Ray Sadecki, 1940-2014

[G-Fafif]

RIP, the quintessential Met swingman, Ray Sadecki, who died Monday at 73 of blood cancer.

62 starts, 103 relief appearances as a Met from 1970-1974 and 1977. Well-loved veteran lefty. Won 20 for the Cards in 1964.

Next to Seaver, my favorite pitcher from my first full year as a Mets fan, his first as a Met.


http://www.kansascity.com/sports/mlb/article4002240.html

[Edgy MD]

If Ray hadn't been dealt for Joe Torre, he'd've been my father-in-law today.

Trade hit me harder than a ton of bricks. It wasn't until after the Seaver trade --- when EVERYBODY felt that way --- that I took fully to the Mets. It was like I suddenly realized, "Oh, it's supposed to devastate you."

We were terrible. We'd be playing ball in the street and get bored and somebody would say, "Let's go to Ray's house and get autographs!" Then we would pull the same shit two days later as if he hadn't obliged already. Usually it was just Ms. Sadecki, but she had a ready-made pile of signed talismans to hand out.

[Guest themetfairy]

RIP Ray

[G-Fafif]

And of course the godfather of the Sadecki Spot.

[Chad ochoseis]

Career .212 hitter as a Met. To the best of my knowledge, the only Met pitcher to bat above .200 with at least 100 ABs. Mike Hampton hit .274, but in only 73 Metly ABs.

He was listed in the Mesa, AZ phone book. I always thought it was odd that an ex-Major Leaguer - even one who isn't a household name outside of Met-obsessed fan forums - would have a listed phone number.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Still the first guy I think of when I think of 33. Take that, douchey Matt Harvey!

[MFS62]

RIP, lefty.

Later

[Zvon]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Still the first guy I think of when I think of 33.

Ditto. Harvey's done this and that but he hasn't done the other yet. Maybe my feelings change after 2015.

Well, this sucks. He always had a smile. Not just in pictures. IRL too.
[fimg=144]https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-7A_X8bLEwsk/UxFqs-GqZcI/AAAAAAAANFk/5hp8Ou2Q0L8/s512/70RaySadeckiMets-z14.png[/fimg][fimg=144]https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-9AEFOZbw6Lc/UxAmx8odGTI/AAAAAAAANBw/agGW8uvezvw/s512/71tRaySadecki-z14.png[/fimg][fimg=144]https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-LOMCF6rzijA/UxAm6vL0RzI/AAAAAAAANB4/S61BiaXyUT8/s512/72tRaySadecki2-z14.png[/fimg][fimg=144]https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-imQLENt1-oY/UwGDd30ZWWI/AAAAAAAAMiM/TL_W0Q6cIBM/s512/72tSadeckiSpotGoldenTicket-z14.png[/fimg][fimg=144]https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-SlbBIc43GMU/UyqWBSX9-hI/AAAAAAAANrI/fI9B_4kxfJo/s512/73fSadecki-z14.png[/fimg][fimg=144]https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-bWdrNkCttPM/U09QIPuFwXI/AAAAAAAAOss/8ddTzsWrQTE/s482/73MFC-POTS-SADECKI-z14.png[/fimg][fimg=144]https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-9nQhqZpNyZg/U4mBgbezlFI/AAAAAAAAQVo/BFjtCUjD0ew/s512/73mfcRaySadecki-z14.png[/fimg]

>>>>>>>>>>>[fimg=366]https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-kpDp8K-7ZZ4/UylUcTzbzWI/AAAAAAAANns/xCywdYHyFns/s632/73tSSgm2Sadecki-z14.png[/fimg]RIP Ray

[Frayed Knot]

Is probably best remembered throughout baseball for the guy who was traded, in May of '66, from StL to SF straight-up for Orlando Cepeda.
The Giants were close and felt like they needed pitching for an offense that already had Mays & McCovey so they deemed Cepeda expendable. And while both went on to have lengthy post-trade careers with several clubs (Sadecki played thru '77, Cepeda thru '74) Sadecki pitched sub-.500 ball with SF w/a 4.50-ish ERA in the midst of a pitching dominant era. With him the Giants were never able to break what would turn out to be a five year run of 2nd place finishes and, once he moved on to the Mets, his seasons in New York in his early '30s turned out better than his SFG run in what should have been his prime years. Cepeda, meanwhile, won the MVP the very next year as the Cards went to two straight World Series including the win in '67.

I had forgotten that Sadecki was a two-time Met (w/stops in Milw, KC, Atl and a 2nd one in StL in between) finishing up his career with 4 relief appearances in 1977 - although, to be fair, there were a lot of things (Mets and otherwise) that were worth forgetting about 1977.

[G-Fafif]

Ray Sadecki's Mets career was more singular than you might suspect.

Sadecki pitched in 165 games, starting 62, relieving in 103. According to Baseball Reference�s Play Index tool, no Met who started that many games ever relieved in so many and no Met who relieved in so many games ever started as many.

Also, he had a knack for showing up in doubleheaders, pitched far more complete games than you'd imagine a spot starter would and shares a distinction with three noted Met firemen one eventual Hall of Famer. Plus I'm still a little surprised his name wasn't one word.

[Edgy MD]

I initially thought his name was Race Adecky. I'm certain I'm not the only one.

[G-Fafif]

Meanwhile, pulling down rebounds and knocking down bodies at Madison Square Garden -- which I was initially convinced was outdoors in that it was a garden and the first place I had seen basketball played was the East School playground -- was, according to how I heard it, power forward Dave the Butcher.

[Guest cooby]

If Ray hadn't been dealt for Joe Torre, he'd've been my father-in-law today. Trade hit me harder than a ton of bricks. It wasn't until after the Seaver trade --- when EVERYBODY felt that way --- that I took fully to the Mets. It was like I suddenly realized, "Oh, it's supposed to devastate you." We were terrible. We'd be playing ball in the street and get bored and somebody would say, "Let's go to Ray's house and get autographs!" Then we would pull the same shit two days later as if he hadn't obliged already. Usually it was just Ms. Sadecki, but she had a ready-made pile of signed talismans to hand out.

Nice story, Edgy

I always liked Ray Sadecki's smile...

[Edgy MD]

G-Fafif wrote: Meanwhile, pulling down rebounds and knocking down bodies at Madison Square Garden -- which I was initially convinced was outdoors in that it was a garden and the first place I had seen basketball played was the East School playground -- was, according to how I heard it, power forward Dave the Butcher.

Somewhere, some young Mets fan marvels at the starts pitched by the monstrous Jacob the Gromm.

[Edgy MD]

Sadecki remembered.

Here's Ray taking Jerry out to show him his spot.

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