The Mets Police

If you're bothering to read a site called Mets Police you are probably hip to the Mets defensive woes this season.

I don't think piling on Jerry Manuel is fair. Someone has to play first base and we all agree Murphy has to play somewhere, and with third base being his best position you kind of have a problem.

I think the Mets should consider bringing in baseball's first defensive coordinator and it should be Davey Johnson.

Now it's time for another episode of How I Met The Mets.

Kids...let me tell you about the time Davey played a big fat guy at shortstop and won the world series. If you are under 30 why don't you go google a picture of Kevin Mitchell (I'm mobile, I can't he'll you). I'll wait 'til you get back....

...Yeah that guy. Big roly-poly guy. Davey figured out which of his pitchers were fly ball pitchers and on the days that he didn't expect too many grounders he'd stick the fat guy at short to get his bat in the lineup. He got away with it every time. I can't think of a single "bad error" by Mitchell although I bet the Mets Walkoffs blog guy is about to email me some.

Kids...let me tell you about the big fight in Cincinnati. One night the Mets and Reds didn't get along. Several players got ejected. Davey, master of half-ass defense, stuck Gary Carter at third base. He got away with it, and I even remember Gary making a great play late in the game, maybe even extra innings (Walkoffs  I need you...)

Davey even platooned pitchers. Jesse Orosco and Roger McDowell took turns hiding in the outfield and pitching. It was a whole new level of lefty-righty. Davey got away with it.

Kids....my mind is foggy about this one now that I'm old but I think it was also Davey who shuttled Rusty Staub between left field and right field one sunny afternoon (cough, Walkoffs  help...).

Rusty was another large fellow and whatever the hell happened, he spent the afternoon shuttling between left and right depending on what type of batter was up It took about half an hour for Rusty (mainly a pinch hitter at the end of his career) to switch positions.

So we need Davey. Let Davey sit next to Jerry and call time out after every play. He can put Tatis where he thinks the ball will be hit, Reed in the likely outfield position and he can hide Murphy batter by batter. Plus we'd have an 86 Met around, it will tick off the opposition, and it will be wildly entertaining.

Jerry if you don't believe me, ask your hitting coach. Kids, let me tell you about the time Howard Johnson became the Mets starting center fielder. Now that was a disaster....

1.  Wear white pinstriped uniforms.

2.  Wear blue hats.  Just to be clear, wear blue Mets hats.

3.   Introduce Tom Seaver last.   Last.   Tom walks out to the mound in a white pinstriped #41 (vintage, no black shadows).

4.  Have Tom Seaver throw a pitch to Jerry Grote, who is also in a vintage uniform.

5.  Focus on the 1969 Mets and the 1986 Mets.

6.  Do not focus on the 2000 Mets or the Wild Card Mets.  This is a celebration of Tom Seaver and Keith Hernandez and Buddy Harrelson and Mookie Wilson.   This is not about Todd Pratt and Robin Ventura.   They can be there but it's not about them.

7.   Get Mookie Wilson to show up.  I understand he is mad at the Mets.  Just work it out.  $50,000 check, a job, a public apology - just make it happen.

8.  Get Davey Johnson to show up.   See #7.

9.  Don't let the Yankees steal what little history the Mets have.  Invite Strawberry, Gooden and Cone.   They are Mets.  Don't worry where else they played or didn't.  Invite them.

10.  Ignore everyone's warts.   Gooden, Strawberry, anyone else with personal issues - everyone is welcome.

11.  No matter what the weather is this week, make sure the final regular season game is the game people paid good money to attend at 1pm on Sunday.  If a makeup game is needed don't you dare play it Sunday night or Monday.  Get out of bed and play a split doubleheader at six in the morning.   The final game is 1pm and that's that.

12.  Surprise us with the retiring of Keith Hernandez' #17.   You can announce that it will happen next June if you need the sellout that bad, but announce it now.

13.  Play tape of the long-time PA announcer (I don't know his name) who sang Take Me Out To The Ballgame (on tape) in the 1980's and beyond.

14.  Win.

15.  Don't be eliminated.

16.  Honor Lindsey Nelson, Bob Murphy and Ralph Kiner.

17.  No Citibank executives need to be part of this.  They can throw out the ball  at game 27 next season.

18.  Mention the Jets.

19.  Invite Joe Namath

20.  Mention the Beatles.

21.  Don't have imitation Beatles make an appearance.  Focus on the Mets.

22.  Do not mention Billy Joel.  He is not a major part of Shea history despite what he's been selling.

23.  Make sure all the "right" players are there.  If you are on item #23 on a blog called Mets Police, you know who I mean.

24.  Have some of the players from the bad teams.  I want to see Joel Youngblood and John Stearns.

25.   Remember that Jackie Robinson never played for the Mets nor at Shea.   No need to turn this into a celebration of the Brooklyn Dodgers.

That's a quick 25 off the top of my head...what are your suggestions?

The Daily News reported that Mookie Wilson and Davey Johnson will not be part of the closing ceremonies at Shea because of a falling out with the organization.

Fellas, the team doesn't make an extra dollar if you come, and doesn't lose a dollar if you don't. 

For the fans, and for the memories show up.  Do it for youselves.  Come feel the love.   You don't have to shake hands with the Wilpons or whoever you are mad at.

Dwight Gooden has also been invited but isn't expecyed to come.

Come on guys, even Tom Seaver is leaving the vineyard for an afternoon (or night if ESPN effs us).   If Tom can be bothered, surely you can.

About a week and a half ago we published who are the real and the fake owners of numbers 1 - 4 for the Mets http://themetspolice.blogspot.com/2008/04/whos-1.html

As this is an angoing series, here are numbers 5 through 10 (once again thanks to Mets By The Numbers):

5
Rightful Owner(s): Davey Johnson & David Wright
Rent-A-Met: John Olerud

Comment: Wright will never be the only owner of tha number regardless of what he does. As for Olerud, most of that 1999-2000 team was rented.

6
Rightful Owner(s): Al Weiss & Wally Backman
Rent-A-Met: Daryl Boston

Comment: Sadly Wally is still persona non grata in most MLB circles. As for Boston......nop, got nothing

7

Rightful Owner(s): Ed Kranepool & Jose Reyes
Rent-A-Met: Juan Samuel

Comment: I still cringe when I think about all we gave up for....ugh...Juan Samuel. Hell I still remember where I was when I heard the news (on a train between Limerick and Galwayin Ireland. I think I screamed.)

8

Rightful Owner(s): Nobody
Rent-A-Mets: Yogi Berra & Gary Carter

Comment: Yogi was and always will be a Yankee. Gary - as much as he may have loved NY and was the final piece of the 86 puzzle - was an Expo.

9

Rightful Owner(s): Todd Hundley
Rent-A-Met(s): Joe Torre & Todd Zeile

Comment: Torre the player was a Brave - Torre the manager was a Yankee. The fact that he transitioned as a Met doesn't make him a Met.

10

Rightful Owner(s): Rusty Staub
Rent-A-Met: Nobody

Comment: Rusty wore 4 with his first stint, but was in 10 much longer. And yeah, he was an All-Star 6 times elsewhere and never with the Mets - but he played more years here than anywhere else.

11 through 15 next week.

It took 20 years for someone to admit it but here it is!

The Daily News speaks with Davey Johnson

DN: You managed one of the greatest young talents the game has ever seen in Dwight Gooden, who went 24-4 as a 20-year-old. How do you feel when you think about his career, and his life after baseball?

DJ: Unbelievably sad. The biggest shock in my life in baseball was in the spring of 1987, when he came into my office and said, "Skip, I've got a problem. I've got to go to drug rehab." I said, "You've got to be kidding me." Doc was like a son to me. He was the first one to the ballpark every day. He was always happy. I just couldn't believe what I was hearing.

The thing with Dwight is that he meant no harm, but he couldn't say no - to his guys from his hometown. He didn't want to feel bigger or better than anybody else.

DN: He was a good pitcher after that 1985 season, but never the same pitcher.

DJ: Never the same. I blame it on the drugs, and I also blame it on the delivery change they had him make. I don't even know where the orders came from, but they didn't come from me or Mel Stottlemyre. They wanted him to shorten his delivery, lower that big high leg kick and not turn as much. Sure, he could be run on, but they could run on (Greg) Maddux, too; did they change his delivery? To this day I regret even going along with it.