Rico Brogna, Good Fit (Cont.)

[Guest Edgy DC]

My opinion: he was oversold.

He was a professional hitter, but comiing over from the then division-power Phillies, he was looked to be a star power hitter. He led the team in RBIs, but when it became clear that he was what he was, he was roundly booed by the 1,500 people who were showing up. He said --- surprise --- that playing New York made him unhappy, which naturally amplified the booing. He wanted to leave town and the Mets saw to it.

Which doesn't make him a cupcake, or even not a douchebag. I don't know. I just think people subsequently got way too exorcised about his pretty typical performance. He had been reduced to platooning with Phillie by the time we got him anyhow anyhow. He eventually went to Detroit for fourth outfielder Jerry Morales and AAA infielder Phil Mankowski.

[soupcan]

Edgy DC wrote: My opinion: he was oversold. He was a professional hitter, but comiing over from the then division-power Phillies, he was looked to be a star power hitter. He led the team in RBIs, but when it became clear that he was what he was, he was roundly booed by the 1,500 people who were showing up. He said --- surprise --- that playing New York made him unhappy, which naturally amplified the booing. He wanted to leave town and the Mets saw to it. Which doesn't make him a cupcake, or even not a douchebag. I don't know. I just think people subsequently got way too exorcised about his pretty typical performance. He had been reduced to platooning with Phillie by the time we got him anyhow anyhow. He eventually went to Detroit for fourth outfielder Jerry Morales and AAA infielder Phil Mankowski.

Yeah I'm sure it had something to do with that. Maybe he said something nasty though towards the fans either while here on his way out.

[Guest Edgy DC]

I'd head over to UMDB. I'm sure Shari and Mr. Sparkle will fill you in.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Are you mocking my in-house comedy team?

[Guest Edgy DC]

Yeah, a bit.

[Guest Edgy DC]

If I go over to UMDB and Shari and Sparks aren't kicking Hebner's head around like a soccer ball, well, then I'm not Edgy DC.

[soupcan]

Well I got about halfway through the 'Hebner Memories' and then assumed I knew the theme of the rest of them.

I guess that at that time me thinking Hebner was a bad egg was pretty much the party line for Mets fans. Combination of a surly guy and dissatisfied fans.

Some funny lines in some of those memories though.

Some of Sparkle n' Shari's best work I would presume.

[Guest cooby]

[Guest cooby]

Richie Hebner is going to be today's most hit Met

[Benjamin Grimm]

He might, but only because it's been a slow day so far.

The current leader is Buzz Capra.

[Guest cooby]

I suppose Buzz deserves a day

[Guest Edgy DC]

soupcan wrote: Well I got about halfway through the 'Hebner Memories' and then assumed I knew the theme of the rest of them. I guess that at that time me thinking Hebner was a bad egg was pretty much the party line for Mets fans. Combination of a surly guy and dissatisfied fans. Some funny lines in some of those memories though. Some of Sparkle n' Shari's best work I would presume.

I don't think so. Someday, I'm doing a graduate thesis on those two.

[Benjamin Grimm]

When you do, I hope you'll post excerpts here.

[Guest Edgy DC]

A little more light reading from The Connecticut Post:

METS SERIES

Mets series: Backman did it the old-fashioned way

CHRIS ELSBERRY celsberry@ctpost.com

NEW YORK — All you had to do was look at the uniform to figure out how Wally Backman had played that day. If the uniform was filthy, and it usually was, then Backman had done his job.

He played the game the old-fashioned way. He got dirty. To him, there was no other way to play. Dive for ground balls, bunt to get on base. Whatever it took to make something happen, that's what Backman did.

Like in Game 3 of the 1986 National League Championship Series. Houston led New York 2-1 in the bottom of the ninth. The Mets needed a spark. So Backman gave them one, dragging a bunt down the first base line and diving safely around the tag of Astros first baseman Glenn Davis. Two batters later, Lenny Dykstra homered to right to give the Mets a 3-2 victory.

"In my opinion, the whole series turned on that bunt by Wally Backman," said Gary Carter in the 2002 book "Amazin' " by Peter Golenbock.

Backman starred in that NLCS. In Game 5, he opened the last of the 12th inning with a single, took second on a wild pickoff throw and scored on Carter's RBI single for a 2-1 Mets win.

In Game 6, Backman's RBI single in the top of the 14th inning put the Mets in front. His walk in the 16th was part of a three-run inning as New York held on for that incredible 7-6 victory that gave them the National League pennant.

"It's been years and I still remember the emotions," Backman said in "Amazin.'" "There's nothing like it. It's the best high anyone could ever have."

Backman batted .320 for the Mets in 1986, with 18 doubles, 27 RBIs and 13 stolen bases. In the World Series against the Boston Red Sox, Backman hit .333.

"It started to come together in '84, the team started coming together, players were getting their feet wet and you could see good things coming," Backman said at a recent 20th anniversary reunion of the '86 Mets at Shea. "When Jesse (Orosco) threw his glove into the air, I think that was the most memorable thing because it was a sigh of relief, we had done it."

Backman played with the Mets from 1980-88. In 1997, he started a managerial career with Catskill in the Western League. In 2001, he managed Class A Winston-Salem, and he moved to Class AA Birmingham in 2002 (winning the Southern League title) and '03. In 2004, the Arizona Diamondbacks hired Backman to manage their Class A Lancaster team, and he led them to the California League championship.

The Diamondbacks named Backman their new major league manager on Nov. 1, 2004. Four days later, however, they fired him after reports that he had been previously convicted of DUI and accused of spousal abuse by his former wife.

"They (bleeped) me in Arizona," Backman said at the reunion. "That's what happened. I want to put all that behind me."

And while Backman would one day like to return to baseball, he's currently opening a restaurant in Prineville, Ariz.

"We had fun together, we played hard together and we probably drank too hard," Backman said of the '86 Mets. "It was the thrill of a lifetime."

Up next: Coach Buddy Harrelson.

[Guest cooby]

Jason Phillips?

[Benjamin Grimm]

cooby wrote: Jason Phillips?

I think it was his birthday.

[Frayed Knot]

Do you suppose an aritcle on Backman exists without mentioning dirty uniforms in the first two sentences?

[MFS62]

Frayed Knot wrote: Do you suppose an aritcle on Backman exists without mentioning dirty uniforms in the first two sentences?

It would be about as rare as an article on Lance Armstrong would be that doesn't include mention of the disease from which he recovered. (in the first two sentences)

Later

[DocTee]

Ray Searage, on the coaching staff of your Arizona Fall League Grand Canyon Rafters.

[stevejrogers]

For what its worth, Managing and Coaching for various Postseason Squads:
Twins: Ron Gardinhire, Rick Anderson
MFY: Joe Torre, Lee Mazzilli, Larry Bowa
Mets: Willie Randolph, Sandy Alomar, Sr.
Cardinals: Jose Oquendo
Dodgers: Eddie Murray

[Guest Edgy DC]

Lloyd McClendon, former Mets farmhand, coaching the bullpen for your Detroit Tigers.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Here's a good one. I stumbled upon some columnist (Brian O'Neill) with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

]PirateApologist: Which type of owner would be worse? The Nuttings, whom many joke about not knowing if they exist, or an owner like the Marlins owner who yells at umpires during the games and fires his manager for calling him on it. Can an owner be too involved? Brian O'Neill: In a word, yes. Give me someone like Joan Payson, who owned the Mets in the '60s. Hire the right people and get out of the way.

Wow, somebody in Steeltown remembers Joan.

[MFS62]

That's probably one more person in that fine city than the number who remembers when it was called Steeltown.

Later

[Guest cooby]

How nice of that young man!

[Guest Edgy DC]

Advance scouting tonight's game for the Cards: Mike Jorgenson.

[MFS62]

]Mets: Dykstra is all business these days Tuesday, October 10, 2006 BY KEVIN MANAHAN Star-Ledger Staff SIMI VALLEY, Calif. -- The cell phone rings. "Dude," Lenny Dykstra says. "Do I know you?" We had arrived unnanounced at the Lenny Dykstra Car Wash looking for a rental car rinse and an interview with the former Mets postseason hero. A manager says Dykstra will call. When he does, he laughs. "You're Pearl Harboring me?' he says. "Dude, I like that. It shows guts. Come up to my office. Just two rules, man: No questions about steroids or my partying days." When we enter the office, we realize Dykstra, now 43, has been watching us the whole time. From his paneled office, with the lights off and the wooden blinds opened only in slits, he watches it all, either from the large window that overlooks the final wipe-down area or on the television next to his desk. That screen is divided into 16 panels -- 16 closed-circuit eyes on this location, his other car washes and his home. "In the past, people have tried to take advantage of me," he says. "Some have stolen from me. I've had business partners and family members stealing. I mean, what do you think, I won't find out? Do they think I'm stupid?" Actually, they probably did. And they weren't alone. Bring that 1986 picture of Dykstra into focus: He is a cocky, trash-talking kid playing center field for the Mets. He has a wad of tobacco bigger than a catcher's mitt in his cheek. He is the symbol of the Mets in the 1980s: a guy with a big mouth and the game to back it up. Then, everyone around him would have said he wasn't the tightest stitched baseball in the ump's pocket. But from a clubhouse that included Ivy League-educated pitcher Ron Darling, soft-spoken and reflective left-hander Bob Ojeda, cunning first baseman Keith Hernandez and camera-loving catcher Gary Carter, Nails has emerged as wealthy and savvy as any of them. Now the man they called Nails is an entrepreneur, worth millions more than when he was the sixth-highest-paid player in the game. He owns a string of car washes. He is dabbling in corporate real estate. He says he has devised a system of option-playing to outsmart the stock market. "Lenny met my sister when he was playing Double-A ball in Jackson, Miss.," brother-in-law Keith Peel says. "We thought what everybody thought. Don't get me wrong: We loved Lenny. But when he said he was going to play in the majors, we said, 'Sure, sure.' He was a little runt." Peel then holds his hand waist high, pauses, and moves it above his head. "When it comes to smarts, everybody thought he was down here," Peel says. "But he was really way up here." 'HUMAN XANAX' The car-wash campus is immaculate, and it includes a cul de sac of squeaky clean buildings: a handful of bays form Dykstra's quick-lube business, a large garage houses a detailing operation, another is used for the installation of car toys, like DVD players and navigational systems. The buildings are being remodeled, and Dykstra is sparing no expense. "A money pit," he joked. He is washing 1,000 cars a day on the weekend. And every few minutes the land in Simi Valley climbs in value. Cha-ching. Cha-ching. As a free agent, Dykstra took the Phillies' $27 million and invested wisely. Between the oil change bays and the detailing business is a lounge, with flat screen TVs. One was tuned into Bloomberg, the other a football game. Dykstra soon will provide his customers with wireless Internet and Dell laptops, in case they want to bang out a few e-mails while they wait. The laptops haven't arrived yet, and it's killing him, because he wants to show his visitors the new toys. So, he launched the Internet on the billing computer, called up the Dell Web site and pointed to the model he ordered: the XPS M1710, which runs about $2,500 a pop. "They're monsters, dude," he said. But they're just part of the empire. In the lobby of the car wash, there is a trophy case with sports memorabilia, including photos and some of his jerseys and a miniature world championship trophy from the 1986 Mets. Fish swim in a large aquarium. You can buy anything from air fresheners to floor mats to greeting cards and knick-knacks, ice cream bars and soda. The place is spotless. Outside, customers sit on a beautiful stone patio. Music is piped in. There is a rock formation with a waterfall. Workers have just installed granite floors in the detailing center. Dykstra likes them, but doesn't like that the job is still unfinished. He gripes about that. He points at a small patch of brown grass at the base of a palm tree and orders it restored. Everywhere he goes, he spots something he doesn't like and assigns an employee to fix it. Wipe this, Polish that. Pick that up. When he thinks the wipe-down guys are slacking, the guy who always hustled calls Ricardo on the cell phone. "They're human Xanax," he barks. "Get them hustling. They're human sleeping pills. Look at 'em all, dude. They're all dreary. It's misery. Nothing is happening. No one is moving. We're all falling asleep watching them." DOING HAPPY STUFF It's easy to see why people have underestimated him. Even now, years later, the words still crawl from his mouth. Check that. They don't crawl. They awaken, sit on the edge of his tongue, stretch and yawn and then exit his mouth. Jose Reyes could go first to third on one Dykstra syllable. But if the words only trickle out, the ideas come fast and furious. "You have to be ready for anything with Lenny," Peel says. One day not so long ago, Dykstra decided he wanted out of the car repair business. So he canned the mechanics and turned the bays into his oil change business. Leftover space went toward the installation of stereos and DVD players. There was too much conflict in auto repairs. "When they would get hit with a big bill, they acted like they had just lost their life savings in Vegas," Dykstra said. Said Peel: "Lenny wants to do happy stuff. Even when the mechanic is totally honest, people still feel like they're getting ripped off. Lenny couldn't stand that." Meanwhile, Dykstra was talking to oil change customers. He tells everyone who will listen that Castrol's synthetic oil is the best they can buy. "It doesn't come out of the ground, man," he says. "It's made in a lab, by scientists, the smartest people on earth. Which would you rather put in your car -- something we pulled from the earth or something specifically designed for you car?" By the time he's finished, they think he's a genius. He is launching other ideas. Some are big, like The Players Club, a financial vehicle to protect athletes with virtually risk-free investment income when they retire. Some are small, like his landscaping business that employs the overflow of Hispanics that come to the car wash looking for jobs. "Almost every day he comes in here with something new," Peel said. 'NAILS ON NUMBERS There are a couple of things that still get Dykstra's juices flowing. One is coffee, which he drinks continuously. Into each cup, he pours a mountain of powdered creamer. He scoffs at caffeine-free drinks. The other is the stock market. For a while, he wrote "Nails on Numbers," a column on TheStreet.com. Imagine that: Lenny Dykstra, stock wiz. Web site owner Jim Cramer said Dykstra "plays the market with the same enthusiasm he played baseball, which is a total blast to watch. I think the guy comes to play everyday." These days, Dykstra is trading only for himself. He says he is making big money by trading options on ignored companies with sound financials. Within minutes, he is talking about price-to-earnings ratios, contracts, debt and debt-to-equity ratios, and again we find ourselves thinking, "This is Lenny Dykstra?" He calls up his personal finance page on Yahoo! and invites us to look at the scoreboard. There are far more winners than losers. He pulls out spreadsheets on the car washes. Dykstra likes to keep score, and, just like in baseball, he can do that in business and the stock market. At times like this, he doesn't sound like Lenny. But in minutes he is Nails again, describing parties thrown by Wayne Gretzky, his neighbor, or telling the story of how he needed a better mortgage, so he walked down the street and banged on the door of Countrywide Mortgage COO Angelo Mozilo. "He answered the door and I said, 'Dude, I'm in a bad deal.' I didn't know the guy," Dykstra said. "But he took care of me. He locked me in at 5.5, dude. He's cool. He gets all the free car washes he wants." Like everything else, Dykstra keeps an eye on the Mets. Two years ago, in spring training, he spent time teaching Reyes how to be a leadoff hitter. When he talks baseball, people are sure he knows what he's talking about. "I was a punk when I played," Dykstra said. "Things change. People underestimated me. But that's how I set up pitchers, man. They thought they could outsmart me, too." He recalls John Smoltz's near no-hitter, which Dykstra, then with the Phillies, broke up with a one-out double in the ninth inning. "He tried to sneak the cheese (fastball) by me," Dykstra said. "I knew he would try that. So, I'm at second and I'm down there retying my shoelace and I'm laughing to myself and thinking, 'Outsmarted 'em again.'"

Later

[metirish]

I swear I have read that same article several times the last few months.....

[Guest cooby]

Yeah, I remember thinking before that Lenny Dykstra is the absolute last last last last last person I would go for for financial advice. Or cooking advice. Or health advice. Or love advice. Or decorating advice. You get the picture

[MFS62]

metirish wrote: I swear I have read that same article several times the last few months.....

I thought if we had it on the CPF, this would have been the thread for it.
I didn't look anywhere else, but if its here, it might be in the "So You Want To Be a Sportswriter" thread.

Later

[Guest cooby]

Actually I think what I read was a different piece, maybe more than one writer was amazed that Lenny turned out to be a (coff) entrepreneur