Clearing the Hurdle

13Clint Hurdle was a one-time “Phenom” of the Kansas City Royals but inconsistent play, insufficient power and probably, a few too many beers (read the extraordinary SI article for details), relegated him to journeyman status by age 25 when he hooked up with the Mets. Hurdle appeared with the Mets in 1983 (wearing No. 33), 1985 (when he wore No. 13) and 1987 (wearing No. 7). Although his contributions with the Mets were modest, the Mets and manager Davey Johnson liked him quite a bit: when he was lost to the Cardinals on a Rule 5 pick in ’86, Johnson was so upset he reportedly cried. The Mets in fact liked Hurdle so much they got him started on the road to managership shortly after he retired: He managed Met farm clubs for 6 years then was hired by the expansion Rockies, for whom he became manager in 2002.

Aside from an extraordinary 21-1 run that vaulted the Rockies all the way to the 2007 World Series, Hurdle’s career in Colorado was remarkable mainly for its length. He is the only manager in major league history to begin his career with five consecutive losing seasons and not get fired. His ability to hang on, many say, was due to a willingness to take bullets for the front office, and for his personal charm. I’ve always enjoyed his guest turns on Mets Extra when the Rockies visited. He wore No. 13 throughout his tenure in Denver.

Those who’ve studied his managerial tendencies have not been impressed, noting an adherance character-building but ultimately witless strategies like the sacrifice bunt. Chris Jaffe of the Hardball Times suggests Hurdle’s most striking tendency as manager “is that he has arguably done the worst job picking batters for the No. 1 slot of any manager in the last half century where the data exist.” After enduring five years of bunt-happy, passive baseball under Jerry Manuel and Willie Randolph, I am sure a change would be welcome.

But if Hurdle’s malleability and charisma can trump his tendency to botch strategy, he might not be a bad choice for the Alderson-led Mets. He evidently is among the finalists.

“I’m Bald, and I Live with My Parents”

Isn’t just like the Mets that they needed to be the dumbest team in baseball for five years before they realized they might need to be the smartest? They’re like George Costanza, author of the above title line, upon the realization that his own instincts had become so untrustworthy he needed to openly defy them by doing just the opposite of what they favored. The Mets have a long history of such behavior, whether it’s sitting on their hands whille the bullpen burned to the ground in 2008 then spending the offseason stuffing the roster with high-profile relievers; responding criticism of moves like the Scott Kazmir trade by aggressively promoting 19-year-old hard throwers to the majors; answering their near-complete tone deafness to the will of fans with regards to the new park by inviting bloggers to share a warm chat with executive Dave Howard. Of course they didn’t ask me.

And now it’s replacing the street-smart but improvisational front office of Minaya and Bernazard with the Harvard egghead set of Alderson, DePodesta and Ricciardi. Don’t get me wrong — I like the move and even I liked Omar — but at this time last year we could only hope to get through the offseason before a regrettably dumb move got made. This year, there’s reason to believe we will get through the offseason in better shape than we entered simply because the new guys will apply some discipline and processes designed to get the team pulling together for that purpose. If there’s one thing the previous administration didn’t do, it’s that. Wouldn’t it have been nice if the Mets had realized this when it was time to replace Steve Phillips?

What this all means to the ongoing managerial search remains a mystery although many seem to think it helps Terry Collins‘ candidacy: He’s reportedly admired by Paul DePodesta, got good reviews for his work with the Mets’ minor leaguers last year (he was the opposite of Tony Bernazard, natch), and has been compared favorably to Bobby Valentine for his energy, enthusiasm and international experience (ironically, Collins’ first managerial job was to replace the placid Art Howe in Houston). He was a finalist the last time the Mets interviewed for managers in the dawn of the Omar Era in 2005. On the downside, the veterans in Houston and Anaheim eventually tuned him out, he lacks any real Mets heritage and he’s unlike to excite the fanbase all by himself (but the support of the New Holy Trinity would say something).

Sartorially, Collins wore No. 2 while managing the Astros from 1994-96 and No. 1 for the Angels during their Disney period.

You Never Can Tell

Hey everyone, get your resumes together: The Mets need a new equipment guy.

As you may have read, the Mets confirmed today that Charlie Samuels has been suspended indefinitely after the team became aware that authorities were after him in connection with an illegal gambling ring.

Samuels had served as Met equipment manager for 27 years; needless to say he’s a figure whose influence on my little project here commands a good deal of respect. If you wanted to know why this player was issued that number; or why that other guy changed numbers; or what the deal was with those revolting black unis, he was the man to talk to. Only, he didn’t talk much: Through Mets officials, Charlie declined numerous requests over the years to be interviewed for this site and for the Mets By The Numbers book. As Jay Horwitz, the Mets director of public relations, told me the last time I asked, “He just doesn’t like doing that kind of stuff.” Occurs to me now I didn’t even know what he looked like.

And so it went: The study of uni numbers became something of a hunt: There was mystery and power in the clubhouse, and Charlie Samuels was careful with it. His name would pop up periodically, often in Marty Noble’s stories about who was lockering next to whom, and there was that bet he had with Mike Piazza’s dad: The Piazzas challenged him to lose weight (was it 50 pounds?) with a reward of a new car. I don’t recall whether he succeeded or not.

There also is an undercurrent of the clubhouse being a place where secrets and access were fiercely protected, and where the edges could get all jocky and scummy. It was Samuels who hired confessed steroid distributor Kirk Radomski. Rodamski has described his job with the Mets as looking out for and protecting athletes. “I did a lot of things for guys — things they didn’t want [their] wives to know or anyone to know. That is part of being in the clubhouse,” he told ESPN. Samuels it would appear may also have been involved in an enterprise better kept secret, and its difficult not to wonder who might else could be involved.

6Speaking of secrets, I was surprised to read Adam Rubin’s remarks in a recent Internet chat saying that he’d switched gears and now finds the prospect of Wally Backman as the next Mets’ manager to be a considerable longshot. Rubin called this a near certainty months before.  “I just think the Mets know things that are not circulated and don’t feel comfortable,” he said, though he declined to provide detail or even suggest knowledge of what those “things” were. This in some sense however was my concern over Backman, that he might embarrass the organization in some way, and why I have suspected the Mets would ultimately go with an experienced but malleable guy like Lee Mazzilli. In the meantime I find it hard to believe that there’s been 11 managerial hirings and/or re-signings this offseason and Bobby Valentine is still looking for work. Could it still happen?

Finally, goodbye and good luck to Joaquin Arias, who came over in the Jeff Francoeur trade and was claimed on waivers by Cleveland today. His departure closes the book on one-time prized prospect Lastings Milledge. Oh, Omar.

Remembering Bill Shannon

In the aftermath of the recent passing of longtime Mets official scorer Bill Shannon, I received the below message from Dennis D’Agostino, whose “This Date in Mets History” was a major forerunner to the MBTN project containing as it did the first all-time Mets numerical roster ever published in one place. It turns out Dennis owed a good deal of his work to Bill, who died in a fire at his New Jersey home. Mike Vaccaro and Marty Noble also this week shared terrific stories of Shannon, an unsung hero of the press box and Met history. Take it away, Dennis:

 

Bill Shannon’s tragic passing should not go unnoticed by your little corner of the world. When I did the original numerical roster for This Date in 1980, it was Bill who filled in a lot of the holes as I was finishing it. I could not have done that thing without his help.

I don’t know if this was still true at the time of Bill’s death, but back in 1980 he possessed (or so he said) each and every scorecard insert from the Mets home game programs, starting with the opening series against the Pirates in ’62. I distinctly remember — several times that summer — handing Bill a list of three or four players I couldn’t find numbers for, and then a few days later he’d give me back the list with all the numbers filled in.

The mere thought of anyone possessing EVERY scorecard insert was mind-boggling (the Mets, as Tim Hamilton will remember, had very little in their files back then). The way Bill helped me with that roster was something I’ll never forget (but, like you and I, Bill could not solve the mystery of what number Johnny Murphy wore in ’67).

It was unbelivable, and even more so since, in 1980, I was a 23-year old punk who didn’t know anything, just hanging around press boxes. Bill became a great friend right off the bat, which is what he did with everyone, no matter what rank or standing you had among the press box fraternity. Now that I am a 53-year old punk, I still hang around press boxes. . .and have lost a dear friend.

Keep the faith. . .DD

Thanks again to Dennis for the great tribute.

As Good As Yours

Realized the other day that I can’t remember a period during which I’ve had any less idea about what happens next with the Mets as I do right at this moment. And it’s a strange feeling.

53We were all pretty certain that Jerry Manuel wasn’t coming back, and fairly sure Omar would go too, but even back then you were assured by the press that Wally Backman would be next in line, given the Mets’ financial situation, and that maybe for budgetary purposes and tradition they hand it over to John Ricco and a team of bickering advisors but that doesn’t seem all that likely anymore. For one, there’s the idea out there that Sandy Alderson can take the GM job if he wants it, and that would mean neither Backman (who might be fun) nor Bobby Valentine (good and fun!) would be his choice to mange. Well who then? Joe Torre?

And will it matter anyway, now that we’ve seen the accounts of Jon Daniels’ inability to hide interest in the gig? Or will Rick Hahn’s Wolverine background carry the day? If you asked me two weeks ago I’d have said Terry Ryan gets the GM chair. Maybe not now.

Today (Friday the 15th, if anyone asks) my bizarre hunch is that Alderson gets the GM job and names Wally Backman the manager … of Class AA Binghamton. Lee Mazzilli in an upset gets the Mets’ managing job and his No. 13 back. Sorry, Mike Nickeas, that’s just how I see it, today.

What do you guys think?

Goodbye Jerry

53I suppose in the end there was a dignity to allowing Jerry Manuel serve out his contract as the field manager of the Mets but there was so little doubt it was time to go at season’s end that the last days (ok, last month) were hard to watch or write much about. I called for an end to the Jerry Era in May, arguing that his passive offensive strategies and skittish bullpen management were losing us too many close games and contributing to morose feel about the team. And sure enough Jerry went to the finish with a club that couldn’t score enough and often, lost games as a bullpen fatigued by months of nightly matchup duty eventually coughed it up. To Jerry’s credit, he handled his setbacks with class and a smile, and for a time in 2008, brought some real magic to the Mets. But at the risk of sounding like Jeff Wilpon, it’s time to look in a new direction.

Jerry turns in jersey No. 53. The fate of coaches including Howard Johnson, Dan Warthen, Razor Shines, Dave Jauss and Chip Hale seem wobbly as well, although Hale was terrific at third base and I’d like to see him back. The first of many things to watch this off-season will be for Ike Davis to take over No. 20 once Johnson gets his walking papers: It’s apparently his favorite. Could we see Josh Thole take a lower number as well?

May those two guys provide us reminders of a few of the things Omar Minaya did well, because Minaya is also out of work as of today. I liked Omar but he too earned his way out, probably two years ago, mainly for his lack of creativity and imagination, particularly when it came to acquiring pitching, and of course press conferences which could make your hair hurt. Not to mention a poor choice to mange the club.

Jeff in his remarks today promised a new GM “as soon as feasible” after which a hunt for a new manager and staff will begin: Stay tuned!

Zippity Duda, Gee Whiz

OK, back from little visit to the beach and have a ton of useless info to catch up on. As detailed in the comments section below, the Mets have recalled a bunch of players from the minors and are suddenly flirting with the prospect of debuting the 900th player in team history, an unthinkable mark only a few months ago. So as to keep this update nice and organized, let’s proceed directly to the sacred scrolls:


12892: Joaquin Arias. Acquired for hapless hacker Jeff Francoeur in a waiver deal with the Texas Rangers, Arias was once chosen ahead of Robinson Cano by the Rangers for payment in the Alex Rodriguez deal. He’s a utility infielder who was designated for assignment when Texas acquired Alex Cora, if you want to get an idea of how he was thought of around Dallas. The Mets assigned him the same No. 12 worn by Francoeur, making this a DUD (Del Unser Deal) and final slap in the face to Francoeur who ought to be remembered as Bobby Cox’s final Masterstroke in a long career of screwing over the Mets. If anyone knew Francoeur possessed just enough talent to intrigue Omar Minaya and just enough personal magnetism and discount price to excite the owners, it was him. Jeff lived up to every expectation.
893: Lucas Duda. The outfielder had a terrific season at Buffalo but a rough start at the plate for the Mets. They assigned him No. 21: Most recently on the back of recently departed catch Rod Barajas.

894: Mike Nickeas. He’s the catcher the Mets collected in another right fielder dump to Texas a few years ago — the Victor Diaz deal. Nickeas makes an intriguing addition in that he dates all the way back to Tim Bogar in the oldest active Trade Chain among Mets: He was acquired for Diaz, who was acquired for Jeromy Burnitz in 2003, who came from Milwaukee in that whacky Todd Zeile thingy also involving Lenny Harris, who was acquired for Bill Pulsipher, who was (re-)acuired for Luis Lopez, who initially came over for Bogar, a 1987 Met draftee. Nickeas wears No. 13, the first since Cora.

895: Dillon Gee. Mets.com has him wearing No. 35, last worn by opening-day cleanup hitter and future trivia answer Mike Jacobs this year. Frequently described as one of those minor league prospects with limited repetoire but who “knows how to compete,” (gulp) Gee gets Tuesday’s start at Washington.

In the meantime the Mets also welcomed back outfielder and serial No. 6 acquirer Nick Evans; relievers Raul Valdes, No. 22; and Sean Green, No. 50; as well as reliever-turned-starter Jenrry Mejia, No. 32. Outfielder Jesus Feliciano is also back in No. 27.

Other than the bad baseball, did I miss anything?

Luis, Luis

As dubbed by commenter Gordon in the below post the Mets could run out the “Luis Luis” keystone combination with the recall of infielder Luis Hernandez from the minor leagues. Hernandez, whom I’m already confusing with that Ramon Martinez guy we played at second base near the end of the ’08 season, will wear No. 3 and presumably stick around only until Jose Reyes feels better. Jesus Feliciano was again returned to Buffalo to make room.

The Mets before the game introduced Matt Harvey, their top selection from the draft this June, and presented him with a No. 35 jersey. I’m heading off on vacation and might be tardy with updates over the next week: Expect the usual suspects to be recalled (Feliciano, Nick Evans, maybe even Sean Green) and hopefully a few new faces (Lucas Duda, who couldn’t possibly be a worse candidate to get outfield starts than Jeff Francoeur) but those may not come immediately as Buffalo fights for a playoff spot.

As always you can stay in touch here. Mets by the way keep extending that contiguous-points-at-.500 streak: At 64-64 they are now at 12 straight. They are very average.

Galaxy .500

Had a good time despite the disappointing result at the Mets game last night, and even as I continued scratching my head wondering why they continue to start Ruben Tejada over Luis Castillo at second base, even as Jeff Francoeur continues to get the starts in right field. Anyone else find this difficult to reconcile? Sure Castillo has limited value, but he’s clearly better at this point in his career than Tejada, whose mistakes in the field are even blunting his advantages in quickness and range. Meantime, Francoeur, who unlike Castillo has no commitment from the club to keep him around for another season, gets the kid gloves despite having been a major drain on the offense since June. I just don’t get it.

The Mets however did accomplish something last night. When Jose Reyes bounced to first with the bases loaded and ended the game, the Mets fell to 63-63, marking their 11th contiguous point at .500 — that is, alternating wins and losses at a game above or below .500 — breaking the old record of 10 such contiguous points set in 2005. The Mets in other words have been 53-53, 54-54, 55-55, and so on up to their current mark of 63-63. Amazin’.

They still have some work to do to catch the 2005 team for most overall points at .500: That team had 27 separate .500 marks. But at 19 .500s already, the 2010 Mets right now are in third place all time and have 18 more shots for historic mediocrity ahead of them.

And you thought there was noting left to play for.

The below chart ranks Mets teams by the number of times their record was .500 . Thanks to the Post’s Mike Vaccaro for inspiring the research.

Five-hundrliest seasons, in order:

1. 2005 (27)

2. 2002 (20)

3. 2010 (19)*

4. 1970 (18)

5. 2004 (15)

6. 2008 (14)

7. 1976 (13)

8. 1994 (11)

9. 1990 (8)

10. 1971(7)

1987 (7)

2009 (7)

13. 1973 (6)

1975 (6)

1992 (6)

1993 (6)

2000 (6)

18. 1977 (5)

1980 (5)

1989 (5)

21. 1969 (4)

1982 (4)

1999 (4)

2003 (4)

25. 1968 (3)

1984 (3)

1988 (3)

2001 (3)

29. 1966 (2)

1967 (2)

1972 (2)

1974 (2)

1978 (2)

1979 (2)

1981 (2)

1986 (2)

1996 (2)

1997 (2)

1998 (2)

39. 1983 (1)

1991 (1)

1995 (1)

2006 (1)

 

43. 1962 (0)

1963 (0)

1964 (0)

1965 (0)

2007 (0)

 

*- Still active (barely)

The Airing of Greivances

Well, it’s good to see the Mets determined to do something about the Frankie Rodriguez situation and with a little luck, these last weeks of the year might demonstrate just how little creativity, imagination and good sense they’d showed when making that deal in the first place. Not for nothing but the post-Rodriguez bullpen hasn’t given up a run in 13.1 innings.

That doesn’t mean they’re necessarily going anywhere. Their offense is a much tougher fix — always has been — and it’s probably buried them in a deeper hole than they’ll ever hit out of. To that end, they welcomed Rod Barajas back to the roster today and sent Fernando Martinez back to Buffalo. Jerry seemed unable to commit to the kid anyhow, and surely Barajas will only take playing time from Josh Thole, at least until its evident there’s no shot with this group. Too bad. In the end it was relying so heavily on veterans with questionable offensive track records that killed 2010.

To get you updated, Pat Misch was recalled and Raul Valdes sent down; Ryota Igarashi went down when Rodriguez returned from his two days in the penalty box but was back up upon the revelation of his injury and subsequent assignment to the restricted list. I have no idea (nor any opinion) on how the grieveance hearing ought to go, but applaud the Mets for taking a stance here, if only to save themselves from Omar’s folly and the big lie of the Brand Name Closer. And if they don’t prevail, they’ll have gotten what they deserved.