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What if…what if there was baseball right now? My father used to say that “if” was the biggest word in the English language. He would say, “If…if my grandfather had wheels…he would have been a trolley car. If…if my grandmother had balls…she would have been my grandfather. If…”
Every team has their own “what ifs” that they often look back on. Well, how about these Top 10 “what ifs” for the Mets?
The Mets have made some disastrous trades over the years. Of course, the trading away of Nolan Ryan ranks up there as one of the worst in Major League history. And there is that one called the Midnight Massacre that has come to define the Mets futility as an organization.
With that in mind, I decided to take a look at the 10 Worst and 10 Best Trades in Mets history. First a look at the 10 Worst Trades made by the Mets:
There’s no shame in going to the bullpen. Just ask John Smoltz. The man is in the Hall of Fame. He was one of the best starting pitchers in the game, and a member of a Hall of Fame triumvirate that anchored an Atlanta Braves team that dominated the National League Eastern Division for a decade.
He went to the bullpen after coming back from Tommy John surgery, and for four years became one of the best closers in the game. He then returned to the rotation to continue as a dominant starter. Smoltz is the only pitcher in Major League history to surpass 200 wins and 150 saves. So what’s the problem?
You know who else was sent to the bullpen when he couldn’t cut it as a starting pitcher? He turned out to be the guy that, not once, but twice came in to a game and shut down the opposition. Once was in the National League Championship Series and then he followed it up in the World Series with another dominating performance. Oh…the year was 1969…and the pitcher was none other than, yes, Nolan Ryan. Another Hall of Famer.
It is just amazing how ridiculous some fans can be. The furor over signing Cespedes was relentless. Fans screamed that the Mets ownership NEVER spends money. And I think it is just incredible that the media feeds the frenzy and perpetuates the insanity.
Whether it was caving into the fan pressure or simply Sandy Alderson sticking to his plan and doing what was right for maintaining that plan and, at the same time, adding additional necessary parts, is irrelevant at this point. The fact is the Mets GM has taken chicken shit and turned it into chicken soup. Yes...he was not very successful with acquiring some bullpen help over the years of his tenure. But then, what GM really has been? Bullpen arms are so unpredictable. But what he HAS done is oversee the reshaping of the franchise, and has made the Mets into a contending team with a strong core of young talent promoted from a revitalized farm system, and bringing in spare parts when and where needed. Isn't that the formula the Yankees used to build their last dynasty?
The Mets announced that they will, at times, be sporting their "racing stripe" uniforms in honor of the 30th Anniversary of the 1986 World Series Championship team. I have always had a fascination with the Mets uniforms and to be quite honest, I absolutely hated those uniforms. The home uniforms were bad enough, but the road uniforms had a weird block lettering and then a silly looking script. Heck, Keith Hernandez has so often made his opinion of those uniforms known during broadcasts, calling them "hideous." I am a traditionalist, and although I liked the brief appearance of the blue and orange piping on the sleeves during the Lee Mazzilli era in the late seventies, early eighties, I am truly partial to the traditional home uniforms. But my favorite is the traditional away jerseys with the tiffany style lettering on the front and the full block numbers on the front and back.
And uniform numbers worn by the players always seemed to pique my interest. I am sure most people can be presented with a number and immediately associate it with a specific Mets player. In fact, sometimes you see a number on a player’s back and you either love the player or simply the way the number looks and all of a sudden that becomes YOUR number.
You know things are getting serious when benches start clearing during a baseball game. It's not everyday you see a basebrawl but then the Phillies have Larry Bowa in their dugout so you can just about bet something is bound to happen. I am just surprised there was no incident the night before when the Mets were hacking their way to hitting a team-record eight home runs...especially with Bowa in the opposing dugout.
Alan Karmin is an award-winning journalist and author. He was born in Brooklyn, New York and spent most of his life growing up in the New Jersey suburbs. Alan's family were avid Brooklyn Dodgers fans and when the Dodgers moved west, the Mets became the team to root for. The Mets have always been a true focal point, Alan even wrote a term paper in high school to analyze what was wrong with the Mets. While at the University of Miami, Alan honed his craft covering the, gulp, Yankees during spring trainings in Fort Lauderdale for a local NBC affiliate, as well as the Associated Press and UPI. He broadcasted baseball games for the University of Miami, and spring training games for the Baltimore Orioles and Montreal Expos. New York Mets Mania is a forum for Alan to write about his favorite team and for baseball fans to chime in and provide their thoughts and ideas about New York's Amazin' Mets.