Memories of James Loney

[Edgy MD]

The big lefty is shipping on out to Texas, where everything is as a big as he is.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Net negative that most people thought was a net positive.

Had that one big home run where he looked at the bench after hitting it. I got the impression he was a "Pro's pro" the other guys and the manager liked a lot, even though his contributions were modest.

All that said, he was better than Ike Davis in 2016.

[MFS62]

A useful replacement. Seemed like a good guy.

Wish him well.
Later

[Frayed Knot]

Well, net negative as compared to what?
As compared to a 1B you can find if you set your sights towards getting one in the off-season, then sure. As compared to what was available in mid-year to replace a short-term injury that quickly became long-term, then I'd say his availability and timing were a definite positive for us.
Would have been nice to have turned to Flores when Duda went down but Wilmer was either always injured himself or was needed to replace the casualty on the other side of the diamond. After all it wasn't like Campbell was working out, and instead of having two hitting catchers leaving us the luxury of using one to play 1B on occasion we didn't have any, nor was Dom Smith anywhere close to ready, and so on.


That said he's certainly generating the widest divergence of opinion in our year-end ranking, out scores on him to date are 17, 0, 15, 1, 17, 0, 13, 1, 18, and 0
So, according to us, he was either an average player for the 2016 Mets or he brought less to the table than the likes of Jay Bruce, Alejandro De Aza, or Logan Verrett.

[Guest themetfairy]

A decent spare piece at times.

[Edgy MD]

His last Met homer was a killer-diller. A two-run shot on October 1 in the sixth to put the Mets ahead of the Phils, it was the eventual game-winning margin in the playoff-clinching game.

And he knew it.

https://v.cdn.vine.co/r/videos/2DC984D75E1394097566936944640_5e77826aaf5.37.0.E8FC1CB3-E2AB-4016-9529-E0EE5CB1E0A4.mp4

[ashie62]

He had his moments. Did well for an emergency AAA acquisition. Seemingly decent enough guy.

[G-Fafif]

Was there when we needed him. "Why can't we get James Loney?" was asked when Duda was out and Loney was available. We got him and he filled in like a pro (and like a guy who wasn't playing for anybody else at the moment).

His big home run on Wild Card Day was the 218th of the Mets season, which may stand as the franchise record for a long time.

Scooped up the throw at the end of the double play that sealed the most improbable of saves.

[youtube:1oukjpx8]KfD_RqLQBMw[/youtube:1oukjpx8]

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Frayed Knot wrote: Well, net negative as compared to what?

I'm not trying to suggest he ought to have been better than a AAA veteran acquired as an emergency fill in midseason. He was good for that.

But he was a below average everyday player nonetheless and seemingly exposed more and more as the ABs piled up but never the lost the support of Terry, Kevin Kernan, or Howie Rose when there was at least an argument to have tried Bruce or Conforto or Granderson or Flores at first base, and Doodoo when got he back, or to have traded for his replacement at the deadline, but they didn't do any of that.

[Frayed Knot]

Although it's not like we were getting above average production from the likes of Bruce and Conforto. Plus neither Grandy nor Conforto had ever played 1B (Bruce barely had) and by the point of the season when Loney was wearing down Flores was filling in at 2nd after Walker went down for the final month.
Not sure there were a lot of good other options.

[batmagadanleadoff]

My strongest James Loney memory is when he beat the Mets with a walk-off extra inning HR as a Dodger. It was the same series, maybe even the same game, that Jason Bay banged his head against the outfield wall and sustained his first Mets concussion.

[Edgy MD]

I was certainly in favor of the Mets shopping for a first baseman at the deadline rather than an outfielder. I don't know that they didn't, but it seemed like upgrading over Loney was a better bet than upgrading over Conforto/Nimmo/Lagares.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Exactamundo. It was clear that Loney wasn't gonna give us exactly what we'd like from a first baseman, maybe the others wouldn't either, but we never backed off him was my point.

[Chad ochoseis]

You can keep your Molly Beerses, your Alicia Rickters, and even your Anna Bensons. I'm a Nadia Loney guy through and through.

[Zvon]

I liked Loney from the moment we got him until he scooped his last errant throw. At the plate, wish he did more. Around first, I saw him make plays that no other first baseman make. At least no other New York first baseman. I was and will always be a fan of Jame's glove and what he did with it for us, made him totally worth it.

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[youtube:365nr0h5]vtFyjSYl1Bk[/youtube:365nr0h5]

Look at the cute little game belt
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