The Initial Initial

[Edgy MD]

Looking at the presence of T.J. and René Rivera on the same team and in the same lineup, but with no initial initial on the backs of their uniforms to distinguish one name from the other, it strikes me that I haven't seen an initial initial on a Met uniform to distinguish a player from his namesake in quite some time. It's so out of fashion as to have become unremarkable. We lived through dos Torreses in 2015 with no distinction, correct? And two Youngs in 2014?

When was the last time we included the initial initial? Is this totally out of practice league-wide?

[fimg=182:1x0191pc]http://cdn.fansided.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/3/files/2014/04/eric-young-jr-mlb-new-york-mets-arizona-diamondbacks1.jpg[/fimg:1x0191pc] [fimg=400:1x0191pc]http://media.gettyimages.com/photos/alex-torres-of-the-new-york-mets-looks-in-before-delivering-a-pitch-picture-id478185558[/fimg:1x0191pc]

[Frayed Knot]

Gary brought this up a couple days ago. Said it had been several years since they've used initials when duplicate last names were involved but didn't seem to know exactly when the practice was dropped or why.
And all this just as Spanish names across baseball are belatedly getting all their accents and tildes in place.

[Guest Mets Guy in Michigan]

I think it makes sense to have no initial. People do have the giant numbers below the names to help tell people apart.

[RealityChuck]

I think the Bobby Joneses ruined it for everyone.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

I should know this but can't remember the last time they did it.

I don;t think they ever did M FRANCO and J FRANCO, so probably prior to that.

[Guest d'Kong76]

RealityChuck wrote: I think the Bobby Joneses ruined it for everyone.

W. B. Jones and B. B. Jones! Ah, the memories...

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

K HENDERSON and S HENDERSON, maybe? Hard to find a shot of Ken in a Mets uni.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I seem to remember that Davey Johnson was JOHNSON but Howard Johnson was H. JOHNSON.

[Guest d'Kong76]

I was just going to say that, but I can't find a pic of Howard's back on quick look.

[Guest d'Kong76]

Here's one, but I'm certain they did it at some point. Maybe on the road?

[Benjamin Grimm]

I found this image, on a website called kcmets.com:

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

d'Kong76 wrote: RealityChuck wrote: I think the Bobby Joneses ruined it for everyone. W. B. Jones and B. B. Jones! Ah, the memories...

As Ambler called him, Afro Jones.

[Guest d'Kong76]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: I found this image, on a website called kcmets.com

D'oh, nice DGW shot!

[batmagadanleadoff]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: K HENDERSON and S HENDERSON, maybe? Hard to find a shot of Ken in a Mets uni.

Ken H. was a 1978 Met only. The Mets first wore NOB's the following season - 1979.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

batmagadanleadoff wrote: John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: K HENDERSON and S HENDERSON, maybe? Hard to find a shot of Ken in a Mets uni. Ken H. was a 1978 Met only. The Mets first wore NOB's the following season - 1979.

Doh. I was thinking 1980

[Edgy MD]

I was looking for a backside photo of Sid or Tony Fernandez from 1993. I found this.

[fimg=475:2ivtsnyv]http://media.gettyimages.com/photos/sid-fernandez-after-a-sold-hanes-in-the-6th-inning-august-11-1993-picture-id538397100[/fimg:2ivtsnyv]

But that's from August, and Tony had been traded back in June.

Interesting Tony Fernandez fact: The Mets got Tony in an October 1992 trade with the Padres, in which they sent over in addition to other talent, a PtBNL that was eventually named, on December 7, as 20-year-old catcher Raul Casanova.

Raul, clearly heartbroken at being sent away from the organization, stuck around in baseball long enough to eventually play for the Mets anyhow ... in 2008.

[Centerfield]

Mets Guy in Michigan wrote: I think it makes sense to have no initial. People do have the giant numbers below the names to help tell people apart.

Or, you know, their face.

[G-Fafif]

I'm still trying to tell the Ramirii of 2012 apart.

[Edgy MD]

Centerfield wrote: Mets Guy in Michigan wrote: I think it makes sense to have no initial. People do have the giant numbers below the names to help tell people apart. Or, you know, their face.

Well, these same arguments could be used against having names on the back at all. Yet they do!

[G-Fafif]

Bus pass pinned to my shirt or jacket worked at the outset of first grade. Had my name and cross streets.

[seawolf17]

G-Fafif wrote: I'm still trying to tell the Ramirii of 2012 apart.

We had more than one Ramirez?

[G-Fafif]

seawolf17 wrote: G-Fafif wrote: I'm still trying to tell the Ramirii of 2012 apart. We had more than one Ramirez?

Ramon and Elvin, though you rarely saw them on the same mound at the same time.

[Edgy MD]

Elvin and Ramón.

And now I ask Mets Guy in Michigan, without checking, to tell me which numbers the two of them wore.

[Edgy MD]

RealityChuck wrote: I think the Bobby Joneses ruined it for everyone.

Long before The Two Bobbys came along, Fresno Bobby had a 1995 conflict with Chris Jones. But Chris neither bothered wearing an initial back then either.

[HahnSolo]

No initial on back for Argenis Reyes:

[Benjamin Grimm]

Instances where two Mets players had the same last name in the same season, since 1979:

Year	Last Name
1986	MITCHELL	Kevin	John
1989	HERNANDEZ	Keith	Manny
1993	FERNANDEZ	Sid	Tony
1995	JONES	Bobby	Chris
1996	FRANCO	John	Matt
1996	JONES	Bobby	Chris
1997	FRANCO	John	Matt
1998	FRANCO	John	Matt
1999	FRANCO	John	Matt
2000	FRANCO	John	Matt
2000	JONES	Bobby	Bobby
2002	WALKER	Pete	Tyler
2003	GLAVINE	Tom	Mike
2004	GARCIA	Danny	Karim
2004	WILSON	Vance	Tom
2005	HERNANDEZ	Roberto	Anderson
2006	HERNANDEZ	Anderson	Orlando
2006	HERNANDEZ	Roberto	Anderson
2006	HERNANDEZ	Roberto	Orlando
2007	HERNANDEZ	Anderson	Orlando
2008	MARTINEZ	Pedro	Ramon
2008	REYES	Jose	Argenis
2009	GREEN	Sean	Andy
2009	HERNANDEZ	Anderson	Livan
2009	MARTINEZ	Ramon	Fernando
2009	REYES	Jose	Argenis
2010	FELICIANO	Pedro	Jesus
2012	RAMIREZ	Ramon	Elvin
2014	YOUNG	Eric	Chris
2015	TORRES	Carlos	Alex
2016	RIVERA	Rene	T.J.

[seawolf17]

G-Fafif wrote: G-Fafif wrote: I'm still trying to tell the Ramirii of 2012 apart. We had more than one Ramirez? Ramon and Elvin, though you rarely saw them on the same mound at the same time.

I call shenanigans that either one of them existed.

[Frayed Knot]

Look, we all know this is the result of the cheap-ass Wilpons not wanting to pay for an extra letter [u:960z5s2x]AND[/u:960z5s2x] a freaking period to go after it.
Hell, in TJ Rivera's case you'd have to pay for two of each!!!

Or maybe they could do just one, like the shortened version of his chosen name of TJ is just T. Or maybe that's what only his best friends call him.

[RealityChuck]

In the history of baseball, only twice did a team have two players on the roster with the same first and last names. Both times, it was the Mets:

1962: Bob Miller and Bob Miller (Robert L. Miller was also one of three 1962 Mets to play on a Mets pennant winning team.)
2000: Bobby Jones and Bobby Jones.