Spelling Relief

The sudden and shattering unavailability of Billy Wagner 13 the other night, not to mention weeks of white-knuckle performance from the other guys in the bullpen, prompted the club to reach down and call up Carlos Muniz, who’d been most recently closing games for Class AA Binghamton. Muniz, likely to be tucked deeper in the drawer than even Phillip Humber 49, was issued No. 38, according to the roster at Mets.com. If he gets into a game he’ll be the 28th 38 in team history and the first since Victor Zambrano. Bullpen candidate Steve Schmoll wore 38 during spring training this season but he seems to have gone missing.

Muniz whiffed 66 guys in 64+ innings in AA and AAA this season, posting 23 saves and a 2.24 ERA. “If we need him, we’ll use him,” sez Willie. Just might.

They Are What They Is

With the New Orleans Zephyrs swept out of the AAA playoffs over the weekend, representatives of the losers arrived in time to see — and participate — in the worst display of Met baseball since the Art Howe Era.

Soft-tossing righty Brian Lawrence 54 stepped in and registered what we can only hope would be the last outing of his Mets career, coughing up a 4-run lead to Washington. Joe Smith 35 is back, but the velocity he sidearmed with earlier this year apparently didn’t come along with him.Ramon Castro 11 didn’t have the health to stick through short-season games with Brooklyn but is back here anyway. Weak-hitting utilityman David Newhan? Yes, he’s back too, still torturing Keith Hernandez in No. 17.

Perhaps the only interesting returnee from a unicentric standpoint is infielder Anderson Hernandez, who we last saw wearing No. 1 in July. Hernandez was recalled only to discover the Mets had issued No. 1 to Luis Castillo during Hernandez’ stay in New Orleans. No. 4 was hanging in his locker this time around. When he gets into a game, he’ll become the Mets’ 14th 15th player to wear No. 4, and the first since Chris Woodward a year ago Ben Johnson earlier this year. (Props to Gene, below for the correction).

Only time will tell whether this latest stumble is just another stumble or the beginnings of an historic collapse, but you can bet we’ll be here hating ourselves for watching every minute of it!

Hey, Nineteen

Well, it finally happened.

Jeff Conine started tonight’s game against the Phillies wearing No. 19, having tossed aside theNo. 28 issued to him upon joining the Mets last month. The Mets.com roster indicates he swapped jerseys with reserve catcher Sandy Alomar Jr. Not for nothing but we’d anticipatedthis move for awhile.

The change couldn’t hurt either guy. Conine, who’d frequently worn 19 during his lengthy career, was batting just .174 (4-for-23) in 28. Alomar had just 3 hits in 21 at-bats for a .143 batting average and an OPS+ of -13.

MLB.com’s Anthno DiComo has all the non-drama.

Stories abound in professional sports of athletes trading numbers for cars, cash, jewelry — you name it. But Sandy Alomar Jr. didn’t need any of those things. As soon as he realized the significance that No. 19 had for Jeff Conine, he offered up a swap for free. So beginning Friday, Conine will again wear his familiar 19, while Alomar will assume No. 28.

Conine has had some form of the No. 9 in his uniform throughout his 17-year career. Mostly, it’s been 19, though in Baltimore, he had to settle for No. 18 (one plus eight equals nine).

So when he saw Alomar sporting a No. 19 wrist band — an old band that clubhouse attendants mistakenly put in Alomar’s locker — Conine asked where he got it. That sparked the conversation and the swap.

Whoops!

Props to sharp-eyed Met fan Chris who not only pointed out Friday night that Met reliever Willie Collazo made his Shea Stadium debut in a jersey that spelled his name incorrectly, but thought to take the accompanying photo of it. The goof — one too many Z’s and one too few L’s — appeared on the snow-white jersey Friday.

No sooner had we inquired as to whether Collazo appeared in a misspelled road jersey in his debut Wednesday in Cincinnati than Lundy came through with the other photo illustrating he hadn’t. How did Collazo turn from Puerto Rican to Italian? We’ll try to investigate. So thanks again to Chris and Lundy, to whom we all owe a cold frosty Rheingold. You will often find those guys at the Crane Pool.

Other than featuring Collazo’s misspelled jersey — and his second consecutive scoreless relief outing — tonight’s convincing victory over Houston featured the return of rookie outfielder Carlos Gomez 27. The Mets have also reactivated Sandy Alomar Jr., who has continued to dress in No. 19.

Pelfrey, Humber and Collazo

On the first day active rosters can be expanded the Mets as expected recalled AAA starters Mike Pelfrey and Phillip Humber, along with a lefty reliever, Willie Collazo.Pelfrey to wear No. 34 as usual, will try for his first victory of the year in a start this afternoon in Atlanta. Humber will wear the same No. 49 he wore last season in brief appearances.

Press notes say Collazo will debut in No. 36 — a jersey that earlier this year went to outfielder Chip Ambres. Ambres reportedly is among others who may still be recalled as the month rolls on.

The Mets in the meantime put together a solid game Friday in ending an ugly five-game losing streak. Among the casualties of the Philly sweep was Orlando Hernandez, who is expected to miss his next turn in the rotation resting a sore foot. The leading candidate to take his place is some guy called Martinez.

They Deserved It

While everyone’s harping on the bullpen and Willie’s alleged poor management of it, the fact that the Mets have scored only 2 runs in the last three games is the real guilty party. That, and theLuis Castillo-Paul LoDuca screwup. And Aaron Rowand’s good fortune. The bullpen is what it is: Enigmatic, unpredictable, prone to slumps. Teams that don’t score more than 2 runs on the road in 10 innings deserve whatever they get.

The new right fielder, Endy Chavez, did little to change that last night. Endy returned to the Mets and the No. 10 jersey last night for the first time since June, and made a fine catch, but otherwise resembled all the other right fielders recently. Brian Lawrence 54 was designated to make room, leaving Saturday’s starter role currently unfulfilled. The possibilities are many as the calendar will read Sept. 1 by then, though Phillip Humber looks at the moment to have a shot.

Humber you may recall appeared twice in relief last September, wearing No. 49. He’s had a quietly strong season in AAA.

Alo-Marred

Just asking, but is Sandy Alomar Sr. the world’s worst third-base coach?

Looks like tonight’s big series in Philly will begin with Paul LoDuca 16 back in action and the Son of the World’s Worst Third-Base Coach designated for assignment. That would free up 19 forJeff Conine should he want to wear it. Also look for Endy Chavez 10 to return during this series perhaps taking the place of tonight’s pitcher, Brian Lawrence 54. (pure speculation on my part here). Or wishing. Or whatever.

“Nobody Asked”

Jeff Conine’s surprise appearance in No. 28 for his Met debut last night was remarked upon in the TV broadcast by Gary Cohen who said it was unusual to see Conine wearing anything but No. 19. Cohen related that he brought this fact to the attention of the Mets’ current wearer of No. 19, Sandy Alomar Jr., who told Cohen he’d have no objections to surrendering the jersey, only he hadn’t because nobody had asked him to.

I’m highly suspicious of Conine remaining a 28 for much longer.

Curse You, Karim Garcia!

Thanks to Greg for the headline (his remark in the “Odd Occurrance” post below, plus my additon, four exclaimation points for emphasis). Among the many things Karim Garcia ruined (not the least of which was almost any day he played for the Mets) was the fouling up of an otherwiseall-odd starting lineup on May 30, 2004. The chubby cheap Vlad Guererro was the only even-numbered player in the day’s starting lineup, which was a shame since we have yet to find a game in Met history that didn’t have any even-numbered players in it (nor have we found an all-even lineup).

That’s not to say these things haven’t happened.

So we’re still looking to find an example of each, not to mention an all-ascending or all-descending starting lineup.

The clubhouse leaders for highest (274) and lowest (84) combined are as follows:

Lowest
July 3, 1962:
1 Ashburn
10 Kanehl
11 Woodling
16 Taylor
4 Neal
2 Throneberry
18 Mantilla
7 Chacon
15 Jackson

Highest
April 4, 2002
47 McEwing
12 Alomar
42 Vaughn
31 Piazza
13 Alfonzo
20 Burnitz
44 Payton
10 Ordonez
55 Estes