Revisionist history: Darryl and Dawson on the Mets

MLB.com's Bryan Hoch was at the Baseball Assistance Team's annual dinner last night and filed a story comprised of several conversations with some of the Hall of Famers and other baseball illuminati. This one particular anecdote from former Mets manager Davey Johnson, speaking about Andre Dawson, really stood out:

"I pleaded with [GM] Frank Cashen to sign him," Johnson said. "I said, 'It's not going to be expensive. I think he'll play for $500,000 and we can really use him.' It wasn't in our policy. We never signed a free agent, and Frank Cashen just wouldn't do it, as long as I was there, anyway. I really tried to get him. I really thought he was a heck of a player and I could find playing time for him."

In 1987, coming off of a World Series victory, the manager of the Mets wanted to sign Andre Dawson. And the team wouldn't do it. Amazing.

As Hoch writes in introducing that quotation, "suppose the Mets had acquired Dawson for the 1987 season instead of Kevin McReynolds? It could have happened, and while it might not have staved off a rash of pitching injuries in '87, maybe those '88 Mets could have overtaken the Dodgers and made it two World Series appearances in three years." Wow -- an outfield of Dawson, Lenny Dykstra/Mookie Wilson and Darryl Strawberry. And supposing what Hoch suggests would mean that the trade for McReynolds didn't happen, and Kevin Mitchell would've remained a Met. Obviously, he wouldn't have been a starter in the outfield with those four, but maybe he would've been a supersub, much like he was in '86, or maybe he would've been dealt in a deal for a pitcher who would've strengthened that staff in '87 and '88.

And since we're supposing, let's suppose what Mets Walk-offs supposed yesterday: that Strawberry never signed with the Dodgers. Not only might the Mets have had a second World Series appearance (and title?) in 1988, but maybe they would've done it with two Hall of Fame outfielders manning the corners that year. Maybe Dawson still would've won the MVP in '87 and maybe Strawberry follows it up with the one he just missed in '88. And maybe a Mets championship in '88, led by the National League's two most recent MVPs, convinces the Mets to hold onto Strawberry when he becomes a free agent in 1990. So maybe it's not that that big a stretch. You know, once we project Dawson as a Met in '87.

That's enough speculation for one day, but since it's getting harder and harder to speculate who the Mets might actually still sign this offseason, it's a refreshing break from reality.

On draft picks and jerseys

Updated...

Some quick hits, because I suck at consistency and I'll be away for a few days:

This is what you get when Darryl Strawberry* is making your picks at the draft: You end up with Guillaume Leduc, a pitcher out of Montreal, who should be rushed to the Majors this season so that he -- Leduc -- can relieve El Duque and pitch to Paul Lo Duca. But maybe he'll pitch at Brooklyn this summer and take a toss from Lucas Duda while covering first base.

*OK, I know, he's not really making the picks, but still.


But then there's the Yankees. They strengthened their frontcourt with their first pick -- a 6-foot-10 hurler with elbow issues, Andrew Brackman out of North Carolina State. I guess with so many pitching injuries this season, they thought that was how pitchers are supposed to look.

Later, they took a hurler out of the Savannah (Ga.) College of Art and Design. Seriously. He comes with upside, though: He's really good at painting the corners and should be able to help decorate the new clubhouses at the new Yankee Stadium. I just hope his first words at orientation in Tampa aren't, "These uniforms are so 1920s."


I have to side with those who find the Pirates' Friday-night red-based ensemble a bit hideous. At first, I thought the jerseys looked sharp, but that was with Adam LaRoche in jeans. (Nice artistic reference by Uniwatch when it was announced.) Now, I do find them over the top, mainly because with the black undershirt, red sleeveless jersey and white pants, it's too much. It's like a flag, an XFL uniform or, even worse, one of those hideous "futuristic" designs teams wore several years ago.

The Pirates used to have red in their uniforms -- but then again, they also once had pockets. I'm pretty sure that design's not coming back anytime soon.


OK, this isn't good. The Mets are on a four-game losing streak -- the first time all season they've lost more than two straight -- and they now enter a stretch of six straight series against six different playoff teams from 2006. They'll become the first team in baseball history to do that against six different teams. (Two teams previously have played six straight series against playoff clubs, but some of those have included repeat teams.) And because they play the Padres by virtue of being in the National League, the Mets will become the first team in baseball to play the seven other postseason participants from the previous year. Good luck to the team that, some year, has to face all eight of the previous season's playoff clubs.

In other scheduling quirkiness this weekend, the Astros will become the first team to play both Chicago teams on the same trip to the city when they spend the weekend at Comiskey Park and head to the North Side on Monday. And the Pirates return to the Bronx 80 years after their 1927 World Series showdown.


It turns out that the winningest pitcher in the illustrious nine-plus-year history of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays is none other than Victor Zambrano. Scott Kazmir is nine back, which means -- with that team -- he could pass Zambrano in April 2008. But Zambrano's stature prompted one coworker to remark, "There are some relievers with 35 wins. Scot Shields gets like six a year."

As of today, Shields indeed has 35 career wins. Funny how that works. (It's not as fun when you break down their stats and see that Shields got some of those as a starter, but Zambrano got some of his as a reliever.)


Missed this the other day, but David Wright cashed in on Coca-Cola's buyout of Vitamin Water's parent company.

That's almost as sweet a deal as the owners of the Spirits of St. Louis negotiated with the NBA.

Sticking it to the NL East for four more years

Jose Reyes, Shea Stadium, June 19, 2006

Outstanding move by the Mets to lock up Jose Reyes through 2010, or possibly through 2011. He's one of three players for whom you could make the case is the Mets' MVP. With Reyes, Carlos Beltran and David Wright all worthy of consideration, Albert Pujols is almost assured of taking it for the second straight year because those three Mets will split votes. If Beltran continues his torrid second half and finishes with numbers near Pujols', he'll have the best chance of giving the Mets their first MVP award.

It should be their second, following Darryl Strawberry's outstanding 1988, which was better than Kirk Gibson's season. But Kevin McReynolds seemed to take some of Strawberry's votes. I wonder if the results would have been different if we viewed OPS the same way in 1988 that we do today.

Signing Reyes -- and buying out his arbitration years -- just adds to the feel-good story of this 2006 season. Wright will probably be next, whether it's done this season, during the offseason, in spring training or next season. And this announcement should finally erase the memory of the bad dream I had a few weeks ago -- a dream in which Jose Reyes signed with the Yankees.

Shudder.

Not gonna happen. At least not during these formative, productive years.

Then and Now: The Springfield Nuclear Nine

Homer at the Bat
Today I watched "Homer at the Bat," the episode of The Simpsons in which Mr. Burns hires nine major league players to token jobs at the power plant so that they can play on the company softball team. When Smithers goes out to hired the first of the ringers, his first stop is a baseball card show at which Jose Canseco is signing autographs. "I get $50,000 to play one game?" Canseco asks, sounding excited. "Well, it's a pay cut, but what the hey, it sounds like fun."

Looking back on it now — the episode originally aired almost 13 years ago, Feb. 20, 1992 — it's amazing to see what players were chosen, and the subplots that were explored. For instance, today Canseco is still looking out for Jose, trying to make money however he can. So I thought I'd take a look at the Springfield Nuclear Nine, then and now.

JOSE CANSECO
Then: The 27-year-old was coming off a 44-home run, 122-RBI season with the A's, his sixth full season. He'd hit 209 homers to that point. The 1992 season: He was traded to Texas in August for Ruben Sierra, Jeff Russell, Bobby Witt and cash. It was a deal that seemed like it could be one of the biggest ever and an exchange of two certain Hall of Famers. Now: I hear he's got a book out, based loosely on his playing days.

MIKE SCIOSCIA
Then: At the age of 32, Scioscia batted .264 for the '91 Dodgers in 119 games. He had what would probably be considered his career year in 1990, when he also hit .264, but with 12 homers and 66 RBI, both career highs. He knew how to work a count, though: In each of his 13 big-league seasons, he walked more times than he struck out, despite a career .259 batting average. The 1992 season: It was his last as a player. In 117 games, he hit just .221 with a career-low .286 OBP (.344 lifetime mark nonetheless). He retired with just 68 career HRs. Now: He's about to enter his sixth season as manager of the Angels, coming off his first division title. The team's 75th win this season will be his 500th. Show quotation: [Explaining why he actually enjoys working in the power plant.] "It's such a relief from the pressures of playing big-league ball. I mean, there, you make any kind of mistake, and — BOOM! — the press is all over you." And now he's a manager. Go figure.

OZZIE SMITH
Then: At 37, The Wizard of Oz had just come off his third straight season with exactly 50 RBI. The 1992 season: He hit .295 and stole 43 bases, but would have only one more season with 500 at bats before retiring in after the '96 campaign. Now: He may be the last player to reach the Hall of Fame for his defense and solid consistency moreso than his offensive numbers. Show moment: During practice, Mr. Burns takes the bat from Oz to show him how to bunt. The pitch comes in, and Mr. Burns is knocked to the backstop by the force of the ball hitting the bat.

DON MATTINGLY
Then: He played 152 games for the Yankees at 30, but hit just 14 homers combined in 1990 and '91. The 1992 season: He overcame his back problems enough to hit 14 homers in '92 and 17 in '93, with 86 RBI in each. Now: He's in Tampa, about to start his second season as the Yankees' hitting coach. Show quotation: "I still like him better than Steinbrenner." Airing six months after George Steinbrenner criticized Mattingly for wearing his hair too long (and had him benched for one game because he didn't cut it), Mr. Burns insists Donnie Baseball shave his sideburns. Mattingly doesn't see the problem (he has no sideburns) and ends up shaving the sides of his head up and over the top. Burns still isn't satisfied and kicks him off the team, prompting the comment.

STEVE SAX
Then: "Saxie" hit .304 with a career-high 10 homers and 56 RBI in '91 for the Yankees. He also stole 31 bases at 31. The 1992 season: In the first of two seasons with the White Sox, his average plummeted to .236, though he still stole 30. He played just 57 games in '93 and seven in '94. Now: Sax appeared to be the leading candidate to land the color commentator's role for TV broadcasts of about 50 Dodgers road games (those for which Vin Scully does not make the trip), but the team hired Steve Lyons instead. Show quotation: "But there's hundreds of unsolved murders in New York City." The police pull him over as he's driving through Springfield and harass him because he's from NYC.

ROGER CLEMENS
Then: The Rocket, 29, went 18-10 with 13 complete games (four shutouts) for the Red Sox, striking out 241 batters. The 1992 season: Clemens was 18-11 with 11 complete games (five shutouts) and 208 Ks. Now: He's signed on for one last, final last season with the Astros. Show moment: The Rocket's grounded from the softball game because the hypnotist brought in to convince the team (ringers and true employees alike) that they were outstanding athletes has made Clemens think he's a chicken. He walks around the field clucking. Eight years later, he'd throw a bat at Mike Piazza and then claim he "thought it was the ball."

WADE BOGGS
Then: The 33-year-old third baseman hit .332 for the Sox in '91. The 1992 season: His worst average, by far: .259. Not great for a contract year. In '93, he was in the Bronx. Now: All the money he earned in the bigs bought him a new full head of hair. And, he's in the Hall of Fame. Show quotation: "Pitt the Elder!" At Moe's, in a debate with Barney over who was England's greatest prime minister, Boggs gets punched out for disagreeing with Barney.

KEN GRIFFEY JR.
Then: He played three seasons before turning 22 and reached 100 RBI (exactly) for the first time in '91, hitting .327. The 1992 season: Continuing his steady rise, he batted .308 with 27 HR and 103 RBI. Now: After the difficult offseason of 1999-2000, when he forced a trade to his hometown Reds, this is the fourth straight spring folks in Cincinnati are beginning sentences with "If Griffey stays healthy ..." Show quotation: When Mr. Burns forces everyone to drink Brain & Nerve Tonic to "promote robust health," despite causing gigantism in rare cases, Griffey gets hooked on the sauce and develops a huge head. Since then, he's missed at least 20 games in eight of 13 seasons.

DARRYL STRAWBERRY
Then: His first season with the Dodgers produced 28 home runs and 99 RBI at the age of 29. The 1992 season: This is where the signing officially went bust. He played just 43 games and would top 100 only once (1998 with the Yankees) before retiring after the '99 season. Now: Returning to his roots, Straw will be a spring-training instructor for the Mets in Port St. Lucie. Show moment: As the only ringer who wasn't kicked off the team or otherwise kept from playing, Strawberry starts the game in place of Homer in right field. Upset that their father isn't playing, Bart and Lisa start chanting "Daaaa-rryl! Daaaa-rryl!" Marge scolds them, but Lisa explains, "Mom, they're professional athletes, they're used to this sort of thing. It rolls right off their back." Strawberry sheds a tear.