The Mets Police

It somehow seems fitting that the poll for The Dopiest Moment In Mets History ended in a three way tie.  How absurd, but isn't life as Mets fan often absurd.   So in chronological order....


Winter 1984 - The Mets leave Tom Seaver unprotected.


I think my favorite Shea moment of all-time was Opening Day 1983 when Tom Seaver walked in from the bullpen along the right field line.    The Franchise was back, and all was right in the universe.  Sure he only won 9 games in 1983 but that was more about the team sucking than Tom sucking (check the stats).  Also for a brief while in April he led the league in triples.    Tons of fun.

Some genius in a bow-tie decided not to protect him in the off-season, and the White Sox claimed him.   Why would you want Seaver in a Mets uniform winning his 300th game.  Who would grab a future Hall of Famer off the wires?  

There were 45 wins left in that arm....and ironically he would be in the dugout when the 1986 Mets won the World Series.  Too bad it was on the third base side.  


June 1989 - The Mets trade Roger McDowell and Lenny Dykstra for Juan Samuel.


I still don't understand this one.   These were two of the most beloved Mets, both performing well and they trade them within the division for a bum.   The Phillies are probably still laughing.   This is one of those moments you never forget - I was on I-80 coming back from a rafting trip in Pennsylvania, we could barely pick up WFAN and we thought they said that McDowell and Dysktra had been traded.    That doesn't make sense, why would they do that?   This was one of many "Mets don't understand their fanbase" moments.   Well, at least we'll always have Mookie Wilson.  They would never trade him.

November 1998 - The Mets bring Bobby Bonilla back????!!!

Speaking of not understanding the fanbase -if you think the 2008 bullpen gets booed, you should have been around for Boo-nilla the first time.   After killing the Mets in a Pirates uniform, this was the first of the "if you can't beat 'em, sign 'em" signings that I hate.  (Another one was Tom "Cylon" Glavine who was paid by Atlanta to be the ultimate sleeper agent).  

Bonilla got separated from a guy named Barry Bonds, who turned out to be the slightly better of the two, and sucked.   Everything Johan Santana was, Bobby Boo-nilla was not.   Lazy, check.   Douche, check.  Clutch, uncheck.     They couldn't get him out of town fast enough.   Then what do they do in 1998, they bring him back.  Like we were going to love him.  Idiots.

So it's a three-way tie for the Dopiest Moment In Shea Stadium History (although a blown save today might re-open the poll).  Hopefully Shea closes out on a high-note, and the dopey moments are few and far between at New Ebbetts Field, home of FredWilpon's Dodgmets.

It's a slow day so here ya go - the nominations for the

Dopiest Moment In Shea Stadium History. Vote right here at www.metspolice.com by clicking the vote on the left or just adding your comments below.

The final result will be revealed at 1pm on September 28th unless ESPN makes me move the announcement to 8pm. Or if they do something so stupid that last day.


1. Dykstra and McDowell traded for Juan Samuel.


I still remember where I was when I heard about this trade on the radio. I thought the Mets were insane. I was right. The Phillies thank you for their playoff run.




2. The Mercury Mets uniforms.

Teams with integrity refused to go along with this promotion. Some, like the Braves were like "fine we'll wear silver." The Mets went out of their way to look hideous. Expect the Mets to leave Citi Field after the 2020 season for their new home on Mercury.



3. Not protecting Tom Seaver in 1984.


We were young and naive and didn't realize Tom doesn't love us the way we love Tom. The Franchise was back, and they left him unprotected to go win his 300th game with the Chisox, and to stand in the opposing dugout in 1986.







4. Swoosh Jerseys (The Underlined Ones)


Emblematic of a franchise with no clue. There was nothing wrong with a Mets uniform, yet they kept tinkering and tinkering. Racing stripes, fake Yankee road uniforms, bizarre road script....these ugly swoosh jerseys....white hats, black hats. What was wrong with what they wore in April 1962? Of all the dopey things they've worn, this is up there - depends on if you hate Mercury more.








5. Signing Bobby Bonilla....Twice!

Another example of a franchise that does not understand the fan base. Bonilla was one of the most hated Mets of all time, so what do they do - they bring him back for round two, Guess what, we still hated him. The mistake the first time was the same problem I had with Glavine - beat them don't sign them.







6. The Jets leave for New Jersey...because of bathrooms?

Of all the lame reasons the Jets could have given for wanting to spend two decades in Giants Stadium, they claimed the bathrooms at Shea were lousy. Sure they could have complained about always being on the road in September or a hundred other things, but they went for bathrooms. Twenty years later you'll get to pay for a personal bathroom license. I bet Shea would look good to a lot of you right about now.

Was at the Springsteen concert last night and hanging out with a guy in a Dykstra Mets jersey.

You wanna make friends, buy a Dykstra jersey.

You don't see many Dykstra jerseys now that you think about it.

Anyways, tons of people we walking up to this guy and telling him how cool it is.

It will not help you get chicks unfortunately.

Osh41 would take points off for it not being a jersey Lenny ever wore (black shading, no piping) - but it was not black and it had pinstripes.  If only the Mets could do this in real life.

...

I really have nothing to say about the trade deadline other than the obligatory "Mets didn't get anyone" post.

We will be seeing Joe Torre in October.   Good for Joe and his new best friend Manny.

Maine injury not good.

There are still seats available on my Jon Niese fan club bus.  Please hop on board now before it's trendy.

We're looking at big time "Four Inning Pedro" tonight.  The Mets have him capped at 80 pitches.  Somebody might want to start stretching out their arm now.

Bruce needs to come on before 9:30 but you can read about that here

We are still accepting nominations for The Dopiest Moment In Shea Stadium History.    So far nobody has nominated any Yankees or Jets or concert moments so I've added a few.

Here are the submissions through Tuesday night:

• Juan Samuel Trade For Lenny Dykstra & Roger McDowell
  
• Not Protecting Tom Seaver 1984
  
• "Swoosh jerseys" (the underlined ones)
• Dave Magadan rots on the bench so Garry Templeton can play.
• Fran Healey broadcasts games for over a decade.
• 'Mettle' the donkey that the Mets trotted out as a mascot in the 70's
• Driving away the 'Sign Man' - early 1980's
• MERCURY METS - one of the most embarassing things I and many Met fans have endured.
• 'Who let the Dogs out?' - I was at Shea when the Mets won the NL pennant in 2000. When they played that song I actually stopped cheering and started complaining. A genuine WTF moment.
• Anything involving Bobby Bonilla, Vince Coleman, Bret Saberhagen, Doug Sisk, Victor Zambrano and Mel Rojas. There was genuine hatred among fans at the sight of these guys. 
• Ignoring the Mets Hall of Fame for years... 
• How they used to call the last home game of the season "Closing Day" (what's the opposite of Opening Day) 
• dumping Ray Knight after he won the World Series' MVP in '86
• Signing Bobby Bonilla...twice!
• "Show Up At Shea," "Your Season Has Come" "The Magic Is Back"...they all qualify.
• That dopey Mets rap song thing they came out with two years ago. Notice how fast it came...and went. 
• Jeff Torborg reports on Mike and the Mad Dog. Brutal.
• Bobby Valentine coming back to the bench with a mustache after being ejected.
• Never happened but had Mookie's ball not gotten past Buckner--Doug Sisk was coming in to pitch the next inning of the World Series with the score tied.
• Bruce Springsteen allows Patti Scialfa to sing harmony (2003).
• Jets leave for NJ to have "better bathrooms."
• People pay good money to sort of see The Beatles for twenty minutes with a hideous sound system.
  

Or perhaps it will be one of yours!  Nominate now!