Meet the Mutts: Flushing's All-Time Worst
Seeing all those Mets greats and fan favorites take to the field at Shea Stadium for one last time Sunday -- and wondering where players like John Olerud and Bobby Jones were -- got me thinking: What would a roster of all-time Mets disappointments, washouts and busts look like?
Note that strictly in terms of disappointment, such a team should definitely include Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry since they pissed away certain Hall of Fame careers. But because they contributed so much in a short period and won a World Series, they will always be fan favorites, as shown by the crowd reaction at Shea's closing ceremonies.
So, without further ado, the All-Time New York Mutts. Feel free to add your own suggestions in the comments section!
OF: Bobby Bonilla, Juan Samuel, Vince Coleman, George Foster. Talk about a rogue's gallery. All four were flat-out busts and the first three were absolute disgraces. Samuel was here less than a year but it felt like he sucked for a decade, probably because the Mets traded Lenny Dykstra for him (along with Roger McDowell). Foster, by most accounts, is a nice guy, but he was a shadow of himself after coming here from the Reds.
1B: Mo Vaughn. The fact that Vaughn's name is invoked when one wants to describe something that's overrated, overpriced or massively overweight tells you all you need to know about Big Mo, who is certainly the highest-priced bust on this list.
2B: Roberto Alomar, Carlos Baerga. When the Mets acquired each of these players, the fan reaction was, "Holy sh&t, we got him?!" And then both proceeded to tank miserably. Baerga always looked like he had one too many chimichangas for a guy who was often statistically compared to Rogers Hornsby. Alomar's performance was mind-boggling considering he was considered a shoo-in for the Hall of Fame, and probably will still get there. Although Mets fans would strongly disagree; the guy was a dog.
SS: Kaz Matsui. I hesitated a bit with putting Matsui here because I think he's a decent player who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. That said, he was a tremendous bust in Flushing, displaying none of the skills he was reported to have, and even defensively he looked like a little leaguer. The fact that the Mets moved Jose Reyes to second base to accommodate Matsui was the height of insanity.
3B: Gregg Jefferies, Jim Fregosi. Did you know that Gregg Jefferies used to practice swinging while standing in a swimming pool to increase his bat speed? Nuggets like that hyped Jefferies to the Nth degree, and he never delivered on the promise. Fregosi, meanwhile, was 30 when the Mets acquired him in a trade for Nolan Ryan. Fregosi lasted less than two seasons at Shea before being traded to Texas, while Ryan... I'm sorry, I can't continue, I'm depressed as it is.
C: Todd Hundley. Yeah, I know, he hit 41 homers in 1996 and 30 the next, but look closer and you'll see a guy who hit .234 for his career and who also struck out a ton. Those two seasons look suspiciously performance-enhanced. Incredibly, Hundley's mindless fans actually used to boo Mike Piazza after his arrival paved Hundley's exit from Shea. Actually, THAT is the height of insanity.
Pitchers:
Bret Saberhagen. Did almost nothing while he was here when he was supposed to be a perennial Cy Young candidate. His batting cage in Babylon did pretty well, I'm told.
Pat Zachary. The guy was traded for Tom Seaver and went 41-46, not quite the phenom he was supposed to be.
Kenny Rogers. Ball four.
Generation 'K' - Bill Pulsipher, Jason Isringhausen, Paul Wilson. Talk about hype. Pulse was a head case and Wilson was undone by injuries and less-than-terrific talent. Izzy was bust before resurrecting his career as a closer with St. Louis. The trio's utter failure has made the franchise gun-shy on young pitching ever since.
Doug Sisk, Aaron Heilman, Guillermo Mota. At different times represented the pitcher you trusted the least in the bullpen. Mota in particular was awful, but that didn't stop Willie Randolph for calling his name again and again.
Closer: Armando Benitez. He put up some very good numbers and blew a lot of people away, except when the pressure was on, which is when he shriveled up like Barry Bonds' testicles. The antithesis of a big-game pitcher.
Note that strictly in terms of disappointment, such a team should definitely include Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry since they pissed away certain Hall of Fame careers. But because they contributed so much in a short period and won a World Series, they will always be fan favorites, as shown by the crowd reaction at Shea's closing ceremonies.
So, without further ado, the All-Time New York Mutts. Feel free to add your own suggestions in the comments section!
OF: Bobby Bonilla, Juan Samuel, Vince Coleman, George Foster. Talk about a rogue's gallery. All four were flat-out busts and the first three were absolute disgraces. Samuel was here less than a year but it felt like he sucked for a decade, probably because the Mets traded Lenny Dykstra for him (along with Roger McDowell). Foster, by most accounts, is a nice guy, but he was a shadow of himself after coming here from the Reds.
1B: Mo Vaughn. The fact that Vaughn's name is invoked when one wants to describe something that's overrated, overpriced or massively overweight tells you all you need to know about Big Mo, who is certainly the highest-priced bust on this list.
2B: Roberto Alomar, Carlos Baerga. When the Mets acquired each of these players, the fan reaction was, "Holy sh&t, we got him?!" And then both proceeded to tank miserably. Baerga always looked like he had one too many chimichangas for a guy who was often statistically compared to Rogers Hornsby. Alomar's performance was mind-boggling considering he was considered a shoo-in for the Hall of Fame, and probably will still get there. Although Mets fans would strongly disagree; the guy was a dog.
SS: Kaz Matsui. I hesitated a bit with putting Matsui here because I think he's a decent player who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. That said, he was a tremendous bust in Flushing, displaying none of the skills he was reported to have, and even defensively he looked like a little leaguer. The fact that the Mets moved Jose Reyes to second base to accommodate Matsui was the height of insanity.
3B: Gregg Jefferies, Jim Fregosi. Did you know that Gregg Jefferies used to practice swinging while standing in a swimming pool to increase his bat speed? Nuggets like that hyped Jefferies to the Nth degree, and he never delivered on the promise. Fregosi, meanwhile, was 30 when the Mets acquired him in a trade for Nolan Ryan. Fregosi lasted less than two seasons at Shea before being traded to Texas, while Ryan... I'm sorry, I can't continue, I'm depressed as it is.
C: Todd Hundley. Yeah, I know, he hit 41 homers in 1996 and 30 the next, but look closer and you'll see a guy who hit .234 for his career and who also struck out a ton. Those two seasons look suspiciously performance-enhanced. Incredibly, Hundley's mindless fans actually used to boo Mike Piazza after his arrival paved Hundley's exit from Shea. Actually, THAT is the height of insanity.
Pitchers:
Bret Saberhagen. Did almost nothing while he was here when he was supposed to be a perennial Cy Young candidate. His batting cage in Babylon did pretty well, I'm told.
Pat Zachary. The guy was traded for Tom Seaver and went 41-46, not quite the phenom he was supposed to be.
Kenny Rogers. Ball four.
Generation 'K' - Bill Pulsipher, Jason Isringhausen, Paul Wilson. Talk about hype. Pulse was a head case and Wilson was undone by injuries and less-than-terrific talent. Izzy was bust before resurrecting his career as a closer with St. Louis. The trio's utter failure has made the franchise gun-shy on young pitching ever since.
Doug Sisk, Aaron Heilman, Guillermo Mota. At different times represented the pitcher you trusted the least in the bullpen. Mota in particular was awful, but that didn't stop Willie Randolph for calling his name again and again.
Closer: Armando Benitez. He put up some very good numbers and blew a lot of people away, except when the pressure was on, which is when he shriveled up like Barry Bonds' testicles. The antithesis of a big-game pitcher.
Labels: busts, disappointments, Mutts
posted by Gaspo @ 9:41 AM
1 Comments:
At September 30, 2008 at 1:36 PM ,
Unknown said...
I always remember a guy I used to work with when I think of Mo Vaughn. He was a huge Mets fan and would get on the biggest roller coaster of emotions imaginable. Meaning after an April loss, for example, he'd be crying for the manager to be fired. Or after a big win he'd be talking World Series.
Well after Mo Vaughn hit a 3-run homer against the Yankess on a Sunday night to salvage one win in the series, he came into work the next day claiming no matter what Vaughn does the rest of his career, it doesn't matter to him, because Vaughn hit that one home run against the Yankees. So that's what I try to remember about Vaughn.
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