Author: John Strubel

On This Date: Joel Youngblood Collects Hits For Two Different Teams

New York Mets History: August 4, 1982 – Former New York Met Joel Youngblood became the first player in Major League history to get a base hit for two different teams in two different cities in the same day. He started the day as a New York Met and collected a two-run single off Ferguson Jenkins in the third inning at Wrigley Field against the Chicago Cubs. Youngblood was notified he was traded...

Read More

Jerry Grote: An Unsung Mets Hero Turns 76

Today we celebrate the birthday of former Mets catcher Jerry Grote who turned 76 years old. After acquiring Grote from the Houston Astros for a player to be named later (Tom Parsons) and cash, he would become a mainstay behind the plate for 12 seasons with the Mets. Grote helped nurture a very young pitching staff to great heights and guided the team to two World Series including The Miracle in...

Read More

‘I Don’t Know’ is on Third

Abbott: Strange as it may seem, they give ball players nowadays very peculiar names. Costello: Funny names? Abbott: Nicknames, nicknames. Now, on the St. Louis team we have Who’s on first, What’s on second, I Don’t Know is on third … With less than two weeks until Opening Day at Citi Field, if you ask New York Mets manager Terry Collins who will be starting at third base...

Read More

Wright ‘Just Not Right’

I am leaning against the Mets dugout in Port St. Lucie, sunglasses on, arms folded, watching David Wright’s every move, hoping I don’t look like some freakish stalker. This is the closest I’ll get to “seeing” him for a while. Wright is perched on the batting cage watching others hit. Finally, he enters the cage and I zero in, looking for something, anything out of the ordinary. He takes 10...

Read More

Do the Mets “Own” New York? Not Yet.

Last night while scrolling through my social media feeds, I stumbled upon this tweet: PSA: New York is now ours. cc: @Yankees pic.twitter.com/tSclaqpa8o — (not) Buck Showalter (@MetsFakeSkipper) March 14, 2017 As I paused to enjoy the daunting billboard of Noah Syndergaard hovering over the New York Transit Authority in Manhattan, the voices in my head eventually took over imploring,...

Read More