Willie’s Back!

Not that Willie, silly. Though his habit of dumb sacrifice bunts accomplishing nothing carries on in the new era. We’re talking about Willie Collazo, the little lefthander whose jersey name-on-back was misspelled last season, much to the amusement of geeks everywhere.

Collazo was recalled Sunday following Brandon Knight‘s start in place of greiving Pedro Martinez and issued No. 36, the same jersey he wore last season. Knight, who rebounded after a shaky first inning in his only Met appearance and wound up with a no-decision, is on his way to Bejing with Team USA. Pedro is on his back to the Mets and penciled to start on Friday albeit with a strict pitch count.

It will be interesting to see who his teammates turn out to be that night, the first after Thursday’s non-waiver trade deadline. With the bullpen demonstrating once again it could use an upgrade; with the health of Pedro and Ryan Church remaining so mysterious; with Marlon Anderson still employed; and with John Maine headed for an MRI on his shoulder, anything seems possible. It is to their credit the Mets have thrived the way they have during this difficult stretch.

Knight Time is the Right Time

28Brandon Knight is set to start for the Mets Saturday night as the replacement for Pedro Martinez, who was placed on the bereavement list following the death of his father. Knight, who will dress in No. 28, will have come a long way from the independent Atlantic League, where he began the year, and is six years removed from his last big-league appearance, with the Yankees in 2002. The limits of the bereavement list (maximum of 7 days) and the upcoming Olympics in Bejing, where Knight is scheduled to represent the US of A and manager Davey Johnson, figure to make this a brief visit, but let’s hope a successful oine. Sandy Alomar Jr. — as a player — most recently wore the 28 jersey,obtaining it in a swap for No. 19 with teammate Jeff Conine last season. (Can you believe either of those guys finished their careers as Mets?) The uni had previously belonged to stylish reliever Juan Padilla (goggles, magic tricks, invariably took off his hat at the end of an inning). Padilla, who’d been rehabbing various arm ailments since a promising showing in 2005, was quietly released by the organization this month.

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That same crappy feeling I got when Robin Ventura joined the Yankees returned tonight when I learned the Bombers had traded for Pittsburgh’s Xavier Nady. I don’t want to see the guy fail but playing up to his abilities in Yankee Stadium’s left field ought to be worth a few laughs before the season’s over, and I wouldn’t bet big on his continuing to run a 900+ OPS, even if I won’t actively root against it.

We’re No. 1 and Stuff

Here’s to the Mets for not allowing that shameful showing in the opener to prevent them from claiming first place to themselves by series’ end. Seems we were fortunate to catch Philly while Chase Utley suffered a severe case of the sucks, but if 2007 taught us anything it’s that the winners can’t choose how ugly the losers turn out to be.

With the uniform number roulette temporaily slowed down — at least until they call up a guy to take Pedro Martinez‘s again-delayed start on Saturday (word coming in as as I write this is Brandon Knight, currently wearing No. 15 for your New Orleans Zephyrs), or Ryan Church arrives, or the trade deadline occurs… or whatever — we have a few uni oddities to ponder.

Reader Michael sent along these here images of Jose Reyes wearing unfamilar numbers. While Reyes has occupied No. 7 for his entire Met career (except for Jackie Robinson Day this season), these are extrametular: No. 9for his stint with the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic; andNo. 28, I presume, from Binghamton prior to his callup but I’ll let you experts out there tell me for sure.

The below team shot of hideously-dressed 1979 ballplayers on a tour of Japan, first published on Uni Watch this week, subsequently generated a fair amount of discussion at the Crane Pool Forum. The multistriped hats aren’t 1976 pillbox throwbacks but renderings in the then-contemporary style in Japan (the 1976 lids had three stripes, not five). But what knocks me out are the contrasting styles of the numerals on the Mets jerseys worn by John Stearns and Joel Youngblood, respectively (see a larger image here). Can anyone offer an explanation of Youngblood’s incorrect No. 1?

Mets Make History

No they didn’t make it to 11 straight wins but as first pointed out in the comments section below the Mets on Friday ran out an all-odd starting lineup for what we believe to be the first time in their 46-year history.

7 Reyes SS

9 Anderson LF

5 Wright 3B

15 Beltran CF

3 Easley 2B

21 Delgado 1B

17 Tatis RF

23 Schneider C

33 Maine P

They’d been toying with this accomplishment frequently this season, particularly with Alou unavailable, and were heretofore held back mainly by the presence of Endy Chavez in the starting 9 (or starts by Pelfrey or Perez).
Fittingly, this milestone — rarer even than an extra-base hit by Brian Schneider — was achieved only after replacing even manager Willie Randolph with an odd successor in Jerry Manuel.

And with that taken care of, we can focus on regaining first place.

Cancel That Update

40The Mets prior to Friday’s game recalled catcher Robinson Cancel (again) and designated Chris Aguila for assignment (again). This facilitates more pinch-hitting opportunities for Ramon Castro but invited a new uni controversy as Cancel returns only to find the No. 4 jersey occupied by twitchy new infielder Argenis Reyes. Reyes appeared in the game wearing 4 — and readers Rich and Zach report seeing Cancel warming up Muiniz in the bullpen wearing No. 40 (“guess they FINALLY gave up on Burgos wearing a Jersey anytime soon,” sez Rich). Cancel would become the first position player to wear 40 since the infamous Tony Tarasco in 2002. Most recently, 40 was exchanged between Brian Bannister to Ambiorix Burgos when they were exchanged for one another. Seven in a row, and once again, we prevailed vs. the other guy’s ace. Willie was right after all — these guys are all winners! Sorry to hear about Bob Klapisch: Maybe not the favorite writer of Mets fans, but his Worst Team Money Can Buy is the prematurely definitive story of a sorry era in Mets history, and probably more interesting today than it was back then, if only as a relic of Old Media.

For Our Next Number

Not to turn this into a cultural omniblog, but thought I’d point out this new song and album from The Baseball Project, a collection of baseball-related rock and/or roll from “supergroup” collaboration of acclaimed msucians from REM (that’s Peter Buck on bass), the Dream Syndicate and the Young Fresh Fellows. Their album is out this week.

Now back to our irregularly scheduled programming.

Oddfellows Local

Sure to be buried in discussion of their second straight shutout, destined to get less attention than two ridiculousy unnecessary and counterproductive sacrifice bunts, and with the Yankees all the way to third place, tough to crack the papers at all, so thought it’d be worth pointing out the fact that tonight’s starting Mets lineup was 8/9ths odd:

7 Jose Reyes, SS
10 Endy Chavez, RF
5 David Wright, 3B
15 Carlos Beltran, CF
3 Damian Easley, 2B
21 Carlos Delgado, 1B
17 Fernando Tatis, LF
11 Ramon Castro, C
57 Johan Santana, P

That’s the oddest lineup I’d come across since we last raised the subject and found an 8-men odd lineup from May 20, 2004:

57 Eric Valent, LF
25 Kaz Matsui, SS
31 Mike Piazza, 1B
43 Shane Spencer, CF
20 Karim Garcia, RF
23 Jason Phillips, C
27 Todd Zeile, 3B
9 Ty Wigginton, 2B
29 Steve Trachsel, P

Oddly enough (get it?!) the right fielder in both lineups provides the only even number.  It’s entirely possible I overlooked an odder starting nine at some point this year — the current personnel leave almost no chance for an even starting squad, but as always if you happen find occurrances such as this — also, all-ascending or all-descending lineups, so rare I’ve found none in 46 years — you know where to send it. Gary Cohen may be aware of the two-sixes controversy, but it’s not like Big Media is on this story yet.

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Roster move: Tony Armas to the disabled list, Carlos Muniz back up again.

Here We Go Again

Ryan Church is headed back to the DL, and Nick Evans has been recalled.

If you’re following the numbers you’ll know this creates a minor controversy in that Evans number the last time he was up — 6 — belongs currently to Trot Nixon. But as spied on tonight’s telecast, Evans was back in No. 6. While the prospect of this issue coming to a head upon Nixon’s return to the team is unlikely — you’d figure Evans would be the first in line for demotion when Trot is eligible to return following the All-Star Break — but with Chris Aguila and Argenis Reyes hanging around, and Marlon Anderson barely hanging on to his pinch-hitting role, it’s no sure thing.

While commenters below have pointed out that Evans and Nixon could conceivably share a number, I figure the Mets would ask one or the other to consider other availables: 8(will they ever get to Gary Carter Day?); 12 (most recently belonging to Willie Randolph); 16 (another disabled outfielder, Angel Pagan); 22 (nominally still awaiting a return of Jose Valentin); 32 (recently demoted pitcher Carlos Muniz). Perhaps 43?

Anyway, get well already, Churchy.

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The below post suggested the series in Philadelphia over the weekend could reveal much about the Mets, and most of it was good, even if the opener on July 4 had me mentally throw in the towel, at least for the time being. They have an opportunity now to make hay right into the break and for the first time they look like they’re capable. I mean, they convincingly beat a team that was worse then them for the first time in months.