" He's number one on my list !!"
First off I would like to wish everbody a Happy Winter Solistice. I hope you were able to catch last nights Lunar Eclipse.
With that said, I admit that it has been very hard to write about new Mets related topics on a consistent basis so far in this off season. To be a Mets fan right now means to have the patience of a saint and the mental makeup of a marine. So for all pf you that hasn’t gone off the reservation I salute you !!
So with the recent drought of any Mets news of any relevancy , I was wondering who were the most overlooked outfielders in the almost fifty year history of the Mets.You know the guys who would come up with the timely hit but weren’t considered superstars out side of either the Polo Grounds, Shea Stadium or now Citi Field. These are the blue collar players who rarely got the big contracts names replica jersey’s with their names on the back and will never have their numbers retired or their names etched in bronze in the Hall Of Fame in Cooperstown New York.
Here are my top 10 Mets outfielders of all time. Let me know if you agree, disagree or make a case of who I should have included or excluded .
10.Endy Chavez : He will always be remembered for the catch in the ’06 NLCS. But he was one of the biggest offensive threats coming off that Mets bench that season.
09. Hubie Brooks : Hubie will always be better remembered as a third baseman for the Mets . But he did play alot of outfield in his tenure with the Mets.
08:Art Shamsky: The other half of the right-field platoon which included Ron Swoboda. Shamsky could hit for power and he was a decent defensive threat in the outfield.
07. Derek Bell : He was the key to the Mets outfield during the ’00 season. And I maintain that the Mets could have beaten the Yankees if he was able to play during the World Series.
06. Benny Agbayani: The original ” Flyin Hawaiian. He was a decent outfielder who was a streaky hitter , but we loved him regardless.
05.Lenny Randle: I dare you to name another Mets outfielder on that ‘years team that was as menacing as he was.
04. Kevin Mitchell : Watch out or he will cut you !!
03: George Theodore: ” The Stork ” was – and still is one of the most beloved Mets outfielders of all time. He wasn’t anywhere near the best , but he played his heart out !!
02: Steve Henderson: He was probably the brightest spot during the darkest period of Mets history. He even finished second to Andre Dawson in the ’77 Rookie of the Year voting. He had speed he had power , he just couldn’t maintain being healthy and by the end on the ’80 season he was gone.
And the number one most overlooked Mets outfielder of all time is Lee Mazzilli !!! Lee had it all, speed, power, really good plate discipline and a cannon for a arm. In my opinion he should have been considered one of the top five outfielders in all of baseball from ’77-’80 but hey I admit I am biased.
And with that said… HERE COMES THE INFAMY !!!!!
One of the folk heroes from those late ’70′s years of decay teams, third baseman/ outfielder, Elliott Maddox is 63 (1947) .
One of the best raw power hitter that would ever grace a Mets uniform . You know him as Kong, Kingy, Sky King , or as the beat writer called him ” Rat Bastard”. But his wife and family know him as Dave Arthur Kingman. And he is 62 (1948) .
One of the Best relievers that this organization had ever seen – and king of the Hot Foot, Roger McDowell is 50 (1960) .
Reliever Royce Ring is 30 (1980). We received him from the Chicago White Sox when we traded the epic fail that was Roberto Alomar. We also got in return mediocre middle reliever Edwin Almonte.
One time Mets pitching prospect,Philip Humber is 28 (1982). Thank goodness that we were able to trade him to the Twins for Johan Santana. He was recently picked up on waivers by the Kansas City Royals.
Sadly on this day in ’07, pitcher from the ’67 season, Jack Lamabe, passed away.
Colorado Rockies signed Daryl Boston of the New York Mets as a free agent on December 21, 1992. And so I guess the word short best describes the tenure for the first player who the Mets tried to replace Daryl Strawberry with. And it mercifully had come to a end.
New York Mets signed free agent pitcher, Pat Mahomes on December 21, 1998. Mahomes was the early version of Darren Oliver. He was used primarily as a reliever during his tenure for the Mets. But he was used alot in mop up duty and was great for spot starts.
Utility infielder and cousin of Kurt Russell, Matt Franco was granted free agency on December 21, 2000.
Houston Astros signed C. J. Nitkowski of the New York Mets as a free agent on December 21, 2001.Nitkowski has turned into this generations Ken Brett, playing for the majority of the teams in the major leagues. He currently is still pitching overseas and has a great twitter account.
Minnesota Twins signed pitcher, Pat Strange of the New York Mets as a free agent on December 21, 2004.
New York Mets signed free agent reliever, Chad Bradford of the Boston Red Sox on December 21, 2005. Bradford was one of the unsung heroes from the ’06 team. It still angers me that Omar wouldn’t come to terms on a multi year contract, but he would sign Scott Schoeneweiss for the same Kindo of contract that Bradford was asking for.
New York Mets signed free agent knuckleballer, R. A. Dickey of the Minnesota Twins on December 21, 2009.Robert Allen Dickey was definitely the sleeper move of last season. It is on record that I was one of the first bloggers to rip Omar for this signing. Boy was I wrong.
And while you continue you to obsess and fret on the lack of moves that the Mets have made this off season thus far , just remember that there are just 101 days until the Mets open the 2011 season against the Florida Marlins in Miami and 108 days until the Mets 2011 home opener against the Washington Nationals at Citi Field.
Does anybody know where Mo Vaughn can get a quadruple extra large diaper ? He has been asked to play Baby New Year at Terry Collins New Years Rocking Eve Bash this year !!
19 comments
njstuckintx
12/21/2010-7:29am at 7:29 am (UTC -4)
Loved me some Kevin Mitchell. Did not want him to go.
On a side note, came across this article. I’ve linked the 2nd page, but both are good reads.
http://www.patrickfloodblog.com/2010/12/2011-mets-trade-value-part-two.html
I found it interesting how high he put Ike. Most everyone I see comments from places Mejia over Ike. I’d still put Niese over Ike, & maybe Pelfrey over Ike… maybe.
metsfan4decades
12/21/2010-10:07am at 10:07 am (UTC -4)
I read part one the other day and part two just now.
I was ready to jump in and argue…er, debate – many points until I realized the point of the series ‘Trade Value’. Now I get it.
I’m a little curious about the high ranking for FMart on his B list. Flood is just about the only one I’ve read who still thinks this kid can put it together.
As far as Ike/Niese/Pelf…I would think good, young controllable pitchers would always rank higher than a rookie first baseman, especially one who wasn’t rank as a start in the minors and doesn’t project to be a star by many in the majors. Don’t get me wrong…I like Ike and think he’s probably more valuable to the Mets right now than many other teams but I can’t predict how he’s going to pan out this year.
I remember Ralph Kiner being down on Ike and his swing one day late in the season. He implied something about Ike not being willing to change some approach he has – almost to the point of Ralph had some information Ike was being stubborn about it. Ralph went on to compare Duda’s swing and approach as being much more suited to success at the ML level.
stickguy
12/21/2010-10:18am at 10:18 am (UTC -4)
and you all wonder why I am so high on Duda! Keith also had nice things to say about his swing.
There was an interview with Ike recently where he actually said that one reason he improved later in the year was by making some adjustments to his swing, and that he was working in th eoff season to tighten it up.
not very common that a player will try to rework a swing on the fly during the season (something that is really a large undertaking). Much better to do it in the off seaosn so you have time to getting it perfected.
metsfan4decades
12/21/2010-11:17am at 11:17 am (UTC -4)
Yeah, Ralph was almost to the point of gushing over Duda’s swing. Said something about it being natural or that someone either taught him well and he payed attention.
I can’t remember the whole conversation in the booth that day but Ralph sounded almost annoyed at Ike, like he had some inside information that he was being stubborn in not wanting to adjust – something to do with his hands. I really don’t remember if it was Aug or Sep but as was pointed out, Ike had a much better Sep so maybe he did take some advice to heart.
Ceetar
12/21/2010-11:31am at 11:31 am (UTC -4)
#1 rule of Moneyball, don’t believe something you hear just because it came from someone who played.
Ralph and Keith can like Duda’s swing better than Ike’s all they want, but that doesn’t mean anything about how successful either will be.
stickguy
12/21/2010-11:56am at 11:56 am (UTC -4)
then rule #2 is that numbers don’t lie. ANd the numbers said Duda hit exceptionally well last year, and has always showed excellent plate discipline (K and BB rates), which is a strong indicator of being able to hit in the bigs.
Ceetar
12/21/2010-12:01pm at 12:01 pm (UTC -4)
Indeed, the ‘batting eye’ is mentioned in moneyball as something that’s “impossible” to learn. You can teach/acquire power and other abilities, but walking is not something one can drastically change, or as easily.
metsfan4decades
12/21/2010-9:42am at 9:42 am (UTC -4)
I loved Art Shamsky, back in the day. As a young Met fan, what did I know about talent and stats? Probably the reason he was my favorite from that era, along with Buddy Harrelson.
I’m in agreement with your #1 – Lee Mazzilli. He didn’t come over until late ’86, but I was happy we got him back for that stretch run that year as well.
Kevin Mitchell was very good too. That was some OF that summer of ’86.
Endy will always be immortalized for ‘The Catch’. He’s got a metal figure of that catch at Citi, if I’m not mistaken (not that I’ve been there to see it yet). I caught MLB network’s ‘the 75 greatest catches of all time’. Guess what was #4? Our very own Endy and that catch. Mets didn’t blow that game and went on to the WS, he might have been rated #2. MLB’s #1 was that Willie Mays catch….
Ceetar
12/21/2010-10:04am at 10:04 am (UTC -4)
yeah, it’s the entrance to the LF gate. RF is Swoboda.
fongy2
12/21/2010-10:11am at 10:11 am (UTC -4)
Great job Rustoleum!!!…Any Lee Maz mentions are big in my world!
As I’ve stated many times before, my favorite All time Met who likely
kept me from being one of those kids who flip/flopped to the Yanks
in the late 70s. Also, a great guy! I relayed my Lee Maz story before
so i won’t go into it again BUT the signed game used ball on one of my shelves is my most prized sports collectable. As Brock and I have discussed here before, he was robbed of the MVP in that ’79
Allstar game. Ya know, it was just really right that he got to be part
of that ’86 team!….AND while he got back late in the season, he had
some huge ABs in that post season. Wow!….So friggin long ago!
stickguy
12/21/2010-10:15am at 10:15 am (UTC -4)
Bruce Boisclair. Loved his stnace. Back in the 70′s, a friend and I used to mimic it hitting balls in the back yard.
and one of my personal favorites, Pepe manguel. For some reason, I always remember him having a much better year than he did, but in those days, the bar was set pretty low. And I loved the name, and I think his big latin Fro (like Nino Espinosa, remember that head of hair?).
also, thanks for mentioning Bell, a very good hitter (certainly near the top in the OF list at the time). Also a reason the urban myth about Bobby V (getting a rag tag OF to the WS) bugs me, since Bell was the starter all year. That, and having a 2B and C with a combined OPS of 1.00+ is often an overlooked reason!
saltygary
12/21/2010-1:19pm at 1:19 pm (UTC -4)
I would kick Derek Bell to the house boat and put Timo Perez in his place. The Mets were getting lifeless and tired and Timo was called up in September and set the team on fire. He had this amazing inside the park HR with a week left in the season and just created this wave of energy that helped propel the team through the post season and into the WS.
I firmly believe if Timo wasn’t on that team they would of never made it past the cards. Also don’t forget it was Timo’s first AB that broke Rick Ankiel.
wannybackstra
12/21/2010-2:09pm at 2:09 pm (UTC -4)
Without question the answer is the unfairly maligned Kevin McReynolds whose first stint produced a 5 year period of .273 .331 .463, which in those days was good enough for an OPS+ of 122.
njstuckintx
12/21/2010-2:21pm at 2:21 pm (UTC -4)
I can’t figure out if it is the fact I wanted Mitchell to be the everyday left fielder, McReynolds disposition or the feeling of his un-clutchness that turns me to a maligner of McReynolds.
If memory serves, his glove was decent too. Too bad he was Kevin McReynolds.
wannybackstra
12/21/2010-3:55pm at 3:55 pm (UTC -4)
The splits reveal that the matter of his “clutchness” was one of first impression. He was terrible in 1987 (I look at slash lines for RISP, Close and Late and High Leverage). He was fantastic from 1988-1990.
njstuckintx
12/21/2010-4:08pm at 4:08 pm (UTC -4)
You never get a second chance at a first impression, or so the shampoo commercial did say…
wannybackstra
12/21/2010-4:14pm at 4:14 pm (UTC -4)
That commercial inspired me to the clean shaven head I rock today. I will make no such mistakes with my shampoo choices.
stickguy
12/21/2010-4:16pm at 4:16 pm (UTC -4)
don’t forget the sunscreen though!
I was bald for a brief period. Saved a lot of time in the mornings getting ready for work.
wannybackstra
12/21/2010-2:17pm at 2:17 pm (UTC -4)
Also in the category maligned is Bobby Bonilla, who did not perform to expectations but still performed a lot better than for what he is given credit.
He hit .270 .356 .495 in his five seasons (OPS+ of 127) and that includes his pathetic second stint of 119 lost at bats on the bench.