Memories of Asdrubal Cabrera

[G-Fafif]

That eleventh-inning home run, of course, September 22, 2016, the keynote blow amid a late playoff rush that was as dramatic as any the Mets have forged since 1973 (failure to advance beyond the Wild Card Game notwithstanding). Judging by how often the clip was played in the wake of the news of the trade, you'd think it was stroked by Bobby Thomson off Ralph Branca.

Also launched a homer to beat the very same Phillies he'd beaten the season before on the 2017 Bobblehead Day that celebrated his instantly iconic blast.

Fifty-five home runs in all. Thirty at Citi Field, tying him for sixth among Mets, with Ike Davis.

Reminded me of Gary Carter in terms of persevering through aches and pains. I don't know if they taped his knees mummy-style, but he was always said to be hurting yet hardly ever came out of the lineup. A real gamer who was a joy to root for.

Faith and Fear's Most Valuable Met of 2016 and as close to a mainstay as the Mets had from the moment he arrived to the moment he departed. He came off the DL in June of 2017, stated his desire to be traded if he was played at second instead of short and then proceeded to a) play wherever asked without further public protest; and maintain the longest uninterrupted stretch of any Met on the active roster. (That distinction now belongs to wily veteran Amed Rosario, dating to August 1, 2017.)

[Lefty Specialist]

Far better than I thought he'd be. The lack of range was painful, but he never did anything stupid, played when others would have sat down, and was pretty clutch when it was needed. One of those few 'veteran free agent' acquisitions that actually worked out.

[Edgy MD]

He was appealing in that he seemed to take baseball exactly as seriously and exactly as light as was necessary. When he gave an ump shit over a bad call, that ump had it coming and everybody knew it. And he'd do it with a simple curing of his lips in frustration, a slight shake of the head, and maybe a light eyeroll. And that ump was owned without Asdrubal losing his head. He was still in the at-bat, and now he was in the ump's head.

His hair highlights were just the right degree of stupid. His uncrowning folks after a homer was just the right degree of fun. His nimble hands and dextrous feet were just the right amount of dependable for an infielder that had been utterly abandoned by his range. His slumps were never so long that you lost faith in him, and he seemed to be in the center of every celebration, while not shrinking from trying to lift his teammates in hard times.

That his brief revolt wasn't done in a pitch-perfect manner was jarring, but within the week, he was as steady and dependable and fun as ever and all was forgotten. None of that contract issue really spilled onto the field or even, seemingly, into the dugout. And the Mets did the right thing in picking up his option, and now they have 58 more RBI and (checking) Franklyn Kilomé to show for it.

I don't think I've ever see a Met maintain his effectiveness as ... effectively ... while playing hurt. Carter, but he was prone to long slumps. Moisés Alou, maybe, but he was out half the time or more, while Asdrubal answered the bell day after day. He's unofficially been the team's captain for most of his tenure.

I think it's great that the Phillies now have Asdrubal Cabrera and Odúbel Herrera in the same lineup. Number 13, to the best of my knowledge, is available. They have a majority Latin American lineup, and not just Caribbeans, but a lineup filled with mainlanders from Venezuela and Columbia, and if and when the Mets get eliminated, I'll be all in on the Phillies.

[Edgy MD]

Also, notable was the beanball incident with Edubray Ramos, which led to the weirdest benchclearing in history, as Cabrera, the Mets, seemingly the Phils, and everybody but Ramos had forgotten that he'd been the victim of Cabrera's walkoff in the 9-8 comeback win. Fellow Venezuelan Ramos is on the DL now, and hopefully by the time he comes back, he'll find Cabrera's locker is right next to his, and that the whole team already likes Cabrera more.

[TransMonk]

I’ll echo that he exceeded expectations his entire time here and provided my favorite moment of 2016.

[fimg=500:24hvh2yy]https://usatftw.files.wordpress.com/2016/09/mets.jpg?w=1000&h=600&crop=1[/fimg:24hvh2yy]

[Chad ochoseis]

He had one of the worst offensive stretches a Met regular ever had in mid-2016...was something like oh-for-a-bajillion-zillion with RISP. And still bounced back to become a late season star and - even after averaging in the bad stretch - the best position player the Mets had in a season when they weren't a bad team.

He always seemed older than he was. I know he's 32, but I think of him as 38.

OE - He actually OPSed .694 in May 2016 and .703 in June. Not good, but not nearly as awful as memory told me it was.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Edgy MD wrote: I don't think I've ever see a Met maintain his effectiveness as ... effectively ... while playing hurt. Carter, but he was prone to long slumps. Moisés Alou, maybe, but he was out half the time or more, while Asdrubal answered the bell day after day.

Certainly the best play-effectively-and-prolifically-through-injury guy I can ever remember. We've got to hang a name on this quantity. Gimpficiency?

Relatedly, he may also be the guy I've most frequently seen get knocked out of a game by an apparently-routine play, whether it be diving to get a liner, or going down to a knee to collect a dribbler, or just slightly abnormal locomotion.

Between the play-hurt-and-well business, positional versatility, and de-facto captaincy... have we ever gotten more bang-for-buck out of a FA signing? (Olerud, maybe?)

[Fman99]

That bat flip. What a great moment, when that ball left the bat. And I'm sure someone with more search acumen can go back to the archives, and find it, and show that I TOTALLY CALLED IT AHEAD OF TIME AND SAID WE WERE GOING TO WIN THAT GAME and it worked.

[TransMonk]

http://www.archives.thecranepool.net/24700/f14_t24778.shtml

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Here's a wayback machine report you'll enjoy.

Okay, now let's talk about Asdrubal Cabrera

I think most of us were surprised by how quickly Sandy moved past Tejada. Most of us thought this move was unnecessary.

Like I said before his O was much better than I'd have imagined and he sustained it long after I was convinced he'd have pulled a Todd Frazier.