Author: Shannon Shark @metspolice

Uh oh….maybe the Yearbooks tell us what the Mets think in their hearts?  Why would they go with fireworks?

And why are we down on Gooden?  He’s 26 and won 19 games last year?  Shouldn’t we be hyping this guy, or is he never going to get past oversleeping for the 1986 parade?  Do the Mets know something about that?  Are they trying to warn us of something?  Shouldn’t we be more excited about this Frank Viola guy?

1991 would murder Buddy’s legacy in Queens.  77 wins buried The Dynasty in the backyard.

Hubie Brooks is back for some reason and playing RF.

Gregg Jefferies is starting a tradition of guys who play 2B to help the team because someone else is playing third and fans getting mad at the guy for not being good at it.

Hojo, whose numbers look really great 30 years later, hits 38 HRs with 117 RBI.

Gooden is mortal, winning only 13 games.  But he’s 26 with 132 wins, he will cruise to Cooperstown.

Things are about to get darker in Queens.

Rickey Henderson was amazing – and he’d be the first person to tell you that too.

Yes the man has an ego, but he could play the game.  The all-time leader in stolen bases with over 1,400, he is almost 500 ahead of the next player (Lou Brock).  Think about that – that’s 50% more than the guy in second place!  Of all the major stats, nobody has that kind of a lead.  That’s how dominating he was on the basepaths.

Rickey is also first all-time in runs scored, arguably the most important stat there is (scoring runs is the point of the game).

Rickey hung around for a long time – maybe a little too long – but he was always fun to watch.

He may not have been the greatest player of all time, but Rickey Henderson definitely is an Immortal

For some background on what this is, check out the introduction post here.

Do you know what Jose Lobaton’s career WAR is?

That’s amazing. He played NINE seasons in MLB and according to you people the believe in WAR as a thing, he didn’t matter at all. He could have played, or not, or we could have just imagined a hypothetical minor leaguer and called that person up….and nothing changes. Amazing.

That makes Jose Lobaton, the greatest of all number 59s.

Hey remember when Frank Viola won 20 games with the Mets?   What?  He did?  Apparently so!

What if I told you that not only did Viola win 20, but Gooden – still on his way to the Hall of Fame and still only age 25- won 19 games!  I’ll give you Cone, Sid and the ghost of Ron Darling to fill out the rotation….you gotta be feeling pretty good right?  The Mets seem to agree based on the cover.

Well Davey got fired because…I dunno…WFAN or something….and Buddy took over.  These would be the dying days (well ’91) of Buddy Harrelson, the Second Most Popular All Time Met and things wouldn’t be the same for Bud in Queens ever again.

The Dynasty was over.  The Captains gone, replaced by Dave Magadan and Mackey Sasser.  Strawberry is still here but he can’t wait to leave.

91 wins.  In the rear view mirror it doesn’t look too bad but at the time kinda disappointing as we’re all looking for that second ring to validate 1986.

The Pirates won 95 games and the NL East, led by Barry Bonds and this guy Bobby Bonilla who seems really good at baseball even if I don’t know how to pronounce his name yet, struggling to say it like Vanilla or making an ñ sound on the N for some reason that makes no sense to me 30 years later.  The Pirates also had a 3B named Backman who hit .292.

91 Games would not make the playoffs as we are still in the silver age of baseball (1969-1994) and not letting also rans in the playoffs.  The Mets also still had the technology to reproduce the NY in the ball logo, a tech secret lost to time.

Roger Clemens was the most dominating pitcher over the last 40 years.  7 Cy Young Awards (and he finished 2^nd or 3^rd three other times). Over 4,600 strikeouts.  An MVP award. An ERA of 3.12 over 24 years.  And 354 wins with just 184 losses.

Yes, Clemens is said to have used PEDs.  Doesn’t matter to the HOI. 

And yes, Clemens was a jerk, frequently throwing at hitters.  I was at 2 different games where he clearly intentionally hit a batter – the Piazza game, and one in 1991 at Fenway where he drilled the Tigers Tony Phillips.  All of that doesn’t matter either.

In a time where both Randy Johnson and Pedro Martinez were dominant, Clemens was king of the hill.  He is most definitely an Immortal

For some background on what this is, check out the introduction post here.