Hello from last night. It’s 9pm and I just played two hours of beach volleyball outside in 32 degree weather. I feel like I have had 10 drinks, so rather than risk a bad post I’ll keep the Turkey series going with a 99% rerun from last year. Don’t worry I will have a part 3 tomorrow but for now I need to be careful. I’m loopy from the cold.
For day two of Mets Turkeys we have a shocking addition. A former Met, and a man that was beloved by all of New York until September 11, 2011.
You’re right Saint Joe, it would be crazy-talk for a baseball team to wear first responder caps on 9/11 at a baseball game on national TV.
Speaking of which, I’m going to add Sunday Night Baseball which while not a person, is something that ruins the experience for Mets fans. Stop moving games to 8pm please.
Let’s see….don’t fight a man old enough to be your father. Don’t fight your child’s grandfather. Don’t fight in the clubhouse. Don’t injure yourself in the fight. I know he’s gone but I’m going to stick with the text from last year: don’t fight a man old enough to be your father. Don’t fight your child’s grandfather. Don’t fight in the clubhouse. Don’t injure yourself in the fight. K-Rod makes the list. Man Up and Play Better.
Charlie Samuels. You know what you did. By treaty I’m not allowed to discuss it.
Willie Randolph. Go over to some Yankees blog if you want to wax poetic on this guy. He managed the biggest choke job in history and then dug a hole for the 2008 Mets that ended with the worst stadium closing of all-time.
Fran Healy. ExTRUH BAYsus! You know how Howie Rose is awesome? Imagine how bad you would have to be to make a Howie Rose Metscast unlistenable. That was Sportschannel/FSNY’s booth. Awful.
Mickey Lolich. Here’s some data I grabbed off wikipedia that will tell you the story. What it doesn’t tell you is that he was 8-13 for the Mets, and hated New York so much that he sat out 1977 (opened a donut shop and then rejoined baseball in 1978).
- 2,679 strikeouts is #1 on the Tigers all time list
- 39 shutouts is #1 on the Tigers all time list
- 459 games started is #1 on the Tigers all time list
- 329 home runs allowed is #1 on the Tigers all time list
- 109 wild pitches is #2 on the Tigers all time list (behind Jack Morris)
- 207 wins is #3 on the Tigers all time list (behind Hooks Dauss and George Mullin)
- 508 games is #3 on the Tigers all time list (behind John Hiller and Hooks Dauss)
- 3,361 innings pitched is #3 on Tigers all time list (behind George Mullin and Hooks Dauss)
Juan Samuel. Juan always made the Turkey list because he cost us McDowell and Dykstra. Now Dykstra is a turkey. So confusing. Anyway, the Mets traded a beloved CFer and another beloved player in Roger McDowell, two of the key 1986 Mets for Juan Samuel. Sammy played 86 games for the Mets and hit .226 Dykstra was an All-Star and flirted with .400 for a while before later becoming a turkey.
When I first started this list I forgot one of the all-timer turkeys (which in turn makes me a blogger turkey) in Jim Fregosi. If you watched Mets Yearbook 1971 you know how excited the Mets were to get him. In 146 games across two seasons he hit .243 with 5 HRs and 43 RBI. Never mind how annoying trading Nolan Ryan for Fregosi was, the Mets sent him to Texas for a player to be named later. Nolan Ryan for “send me someone when you get around to it.” Awful.
Vince Coleman. Our next turkey was from the “if you can’t beat ’em sign ’em” Mets philosophy (under this philosophy Chase Utley will be a Met around his 39th birthday). Hit Dwight Gooden with a golf club, check. Throw a firework, check. Suspended? Check. Ever see a Coleman jersey at Citi Field? Keep waiting.
Speaking of “if you can’t beat ’em sign ’em” say you needed to win one game to save your season? Seven runs in 1/3 of an inning to complete the 2007 choke. 61-56 as a Met but my lasting memory of Tom Glavine will always be that last day.
Jeff Kent. I’m pulling out of field 6 at Jones Beach and I put on WFAN. The Mets have traded David Cone for Jeff Kent and Ryan Thompson. What??? Thompson was a turkey but didn’t play enough to be an all-time turkey. Kent managed to win an MVP (elsewhere) and maybe even accumulate enough stats to make the Hall of Fame, but he’ll always be hated around these parts. He didn’t like us and we didn’t like him. We won’t see Jeff at too many Alumni events. And he didn’t even win Survivor.
Steve Chilcott. The Mets had the first pick in the 1966 amateur draft. Their scouts had focused on a young outfielder attending Arizona State University. The kid had power and speed. He was a sure bet to advance though the system. Yet as the draft drew near, the Mets changed their plans and drafted Steve Chilcott, a catcher out of Lancaster, CA. The supposed reason? The young OFer was black and his girlfriend was white. Chilcott never played a game in the majors. The young OFer is in the Hall of Fame: Reggie Jackson.
Doesn’t this picture make you mad? No the Yankees didn’t just win the World Series in this photo, they just won a Subway Series game because Luis Castillo can’t catch a pop-up. We’ll be talking about that one 50 years from now. Congrats Luis, you are an unforgettable Met.
This seat in the Promenade. Hey, I’m thrilled about Banner Day and the uniforms, but this problem still exists.
….
