Retired

[Edgy MD]

Pat Burrell, reportedly.

All-Time Homers Against the Mets

1. Willie Stargell: 60
   
2. Mike Schmidt: 49
   
3. Willie McCovey: 48
   
4. Chipper Jones: 48
   
5. Hank Aaron: 45
   
6. Pat Burrell: 42

That's four unambiguous Hall-of-Famers, one future unabmiguous Hall-of-Famer, and Burrell. His wikipedia entry includes the word "Mets" 26 times!

[metirish]

One of those players I always thought would end up as a Met. A good hitter in his day.

[Edgy MD]

In the early days of the baseball internet, there were arguments over who was the better of the top two batting prospects --- Pat the Bat vs. Nick the Stick --- both with the great OBP skills that were just starting to be so deeply underscored in prospects.

The Burrell enthusiasts tended to come down on his side based on the notion that Johnson, despite having the more consistent contact --- was a bad bet to stay healthy when you looked at his HbP rate. Good call, that (though it's tough to connect his HbPs with snapping his femur while pursuing a popup).

[smg58]

I can't think of any opposing player whose success against the Mets was more frustrating. At least Larry hit like that against other teams too.

[Benjamin Grimm]

metirish wrote: One of those players I always thought would end up as a Met.

Me too.

[Frayed Knot]

I remember looking through Burrell's stats against the Mets a while back (prolly in the archives somewhere) and finding that his BA and most other stats were within normally expected range ... except for HRs.

Part of it has to do with ABs of course as he was a long time NLEast player. But even accounting for that (his totals against the Braves, Marlins, and Expos/Nats are only a little more than half) when he connected against NYM pitching the ball just left the park at rates far above even his usual pace.

[nymr83]

I saw on twitter that he retired and the first thing I thought was how big a met-killer I remember him being... 6th in homers against and pretty good company!

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

So The Machine will be a lot more active?

[MFS62]

Don't let the door hit ya' on the way out of baseball, ya' farghin' bastage.

Later

[Edgy MD]

Carlos Guillen, microfacture surgery case. Retired.

King of the walkoff drag bunt.

[Guest metsguyinmichigan]

According to tweets, Andy Pettitte is becoming unretired to be an MFY once again.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

whoa.

[Guest themetfairy]

Is there a Hummer involved in this decision?

[Ceetar]

themetfairy wrote: Is there a Hummer involved in this decision?

yes, but Jeter's not going to give him a giftbasket afterwards.

[Edgy MD]

[Frayed Knot]

metsguyinmichigan wrote: According to tweets, Andy Pettitte is becoming unretired to be an MFY once again.

Apparently he's decided he wants to spend less time with his family.

[metirish]

Cue much fawning by the writers and a lot of talk about the core three......Christ but I hate the fucking yankees.

[Theoldmole]

Not that it's relevant, but the player I always thought would end up as a Met was Rolen.

[Frayed Knot]

Not yet, but Chipper sez this year is his last.

I can't imagine too many people will be surprised by this.

[metirish]

Frayed Knot wrote: Not yet, but Chipper sez this year is his last. I can't imagine too many people will be surprised by this.

I'd imagine too that the Braves are happy, and not just with the option going away.

[Edgy MD]

Cleanup hitter on the All-Time Switchie Team

1. Raines, lf
2. Frisch, 2b
3. Mantle, cf
4. Jones, 3b
5. Murray, 1b
6. Davis, ss
7. Rose, lf
8. Simmons, c
9. Blue, sp

[smg58]

A first-balloter. It has been a pleasure to root against him. For all the snark we've all given Larry over the years, we'd all have shrines to him if he had a career like that in a Mets uniform.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

yup. and he was a good sport about a lot of the shit we gave him. It's tough to blame an athlete for being a dumb jock.

[Frayed Knot]

Edgy DC wrote: Cleanup hitter on the All-Time Switchie Team 1. Raines, lf 2. Frisch, 2b 3. Mantle, cf 4. Jones, 3b 5. Murray, 1b 6. Davis, ss 7. Rose, lf 8. Simmons, c 9. Blue, sp

Which Davis is that at SS?

[metirish]

Great player in his prime, great hitter and probably underrated glove man , and durable for most of his years.....

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/j/jonesch06.shtml

probably no player I hated seeing at bat more than him in his prime......him and Brain Jordan.....

[Benjamin Grimm]

My guess is that the shortstop named "Davis" is Ozzie Smith.

[Edgy MD]

Ozzie Davis? Nah, couldn't hit the curve. Plus he was in Joe vs. the Volcano, which would hurt any career.

Davis is George Davis --- a Hall-of-Famer, an early adherent to the benefits of switch-hitting, a gentleman in an age of rampant rowdyism, a savior of three people trapped in a burning building, and for three seasons, a Cleveland Spider.

[G-Fafif]

It would be appropriate if the Mets hold a farewell ceremony on the Braves' last visit in, September 9, at Shea's home plate marker...and maybe throw some non-lethal object at his coconut.

[MFS62]

G-Fafif wrote: It would be appropriate if the Mets hold a farewell ceremony on the Braves' last visit in, September 9, at Shea's home plate marker...and maybe throw some non-lethal object at his coconut.

They should name it something catchy, like the:
"Don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out, you smirking mother-fucker" night.

Later

[Edgy MD]

Taking a look at Jones' record at Shea, and, well, congrats to him on a good show, but it's not that far off his career norms. It's not what you want to see, certainly, and maybe you'd certainly expect relatively depressed numbers for any guy on the road and in the home park of a generally competitive division rival (which they certainly were during his best years). But even given all that, if I looked at these numbers with no preconceptions, I'd say they fall within the range of normal variance.

The two things that do stand out.
1. He stole a lot more and was caught... never. I wouldn't call that a byproduct of Shea, so much as a byproduct of who usually caught back in the years when he ran more.
2. He was never hit by a pitch at Shea. And, in fact, for an all-star slugger on a team winning a lot of division championships, he was a rare target... or a good ducker.

Chipper Jones	G	GS	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	TB	GDP	HBP	SH	SF	IBB	BAbip
=#FF0000]Totals at Shea	88	87	377	323	63	101	20	1	19	55	12	0	52	47	.313	.407	.557	.964	180	8	0	1	1	8	.318
=#FF0000]Shea per 162	162	160	694	595	116	186	37	2	35	101	22	0	96	87	.313	.407	.557	.964	331	15	0	2	2	15	.318
=#FF0000]Career per 162	162	160	690	583	106	177	36	3	31	106	10	3	99	92	.304	.402	.533	.935	311	16	1	0	6	12	.314

It's illuminating. To the extent that it's true that the Braves "had the Mets' number" during the Valentine years (and don't kid yourself --- that's greatly exaggerated also), it was a team effort.