Memories of Scott Hairston

[G-Fafif]

Take that, Brian Wilson!

[Guest themetfairy]

When I think of Scott Hairston, I think of the time my friend Coop took the field with him before a game in April 2011. He was reportedly quite gracious -

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Take that, Drew Pomeranz, and Esmil Rogers, and Jeff Roenicke! Take that, 18-run-scoring Rockies team!

[G-Fafif]

Sat in Left Field Landing one afternoon in July 2011 when Scott reached it. Quite a poke up there.

First impression was him befuddled under a rain of fly balls in April 2011 in a horrendous doubleheader sweep at the hands of Colorado, as the Terry Collins era unraveled early. Thought he'd be useless. Probably as wrong as I'd been on any Met, based on first impression, since Jose Valentin.

He finished up his Met career in style in Miami last October 3, yet when given the cue by his co-host that "The Mets should give Scott Hairston two years, right? He had a good year, right?" Bobby Ojeda didn't bite, pointing out (quite rightly, I thought), that when your team loses 88 games, there's no rush to re-sign anybody.

Lousy OBP. Great SLG.

[Guest metsguyinmichigan]

That run of pinch-hit home runs!

[metirish]

IIRC then my early memory of Scott is him having his brother Jerry's Reds bag when he first joined the Mets.

[batmagadanleadoff]

It's a real good thing that we didn't
trade Hairston last season. A real good thing.

[Ceetar]

batmagadanleadoff wrote: It's a real good thing that we didn't trade Hairston last season. A real good thing.

Just think where the Mets could be with like..another Pedro Beato type on the 51s roster!

[Lefty Specialist]

Rode in an elevator with him in DC last year after he had 3 hits and a couple of RBI. Nice guy, although having a good night probably helped his mood.

One of the creepiest Twilight Zones ever.

[Edgy MD]

Hairston had one of the most impressive necks in Met history --- his portrait looked like that of a fullback, without the bad-dude face that fullbacks make in their portraits.

A lot of fans were down on him being resigned, it seemed. I thought his 2011 suggested more power in 2012 than was apparent from the stats, because he seemed to have an inordinate share of drives down the line that went just foul. I thought, "Straighten a few of those out, and you're a valuable bench player/platoon guy."

Sure enough, he did, and upped his homers from 7 to 20, but a lot of that can also be ascribed to increased opportunity and fall-off in other departments, as his rate stats really only went up a tick in the net --- his OPS climbing from .773 to .803, and his OPS+ going from 113 to 117. But go up it did, and that's a nice trick to pull off when you're 32 and your playing time more than doubles.

I've grown increasingly fascinated by baseball clans, especially as baseball appears to slide further back in sports of choice among American kidz, and children of baseball players, raised in opulence, have every reason to grow up without the hunger to make the bigs. The Hairstons may be my favorite, as they go back three generations, come out of the great baseball cradle that was Alabama, have pedigree that stretches to the Negro Leagues and the Mexican League. Jerry, Sr. actually had a baseball wedding in a ballpark, which supposedly has specific protocols written down somewhere, and I'd love to see sometime. The next generation has African, European, and native Mexican blood running through their veins and I hope there's a ballplayer or two among them.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Nice thing to have on the team. If you don't have a Hairston, you need one.

That said, I'm not terribly sad that he is moving on. It would be difficult to imagine another 20-HR season in part-time duty, by the same guy, two years in a row. Churn, churn churn these guys.

[batmagadanleadoff]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Nice thing to have on the team. If you don't have a Hairston, you need one. That said, I'm not terribly sad that he is moving on. It would be difficult to imagine another 20-HR season in part-time duty, by the same guy, two years in a row. Churn, churn churn these guys.

Maybe. Maybe Hairston falls off a bit in 2013. And maybe the Mets did sell (or let go) high. But there's no doubt in my mind that the reason Hairston's no longer a Met has everything to do with the fucking crisis hanging over the franchise and nothing else. The Mets are a fucking embarrasement right now.

[Ceetar]

batmagadanleadoff wrote: John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Nice thing to have on the team. If you don't have a Hairston, you need one. That said, I'm not terribly sad that he is moving on. It would be difficult to imagine another 20-HR season in part-time duty, by the same guy, two years in a row. Churn, churn churn these guys. Maybe. Maybe Hairston falls off a bit in 2013. And maybe the Mets did sell (or let go) high. But there's no doubt in my mind that the reason Hairston's no longer a Met has everything to do with the fucking crisis hanging over the franchise and nothing else. The Mets are a fucking embarrasement right now.

That doesn't make any sense. if the Mets could spend at will, the first thing they'd do is spend money on guys to make sure Hairston got as little playing time as possible. Especially for 2014. Just because some teams might be able to blow $3-4 million doesn't mean they should.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Ceetar wrote: batmagadanleadoff wrote: John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Nice thing to have on the team. If you don't have a Hairston, you need one. That said, I'm not terribly sad that he is moving on. It would be difficult to imagine another 20-HR season in part-time duty, by the same guy, two years in a row. Churn, churn churn these guys. Maybe. Maybe Hairston falls off a bit in 2013. And maybe the Mets did sell (or let go) high. But there's no doubt in my mind that the reason Hairston's no longer a Met has everything to do with the fucking crisis hanging over the franchise and nothing else. The Mets are a fucking embarrasement right now. That doesn't make any sense. if the Mets could spend at will, the first thing they'd do is spend money on guys to make sure Hairston got as little playing time as possible. Especially for 2014. Just because some teams might be able to blow $3-4 million doesn't mean they should.

Two different things. Just because the Mets won't (or can't, really) afford to carry a team payroll commensurate with their super duper big market status shouldn't necessarily mean that they also can't afford the extra chump change to pay for Hairston.

Plus, the rebuild is half assed. Either break down the team in preparation for 2015 or build to contend. With the former, the Mets at least get a body for Hairston. But instead, we get the same old let's see if we can fool the fans with some snake oil claptrap because the Mets think they can fool enough of the fans into thinking that they're contenders. I'm sure that carrying Hairston during the second half of 2012 was worth millions in attendance and concessions. This is surely coming from the arrogant eff Wilpon and his idiot son, who's probably the de facto GM.

Losing Hairston isn't the worst thing that could happen. But again, they could've gotten a body for Scott.

[Ceetar]

no, because there was NO ONE TO GET for Hairston. Kelly Shoppach maybe?

I'm sure we had this argument at the time. I don't believe it's necessarily to dump players off just for any filler minor leaguer with a Power Ball chance of every contributing just because they were out of it. I think the slim chance that Hairston took some sort of hometown discount/quick re-sign 1 year type deal was worth keeping him for. You can read financial conspiracy into everything if you like, but it's equally possible Alderson felt it just wasn't worth trading him, and wasn't worth re-signing him for that price. doesn't make it wrong.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Ceetar wrote: no, because there was NO ONE TO GET for Hairston. Kelly Shoppach maybe? I'm sure we had this argument at the time. I don't believe it's necessarily to dump players off just for any filler minor leaguer with a Power Ball chance of every contributing just because they were out of it. I think the slim chance that Hairston took some sort of hometown discount/quick re-sign 1 year type deal was worth keeping him for. You can read financial conspiracy into everything if you like, but it's equally possible Alderson felt it just wasn't worth trading him, and wasn't worth re-signing him for that price. doesn't make it wrong.

Why isn't it worth trading someone that you have no ability to resign? Because the difference between what Hairston wanted and what the Mets said they'd be willing to pay is, in the grand scheme of things ... in the context of baseball team payrolls, negligible. Unless your team is in a fucking financial crisis. Or unless the Wilpons lied to Alderson, or lowered the available money in the middle of the game.

[Ceetar]

Just because they didn't re-sign him doesn't mean they lacked the ability to. Maybe they're completely broke (why lobby for the 'ability' to sign Bourn then?) or maybe Alderson valued the slim chance of keeping Hairston more than the slim chance whatever junk he was offered for him making a contribution. It's not obviously one way or the other.

[ashie62]

My memory of Hairston is that the Mets could or would not pony up 6 million.

Good Luck Scott!

[Edgy MD]

And one more thread turns in to a Fuck the Mets thread.

[TransMonk]

In this scenario, I'm glad the Mets kept their ceiling. I think the chances of Scott repeating his 2012 performance are unfavorable.

We need outfielders, but I'd rather watch young guys struggle than old guys.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Edgy MD wrote: And one more thread turns in to a Fuck the Mets thread.

Because the Mets deserve it. But you can orgasm to 30 post threads that deify Charlie Cogwell and his wifey if that makes you happy.

[Ceetar]

batmagadanleadoff wrote: Edgy MD wrote: And one more thread turns in to a Fuck the Mets thread. Because the Mets deserve it. But you can orgasm to 30 post threads that deify Charlie Cogwell and his wifey if that makes you happy.

Andrew Brown is the real prize here. Cowgill is the CF/defensive filler guy.

[Edgy MD]

I think you need to relax.

Whatever the Mets deserve, you being a douchebag isn't what the rest of us deserve.

[batmagadanleadoff]

I'm extremely relaxed. You just overreact to every post that doesn't agree with yours. And how does this any of this make me a douchebag? I mean, I truly respect your right to revel in the Alex Coras and Eli Marerro's of the Mets. I just don't wanna have to walk on eggshells whenever I dare to disagree. Howie Megdal may have an axe to grind with the Mets, but on the other hand, the truth is always a defense.

[Vic Sage]

Andrew Brown is the real prize here.

That's so funny, i pulled a muscle.
oh wait, you were serious.

[Ceetar]

Vic Sage wrote: Andrew Brown is the real prize here. That's so funny, i pulled a muscle. oh wait, you were serious.

no, i was being silly with the word prize, but either way, Brown is the guy tagged to 'replace' Scott Hairston (It's a low bar, despite how good a year he had) and Cowgill is seemingly more of an Endy Chavez/CF type guy.

Although Brown putting up the value that Hairston did would be one of the less surprising things to happen in baseball.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

That's "Downtown" Andrew Brown, bishes.

[metirish]

Are you sure it's not "Downton" Andrew Brown?

[Edgy MD]

Couldn't find any thread announcing his signing. I did find...

Scott Hairston is on pace for 700 home runs this year.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

metirish wrote: Are you sure it's not "Downton" Andrew Brown?

lol