February 2009
All About Steve Simpson
You guys are great. Only hours after the below inquiry on Steve Simpson, the pitcher received from San Diego in the 1973 Jim McAndrew trade and who may have been called up to the big-league roster in 1974, I'd received all kinds of info about him.
To the pertinent question of whether he should be listed among 1974 Mets players, the answer is no. As you might see on the accompanying graphic -- what passed for the "official" transaction record as kept by the Baseball Hall of Fame -- Simpson's 1974 recall by the Mets (highlighted in yellow) is designated "not to rep" meaning "not to report" or "NTR." A million thanks to Jason for the record -- he reports he's also looking to get his hands on the official record for Greg Harts, the outfielder recalled along Simpson that day. Click the image for a larger look. Those are exactly the kinds of records I keep: Scribbled on paper!
Anyhow, as Jason explains, all players on the 40-man roster are recalled automatically when rosters expand but not all of them necessarily report to the team: That's the technical distinction that led to Charlie's initial question.
Others of you were quick to point out addtional facts. Although he'd been assigned a number -- the same 43 worn by McAndrew in fact -- he wasn't long for the Mets, or anyone else. The New York Times reports Simpson retired on the first day of training camp in 1975. And the Sporting News says he died of a heart attack at age 41 in 1989.
He Knows His Place
An interesting note from our nation's capital: When the Nationals signed Adam Dunn, they gave him his customary uni No. 44. To make room, selfless ex-Met Lastings Milledge has volunteered to switch ... to No. 85. It's his birth year.
Elsewhere in X-Met land, Aaron Heilman is wearing No. 47 with the Cubs and Joe Smith is 38 in Cleveland. Endy Chavez remains in No. 10 in Seattle and Scott Schoeneweis is still wearing No. 60, only in Arizona.I'd update you on Damian Easley but the poor guy hasn't found work yet. And Matt Wise has retired.
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Elsewhere, reader Charlie let me in on the fact that the revamped database had neglected to include the small handful of Mets who appeared on the roster but not in a game (Jerry Moses, Mac Suzuki, et al) but they're baked in there now. He also threw out a name I hadn't known was a Met before, Steve Simpson who according to Charlie appeared on the September active roster with the 1974 Mets but didn't appear in a game. Can anyone out there confirm this or offer more info?
Anderson Garcia
Last of the Armando Benitez trade booty, reliever Garcia came and went in 2006 without an appearance to his credit.
Mac Suzuki
In what wouldn’t be considered Steve Phillips’ brightest procedural moment, Suzuki, a right-handed bullpenner, was acquired in a trade for Allen Watson, but claimed by Kansas City on waivers when the Mets tried to sneak him down to AAA days later.
Terrel Hanson
Minor league slugger recalled briefly when Kevin Baez and Vince Coleman were injured, but sent back down before appearing. Never got a turn at bat or an inning in the field but hit nearly 200 home runs over 13 minor league seasons.
Jerry Moses
One of three catchers to start the year with the Mets (Jerry Grote and rookie John Stearns were the others), the veteran Moses was sold to San Diego when the Padres had a sudden catching crisis and so never appeared in a game for the Mets.
Billy Cotton
September callup catcher who never appeared in a game.
Randy Bobb
Catcher recalled in 1970, never played in a game.
Jim Bibby
Righthanded pitcher who never played a game with the Mets in two separate call-ups but had a 12-year career ahead of him including a few very good years.
Dodger Blues
True Stories
Back in college I knew a girl who thought the John Fogarty song "centerfield" was about airline travel.
"Put me in coach," right?
Right. And thanks to MBTN reader David, we can officially put in the coaches for the 2009 Mets, at least their assigned numbers:
Luis Alicea, 51
Razor Shines, 52
David also provided news the Mets would suit Tony Armas in No. 91.
For Niemann, 55 marks his sixth different Met uni number: He wore Nos. 46 and 40 over parts of two seasons as a player and 45, 48, and 52 previously as a coach. Alicea, whom I've already mentally confused with Luis Aguayo, and Shines are new to the Mets this year.
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A different David, this one the MBTN technical guy, in the meantime has been working behind the scenes to arrange the data by year, a first for MBTN. You may see above, alongside arrangements listing players alphabetically and by number, the Rosters by Year link takes you to a page from which you can call up a list of all the players who served during a particular season. The numerical proceeding looks a little goofy but hopefully we can solve that eventually.
Consider this innovation the first little bit of the site's 10th anniversary celebration. MBTN went live for the first time, Feb. 22, 1999, 10 years ago Sunday.
Latest Updates (Updated)
Thanks to several emails, eyewitness accounts and comments over the last few days I've been alerted to updates with the Mets' spring training roster, and rather than continually update the one below I'll publish a new one here.
The interesting change is Alex Cora and Cory Sullivan having switched the 12 and 3 jerseys, respectively. I think in a general sense that's how it should be: The infielders in single-digits and the outfielders not, at least where you can help it. This really wasn't a switch so much as an adjustment from the paper numbers they were assigned.
Looks like, without Pedro coming to town, 45 could go to whichever pitcher now in the high 50s or low 60s makes the squad, and/or to Tony Armas who I understand may be late arriving due to visa problems.
Still need the uni numbers for the coaches whenever they roll in, but we have a good idea where they will fit in.
1 Luis Castillo, 2B
2 Sandy Alomar Sr. (coach)
3 Alex Cora, INF
-- switched from Sullivan
4 Robinson Cancel, C
5 David Wright, 3B
6 Nick Evans, OF
7 Jose Reyes, SS
8 Vacant (Carter)
9 Marlon Anderson
10 Andy Green, INF
11 Ramon Castro, C
12 Cory Sullivan, OF
-- Was assigned to Cora initially
13 Billy Wagner, P
14 Retired (Gil Hodes)
15 Carlos Beltran, OF
16 Angel Pagan, OF
17 Fernando Tatis
18 Jeremy Reed, OF
19 Ryan Church, OF
20 Howard Johnson, coach
21 Carlos Delgado, 1B
22 JJ Putz, RP
23 Brian Schneider, C
24 Vacant (Mays)
25 Pedro Feliciano, P
26 Rob Mackowiak, OF
27 Nelson Figueroa, P
28 Daniel Murphy, OF
29 Connor Robertson, P
30 Rocky Cherry, P
31 Vacant (Piazza)
32 Carlos Muniz, P
33 John Maine, P
34 Mike Pelfrey, P
35 Brandon Knight, P
36 Darren O'Day, P
37 Retired (Stengel)
38 Tom Martin, P
39 Bobby Parnell, P
40 Eddie Kunz, P
41 Retired (Seaver)
42 Retired (Robinson)
43 Brian Stokes, P
44 Tim Redding, P
45 Vacant
46 Oliver Perez, P
47 Casey Fossum, P
48 Sean Green, P
49 Jonathon Niese, P
50 Duaner Sanchez, P
51 Luis Alicea, coach
52 Razor Shines, coach
53 Jerry Manuel, Manager
54 Dave Racianello, bullpen catcher
55 Randy Niemann, coach
56 Freddy Garcia, P
57 Johan Santana, P
58 Sandy Alomar Jr., coach
59 Dan Warthen, coach
60 Valerio De Los Santos, P
61 Livan Hernandez, P
62 Bobby Keilty, OF
63 Michel Abreu, 1B
64 Elmer Dessens, P
65 Kyle Snyder, P
66 Matt DeSalvo, P
67 Fernando Martinez, OF
68 Heriberto Ruelas, P
69 Vacant (according to MBTN contributor Jason, this number is retired in honor of the 1969 World Champions but probably also to save unnecessary clubhouse and bleacher abuse)
70 Jon Switzer, P
71 Toby Stoner, P
72 Adam Bostick, P
73 Dillon Gee, P
74 Michael Antonini, P
75 Francisco Rodriguez, P
76 Omir Santos, C
77 Rene Rivera, C
78 Josh Thole, C
79 Jose Coronado, INF
**
90 Ramon Martinez, INF
91 Tony Armas, P
99 Jose Valentin, 2B
Johnny 99
This just in: Jose Valentin is in camp and been assigned No. 99.
More details later.
Later: Looks also like Bobby Keilty is wearing No. 62. Livan Hernandez, as pointed out in the comments, is in 61.
Still more later. In the meantime, now that everyone's in camp, photos and eyewitness reports should be rolling in -- if you can help "fill the gaps" please let me know and thanks!
Leave Arod Alone
Normally, I'm pretty happy with events that serve to embarrass the Yankees and in the sense this latest fiasco with Alex Rodriguez is likely to pay off with season after season of awkward distractions, managerial firings and general dysfunction, I couldn't be more pleased. It's exactly what they deserve, after all.
But anyone with a sense of justice can't be comfortable with how the entire steroid era in baseball has became nothing more than a bold-name witch hunt and fodder for some of the worst journalism ever committed, to say nothing of the shameful violations of privacy that ensnared Rodriguez.
Since I've long since given up on seeing any writer of influence to make the following point, please indulge me. As a baseball fan I could care less who did steroids four or five years ago. It's obvious that many of them did, and they did it because the guys who were gunning for their jobs did it, and the pitchers trying to get them out did it, and their peers who made the most money did it (which incidentally is why so many high-profile users wound up with the Yankees).
Condemning those unlucky enough to get caught while holding up those who weren't as victims seems a brilliant waste of energy. The message we ought to have by now is that everyone was a suspect then: That's what an epidemic is. And now that a culture of awareness has developed and testing and penalties are in place, we can go after the bad guys with righteous fury. These calls to go back in time and erase stats or threats to withhold future Hall of Fame voting (Bill Madden's favorite hammer) practically beg for some perspective. I like Joe Sheehan's suggestion that writers making Hall of Fame proclamations for steroid tainted players who failed to even investigate the issue until it exploded in their faces ought to be banned from voting.
I'm certain the Questionable Training Methods Era should stand along the Segregation Era or the Dead Ball Era as points in baseball history we'll need to mentally adjust for to truly understand. And move on.
In the meantime, I think my Daily News today, amid 12 pages of A-Roid coverage, mentioned something about Met pitchers and catchers arriving this week. I'm off for a short break for a few days but will be back to kick off MBTN's 10th Anniversary Spectacular, probably around the time position players arrive.
Uh, sorry for the rant. Feel free to tee off.