Photos: Infield Portraits

[Edgy MD]

[fimg=600:3e1mlqqp]http://www.georgevecsey.com/uploads/1/0/0/8/10081517/6122623_orig.jpg[/fimg:3e1mlqqp]
Don Zimmer, Charlie Neal, Felix Mantilla and Gil Hodges, with Casey Stengel, 1962

[fimg=600:3e1mlqqp]http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/1.1614066.1392349155!/img/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/article_970/fregosi14s-2-web.jpg[/fimg:3e1mlqqp]
Ken Boswell, Jim Fregosi, and Wayne Garrett discuss all the grounders they're going to get, now that Nolan Ryan is gone, 1973.

[fimg=600:3e1mlqqp]http://media.gettyimages.com/photos/infielders-roy-staiger-bud-harrelson-and-felix-millan-gather-for-a-picture-id51494571[/fimg:3e1mlqqp]
Roy Staiger, Bud Harrelson, and Felix Millán planning on how they're going to throw to Kranepool, 1976.

[fimg=600:3e1mlqqp]http://media.gettyimages.com/photos/three-new-york-mets-rookie-infielders-engage-in-some-prepractice-31-picture-id517819012[/fimg:3e1mlqqp]
Kevin Elster, Keith Miller, and Greg Jeffries, looking for Dave Magadan, 1988.

[fimg=600:3e1mlqqp]https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/fa/97/45/fa97458aa562785aac0af280c0ed18c4.jpg[/fimg:3e1mlqqp]
Rey Ordóñez, Robin Ventura, Edgardo Alfonso, and Jon Olerud, 1999

[fimg=600:3e1mlqqp]http://www.northjersey.com/polopoly_fs/1.1446447.1446442257!/fileImage/httpImage/image.JPG_gen/derivatives/box_780/110215mets.JPG[/fimg:3e1mlqqp]
Lucas Duda, David Wright, Daniel Murphy and Wilmer Flores, 2015

[Guest d'Kong76]

Never really noticed, but Zim was a fatso waiting to happen even
back in the olden days.

[Frayed Knot]

Speaking of infielders, Ed Charles gets some prominent face time in the new Ken Burns docu on Jackie Robinson.
Ed was a teen in the Daytona Beach FLA area the year of JR's first ST w/the Dodgers in that town and has talked, both here and in the past, about seeing him then and about the effect it had on himself specifically and the black folks in town in general.

He's not identified in his appearances by anything other than his name and I assume there have to be a decent amount of viewers who don't recognize the name and figure that he's just some random black citizen with a tenuous Jackie-connection who made the cut simply on account of being still alive and someone the filmmakers were able to locate.
Maybe later on he gets ID'd as a then-future/now-former ML'er (I've seen the first half of the four-hour piece).

[Edgy MD]

[fimg=600:28tze8nz]http://www3.pictures.gi.zimbio.com/David+Wright+Ramon+Castro+Florida+Marlins+uFaRECnBEI_l.jpg[/fimg:28tze8nz]

David Wright, José Reyes, ___________, and Carlos Delgado wait for a giant hook to come get Scott Schoeneweiss, 2008.

Ten Kranebucks to whoever can fill in the blank.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Argenis Reyes?

[Edgy MD]

No Kranes for you! Good guess!

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Must be Ramon Martinez then.

[Edgy MD]

Ramon Martinez. As the Mets were tanking down the stretch, a desperate Jerry Manuel lost faith in his other second base options (Castillo and Argenis) and went with a AAAA journeyman as his starter the last week.

Combined with Luis Ayala as a symbol of how truly out of gas that team was.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

He was the only guy hitting!

[Frayed Knot]

The only Ramon Martinez I remember is Pedro's big brother.

[Edgy MD]

Edgy MD wrote: [fimg=600]http://www3.pictures.gi.zimbio.com/David+Wright+Ramon+Castro+Florida+Marlins+uFaRECnBEI_l.jpg[/fimg] David Wright, José Reyes, ___________, and Carlos Delgado wait for a giant hook to come get Scott Schoeneweiss, 2008. Ten Kranebucks to whoever can fill in the blank.

This shot also represents Schoeneweis' last moment on the field in a Mets uniform.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Hey, remember the '90s?

Those suits on the Greatest Infield Ever sure do.

[Zvon]

Can u change this thread to just "photos"?

I didn't know where to put this. Found this thread 6 pages deep.

The bullpen had dinner out together tonight in D.C.
I love these guys Warthen looks so small.

[Frayed Knot]

I'm assuming the two baldies are bullpen catchers?

Other than that, we've got Familia & Ricky Bones seated. Then from the left that should be Robles, Verrett, Henderson, ?, Reed, Warthen, Blevins, Bastardo, ?

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Racianelli and Langill I believe

[Edgy MD]

Man, and people complain that Citi Field doesn't have nice bullpen accommodations.

[Frayed Knot]

Because bullpen guys tend to remain mostly anonymous on account of them appearing in short shifts, going days without appearing at all, and dropping on or off the roster so frequently, if I happened to be seated at the adjacent table to that crew, or even the waiter who was serving that table, with the exception of Familia, I'd probably be totally ignorant to who they were.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Blevins would strike me as familiar, though I might not place him on first glance-- he's just got one of those faces.

Reed, too, although I'm about eighty-percent sure I'd mistake him for, like, a high school buddy's little brother or something. If he were making that same simpy frown face he makes when he pitches, though? Oh, I'd be on him like a righty on a Blevins slider.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

I think if Familia stood up I'd realize there was an athlete in the room. He's a big boy.

Henderson would have me looking for other Masters level ultimate frisbee players.

[Edgy MD]

Oddly enough, the first guy I recognized was Bones.

[Frayed Knot]

Oh all of these guys are big* -- even the non-tall ones (Robles, Bastardo) are pretty thick -- so you'd certainly suspect that the table next to you is something other than the accounting department's monthly dinner meeting.
But I was just talking about facial recognition devoid of context as, if Familia was in the bathroom at the time, I'd be totally clueless.





* Reed = 6'4" / 230
Blevins = 6'6" / 190
Robles = 5'11" / 185 (I'd have guessed bigger)
Henderson = 6'5" / 220
Verrett = 6'2" / 190
Bastardo = 5'11" / 205
Familia = 6'3" / 240