batmagadanleadoff

Chris Carter was last year's other great Mets feel-good story. But what are we missing, between the lines? He wasn't all that. Or even some of that. I like this non tender because it shows me that the Mets mean business and aren't about to squander things anymore. Hopefully, the days of Miguel Cairo batting second in the midst of a pennant race are over. I'm not talking about Oakland A's who play most of the season.

He'll probably end up in the AL 'cause he throws like a girl which is OK if you're a girl but problematic if you're a national leaguer. Pinch hitters who can't field are on the way to extinction (and if they're not, they should be unless they can hit like Ted Williams) in the NL what with the pitch counts and having to use three or four pitchers even in a winning effort. These guys'll hurt a NL team in ways that can't be measured by simply looking at their individual stat-lines.

Now Chris Carter will surely never appear on a baseball card as a Met.

Plus, him and his Coors screwed Piazza out of an MVP. Okay ... so it was the Chavez Ravine Piazza. Still. Screw Larry.

Here are two non-Topps Davey cards, from the 1988 Donruss All-Star game packs. I love the pop-out cards! If you're opening the floor to non-Topps cards, here's an ASA card from a Yogi Berra subset: And here's the nutty perfesser on Glavine's 2008 Upper Deck card. Why the Mets bothered with either of those two is beyond me. I bet Willie thought that Glavine would win another 300 games.

Here are two non-Topps Davey cards, from the 1988 Donruss All-Star game packs. I love the pop-out cards! If you're opening the floor to non-Topps cards, here's an ASA card from a Yogi Berra subset:

One more Topps Mets manager: Topps 1988 Glossy All Stars

2001 Topps Combos

Sweet, because I could find only: Now that I think of it, I bet there was a Bobby V card in the special Subway Series set -- the one with the amazing inserts with the subway tokens. I'll look tonight! That's the one. In that set, Valentine has his own card, and also appears in a card with Benitez, captioned: "Bobby Valentine and Armando Benitez hug after Game 1 of NLCS."

metsguyinmichigan wrote: I have all the Mets managers cards in the blog post, but didn't know if I'd be pushing the limits by posting all 40 of them here. http://metsguyinmichigan.blogspot.com/2010/11/will-history-repeat-terry-collins-can.html I remembered a Topps Bobby Valentine manager card that you left out. I can't find an internet image. What card am I referring to?

I think that the Mets need for the bad Ollie to become the good Ollie.

Yo! When my cap slides off my head, I'll bust a cap inside your head. -- John Pacella

When I'm hurlin' my dead red Yo, my cap falls off my head. --John Pacella

Tom Terrific sticks the milestone up the Yankees' ass.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: and the fact that all of his peak took place in pre-humidor Coors make it real tough to take those numbers seriously, don't they? I wouldn't vote for a pre-humidor Rockie unless his unadjusted numbers rivaled Willie Mays'.

Looks like a Met to me. Back of the card (below) notes that the most HR's Sheffield hit for one team is 129. 2009 Topps Heritage Flashback

Edgy DC wrote: Whatever yourself. I wrote the same thing you did and I get "whatever"? Give me a break. I'll rewrite my last post. [crossout]Whatever.[/crossout] But you're digressing. Because the issue you initially raised, I thought, was not what Minaya ought to have done but whether Perez's roster spot was justified. The back door politics that enabled Perez to remain on the 25 man roster for as long as he did is irrelevant.

Edgy DC wrote: I agree. If your GM is putting a player on your roster, and your manager is openly saying "I am not using this guy," then every game you lose, you're wasting that spot. That was the most frustrating thing for me with the Ollie/Warthen/Omar/Jerry demographic. If the guy's on your roster, you need to find a way for him (and your team) to be successful. If not, then something needs to give. Either the GM needs to get rid of the player, or if he feels that the player can still contribute, the manager/pitching coach. That's my contention. That it was Minaya's place to (a) release Perez, ( compell Manuel to use him, or © replace Manuel with someone willing to do his lord's will. Manuel's stupid doghouse sucked. Perez's spot on the roster was unjustifiable. Manuel appeared to have agreed with you and Minaya not, and I think that was the team's real problem. OE: I suppoe Minaya's superiors could have stripped him of the power to act against either Perez or Manuel. Whatever. But you're digressing. Because the issue you initially raised, I thought, was not what Minaya ought to have done but whether Perez's roster spot was justified.

I'm speculating that Minaya's options were limited by ownership, and that cutting Perez and eating his large salary was not in Minaya's toolbox.

Fine. Don't compare Dessens to Perez. Carrying Perez compromised the Mets ability to compete in 2010. Perez couldn't be trusted. Period. Even when you're down by two or three, you need a dependable pitcher. Otherwise, you're conceding the game before it's over. Dessens was relatively decent. Perez's spot on the roster was unjustifiable. That there were a few one-week or so stretches where Dessens didn't play does not make the case for Perez.

I wouldn't equate Elmer Dessens or Aaron Sele with Ollie v2010.

Edgy DC wrote: I think every team has a roster spot dedicated to a relatively ineffective/out of sorts/project pitcher who pitches mopup in situations of little consequence. There's certainly room on the roster for such a guy. . I disagree with this. Or put it this way: if there is a spot on a team's roster for that guy, then the roster's flawed. Teams can't afford that spot anymore ... not in today's "pitch-count" game where it's not unusual for even the winning team to use four pitchers to preserve the win.

Scott Strickland, I'm guessing.

Did Prince just exclude John Franco from the Hall? Not that there's anything wrong with excluding John, but I figured that if it's up to Prince, Matt Franco and Julio Franco also get in. Put me down for one more smiley for Olerud.

In '73, the Mets could've used the alternating DH in the AL park WS rule that's since come to pass.