I have been reading the Faith and Fear in Flushing book and it is bringing back all sorts of horrible memories…first the Mets traded Tom Seaver and then….shudder…traded for Juan Samuel.
The fellas and I had gone white water rafting and had a great day. On the long drive on 80 back to Queens we popped on the radio.
The Mets had traded Lenny Dykstra AND Roger McDowell to Philly for Juan Samuel.
WHAT?
For all we kill the 21st century Mets for not remembering history, how about giving up on history in the middle of creating it.
You kids have probably heard of McDowell and Dykstra. Two of the fun personalities that made 1986 extra great.
Why would the Mets trade a CFer for a guy that was worse (facts may not back that up) AND throw in Roger.
Mookie, Lee, Roger, Lenny all gone. Before you know it Keith will be in Cleveland.
At least this kid Magadan can hit. It’s not like they’d be so stupid to let him rot on the bench so Garry Templeton could get time at first.
I have to stop reading this book before I remember pulling out of Jones Beach Field 6 (greatest place on earth, at least until they rebuild Field 9) and hearing the Mets had traded David Cone for Ryan Thompson and Jeff Kent.
Oh, how that trade chapped my 16-year-old hide. I was so p.o.ed that night my older brother thought I had completely lost it. I rattled off a nasty letter to the front office and wore a makeshift athletic-tape-and-Sharpie #42 patch on my jersey t-shirt for weeks afterward.
Supposedly, Davey Johnson requested a “sparkplug” like Samuel. I don’t know who was smoking what that day, but it must have been some pretty wicked stuff.
My blood pressure probably went up a few ticks as I was typing this.
A sparkplug? What was Lenny?