Well there is just under a week to go until rosters are set and the games are once again meaningful. And when it came to choosing who was most deserving of players/ managers or coaches in Mets history to ever wear the number five, well I was stumped. I guess the most obvious choice at this juncture in time would be the face of the franchise, David Wright. But there other men who have wore this jersey that might be considered more deserving. How’s about former manager Davey Johnson? He brought this team out of the dark times that were the late ’70′s – early ’80′s . He injected a the aura of invincibility that was sorely missed after the death of Gil Hodges. What about John Olerud ? He was possibly the best first baseman behind Keith Hernandez to have ever played for the Mets. You have other names , some deserving ( Ed Charles, Sandy Alomar when he was a player) some not so deserving (Joe Foy). But the fact still remains that these men are the fabric of Mets history. Here is a list I got from www.mbtn.com and you tell me who you think is most deserving in today’s countdown.
player Start Date End Date Position
Hobie Landrith Apr 9 1962 May 8 1962 Catcher
Joe Pignatano Jul 13 1962 Sep 30 1962 Catcher
Norm Sherry Apr 9 1963 Sep 29 1963 Catcher
Chris Cannizzaro Apr 11 1965 Oct 2 1965 Catcher
Shaun Fitzmaurice Aug 31 1966 Oct 1 1966 Outfield
Sandy Sr. Alomar Apr 10 1967 May 22 1967 Second base
Third base
Shortstop
Ed Charles May 23 1967 Oct 15 1969 First base
Third base
Joe Foy Apr 7 1970 Oct 1 1970 Third base
Francisco Estrada Sep 14 1971 Sep 30 1971 Catcher
Jim Beauchamp May 11 1972 Oct 21 1973 First base
Outfield
Jim Gosger Aug 3 1974 Oct 1 1974 Outfield
Jerry Moses Apr 8 1975 Apr 28 1975 Did Not Play
Mike Phillips May 3 1975 Jun 15 1977 Second base
Third base
Shortstop
Steve Henderson Jun 15 1977 Oct 5 1980 Outfield
Mike Howard Sep 11 1981 Apr 24 1983 Second base
Outfield
Davey Johnson Apr 2 1984 May 29 1990 Manager
Charlie OBrien Apr 8 1991 Oct 6 1991 Catcher
Jeff McKnight Apr 25 1992 Oct 4 1992 First base
Second base
Third base
Shortstop
Outfield
Jeromy Burnitz Jul 20 1993 Aug 11 1994 Outfield
Brook Fordyce Apr 26 1995 May 15 1995 Catcher
Chris Jones May 15 1995 Sep 29 1996 First base
Outfield
John Olerud Apr 1 1997 Oct 19 1999 First base
Mark Johnson May 14 2000 Jul 29 2000 First base
Outfield
Tsuyoshi Shinjo Apr 3 2001 Oct 7 2001 Outfield
Mark Johnson Apr 1 2002 Jun 4 2002 First base
Outfield
Tsuyoshi Shinjo Mar 31 2003 Jun 28 2003 Outfield
David Wright Jul 21 2004 Third base
And with that said….. HERE COMES THE INFAMY !!!
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                                                        ” Is David the most deserving #5?”
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Happy Birthday wishes go out to pitcher Bill Denehy.(1946) Bill pitched the ’67 season for the Mets going 1-7 with a e.r.a of 4.70
Reliever from the dark times that were the early “80′s , Tom Hausman is 57 today. ( 1953)
New York Mets traded fan favorite, outfielder Ron Swoboda and infield prospect Rich Hacker to the Montreal Expos  for outfielder, Don Hahn on March 31, 1971.
New York Mets signed free agent pitcher Ray Sadecki on March 31, 1977.
New York Mets traded pitcher Juan Berenguer to the Kansas City Royals for outfield prospect Marvell Wynne and pitching prospect John Skinner, on March 31, 1981.
New York Mets traded prospect Alan Zinter to the Detroit Tigers for future star first baseman, Rico Brogna,on March 31, 1994.
New York Mets traded outfielder Ryan Thompson and pitcher Reid Cornelius to the Cleveland Indians for reliever Mark Clark on March 31, 1996. Thompson never lived up to the hype when he came over in the David Cone deal, Reid Cornelius was nondescript, the same could be said about Mark Clark.
New York Mets traded middle infielder Tim Bogar to the Houston Astros for utility infielder, Luis Lopez on March 31, 1997.
New York Mets claimed reliever Yorkis Perez on waivers from the Atlanta Braves on March 31, 1997.
New York Mets signed free agent catcher Mike DiFelice  on March 31, 2005. Mike is currently managing in the Mets farm system.
New York Mets signed free agent outfielder ( and Yankee scum)Â Rickey Ledee on March 31, 2007.
New York Mets released Tony Armas on March 31, 2009. I wonder if he is still available to pitch?
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And don’t forget there are just 5 David Wright days until the Mets open the 2010 season against the Florida Marlins at Citi Field.
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( hat tip goes out to http://www.mbtn.net/Â )
17 comments
prismo
3/31/2010-5:41am at 5:41 am (UTC -4)
Probably Davey, then Wright, then Olerud…for me at least.
metsfan4decades
3/31/2010-7:34am at 7:34 am (UTC -4)
Same here. Without Davey, there was no 1986…
darknova306
3/31/2010-6:03am at 6:03 am (UTC -4)
As I didn’t start watching baseball until the end of the Davey Johnson era, coupled with my only fond memories of high school involving that ’99 Mets team, I’d have to go with Olerud here. I loved watching him play and 1B wasn’t the same for years after he left.
rustyjr
3/31/2010-6:57am at 6:57 am (UTC -4)
i WENT WITH DAVID BECAUSE he is the current face of the Franchise – I was heavily leaning to davey but all decisions are final – come again !
darknova306
3/31/2010-7:03am at 7:03 am (UTC -4)
Fair enough. :p
rustyjr
3/31/2010-7:04am at 7:04 am (UTC -4)
i wanna see the shlub that picks joe foy lol – I have a feeling it eould be mr fwicg lol
metsfan4decades
3/31/2010-7:44am at 7:44 am (UTC -4)
As I said about, I’d have to go with Davey over DWright by a small margin. Without Davey, there is no 1986.
Wright will own #5 when all is said and done.
So many memories here in this post.
Ron Swoboda and ’69 – I still remember watching that catch in the series. As a young fan, I actually though he was a spectacular OF – lol. That he wasn’t but not from lack of trying.
stickguy
3/31/2010-7:51am at 7:51 am (UTC -4)
Go with Shinjo since he is on the list twice.
stickguy
3/31/2010-8:15am at 8:15 am (UTC -4)
If anyone sees Kingman (look at the local bar, I think he is crying in his beer), tell him I am interviewing for a new co-driver for the float. It looks like he has crossed over to the dark side, and that I am the last person left standing (well, maybe Ceeter too) that hasn’t officially written off the season before it has even started.
Yeah, woe is me, the pitching sucks, waa waa waa. MOP combined won’t win 2 games, I got the memo.
Sorry, the silliness and negativity gets on my nerves sometimes. Also sucks most of the enjoyment out of coming here (and elsewhere) to have interesting, constructive discussions.
And no, this does not mean that I think everything is perfect. It would have been nice to see more production from the SPs, but it really is ST, and there is no guarantee they will ptich the same once the regular season starts. I expect them to settle in and be much better. I also don’t expect Figgy, Dessens and Misch (the best ST pitchers) to be battling for the Cy Young this year.
The pen will also sort itself out. Asusming, of course, Jerry doesn’t foul it up beyond fixing.
The team can hit, and should score runs, especially when Beltran gets back. And some of MOP will settle in and at least pitch to their talent level.
And if MOP really is this bad? Well, then you will be seeing other guys getting their starts, which seems to be what everyone is wishing for (and railing on Omar for not bringing in different pitchers in the off season).
If they can avoid having 5 of their top players down at the same time this year, I see no reason they won’t at least get back to the win level of 2007-2008, but I expect a touch better. So predicting 88-90 wins. I think it is doable. Less if the year is a train wreck, more if the Karma goods make up for some of the pain the fans have gone through recently.
Actually, considering how immature and flat out nasty many of the fans have been (at least the ones that are fervid enough to be posting on blogs), the Karma gods will probably be letting a swarm of Locusts loose on citi filed any day now.
Some of these people don’t even seem to like baseball, apparently detest the Mets, and just seem like depressing people to talk to.
If you can’t enjoy watching the games if the Mets aren’t the runaway favorite to win it all, give up, since you will probably never get your wish.
OK, got that off my chest.
The regular season really does need to start soon.
trs86
3/31/2010-8:22am at 8:22 am (UTC -4)
Hey do I not count at all?
Seriously?
rustyjr
3/31/2010-8:30am at 8:30 am (UTC -4)
I’ve become more positive myself
darknova306
3/31/2010-8:27am at 8:27 am (UTC -4)
Having serious concerns about the team doesn’t mean we can’t still enjoy the games. I guess if someone has written off the season and will just be pissed off the whole year, that’s kinda ridiculous.
I have little faith in the rotation, but I’ll enjoy watching the team play regardless.
metsfan4decades
3/31/2010-8:34am at 8:34 am (UTC -4)
Love the optimism….wish I could still be there.
As darknova said, doesn’t mean I don’t love this team, doesn’t mean I won’t watch every game. Just means I think our pitching staff as currently constructed is a big, red flag. All signs point to it so it’s kind of hard to ignore that.
Will they all flip a switch suddenly come next week? It’s possible. All we’re saying right now is the odds are not looking good. When all we’ve got is what we’ve seen in ST so far, you can’t fault anyone for being very worried about these pitchers…..
stickguy
3/31/2010-9:03am at 9:03 am (UTC -4)
It was sad losing you and Kingman to the dark forces on the same day.
gategem
3/31/2010-9:21am at 9:21 am (UTC -4)
I’ve decided to be positive and hereby guarantee that the season will be saved by Jeurys Familia. Familia is learning a change to go along with his impressive fastball. Presently he has an equal chance of hitting the catcher’s glove or the back-stop with the change but none-the-less he will be the man to catapult this team to a WS championship this year. I’m now off to breakfast with Tinker Bell. (j/k)
stickguy
3/31/2010-9:26am at 9:26 am (UTC -4)
well, at least it will keep batters from digging in to hard!
metsgirl31
3/31/2010-9:33am at 9:33 am (UTC -4)
I’m still here…mildly concerned about the pitching but its a long season and anything can happen.