All-time NYM Line-up

[batmagadanleadoff]

I remember Darryl playing his best ball ever as a Met during the Summer of '90. Shortly after Johnson was fired, Straw went fuego and practically put the Mets in first place all by himself. I thought he also played the best defense of his Mets career that Summer. Landed an SI cover, as well.

Straw had something to prove in 1990 -- his walk year.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Yeah, I guess. I think maybe I'm conflating 89 with 90.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I may be wrong, but I seem to remember Darryl really dogging it in September of 1990, when he decided he was fed up with New York and was longing for L.A.

[batmagadanleadoff]

You could be right. I realize that most of September is technically Summer, but I was referring to the hot dog days (July, August and perhaps some June) -- the middle of that season. Strawberry was at his Mets best then. And because this discussion considers a player's whole season, Straw's beginning and end of '90 probably knocked that season out of contention for purposes of this thread.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Actually, I just checked and his September numbers weren't at all bad.

What's sticking with me is how he sat out the last six games of the season. I've probably magnified that in my memory over the last twenty years.

(Holy crap! It's been more than TWENTY YEARS since Darryl Strawberry has appeared in a game for the Mets. Jeez!)

[batmagadanleadoff]

From your link, it appears that I was remembering June.

[Frayed Knot]

Yeah, those were the games where he claimed his back hurt.

As things turned out, whether Straw's bad back was real or him jaking it, either was a good reason NOT to hand him the largest contract in the history of baseball as he wanted (Mets offered him the 2nd highest behind only Canseco's) and, in the end, it was bad behavior AND a bad back which caused him to get dropped from two different teams over the course of the deal he did get from the LAD.

[Fman99]

No love for Lance Johnson '96 in CF? He put up all kinds of silly numbers that year...

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

A respectable second, no doubt (or, at least, jockeying for it with Beltran '08). But, dude... compared to Beltran in '06?

[Frayed Knot]

MLBN got around to their NYM preview and here's what they went with:

P - Gooden '85
C - Piazza '99
1B - Olerud '98
2B - Alfonzo '00
SS - Reyes '06
3B - Wright '07
LF - Jones '69
CF - Beltran '06
RF - Strawberry '87


They didn't do any discussion about it, just presented the list as is.
I suspect the on-air talent - and by them I mean the low-paid researchers who feed them this stuff - never even considered the likes of Bernard Gilkey because he's not associated with the Mets and especially not with one of their winning teams.

[ashie62]

I looked at 1989 Howard Johnson..

571 AB 104 R 164 HITS 41 2B 3 3B 36 HR 101 RBA 41 SB .287 BA .928 OPS OWAR 8.5

and thought that would be very very hard to beat.

David Wright 2007

604 AB 113 R 196 H 41 2B 1 3B 30 HR 107 RBI 34 SB .325 BA .963 OPS .325 OWAR

But, I would say David wins this by a nose..