Useless Milestones

Holy crap. I'd be surprised if the Mets, once they wake up, don't make a few quick roster moves for relievers this afternoon after playing 20 innings last night. And though it's more of a long shot, it'd be also nice to get a few hitters considering they were blanked for 18 innings and managed only to squeak out single runs despite facing position players on the mound for three innings thanks to Tony LaRussa and his seeming strategy to defeat the Mets by humiliating them. This after failing to hold a 1-0 lead on Friday night. Can't wait till Jose Reyes gets back. What? Oh...

Anyway, it wasn't a pretty game by any wild stretch but props to Alex Cora for a terrific catch and to Hisanori Takahashi, who became a vicious strikeout artist at the right moment to squelch a 2-on, no-out situation in the 14th. Jerry Manuel's absurdly passive game plan reached new heights by ordering Luis Castillo to bunt in a plan that successfully resulted in a single run in the 19th but predictably was proven not enough. Mike Pelfrey with the save., Ridiculous!

Invaluable longtime MBTN contributor Jason E. this morning noted that in making his (losing) Mets debut last night, Hisanori Takahashi became the 30th Met in team history to have made his debut in an extra inning game. Here's his list, arranged by year and inning, ending of course with the immortal Bruce Boisclair whose debut appearance came during the 23rd inning of a marathon played between the Mets and Cardinals on Sept. 11, 1974 (Bruce pinch ran for Duffy Dyer in a game the Mets would lose 4-3 in the 25th inning as a result of a bad pickoff throw by Jerry Cram Hank Webb).

I like that this list includes a mix of younguns making their first arrivals on the way to a long career (Rick Aguilera, Edgardo Alfonzo) and guys I'd already forgotten were ever Mets (Ben Johnson). It knocked loose memories of that exciting trade deadline when Steve Phillips went out and traded for a half-dozen relievers (including Billy Taylor and Chuck McElroy) and when Jorge Julio was more trusted than Chad Bradford.

What memories does this stir in you? (And take it away, Jason):

10TH INNING DEBUTS (12):
9/20/70- Dean Chance
9/13/74- Rich Puig
6/11/80- Claudell Washington
4/11/85- Terry Blocker
6/12/85- Rick Aguilera
4/26/95- Edgardo Alfonzo
4/26/95- Blas Minor
8/1/99- Billy Taylor
4/5/06- Jorge Julio
4/5/06- Chad Bradford
5/29/07- Ben Johnson
4/7/10- Hisanori Takahashi

11TH INNING DEBUTS (8):
4/14/65- Dan Napoleon
9/1/70- Ron Herbel
5/20/78- Kevin Kobel
6/1/79-Ed Glynn
4/11/85- Roger McDowell
4/26/95- Ricky Otero
4/29/95- Dave Mlicki
8/1/99- Chuck McElroy

12TH INNING DEBUTS (5):
7/24/62- Bob G. Miller
4/23/72- Jim Beauchamp
9/12/81- Brian Giles
6/27/89- Phil Lombardi
3/31/98- Jim Tatum

13TH INNING DEBUT (1):
9/10/70- Leroy Stanton

14TH INNING DEBUT (1):
9/6/87- Gregg Jefferies

15TH INNING DEBUT (1):
4/7/97- Joe Crawford

16TH INNING DEBUT (0):
(NONE)

17TH INNING DEBUT (1):
9/29/93- Kenny Greer

18TH INNING DEBUT (0):
(NONE)

19TH INNING DEBUT (0):
(NONE)

20TH INNING DEBUT (0):
(NONE)

21ST INNING DEBUT (0):
(NONE)

22ND INNING DEBUT (0):
(NONE)

23RD INNING DEBUT (1):
9/11/74- Bruce Boisclair

As we were saying below, the likely arrival of Frank Catalanotto and the No. 2 jersey he's been wearing would mark the first time in 15 years that a Met player wore that number in a game. Damon Buford, the last, was a reserve outfielder who was acquired in the Bobby Bonilla trade in 1995 and swapped out for a basketball player the following winter.

Like his father Don Buford, an Orioles star notable in Mets history for his leadoff home run against Tom Seaver in Game 1 of the 1969 World Series, Damon Buford was a compact outfielder out of the University of Southern California. Born in June of 1970, it was likely he was conceived shortly before the 1969 World Series. Like his dad, Damon had good speed and a little pop in his bat, but he lacked his father's polish at the plate. Over nine seasons in the big leagues, he was a regular in only one year, 2000, when as the Cubs' everyday center fielder he hit a modest .251/.324/.390 and was replaced the next year by another second-generation outfielder with a Met connection: Gary Matthews Jr.

Back in 1995, Buford was a minor league throw-in in the trade that shed the Mets the unhappy if productive Bonilla, and delivered them a prized prospect, Alex Ochoa, also a minor leaguer at the time. The Orioles, despite Bonilla's best efforts, fell short of their goal to steal the AL East that year. And while Ochoa stayed in the minors for additional seasoning, Buford was called on right away to assume Bonilla's position in left field.

The Mets issued Buford No. 2 (Ochoa would be the next to take Bonilla's No. 25). The jersey had been sitting around since being shared by Wayne Housie and Doug Saunders in 1993, and last occupied by a significant contributor by Mackey Sasser in 1992. The jersey would become something of a regular for the itinerant Buford, who'd wear No. 2 again in Texas and in Boston in the years to come.

Buford had a short window with which to impress the Mets, who at the time were juggling a variety of young outfielders at or near the major league level including Ochoa, Jay Payton and Carl Everett. None really worked out. But despite some promise -- in a September game against the Astros he hit two home runs off future Met Mike Hampton -- what finished Buford for good in New York was the offseason acquisitions of veteran outfielders Lance Johnson and Bernard Gilkey to supplement that young core. Gilkey in particular, was like Buford a righthanded hitter and possessed that power-speed combination Buford only might have developed. Within weeks he was swapped to the Texas Rangers for a lower-level minor league outfielder -- Terrell Lowery -- who was better known for college basketball stardom at Loyola-Marymount (it was his alley-oop pass that Hank Gathers slam-dunked moments before Gathers collapsed and died in 1990. Lowery after one season with the Mets organization was lost in the Rule 5 draft to the Cubs; he played parts of three years with the Cubs, Devil Rays and Giants. Lowery was enticed to leave basketball for baseball by Ranger scout Sandy Johnson, known today as Omar Minaya's mentor.

No. 2 was again unissued in 1996 until the Mets fired manager Dallas Green and hired Bobby Valentine. The card at right is shown at the New York Mets Hall of Records.

Add another potential starting point for Ruben Tejada now that the Mets waived, and subsequently lost, veteran backup catching candidate Chris Coste to the Nationals today. Coste was wearing No. 3 this spring (remember Alex Cora switched to lucky 13), seemed destined for Buffalo anyhow and still smelled like a Phillie; he's no great loss. I know the guys the Mets plan to run out there this year aren't destined to make anyone forget Mike Piazza, but for whatever reason I've developed warm fuzzies for both Rod Barajas and Henry Blanco even with the latter's douchy forearm tattoos. I dunno. It might have been that article by David Waldstein of the Times a few weeks ago.

It's looking more and more like Frank Catalonotto will claim a bench role and a jersey that hasn't been worn by a Mets player in 15 years -- No. 2. Can you name that player without looking it up? I couldn't. Nor could I name the two guys preceeding him. No. 2 in 1996 went to manager Bobby Valentine, and since then then to coaches Gary Pettis and Sandy Alomar.

Steven Z. wrote to say he's put together an all-time best-by-number list at his blog, Mets Fan Forever (check out also his "best-by-letter" list. You're welcome to debate or disagree with him there!

The photo above of the Bobbsey Twins (Bob "Righty" Miller and Bob "Lefty" Miller) comes from our friend Paul, who noted it was a wire photo dated May 8, 1962.The Mets were at Wrigley Field that day, as the scoreboard in the background should give away, and we won -- a momentus occasion indeed.

One interesting fact that photo unfortunately doesn't show is that on that day, the uniform Lefty Miller is wearing was No. 23 -- and not the No.36 he'd be dressed in once he appeared in a Mets game. That's because although Lefty Miller was obviously with the club -- he'd only just been traded for two days before, from the Reds for Don Zimmer -- by the time the Mets returned from this roadtrip Miller was assigned to the minors and Joe Christopher called up: He'd be wearing No. 23 when Miller returned.

The other gentleman in the photo -- like the newest Met, Gary Matthews Jr. -- is notable for having been one of 35 men who've played for the Mets, then someone else, then the Mets again. Few have made their second go-round significantly better than their first, but Bob Miller did, and we may as well hope Matthews can. Behold the list:

Frank Lary                             1964                      1965                      17

Al Jackson                             1962-65                 1968-69                 15/38

Jim Gosger                             1969                      1973-74                 18/19, 5

Bob L. Miller                         1962                      1973-74                 24/30

Ray Sadecki                          1970-74                 1977                      33

Tim Foli                                  1970-71                 1978-79                 19

Mike Jorgensen                      1970-71                 1980-83                 16/22

Dave Kingman                       1975-77                 1981-83                 26

Rusty Staub                           1972-75                 1981-85                 4, 10/10

Tom Seaver                           1967-77                 1983                      41

Bill Almon                              1980                      1985                      25/2

Lee Mazzilli                            1976-81                 1986-89                 12, 16/13

Clint Hurdle                           1983, 1985             1987                      33/13/7

Alex Trevino                          1978-81                 1990                      29/6

Hubie Brooks                        1980-84                 1991                      62, 39, 7/7

Jeff McKnight                        1989                      1992-94                 15/5, 7, 17, 18

Kevin McReynolds                  1987-91                 1994                      22

Greg McMichael                    1997-98                 1998-99                 36

Bobby Bonilla                        1992-95                 1999                      25

Josias Manzanillo                   1993-95                 1999                      39

Jeff Tam                                 1998                      1999                      38, 36/36

Bill Pulsipher                          1995, 1998             2000                      21/25

Lenny Harris                          1998                      2000-01                 19

Pete Walker                           1995                      2001-02                 49/43

Roger Cedeno                       1999                      2002-03                 19

Jeromy Burnitz                       1993-94                 2002-03                 5/20

Tsuyoshi Shinjo                      2001                      2003                      5

David Cone                           1987-92                 2003                      44, 17/16

Todd Zeile                             2000-01                 2004                      9/27

Roberto Hernandez                2005                      2006                      39/49, 39

Kelly Stinnett                         1994-95                 2006                      33/36

Marlon Anderson                   2005                      2007                      18/23

Brady Clark                           2002                      2008                      15/44

Anderson Hernandez              2005-07                2009                      1, 4/11 

 

Meet Bob Miller and Bob Miller.

They weren't related but shared a name and a Polo Grounds locker room for the 1962 Mets, becoming one of the mildly amusing sidelights in that sadly comic debut season.

 

That's Robert Lane Miller on the left. He came to the Mets in the expansion draft from St. Louis, where he was a 1957 Bonus Baby and though unproven at the major league level, was just 23 with a promising right arm. Observers of the '62 squad would say Bob L. Miller (No. 24 in your scorecards) had some of the best "stuff" on staff, but they also felt he hadn't handled adversity well despite getting his share of it with a 1-12 record. He was traded after the season to the Dodgers and quietly began building a solid resume as a relief pitcher. Miller wound up pitching for 17 seasons for 11 different teams -- including the Mets again in 1973 and '74, when he suited up in No. 30. In retirement Miller became the first pitching coach in the history of the Toronto Blue Jays, and was a scout for the Giants when he was killed in an auto accident in 1993.

His roundfaced teammate to the right was Robert Gerald Miller, also a former Bonus Baby (Detroit, 1953) but a lefthanded minor-league journeyman when acquired by the '62 Mets in midseason.Bob G. pitched exclusively in relief for the '62 Mets, including five times in relief of Bob L. Miller, racking up a 2-2 record but a 7.08 earned-run average that year, wearing No. 36. He was released shortly after the season and never pitched in the majors again, but confessed to reporters he was often mistaken for his more accomplished teammate.

BIG thanks to longtime MBTN supporter Ed A. for providing the cards (he sent along even more cool stuff we'll get to). And stay tuned for ruminations on the Bobby Joneses, Pedro Martinezes and Mike Marshalls.

Who said the Mets didn’t accomplish something this year?

While fans licked their wounds, Jeff Wilpon slandered other teams’ medical staffs and the writers commissioned sculptures of Derek Jeter, not one but two round-number milestones in Met history were toppled in the same week, and nobody even noticed.

Until now.

Congratulations to Carlos Beltran and David Wright. Your acts of tepid batsmanship as the season ground to a forgettable close resulted in the 3,000th all-time Mets hit for each of your respective uniform numbers. And your pursuit of this glory in the season’s final week made for a thrilling down-to-the-wire chase that went similarly unremarked upon.

Beltran reached the magic number Sept. 25 in Florida, when his single off Ricky Nolasco marked the 3,000^th all-time safety for the No. 15 jersey. Three nights later in Washington, Wright rapped a double to right field off Ross Detwiler, marking hit No. 3000 for the No. 5s.

Wright then proceeded to out-hit his teammate 6-to-5 over the final four games, leaving No. 5 ahead of 15 by a single hit, 3,006-3,005.

Wright, who already is the Mets’ all-time leading No. 5, made good strides to tighten the overall race while Beltran was limited to 100 hits and Jose Reyes, representing the leader, No. 7, added only 41 hits the total in ’09. Also notable: Luis Castillo in No. 1 outhits the combination of Ramon Castro, Argenis Reyes and Anderson Hernandez in No. 11 to overtake fourth place.

Top Numbers by Hits, through 2009:

No.      Hits      Leader

7          3,441   Kranepool (1,252)

5          3,006   Wright (983)

15        3,005   Grote (994)

1          2,743   Wilson (1,112)

11        2,739   Garrett (667)

4          2,587   Dykstra (469)

12        2,542   Stearns (636)

9          2,519   Hundley (590)

17        2,509   Hernandez (939)

 

Oh, you SHaMs, you. Way back at the All-Star Break when we naiively dreamed you had a run in you, we speculated it would take at least 45 victories out of the final 75 games for a realistic shot at the postseason, and a sizzling 50 wins to be safe.

To my horror, my anger, and eventually my acceptance, the Second Half Mets went and lost 47 of their next 75. Only a freak 3-game sweep against the mailed-it-in Astros this weekend stemmed the bleeding at 92 losses, and assured the SHaMs wouldn't reach the magical 50-loss post-all-star-break plateau.

Still, it's a pathetic showing thoughout, and tragic to have missed such a great opportunity to be the kind of up-against-it underdog the fans could get behind. The question shouldn't be, "Has any team ever lost so many players to injury?" It ought to be "Has any team ever lost so many players to injury and failed to replace even one of them adequately?" Right? We got Jerry's passive skippering, a parade of nondescript clockpunchers and a team that until the end preferred to play Schneider over Thole, and anybody over Evans, while even the regulars loafed about, made ridiculously costly errors, threw ball four eight times a night, whiffed with runners on third, bunted in every situation except those that might drive in a run, and indifferently flew out to medium right while while gift-wrapping signature moments for nearly every team they played down the stretch.

Hey, Mets: BOOOOOOO!

Yeah, take that.

It's obvious that Jerry ought to be fired. He hasn't gotten though to the players, the team barely had a single good run all year, and his passive managing style ("Hey. let's go out there and try not to lose!") drives me crazy and doesn't work. Omar should have been whacked last season for sitting on his hands while the Mets shanked a second gimmee putt, and the strenuous, reactive fiasco of acquiring not one but two faltering closers last offseason only to see the SS Met spring a few hundred other leaks, many of them completely foreseeable and potentially preventable (starting pitching, Brian Schneider, right field) should be answered for as well.

They won't be. Instead the Mets are making a show of blaming a development staff for failing to make major-league ready replacements of the 16-year-olds they signed in 2005. That and promising to try and do better. Hey, good luck, Mets!

I'm going to go ahead and name Luis Castillo the MBTN Player of the Year for 2009. He atoned for a bad season in 2008, he committed the signature screwup in a season jammed with them, but most of all, he really loved to bunt. May his example of improvement through desperation revisit the Mets in 2010.

There were 52 53 Mets in 2009, including 26 first-time players. The Number of the Year is 29: Issued to three of those 26 newbies, and one repeater who I've   already forgotten was a 2009 Met: Emil Brown, Andy Green, Robinson Cancel and Tobi Stoner.

We'll be back to keep current with the hot stove and other stuff too! For now, go Jets!

Thanks to everyone who came out to Amazin' Tuesday this week at Two Boots -- it was the best of all the Mets-related events they've hosted this year. Those who came got a live version of the following long-awaited contribution to the 10th Anniversary Spectacular: The Top 10 No. 6's in Mets history.

A reserve first baseman by the name of Jim Marshall was the first player to wear Number six in Mets history. The 1962 season was only a few weeks old when they traded him to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Vinegar Bend Mizell, a veteran pitcher who unbeknownst to the Mets had won the last game of his major league career a few weeks earlier – against the Mets.

On the same day they traded Marshall, the Mets flipped Don Zimmer to the Cincinnati Reds for Cliff Cook, a beefy country slugger whose resume included a Most Valuable Player award from the American Association the year before. Cook arrived, was given the No. 6 jersey, and installed as the regular third baseman until bad hands cost him his starting job and a bad back ended his year. By July, he’d surrendered the No. 6 jersey to Rick Herrscher, a middling utility infielder whose entire major league career would began and end as a 1962 Met.

 

One year into their history and the Mets had issued Number 6 three different times to three different players. And until this day, it’s their most frequently issued uniform number ever.

 

Number 6 would be issued to multiple players again in 1964; 1966; 1967; 1990; 1997; 1998; 2004; 2008 and 2009. In 1962 and 1990 three men wore the No. 6 jersey. In 2004, and again in 2008, a record-tying four different guys wore the jersey.

Altogether 38 men have worn No. 6, well ahead of the next most popular number in Met history -- 29, with 33 issues. The roster includes two Ricks, a Ricky and a Rich; two Carloses; Two Marshalls; two Jims; and three Mikes. There’s Wally, Melvin and Ruben. There’s Johnson and Nixon.

 

Narrowing this group down to a top 10 is especially difficult for the very reason so many candidates exist: Popular numbers are the realm of unpopular players. Wedged between Wright and Reyes; between Olerud and Kranepool, six is the official address of the Met scrub.

Now on with the countdown.

 

10 (tie): Jeff Keppinger and Ruben Gotay. I’m including these two together not only because they were traded for one another, but because the two of them help illuminate how lame the second base situation for the Mets has been since they told Edgardo Alfonzo to beat it back in 2002.

 

No matter whether they spent big for guys like Kaz Matsui and Luis Castillo, the Mets in this era always wind up giving a ton of innings to easy-come, easy-goers like Keppinger and Gotay. These two however could actually hit: by batting average in fact Gotay ranks second and Keppinger third among all guys ever to wear No.6 for the Mets.

 

9: The man who ranked first for all time highest batting average as a Met No. 6,  Bob Johnson. The Mets have had two Bob Johnsons – I’m referring to the infielder in 1967, not the pitcher of 1969. This guy, Bob W. Johnson, was scooped up on waivers from the Orioles in May of ’67 and proceeded to hit .348 over 246 plate appearances that season while filling in at all four infield positions.

Bing Devine, the general manager who acquired Johnson, was shrewd enough to know he couldn’t count on a repeat performance in 1968 and so did a most un-Metly thing trading him while his stock was high, that October, to the Reds for Art Shamsky.

 

Number 8 is Mike Marshall, not the pitcher of 1974, the outfielder/first baseman of 1990. There was almost nothing redeeming to the Mets career of Mike Marshall, other than being notable for the guy we got for Juan Samuel in a trade, which was good, and the guy who replaced Keith Hernandez at first base, which was, obviously, very bad. Marshall played so poorly he was benched, had it out with manager Bud Harrelson, then after getting off the disabled list with gastrointestinal inflammation, was shipped off to Boston for a few warm minor league bodies. It troubles me to admit he reminds me in some ways of Jeff Francoeur: A tall, right-handed white guy with a dangerous but unreliable bat.

 

Darryl Boston, who began his Mets career wearing No. 7 but switched to wearing No. 6 when Hubie Brooks was reacquired in 1991, comes in at number 7. There is nothing particularly notable about Boston, other than that whole rape allegation thing, but he was competent outfielder and that alone makes him notable among Mets.

 

At number 6, we have a throwback player, Joe Orsulak, who looked like he was thrown back to the 19^th century. Manning a corner outfield slot for three years on a semi-regular basis, Orsulak compiled 17 home runs and 114 RBI wearing no. 6 – the second-most in both categories among Met No. 6s, believe it or not – but was best-known as a Jersey guy with a reckless style and maximum effort. If Al Leiter was the Mets’ Bruce Springsteen, than Orsulak was its Southside Johnny.

 

 

The previously mentioned, first No. 6 ever, Jim Marshall, comes in at No. 5. This guy had only 35 plate appearances by the time the Mets traded him, but whacked three home runs and a double in that period. He was slugging 656 when they traded him, no Met No. 6 has ever come close. Marshall by the way hit just 220 for the Pirates and slugged only 350, the rest of the ’62 season, his last as a big-league player. The Mets would encounter him next as the manager of the Chicago Cubs in 1974, 75 and 76.

 

 

At number 4, a Venezuelan soccer player who arrived with the Mets by way of Houston and Taiwan: Melvin Mora.  In his 1999 rookie year he had a hand in more critical plays than might ever have been expected of a defensive replacement hitting .161: He scored the run that forced a one-game playoff with Cincinnati. His throw from left field to nail Jay Bell at home plate in the eighth inning of the decisive Game 4 of the Division Series against Arizona proved one of the most pivotal defensive plays in Met history.

 

The Mets however never seemed to know what to do with Mora, whose ability to play so many positions undermined his efforts to establish himself at one and forever tempted the Mets to put him where he’d be better off not venturing. When Rey Ordonez was injured in 2000, the Mets called on Mora to fill the hole at shortstop, only to lose their confidence in him when he made a crucial error to cost them a game, and send them scrambling to trade him for surer hands. Mora of course went to Baltimore for Mike Bordick, who never solved the Mets shortstop void. Mora in the meantime is still playing for the Orioles, still wearing No. 6, and has averaged 19 home runs and 80 RBI a year for 9 straight years.

 

Our No. 3 all-time Metliest No. 6 arrived just as suddenly as Mora, and like Mora, would play an important role in a Met playoff drive. But no amount of abrupt heroics will ever redeem Timo Perez for loafing around the bases in Game 1 of the 2000 World Series, getting needlessly thrown at home plate in a play that does not get nearly enough credit in the annals of all-time baseball fuckups. There’s not a fan of either team who doesn’t believe to this day that the momentum in that series was established on that very play. I’m still angry about it.

 

Then there was Al Weis, who gave the Mets four seasons of suboptimal regular-season play, and a single resplendent World Series. Weis, who came over from the White Sox in the Tommie Agee trade, was a skinny reserve middle infielder who rarely showed any power, or much else. His OPS + in 1969 was 53, meaning, he was 47% below comparable player ranks. And that was his best regular season.

 

He nevertheless hit the game-tying home run in the seventh inning of the Mets’ decisive Game 5 of the 1969 World Series, and was 5-for-11 with a homer, three RBI and four walks in the series – that’s 455 .563 .727 1.290  in slash numbers. After the series Weis was presented with the Babe Ruth Award, a World Series MVP given each winter by the New York baseball writers chapter that is separate from the traditional Series MVP presented after the final game; Donn Clendennon took the better-known Series MVP prize in ’69.

 

That leads us to the all-time Number 1, No. 6, filthy little second baseman Wally Backman, who, were it not for exceptional grit and a champion in manager Davey Johnson, might well have suffered the same fleeting fate of the 37 other men who have worn the No. 6 jersey.

 

After hitting .548 as a 17-year-old high school shortstop in Beaverton, Oregon, the Mets selected Backman in the first round of the 1977 amateur draft (Mookie Wilson went in the second round). Listed at 5-foot-9 and 160 pounds, Backman relied on hustle, a good batting eye and nominal switch-hitting skills — he consistently struggled from the right side — to reach the majors by 1980. But physical calamities and his own fiery temper kept him from staying there.

 

He debuted in September of 1980 (wearing No. 28), hitting .323 as a replacement for the injured Doug Flynn at second base, but he railed at being stuck behind veteran Frank Taveras at shortstop in 1981, and briefly staged a retirement when sent to the minors that season. In 1982, Backman split time with Bob Bailor at second base but was lost for the season after breaking his collarbone in a bicycle accident — at least that’s what the papers said. In 1983, frustrated at backing up the smoother-fielding yet weaker hitting Brian Giles, Backman was yo-yo’ed between New York and the Tidewater farm club three times in the season’s first two months and publicly campaigned for a trade.

 

Yet that demotion, in may of 1983, turned out to be the break his career needed, pairing him up at Tidewater with Davey Johnson, a believer in offense who would become the Met manager in 1984. “The Mets sent down Backman and Ron Gardenhire and kept Brian Giles and Jose Oquendo,” Johnson said, “and I thought they improved my ballclub and hurt theirs.”

 

With Johnson installed at Shea Stadium in ’84, Backman finally got a chance to play every day and rewarded his manager’s faith with the best stretch of his career during the Mets best era. Paired with Lenny Dykstra atop the Met lineup, the two diminutive speedsters terrorized opposing pitchers while setting up the big guns that followed. Though often platooned – Backman was a .164 hitter as a Met from the right side as opposed to .306 from the left – he always seemed to find his way into a key spot in a tight game. Traded to Minnesota following the 1989 season, Backman left behind a .283 career batting average and a .353 on-base percentage over nine years with the Mets.

 

Gwreck wonders: Pending Phil Humber getting into a game, there will be no fewer than 10 (!) uniform numbers that were issued to more than one player during this 2006 season.

20 - Victor Diaz, Shawn Green
22 - Xavier Nady, Michael Tucker
25 - Kazuo Matsui, Pedro Feliciano
32 - Jeremi Gonzalez, Eli Marrero, Dave Williams
34 - Jorge Julio, Mike Pelfrey
36 - Henry Owens, Kelly Stinnett
39 - Pedro Feliciano, Roberto Hernandez
43 - Bartolome Fortunato, Royce Ring
49 - Roberto Hernandez, Phil Humber (pending)
59 - Alay Soler, Guillermo Mota

I'm pretty sure that's a record.

It's not! As with many season records concerning the Met population, 1967 dominates. In that year the Mets ran out a record 54 players, including 15 sets of like-number-wearing teammates, including four-of-a-kind at 38 (unfortunately, they weren't Aces). In the example below, Nolan Ryan assumes Humber's place as the rookie pitcher who saw no game action but occupied a jersey.

2 - Chuck Hiller, Phil Linz
5- Sandy Alomar, Ed Charles
6- Bob Johnson, Bart Shirley
18- Al Luplow, Joe Moock
19- Kevin Collins, Hawk Taylor
24- Johnny Lewis, Ken Boswell
26- Bob Shaw, Bill Graham
29- Danny Frisella, Nick Willhite
30- Dick Selma, Nolan Ryan
32- Jack Hamilton, Hal Reniff
33- Chuck Estrada, Bob Hendley
34- Jack Lamabe, Cal Koonce
35- Don Shaw, Billy Wynne
38- Ralph Terry, Dennis Bennett, Billy Wynne, Billy Connors
44- Bill Denehy, Al Schmelz

And there you have it. Great question!

In case you didn't see it, MBTN's meeting with the brilliant Paul Lukas of Uni Watch was published this week -- there's no higher recognition for a uni-centric web site. Be warned: Some language is not suitable for adults!