" At#49 Cliff Floyd !! "
Yesterday we delved deep into the Mets yearbook to name Felix Millan the number 50 Top Met of all time. Today we profile a more current ex Met. A player that was so integral to the team that they nicknamed him ” Uncle Cliffy”! If you haven’t guess by now we are talking about Mets outfielder from ’03-’06 , Cliff Floyd.
Cliff Floyd signed with the New York Mets as a free agent on December 20th 2002. He played well for the Mets,when healthy . but he suffered from a number of leg injuries which limited his playing time – especially during the ’03 and ’04 season where he played in a total of 221 games. 2003 and 2004. 2005 would prove to be a career year for Cliff. He led the Mets with a career-high and club leading 34 home runs. Unfortunately during the ’06 season, Floyd was once again felled by by injuries and appeared in just 97 games . It was the year that the Mets ran away with the National League East and Cliff always seemed to spearhead every victory celebration. It was Floyd who caught the division-clinching out for the Mets, but he would only appear in six games during that post season, having only twelve plate appearances in the Mets ten postseason games.
Cliff was a positive force in the Mets clubhouse. He took younger players under his wing, such as David Wright , and tutored them on the nuances with the game. Cliff would not be re-signed after the ’06 season ended, but he has endeared himself to the Mets fan base.
Tomorrow’s featured Met was one of the finest pitchers of the late ’70′s
And with that said … HERE COMES THE INFAMY !!!!
Mets alumni celebrating birthdays today include :
The second Met to ever win the Rookie of the Year award, Jon Matlack is 61 (1950) . Although I was way to young to remember seeing Matlack pitch , it is a well known fact that he helped make that Mets rotation from ’72-’77 one of the most feared in the league .
Hard luck Mets pitcher from ’91-’93, Anthony Young is 45 (1966) It always seemed like during the ’92 and ’93 seasons that Young always pitched well enough to win . Unfortunately the offense never gave him much run support.
The Seattle Mariners signed reserve catcher, Brent Mayne of theNew York Mets as a free agent on January 19, 1997.New York Mets signed free agent starting pitcher, Allen Watson of the California Angels on January 19, 1999.
The Colorado Rockies signed relief pitcher Steve Reed of the New York Mets as a free agent on January 19, 2003. The Mets acquired Reed at the ’02 trade deadline from the San Diego Padres for pitcher, Bobby Jones, pitching prospect Josh Reynolds and some little known outfielder named Jason Bay !!
New York Mets signed free agent pitcher, Darren Oliver on January 19, 2006. This was one of Omar’s best scrap heap pick ups. Oliver was used mostly as a long man out of the pen and went 4-1 with a era of 3.44. He is currently pitching for the Texas Rangers.
And while you stay awake at night wondering if Luis Castillo and Oliver Perez will be cut by the end of spring training, just remember that there are just 72 moredays until the Mets open the 2011 season against the Florida Marlins in Miami and only 79until the Mets 2011 home opener against the Washington Nationals at Citi Field.
Mo Vaughn has a hankering for a hunk of cheese !!!
47 comments
TRS86
1/19/2011-8:03am at 8:03 am (UTC -4)
Interesting that Floyd is in the top 50 but Delgado is not.
rustyjr
1/19/2011-8:13am at 8:13 am (UTC -4)
That’s how the votes vetted out – I think the perception of Delgado being a clubhouse cancer hurt him
TRS86
1/19/2011-8:22am at 8:22 am (UTC -4)
That’s the thing with Delgado. I have yet to read one report from anyone actually involved with the team that Delgado was anything but a professional baseball player his entire career.
kingman 26
1/19/2011-8:28am at 8:28 am (UTC -4)
That’s because he wasn’t anything other than professional.
Everyone who has an issue with him is either over his personal politics, or because they are a mindless fan who believes utter drivel like “he dogged it under Willie.”
Delgado was a great player, a hugely charitable individual, a very hard worker, and by all reasonable accounts, a fine person overall.
TRS86
1/19/2011-8:30am at 8:30 am (UTC -4)
I have always gotten heated over the he dogged it for Willie junk. That’s just not going to happen. How would that benefit Delgado at all? Just silly. Conspiracy theories in general like that get me heated.
kingman 26
1/19/2011-8:33am at 8:33 am (UTC -4)
Well, we certainly agree about this; the “dogged it under Willie” thing is as stupid as the unreasonable fan ever gets.
metsfan4decades
1/19/2011-8:42am at 8:42 am (UTC -4)
I never bought into that Delgado-dogging-it-under Willie’s watch.
Read a transcript from extensive interview Rubin did the week before he went to work for ESPN. He was very candid on all things Mets. He called Delgado ‘less than honest’ (I guess a softer term than coming right out and saying he’s a liar), and implied he was more about himself than about the team.
I was kind of surprised to be reading that from Rubin but figured (a) he knew Delgado wasn’t coming back to the Mets and (b) wondered how much his personal feelings were influenced by the fact that Delgado didn’t do many interviews after games and who knew how many times he might have blew Rubin off?
TRS86
1/19/2011-8:44am at 8:44 am (UTC -4)
Waiting for Wanny to come get me on this one but personally I don’t give a damn what Rubin thinks of a future HOF.
metsfan4decades
1/19/2011-9:01am at 9:01 am (UTC -4)
Do you think Delgado gets the nod for the HOF?
I saw an article or two about that last year. Given the criteria they’re using today I would have to think he gets serious consideration.
kingman 26
1/19/2011-8:45am at 8:45 am (UTC -4)
LOL!
Rubin saying Delgado was less than honest!!
OMG, it is rare when the day’s best laugh comes at 8:45 AM, but nothing will top this today!!!
TRS86
1/19/2011-8:50am at 8:50 am (UTC -4)
You just have to wonder what would the Mets say about Rubin? Would they too say he was less than honest? I wonder who is respected more in the game of baseball Adam Rubin or Carlos Delgado?
kingman 26
1/19/2011-8:54am at 8:54 am (UTC -4)
HAHA!!
See, we really DO agree about a lot of stuff.
I could have written this comment of yours, and frnakly wish I did!!
metsfan4decades
1/19/2011-9:00am at 9:00 am (UTC -4)
Yeah, don’t get me wrong…..I don’t exactly care for Rubin either.
Prismo
1/19/2011-8:20am at 8:20 am (UTC -4)
As was pointed out yesterday, this isn’t just the best players list, but the most loved – and Cliffy holds more meaning to most Mets fans than Delgado.
TRS86
1/19/2011-8:22am at 8:22 am (UTC -4)
Question is why does Cliffy hold more meaning? 2006 was a special season and Delgado certainly had more to do with that than Cliffy. I have always thought he might be one of the most overrated Mets players ever. Speaking off, been thinking of doing a companion series to Rusty. The Most Underrated and Overrated Mets players of all time.
kingman 26
1/19/2011-8:24am at 8:24 am (UTC -4)
Well, it was just a few years, but if you followed 2005 closely, Cliff was MVP-like.
And 2006? Yeah, we have been over it, but Floyd was a great influence. As were LoDuca/Valentin/Bradford/Oliver.
TRS86
1/19/2011-8:26am at 8:26 am (UTC -4)
Not saying he was not. 2005 was a great year but I just don’t think he provided what Delgado did while he was here.
rustyjr
1/19/2011-8:26am at 8:26 am (UTC -4)
Face it the list is subjective – not everyones going to be happy with the results
TRS86
1/19/2011-8:44am at 8:44 am (UTC -4)
Oh I agree rusty. I thought the purpose though was to debate the hell out of the list and that is what I am doing
kingman 26
1/19/2011-8:46am at 8:46 am (UTC -4)
+ 100
Lakesha
2/14/2012-3:56am at 3:56 am (UTC -4)
The abiltiy to think like that is always a joy to behold
kingman 26
1/19/2011-8:22am at 8:22 am (UTC -4)
Wow, I am embarrassed to say I did not consider Cliff.
We should have HIM as 5th OF this year even if he cannot play; I bet he would end the pregame card playing pretty quickly…
TRS86
1/19/2011-8:25am at 8:25 am (UTC -4)
LOL, when you obsess over something you go for it. You nor I really know how much that stuff goes on but to think that the 2009-2010 Mets are the only team guilty of playing cards before a game is suspect at best. I am willing to bet that Floyd as a MLB vet has played in his share of card games.
I am much more concerned about the play on the field than a few card games to relax before the game. Who the hell knows, maybe Jerry insisted on it to relax them? All I am concerned about now is how they play this year, not what happen under the Mets circus that was 2008-2010.
kingman 26
1/19/2011-8:29am at 8:29 am (UTC -4)
“I am much more concerned about the play on the field than a few card games to relax before the game. ”
Ah, but these things are RELATED!!
TRS86
1/19/2011-8:31am at 8:31 am (UTC -4)
Really?
Until we have stats and win and loss records from around the league on the effects of a pregame card game I have no idea nor do I care. Just produce. If playing cards before the game leads to you producing then play the hell out of them. If they do not then throw the damn deck away. I do not think it was anymore a cause of their demise than the you have to hit it the other way or die drill that genius used in 2009.
kingman 26
1/19/2011-8:35am at 8:35 am (UTC -4)
OK, I was just using the card games as a symbol/metaphor for what I feel was the attitude of the 2010 Mets; sorry sorry sorry—I did not mean to overstate JUST the card games. OF COURSE loads of teams play cards…some just might ALSO do some serious pregame work too.
I was just referring to their overall attitude about the game, which I agree with Keith/Ron/Gary/Ojeda about.
TRS86
1/19/2011-8:40am at 8:40 am (UTC -4)
That I can agree with BUT I think that Keith/Ron/Gary/Ojeda are used to a different brand of Mets too. This is not 1986 Mets anymore. These players on the team now have been under a tremendous amount of pressure since the collapse of 2007. Like it or not it’s clear that some of our best players, Wright in particular, have struggled at various points with this pressure. Perhaps the years under Jerry the Mets tried a different approach both in the clubhouse and on the field. A more relaxed atmosphere from the Willie days. I think that has been on record as being the case based on what many observed during last year’s spring training. You could say they tried to fix a perceived problem and either it backfired or just plain did not work. At any point, I blame management much more for this than the individual player.
kingman 26
1/19/2011-8:47am at 8:47 am (UTC -4)
Agreed on all of this.
kingman 26
1/19/2011-8:31am at 8:31 am (UTC -4)
And it is not obsession; it is seeking reasons for what I saw on the field.
I still ask–are Gary Cohen, Keith Hernandez, Ron Darling, Darryl Strawberry, Howard Johnson, and Bob Ojeda ALL wrong about their assessment of the 2010 Mets?
Because that is what your attitude about it suggests.
TRS86
1/19/2011-8:36am at 8:36 am (UTC -4)
Nope, you still are not listening. At some point there is no answer for crappy play other than the team was not good enough or did not play well enough. It’s over. Lets see what the new management can get out of these players. I am tired of 2009 and 2010. Also to be honest I really don’t care what some of those guys you mentioned have to say about what the problem was. I respect them all but none of them besides Hojo are in the clubhouse day to day and frankly I don’t give a damn what Hojo said was wrong. Look they are either Mets fans or have been paid by the Mets to do just what we are doing. Try to find out what the hell the problem is and sometimes that search is just futile. Sometimes the problem is there was a problem and you need to move. I know I am approaching this differently based on my own experience but as a coach that took over a struggling program I really don’t care how it was done in the past, who were issues who were not issues. All I care about is how they perform from this point forward.
kingman 26
1/19/2011-8:44am at 8:44 am (UTC -4)
First off, of course I am listening. You have always been among the very top people I listen to on here.
OK, forget the card games.
What I am talking about is when they have games against the DBacks, with their league worst pen….and late in a close game, everyone comes to the plate swinging away, with no plan, and they go hitless for 4 innings against some of the game’s worst pitchers—and instantly Ron/Gary/Keith comment on it, and Ojeda goes ballistic after the game. This is clearly lack of preparation and discipline.
Or when the OF Feliciano, a guy who has spent a decade in the minors comes up, and does not run out a grounder in his VERY FIRST MLB at bat! How can this not speak to the culture of the whole team?
These are not abstract, “conspiracy theory” things—these are very black and white, X and O, real world things which, as a coach, I would think you might agree with.
TRS86
1/19/2011-8:48am at 8:48 am (UTC -4)
LOL, I do agree there was most likely an issue. My point is that at this point I don’t really care what the cause of that issue was.
To me it appears as though the Mets have said the problem was Omar and the coaches and they have corrected that problem. Perhaps they will be proved right.
Also don’t you think that Feliciano and Fmart’s issues would be more to do with the AAA culture than the MLB clubhouse that they really had no part in before their mistake? It’s not like the team huddled around them and said he guys we don’t run out pop flys here.
So while you can make the case that it’s the players fault for being unprepared, it’s hard to fire the players and it appears the Mets have held management accountable for those transgressions. I myself am ready to move on from them and expect a completely different brand of baseball from this point forward.
kingman 26
1/19/2011-8:56am at 8:56 am (UTC -4)
“It’s not like the team huddled around them and said he guys we don’t run out pop flys here.”
LOL!
OK, I think as usual, we generally agree.
I AM ready to put 2009–2010 aside and hope the new boss lights many fires.
OK, gotta go; busy day.
metsfan4decades
1/19/2011-8:49am at 8:49 am (UTC -4)
Oh, as much as I loved the ’86 Mets, you can’t compare that team to the past few years Met teams. Those guys did nothing but party that year. Many showed up later than required for games b/c of hangovers. Straw sat out some games ‘with a stomach/flu’ bug that he admits today was nothing more than a hangover. Doc pitched not quite up to his capabilities because of his drug addiction.
The intensity of that team once they took the field was evident. What they did pre and post game was probably more detrimental than the ‘playing cards’ perception.
TRS86
1/19/2011-8:51am at 8:51 am (UTC -4)
Right but really there was no where near the amount of pressure on the 86 team as what the post 2006 Mets have endured. Perhaps you could say that the 1987-90 Mets felt that same pressure.
TRS86
1/19/2011-8:53am at 8:53 am (UTC -4)
Also something I think about is in general it is more difficult to play in NY now than ever before. With 100′s of blogs, and what seems like very little media accountability these guys are under tremendous pressure to perform to what perhaps was just a too good to be true 2006 level. Look how many guys had career years that year for that offense to achieve what it did. As I said before, 2006 was actually more harm to the future of the Mets than good.
metsfan4decades
1/19/2011-8:57am at 8:57 am (UTC -4)
I had Delgado on my list. I had Uncle Cliffy on the 10 names I kept shuffling in/out b/c there weren’t enough spots left for the names I had left. I wound up leaving him off. As much as I loved him in a Met uniform, I justified leaving him off because his contributions were overshadowed by his injury time.
He would probably go down as the Mets best LF to date if he had only stayed healthy while here.
TRS86
1/19/2011-9:12am at 9:12 am (UTC -4)
Yeah I agree with you until that last point. I think we just got him too late in his career for that to ever be the case. Of course he aged quickly so if he could have continued until age 38 to be productive then who knows.
TRS86
1/19/2011-9:13am at 9:13 am (UTC -4)
I guess right now that honor goes to McReynolds?
njstuckintx
1/19/2011-9:20am at 9:20 am (UTC -4)
That honor could have gone to Alou, had he been healthy as well. And I probably agree, based on Stats, McReynolds probably gets it. But I dislike McReynolds. It should have been Mitchell!!!! Dang it to heck!
TRS86
1/19/2011-9:28am at 9:28 am (UTC -4)
True but who knows if Mitchell would have thrived in NY?
As for the other Kevin, I always thought he got a bad rap. He was quiet but to me was professional.
njstuckintx
1/19/2011-9:30am at 9:30 am (UTC -4)
Mitchell would have thrived anywhere. He was badder than LeRoy Brown.
metsfan4decades
1/19/2011-9:32am at 9:32 am (UTC -4)
Agree on McReynolds (I never warmed up to him either).
Agree on Alou – I think he would be HOF material had he been able to stay relatively healthy his whole career.
And agree on Mitchell! I don’t know why there was something loveable about a bad-ass former gang member but there was – for me….
stickguy
1/19/2011-12:12pm at 12:12 pm (UTC -4)
GIve it to CLeon Jones. Unless of course the van be rockin’
njstuckintx
1/19/2011-9:18am at 9:18 am (UTC -4)
Shouldn’t the picture of him have been a close up of his Achille’s Tendon?
ajgmets
1/19/2011-10:00am at 10:00 am (UTC -4)
As much as I thought about including Floyd, it came down to his public bitching about Valentine not selecting him to be an All Star in 2001 and the fact that he had just 1 big (2005) year as a Metropolitan,
Jaundalynn
2/14/2012-5:32am at 5:32 am (UTC -4)
That’s a crackerjack answer to an interesting qsuetoin