A Friend Returns

[MFS62]

http://newyork.mets.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20060715&content_id=1557788&vkey=pr_nym&fext=.jsp&c_id=nym

For now, he can be a great help to the kids.
And who knows about the future?

Later

[Theoldmole]

I hope he stays with the Mets on some capacity.

[TransMonk]

Good to have him back in the organization.

Like most, I always liked him and was sad when he left.

[stevejrogers]

Will Wagner have to give up 13 if he makes it to the big club I wonder?

[stevejrogers]

[stevejrogers]

From an 86 TBTC game, probably the 15th Anniversary year

[Guest Edgy DC]

SteveJRogers wrote: Will Wagner have to give up 13 if he makes it to the big club I wonder?

I doubt it.

I guess 31 is avaliable.

That's another bridge.

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

I always suspected that he'd be back. (I predicted it in 2002 when he left, but the ezHacker has probably destroyed the evidence.)

It would be even nicer if it turns out that he can still play.

[MFS62]

Fonzie was one of the smartest baseball players I ever saw. He always seemed to do the right thing at the right time, offensively and defensively. He would make the perfect road roomie for Lastings.

Later

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

Do players still have roommates on the road?

[nymr83]

welcome back fonzie!!

[MFS62]

Yancy Street Gang wrote: Do players still have roommates on the road?

I would guess in the minors they still do.
Gotta' control expenses. Seems logical to me.

Later

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

You're right; I overlooked that you were talking about Triple A.

[Theoldmole]

Roommates on the road was a good baseball tradition. And us oldtimers (or anyone who listens to Ralph) remember when Choo Choo roomed with Number 5.

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

These days, I can't imagine a player of Tom Seaver's caliber putting up with having to room with a Bud Harrelson.

[Zvon]

Im happy to hear Fonzies back in the organization.

[metirish]

I'm so happy Fonzie is back, I would love nothing more than for him to get called up and to see the reception the fans would give him in his first AB.

[Theoldmole]

Standing ovation lasting at least five minutes. Tears.

[Theoldmole]

Is Edgar Alfonso still working for the Mets?

[Frayed Knot]

="TheOldMole"]Is Edgar Alfonso still working for the Mets?

I believe so. Also the nephew (Edgar's son) is pitching in the minors somewhere.

I have no problem with Fonz getting a minor league chance and all. I just wish he had shown some clue that he can still hit major league pitching over the last 5 years. Let's face it, as sad as it was to see him go, not signing him was a great move as things turned out. His '01 & '02 seasons were a shell of his '98-'00 self and since '03 he's been even worse.

[Gwreck]

I loved Fonzie as much as the next person, but history can't deny that Steve Phillips was absolutely correct in not resigning him, and that at best, he'd get a late-September call-up.

[patchyfogg]

He's probably my favorite Met ever, and I thought he'd roller skate into the Hall of Fame. But, unless this is shades of Maz returning in '86, I can't help but think they needed someone who can call Julio Franco "kid."

[Guest Edgy DC]

He may have nothing left, but figuring that out is part of what AAA is for. Julio Franco is much much older; if Fonzie's your favorite Met ever, I don't get the dig.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

What I loved about Fonzie were the foul balls. When he was going well, it seemed as if he were capable of dealing with every single pitch he didn't like by fouling it away -- never more than 5-6 rows deep. He knew exactly what he was doing. Then, wham. Double off the wall. Or a walk. Or a hard-hit out. The 1999 Holy Trinity (Fonzie, Olerud, Piazza) was something else. With Rickey in front and Ventura behind, just delicious.

I hated to see him go myself. But under torture I'd admit it was a good idea as he'd lost that ability to do what he wanted every time up (couldn't last) and his fielding was barely adequate.

He's got This Year's Lee Mazzilli written all over him.

[MFS62]

Johnny Dickshot wrote: He's got This Year's Lee Mazzilli written all over him.

Horrors!
I hope he never sells his soul to the Yankees.

Later

[Guest OlerudOwned]

I hope he gets a spot on the playoff roster, wins a ring, and rides off into the sunset (or a Mets coaching job).

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

That would be a nice scenario, Olerud.

The Mets have had a bunch of players appear in more than one postseason, but never one that transcended eras.

By that I mean that nobody from 1969/1973 was around in 1986/1988, although Seaver and Staub and Ron Hodges came close. And nobody from 1986/1988 played in the 1999/2000 postseasons.

But it looks like the next mini- (or maxi-) era of post-season play will begin in 2006. And if Fonzie's on the playoff roster (which I consider unlikely) it will be a first of sorts.

And I know that 2000 and 2006 are not that far apart, but the roster has turned over completely since the 2000 season.

[Willets Point]

Yancy Street Gang wrote: By that I mean that nobody from 1969/1973 was around in 1986/1988, although Seaver and Staub and Ron Hodges came close. And nobody from 1986/1988 played in the 1999/2000 postseasons.

Except for David Cone. barf!

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

I meant, of course, for the Mets, but you're right.

Barf!

[Frayed Knot]

]He's got This Year's Lee Mazzilli written all over him

Except that Mazzilli circa 1986 still had something left.
Fonzie hasn't shown signs of life for years.