I did a search for “Joel Youngblood” with a date range from 1970 to 1985. Google did not spit out much, but this is a really fun read about the 1981 season when Youngblood didn’t have a starting role….but he was on the All Star Team!
As you read specifically the paragraph below it seems that things never change. I feel like I could swap out names and describe the 2018 or 2019 Mets.
People around the team translate that managerspeak as follows: Only Mazzilli and Youngblood are day-to-day. Valentine, who has won two games with his bat since joining the Mets, would have to go very bad indeed to be benched. And at the end of last week, Wilson had hit in 20 of the last 25 games and was batting .299 to help the team into second place in the NL East. So that leaves leftfield, and two players feeling left out. The erstwhile Italian Stallion, Mazzilli, had been a dour horse around the clubhouse before returning to the lineup. He wants to find the old swing, and he knows he must play every day to find it. And Youngblood, as always, wants a job. In addition to being bullish about his hitting, Youngblood also knows he’s a good fielder—his arm is accurate and strong. “What do I have to do?” he asks.
Source: A star, not a starter | Vault
