30
2012
In Remembrance: The Mets We Lost In 2012
An article by 
As another year comes to a close, lets pause and remember a few of the former Mets players who passed away in 2012, and give them one last tribute before the new year.
Joe Ginsberg, C
Joe Ginsberg had a very successful major league career as a solid defensive catcher with the Cleveland Indians, Kansas City A’s, Baltimore Orioles, and Chicago White Sox. Ginsberg was behind the plate when Virgil Trucks tossed his no-hitter on May 15, 1952 – a 1-0 victory against the Washington Senators. But in the final act to his career, Ginsberg was also one of the original Mets in 1962, a tenure that lasted all of two games and five at-bats. Still, he recalls what it was like to be among the first players ever to wear a Mets uniform in When Baseball Was Still King. “When they were trying to get a team together, they didn’t know how to go. Shall we go with some young players, some strong legs and some strong arms, and the players with no names, or should we go with the name players and draw a lot of people whether we win or lose? So they decided to go with the older players that had names in the big leagues. We outdrew the Yankees that year. We finished last, naturally, because our skills had diminished. Casey just couldn’t spur us, like he could the Yankees, because we were all thirty-six and thirty-seven years old, and older. But we enjoyed ourselves.”
Harry Parker, RHP
Parker was acquired by the Mets after the 1971 season as part of the eight-player deal that sent 1969 World Series hero Art Shamsky to the St. Louis Cardinals. The right-handed reliever would play a prominent role for the Mets in 1973 when he went 8-4 with a 3.35 ERA in 131 innings pitched. He was an integral part of the Mets’ pennant run that season, and as some of you may remember, it was Parker. who gave up the deciding run in the 11th inning of Game 3 of the World Series, when Mets catcher Jerry Grote dropped the third strike on Angel Mangual. This allowed Ted Kubiak to reach second base and score on the next at-bat. Arm injuries plagued Parker towards the end of his career, prompting a return to the Cardinals in 1975 after the Mets placed him on waivers in August. Parker never fulfilled the incredible promise and greatness scouts predicted for him, but for one season he gave Tug and the rest of us a reason to believe.
Bob Myrick, LHP
The lefty reliever got his call to the majors in 1976 thanks to a hot season in Triple-A Tidewater, where he averaged almost one strikeout per inning. Mets manager Joe Frazier, who coached Myrick the year before, summoned his prized reliever to the big leagues. Myrick’s first major league appearance was brief, but effective. Appearing in relief of Craig Swan, Myrick induced St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Hector Cruz to ground out on his first pitch in the major leagues. One pitch, one out, and his work was done for the evening. Myrick would pitch three seasons for the Mets from 1976-1978, compiling a 3-6 record with a 3.48 ERA in 82 career games. He was traded in 1979 with Mike Bruhert to the Texas Rangers for Dock Ellis.
Eddie Yost, 3B
The Brooklyn native was aptly called “The Walking Man” after a career the saw him lead the league in walks six times and averaging 124 walks per season. Yost had an impressive 18 year career batting .254 and posting an incredible .394 on-base percentage thanks to his 1,614 walks. After retiring as a player in 1962, Yost turned to coaching and joined Gil Hodges who was managing the Washington Senators at the time. He later served as the Mets’ third-base coach for nine seasons beginning in 1968, and won a World Series ring with the club in 1969. Yost was born in Brooklyn, grew up in Ozone Park, and went to John Adams High School in Queens. He played baseball and basketball at NYU. He will always be remembered as one of the best third base coaches the Mets ever had.
Gary Carter, C
Since the day of his passing, we’ve honored Gary with his memorial patch on our banner. His intensity as a player and his unwavering spirit was the driving force of that powerful 1986 Mets team that won the World Series. Just as symbolic as that Mookie Wilson roller up the first base line, was Carter emphatically shouting that he would not make the last f***ing out. That’s what ignited that inning, that game, and that series win. What I’ll remember most is that smile and how he never grew tired of just talking about the game – a game he loved and that loved him right back. No need for me to recite his many great achievements and accolades, Cooperstown has already done a good job of that. Instead I’ll close by saying Rest in Peace, Gary, your undying spirit continues on at Mets Merized Online.
If you have a minute, take a moment of silence to remember all the Mets, great and small, that we’ve lost in 2012.
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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R.I.P. to all of them.
I believe Harry Parker also died in 2012.
Harry is listed there too.
R.I.P. Gary, Eddie and others.
Amen.
Very nice tribute. Thanks for this and all you do throughout the year.
Nice! Thank you!
In the seventies when a highly regarded prospect came up and busted, MLB writers and fans used to say “another Harry Parker”. He was the symbol of players who never met expectations. I have no idea why they singled him out because he wasnt even a high draft pick. I thought it was kind of unfair. If anyone remembers and knows why, please let me know.
Joe,
Nice tribute… I remember them all. Thanks.
RIP gentlemen.
This is why they need to bring back old timers night so that the newer generation can be exposed to the old guys who many didn’t even know played for the team.
Hi Joe. I really dont care for your harsh criticism of the front office lately. But one of the things that always attracted me to your site was your respect for Mets history and your apparent knowledge of this team from their very foundations. You have writers that are also a joy to read and know their Mets history as you do. It would be great to see you do more posts about your memories of season’s past and players because you are a very good writer. I know you’re frustrated at the current team, but you hammer them almost daily. I hope in 2013 you go back to the writer and Met fan you used to be, always hopeful and with a wonderful knack for inspiring your readers. Please don’t take offense, I’m just a longtime reader and wanted to let you know how I felt. Happy New Year.
The day the Mets traded for Carter was one of my all-time favorite moves and is the day that this team finally arrived. I still couldn’t believe that he ended up a Met for the chicken scrabble of “suspects” that they gave in return. I can only hope the Mets aren’t on the short-end in much the same way when it comes to the Dickey trade.
Cheers to what he brought to this organization and to someone like him coming in the near future to guide the Mets to glory again.
While I loved Carter too and he was the final piece of the puzzle, memory tends to forget that he declined rather quickly and steeply in his early to mid 30s in New York.
He was great in 1985 ( 6.6 “WAR”) and still very good in 1986 (3.3 WAR) – but after that produced a “WAR” of merely 0.4 combined overall from 1987 through 1989, i.e. his final three years as a Met when he was a shell of his former self as a player and got spelled more and more by Barry Lyons and Mackey Sasser.
Meanwhile, the “chicken scrabble of suspects” traded for Carter in the 1984 / 1985 off-season wasn´t all that bad for the Expos – even if the supporting cast wasn´t good enough to compete with the Mets and Cardinals in those years:
Hubie Brooks, the key young player, produced a 2.7 WAR in 1985, peaked in 1986 with a 4.4 WAR and still showed decent production from 1987 through 1989 for the Expos with a combined 3.4 WAR for those three season. Overall, his 10.5 WAR over those five years was actually higher than Carter´s combined 10.3 WAR, believe it or not, though with Knight & later HoJo aboard, he was expendable.
Highly touted RH Floyd Youmans – often compared to Doc Gooden in terms of stuff, age & projection – posted a 1.5 WAR in 1985, then had a fine 1986 breakout season with a 3.4 WAR but broke down physically in 1987 and never recovered to produce a 1.2 WAR over the final three seasons of his career combined.
The other two pieces, C Mike Fitzgerald and OF Herm Winningham indeed were “scrabbles of suspects” with no positive impact in the majors. However, Carter´s main contributions to the Mets came in 1985 and in 1986.
His drop-off was precipitous and despite success in ’88, I suspect that the Mets play-off drive-drop was corresponding. He didn’t have the same intensity or maybe necessary effect on teammates after the ’86 season.
From what I remember, analysts would mention how that even though he seemed gregarious to viewers, he was phony and annoying to opponents (and probably wore on teammates too). It didn’t help that his knees were going out quickly as well.
I remember watching games as a little girl with my Dad and when they would bring in Harry Parker he’d say “Well, there goes the ball game”………yeah, he wasn’t a big fan – lol