade-level memorabilia shop to avoid the downpour I came across (not literally) a selection of “game-used” jerseys from scrubs of the not-so-distant past, selling at the relative bargain price of $100 each. Among the KNIGHT 28s (Brandon, not Ray) and SOSA 29s I spied this curiousity: An alleged “game-worn” No. 17 belonging to Willie Collazo, whose short Met career already included one interesting moment in uni history.

Collazo, who was up briefly in 2007 and 2008 (but did not play in the latter appearance) was issued No. 36 in both stays, so the 17 was out of place. I didn’t think to check whether there were any clues as to what year the jersey was from, but my records show that during Collazo’s entire tenure with the Mets, the 17 jersey would have been available only in the month of April 2008, after David Newhan was gone but before Fernando Tatis had arrived (and even then, Tatis had 17 assigned to him).

Any theories as to how this happened? And what other cases can you recall where a Met was issued a number but never appeared in it?

P.S. The SHaMs are finally off to that run I warned you about… All it took was another embarrassing front-office explosion and a good smackdown by the Nationals, but it’s happening…

Keep Your Shirt On

49Those awful Mets play in Houston tonight with lefty Jon Niese on the mound. Niese in a stint I’d already forgotten ever happened this year wore No. 49 and is still available for him. To make room on the roster the Mets got around to disabling Gary Sheffieldwho naturally isn’t happy about it.

Like the next guy I’m interested in seeing how the whole Tony Bernanzard drama plays out, not because I think he’s the devil, necessarily, but because how it unravels might reveal something of how this ridiculous organzation works. As I understand things, Bernazard at this time last year looked as if he might be the future king of the Mets, only to see Omar Minaya get the contract extension after the year. With some conflicting reports arriving as to Bernazard’s behavior I’m wondering who the sources are and what their motivation is. I also wonder if it wouldn’t have been even better had he taken his pants off.

Thanks to everyone who showed up Amazin’ Tuesday this week at Two Boots. Newly linked blogger Section Five Twenty Eight has a terrific account of it. We’re doing it again on August 25 (I’ll miss that event but I’d urge you to attend anyway) and on Sept. 15.

Story … Allegory … Montessori

19Words that rhyme with “Cory.”

Outfielder Cory Sullivan has been recalled from AAA Buffalo in place of Fernando Nieve, the latest Met to suffer a debilitating injury.

Sullivan wore No. 12 in spring training but that number went to the newly acquired Jeff Francoeur ; so instead the Mets offered Sullivan the No. 19 jersey most recently belonging toRyan Church.

P.S. — Thanks for the tip, Metsgrrl.

Let’s Go SHaMs!

If Marlon Anderson were alive today, he might be distributing his teammates worksheets with the number 45 written on it. Maybe even 50. Those look to be the minimum of the remaining 75 games the Mets are going to have to win if they hope to have any shot at postseason baseball.

Forty-five wins is an even .600 winning percentage and would get the Mets only to 87 wins for the season; 50 wins would make for a sizzling .667 clip and 92 wins. Ninety-two was the magic figure that Marlon Anderson suggested the Mets shoot for when they were floundering at 30-32 and had 100 games left to play last season: a .620 winning percentage. Then as now, the Mets were in fourth place leading only Washington in NL East. They of course fell short of that goal but it took an extraordinary collapse to do it. The advantage this season? 6.5 games out of first place, instead of 7.5 games back last season.

Tall order? For the Mets, you said it. But in the spirit of giving us all some hope, I’m not putting it past the SHaMs: The Second Half Mets.

Hey, why not? The incremental improvements have already begun: Angel Berroa was last seen hitting .136 and wearing No. 14 for the Yankees. But for the Mets, the 2003 rookie of the year and former teammate of Carlos Beltran, represents a clear improvement over the again-demoted Argenis Reyes and will allow Alex Cora to take the days off he so obviously needs. Anything that gets the Mets back to Jose Reyes better than they’ve scuffled without him so far is real improvement.

Berroa’s promotion hasn’t been officially announced just yet: Easy enough to predict however he’ll be wearing No. 4, which he wore in his glory year with the Royals and is available. (EDIT: Dispatches from Atlanta say Berroa is with the team and is wearing No. 4. Go me…)

From here, we can look forward to additions right through deadline season: Reyes, Beltran, Delgado, Maine. Wagner. A streak or two you know this team might find in it. Let’s Go SHaMs: Fifty to go.

Don’t forget to join me, Greg Prince, Paul Lukas, Matthew Silverman and a barful of hungry Mets fans as Two Boots Tavern presents AMAZIN’ TUESDAY, next Tuesday, July 21 at 7pm. Present a Mets baseball card for your first drink free! Pizza and Rheingold specials, Mets-Nats game on the big screens, memorabilia, giveaways and presentations!

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.

Francoeur Dujour

The debate over what number Jeff Francoeur ought to wear started in the post below long before I even knew we’d traded Ryan Church for him in a deal begging to be debated long after the Mets and Braves realize it hadn’t helped them. Francoeur of course wore No. 7 with the Braves and won’t with the Mets as long as Jose Reyes (remember him?) is employed. Let’s look at the candidates:

No. 4: I like this one: Single-digit, tossed around amongst a bunch of bums ever since Robin Ventura left town eight years ago.

No. 6: Nick Evans was just demoted — Angel Pagan returned from the DL — and the addition of Francoeur does Evans’ future no favors. But I like 6 as a scrubeenie signifier and would hate to see it wasted on a guy we’ll come to remember — good or bad — as much as Francoeur. Didya know he’s under team control for one more than Chuch? Oh yes. He’s our right fielder through 2011 if we want him, and maybe if we don’t Gulp.

No. 8: Still sitting there.

No. 12: Still unissued since Willie Randolph‘s departure but more of an infielder’s number.

19No. 19: If there’s something to admire about this deal off-the-bat is how brazen a challenge trade it really is: Both right fielders, both considered disappointments, both teams in the same division, both more or less fighting for the same goal. Why not make it a true Del Unser Deal and change up the jerseys as well?

No. 27: Available even though we’ll probably need Nelson Figueroa again. This, 47, and 77 are the easiest to imagine emerging from the 7 family if Francoeur prefer to stay with it.

Nos. 30, 32, 35 and 40 are open as well.

As for the trade, I fear it: It seems that if Church only played a little better he’d not have been traded to begin with but it takes more ignorance of on-base percentage than I’ll ever have to think we haven’t just made a bad offense even worse. That said, Francoeur is right-handed and young and may still become something; while Church, for whatever reason, has fallen out of favor with two clubs already.

Let the challenge begin.

In other troubling news they brought back Argenis Reyes when overmatched youngsterFernando Martinez went on the disabled list. And before I ever had a chance to enjoy his demotion.

Good Golly, It’s Ollie

Now that it looks as if injuries and an underperforming second defense will be the things that kill this Mets team dead, here comes Oliver Perez.

The enigmatic lefty rejoins the rotation tonight against the Dodgers — I’ll be watching up in Section 521 if you want to say hi or commiserate. To make room the Mets returned Argenis Reyes back to where he belongs in Buffalo. His legacy as a No. 11 may be a pointless turn as a leadoff hitter that hastened the Mets’ demise and eroded even more of my confidence in Jerry Manuel, who I liked a lot only a few months ago.

Seems that Manuel has become trapped in a device of his own making. While his team was at full strength he opted to play passively so as to build for a second half, only to find that second half just may arrive without the horses. If this team is teaching us anything perhaps it’s to consider the possibily of disaster down the road before one pinch-hits one catcher for another with the winning run on base, or employs character-building but ultimately foolish strategies like sacrifice bunts as often as Jerry did early this year.

That, and, you know, the value of catching the ball when it’s hit to you.

* * *

With that out of the way, who wants to get together and watch more of this team?

Last month’s Metstock gathering at Two Boots Tavern was a great success with a roomful of Met fans meeting, greeting and eating while hearing readings from three Mets-related books including mine. Owner Phil Hartman was so jazzed about its success he’s asked Greg Prince and myself to organize similar monthly gatherings featuring literary readings, game-watching, consciousness raising, pizza eating, Rheingold drinking, cocktail shaking, Yankee baiting, memorabilia gawking and seven steps support as needed.

The first such “Amazin Tuesday” is scheduled for July 21 at 7 p.m. and will feature guests including Paul Lukas, ESPN columnist, Met fan and creator of the incomparable “Uni Watch” and author Mathew Silverman, who co-authored MBTN and more recently, Shea Goodbye with Keith Hernandez.

Two Boots is located at 384 Grand Street on the Lower East Side. Any more questions, just ask — hope to see you there!

4 ALS

4This weekend, all Major League Baseball teams will commemorate the 70th anniversary of Lou Gehrig’s “Luckiest Man” speech and raise awareness and funds for the disease that took his life and would come to bear his name, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or Lou Gehrig’s Disease. Seventy years later, ALS still has no known cause and no known cure. My sister Jennifer was diagnosed with ALS last year.

On tomorrow, July 4, each home team in Major League Baseball will host an on-field reading of Gehrig’s farewell speech during the 7th Inning Stretch. The below clip — the only surviving video of the moment — is only a portion of the talk he gave. In addition, all players will wear a “4-ALS” patch. Local chapters of the ALS Association are sponsoring programs to donate based on the number of hits your favorite team amasses on July 4, but support for care for patients and research on the disease are needed at all times, and I hope you can join me in making a contribution.

On a related note, I only recently read Jonathan Eig’s terrific biography of Gehrig, LUCKIEST MAN, and suggest you should too. Neither mauldlin nor worshipful, it paints Gehrig’s nievete and dorkiness as sharply as it illustrates his extraordinary strength and his value as a teammate.