Earlier this week I posed the question ” Who is you least favorite Met of all time ? “. The names that were bandied about bridged the obvious (Bobby Bonilla) to the surprising ( John Franco). But the three names that were mentioned the most were Bobby Bonilla, Vince Coleman and Oliver Perez.
Well now I am going to ask what might be considered a harder question . Who is your all time favorite Met ? Is he one of the obvious choices such as Seaver, Wright or Piazza ? Perhaps it might be some one from the ’86 team like Hernandez , Ronnie or perhaps El Sid. Maybe it is one of our two back to back Rookie of The Year winners , Doc and Straw. Or maybe it’s a player that helped turn this team from lovable losers to world champions ( Kooseman, Swoboda, Agee or Cleon). Is it a player who took the field during the dark times such as Maz, Hendu, Lockwood ,Swanie , Kong or Kranepool ? Was it one the few spark plugs that propelled the team like Lenny Dykstra, Jose Reyes or Tug McGraw? Maybe your player is from off the beaten patch ( Andy Hassler) or maybe he was a head scratcher ( Rey Sanchez) Is it a person who had a cup of coffee with the Mets before fading into obscurity ( Dick Stuart) ?
So who is your all time favorite Met ? I think my guy is pretty obvious !
” What ? You thought it was Rick Cerone?”
And with that said… HERE COMES THE INFAMY !!!!!!
Mets alumni celebrating birthdays today are:
Today would have been Jimmy Piersall’s 81st birthday (1929) He will forever be remembered for running the bases backwards when he hit his 100th homerun. Casey Stengel promptly had him released after the game.
Spot starter/ long reliever from ’64-’66,Darrell Sutherland is 69 (1941).
Middle reliever from the ’06 season, Tim Hamulack is 34 (1976) .
Mets outfielder from the ’06 season, Xavier Nady is 32(1978) . I still haven’t forgiven Duaner Sanchez for getting into the car accident !!
Sadly on this date in 2004 , one time Mets catcher, Jesse Gonder passed away
In what was a very sad day to be a met fan – The New York Mets released Gary Carter on November 14, 1989. Carter’s knees had eroded to the point hat he could barely run let alone catch or hit. We all knew this was the end of him in a Mets uniform but it was still melancholy to say the least .
Atlanta Braves signed back up infielder, Jorge Velandia of the New York Mets as a free agent on November 14, 2003.
And while you are watching the Jets murder the Browns today ( while wearing your Mo Vaughn Mets Jersey – Just remember ! There are just 138 days until the Mets open the 2011 season against the Florida Marlins in Miami and 145 days until the Mets 2011 home opener against the Washington Nationals at Citi Field !!!
9 comments
rustyjr
11/14/2010-12:08pm at 12:08 pm (UTC -4)
Heyman is reporting Hurdle to the Pirates
GravediggerHebner
11/14/2010-12:19pm at 12:19 pm (UTC -4)
I am old enough to have seen Tom Seaver pitch for the Mets prior to being traded to the Reds but just young enough to have missed most of the greatness he provided in the late 60′s and early 70′s. Much of his legend had already been established before I started following the sport and this team.
My favorite Met is Keith Hernandez. I was in my late teens when Hernandez arrived and amazed at what a good, intense, well rounded player he was. I knew he was good as a Cardinal but the chance to see him every day really opened my eyes to just how good.
Since becoming a Mets fan over the course of the ’74-’75 seasons I hadn’t seen many of those good players. Lee Mazzilli was the guy I thought was my favorite until Hernandez came along and taught me what a good player really was.
I’ve rooted for every guy that’s ever worn the Mets uniform since I became aware of the team but Hernandez helped take my understanding of and passion for the game to another level.
kingman 26
11/14/2010-12:47pm at 12:47 pm (UTC -4)
1–Keith Hernandez–Leader of the greatest team and the greatest era. Excellent hitter, incredible fielder, and perfect team leader.
2–Tom Seaver–Greatest Met ever, leader of the other title team, classy pro for great teams and not-so-great teams.
3–Dave Kingman–Jackass off the field, one-dimensional player, but hey, when I was 10 and 11, his homers were majestic.
stickguy
11/14/2010-1:44pm at 1:44 pm (UTC -4)
Tug. And I have a fondness for guys from the mid-late 70s teams, which is when I really got hooked. Not sure I have a favorite though.
rustyjr
11/14/2010-1:49pm at 1:49 pm (UTC -4)
You are impossible to please lol
stickguy
11/14/2010-2:09pm at 2:09 pm (UTC -4)
I didn’t mean that I didn’t really like any of them. Just that off the top of my head this many years later, I can’t pick one out of the crowd to be a favorite!
Boisclair and Doug Flynn are high no the list.
Mr North Jersey
11/14/2010-1:54pm at 1:54 pm (UTC -4)
The Met I most enjoyed would probably be HoJo and Cone.
metsfan4decades
11/14/2010-6:19pm at 6:19 pm (UTC -4)
Even though I go back to ’68 as a Met fan, my favorite player to date still is Keith Hernandez.
He was all about baseball and nothing but baseball back in the day. I don’t know what his intelligence quotient is but his baseball IQ is genius. He knew how to play the game, knew how to do the little things that sometimes made all the difference.
He just had that extra little something – what I suspect some would call ‘heart’ or ‘grit’ today. Of course, Keith also had the talent to go along with it.
stickguy
11/14/2010-7:04pm at 7:04 pm (UTC -4)
psst. the little extra something was came in the form of a white powder!
Hey, many people are claiming Wally can’t be manager since he had a DUI.