Gary LaRocque, 65, is the former scouting director, director of player development, and assistant general manager for the Mets. Most recently, he served as the director of player development for the St. Louis Cardinals. LaRocque graduated from the University of Hartford, where he was an education major, and lived in Connecticut for some time. The baseball veteran played professionally for the...
The New York Mets remain without a manager for 2018. While there is plenty of time to make a decision, it is a hotly debated topic among those in the Mets world. There are many candidates for manager including former Mets players Robin Ventura, Alex Cora, Joe McEwing, and Sandy Alomar Jr. among others. If you ask Tony La Russa, which Mike Puma of the New York Post did, he feels very strongly...
Mets General Manager Sandy Alderson said Monday that if Tony La Russa came to him with suspicions about performance enhancing drug use when the two were with the Oakland A’s organization, he doesn’t remember it. “I spent a lot of time thinking about those kinds of circumstances over the years, particularly eight or nine years ago, and I have absolutely no recollection...
Taking a page from the handbook of Tony La Russa, Mets manager Terry Collins is considering occasionally batting his pitchers eighth this season, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post. “My thought is: How do we get them more RBI chances and also give David Wright, in particular, chances to drive in runs,” Collins said. “It is a possibility I might try hitting the...
We’ve written quite often on MMO about how we believe Jeurys Familia can develop into a powerful weapon in the Mets bullpen beginning as soon as this season. The hard-throwing righty completed a dominating performance in Winter Ball that had more than one scout raving about his 100+ MPH fastball. During his press conference on Thursday, Terry Collins had high praise for Familia, telling...
Joe Torre hoped it would happen, but he never dared think it would. The former New York Mets player and manager, who later carved his legacy as four-time World Series manager of the Yankees, was selected to the Hall of Fame today by the veteran’s committee. The announcement was made at the Walt Disney Swan resort hotel in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. Torre will go in with fellow managers Tony La Russa...
It must be great to be a San Francisco Giants fan. Not only did a late push of fan votes elect three starting position players (Buster Posey, Pablo Sandoval and Melky Cabrera) to the NL lineup, but now the Giants will also have Matt Cain as the starting pitcher. John Harper of the New York Daily News tweeted at 9:23 a.m. that “Source says Dickey is not starting All-Star Game. Will be Cain...
Don’t you think he’s giving Chipper Jones a run for his money in terms of being one of those fantastic ballplayers who just torments the Mets and their fans? Now, I wasn’t there tonight, but I am sure some group of Mets fans thought they could get in Pujols’ head as usual by taunting him, calling him names, etc. And he’s been through this many times before. He thinks, “Oh, yeah, Mets fans: stick...
We’ve all seen plenty of head-scratchers from Jerry Manuel this season, and many of his major strategical blunders have been chronicled and well documented on this site, but here’s something that might make you feel more appreciative of the Mets man in the hot seat. The Cardinals have been struggling to score runs this season and until last night’s win, they have spent most of...
The St. Louis Cardinals have announced that Mark McGwire will be their hitting coach next season, replacing Hal McRae. Mark McGwire is back in baseball, reunited with Tony La Russa as the St. Louis Cardinals’ hitting coach. McGwire was not at the news conference at Busch Stadium, but La Russa and general manager John Mozeliak said there will be no effort to shield McGwire from questions...
