When I wrote that the 1967 crop featuring Seaver, Ryan, and Koosman was probably the strongest group of prospects the Mets ever had, I was weighting it heavily on the future success of those three pitchers. But in terms of potential and depth, it would be hard to top the 1981 list. Here’s what a list of the Top 10 Mets’ Prospects for 1981 may have looked like. Injuries and addictions...
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To most younger Mets fans with a sense of history, Ron Swoboda will always be remembered for his great catch and clutch hits that helped the Mets win the 1969 World Series against Baltimore. But for those of us who remember when he first came up in spring training of 1964, Swoboda represented great hope. Prodigious power, loaded with potential, hard working, bursting with charisma, and yet in...
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The person most responsible for the Mets’ worst years was probably M. Donald Grant. He is best known for sending Tom Seaver away, but his influence in the organization was a detriment toward building a competitive team, or keeping one, and things didn’t get better until he was out of the picture when the Mets were sold to Wilpon and Doubleday. Grant, a stockbroker, was Mrs....
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Ask me who the Mets traded for Keith Hernandez and I’ll immediately tell you Neil Allen and Rick Ownbey. Who’d they trade for Sid Fernandez ? Bob Bailor and Carlos Diaz. I remember most Mets trades like they were yesterday. But when I thought about Tim Teufel, an important member of the 1986 World Champion Mets, who was even better in 1987 when he batted .300, I remembered he came...
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In the 1963 NL Rookie Of The Year voting, the top two were both second basemen – Pete Rose of the Reds and Ron Hunt with the Mets. Neither had been expected to even make it to the big leagues that season. Rose had just finished a great season in the minors, but it was at Class A Macon. Hunt was a conditional purchase from the Braves after a good season in the Texas League. Going into the...
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