As we reported last night, and as you can read below, the Mets signed reliever Jason Isringhausen to a minor league deal after an impressing Assistant GM J.P. Ricciardi during a workout at Mets camp yesterday.
Today, I take you back to the summer of 1999 for one of the more memorable baseball promotions, yes that’s right, “Turn Ahead The Clock.”
While doing a little research, I stumbled upon this vintage image of Isringhausen rocking his Mercury Mets jersey during a FOX Mets game broadcast.
According to Uni Watch, Jason Isringhausen’s name was so long to it wouldn’t fit on his Mercury Mets jersey, so instead they went with his nickname, Izzy. In doing so, Isringhausen become one of the very few major league baseball players ever to wear their nicknames on their jerseys.
For even more on the “glorious disaster” that was the Mercury Mets, I encourage you to read this well documented post from Mets Guy In Michigan, who does an excellent job of rehashing the splendid horror of it all.
Incidentally, is it me or does the planet look more like our moon than it does the planet Mercury? Wasn’t the Hubble Space Telescope around back then?
Original Post 2/15 9:00 PM
The Mets have signed RHP Jason Isringhausen to a minor league contract, with an invitation to Spring Training.
The 38 year old Isringhausen tried out for the Mets at Digital Domain Park this morning and had a bullpen session in front of J.P. Ricciardi, who said Isringhausen “threw the ball well”.
Memories of Generation K were resurrected today as Jason Isringhausen auditioned for New York Mets assistant general manager J.P. Ricciardi at the team’s Florida complex this morning.
Adam Rubin of ESPN New York reported that Izzy called Ricciardi who was in Oakland’s front office when Isringhausen was the A’s closer from 1999 to 2001.
He has an “open invitation” to sign a minor-league deal with the Reds, but “wanted to go somewhere and see if I could make a team.” Last month Jason Isringhausen opted not to sign with the Reds after a brief tryout.
Isringhausen hasn’t pitched in the majors since undergoing Tommy John elbow surgery in 2009. He was originally drafted by the Mets in 1991 and made his debut as a starter in 1995.
However, he went on to have a solid career as a reliever and closer with the Oakland A’s and St. Louis Cardinals, collecting 293 saves in his 14-year career.
