Memories of Gary Matthews, Jr.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Two non-Mets memories stand out: (1) He pulled a real Yankee move by pretending to man-up on his HGH cheating by apologizing for being a "distraction." (2) He got one of the better nicknames of the PED era in "Gary Matthews, Juicer."

Desipte all that and despite getting a roster slot and a starting role with the Mets he was clearly unsuited for, I couldn't bring myself to dislike him --- perhaps giving him residual affection earned by his father.

[Fman99]

I found it interesting what Matt Cerrone said on Metsblog, which was that in practice GMJ often looked like the best player on the field, big, athletic, etc. but that he just couldn't translate it to game time.

[Frayed Knot]

He looked decent in spring training too.

For the fact that the Mets were being spared approx 95% of the contract and that they wanted/needed a 2nd guy who could play CF in Beltran's absence and with Pagan not exactly being Mr. Reliable up until this season, his acquisition wasn't a bad idea. Indeed his (supposed) skills: switch-hits, occasional pop, plays all 3 OF spots, can still run a bit, in a lot of ways made him an ideal guy off the bench.

It obviously just never worked.

[ashie62]

Contract aside GMJ reminds me of a poor mans Ellis Valentine

[DocTee]

How broke you gotta be to not afford Ellis?

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

He was given his chances to prove he belonged, and only a few successes mixed in with all that failure could have turned his season and the Mets' around. But, he didn't get even one that I remember, and it wasn't like he was lining out hard; he was flailing and looking like a guy who knew the end was near.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Hey, remember that guy? That terrible platoony-backup outfielder guy?

You know the one... that grotesquely overpaid guy?

The past-his-prime one who strikes out all the time, and looks terrible doing so?

The one with major-league bloodlines whose career didn't quite measure up to Pops'?

Not specific enough? How about the guy who pinch-hit for a superior hitter in order to bunt Luis Castillo over, then, after Castillo advanced to scoring position on a wild pitch, continued to bunt, eventually doing so on a 3-1 count, because (as Jerry Manuel later said) "he's not swinging the bat well."

[Zvon]

As a Met, nothing.
I could say many empty at bats but I won't.

As a player, (this is sooo easyyyy)
..............the catch.

[bmfc1]

Opening Day, 2-3, a walk 2 runs scored. That's it.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/boxscore?gameId=300405121

[metirish]

It could have been an inspired move , it wasn't , but no one got hurt.

[Gwreck]

Ehh... I don't know if we lost games especially because of Gary Matthews Jr. but he surely didn't help.

Gary's second tenure with the Mets unfortunately will be remembered (by me, at least) as a "First Guessing" move. It was a deal that was:
A. Obviously a bad one at the time of the deal and
B. One that obviously didn't work.

It's not "second guessing" if you knew at the start that it was a bad idea!

[Guest Edgy DC]

Well, maybe one of the games he played was the one in which Pagan would have gotten knocked out for nine months.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I'm not going to spend any time ruing this trade. He didn't come with a back-breaking salary. We're not missing Brian Stokes. He only started 10 games (although the Mets were 3-7 in the games that he did start).

If, at the end of the season, we can make a valid argument that Gary Matthews' presence for the first two months cost the Mets a playoff berth, then I'll feel differently. But I don't see that as being likely.

[G-Fafif]

Looked very good in center amid the wind of Opening Day.

It was a reasonable shot, more so than Jacobs and Catalanotto. All three will be lumped together in the mind's eye, hopefully, as the guys the Mets got rid of en route to finding the right mix and taking off toward bigger and better things in 2010.

Oh sure, everybody remembers 2010, but nobody remembers how many stiffs we had when that blessed season began...

[Guest OlerudOwned]

Liked the trade. Also liked his release. Didn't like what happened between 'em, but whattaya gonna do.