One of our readers, MetsTheory22, sent me an email asking me to come up with and post my All-Time Worst Mets Lineup. The funny thing about that is that I’ve never actually posted my All-Time Best Mets Lineup.
Here’s my take on the best and worst of the New York Mets…
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My Ultimate Mets Lineup
C – Mike Piazza – Over 1,000 hits and 266 of them home runs as a Met. No question, no question…
1B – Keith Hernandez – Loved Kranepool who had over a 1,000 more hits as a Met, but gotta go with Mex.
2B – Edgardo Alfonzo – Nobody else even comes close, maybe Jeff Kent? Nah…
SS – Bud Harrelson – Buddy has a ring, punched Rose in the face, and should have five more Gold Gloves.
3B – David Wright – He already owns almost every hitting record on the Mets, why not…
LF – Cleon Jones – This one was tough, but Mets don’t win in ’69 without his .340 BA and .904 OPS.
CF – Carlos Beltran – Sorry Mookie, I couldn’t ignore the 500 RBI, .864 OPS, 3 Gold Gloves and the mole.
RF – Darryl Strawberry – 25 years later and Straw still holds most of the franchise records on offense.
RHP – Tom Seaver – Hey, they didn’t call him The Franchise for nothing. He was pure awesomeness.
LHP – Jerry Koosman – 140 W, 108 CG, 26 Shutouts as a Met to go with a 3.09 ERA and 1.21 WHIP.
CL – Tug McGraw – He had a better WHIP than Franco and he gave us our rally cry, Ya Gotta Believe!
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My Most Horrific Mets Lineup
C – Charlie O’Brien – Made me want to stick a finger in my eye and swirl it around whenever he came to bat.
1B – Dick Stuart – Traded three players for him after 28 HR, 95 RBI season, cut 15 weeks later with .216 BA
2B – Kaz Matsui – Japanese phenom got $20MM, Mets got a .250 hitter with .670 OPS. Little Matsui my ass!
SS – Joe Foy – Traded Amos Otis (1092 R, 1008 RBI, 341 SB, 3 GG, 5 ASG) for Foy (390 AB .236).
3B – Jim Fregosi – We traded Nolan Ryan for this? Lasted 464 AB with a brutal .233/.319/.328 and 95 whiffs.
LF – Vince Coleman – Signed with such fanfare but left Mets in disgrace. A public relations disaster.
CF – Don Hahn – We traded fan favorite Swoboda and got a CF with no arm/range and a .611 OPS in 800 AB.
RF – Bobby Bonilla – This Bo didn’t know baseball and Mets made him the highest paid player in MLB.
RHP – Victor Zambrano – We traded our top prospect for a first class bust who arrived wearing an arm sling.
LHP – Mickey Lolich – Yes, Ollie blows, but we gave up Rusty Staub in his prime for Lolich and his 8 wins.
CL – Mel Rojas & Billy Taylor – I couldn’t decide which one sucked the worst, I’ll let you decide.
I’m sure you all have some Mets players that you could add to either list, so lets see what you got as I want to see which players you felt were just as deserving.
Now don’t be bashful…
