Yesterday we covered part one of the all-time Mets Turkeys, those Mets who were supposed to do great things but didn’t. Today we cover part two, once again in no particular order.
Bobby Valentine. Don’t buy into this revisionist history that V is a great manager. If you want your team to finish second then hire him. V makes the list because he never had the Mets prepared. Every season they would dig a big hole in April, be something like 8 games back, and then have to scratch and claw the rest of the season just to hope to play a one game play-in with the Reds to then be the Wild Card. It’s a drain on players when you can’t rest anyone because every game after May 1st is a must-win. The season goes a lot easier if you have a big lead unless you are our next turkey…
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. Omar should have fired him last winter when that other guy from Brooklyn was available. I think he’s in Los Angeles now, I heard something about him making the playoffs….again.
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. Look at the picture of Lenny Dykstra in a Phillies uniform. Feel the pain. They 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.
Victor Zambrano. Ah Victor, we surrendered Scott Kazmir for you. Well, we didn’t, the Mets did. Any fat blogger worth his salt wouldn’t have made that trade.
Devil Rays GM Chuck Lamar told ESPN Radio Friday night that he lamented giving up Zambrano, but felt Kazmir was too good to pass up.
“It was a good trade for us, and I think it was a heck of a trade for the New York Mets,” Lamar said. “Victor Zambrano has been here a long time. … You hate to give him up but we’ve spent a lot of time and effort and money of getting a nucleus of our young position players. We knew this day was coming that we needed to start getting our hands on some pitching that can truly beat the Red Sox and Yankees in this division, and we think Scott Kazmir has that kind of ability.”
The Mets went 71-91. Scott Kazmir…you know the story.
Did we forget any turkeys? Hit comments.
While there are certainly legit criticisms of Bobby V I think it is unfair to put him on this list. There are plenty of worse managers I can think of — why not Art Howe.
Who did Bobby V have to work with? Piazza was the only real legit star on these teams. Hey, the guy got you to the WS once – albeit thru the back door – but still. I think more was expected out of Howe and Dallas Green than Bobby V. Hell Willie Randolph was better than these 2.
Why does the Mets police give Howe and Dallas a free pass?
No Jim Fregosi?? How could you guys miss that one?
thank you, someone else besides me who doesnt like bobby v, sure they won but most of the players hated him, media loved him but they dont care they just want a good quote, sure if i had to win one game id take him he knows his baseball, but i cant stand big ego guys it was always about him always wanted attention