The New York Mets are a naturally occurring source of negativity.
You’d think they’d never won a World Series—something eight other expansion teams can claim, plus seven other clubs that have not exceeded the two championships won by the Mets.
Yet here we are at the beginning of another season, and the Mets are given little chance to finish third in the NL East, much less first.
Las Vegas has the Mets as an 18-to-1 underdog. Seems like pretty good odds compared to 100-to-1.
Those were the odds Vegas gave the Mets to win the 1969 World Series—and win it they did, despite playing in the same division with a two-time pennant winner (’67-’68 Cardinals), having a rookie in the rotation (Gary Gentry), an unproven guy at the back of the bullpen (Tug McGraw), and a GM who failed to land the infielder they desperately needed in spring training (Joe Torre).
Now let’s start by saying that Jerry Manuel is no Gil Hodges, Omar Minaya isn’t ’69 GM Johnny Murphy, and no one would confuse a Jeff or Fred Wilpon with Joan Payson, but part of being a Mets fan is letting them play a few games or even months before dismissing them.
Let’s look at what the 2010 club has in common with the ’69 club as we take the 2010 toy out of the package.
Ace high
No Tom Seaver in 2010, but Johan Santana’s pretty good, in case you’ve forgotten or weren’t watching on Monday. Johan has two Cy Young Awards, and his 2008 season was as good as any season by a Met not named Seaver or Dwight Gooden.
Holes in the infield
The ’69 Mets actually began the year experimenting with left fielder Cleon Jones at first base and center fielder Amos Otis at third.
The ’10 Mets have an All-Star in David Wright, a dynamic shortstop with a thyroid problem in Jose Reyes, a former prospect in Mike Jacobs who was considered decent enough to trade for Carlos Delgado after the 2005 season, and a second baseman...well, Luis Castillo can hit better than Al Weis and with some luck could exceed the three homers Weis hit in the ’69 regular season and World Series.
Most of us would just settle for Luis catching every pop-up he comes in contact with.
An outfielder on the DL
Art Shamsky began 1969 on the disabled list with a serious back problem, so an unknown named Rod Gaspar took his place as the Opening Day right fielder. Gaspar was one of those Gil Hodges creations who provided a catch, a hit, a throw, or a steal when the Mets needed it most.
Could Gary Matthews Jr. prove everyone wrong and still have a little something left or maybe help land someone in a trade after Carlos Beltran comes back?
A catcher who couldn’t hit
All right, I suppose this requires a comparison of Henry Blanco and Jerry Grote. That is a bit of a stretch, and Blanco will probably sit a lot in favor of Rod Barajas, but a catcher who possesses a strong arm, glove, arm, and game-calling instinct is more important than one who’s second-rate in these categories but good with a bat.
Someone to slam the door late in games
The Mets had a young McGraw finally coming into his own in the majors—he’d debuted in 1965 and had 25 mostly mediocre starts to his credit by ’69—but the man they usually called on to finish out games in ’69 was Ron Taylor.
One of the only key members of the ’69 team older than 30 (the 2010 Mets used eight players over 30 just on Opening Day), Taylor racked up 13 saves in ’69. That sounds paltry by today’s standards, but keep in mind that ’69 was the first year of the save as an official statistic, plus the Miracle Mets threw 51 complete games yet still finished 20 CGs behind the MLB-leading Giants. The entire NL last year had just 76 CGs.
Oh, sure, the ’69 Mets had a solid second man in the rotation in Jerry Koosman. And yes, we haven’t even mentioned Nolan Ryan—though the ’69 Mets thought him to be about as wild as Oliver Perez and had a talented enough staff where Ryan only made 10 starts. And the 2010 Mets would need a severe mojo infusion to come from 10 games back in August to catch anybody. But you can’t say it’s never been done.
Miracles have happened. Right across the parking lot.
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