Meet the Mets (For Mets Fans Only!)

mfpark said:

Those were great years as a fan in general.  

A decade rich with instantly recognizable player idiosyncracies, too: Seaver’s dirty knee. Morgan’s elbow jerks. Stargell’s windmill. Fidrych’s and Hrabosky’s not-so-inner monologues. Tiant’s stretch. Yaz’s stance. Rose’s crouch. Sanguillen’s wild dervish. Montanez’s glove flip. Ozzie’s body flips. On and on. There’s some of that still, of course, but what a bonanza back then.

And for the discerning Phillies fan: Lefty’s nose twitch.

For some of us 1969 was a magical year. Mets, Jets, first man on the moon, Woodstock.

there is a great Tom Seaver story from spring training 1969.  In those days, pitchers were just as likely to try to intimidate hitters in a spring training game as they did in the regular season.  And the Mets rightfully had the reputation up to that point of being a team that could be bullied and intimidated.  The Mets were playing the Cardinals in a spring game and Bob Gibson hit John Milner with a pitch.  Seaver was on the mound for the Mets and the next time Gibson batted, Seaver threw his best fastball right underneath Gibson's chin, spun him around and left him in the dirt.  The two exchanged a few words, and Seaver basically at that moment gave notice to the entire NL that the Mets were no longer anybody's patsies.

That is a great story, ML1.  Gibby was one nasty f$%k but oh baby, what a pitcher!  As a headhunter, he was right up there with Drysdale and Sal "The Barber" Maglie.  

One of my favorite sports quotes of all time came from Gibson:  Why do I have to be an example for your kid? You be an example for your own kid.

I looked it up and I got the year wrong.  It was 1973.  But the gist of it was the same.  When he was interviewed after the game he said:

The message was relayed. He got it. He isn't going to intimidate me or my team. We can't let an opposing pitcher run us off the field.  It's a hard part of the game...I feel even now, but if it goes on all season, we'll remember.  
https://books.google.com/books?id=4COTVzMKb8cC&pg=PA171&dq=the+message+was+relayed.++he+got+it.++he+isn%27t+going+to+intimidate+me+or+my+team.&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj5tOjWl_PgAhUy1lkKHWQhDrMQ6AEIKjAA#v=onepage&q=the%20message%20was%20relayed.%20%20he%20got%20it.%20%20he%20isn't%20going%20to%20intimi...

Boy the way Tom Seaver played...

Hodges led the Mets Parade...
Fans like us we had it made,

Those were the days!!!

Going out to Shea was grand...
Girls and Guys were all Mets fans...
Mister we could use a man like Casey Stengel again..

Didn't need no HGH,
Everybody pulled his weight...
The team in '86 was great

Those were the days!!!

"the Mets just beat dem dere San Diego Padres.  I'm gonna eat steak til I bust!"

Can we stop all the nonsense with Tim Tebow?  He 31 years old and an average minor league baseball player at best.  

If the Mets do call him up to the majors then please just admit it's all about money.  I'd have more respect for the Mets if they admitted their true motivation.

RIP Leroy Stanton, he of the infamous Fregosi trade.

Stanton, Frank Estrada, Don Rose and Nolan Ryan to the California Angels for infielder Jim Fregosi.

Worst trade ever?

wharfrat said:
Stanton, Frank Estrada, Don Rose and Nolan Ryan to the California Angels for infielder Jim Fregosi.
Worst trade ever?

 Ed Hearn for David Cone (worst ever if you're a Royals fan)

Juan Samuel would rank up there, I imagine.

DaveSchmidt said:
Juan Samuel would rank up there, I imagine.

that was, and still is in my mind the worst trade the Mets ever made.  It essentially was the end of the line for those competitive teams of the '80s.  There were other more lopsided trades (Amos Otis for Joe Foy, Rusty Staub for Mickey Lolich), but none that basically started the destruction of a good team. That in a few short years became a terrible team.

ml1 said:
that was, and still is in my mind the worst trade the Mets ever made.  It essentially was the end of the line for those competitive teams of the '80s.  There were other more lopsided trades (Amos Otis for Joe Foy, Rusty Staub for Mickey Lolich), but none that basically started the destruction of a good team. That in a few short years became a terrible team.

 It didn't even make sense then.  

FilmCarp said:
 It didn't even make sense then.  

 Juan Samuel was one of the worst CFs I've ever seen.  But you had to see him in person to know just how bad. On TV you'd see him get under a ball and catch it.  But at the ballpark you could see the circuitous route he took to get there. Not to mention the sense of panic he gave off as he gave chase after a pop fly.

If I remember it was about the time of the Samuel trade that the Mets acquisition strategy turned into "maybe they can be as good as the used to be."

Dykstra had kinda worn out his welcome in NYC I think. Yeah he had some amazing years after but I think he was a headache at that point. McDowell had a lot of good baseball left in his arm and I was sad to see him go. He was a favorite of mine.

Back in the 1950's it seemed that every time the Kansas City A's developed a young player he would traded away, often to the Yankees in a lopsided deal favoring the Bronx--Schantz, Maris, Boyer, Ditmar, Terry, Lopez.  At least there was a reason:  the owner of the A's used to own Yankee Stadium (he was forced to sell it when he bought the A's) and was super tight with the Yankees' owners.  How tight?  They waived their right to force him to compensate the Yankees for booting their AAA affiliate out of Kansas City and relocating it to Denver.  A major financial assist for a team that proved to struggle year in and year out despite good gate receipts (lousy radio contract).  The A's seemed like they continued to be the Yankees' top development farm team.

But the Mets?  I cannot see as clear a reason for the bad trades.  And there are some stinkers as you mentioned.  

But they also made some good to great trades.  Mazilli for Darling.  Bailor and Diaz for Sid Fernandez.  Allen and Ownbey for Keith.  A passel of players for Gary Carter. Another passel of prospects for Ojeda. 1986 was the result of some damned good trades.

Clendenon, Leiter, Piazza, Santana, Dickey, Cone, Cespedes, and future Hall of Famer, Thor, all came via trades.

Just providing some balance on a soggy cold day when we all see ghosts of Juan Samuel mocking us from the mists of time.

mfpark said:

Just providing some balance on a soggy cold day when we all see ghosts of Juan Samuel mocking us from the mists of time.

Sorry.

John Stearns worked out OK, even given the price.

mfpark said:
But the Mets?  I cannot see as clear a reason for the bad trades.  And there are some stinkers as you mentioned.  

Mets fans always look on the dark side.

But generally, the Mets have fared pretty well with trades.  They just had a run in the 70s that was dreadful.  Getting rid of Ryan, Otis, Staub, Seaver, Singleton, etc. for a sack of magic beans was enough to convince Mets fans that every trade was a disaster.

But there were a lot of good ones too.  There was the Mazzilli trade (which also netted Walt Terrell, who was pretty good and then was flipped to Detroit for Hojo), and all the others you mentioned, plus all the role players they got in '15 who helped win the division -- Kelly Johnson, Tyler Clippard, Juan Uribe, Addison Reed.

Trades have mostly been kind to the Mets in the past 35 years or so.

If you go on line at look at sports threads populated by intense knowledgeable fans, they all pretty much hate the management or coaches of their favored teams.  They assume that other franchises are always doing much better with trades, draft picks, coaching choices etc. than their teams.

that's because those threads are typically dominated by knuckleheads

ml1 said:
that's because those threads are typically dominated by knuckleheads

 True but not inconsistent with them being insanely knowledgeable.   These are the kind of people who have parties and friends over to watch draft day.  I can't say I've ever watched a draft live though I care who my teams pick and keep abreast of it.

bub said:
 True but not inconsistent with them being insanely knowledgeable.   These are the kind of people who have parties and friends over to watch draft day.  I can't say I've ever watched a draft live though I care who my teams pick and keep abreast of it.

 they may be knowledgeable, but if they come to spurious conclusions they can still be knucklheads ;-)

Trades are generally why I don't like Yankee fans.  I respect the organization and the way it is run.  I have nothing against the team.  But every fan who calls a radio station wants to trade three overpaid has beens for the young exciting star on whatever team just beat them two out of three, and can't understand why the other team would pass up an opportunity to be fleeced by the Yankees.

FilmCarp said:
Trades are generally why I don't like Yankee fans.  I respect the organization and the way it is run.  I have nothing against the team.  But every fan who calls a radio station wants to trade three overpaid has beens for the young exciting star on whatever team just beat them two out of three, and can't understand why the other team would pass up an opportunity to be fleeced by the Yankees.

 why wouldn't the Mets trade deGrom to the Yanks for Domingo German and Clint Frazier?

ml1 said:
 why wouldn't the Mets trade deGrom to the Yanks for Domingo German and Clint Frazier?

 Only if the Mets throw in some cash.

FilmCarp said:
 Only if the Mets throw in some cash.

 or maybe that McNeil kid

Pretty good lineup!

and that Baltimore lineup is pretty dreadful.  Gonna be a long season in Charm City.