Countdown Quiz

[seawolf17]

Hey, kids! It's time to test your knowledge of Mets arcana. Opening Day is April 3, just 47 days away. So tell me, if you will, what you know about these Mets who had only 47 career blue-and-orange regular season ABs:

1. Pitched in 44 games (18 starts) in 1997-98 before being traded to the Dodgers. Started his career with the Rangers, but probably best known for finishing his career with the Rockies before retiring in 2001 at age 32. Not a small dude.
2. 47 AB, all in 1992, all in left field; never even pinch-hit. Didn't play in MLB again. Best known for his work in a different field.
3. A native Buffalonian, he did well in part-time duty with Detroit before being acquired by the Mets on Halloween 1979. His 47 AB came in 1980 and 1982, mostly as a third baseman.
4. A jack of all trades, master of none utility infielder whose 47 AB also all came in 1992 for a whopping .360 OPS. Played everywhere but CF and C in his career; even pitched 2/3 of an inning for the Expos in 1990, relieving outfielder Dave Martinez with the bases loaded and walking in a run before getting Astros pitcher Jim Clancy to ground into an inning-ending double play.

(And stay tuned tomorrow for the Great 46 Quiz!)

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

3 is Tom Veryzer. No one was more zer than he.

[seawolf17]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: 3 is Tom Veryzer. No one was more zer than he.

Oh, so close! He was so very zer, but managed an incredible 54 ABs in 1982. His .732 OPS that season was the highest of his career except for his rookie year of 1973, when he OPSed .764 in 20 AB.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I thought Tom Veryzer was from Long Island?

Something tells me that number 3 is Phil Mankowski.

[seawolf17]

That's one!

1. Pitched in 44 games (18 starts) in 1997-98 before being traded to the Dodgers. Started his career with the Rangers, but probably best known for finishing his career with the Rockies before retiring in 2001 at age 32. Not a small dude.
2. 47 AB, all in 1992, all in left field; never even pinch-hit. Didn't play in MLB again. Best known for his work in a different field.
3. A native Buffalonian, he did well in part-time duty with Detroit before being acquired by the Mets on Halloween 1979. His 47 AB came in 1980 and 1982, mostly as a third baseman. PHIL MANKOWSKI
4. A jack of all trades, master of none utility infielder whose 47 AB also all came in 1992 for a whopping .360 OPS. Played everywhere but CF and C in his career; even pitched 2/3 of an inning for the Expos in 1990, relieving outfielder Dave Martinez with the bases loaded and walking in a run before getting Astros pitcher Jim Clancy to ground into an inning-ending double play.

[Edgy MD]

#2 is D.J. Dozier.

[seawolf17]

That's two!

1. Pitched in 44 games (18 starts) in 1997-98 before being traded to the Dodgers. Started his career with the Rangers, but probably best known for finishing his career with the Rockies before retiring in 2001 at age 32. Not a small dude.
2. 47 AB, all in 1992, all in left field; never even pinch-hit. Didn't play in MLB again. Best known for his work in a different field. DJ DOZIER
3. A native Buffalonian, he did well in part-time duty with Detroit before being acquired by the Mets on Halloween 1979. His 47 AB came in 1980 and 1982, mostly as a third baseman. PHIL MANKOWSKI
4. A jack of all trades, master of none utility infielder whose 47 AB also all came in 1992 for a whopping .360 OPS. Played everywhere but CF and C in his career; even pitched 2/3 of an inning for the Expos in 1990, relieving outfielder Dave Martinez with the bases loaded and walking in a run before getting Astros pitcher Jim Clancy to ground into an inning-ending double play.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I'm not at all confident in this guess, but I'll put it out there anyway. Number 1: Mark Clark?

[seawolf17]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: I'm not at all confident in this guess, but I'll put it out there anyway. Number 1: Mark Clark?

That's a fantastically close guess as well... time frame and girth and everything! But it's incorrect, as Clark was 1996-97 and had 112 AB... with 5 hits, making him literally the worst hitting pitcher of all time in a Mets uniform of all those with at least 100 AB. (Clark did somehow manage to homer as one of those five hits, however, off Tim Wakefield.)

[G-Fafif]

1. Brian Bohanon

[seawolf17]

That's three!

1. Pitched in 44 games (18 starts) in 1997-98 before being traded to the Dodgers. Started his career with the Rangers, but probably best known for finishing his career with the Rockies before retiring in 2001 at age 32. Not a small dude. BRIAN BOHANON
2. 47 AB, all in 1992, all in left field; never even pinch-hit. Didn't play in MLB again. Best known for his work in a different field. DJ DOZIER
3. A native Buffalonian, he did well in part-time duty with Detroit before being acquired by the Mets on Halloween 1979. His 47 AB came in 1980 and 1982, mostly as a third baseman. PHIL MANKOWSKI
4. A jack of all trades, master of none utility infielder whose 47 AB also all came in 1992 for a whopping .360 OPS. Played everywhere but CF and C in his career; even pitched 2/3 of an inning for the Expos in 1990, relieving outfielder Dave Martinez with the bases loaded and walking in a run before getting Astros pitcher Jim Clancy to ground into an inning-ending double play. EXTRA HINT: His first name is "Milciades," but noboady called him that.

[G-Fafif]

4. Milciades Noboa, a.k.a. Junior.

[seawolf17]

And that's four!

1. Pitched in 44 games (18 starts) in 1997-98 before being traded to the Dodgers. Started his career with the Rangers, but probably best known for finishing his career with the Rockies before retiring in 2001 at age 32. Not a small dude. BRIAN BOHANON
2. 47 AB, all in 1992, all in left field; never even pinch-hit. Didn't play in MLB again. Best known for his work in a different field. DJ DOZIER
3. A native Buffalonian, he did well in part-time duty with Detroit before being acquired by the Mets on Halloween 1979. His 47 AB came in 1980 and 1982, mostly as a third baseman. PHIL MANKOWSKI
4. A jack of all trades, master of none utility infielder whose 47 AB also all came in 1992 for a whopping .360 OPS. Played everywhere but CF and C in his career; even pitched 2/3 of an inning for the Expos in 1990, relieving outfielder Dave Martinez with the bases loaded and walking in a run before getting Astros pitcher Jim Clancy to ground into an inning-ending double play. EXTRA HINT: His first name is "Milciades," but "noboady" called him that. JUNIOR NOBOA

Standings:
GFafif 2
Ben Grimm 1
Edgy 1

Thanks for playing - we'll be back again tomorrow with Quiz #46!

[Theoldmole]

Dozier...what field?

[Benjamin Grimm]

He played for the Minnesota Vikings.

[seawolf17]

"Hi, kids! I'm #46, Brian Bohanon, here to introduce today's quiz. It's a short one. Two players have exactly 46 ABs as a Met. One is better known for his uniform number than for anything he did on the field in the early 90's, the other was a backup infielder in 1980 who was mostly terrible at the plate and in the field, but somehow managed to hit two home runs. He was then traded to the Padres for Randy Jones in the offseason. Who are they?"

[Benjamin Grimm]

Is the uniform number guy Kelvin Torve?

[seawolf17]

Ben Grimm off to the hot start this morning!

Two players have exactly 46 ABs as a Met. One is better known for his uniform number than for anything he did on the field in the early 90's KELVIN TORVE, the other was a backup infielder in 1980 who was mostly terrible at the plate and in the field, but somehow managed to hit two home runs. He was then traded to the Padres for Randy Jones in the offseason. Who are they?

Standings:
GFafif 2
Ben Grimm 2
Edgy 1

[Edgy MD]

Is the 1980 infielder Mario [crossout:189j1yh2]Diaz[/crossout:189j1yh2] Ramirez?

[Benjamin Grimm]

I'm going to guess "Dave Roberts". I'm not entirely sure that the Mets ever had a player named Dave Roberts, but somehow I associate that name with Randy Jones.

[seawolf17]

Fantastic guesses all around, and in fact, ALL THREE OF THOSE GUYS (Diaz, who was a Met in 1990, Ramirez, who was the Mystery Met's teammate, and Roberts, who was a pitcher in 1981) will come up in the next few weeks, as all had fewer than 46 Mets ABs. But not today.

[stevejrogers]

Sergio Ferrer?

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Bill Almon "Joy"

[seawolf17]

To your credit, you're killing it on the time frame. Ferrer will ALSO appear later in this quiz, but Almon had 166 AB in his two stints as a Met.

HINT: This mystery fella shares a last name with one other Met, a reliever who spent a good chunk of 2004 in the bullpen after coming over from the Royals. And if you grouped all Mets by first name, the eleven fellas who share his name would far and away top the all-time Mets stolen bases leaders list.

[Centerfield]

I'm at a total loss on all of these.

Last name of a reliever, first name of a stolen base guy.

I'm going to go with Mookie Looper.

[G-Fafif]

The Padre guy is Jose Moreno.

[seawolf17]

Fantastic guess! But no, horribly wrong. We'll keep it open!

Two players have exactly 46 ABs as a Met. One is better known for his uniform number than for anything he did on the field in the early 90's KELVIN TORVE, the other was a backup infielder in 1980 who was mostly terrible at the plate and in the field, but somehow managed to hit two home runs. He was then traded to the Padres for Randy Jones in the offseason. This mystery fella shares a last name with one other Met, a reliever who spent a good chunk of 2004 in the bullpen after coming over from the Royals. And if you grouped all Mets by first name, the eleven fellas who share his name would far and away top the all-time Mets stolen bases leaders list.

ON TO #45!


Two 45s: One original Met in every sense of the word, and a relief pitcher who was acquired in 1967 and traded away in 1970 without appearing in the 1969 postseason.

Standings:
GFafif 2
Ben Grimm 2
Edgy 1

[G-Fafif]

Jose Moreno was indeed traded for Randy Jones and indeed shares a name with 2004 Met reliever Orber Moreno. What am I missing?

[seawolf17]

Ah! Sorry I missed your post. We've knocked off our last 46. 45s both still on the board.

Standings:
GFafif 3
Ben Grimm 2
Edgy 1

[seawolf17]

(My "wrong" response was on Mookie Looper.)