28
2012
Don’t Expect A 1973 Finish, With This Front Office
An article by 
YOGI BERRA: It’ Ain’t Over ‘Till It’s Over.
The season is three months and 27 days old as of today. The Mets have spent only ten of those days with a losing record and by that I mean sub .500. And in that regard today the Mets are only a whopping three games under .500.
In 1973, after 99 games the Mets were 44-55, eleven games under .500 and they would go on to lose the next two games to put them in last place with a 44-57 record. It was their low-water mark that season.
There were no Wild Cards back then. There were six teams in the NL East not five and the only way to go to the post season was to win the division.
With the Mets on the brink of mathematical elimination, manager Yogi Berra held a team meeting in hopes for a last ditch effort to impart some wisdom on a team that stopped believing they were going anywhere that season. Yogi, a true champion, had been in this position countless times before in his career and he knew all about finishing strong and amazing comebacks. Then some joker in the back of the clubhouse where they were all gathered, started jumping up and down like a nut and screaming “Ya gotta believe! Ya gotta believe”. It was Tug McGraw.
The Mets were 13 games under .500 and they had to jump five teams to get into the post season. They went on to go 38-21 the rest of the way to win the NL East and came within one out of winning game seven of the World Series against Reggie Jackson and the Oakland Athletics.
TUG MCGRAW: What’s 14 games under .500, that’s nothing. Ya gotta believe…
These Mets are three games under .500 and if they beat the Diamondbacks tonight, only three other teams are in front of them for the post-season, not five.
Yesterday, Terry Collins made an interesting comment after the game and it wasn’t about Matt Harvey, it was about Josh Edgin. “He’s unbelievable. He hates to lose and gushes with enthusiasm. That’s a major league reliever right there, that young man belongs. I only wonder where we would be right now if we had him here a lot sooner.”
Matt Harvey was spectacular and I’ll go out on a limb and say at some point he will give up some earned runs, but what an addition and what an opening performance.
Most fans never believed in this team. I was the only one among our staff of 30 who picked the Mets to win that second wild card. April, May and June only backed up my faith and I took it as a small reward for for staying true to the essense of what it means to be a Mets fan – believing.
I’m still mad that we have a front office who see the game through LCD monitors and don’t dream out loud like Gil Hodges, Tug McGraw and even Terry Collins do. When fans dare to be so bold they’re referred to as quacks.
SANDY ALDERSON: We’ill have plenty of money to spend mid-season if this team needs help.
It’s always easier to believe the worst of something or someone than to believe the best because it would be an admission that you’re the closed minded one and nobody likes to be painted in such a haughty role.
So here we are, with our chances significantly better than they were in 1973, but with a front office and a majority of the fanbase that since opening day has been in “sell mode” and “I dont believe in this team mode”. And they are brazen enough to admit it!
Too bad for the players – a rag-tag group put together from scraps and pieces much like the 1973 version.
There were no 20-game winners on the Mets that year. Their bullpen had an ERA of over 4.00 which would equate to 5.00 these days. Only one batter finished the season with over 20 home runs – John Milner. Rusty Staub led the team with 76 RBIs. Buddy Harrelson was our leadoff hitter and shortstop and batted .248 and stole five bases. Eddie Kranepool batted fifth in the order and his performance makes Jason Bay look Ruthian. Krane hit one home run all season with 38 RBI. Want to compare them to this year’s version?
Yesterday, Mike Puma of the NY Post reported that a team source told him the Mets were still looking for a catcher and reliever – however small ones. Small ones?
When I think of what things might have been like with a visionary at the helm instead of a Harvard Lawyer who is guilty of Lip Service in the First Degree, I can’t help. but think what this team could have accomplished and how far it could have gone with just a minimum of help from our Commander in Chief.
Sorry, there I go being negative again…
About the Author: Joe DeCaro
I'm a lifelong Mets fan who loves writing and talking about the Amazins' 24/7. From the Miracle in 1969 to the magic of 1986, and even the near misses in '73 and '00, I've experienced it all - the highs and the lows. I started Mets Merized Online in 2005 to feed my addiction. Follow me on Twitter @metsmerized.
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NL East Standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braves | 42 | 30 | .583 | - |
| Phillies | 35 | 37 | .486 | 7.0 |
| Nationals | 34 | 36 | .486 | 7.0 |
| Mets | 27 | 40 | .403 | 12.5 |
| Marlins | 22 | 48 | .314 | 19.0 |
Last updated: 06/19/2013
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Tears of joy in my coffee, Joe!
Let’s see what we can do tonight. Hard not to think of the West Coast trip, but, really, believing has to be rooted in each game, one step at a time.
Don’t stop believin’
Hold on to the feelin’
Streetlights people
Joe D, great post… Us old school fans who have pretty much share the same enthusiasm all agreed.. It’s a shame the same love and passion are not share by the FO and their legion of followers who somehow believe they’re here to build a contender..
“I’m still mad that we have a front office who see the game through LCD monitors and don’t dream out loud like Gil Hodges, Tug McGraw and even Terry Collins do”
You couldn’t have said it better.. Add text message and i’m 100% in…
Watching Harvey last night made me remember how excited we all were to watch gooden pitch his first game. It was awesome… To have that kid with ELECTRIC stuff like that DOMINATE a team like that, the way he used his off speed pitches and the location was a beauty to watch..
I’m not buying the “looking for a catcher and reliever” talk, although another lefty would help after selling Byrdak like Joe Thatcher (get back in touch with SD) or Jose Mijares. If they really want to make a “small move” that will be effective, fire Warthen and have Bones finish the rest of the year as the (interim) pitching coach. Then next season, bring in Viola (if they dont do it now). Why? If you’ve seen the Cyclones & Gnats pitching staffs over the last year and seen how good they were, that was Sweet Music’s doing.
So, 1973 applies better than 2004 because…
This is why you shoud be banned out of here…. Your stupidity and disrespect for mets baseball and their old school fans…
What joe D is trying to say is that even though we were out of it, there was always that belive that we were good enough.. and we did show it.. Please let the grown ups have a conversation without you being intrucive and disrespectful….
Well said alex…. but he shouldn’t be banned. His big line is to cry to ban those who can think for themselves and make fun of him for being nothing more than a witless parrot. just remember losers like him and alderson would never never have traded for don clendenon. It was risky, it s wa bold move to help a team with little offense and young inexperienced pitching for the most part. A chicken s#$t like alderson or donal would rather sit on their you know whats and tell us to wait a few years. and lo and behold they look toa failed effort to prove their pathetic lack of ambition. well, I’ll take duquette’s fialure over this alderson/donal chicken regime anyday. at least Duquette wanted to win and at least he tried. And despite all the attacks on him, he gave up very little; a career super sub to the Bucs and a flash in the pan to the Rays. What alderson/donal are too blind or stupid to see is that prospects are all suspects, not guaranteed hall material. someday they will be gone and the mets will rise with a gm with a mind.
Great memories Joe. I just want to point out that two of the teams that we have to catch including the Braves had big chokes last year. If that happens again that certainly helps us as well. Plus with no Dempster or Greinke or Beachy I doubt Sheets is going to carry them.
Good morning. One of the things I like about this site is that there are writers here from a generation of Mets fans that were cut from a different fabric. Thanks for bringing up such a wonderful time to be a Mets fan and when fans had as much pride in the team as the players did.
I forgot to mention that it was nice to see Felix Millan during the broadcast on Wednesday. He looked great and I believe he was our second baseman in 1973. Shame what happened to him though.
You’d have to have a whole lot of vision to fix the holes on this team going in, with the 10 MIL or so he had to spend.
BP first half was a major disappointment. SP depth too thin, hence Batista getting any starts.
The OF right now is a mess and consists of nothing more than platoon type mixing and matching.
On the positive side, getting the production we did from Johan before he went on the DL was a plus. Dickey’s first half was amazing. Ruben’s development has been fun to watch. Wright’s numbers and defense up until this recent slump were more than we could have hoped for. Gee’s credibility of a back end rotation arm before he went down for the season was good.
We’re now starting to see some of the results of our better prospects development – i.e. Harvey’s start last night.
Lots of positives to look for, for this team going forward, IMO.
I wasn’t even a glimmer in my parent’s eye back there but I cant believe the team was that bad in 1973. This team may actually be better. lol The didn’t have a David Wright type player on the whole team and I would take Tejada over Harrelson and day. They got great pitching down the stretch which is not to say we cant do the same thing.
Hold on….Harrelson would have gotten up and punched Bernadino after that slide the other night…..this team doesn’t have that type of mentality.
The ’73 team was four years removed from a world championship. The NL East that year was composed of teams with loosing records. Most of all we had George Stone…
Two wild cards plus the Phillies and Marlins both already out make this easier to accomplish than it was in 73. We dont have to be better than all 29 teams, just better than the Braves and there’s no reason why we cant bitch slap them like they were last year. This team is better than the 2011 or 2010 Mets. Once you are in anything can happen. Just ask the 2011 Wild Card Cardinals. The best team doesn’t always win, just the hottest team.
I admire your enthusiasm, but I have to ask: Yes, this team has run better than the last few years, but I’m still not confident in the staff. With the bipolar pitching staff, whether it be the rotation doing good and the pen doing bad, vice versa, or both being bad, in your mind, isn’t it time for the coach to get his walking papers being one of the moves they should make? I mean, you have to admit: some of these guys are WAY better than the way they have performed. It was interesting how Byrdak was ticked the other night because he didn’t want the fastball, but Warthen & Thole wanted & called it, and it wound up costing them. Yes, sometimes the best team don’t always win, but the hot ones do, like the ’07 Rockies with their run that came up short or the ’06 Cards (sorry, had to go there but you get the picture).
Warthen should have gone years ago. I still don’t understand how he was the only one to survive the purge.
and for ’73, they had the thing that most teams that gone on that kind of streak have: dominant SP. Having Gooden, Stone, and the guys all clicking finally made it hard to ever lose a few in a row.
Hi Stick,
I think you meant Tom Seaver and not Dwight Gooden when referring to the starting rotation of that 73 team.
Dwight would have only been eight years at the time…..
But a healthy rotation of Seaver, Koozman, Matlack and Stone with a resurgent Tug McGraw in the pen and the return of Harrelson and Jones certainly showed us what it means to come back from such adversity so late in the season.
well, the ’73 team still only won 82 games. Good thing they played in a terrible division!
and I highly disagree with one of your statements (that The Phils are out). Wrong. they are what, 3 games back of the Mets? So if the Mets are in, the Phils certainly are. And they just got back halladay and howard, and are getting Hot.
I actually think the Phils now are pretty much a lock for being one of the WC teams, and if they miss, they are going to be making a run and getting damned close.
so don’t discount them from the equation.
And I will believe they have given up when they actually give up. If Wright and Dickey get traded, I will concede they waived the white flag. beyond that, the guys on hand were going to have to carry them anyway, with reinforcements primarily from the system or the DL (Baxter, Edgin, Santana)
I’m thinking that the wild cards will come from the west and central. The Nationals are going to beat up on their division rival’s records.
Right on JoeD, that team was one of my favs that I think could of brought us our 2nd WS title!
Well you did warn people with the title.
Joe,
Great post.
This front office resembles little of a baseball operation than it does the legal office of a big corporation trying not to apply for Chapter Eleven. So no knocks on Sandy but rather on an ownership wanting to desperately hold onto the franchise despite it’s disasterious financial footing. That is their right but by winning the battle, the Wilpons might find out they lost the war.
Of course, the new “vision” of the team is all hype and spin and full of BS. But I’m afraid those of us old enough to remember when the vision of the front office was to try and win would be called condescending by some due to our ages.
Great post JoeD, my only problem with this FO is the indecision, lack of honesty with fans and media.
If you are re-building for future and this year is not really relevant then stick to that plan regardless of temporary success so as not to build up hope but let all know you have a plan and you are sticking to it but the hints, bread crumbs, inuendo, fake memos to media just make FO and SA look like “posers”, (if you don’t know what that is look it up and you will agree with me.)
Why not!
I don’t believe this team or TC have given up, they have run into their really tough stretch that includes not just expected tiredness, sore arm, slumps, but losting Gee for season, No Han to hurt ankle, R.A. pitching back to really good vs awesome pitcher and total implosion of BP along with losing any semblance that we had of a closer in FF injury.
Harvey’s start along with Edgin now settling into his role and being that swing and miss lefty in BP will add some excitement to team that may or may not translate into wins but you can’t as a team be any higher than Harvey winning last night AND BP saving game.
Lets Go Mets! I Believe!
Hi Sarge,
The front office not being honest with the fans and media? Where did you ever get such an idea? LOL
Hi Joe,
Well, since there still seems to be a dispute between what exactly Sandy Alderson’s role has been in the evaluation and judgement pertaining to player personnel decisions, here is a little history about Sandy and the Oakland front office during his years with the team.
First, in terms of the front office.
There was an overhaul in the front office office going on in Oakland at the time Sandy came on board. Sandy wasn’t in charge of it as he was a part of it. Yes, he started out as general manager in 1983. But his function was that of vice president/legal counsel and in 1984 became the the vice president for baseball operations.
However, when Sandy was hired as the VP Legal Counsel, Bill Rigney was also hired as the Assistant to the President for Baseball Matters. So, when Sandy started out as General Manager, his function pertained to legal matters with nothing at all associated with baseball. Rigney, on the other hand, was in charge of baseball matters. Yes, in 1984 Sandy’s function became that of the Vice President for Baseball Operations, however, Rigney’s title and responsibilities were unchanged. He continued as the Assistant to the President for Baseball Matters and continued with those responsibilities even though he began reporting to the executive vice president in 1989 as a special assistant to the general manager and and then directly to general manager Sandy two years later.
Now, one needs to distinguish between the words “operations” and “matters”.
From the Free Dictionary on line -
“Operations” is a noun described as execution, handling, management, procedure, proceeding, process, production, routine, step.
“Matters” is a noun described as action and cause. In the context of being a subject, it is quantified as: business on hand, case, case in question, claim, concern, debatable point, dispute, field of inquiry, institutum, issue, item on the agenda, point, point at issue, point in question, problem, proposition, propositum, question, res, subject for inquiry, subject matter, topic, topic for discussion
So according to these definitions of title and responsibilities, Sandy was in charge of legal matters (action and cause) and then baseball operations (execution, handling, management, etc.). There is a specific difference and specific responsibility associated with each. There would be no need to have Rigney in charge of baseball matters if Sandy was responsible for it instead (action and cause). And again, Rigney reported to the President – not the Vice President – as clearly stated in his title – until 1989.
Front Office Changes:
To continue with the front office overhaul at the time, In 1984 Karl Kuhl became the Director of Player Development. Walt Jockeway was Director, Minor League Operations and in 1984 was promoted to Director of Baseball Administration. Four major positions in two two years up there in the executive suite. The followings links from Baseball America, a highly regarded source, gives the history of all four during their years in Oakland.
http://www.baseballamerica.com/execdb/?show=exec&eid=aldersa01
http://www.baseballamerica.com/execdb/?show=exec&eid=rignebi01
http://www.baseballamerica.com/execdb/?show=exec&eid=kuehlka01
http://www.baseballamerica.com/execdb/?show=exec&eid=jockewa01
So even though I use both Baseball America and the Free Dictionary on line as evidence, I suspect to be questioned once more about providing nothing of substance despite these two sources.
Joe–Great post as always. I wish I could share in your opitimism…but I cant. (and yea, I am half-empty kind of guy anyway.)
All along this 2012 club reminded me in many ways to that 73 club.
But there is one difference:
The 73 club was winners. Yea, most of that season was a struggle. The Mets never got going until the last 5 weeks–late August. But those guys had a history of winning (this was only 4 years removed from 69) and guys like Seaver, Kooz, Buddy, Rusty and Cleon had a history of winning. They “believed” in themselves. These guys have no history of winning.
I wish (and hope)I’m wrong though. We are still in this thing and if we could put together even a medicore winning streak, we could be in the thick of things. But I dont see it happening.
The Mets lost their statistical analyst. Ben Baumer, who is going back to teach in college while Sandy Alderson hopes he can continue with the Mets as a consultant. But I noticed something in his biographical sketch:
“He has been credited with working with Rick Peterson to devise a state-of-the-art analytical system back then that now helps pitching coach Dan Warthen prepare for upcoming opponents.”
Heaven help our country’s future if he does for academia what he’s done for our pitching coach based on well prepared our bullpen has been all year and our starting pitching has been of late.
http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/mets/post/_/id/46665/stat-guru-baumer-leaving-mets-to-teach