The Mets Police

The Bill Almon 1987 item got me thinking - what other wierd guys showed up as Mets in late season acquistitions etc.

1984 - Hey - the Mets are good again! We are in this thing with this yound staff led by Gooden and Darling. For the first time since 1976 the Mets were a better than .500 team and even in the playoff race for the bulk of the year.

Acquire: Ray Knight. They get Knight and because Jose Quendo was even a worse hitter than Mets Police, they move Hubie Brooks to short and put Knight at third. Was weird but who cares? Move pays off because it showcases Hubie and allows them to trade for gary Carter that winter.

As a side note at the old deadline -6/15 - they acquire Bruce Berenyi - that was a lightning bolt for us young Met fans. Cashen knew the team was for real that early in the year and bolstered the staff. Bruce threw a heavy ball and broke bats but the shoulder was made of tissue paper. His 1984 was the best the Mets got out of him. Did pitch a few games in '86 for them though so maybe he got a ring out of it.

1985 - Now we are really in it, no more 'we are happy to not suck'. No, the Mets were a real club that year. team won 98 games and fell a bit short to the Cards.

Acquire: Larry Bowa! It was very strange seeing Bowa in a Met uni. He was a Cub the previous year so we were probably a bit annoyed at the sight of him. read that the Mets wanted him back for 1986 (good veteran, fiery, good glove) but he decided to hang em up.

Tom Paciorek!! Another weird one. Solid vet, good pinch hitter. Just lasted the season and moved on. They had 2 guys on the bench as pinch hitters - as solid as you can get. Paciorek and Rusty.

1986 - MAZZ! This was boner city for Mets Police, I gotta tell you. He is still angry that Gooden did not give him back his #16 (Gooden offered it). Mazz got pinch hits in game 6 and 7 of the Series that led to rallies that tied each game. Plus Mazz replaced George Foster - addition by subtraction baby.

1987 - disappointing follow up to 86 - drugs already catching up to the club. Injuries galore too.

Acquire: John Candelaria! Too late to qualify for the post-season if they had made it. I thought they should have signed him back for '88 but they ignored me. had a good 1988 for the Yankees though. Guy was HUGE. And from Brooklyn. Stayed around fora few more years as a situaltional lefty.

1988 - Bob McClure?? Boring. That team should have won it all. Losing that NLCS set the franchise back 10 years. Damn you Mike Sciosia.

1989 - Viola. Thought they got him earlier in the year but it says 7/31. I said at the time that if they didn't make the playoffs it was a bad trade. It was. They built a third of the 1991 Twins staff with that trade. One thing, I read that Viola could put away a case of beer on a flight from LA to NY, now that is impressive.

1990 - the last year they are good until 1997 -

Acquire: Alex Trevino! Me and Mets Police talked about him when this happened. Another guy from the sucky late 70's early 80's Mets returns. And guess what - he still sucked.

He sucked but at least he wasn' wearing black. DITCH IT!!!