" One of the best moves of the off season?"
What does Vince Coleman, Juan Samuel, Tom Glavine all have in common ? Okay besides the fact that they all pretty much sucked or were mediocre during their tenure with the Mets . Well the correct answer is before the donned their Mets uniforms, they were generally known as Mets killers. Who could forget Coleman stealing bases against the Mets pitchers during the mid ’80′s or Juan Samuel coming through in the clutch when he was a Phillie ? How about Glavine’s decade of dominance over our team ? With the exception of Samuel, we were pretty much on board with these acquisitions because in theory they made us a better team. Unfortunately they helped as much as putting a band aid on a severed limb.
But now we have Willie Harris. This past off season Harris was pretty much a footnote on the transaction page, a guy who batted close to the Mendoza line and only seemed to make himself useful when playing the Mets. Who could forget that play he made that Robbed Carlos Delgado of a game winning homer in ’07 when he was a member of the Braves. His tenure with the Washington Nationals was equally brutal on the Mets, robbing our batters of base hits and possibly wins. But otherwise, Harris has spent most of his career riding the pine.
I know we are just two games into the season, but from what I have seen of him in Spring Training as well as the first two games – I am thoroughly impressed. I don’t think he is a everyday player, but I do see him as spelling any one of our three outfielders on any given day. He is a good late game defensive specialist, he could be a good pinch hitter in important situations ( he does hit for power), and he is useful as a pinch runner. I look at Willie Harris and I see a Endy Chavez type of player who can not only make the outfield plays, but also could be tool to spark fear into the opposition in late game scenarios if used right. And so far I think Terry Collins is taking advantage of all of Willie’s intangibles.
Is he the second coming of Willie Mays? No but he surely is way better than Willie Mo Pena !
And with that said… HERE COMES THE INFAMY !!!!!!
Mets alumni celebrating a birthday today include:
Today would have been the 75th birthday of Mets middle reliever, Don Rowe (1936).He pitched in 26 games for the Mets in 1963.
Reserve catcher and back up outfielder for the Mets from ’64-’67, Hawk Taylor is 72 (1939) .
Reserve outfielder from ’69-’70, Rod Gaspar is 65 today (1946) .
Mets first base and base running coach from ’03-’04, Gary Pettis is 53 (1958).
The New York Mets traded minor league outfielder, John Csefalvay to the Houston Astros for reserve outfielder/first baseman, Gary Rajsich on April 3, 1981.
The New York Mets traded reserve outfielder, Gary Matthews Jr to the Baltimore Orioles for minor league pitcher, John Bale on April 3, 2002. I wish we learned our lesson on him the first time, now we still owe him a million bucks to sit out the season from one of Omar Minaya’s most head scratching of trades.
The New York Mets claimed reserve outfielder, McKay Christensen on waivers from the Los Angeles Dodgers on April 3, 2002. Does anyone remember him ? I sure as hell don’t !!
The Detroit Tigers claimed middle reliever, Tyler Walker of the New York Mets on waivers on April 3, 2003.
The New York Mets signed free agent middle reliever, Pedro Feliciano on April 3, 2003. I love Pedro, but I am on record as agreeing with Sandy Alderson for not even attempting to re-sign him this past off season. We all knew that he was “overused” during the past three season, and for Brian Cashman to blame the Mets for his own incompetence of doling out a two year eight million dollar contract to him is erroneous and down right petty in my own opinion. Pedro will pitch for the Yankees , and I hope he pitches well. he was an asset to this franchise, but sometimes you have to cut bait on a player, especially when this player was the most used pitcher in a over-taxed bullpen.
The New York Mets traded Roger Cedeño to the St. Louis Cardinals for back up shortstop, Wilson Delgado and reserve catcher, Chris Widger on April 3, 2004. The Mets were so fed up with the once fleet footed Cedeno and his bloated contract that they traded him for the aforementioned marginal major league player. Hell Widger didn’t even play one game with the Mets !!!
And while we hope that R.A Dickey will guide the Mets to their first series win of the season against the Florida Marlins, just remember that there are just 5 days until the Mets 2011 home opener against the Washington Nationals at Citi Field.
Mo Vaughn will be throwing out the first pitch on Opening Day… Well actually he will be allowed to be the first person on line for the dunk tank in the Kids Zone area!!!
7 comments
Bryan
4/3/2011-10:44am at 10:44 am (UTC -4)
Admittedly, I preferred Nick Evans coming out of camp, but I really liked the intensity and enthusiasm out of Harris last night, even more so than the big hit, which was nice to see as well.
rustyjr
4/3/2011-10:51am at 10:51 am (UTC -4)
I agree – besides he came across as a very selfless player, he wanted to help the younger guys and he seems to have a passion to win
ajgmets
4/3/2011-12:17pm at 12:17 pm (UTC -4)
Who’d a thunk it? Me! The club in its financial straits didn’t bring in Harris and Hairston to be window dressing bench type players contrary to the team’s public information dissemination. These guys are here to play.. on the CHEAP!
Harris as we all know, or have seen in his limited exploits against the Mets in recent seasons, is nothing if not a solid complementary player who has a flair for the dramatic. I look for he and Hairston to perform admirably over the next few weeks as we wait with bated breath for the return of Jason Bay and continue to sit on pins and needles watching Carlos Beltran play in a limited and what appears to be somewhat timid manner thus far. These two veterans also appear to be “go to” types of guys that younger players like Emaus, Murphy, Duda, Davis and Thole can emulate as they transition from being “minor leaguers” to full fledged major league ballplayers and people.
As the emergence of this team’s chemistry begins, I as the proverbial “glass half empty” prognosticator fear that necessary over use of these two in addition to the pitfalls bound to hit young Brad Emaus and Josh Thole, we’ll see far too much flux for the club to be truly competitive throughout the season.
That said, I again hope to be completely wrong and continue to be excited about the continuing dawn of this “new” era of Mets baseball and the 2011 season.
So Willie Harris..hmm Hits like Mays runs like Harris!..(Willie Mays Hayes reference)
Nice post Eddie Boy!
metsfan4decades
4/3/2011-11:13am at 11:13 am (UTC -4)
Of all the off season signings this year, Harris was the only one I didn’t really like. I know Sandy was probably hedging his bets against either Beltran and/or Bay being out there every day so I can understand it to that point. I just thought his defense was mediocre (Met killer aside) and his bat was nothing special either.
There’s no denying his ST and first two games though so I’m more than happy when all is said and done to admit Sandy knows more than I do. I just hope he doesn’t turn into this year’s Barajas.
rustyjr
4/3/2011-11:20am at 11:20 am (UTC -4)
I agree – but you never know , he could be our ace in the hole
stickguy
4/3/2011-11:27am at 11:27 am (UTC -4)
yeah, only ST and 2 games so far, but I am thining I may have to eat my words on Harris. Was not fond of the signing, but has looked inspired so far.
as long as he remains a bench guy like he belongs, NP!
Ceetar
4/3/2011-12:41pm at 12:41 pm (UTC -4)
definitely, but I’ll take the hot streak until Bay gets back to help mitigate the loss of him.