The St. Louis Cardinals, a regular in the NLCS, has hired Mets’ Triple-A hitting coach George Greer to oversee their hitting program throughout their system, reports ESPN.
Didn’t I hear the Mets needed a new hitting coach?
If he’s qualified to be hired by the Cardinals, shouldn’t he at least gotten a serious look from the Mets?
Former New York Mets outfielder Lenny Dykstra will be released from a California prison this weekend, almost 15 months into a three-year term.
Dykstra, nicknamed “Nails,’’ because of his gritty style of play while with the Mets, achieved All-Star status after being dealt to the Phillies in one of the worst trades in team history.
DYKSTRA: After his homer in the 1986 NLCS.
Dykstra hit one of the most memorable home runs in franchise history against the Houston Astros in the 1986 NLCS, and also hit a key homer against Boston in the World Series that year.
Dykstra, 50, ran into financial crisis several years ago, and was charged with grand theft auto and filing a false financial report in October of 2011. After the charge, Dykstra went into a drug and alcohol rehabilitation program.
Author Christopher Frankie, who wrote “Nailed: The Improbable Rise and Spectacular Fall of Lenny Dykstra,’’ told reporters he was surprised by the court’s decision.
“[He] blatantly disobeyed the court, and a lot of the stuff was very brazen,’’ Frankie said. “He was doing it in the full view of law enforcement. I hope for his sake, his family’s sake, and the public’s sake, that he doesn’t return to his criminal past.
“I think people in this country really love a comeback story, so he certainly has that opportunity. But, I’m not convinced that’s the path he’s going to take.’’
Dykstra has been noticeably absent in Mets’ functions since he retirement, and for obvious reasons hasn’t been around Citi Field. Mets fans have been open in their acceptance of Darryl Strawberry and Dwight Gooden, and it will interesting to see if they will be that open to Dykstra.
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The highlight of the day in Mets’ camp was Johan Santana’s first mound session of the spring; 20 pain-free pitches in chilly Port St. Lucie.
“This is my first time in a while, but it was fine,” Santana told reporters in Florida, where the weather has been brisk and rainy. “I don’t think it was my best or anything, but it’s Day 1. You’ve got to start at some point.
“Today was a beginning for me. … You always worry about how you feel and everything, but at the same time I was just trying to get my job done and not trying to overdo things out there.’’
Not surprisingly, the Mets’ plan is to treat Santana with kid gloves. He needs to throw again and pitch batting practice before getting into an exhibition game. Usually the first exhibition is 30 pitches or two innings, and there’s no reason to think the Mets would deviate. Normally, pitchers make six starts and up to 30 innings during spring training.
The Mets are scheduled to pay Santana $31 million this year, including a $5.5 million option. A $25 million option for 2014 kicks in if he throws 215 innings this summer, and there’s no way the Mets will let him approach that figure.
The Mets are in a difficult position because they need to move on from Santana’s contract, yet at the same time if he were healthy and productive it gives them a chance to have a competitive season. Ideally, the Mets would like to deal him, but the innings clause applies to any team that trades for him and that would make him more than just a rental.
Santana didn’t pitch in 2011 as he was rehabbing from shoulder surgery. His first season with the Mets in 2008 was his only one with the team where he made all 34 starts. He ended last season on the disabled list with lower back inflammation.
In looking at the Santana trade, it is clear the Mets overpaid, both in terms of prospects – although none panned out to have successful major league careers – and obviously in terms of salary. In looking at a trade, one must also consider the circumstances at the time.
In 2008, the Mets were coming off a historic season in which their bullpen collapsed and they blew a seven-game lead with 17 to play. The previous season they lost the NLCS in seven games to St. Louis. In both seasons their pitching was suspect and a workhorse was needed.
Both the Yankees and Boston were after him, but pulled out when Minnesota’s asking price was deemed to high. Then GM Omar Minaya said Santana fell back to them and he did because there was no other competition.
Basically, the announcement of the All-Mets Team was a SNY/MetsBlog production, another way of saying it could have been done better. There wasn’t the build-up or suspense I would have liked to have seen. It would have been great to invite and introduce the team before a game, perhaps as part of a special ceremony.
When?
Perhaps there could have been a 50th anniversary weekend. Honor the great moments and players. It could have been done. The Mets surely did it on the return after 9-11 and the closing of Shea Stadium. During those events they proved they know how to throw a party.
All of a sudden, there was this announcement. To do it on a Sunday afternoon seemed like an afterthought. Could have been done with more flair.
Anyway, here’s the team:
CATCHER: Mike Piazza.
Comments: A no-brainer. Piazza might also be the author of the greatest regular-season moment in franchise history with his post 9-11 homer against the Braves. Gary Carter undoubtedly received consideration, but Piazza was an offensive force. Carter was a key piece in putting together the team of the 1980s, but Piazza carried the Mets while he was here and was still a player in his prime during his tenure here.
FIRST BASE: Keith Hernandez.
Comments: A slam dunk, no doubt. He’s arguably one of the great Mets of all time. There was no championship without Hernandez. Who else could be considered? John Olerud? Ed Kranepool? Make me laugh and suggest Carlos Delgado.
SECOND BASE: Edgardo Alfonzo:
Comments: I don’t doubt Fonzie’s numbers, but is he really the greatest at the position? There were significant Mets who played before 1975, for example Ron Hunt. Hunt was one of the first legitimate early All-Stars. He played during a different era, but when I think of Mets infielders, I think of Hunt right away.
SHORTSTOP: Jose Reyes.
Comments: Based on stats, but he wasn’t the greatest glove. That would be Rey Ordonez. He’s also not the greatest inspirational leader. That would be Bud Harrelson. Reyes reminds me of the list I recently read on greatest SNL characters, one that didn’t include John Belushi. Reyes was an exceptional player, but his definitive Met moment is still pulling himself out of the last game of the season after securing the batting title last year.
THIRD BASE: David Wright.
Comments: One of the greatest Mets ever. Don’t forget, the Mets used dozens of third basement before Wright stepped in. If there was any other possibility, it would have been Howard Johnson.
LEFT FIELD: Cleon Jones.
Comments: Jones had a good career with the Mets, but personally my pick would have been the widely unpopular Kevin McReynolds. McReynolds could hit, run and play defense and was a steady force on the teams of the mid-1980s. He was not an easy out. The Mets would kill to have a player like McReynolds today.
CENTER FIELD: Carlos Beltran.
Comments: A good choice. Had he been healthy during his entire Mets’ run, he might have gone down as one of the greatest position players in their history. He’ll still go down in the top five. Lenny Dykstra and Mookie Wilson were hugely popular, but were also part of a platoon. Unfortunately, and unfairly for Beltran, he’s mostly remembered for one checked swing.
RIGHT FIELD: Darryl Strawberry.
Comments: Outside of Tom Seaver, perhaps the easiest choice. Strawberry was one of the few players who made you think a home run was possible with every at-bat. The only other Met who had the same effect was Piazza.
RIGHT-HANDED STARTER: Tom Seaver.
Comments: Who else? Even had Dwight Gooden not tossed his career down the drain, he wouldn’t have touched Seaver.
LEFT-HANDED STARTER: Jerry Koosman.
Comments: The Mets have had several superb lefties, including Al Leiter, Johan Santana, Jon Matlack and Sid Fernandez. But, Koosman, who came a year before Seaver, was the first Mets’ pitcher to give the team a feeling of credibility every time he took the mound.
RIGHT-HANDED RELIEVER: Roger McDowell.
Comments: I have no problem with this choice. Don’t forget, McDowell pitched during a time when saves meant something. More than a few times he pitched two or three innings to get that save. What, you were thinking Armando Benitez or Francisco Rodriguez?
LEFT-HANDED RELIEVER: Tug McGraw.
Comments: Was he named for his numbers or because he coined a phrase? I would have gone with John Franco based on the save totals.
MANAGER: Davey Johnson.
Comments: I’ve heard a lot of people waxing for Gil Hodges, which is understandable, but based more on heart than head. Yes, the Mets first won under Hodges, but their longest run of success came during the time under Johnson. If Mike Scioscia hadn’t hit that homer in the 1988 NLCS for the Dodgers, the Mets might have had a dynastic run.
Game 6 is more than a count of what has been played, more than a bookmark to the World Series. Game 6 has its own mystique. The most dramatic World Series usually go seven games, but it can’t get there without a Game 6.
One way or another, it ends after Game 7, which takes away part of the suspense. However, there’s a sense of urgency, of desperation, for the team behind entering Game 6.
FISK: As dramatic a moment as there ever has been.
It is why many of baseball’s most dramatic moments are born to that game. I’ve chosen five, with the criteria being I saw the game and it produced a Game 7. I know there are others.
I’m wondering who will play big for the Cardinals tonight if Texas continues to pitch around Albert Pujols. Matt Holliday and Lance Berkman haven’t done much so far.
Here are my top five Siixes. In each of them the home team won, which might be an omen for the Cardinals. I know there are more, but the criteria is that I saw the game and didn’t read about it. I ask you to chime in with your favorites.
IF IT STAYS FAIR: One of baseball’s most enduring images, and perhaps its greatest game, came in the 1975 World Series on Carlton Fisk’s game-ending homer in the 12th inning as Boston beat Cincinnati, 7-6. Fisk’s homer was made possible by Bernie Carbo’s three-run, two-strike, pinch-hit game-tying homer in the eighth inning.
Fisk’s moment delayed what Red Sox fans would call the inevitable, as Boston lost Game 7 at Fenway Park. This time, it would be the Reds that rallied, when Tony Perez connected off Bill Lee.
THE BALL GETS BY BUCKNER: Another moment etched in time is the ball that got by by Bill Buckner in the 1986 World Series. Down to their last out, the Mets rallied for three runs to beat Boston, 6-5, with the game-winner coming on Mookie Wilson’s dribbler through Buckner’s legs.
The Mets went on to win Game 7, and overcame a three-run deficit to do it. I went into more detail of that game in an earlier post today.
That game was made possible because the Mets prevailed against Houston over 16 innings in Game 6 of the NLCS. Keith Hernandez called it a crucial victory as it kept the Mets from facing Mike Scott, who beat them in Games 1 and 4.
BUCKNER: That ball is for sale.
MAYBE THE WORST CALL EVER: One of the game’s most infamous calls came in the eighth inning of Game 6 of the 1985 World Series that might have kept St. Louis from winning. Facing elimination and down 1-0 going into the ninth inning, umpire Don Denkinger ruled Kansas City’s Jorge Orta safe at first on a play in which he was clearly out.
The Royals went on to win that game, 2-1, then rout the Cardinals, 11-0, in Game 7.
WE’LL SEE YOU TOMORROW: That was Jack Buck’s great call after Minnesota’s Kirby Puckett homered in the 11th inning off Atlanta’s Charlie Leibrandt which kept the 1991 Series alive for the Twins with a 4-3 victory in the Metrodome.
Puckett’s drive set up Jack Morris’ ten-inning shutout, 1-0, in arguably, outside of Don Larsen’s perfect game, might have been the greatest Series game pitched.
HAIL THE RALLY MONKEY: I loved the Angels’ rally monkey, which began with a famous movie clip where the monkey was interjected at the critical spot. My favorite was the Animal House screen where John Belushi was on the ladder and instead of the girl undressing you see the monkey.
Often forgotten, perhaps because the game wasn’t decided on a game-ending hit, Anaheim rallied from five runs down in the seventh inning to beat San Francisco, 6-5, in 2002. The Angels scored three in the seventh and three in the eighth to win, then won Game 7.
ORIOLES STAY ALIVE: The Orioles faced elimination when they returned home for Game 6 of the 1971 World Series. The Pirates started reliever Bob Moose, who took a 2-0 lead into the sixth. The Orioles chipped away to send the game into extra innings.
The Pirates loaded the bases in the tenth inning, but Dave McNally came out of the bullpen to snuff the threat, and Brooks Robinson won it, 3-2, with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the inning.
This was Roberto Clemente’s World Series, which was noted for playing games at night for the first time.
I don’t know what is in store for tonight, but I hope it is compelling and produces a Game 7. The rainout seems to favor the Cardinals because it would allow them to start Chris Carpenter on three days rest for Game 7. But, we won’t see Carpenter without a Cardinals’ win in Game 6.
Here’s rooting for history.