Too soon for an off-season game?

[roger_that]

Let's try this anyway. Maybe it will distract from the pain.

Person A names the two greatest Mets, in his view, in some category or other, and Person B names a third Met who, in his view, belongs on that short list, possibly even on the top of that short list.

There are, in my view, surprisingly few categories where we are all agreed who the top two Mets ever are. For example, if we were to start with “Greatest Mets pitcher” this would seem pretty easy, “Seaver and deGrom—duh,” except that a Doc Gooden fan could make the legitimate claim that no one has ever had a better peak than Doc, no one has ever sustained more dominance than Doc in the mid-80s, and his (Person B’s) criterion for greatness is a sustained peak, not career length.

Or maybe Person B thinks that the game itself changed by deGrom’s time, demanding fewer innings of starting pitchers, or making it more difficult to amass wins, or something of that sort—the point being that a legitimate argument can be made for Doc’s inclusion in the top two Mets’ pitchers.

Somewhat weaker but still legitimate cases might even be made for other pitchers –Santana, Dickey, Koosman—and there is the possibility that by expanding the definition of “a Mets’ pitcher” to include any pitcher who ever wore a Mets uniform, however briefly, would place Warren Spahn on that list or Justin Verlander.

So try this out with a different category (or go ahead and argue that my examples should have included Jesse Orosco or Nolan McLean) and some other Person B will come along and refute your top two choices, and maybe Persons C and D and G will chime in as well. I call this game “You’re Fulla **** and I’ll Tell Ya Why,” after Roger Kahn’s anecdote about Carl Erskine or Preacher Roe being the Brooklyn Dodgers’ top pitcher. If you like, I’ll offer some opening topics without naming my two picks:

1) greatest Mets slugger.

2) strongest throwing arm for Mets' SS.

3) most intelligent Met

You get the idea. Go.

[DocTee]

Craziest Mets:

1. Carl Everett

2. Lenny Randle

[MFS62]

Craziest Mets:

1. Carl Everett

2. Lenny Randle

 

Doc, I'll differ with you on that one. (I guess that's what this thread is for)

1. Jimmy Piersall - who was actually diagnosed with mental illness

2. Carl Everett - a wackaloon of the highest order, but I'm not sure he ever was formally diagnosed or treated.

Later

[roger_that]

Good work, gentlemen.

The reason I listed shortstops ' throwing arms is something I noticed when I watched a replay of the 1969 series. Bud Harrelson had a GUN. I never realized how he'd be going deep in the hole, back hand a grounder, and you think "Infield single" but instead Bud would gun it on a straight line to first and nab the runner by two steps. Just astonishing.

So my list is

1. Harrelson

2. Rey Ordonez.

[DocTee]

Sorry but NOBODY had a cannon like Shawon Dunston.

[Fman99]

Greatest Mets sluggers, all time:

1. Pete Alonso

2. Darryl Strawberry

What are you gonna do, throw Dave Kingman at me? I dare ya

[roger_that]

Sorry but NOBODY had a cannon like Shawon Dunston.

 

That's an argument, which I would counter with "Dunston refused to play shortstop for the Mets, so I can't count his arm when he was with the Cubs towards his arm when he was a Met."

[metirish]

1) greatest Mets slugger

Carlos Delgado

[Benjamin Grimm]

[roger_that]

Some would put Mike Piazza at the top of the list of Mets' sluggers.