Rico Forever: The Afterlife of Mets, 2011

[metirish]

From the notes I read it was rendered as neutral from MLB.

[Vic Sage]

Fernando Nieve signed by the Astros to a minor league deal.

[G-Fafif]

Unloved former Mets closer Braden Looper hangs 'em up.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Mike Hampton and his Colorado-educated chillun going with him.

[metirish]

Saw a tweet that Mike Hampton announced his retirement too......I didn't weep.

[G-Fafif]

With Jay Payton retired, that leaves Melvin Mora, who endured a car accident this spring, as the last of the 2000 Mets still standing.

What hurts most these days for the 39-year-old third baseman is his unproductive spring at the plate, where he was batting .167 after his first 10 games. "He's an old man, what do you expect?" Diamondbacks catcher Henry Blanco joked. "I might be old," Mora told Blanco before Sunday's game against the Oakland A's at Phoenix Municipal Stadium, "but you're older."

Melvin Mora = Old Man. What does that make the rest of us?

Bruce Chen and Mora are the last 2001 Mets going. Mora may be the only 1999 Met on an Opening Day roster pending the status of Jason Isringhausen; Octavio Dotel is slated for the Blue Jays DL.

[Met Hunter]

Some hangers on in the independent Atlantic League this season so far:

Prentice Redman-Bridgeport Bluefish
Tim Hamulack, Matt Watson-Lancaster Barnstormers
Bill Pulsipher, Jason Anderson-Somerset Patriots

[Edgy MD]

Not that it matters much but the idea had been to distinguish the stories of players still active (in this thread) from those in retirement (in this thread here).

[G-Fafif]

Doug Flynn was on the 'FAN this morning, ostensibly to promote a community service project the Mets Alumni (sponsored by Citi) is doing. Didn't hear the whole interview, but Doug took umbrage at being referred to as good field/no hit. When it was pointed out his lifetime batting average was .238, he countered, "It was a hard .238."

Laughing while he said it, of course.

When FAN gets around to posting it on their site, listen. Told a good story about Chuck Cottier telling him not to be lazy with his feet around the bag the spring after he won the Gold Glove, the point being Cottier approached him delicately, and this was 1981 and that was Doug Flynn -- and it's much tougher these days for coaches to get through to much better-paid players.

My favorite .238 hitter ever.

[Edgy MD]

Carlos Dos packin' it in. Those 473 homers. That used to mean something.

[Edgy MD]

I was trying to remember this --- Tom Verducci declaring him the most robbed guy of the steroids era, almost perfectly setting him up for a downfall.

[G-Fafif]

Discovering Carlos Delgado has retired from playing baseball is like finding out Gerald Ford won't be running for president next year.

[MFS62]

Robin Ventura was on with Joe and Evan on WFAN mid-day.
He is currently working with/ promoting a CapitalOne program to provide money to College athletes in many sports so they can go to graduate school.

Later

[Guest The Second Spitter]

Carlos Dos packin' it in. Those 473 homers. That used to mean something.

I know I'm in the minority amongst my CPF brethren, but I'd put him in the Hall. Here are my arguments:

1. 473 HR (30th All-time)
2. Never-linked to the hot sauce and career stats show no abnormal spikes.
3. The person who deprived him of 2003 AL MVP is a self-confessed drug cheat.
4. Career SLG 28th all-time
5. Career OPS 39th all-time
6. Career RBI 49th all-time
7. Community service record.

[Edgy MD]

It's hard to figure out what the Hall of Fame will look like in 10 years, but I'd have no problem with him in it under any circumstances.

The problem is that anybody who played when he played is "linked."

[Guest The Second Spitter]

Edgy DC wrote: The problem is that anybody who played when he played is "linked."

Which made their willingness to exonerate Alomar, who at the very least had a strong rumor attached to him, all the more perplexing. (And I'm not talking about the rumor pertaining to his sexuality/HIV status).

[TransMonk]

G-Fafif wrote: Discovering Carlos Delgado has retired from playing baseball is like finding out Gerald Ford won't be running for president next year.

I actually find myself with a reason to use the initialization LOL. Funny!

[G-Fafif]

Though we've often been treated to veteran stars on the definite downside of great careers, I've enjoyed in recent years getting a glimpse (or more) of what made them great to begin with (when it wasn't painfully obvious we were overpaying for past achievements on somebody else's behalf): Pedro, Gl@v!ne, Sheffield and certainly Delgado in that category. "Oh, so that's what the big deal was all those years in Toronto."

[Edgy MD]

Which made their willingness to exonerate Alomar, who at the very least had a strong rumor attached to him, all the more perplexing. (And I'm not talking about the rumor pertaining to his sexuality/HIV status).

No doubt. I just think they're going to move gingerly, even with guys who are thus far in the clear, because if you let one in, and then he gets outed, it sets enough of a precedent to weaken the case against the guys outed before or during their candidacies.

If one is looking for "abnormal spikes," it wouldn't be too far fetched to latch onto the MVP performance he put on the last two thirds of 2008 after performing below the mean for the previous season and a third. That run made Jerry Manuel.

And if you further want to build a circumstantial case against him, it's a tempting time for him to start a cycle, wrestling with injuries keeping him from staying in shape, and seeing his career tapering off just as he's within reach of a legacy-solidifying 500 homers. He has an awsome run but it all ends in 2009 with further damage to connective tissue. He enters a two-plus-year cycle of rehab and re-injury, desperately trying to get back on the field, even though he's had a good career and the world has moved on.

I'm not saying, but it could all make a voter nervous on the trigger.

[metirish]

A quite dignity is one way I would describe Delgado, although there was the Randolph business and all that was implied there.

Who will ever forget that day he had against our more illustrious cross town rivals?

[batmagadanleadoff]

If you wanted to gauge Los Mets, the 2006-08 Mets that simultaneously delighted and disheartened Mets fans, then look no farther than Carlos Delgado. Forget all that mumbo jumbo about when Reyes did this or that, the Mets did this or that. As Delgado went, so went the Mets. Carlos was The Man. When he was on, he could carry the team all by himself. Other than Piazza, I can't think of any Met more powerful than Delgado.

(Bonus points for openly dissing Wee Willie Small Balls.)

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

I forget the deets but Marty Noble described Delgado intercepting Reyes on his way to do some outwardly fan-friendly or organizational-friendly thing, and reminding him he didn't have to do that stuff. And so he didn't.

Noble didn't believe Delgado had the right kind of influence as a leader. I think Delgado must've really hated Willie.

[G-Fafif]

batmagadanleadoff wrote: When he was on, he could carry the team all by himself. Other than Piazza, I can't think of any Met more powerful than Delgado.

For only a few stretches -- Kingman in 1976, Strawberry in 1990, Piazza in 2000 -- the Mets have had that "put the team on my back" guy. Never did I see anybody fill that role the way Delgado did for approximately half a season in 2008. It was thrilling to watch.

[G-Fafif]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: I forget the deets but Marty Noble described Delgado intercepting Reyes on his way to do some outwardly fan-friendly or organizational-friendly thing, and reminding him he didn't have to do that stuff. And so he didn't. Noble didn't believe Delgado had the right kind of influence as a leader. I think Delgado must've really hated Willie.

He wasn't thrilled with his turn off/on the caring either. Not that he didn't think he didn't try, just that he seemed to make a conscious decision not to care more than he had to.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

This comes as a complete and utter shock.

LOS ANGELES � Lenny Dykstra, who played outfield for the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies baseball clubs and later gained notoriety as a stock picker, has been charged with bankruptcy fraud for allegedly selling items from his $18 million mansion in Ventura County. Lenny Kyle Dykstra, 48, who is currently residing in Encino, was named in a one-count criminal complaint filed Wednesday that accuses Dykstra of one count of embezzling from a bankruptcy estate. The federal criminal case against Dykstra was announced today after he was taken into custody last night at his residence by local authorities on unrelated charges. The federal charges stem from a bankruptcy case that Dykstra filed on July 7, 2009. The criminal case filed in United States District Court alleges that Dykstra removed, destroyed and sold property that was part of the bankruptcy estate without the permission of the bankruptcy trustee. According to court documents, after Dykstra filed for bankruptcy, he sold many items belonging to the bankruptcy estate for cash, as well as destroying and hiding other items. An attorney hired by the bankruptcy trustee estimates that Dykstra stole and destroyed more than $400,000 worth of property in the estate, according to the criminal complaint.

[batmagadanleadoff]

When he was on, he could carry the team all by himself. Other than Piazza, I can't think of any Met more powerful than Delgado. For only a few stretches -- ... Piazza in 2000 -- the Mets have had that "put the team on my back" guy. Never did I see anybody fill that role the way Delgado did for approximately half a season in 2008. It was thrilling to watch.

Brook Fordyce, and only Brook Fordyce, is why I own this baseball card:

[Edgy MD]

G-Fafif wrote: batmagadanleadoff wrote: When he was on, he could carry the team all by himself. Other than Piazza, I can't think of any Met more powerful than Delgado. For only a few stretches -- Kingman in 1976, Strawberry in 1990, Piazza in 2000 -- the Mets have had that "put the team on my back" guy. Never did I see anybody fill that role the way Delgado did for approximately half a season in 2008. It was thrilling to watch.

Lee Mazzilli, July 1980.

Not a half season, but up to that time, I didn't know a Met could have a month like that.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I would have guessed it was because of Donnie Leshnock.

I'm trying to remember, who was it who shared a Rookie 3B card with Mike Schmidt and Ron Cey back in 1972? I'm thinking his name was... John Hilton?

[batmagadanleadoff]

Edgy DC wrote: G-Fafif wrote: batmagadanleadoff wrote: When he was on, he could carry the team all by himself. Other than Piazza, I can't think of any Met more powerful than Delgado. For only a few stretches -- Kingman in 1976, Strawberry in 1990, Piazza in 2000 -- the Mets have had that "put the team on my back" guy. Never did I see anybody fill that role the way Delgado did for approximately half a season in 2008. It was thrilling to watch. Lee Mazzilli, July 1980. Not a half season, but up to that time, I didn't know a Met could have a month like that.

Good one. Maz was en fuego that summer. What about Hendu, July 1977? Not as awesome as Maz80, but as magical a month as any Met ever had.

[Edgy MD]

Damn. An All-Star, a Hall-of-Famer, and Ernie Douglas in between them.