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Present at the Creation (1962)

G-Fafif Feb 21 2012 12:36 PM

Bob Lipsyte covered the first Spring Training in 1962. He covered it again the other day for the Times. Once, while I was talking to Stengel, a middle-aged man approached, dragging a sullen teenager. This was clearly a troubled son and dad. The man claimed to have played for Stengel years ago in the minors. Stengel took his time, regaled them with tales of the father’s prowess and promised the kid a Mets contract if he got as good as his old man. As they left with arms around each other, Stengel rolled his eyes at me and shrugged. He had no memory of the man. Casey's the most fascinating manager in baseball and he's been dead at the present time for nearly 37 years.

G-Fafif Feb 21 2012 12:40 PM Re: Present at the Creation (1962)

Mark Herrmann with the scoop in Newsday that '62 Mets aren't going to be so bad, at least not by the players' recollections. This is not going to be so bad. That, more or less, was the thought going through the mind of every player on the expansion New York Mets when they ran onto the field in St. Petersburg for their first workout 50 years ago Sunday. They all heard the gravel-pit voice of 71-year-old manager Casey Stengel announcing to the world, "Here they are." The 22 pitchers and catchers and infielder Don Zimmer , who showed up early, also heard applause from 100 fans gathered to mark the historic occasion. Mostly, each man listened to an optimistic voice inside his own head. "Actually, I'd have to say that first spring training, we had a lot of big-name guys and I thought we should be a pretty good team," said Jay Hook , a pitcher drafted from the Reds. Said former Dodgers pitcher Roger Craig : "We had Frank Thomas , Richie Ashburn and Gus Bell. I felt we might be able to play .500 ball." Of course, to quote Stengel , you could look it up: They lost a record 120 games in 1962. "I didn't know it at the time, but I knew later that if we had put that group together a few years earlier, it would have been a hell of a club. We got them a little too late," said Al Jackson , a pitcher picked up from the Pirates. They did get the over-the-hill- gang look early on. Hook, a fitness buff who learned isometric exercises from football coach Ara Parseghian while pursuing his masters in mechanical engineering at Northwestern, was asked by Stengel to lead the team in exercises. Three days later, so many of the older players were sore and complaining that Stengel told him to stop. To this day, though, those 1962 Mets realize they had been right to begin with. It really wasn't so bad.

G-Fafif Feb 21 2012 12:44 PM Re: Present at the Creation (1962)

Current clubhouse manager Kevin Kierst doesn't steal uniforms. He borrows from the past, reports Marty Noble. One photo is from the days of "Ya Gotta Believe" and has Tug, his face eclipsed by a gigantic Topps bubble he'd created, and Rollie Fingers, the closers from the 1973 World Series. Another has Jerry Grote and Rod Gaspar dousing Mayor Lindsay in 1969. There's one of Ed Charles -- David Wright calls him "The first No. 5" -- and Koosy in the home clubhouse at Shea. Another is of Willie hitting his first home run with the Mets, against the Giants, in May 1972. (The trained eye can identify Fran Healy as the Giants catcher.) A photo that caught the eye of Kevin Kierst, and wouldn't let go, is one of those staged, hokey things that pictures Rod Kanehl, Jim Hickman, Gil Hodges, Frank Thomas and Charlie Neal, members of the 1962 Mets, creating a group smile -- a rarity that year -- after Casey's bumblers had beaten the Phillies on April 28. Their record was 2-12 after the victory, and it was their first win at home. But that's another story. Kierst is in his second spring as the Mets' clubhouse and equipment manager. He and others have rearranged and redecorated the clubhouse here, created more room, added furniture and changed the art. A Met-amorphosis, you might say. In hopes of emphasizing the club's past and connecting the Mets of Terry Collins to those of Stengel, Westrum, Hodges, et al, he has added links to the days of the Polo Grounds, Shea and George Thomas Seaver, George Basil Theodore and George Heard Stone. And -- "tah-dah!" -- he has eliminated most of the black for the indoor motif. The lockers have been returned to Mets blue, and word is that precious little black will be visible in the team's uniforms this season unless there is an appropriate salute to Gary Carter. Selective memory, however, afflicts this noble effort (per Noble): But there is nothing from the years of Joe Orsulak, D.J. Dozier or Lastings Milledge; not even a square inch from the time of Lo Duca, Pedro and Reyes spent in this burg on the East Coast of Florida that, beginning Tuesday, will be home to the Mets' 51st training camp. "What we did has something to do with the 50th anniversary [of the franchise]," Kierst says. "But it's not just that. ... This is the Mets' clubhouse. It should look like it is."

metirish Feb 21 2012 01:14 PM Re: Present at the Creation (1962)

G-Fafif wrote: Bob Lipsyte covered the first Spring Training in 1962. He covered it again the other day for the Times. Once, while I was talking to Stengel, a middle-aged man approached, dragging a sullen teenager. This was clearly a troubled son and dad. The man claimed to have played for Stengel years ago in the minors. Stengel took his time, regaled them with tales of the father’s prowess and promised the kid a Mets contract if he got as good as his old man. As they left with arms around each other, Stengel rolled his eyes at me and shrugged. He had no memory of the man. Casey's the most fascinating manager in baseball and he's been dead at the present time for nearly 37 years. that's great , look at those beautiful unis gold Alas, there were more critical numbers — the three made up an outfield with 19 children and a combined age of 102.

Edgy MD Feb 21 2012 01:18 PM Re: Present at the Creation (1962)

The players have some short-cut sleeves to show off their guns. Casey's, on the other hand, almost go down to his elbows.