This Bud’s For You (1944-2024)

Sad to say that great Mets shortstop Bud Harrelson died at 79. In July of 2011 I had my day with Bud. We arranged to meet at the Long Islands Ducks ballpark way out on Long Island. I was late, thanks to traffic, but Bud rearranged his day to give me all the time I needed for our interview. When I got there he was pitching batting practice for the independent league team he partly owned. We spent a couple of hours together to talk about the 1973 pennant winners for Swinging ’73. We spoke a lot about the building of that Mets team, his military service, the crazy pennant race, Yogi Berra, and the fight with Pete Rose in the playoffs. He could not have been nicer, more gracious, or more informative if he tried. At one point we were about to break and then we spent another half hour together just talking in his office. I brought him a copy of my book, New York Mets: The Complete Illustrated History. He walked off the field with the book clutched under his arm.

In recent years Bud had been sick for a while, but he rallied a few years ago for a five-Met 1969 reunion at the Tom Seaver vineyard in California. Art Shamsky and Erik Sherman wrote that great book on the 1969 Mets reunion at the vineyard, After the Miracle, which I’ve read a couple of times. Here is a link to a picture that Erik took from the meeting between the late Bud and Tom, longtime roommates on the road—on that trip to the vineyard with Art Shamsky, Jerry Koosman, and Ron Swoboda. You’ll see the prominently displayed copy of Total Baseball just to the left of Bud’s head. Tom Terrific, my first and biggest baseball hero, and the encyclopedia that I slaved over as managing editor for several editions front and center in his baseball library, as Bob Murphy would say. TB sitting next to his picture of his 300th win makes me smile on a sad day.

Putout 1 to 6, 41 fires to 3. Side retired.

 


Meet the New Boss

Two new people are leading the Mets since my last post. One is David Stearns, now team president, and the other is his first hire, manager Carlos Mendoza. I’ll say right off the bat, my specialty is dealing with baseball things that have passed, not things that will happen soon. I have a bad track record with first takes.

To wit:

Carlos Baegra: Franchise-changing second baseman stolen from Cleveland!

Roberto Alomar: See above!

Joe Torre: A lousy Mets manager, he’ll surely crash and burn with the Yankees!

Bobby Bonilla: The power bat the Mets need! We’ll never regret this!

1988 Playoffs: The Dodgers are a speed bump! Next stop: 1973 World Series rematch!

Reacquiring Tom Seaver in 1983: They’ll never let Tom leave again!

Richie Hebner: This guy’s a professional hitter! He’ll thrive in New York!

Almost every manager the day before he gets canned: The Mets won’t fire him!

We can keep going back in time and you’ll see how wrong I am at interpreting events through my crystal ball. But let’s stop—the Mets and me.

I listened to the new manager’s press conference on the radio—it is a little jarring that the station that carries Mets games doesn’t have the presser, but those constant traffic reports pay the bills at WCBS—and then I watched the talking head portion on SNY. Mednoza seems like a nice guy. What would be great, though, is a guy who can manage a winner.

Then there’s this:

Other than Bobby Valentine, who managed for one disastrous year in Boston in 2012, no Mets manager has been hired by another organization as a major league skipper since Jeff Torborg. And he was on the one guy I knew would get canned. That was the only action available aboard the moribund SS Torborg less than 200 games into his disastrous New York tenure in 1993. Torborg didn’t deserve to be hired by another club, much less two. Torborg was the stale goody bag that Jeffrey Loria took with him when MLB allowed a trade-in of the beat-up Expos for the dented Marlins model that would suddenly transform into a world champion racer mere months after Torborg was fired in 2003.

Sure, I hope Mendoza is the guy who wins it all with the Mets, but that’s a lot to hope for with this team. I’ll start with him being a good enough manager to be hired by another team someday. Out of the 24 managers in Mets history (counting interims), only seven have been hired by other teams after parting ways with the Mets. All managers are hired to be fired—I’ll exempt the two who had their numbers retired by the Mets: Casey Stengel (#37), who made a terrible team into a crowd favorite before breaking his hip at 75, and Gil Hodges, who tragically died just two seasons after the miraculous 1969 championship. A manager who is good enough to be hired elsewhere means he has done something right or at least he gave the impression that he might do something right—hence the recycling of the Jeff Torborgs, Wes Westrums, and George Bambergers of the world.

What the Mets don’t need is another two-year managing hire—like Buck Showalter, or Luis Rojas, or Mickey Callaway. Add these last three to Terry Collins (seven seasons) and Mendoza makes five managers since 2017. We all deserve better than a continuing game of musical chairs. Winning would sure be a bonus.


2023 Mets Grades: Is It Over Yet?

The last time I did season-ending grading was in 2019. Reading what I wrote then—a rookie Pete Alonso, Edwin Diaz was a complete bust, missing person Jed Lowrie, and personal favorite Rajah Davis, who took an Uber from Scranton to Flushing and cracked a pinch-hit, three-run HR a couple of hours later. But there was quite a bit of irony from that writeup: “I can’t wait for next year.” That would be 2020. If I’d only known then, I would have bought 50 cases of toilet paper and invested in a company with a vast stockpile of surgical masks.

Flash ahead to 2023. Exasperation, not to mention a few tough deadlines, led me to skip my usual writeup of first-half grades in July. Last year I was annoyed enough about the abrupt ending of a 101-win season that I thought my final grades would have been overly harsh; so I skipped them. The 2023 Mets won 27 fewer games and their manager is out. David Stearns is the new president. I grew up a Mets fan, too, but I don’t deserve to run this team. Stearns is certainly qualified, but we’ll see if Stearns is worthy. He is now on the clock with some very impatient people watching everything he does.

Whether the Mets go all in or let the kids continue to grow, you can only hope 2024 is better. The 2023 rotation was erratic, the bullpen was mostly brutal, and many other facets of the game were off—on a recurring basis. The .238 batting average, second to last in the National League, no doubt played a key role as to why they were second to last in the NL East.

The Mets were 230 runs behind the Braves. Despite being fourth in the NL in home runs, they were still 92 behind Atlanta. Their on-base, slugging, and analytic numbers were middle of the pack, at best. The Mets were the eighth-worst team in baseball and now they can get a better draft pick. Yay! The 2023 season is a textbook case of how you get a manager fired, no matter how you want to set up the drama. This team only became watchable after they got rid of much of the talent that made them the most expensive team in history. Someone else will soon pass their record of payroll excess, but it may take time before a team with an F-you payroll stinks up a joint quite as badly as the F-in’ Mets did in 2023. The first two weekends of the season the Mets beat up on the Marlins. At the time I could not imagine a world in which that team was in the playoffs and the Mets were hopelessly out of it after a 7-19 June—a month that began with a sweep of the Phillies.

Buck Showalter will get a grade for 2023. David Stearns has not yet earned anything. Showalter won four Manager of the Year Awards—including one in 2023 with the Mets—deserved at least a face-to-face meeting with the new guy. Or maybe both sides decided it was better to get out in front of all this rather than drag it out. Having experienced many regime changes over the years, the old manager will be forgotten as soon as the new one is hired, especially if the team plays better. This was a forgettable year.

Buck knew what he was doing and whatever he did wrong wasn’t from a lack of preparation. He treated people with dignity. I wonder if he will get another chance to manage at age 67. Bobby Valentine was the last ex-Mets manager that any other major league team (in America) deemed worthy of hiring—and that came a decade after Bobby V.’s Mets swan song; the end result was an unmitigated one-year disaster in Boston. You’d like to think the next Mets manager would be someone another team might covet. Someday. No Mickey Callaways need apply.

Right now we will face down this miserable season where six National League teams make the postseason, yet the Mets were never in the conversation. They did the right thing to cut bait in July. Other teams that fooled themselves then and went for it are licking their wounds today—and gave up a nice chunk of their future (possibly even to the Mets). Those that used Mets castoffs for a quick October fix may yet regret their decision when they find themselves quickly bounced from the postseason big top. The four kids in the everyday lineup—Alvarez, Mauricio, Baty, and Vientos—whom I saw all play in person at the Syracuse Mets Opening Day in Worcester, brought some life to New York in the second half.

As for who makes this list, batters have to have at least 50 plate appearances to receive a grade. So that keeps us from handing out grades to Abraham Almonte, Michael Perez, and Gary Sanchez. Pitchers need at least 25 innings to qualify for a grade. This no-name army at least filled out the innings the Mets starters couldn’t navigate: Tommy Hunter, John Curtiss, Denyi Reyes, Reed Garrett, Sean Reid-Foley, Jimmy Yacobonis, Debbis Santana, Josh Walker, Sam Coonrod, Zach Muckenhim, Adam Kolarek, Anthony Kay, Vinny Nitoli, Edwin Uceta, Tyson Miller, and T.J. McFarland. These pitching minimums meant taking quite a few F’s off the board, but I think I still handed out more F’s than on any report card in the dozen or so years I have done this. A few D-minuses were generously given. Every F was earned.

2023 MetSilverman Report Card

 Kodei Senga A Only Met to qualify for ERA title and placed second. Fanned 200. MLB rookie learned from his mistakes.

Joey Lucchesi A First Met to start 9 times and go undefeated (4-0). The question is why he made 14 starts in Triple-A?

Brooks Raley B+ Can’t undervalue a reliable lefty in the pen. Other than blowing save the day of the selloff, he did what was needed all year.

Pete Alonso B Eye-popping 46 HR, 118 RBI, but if he wants the big Mets contract, he must improve his .217 average and streakiness.

Francisco Lindor B He went 30/30, played every day, and led the team in many categories. Steady but streaky.

Brandon Nimmo B First year of big contract and played 152 games. Still one of my favorite players to watch play.

Jose Quintana B Spent first half injured; if only crafty lefty could have doubled his 13 starts.

Justin Verlander B Performed all right when healthy. Brought home a ton in trade. The better of the 40-year-old starters.

Francisco Alvarez B- A rookie catcher hitting 25 home runs is Amazin’. His defense was good and the offensive holes will hopefully fill in.

D.J. Stewart B- Faded the last week or two, but he came through often and filled in nicely for traded outfielders.

Tylor Megill B- A 5-inning starter but second in wins, starts, innings, BB, and HR. Only 27 and his best year yet.

David Robertson C+ Part A of Operation Marlin sent to Miami to mess with them. Part B involved groundscrew and umpires.

Adam Ottavino C+ Tied with Raley at 66 games. Shaky at times, but saved 12 of 15 games for team in need of stability.

Tommy Pham C+ He produced when no one else was doing anything. Once he was gone I thought he’d never shut up.

Ronny Mauricio C+ Raw but has more skills than I expected after many anointed him a savior. For once hype was justified.

Jose Butto C+ When brought back late in the season, this starter rang the bell despite little support.

Jeff McNeil C Batting champ last year showed versatility and good RF arm. Second in NL HBP was his main ’23 highlight.

Max Scherzer C Master of illusion with 9-4 record, 4.01 ERA, and 5.2 IP per start. Looked like BP while he was on hill.

David Peterson C None of the luck or polish of Scherzer, but I am glad he is still here and Max is not. He’s a lefty entering his prime.

Mark Canha C Dumped to Brew Crew and wound up in Oct. Couldn’t recapture whatever Canha magic existed in ’22.

Drew Smith C Somewhat reliable and throws hard. Managed to stay healthy and pitched 62 times.

Jeff Brigham C- Ate up 37.2 nondescript innings for a team whose starters often came out after 5 innings.

Mark Vientos C- I think either he or Baty will make it; not both. On a good day—of which there were too few—Vientos is a cheaper J.D. Davis.

Bret Baty C- I like lefty-hitting third baseman. Has a sweet swing and potential, but more work is needed.

Starling Marte C- It seems impossible he had 341 PA. Felt like he was absent since May.

Omar Narvaez C- Every team has to have a backup catcher. It’s nice when the guy hits left-handed and bats over .200.

Tim Locastro C- I have no idea how he hit .232, but he was good at drawing BB & HBP. A right-handed Ortega.

Rafael Ortega D+ A left-handed batting Locastro. Every time he walks you can see the pitcher get mad at himself.

Phil Bickford D+ He was OK compared to some of the other guys they had circling and cycling out of the pen.

Luis Guillorme D Guillorme is fun to have on a good team, but maybe there is a new chapter for him as someone’s coach.

Trevor Gott DMein Gott! Are we really bringing this guy into a one-run game!” Blew 4 of 5 save opps.

Carlos Carrasco D- Created enough good will in 2022 to pass, but few complained when he and his 6.80 ERA ended early.

Stephen Nogosek D- Sabermetrics seem to like him, but I didn’t like the Mets’ chances at winning when he came in.

Dominic Leone D- That the Mets got anything for him during the summer sale-athon is some shrewd trading.

Grant Hartwig D- They say wins by pitchers mean nothing, but this guy winning more games than Peterson feels so unfair.

Danny Mendrick F It was frustrating watching him instead of Mauricio, but Ronny needed just a little more seasoning.

Eduardo Escobar F Baty/Vientos and anyone else needed time at 3B. His trade was first sign of a possible selling mode.

Daniel Vogelbach F Some fans made him a scapegoat. That’s wrong, but he was not good and needs to go.

Jonathan Arauz F Not many great lefty bench options. Had some power and a good glove, but .136/.203/.288 puts you almost at the bottom.

Tomas Nido F I was a once a Nido fan. But getting a multi-year contract, then getting cut after .125/.153/.125 puts you at the bottom of the list.

Management

Buck Showalter C- Team seemed to play hard but still barely avoided 90 losses after 101-win season. Best of luck, Buck.

Billy Eppler C Lots of money to play with, but GM never got needed parts to fill Edwin Diaz void. We’ll see how well he did on trades in 2025.

 


Retrenching, Retreating, Retooling: Rebuilding

Doug Flynn (Photo courtesy of Jacob Kanarek, From First to Worst)

It was one tough week for Mets fans. There I was at Citi Field on Sunday, July 30, having a great time with the Mrs., the boy, and his friend. I had my first in-person view of Justin Verlander in a Mets uniform. He dominated the Washington Nationals, a team that shamelessly dumped its stars after winning the World Series that had eluded the franchise since it debuted in Montreal in 1969. (The ’69 season should ring a bell with Mets fans.) I saw him with his 250th career game and his sixth as a Met.

And then some 48 hours after rolling past the Nats, 5-2, the Mets were in the same boat as rudderless Washington—without the benefit of a recent World Series victory.

At the end of March, as the Mets rode the short distance from Port St. Lucie to Miami for Opening Day, the team was among the favorites to win the World Series. Four months later 90 wins are out the window; 90 losses seem inevitable. Gone are Dave Robertson, Max Scherzer, Mark Canha, Tommy Pham, and Verlander. To be honest, without injured Edwin Diaz locking down close games, I had doubts that the Mets were true championship contenders. Having been a Mets fan for way too long, I am perpetually skeptical that the team will finish the job.

Owner Steve Cohen fired a warning shot in June during his odd meeting with the press. The Mets struggled so badly that month (7-19) that even a 6-0 start to July  did little to move the needle (they went 8-9 the rest of the month). A few other struggling teams like the Padres and Angels doubled down at the trade deadline, but when you are under .500 and seven games out of the final Wild Card spot in a watered-down playoff system, with two pitchers pushing 40 and making over $40 million per year, the right thing is to cut bait. The Mets organization is light years behind Atlanta and the only way to even the playing field is to build from within. Free agents have rarely worked out for the Mets.

I would have liked to keep Verlander and at least entertain the concept of being competitive the next two years, but if you are going to retool, then trade your best chip. And Cohen threw all kinds of money in on these massive contracts he’d handed out, assuring the Mets would get the best prospects in return. That is exciting. You’d wish they’d gotten more pitching, but the experts were all impressed with the haul. Yet be warned that minor league busses and major league benches are filled with highly-touted prospects that never made it.

The future appears promising, but no one is excited about watching this team play now. That first post-trade game against the Royals—a team barely staying ahead of a historically bad and completely gutted Oakland team—seems like a harbinger of things to come. If the bullpen could have held it together for one night, it might have provided hope. Some teams get rid of high-priced headaches (see Scherzer, Max) and actually play better. That extra-inning loss to the Royals—followed by getting blanked in Kansas City and then blown out for the sweep—was a bad sign. How they called up all these scrubinees from the minors and didn’t at least give Luke Voit some at bats instead of letting him walk is the most questionable move of the week. The rest of the deals make sense on paper.

This isn’t the Midnight Massacre. I spent the first part of the summer editing a new edition of Jacob Kanarek’s From First to Worst about what happened in the years immediately following the 1973 National League pennant. I relived it all in this well-written book due out next year. I grew up a diehard fan during that time, for anyone who wants to compare what is happening now to that period—please stop. The “prospects” the Mets got from Cincinnati for Tom Seaver at the 1977 trade deadline were players the Big Red Machine didn’t want or need. There was no Steve Cohen writing big checks to get the best prospects or maybe the four players they got back in 1977 could have been 20-year-old stud minor league pitchers Mario Soto and Bill Caudill, infielder Ron Oester, 21, and a 24-year-old young infielder named Ray Knight, who had essentially taken over the Doug Flynn reserve role in Cincinnati. Knight would replace Pete Rose at third base for the Reds in 1979 and, of course, rock Shea with a World Series MVP trophy in New York in 1986. The post-trade 1977 Mets were held together by bailing wire. Joe Torre was a rookie manager in way over his head. The Mets were a dead club walking (and not hitting).

Many of today’s Mets fans, to judge from needy social media posts, sound awfully spoiled considering that the team has historically been pretty average. (Through 9,700+ games the Mets have an all-time .483 winning percentage.) To the people who constantly complained during a 101-win season last year, all I can say is: You really do have something to complain about now. See you in 2026.

On the Air

I got these conflicted thoughts down in preparation for my appearance on the air with Dan Reinhard on WKNY in Kingston, NY, on Monday, August 7, at 7 p.m.

Cubs Shout Out

I recently sat in the Wrigley Field bleachers, thanks to the seat-saving stylings of Bleed Cubbie Blue and Cubs by the Numbers co-author Al Yellon. Al sat with me at Citi Field when the park first opened and our book was new. It was good to finally return the favor and sit in God’s own sunshine!


First Half Grades: Nah

I love the Mets and even watched most of their games this week, but this year’s team is not worth the five-hour effort of gathering the info, summarizing the season so far, come up with a grade for each individual, and format it. I still think they can do something and I hope there’ll be a good second half. If that happens, I’ll do an end-of-year grade report. Right now everyone—with a few exceptions, notably Francisco Alvarez—deserves C- to D- for overall play. Enjoy your time off from this team. No complaints of “What am I going to do tonight with the Mets?” Here’s what you can do: LIVE!


Walkway Takeaway

The 2023 Mayfest at the Walkway Over the Hudson marked the fourth time I took a booth at the landmark converted bridge in Highland/Poughkeepsie, NY. Despite the first day being all but a total washout, I was still amazed by how many people—and dogs—came out in the downpour.

On Sunday I crushed every personal milestone for books sold at an event. By early afternoon, I had to call home to tell my wife and son to come two hours early to bring the books I thought I would never need—plus singles and fives to make change.

I want to thank everyone who came by and bought books and those who took a bookmark and said they’d stop by on the way out or buy it on Amazon. There’s still time to get them for Dad on Father’s Day. Wink! Wink! If you want a signed copy, contact me here or through Facebook Messenger.

The Walkway is the only event I still do. Bookstore events frankly just make me anxious. The Walkway makes it easy to do and be successful. That’s due to the great work by Jami Anson and the Walkway team who put their hearts into setting up these events twice a year. On a beautiful day like Sunday, you can’t even begin to count how many people stream past. The people who bought Out of a Dog’s Mouth keep me going. And Mets fans? They are crazy, generous, fickle, and fiercely loyal—just like me! The Mets winning both games that day was further proof that all was in line in the Metiverse.

See you at the Walkway the weekend of October 21-22 for Walktoberfest!


Cooking with Kong

Among the numerous and overstuffed bookcases in my office is one that is filled with books on the Mets. There you will find a slim orange volume in a binder that dates to the 1980s. The book? GourMets.

Published by Doubleday, sponsored by the Lady Met Fan Club, Ltd., and edited by Randye Ringler (currently assisting former Mets catcher Ed Hearn publicize the safety of live kidney donation), GourMets is a Mets cookbook as well as a time capsule. Proceeds went to the March of Dimes. (This is not to be confused with a 2007 Mets cookbook of the same name.)

I assume I bought this at Shea at some point in the 1980s for someone and, like many well-intentioned gifts, it ended up back in my lap in time. So here we stand 41 years later and I find myself in the rotation to cook at least once per week in a strange new world where kids are mostly out of the house, I am mostly home, and the Mrs. has an office job. So I leafed through the old Mets cookbook and found many recipes for hypertension and heart disease.

Despite contributions from every player and many employees (PR guy/funnyman Jay Horwitz gave directions to Ponce’s Pizzeria in Clifton, NJ), a lot of the recipes left me flat. Or they were way too complicated—ballplayers apparently have a lot of time on their hands when the season is over. Then I came across the Dave Kingman entry: Lasagna. I’d never made lasagna, but if Kong could do it…

Kingman and I went back, “way back,” in the words of Bob Murphy (Mini Cherry Cheese Cakes). Kong landed with the Mets about a month before I did in 1975. At 6-foot-6 he was as massive as almost any ballplayer of the day. A half century later, there are not many players—at least those without steroidal help—who could hit the ball as high or as far as Kong. Dave did it on lasagna power.

As a first-year fan in ’75, I was mesmerized by his longball prowess as much as I was by Tom Seaver’s overall excellence. You didn’t need to know much about baseball as a kid to know that these guys were good at it. If Kingman struck out constantly or couldn’t field, it was forgotten with his next moon shot. And Kong played four different positions in 1975 despite not being good at any of them. That he manned third base at the second Mets game I ever attended (three whiffs but five assists and no errors!) remains a thrill that might only be surpassed by the ball he launched into the parking lot that I witnessed at Shea during the Year of the Kong in 1976.

But since this cookbook dates to 1982, I will put this in the context of the second Kingman regime. Like pretty much all Mets subsequent acts, his second tenure was more complicated; though he did win the home run crown I was ready to die for in ’76, when his dive for a flyball turned into a broken thumb and he lost the HR title to Mike Schmidt, 38-37.

Fast forward through the Midnight Massacre, Kong’s tour of every division in 1977, his 48 bombs as a Cub in 1979, and his eventual return in a trade with Chicago for Steve Henderson exactly seven years after Kingman came from San Francisco. The 1982 Kong was a retread, but he led the NL with 37 homers and 156 K’s. We’re talking the last-place ’82 Mets here, so let us not get caught up in rhetoric. Kingman was the first Met to win a home run crown and despite hitting just .204, he still led the team in RBI (99), walks (59), and slugging (.432), plus he stole four bases without getting caught and somehow got down three sacrifice bunts.

Kong also knew his way around a kitchen. His lasagna recipe sounded good, not too complicated, and something I could whip up. On the other hand, Rusty Staub’s Veal Zingara sounded great if he made it for you at Rusty’s Restaurant; Le Grande Orange lost me when his first ingredient in this cookbook entry was white leg of veal. Check, please!

Rather than tire you with too many stovetop details, it’s probably more helpful to explain what happened in the kitchen in the context of a 1982 game—from the early part of the season, when the Mets had a little something cooking. In May the Mets went 17-11 and were in contention! Then they won nine games in June. July and August were excruciating. The Mets went just 14-41 in those two months and lost 15 straight games, highlighted by three straight walkoff, extra-inning losses in as many nights on a winless nine-game road trip. Even I had stopped watching by then. At 17, I had finally found something better—let’s at least say more interesting—to do than watch godawful Mets baseball. The Mets rallied enough in September to avoid triple-digit defeats—losing a mere 97.

In May of ’82, though, there was hope. I was keeping track of each game on my Mets souvenir from Calendar Day. A Mets game that sums up my preparation of Kongsagna 41 years later is represented by the game at the Astrodome on May 22, 1982. At the end of that night, the Mets were just 2 ½ games behind the eventual world champion Cardinals. I included the starting Mets lineup from that night and their corresponding recipes from the cookbook:

 

CF Mookie Wilson (Candy Yams)

3B Bob Bailor (Chicken Biscuit Pie)

LF George Foster (Broccoli Casserole, Lemon Cake)

1B Dave Kingman (Lasagna)

RF Gary Rasijch (Cheesecake)

C John Stearns (Creamy Butter Squares)

2B Wally Backman (Super Spicy Beef Enchiladas)

SS Ron Gardenhire (Stuffed Tomatoes, Cobbler)

P Pete Falcone (Rock Cornish Hen Gravy & Stuffing)

 

Like procuring and chopping up all the ingredients, the Mets took the lead thanks to Kingman. With two on and two outs against Nolan Ryan in the seventh, Kong singled in Bob Bailor with the go-ahead run, putting Pete Falcone in line for the win. Former ace Craig Swan (Frosted Salad) had by now been injured enough times that he served as a reliever. He set the ‘stros down in the seventh and eighth and the Mets added enough runs to take a 5-1 lead into the ninth.

Seemed like an easy win—just like Kong’s lasagna seemed like an easy dish. Then I botched a simple play when I misread the instructions and did not realize that the meat, the vegetables, the spices, and the tomato sauce needed to be on the stovetop for 90 minutes. That threw off my planning, prep, and timing. Likewise, Kong mishandled a grounder in the ninth that loaded the bases with none out and chased Swan for Neil Allen (Spaghetti with Shrimp). The big Saturday night crowd at the dome finally had something to cheer about. Allen promptly allowed a game-tying grand slam to Terry Puhl, who hit all of eight home runs in 1982.

We all make mistakes. And Allen atoned for his on that night in ’82. He held the Astros scoreless for four innings. Batting with two on and two outs in the 12th—manager George Bamberger (Meat Loaf and Vegetables) had gone through his bench by then—Allen’s topper in front of the plate resulted in an error by Astros catcher Alan Ashby that brought home John Stearns with the go-ahead run. Allen then retired the dangerous Jose Cruz with a man on for the 6-5 victory.

The game, like the meal, was unnecessarily nerve-racking and required a lot of relief (from my wife). Yet in the end it was delicious and goes down in the books as a win. And Kong’s meal goes in the recipe folder for the next time I need a little drama with my lasagna.


Ode to a Bad Dude

May be an image of 1 person and brick wall
(Photo: Courtesy of Jacob Kanarek)
John Stearns coming up to Old-Timers Day less than three weeks before he succumbed to cancer showed you all you needed to know about Stearns, even if you never saw him play. He was the reward you got for watching those lousy Mets teams in the late 1970s. Even if the Mets were a laughingstock, you did not laugh in the Bad Dude’s face. Ask Dave Parker and his broken jaw after trying to steal a rare win from the ’78 Mets. Colorado two-sport star and All-Star of the Dark Days at Shea. “The Monster is out of his cage”… and is in heaven. Thanks for everything, John.
[Note: I originally published this on Facebook the day John Stearns died. It is the biggest response (550+ likes; 70+ responses) I have ever gotten from anything I have posted. I loved Stearns for being the guy that teams salivated over and were afraid of in the lineup and reluctant to run on. He was also the one guy who could have made the late 1970s Yankees and had a key role (especially given how bad Thurman Munson’s knees looked in 1979). I am publishing it here because it belongs to me, not Facebook… and to Mets fans who saw Stearns play… or wish they did. Even at Grant’s Tomb.]

Around the Dial

I have done a couple of interviews of late. And I am late on posting my interview with Bob Hurte and his podcast, The Baseball Doesn’t Fall Far from the Tree. It was earlier in the year and I listened to it to make sure that it hadn’t gone stale. It’s still very fresh, as is Bob’s book, Intelligent Influence in Baseball.

More recently I spoke with Dan Reinhard on Sports Talk in Kingston, discussing the Amazin’ Mets and more. Always an honor to be asked and always a pleasure to talk baseball.


2022 First-Half Grades Are In

If you recall, last season’s first half ended with a blown lead to a bad Pirates team. This year the first half ended with a loss to a Cubs team that is not good, but plays hard (if not all that well). Still, Chicago manager David Ross should not get too comfortable. Buck Showalter, on the other hand, has done a remarkable job in his second go-round in the Big Apple. Anytime over the past 25 years the Mets probably could have hired him, but I am glad it did not happen until now because he has matured, Mets ownership has matured (or, more accurately, changed), and the fans have… well, mature is not the word I would choose. I liked when you did not hear people bitch on each pitch via social media. I much preferred the more passive approach of watching them parade around Shea Stadium once per year letting the world know their feelings between games of a Banner Day doubleheader.

But how ’bout those Mets? To be 23 games over .500 at the All-Star break is something I could not have dreamed. Last year they were 47-40 at this point. The Mets excelled in the first half without Jacob deGrom, unveiled the Seaver statue, retired No. 17, and showed they will do what it takes to win. The acquisitions they made this past offseason paid nice dividends in the first half. Let’s see how they fared.

Overall Class Grade: A- Last year I gave them a B+ for the first half. There is still room for improvement, but this first half is better, no?

Metsies who have not accrued 50 at bats or 15 innings pitched, please remain in your seat. That means you, Nick Plummer, Ender Inciarte (recently cut), Khalil Lee, Matt Reynolds, Stephen Nogosek, Sean Reid-Foley, Tommy Hunter, Yoan Lopez (who has done a lot in 8.2 innings), Trevor May, Jake Reed, Thomas Szapucki, and Robinson Cano, who was mercifully released before he could accrue enough ABs to get a grade (which would have been nowhere near an A or a B).

First-Half 2022 Report Card

Edwin Diaz A This is the guy you trade your top prospect to get. This first half must be what Diaz looked like in his 57-save year in Seattle in 2018.

Pete Alonso A- It is not just the long ball. What I like most is his attitude, aptitude, and ability to try to make contact late in counts. Maybe that is why he is leading the NL in RBIs. Alonso (and Lindor) played every game in 1H.

Max Scherzer B+ He has bank account and sanity of an Arab sheik, but you want him in a must-win game. Despite injury, 6-1, 2.22 ERA, 90 Ks in 69 IP.

Taijuan Walker B+ After the way he crapped out after a great first half in 2021, you feel the need to bump up his first marking period grade a bit.

Jeff McNeil B+ At this time last year, Squirrel was utterly lost. This year he was chosen as the NL All-Star starting 2B. He’s excelled in LF, too.

Brandon Nimmo B+ I don’t want to jinx him by saying he’s finally healthy, but he has been the key cog in this lineup and his defense is topping.

Starling Marte B+ I see why there was talk for years about acquiring Marte. He electrifies the top of the order, the ball leaps off his bat, and I don’t know which is better, his glove or him arm.

Francisco Lindor B Reminds me of Beltran the way people are never happy with him. I am! He’s a shortstop with 16 HRs, 66 RBIs, 10 steals, and 36 BBs.

Luis Guillorme B Luis has made himself into an essential player on this team: In 224 plate appearances he has .293/.369/.369 and is a superb infielder.

Mark Canha B I knew little about him before he arrived, but he has a great plate approach and is good LF. Feels like he scores every time he gets on.

Adam Ottavino B I don’t really trust him in a big spot, but he has done a pretty good job. Elder statesman of the pen.

Colin Holderman B They say wins don’t matter for pitchers, but when he’s in, the Mets win. He is 4-0 in 15 appearances (Mets are 10-5 in those games) with a 2.04 ERA.

Carlos Carrasco B- Cookie has not been as consistent as some pitchers, but 10 wins are as many as almost any NL pitcher in first half, for what it’s worth.

Chris Bassitt B- Leads team in innings, but has been inconsistent and a bit of a red ass. He’s whiffed more batters and allowed more HRs than any Met.

Drew Smith B- He may have blown the game before the break, but then you recall the Mets got him from the Rays (for Lucas Duda). I want to stay patient.

Tylor Megill C+ When healthy, he has looked good despite a 5.01 ERA. Sophomore pitcher steps in at last minute and endures rain delay to win Opening Day.

Adonis Medina C+ Has had a couple of huge moments for the Mets, so I wonder why he hasn’t been used in bigger situations when the big guys can’t go.

Trevor Williams C He’s been in the majors longer than I thought. He threw seven shutout innings one start and had a three-inning save a week later.

Tomas Nido C Has caught twice as many games as McCann and handled himself well behind the dish. His .211 average is better than many catchers.

Seth Lugo C I still think this team’s success in crunch time will depend on Seth coming through in a big spot. Cannot use him on successive days.

Eduardo Escobar C- On any given night, his bat is either great or terrible, but his glove at 3B is very steady. Also seems to fire up the clubhouse.

Joely Rodriguez C- Mets traded a better reliever (Miguel Castro) to the Yankees to get Joely because he’s a lefty. They need another southpaw.

Patrick Mazeika D+ No walkoff fielder’s choice magic for Mazeika this year, but he’s gotten some nice hits and gunned down base stealers.

James McCann D+ Every time he comes up, I repeat, “His job is to catch,” over and over. He has a good arm. Called a no-hitter, but so did Josh Thole.

Travis Jankowski D Because so little was expected of him, I’ll rate Travis above a couple of bigger disappointments. He’s fast and a good drag bunter.

Dominic Smith D- I thought that one silver lining about forcing the DH on the NL was that Dom and J.D. would finally platoon. That has not worked out so far.

J.D. Davis D- Still figuring out which end of this paltry platoon has been more of a letdown. But Dom is a better runner and fielder, so he goes first.

Chasen Shreve F He’s already been cut, so let’s saddle him with a well-deserved F. Mets need a second lefty, gave him every chance, and he failed.

Manager/GM

Buck Showalter A I have been watching the Mets a long time, and this guy gets it as well as any Mets manager I have seen. He has them prepared for anything.

Billy Eppler B I am not sure how much of the handiwork from the past six months is his, but in the coming month he’ll have a chance to get his grade up.