Did that even happen?

[Edgy MD]

The new thread made necessary by the era of high churn, this is the thread where you recall a guy who makes no sense whatsoever as a Met, but you look back on the days and months and years gone by and despite your best sensibility, you are forced to admit that, yeah, that guy was a Met.

I open with ... Darin Ruf.

Darin Ruf?!

Yeah, holy crap, that guy was a Met. Even he looks surprised.

[fimg=600]https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/09/darin-ruf-mets-playoff-roster.jpg?w=1024[/fimg]

Look at Alonso back there, thinking, "I'm just going to ignore this guy until he goes away."

[Cowtipper]

First one that instantly comes to mind is this guy:

Joe Panik.

He had a decent stint with the Mets, but he just kind of showed up and went away in 2019, and the name Joe Panik never really felt like a Mets name.

[metirish]

I remember Ruf getting slated , like he was the reason that season sucked or whatever , I guess J.D. Davis being part of that trade didn't help

Rick Ankiel all those years ago

[Benjamin Grimm]

Larry Bowa.

[Edgy MD]

I always knew that Rick Ankiel would join the Mets for a stitch because he grew up in Port St. Lucie and continued to live there in the offseason.

Larry Bowa belongs side-by-side with Ruf in The Hall of Stretch-Run Deals That Actively Made the Mets Worse in a Season Where Not Getting Worse Might Have Made All the Difference.

[whippoorwill]

I did not know about Rick Ankiel being a Met. How did that work out? That poor kid…

[stevejrogers]

Larry Bowa.

 

Stole my first thought opening this thread!

[stevejrogers]

A few HOFers brought in for early nostalgia pops and the hopes of becoming a full time coach

Richie Ashburn

Gil Hodges

Duke Snider

Yogi Berra

Warren Spahn

Edited February 16 by stevejrogers

[Edgy MD]

Those totally happened. Well publicized, well documented, even celebrated unions with highly celebrated figures.

Ender Inciarte, on the other hand, remains an open question.

[stevejrogers]

Oh, I thought this was just as much about people who fans looking back, especially born years/decades after would be like THEY PLAYED FOR THAT TEAM”

Not just players you’d rather forget were on the Mets, or had such little time and/or impact that you forgot their time in a Met uni.

Ie Postseason and down the stretch performances put Tom Glavine and Max Scherzer on here.

Back to what I thought was part of the point, Glavine and Snider are joined by Gary Sheffield in terms of iconic milestones managing to happen while the player is in a Met uni.

[Edgy MD]

I would invite you to think more about Trot Nixon.

Did it actually happen? Are there eyewitnesses? DNA evidence? What was the motive?

[stevejrogers]

Sarge Jr.

https://www.tcdb.com/ViewCard.cfm/sid/9821/cid/417626/2010-Topps-533-Gary-Matthews-Jr.

Only in-action Met card is a badly Photoshopped one!

[Cowtipper]

If we're mentioning Trot Nixon, might as well go with Jeff Conine. Jeff Conine was a Met? Yup, he was.

[Centerfield]

I don't know if this exactly fits the thread, but my mind could not comprehend that Tommy Herr was playing for the Mets. Like how is this possible.

Another was Kevin Bass. The guy who made the last out. Ingrained in my head just as much as Marty Barret.

I mean. How is that guy on the Mets.

[Centerfield]

I guess for some of you guys, the idea that Davey Johnson would manage the Mets to a World Series title was mind blowing.

[Edgy MD]

If we're mentioning Trot Nixon, might as well go with Jeff Conine. Jeff Conine was a Met? Yup, he was.

 

Jeff Conine. One more stretch-run acquisition that actively made the team worse at a time when any marginal help might have made the difference.

Jeff Conine, Larry Bowa, and Darin Ruf should form a pop group. Made no sense mentally in a Mets uniform and proved it on the field, at least for those who bothered remembering.

[stevejrogers]

Adrian Gonzalez, Jose Bautista

[stevejrogers]

Mickey Lolich and Jim Fregosi should count, even if they are known as who the Mets got in awful deals

[stevejrogers]

I don't know if this exactly fits the thread, but my mind could not comprehend that Tommy Herr was playing for the Mets. Like how is this possible.

 

Oddly, I think he and Keith Hernandez got inducted into the Cardinals’ HOF together…actually never mind, a year apart “class wise” Same ceremony though.

[stevejrogers]

Jose Oquendo, speaking of eternal Redbirds, might count on the front end.

[Cowtipper]

If we're talking front-end guys, even relatively, the 1990s had quite a few. David Segui, Carl Everett, Mike Remlinger, Paul Byrd, Shane Halter.

The mid-1990s Mets were chock full of guys that I never ever ever ever equate with being Mets. Just look at the 1995 pitching staff. That alone had a bunch. Blas Minor...really? Doug Henry...really? Jerry DiPoto...really? The aforementioned Paul Byrd...really? And they all pitched for the club in 1996, too!

[whippoorwill]

I don't know if this exactly fits the thread, but my mind could not comprehend that Tommy Herr was playing for the Mets. Like how is this possible.

Another was Kevin Bass. The guy who made the last out. Ingrained in my head just as much as Marty Barret.

I mean. How is that guy on the Mets.

 

I absolutely remember Tommy Herr because he was from Williamsport.

Just looked him up! No he wasn't lololol

[whippoorwill]

btw, remember the Kevin Bass stole Tim McCarver's shoes story? I probably have that wrong too...

[Benjamin Grimm]

On the "front end", I think the biggest one is Amos Otis.

I remember thinking that if the Mets were to win another World Series, they might have to do it with Marty Barrett as manager, to keep the pattern going. Should I let David Stearns know?

[Edgy MD]

Yeah, but you see, famous is largely a disqualifier.

 

Mickey Lolich and Jim Fregosi should count, even if they are known as who the Mets got in awful deals

 

When we speak of "roster churn," it is more typically associated with ephemeral tenures, mid-season add-ons that never really plugged in.

The point of "Did that even happen?" should mean to suggest folks you actually have to actively dial up to confirm that it did happen — acquired in forgotten transactions, shed in forgotten transactions.

Jim Fregosi and Mickey Lolich were quite famously Mets, even if you did not want them to be. Both played wire to wire over the course of a season and Fregosi even made a yearbook cover, but ... Danny Graves? Did that even happen?

Gary Sanchez? Get out of here!

[Benjamin Grimm]

How about Sandy Alomar Jr.? Doc Medich?

[whippoorwill]

On the "front end", I think the biggest one is Amos Otis.

I remember thinking that if the Mets were to win another World Series, they might have to do it with Marty Barrett as manager, to keep the pattern going. Should I let David Stearns know?

 

Amos Otis was my nickname in high school

Backwards it was Somasito which was way cool

[Cowtipper]

How about Sandy Alomar Jr.? Doc Medich?

 

Gary Sanchez, Sandy Alomar, Jr. Perhaps other teams do, too, but the Mets have really loved giving veteran catchers cups of coffees over the years. Lots of catchers kind of fit the theme of this thread. Gary Bennett, Robinson Cancel, Raul Casanova, Michael Perez, Chance Sisco, Robinson Chirinos, Jose Lobaton, Taylor Teagarden, Kelly Shoppach, Rob Johnson, Mike DiFelice, Kelly Stinnett (also a mid-90s "he was really a Met?" Met), even Devin Mesoraco, who had a bit more than a cup of coffee. And this list just goes back to 2000.

Also, the 2020 team had a good number of players that one can hardly believe was ever a Met. Brian Dozier, Eduardo Nunez, Billy Hamilton, Guillermo Heredia, Rick Porcello*, Erasmo Ramirez, Hunter Strickland.

*Michael Wacha, brought aboard for 2020 as well, doesn't require a double take from me, at least, because in my brain he's one of those Mets that stunk with New York but became really good elsewhere. So I'm well-aware he was a Met.