John Franco never fit the mold of a stereotypical closer. At 5-foot-10 and 170 pounds, he was far from an intimidating presence on the mound. With a repertoire of pitches consisting of changing speeds and pinpoint control, batters were never going to overpowered. But when it came to representing a city, as he did with the Mets for 15 years, the fit was perfect. The Brooklyn native and St....
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On April 7, 1984, the phenomenon began. Dwight Gooden, less than two years out of high school and coming off a 300-strikeout season in the minors the previous year, made his first major league appearance as the starting pitcher against Houston. The Mets and manager Davey Johnson eased the 19-year-old Gooden into the spotlight by having his initial entrance come in a rather subdued environment...
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Here is proof that some good came out of the abominable 1992 season. Hoping to eradicate a disastrous conclusion to 1991, the Mets’ winter maneuvering was predicated upon acquiring proven veterans. Bret Saberhagen, Eddie Murray, and Willie Randolph were among the newcomers, joining Gooden and HoJo to help foster expectations of a division title. The initial test of this experiment came...
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If you follow the Mets on Twitter, you probably caught a glance of a photo taken from behind of Duke Snider, Joe DiMaggio, Willie Mays, and Mickey Mantle walking in from center field at Shea Stadium shown on Thursday. That picture of baseball royalty took place some 43 years ago during a once-annual Mets event in which they honored National League greats and New York notables alike. The 1977...
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Five months after traveling a metaphorical odyssey — a thrilling though somewhat tumultuous journey that ended two wins shy of a World Series — the Mets preceded the start of the 2000 regular season with an actual trip around the world. The Mets jetted from Spring Training to Japan for the first official Major League Baseball games outside of North America. Joining them on this...
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