G-Fafif

First 5 appearances = 5 IP, 0 ER. A third-of-an-inning from usurping CJ Nitkowski in the Met record books (most innings Met career, lowest ERA). He kept going and gave up a few runs. Wasn't Danny.

When virtual torches and pitchforks were brandished for various successors who lacked success — “he's the worst manager the Mets ever had!” — I'd think how soon they've forgotten Jeff Torborg. I'm glad he's being memorialized by those who knew him or experienced him in different contexts as a great guy or helpful manager (mainly for one uplifting White Sox year). I primarily remember booing his image on DiamondVision shortly before his dismissal.

Joey the Churve, last seen heading west.

Mets manager from 1992 and part of 1993 Jeff Torborg is dead at 82.

DJ Stewart has signed a minor league deal with the Pirates. Had a couple of “The DJ Stewart Game” games when all hope was otherwise lost the second half of 2023. Made himself dispensable as 2024 evolved. Tough guy to not like, however he was batting.

[tweet]https://twitter.com/martinonyc/status/1879959082477711532[/tweet]

September's dash of infield spice signs minor league deal with Braves, prepares to spill trade secrets to division rival.

A thread that left faint footprints.

My primary Mark Bradley memory is of Tom Seaver glaring at him for not hustling after a ball in right at Candlestick, then making a less than zesty throw into the infield, allowing a run to score (June 1, 1983, just before Bambi vamoosed). It stays with me because when Tom was voted into the HOF, Howie Rose, in an otherwise laudatory long-form interview, asked him about it. Tom said he didn't recall it, but if he had, he added, he shouldn't have shown up a teammate. I also remember being excited that we got a Dodger prospect.

Lenny lit up the darkest of Met years. Wrote at length about him and 1977 while waiting for ball to be played in 2020. https://www.faithandfearinflushing.com/2020/06/12/at-least-we-had-lenny-randle/https://www.faithandfearinflushing.com/2020/06/12/at-least-we-had-lenny-randle/ Embarrassing personal anecdote (about me, not Lenny) included.

One more for the 2024 road, sadly… https://www.thenewsenterprise.com/sports/great-guy-great-athlete-mark-bradley-dies-at-68/article_89402d09-b354-594d-be01-190597e05756.htmlhttps://www.thenewsenterprise.com/sports/great-guy-great-athlete-mark-bradley-dies-at-68/article_89402d09-b354-594d-be01-190597e05756.html Found dead in his Louisville, Ky., apartment on December 30. Toolsy 1983 Met.

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Jay Horwitz https://metsinsider.mlblogs.com/rest-in-peace-lenny-randle-a28d08931c28shares his memories of Lenny Randle.

Lenny Randle has reportedly passed away.

It's official.

No disrespect to the funeral home's fact-checking, but after combing through some contemporary reports from his career, 1942 makes more sense as Ron Locke's birthdate.

Baseball Reference has Ron born in 1942, but one assumes his family had the right date. Ron was my first 1965 card. Got it at my first card show, in 1975.

Rob Locke, 1964 Met pitcher, 82. https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/name/ronald-locke-obituary?id=57095205https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/name/ronald-locke-obituary?id=57095205

On the eve of what should have been his 66th birthday, a remembrance of https://www.faithandfearinflushing.com/2024/12/24/rickey-henderson-singular/Rickey Henderson, New York Met.

=Gwreck post_id=181554 time=1734833943 user_id=56] =G-Fafif post_id=181530 time=1734811237 user_id=55]MFYs sign the formerly admirable first baseman.

MFYs sign the formerly admirable first baseman. Not a landing spot for Alonso, at least

It represented a veritable footnote to his legendary career, but a helluva Met season in 1999. Once in a while, I'd think, "Ohmigod, that's Rickey Henderson leading off for us."

Christian Walker agrees to terms with Astros.

I have a strong memory of an eighth-grade discussion, mid-June 1977, during one of the final ceramics classes of the year, all of us Mets fans. As we painted our clay mugs, we agreed that the now departed 41 would surely be retired someday. And 36. And 3. And 7. And probably 15. None of them had belonged to anybody except important, tenured Mets in our collective experience, so how could anybody else ever again wear them? We agreed we might have added 45 and 21 had they not been already reissued since their rightful bearers had been dispatched, which we assumed meant they couldn't be retired. (24 was a coach at the time, so it already appeared reserved in perpetuity.) None of us in our 14-year-old demo knew what it looked or felt like for a Mets player to have a number retired, but we had a sense of what it should be. Of course 41 led our conversation, given the mid-June 1977 event that inspired it. When 41 indeed became the first, it set an impossibly high standard to match. Calibration was in order if you ever wanted to believe the Mets organization cared about any of its greats. We in ceramics had been ready to go with the numbers we knew sitting around that table. I'm glad that the Mets have more or less caught up to our little mug-painting posse in spirit, prorating for the fact that the franchise has a lot more seasons behind it now, and the realization that there are important Mets and there are vital Mets. Two from the era of miracles. Three from the powerhouse days. One from a period of memorable successes. One whose significant lifetime achievement in baseball is a 100% match for his Met career. And one for the immortal of immortal players whose situation here is singular. Eight players as we near the midpoint of our seventh decade. I'm comfortable with every call the Mets have made. Anyway, I'm https://www.faithandfearinflushing.com/2024/12/13/highest-five/deighted for David.