The Mets Police

Here's someone I wish we'd see around Flushing a little more - Craig Swan.  Good pitcher.   These 1979 uniforms look better than 2009 did.  Check out the 1980 Topps Baseball Card page for more.

Main Mets Police page
Follow us on twitter @metspolice
Facebook page
send ideas/guest columns to shannon at metspolice.com

I stumbled across a random article about a Mets fans thinking back to meeting his favorite players in the late 70s.  I think the years have muddled some memories, I don't see how the three players mentioned below would have been in the locker together...but it's still neat.

Imagine, if you will, the ultimate fan experience: sitting in the dugout of his team and meeting some of his heroes, a big thrill for a young fan or for that matter, any age fan. Lee Mazzilli, Lenny Randle and Ron Darling drifted in and out of the dugout while the team took batting practice. Craig Swan continued the tour through the locker room and the trainer's room with its training tables, individual hot tubs and exercise equipment, and in this rarefied air was the pungent odor of liniment. Those players, whose playing careers are now but memories, were just great, peppering my son with questions about his hitting, what position he played and laughing and joking — for, after all, they were just grown-up boys themselves.

Read the entire piece here.

Also from the Lee Mazzilli google alert....Lee suggested the Orioles be in the NL East.   Interesting.   Not worth debating mid-season but a nice January topic.
www.metspolice.com
@metspolice

OK enough negativity for today....let's remember our old friend Craig Swan.

You remember Swannie?  He was the guy that shared a baseball card with Ron Guidry (ERA leaders) that have you half a leg to stand on with your Yankee friends when you were in grammar school.   Sure, the Yankees were winning the World Series, but we had the "best" pitcher in the NL, right?

Swan pitched for all or parts of 12 seasons in the majors from his debut for the Mets in 1973 to his final outing with the Angels in 1984. All but two of his 231 games in the big leagues were with the Mets and he was known as one of the few bright spots on the awful Met teams of the late '70s. He won the National League ERA title in 1978 (2.43) and was 14-13 with a 3.29 ERA, 10 complete games and three shutouts for a team that finished 35 games out in 1979. Overall, he finished 59-72 with a 3.74 ERA.





If you'd like to know where he is now...click the link!

www.metspolice.com
@metspolice

On another quiet morning in Flushing, I thought I'd take a look around the internet to see what's out there:

Hotfootblog correctly observes that just about every Mets fan now wants Manny.  Why would a franchise not want to offer the customer the player that the customers want?  It boggles the mind.  It would be very easy for all parties to show up at the press conference and say "we heard how much you wanted him, here he is" and Manny can stand there in a black #99 jersey with a lame patch and I'll keep my mouth shut.

Forbes magazine also thinks the Mets need to grab Manny.

The Subway Sqwakers blog and the Daily News both observe that as much sense as Manny makes for 2009, he may make even more sense for 2010!

Not surprisingly the Mets are upping their offer to Oliver Perez.   I don't think any of us are shocked that this is happening.

Craig Swan is 59 years old now and has a dog powered scooter.

My favorite piece out there is from the Amazin' Avenue blog which has a collection of Mets Sports Illustrated covers throughout the years.   The young Dwight Gooden makes me sad.   It's a very cool collection, check it out!

Meanwhile in the Bronx, they haven't signed Manny yet (who will be surprised when they do?) but the great River Ave Blues blog has this virtual tour of Yankee Stadium (and here's one of Citi Field - what's up with the yellow hat on the scoreboard).






www.metspolice.com

So there's talk that the Mets would have a former player represent each day of the Shea Countdown Clock - so Craig Swan would show up with 27 days left and Hernandez with 17 etc. Presumably that means Mookie would do the last day (topic for another day).

Anyways, Cyclonesfan pulled this together for me, and he used Mets By The Numbers as a source of info....today's topic is Who is the Real Number?

First in a series...

1

Rightful Owner: Mookie Wilson
Rent-A-Met: Vince Coleman
Cyclonesfan's Comment: I'm surprised the Mets haven’t unofficially retired 1 considering how popular Mookie was
The Mets Police say: doesn't deserve to be on the fence, but if it were in semi-limbo like #24 that would be cool. Definitely Mookie's number.

2

Rightful Owner: Bobby Valentine
Rent-A-Met: none suggested, also no comment provided.

The Mets Police say: You gonna fly Bobby V in for the ceremony? You can't do that to Willie. How about Jose Oquendo? That would seem silly too.

3

Rightful Owner: Bud Harrelson / Rafael Santana
Rent-A-Met: Damon Easley
Cyclonesfan's Comment: OK, Raffy wasn't great, but he was a Met and an anchor in the infield

The Mets Police say: it's time to bring Buddy back into the fold. Sure he was afraid to go to the mound but in hindsight it got a lot worse than Buddy in the dugout (cough, September 2007).

4

Rightful Owner: Ron Swoboda / Lenny Dykstra
Rent-A-Met: Robin Ventura
Cyclonesfan's Comment: Regardless of the Grand-Slam Single, Ventura was a White Sox

The Mets Police say: tough call. If decisions must be made.....Swoboda.