A member of the SABR once said, “There are 499 ballplayers. And then there’s Willie Mays.” It was way back in the summer of 1973. Camera Day. I was a few months shy of turning 8 years old. My dad nudged me closer to the railing along the third base line so no grown-ups would block my view. Mets players walked around the warning track, stopping every few feet to smile for the cameras. My [...]

As of now, Terry Collins’ job is safe and deservedly so. Based on getting the most out of what he has been given and basic fairness, there’s nothing justifying Collins’ job being in question. However, fairness is irrelevant in sports. A manager’s job security always becomes an issue when he has lame duck contractual status and his team has lost six straight games.Losing streaks get everybody edgy, with questions directed to management, in this case, GM Sandy [...]

Winning was Jerry Grote’s bliss. In fact, his most joyous moment on the diamond was captured on film when teammate Jerry Koosman leapt into his arms after the final out of the 1969 World Series. In 1976, Bob Myrick found out the hard way how Grote felt about losing when the Mets rookie pitcher beat his catcher in a game of Backgammon, causing Grote to explode, sending the board and its pieces across the room [...]

As we all know, the Mets were created fill the gap left after the departure of the Giants and the Dodgers from the city of New York following the 1957 season. In the four year period before the advent of the Amazin’s, Gotham’s National League fans were left to follow their teams as best they could from afar (remember, no cable TV at this time nor webcasts, and radio coverage was spotty at best if [...]

We wont win this season. We wont compete this season. We wont be any good this season. Okay, now that that’s settled, lets go ‘Play Ball’ this season and see what happens. Opening Day is a little over one month away and when that first pitch is thrown, the Mets technically have just as good a chance as anyone to win. We Mets fans are an interesting bunch Always have been. In 1962 that other [...]

You can learn a lot about a baseball team from its locker room. The clubhouse is where relationships form, character is revealed and leaders speak out (or not). For the major league rookie, clubhouse real estate is valuable — sometimes priceless. Imagine being the rookie who spent eight months out of the year next to Sandy Koufax? Roberto Clemente? Lou Gehrig? Tom Seaver? These were model athletes, wise and humble men, who used their talent [...]

It was early April. The rosters were set and Opening Day was hours away. Unexpectedly the Mets exhibition game against the Expos was cancelled due to a players strike. With a free afternoon and nothing to do, the Mets manager and some of his coaches decided to walk across the street and play a round of golf at the Palm Beach Lakes Club. Later that afternoon on their way back to the Ramada Hotel where [...]

For this MMO Sunday Flashback, we go to July 24, 2010 when Ed Leyro was shocked to see Jamey Carroll step up to the plate for the Dodgers wearing No. 14.  What ensued after that, was this gem of an article. Enjoy… * * * * * * * * On Friday night, I sat down to watch the Mets game against the Dodgers and something unusual caught my eye when Jamey Carroll stepped into the batters [...]

As we all know, Gil Hodges will be on the Veterans’ Committee Hall of Fame ballot for 2012. So expect to hear plenty of discussion over the next few months about whether or not he should be enshrined. I personally was not around when Gil played or managed, but I consider myself lucky to have heard the great stories of the Brooklyn Dodgers and the 1969 Miracle Mets. I had the pleasure of meeting Mrs. [...]

To take our minds off the floundering excuse for a baseball team, I present to you a look back at a bit of baseball history from a different perspective. Recently, I was lucky enough to interview Gil Hodges’ widow, Joan Hodges. She was so sweet and had so many great stories. As the saying goes, “Behind every great man, there stands a great woman.” Such is the case for Gil. On Dec. 26, 1948, Hodges married [...]

Gil Hodges must’ve been crazy! The Mets had just lost 101 games and finished in 10th place, 40 ½ GB of the Cardinals. Yet when Hodges was hired by the Mets in the off-season of 1967 he stated, ‘I see a lot more right with the Mets than wrong.’ Hodges first year as skipper provided us 73 wins, most in team history to date. And we all know what happened the year after. He and [...]