Bobby's Boyz II Men (Name Them!)

[G-Fafif]

CORRECT
1. Melvin Mora (Metirish)
2. Jay Payton (batmagadanleadoff)
3. Pedro Feliciano (batmagadanleadoff)
4. Ty Wigginton (batmagadanleadoff)
5. Gary Matthews, Jr. (batmagadanleadoff)
6. Marco Scutaro (Metirish)
7. Mike Hampton (bml)
8. Octavio Dotel (bml)
9. Ivan Rodriguez (Edgy)
10. Jamie Moyer (Edgy)
11. Bruce Chen (Gwreck)
12. Scott Strickland (Gwreck)
13. Tyler Walker (Gwreck)
14.

INCORRECT
Darren Oliver (not managed by BV)
David Weathers (not active in 2010)
Jason Isringhausen (not active in 2010)
Timo Perez (not active in 2010)
A.J. Burnett (not managed by BV)
Jose Reyes (not managed by BV)
Glendon Rusch (not active in 2010)

[G-Fafif]

Gwreck wrote: ...no idea who that third player is.

Elementary, my dear...BLANK.

Remember, Bobby Valentine had to manage him somewhere in this world.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Matt F. Watson

[G-Fafif]

CORRECT
1. Melvin Mora (Metirish)
2. Jay Payton (batmagadanleadoff)
3. Pedro Feliciano (batmagadanleadoff)
4. Ty Wigginton (batmagadanleadoff)
5. Gary Matthews, Jr. (batmagadanleadoff)
6. Marco Scutaro (Metirish)
7. Mike Hampton (bml)
8. Octavio Dotel (bml)
9. Ivan Rodriguez (Edgy)
10. Jamie Moyer (Edgy)
11. Bruce Chen (Gwreck)
12. Scott Strickland (Gwreck)
13. Tyler Walker (Gwreck)
14. Matt Watson (JCL)

INCORRECT
Darren Oliver (not managed by BV)
David Weathers (not active in 2010)
Jason Isringhausen (not active in 2010)
Timo Perez (not active in 2010)
A.J. Burnett (not managed by BV)
Jose Reyes (not managed by BV)
Glendon Rusch (not active in 2010)
Saul Rivera (not active in 2010 and never managed by BV)

[ashie62]

Saul Rivera of the Gnats...

[G-Fafif]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Matt F. Watson

Technically, Matthew Kyle Watson of the 2003 Art Howe Mets, the Bobby Valentine Chiba Lotte Marines of 2006 and 2007 and the 2010 Oakland Athletics, managed by Bob Geren.

Possibly revealing factoid: Watson, Strickland, Chen, Walker, Payton, Hampton and Feliciano have not played in the majors in a straight line, each missing from MLB for at least one entire season since their debuts. Watson and Strickland were big leaguers in 2010 after not having been since 2005. Most of them have faced the end of the line yet pushed back from it, marking them as successful reclamation projects given that they reclaimed their major league status. Coincidence or something about having played under a manager who resuscitated a fistful of overlooked/underappreciated 4-A types in his time?

You decide.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

What I remember about Matt Watson was his being suddenly "demoted" to to the New York Penn League just as the Cyclones coincidentally reached the playoffs.

[Guest themetfairy]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: What I remember about Matt Watson was his being suddenly "demoted" to to the New York Penn League just as the Cyclones coincidentally reached the playoffs.

What I remember was that after Watson was called up I wrote something about him in Monday Morning Mets, and his mother e-mailed me to tell me just how much she enjoyed the piece. It was the only time I ever heard from a player's mom.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Edgy DC wrote: I just looked it up. Given 175 guesses, I'd have gotten it. Wow.

I looked up the answers sometime after you got Jamie Moyer, leaving four answers on the table. I still couldn't solve the end of this quiz.

[Gwreck]

I would've forgotten these people but I recall G-Fafif recently remarking about he always forgot (or confused) Tyler Walker, and I think metirish was discussing Strickland recently. But I could've never gotten Watson.

[G-Fafif]

Gwreck wrote: I would've forgotten these people but I recall G-Fafif recently remarking about he always forgot (or confused) Tyler Walker, and I think metirish was discussing Strickland recently. But I could've never gotten Watson.

"Smithers, who is that young righthanded dynamo with the robust earned run average?"
"That's Tyler Walker, sir. He's one of your relief pitchers in Sector 7G."
"Tyler Walker, eh? I'm going to remember that name!"

Tyler Walker does bump up against Tyler Yates on conflationary impact but mostly he's become The Met I Have No Memory Of. I was at his only two Shea appearances in 2002 but I must've been out taking up smoking or needlepoint or something because the name meant nothing to me whenever it kept popping up in later years with other teams and it was mentioned he was once a Met.

He was?

Tyler, too, has the distinction of making his Shea bow in the one game in my Log that I also have zero recollection of -- though I've no doubt I was there since I had Friday tickets that year and it was a Friday. Surely they were wearing the alternate unis that night, for Tyler Walker must be one of the Men In Black. How else would have he erased my memory of everything about him so thoroughly?

[Guest Edgy DC]

Tyler Walker sticks with me because he was the starting pitcher in the first Mets minor league game I ever attended. (Fell in love with junior Mets and have been to many since.) Yates was a flakey Hawaiian who somehow opened a Mets season as the number five starter.

Walker was built on the Roger Clemens model: chunky middle, strong legs, drop-and-drive, fastball/splitter/slider repetoire, frequently hurt. Walker's nickname is "The Gobbler." I know, right? But it supposedly stems from his appreciation for Wild Turkey.

[G-Fafif]

Yates I remember clearly, at least his mysterious earning of a slot in my favorite team's pitching rotation despite my being murky in real time on how got it and his much celebrated (by Fran Healy if no one else) Hawaiian background.

Tyler Walker could walk in here right now doing shots of Turkey while sporting his (I had to MBTN it) No. 46 Mets uniform and I'd be more alarmed than welcoming. Neil Allen, Brian Bohanon, even Ollie walks in wearing No. 46, I'd offer them something.

[Guest themetfairy]

I think of Tyler Walker as Albert Brooks anchoring the weekend news in Broadcast News. I remember watching him pitch against Philly on the TV, and the amount of flop sweat he produced was incredible. From that point on, D-Dad and I referred to him as Mr. Sweaty.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Jim Duquette blew Yates smoke up our asses all winter long. I desperately hoped Duke knew something everyone else didn't.

One more Matt Watson nugget: He slugged better than 500 in AA and AAA that year, but upon his recall to the Mets he lost ABs to another callup, also a lefty, Mike F. Glavine.

[G-Fafif]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Jim Duquette blew Yates smoke up our asses all winter long. I desperately hoped Duke knew something everyone else didn't. One more Matt Watson nugget: He slugged better than 500 in AA and AAA that year, but upon his recall to the Mets he lost ABs to another callup, also a lefty, Mike F. Glavine.

Mike Glavine...fuuuuck.

[Centerfield]

I have no memory of Tyler Walker or Matt Watson.

None.

At first I thought you guys were talking about Allen Watson.

[Centerfield]

By the way, Tyler Walker joins fellow Met Pete Walker (and a host of others) and Grant Balfour as poorly named pitchers.

The best, A's pitcher Josh Outman.

[Guest Edgy DC]

The Mets were losing so consistently then, I doubt Glavine was appearing in many games that Watson didn't show up in.

That team needed lefty stick. If you recall, it was the team that prompted a doomed Bobby Valentine, when told he should play out the end of the season "like it was the World Series," to respond, "Well, then, can I have a lefthanded pinch-hitter? --- everyone else has one."

[G-Fafif]

Edgy DC wrote: The Mets were losing so consistently then, I doubt Glavine was appearing in many games that Watson didn't show up in. That team needed lefty stick. If you recall, it was the team that prompted a doomed Bobby Valentine, when told he should play out the end of the season "like it was the World Series," to respond, "Well, then, can I have a lefthanded pinch-hitter? --- everyone else has one."

Glavine (both of them, actually) and Watson (Matt, not Allen) were not on Valentine's watch. They were part of the Art Howe's Rich Pageant.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Shit, you caught me conflating.

Well we went into more than one September, it would seem, wanting for lefthanded pop off the bench.

[G-Fafif]

Tyler Yates and Tyler Walker. Jason Roach and Jeremy Griffiths. Orber Marino and Edwin Almonte and Jason Anderson. Pat Strange and Jason Middlebrook. Matt Watson and Matt Ginter. Joe DePastino and Joe Hietpas.

Conflation was spiraling out of control from 2002 to 2004.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Mark Little/McKay Christensen/Raul Gonzalez.

Mike DeJean/Rickey Bottallico.

Bartolome Fortunato/Vic Darensbourg.

[G-Fafif]

Those rosters...it was like somebody decided to update "

," got depressed and looked to see what was on TV.

[Guest Rockin' Doc]

Bruce Chen is still out there pitching. I know he played for the Mets, I think it was under Bobby V. Did Glendon Rusch pitch in the majors last year? If so, he would be one of Bobby V's guys.




Upon edit: Somehow, I went from page 1 to page 3 when reading this page. By somehow skipping over page 2, I missed that Gwreck had already added Bruce Chen and JCL had missed with Glendon Rusch. The old RMPL (or at least read better before posting) wouild have been a good idea for me.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Mets who didn't play in 2010 (but did play in 2009)