In the 1973 Amateur Draft, right after the Texas Rangers selected the highly regarded and ultimately ill-fated David Clyde with the first pick, the Phillies used the second selection to take catcher John Stearns out of the University of Colorado. The next two picks both turned out to be hall-of-famers, Robin Yount and Dave Winfield. Since Bob Boone was just starting what would turn out to be a...
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Every Met fan knows that the 1962 Mets were one of the worst teams in baseball history with a 40-120 record. I recall reading many articles stating that everyone knew the team would be awful and that’s why they hired Casey Stengel to divert attention from the team on the field by charming sportswriters with his unique brand of double talk that came to be known as Stengelese. BUT as someone who...
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I was on vacation in Japan when the Mets acquired Felix Millan in the winter of 1972. I found out about the trade – Millan and lefty pitcher George Stone from the Atlanta Braves for starting pitcher Gary Gentry and reliever Danny Frisella – via a tiny mention of it in the International Edition of the New York Times. 1972 had been a very disappointing, injury-filled season for the...
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There are certain names that make Mets fans cringe whenever they hear them. Scott Kazmir is one, as in “How can the Mets trade Scott Kazmir, maybe the best pitching prospect in all of baseball for Victor Zambrano, a mediocre 30-year old pitcher with arm trouble ?” Remember Gregg Jefferies, who seemed to win Minor League Player Of The Year every season on his way to being fast-tracked...
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With increasing talk about the Mets’ need to trade for offensive help, I immediately remembered the trade they pulled off on June 15, 1969 with the Expos for first baseman Donn Clendenon. Certainly, the trades for Keith Hernandez and Mike Piazza were more high-profile, but it’s fair to say the Mets would have never won their first World Championship without Clendenon who was the...
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