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Todd Zeile Deserves His Own Thread (split from Welcome Back, JB)

John Cougar Lunchbucket Jan 11 2018 07:51 PM

Granderson and Zeile were both good hires who went to the world series. Bay was a swing-and-miss.

Centerfield Jan 11 2018 09:06 PM Re: Welcome Back Jay Bruce, The Trade Was Your Ticket Out

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Granderson and Zeile were both good hires who went to the world series. Bay was a swing-and-miss. I remember being very disappointed with Zeile, but looked it up and he had an .823 OPS in 2000!

Ceetar Jan 11 2018 09:14 PM Re: Welcome Back Jay Bruce, The Trade Was Your Ticket Out

Rumors the Giants offered 3/30 or so, so maybe the Mets weren't actually the only team that values him.

Edgy MD Jan 12 2018 03:28 AM Re: Welcome Back Jay Bruce, The Trade Was Your Ticket Out

Centerfield wrote: John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Granderson and Zeile were both good hires who went to the world series. Bay was a swing-and-miss. I remember being very disappointed with Zeile, but looked it up and he had an .823 OPS in 2000! Replacing a very lamented John Olerud colored a lot of Zeile perceptions. I went to watch the baseball Congressional hearings, and given half a chance to nail Bud Selig to the wall, Congressman Anthony Weiner used his time to mumble barely coherent complaints about not re-signing Olerud. it was a tough loss. That Zeile earned even grumbling acceptance after that was well to his credit.

Ashie62 Jan 12 2018 06:30 AM Re: Welcome Back Jay Bruce, The Trade Was Your Ticket Out

Is this signing official?

Zvon Jan 12 2018 06:35 AM Re: Welcome Back Jay Bruce, The Trade Was Your Ticket Out

My remark is Smith and McCutcheon both wear 22, so it's an efficiency play. HA! Holy Jeebus, I just saw the tractor hammer picture. HOLY GUACAMOLEE! Granderson and Zeile were both good hires who went to the world series. Bay was a swing-and-miss. A swing and a miss and a WATCH OUT FOR THAT WALL! ... I just don't want to lose Nimmo in our long term plans unless there is a good trade return. ^This So after sleeping on it and trying to sell myself on Bruce I find I'm still pretty underwhelmed. Some thoughts: *This serves to eliminate a lot of options. You have to figure all other OF options are gone. So no McCutchen, no Cain, and no stunner for JD Martinez. You also have to figure this eliminates Duda. I thought that if the Mets got a RH top of the order-ish guy (McCutchen, Cain), then Lucas might be a bargain basement 1 year power fill in as a hedge for Dominic Smith. *Bruce is probably the "big splash" for the Mets. They will cite his 30+ HR's and talk about how they got a legitimate power guy for the middle of the lineup. Bruce certainly has power. His HR's were no doubters last year (this is something I was worried about having seen him play in that bandbox in Cincy). But he's really just not good at anything else. Was hoping for a guy that hits for average, gets on base, and does damage against elite pitchers. Right handed would be a plus. Bruce does none of this. *This "second tier" contract is such a Mets move. Granderson, Bay, Zeile. And allAdat. Replacing a very lamented John Olerud colored a lot of Zeile perceptions. TRUTH BRUTHA! And I agree with much of what has been said here. If I quote you all this will go on forever. I really enjoy reading you guyz (re:Mets) more than any other sports/Mets/baseball site/blog/page/or msg board. And I become better informed as I do. *lifts glass Here's to the CPF going on forever & ever, amen. I just PMd batmags that I don't even own a high horse, so I will stop with these kinds of posts in the future. I'm simply not contributing anything to the conversation. But I do want you guyz to know this because I may not have another chance to say it. You're the best Mets fans known to man and the universe!

John Cougar Lunchbucket Jan 12 2018 07:11 PM Re: Welcome Back Jay Bruce, The Trade Was Your Ticket Out

Zeile had a crappy 2001, when he had a bad elbow or something all year but didn't address it till the offseason. By then he was traded.

Frayed Knot Jan 12 2018 08:14 PM Re: Welcome Back Jay Bruce, The Trade Was Your Ticket Out

My recollection of the Zeile replacement of Olerud was that it was at least partly due to Steve Phillips and his 'old school' mentality. Now maybe Olerud was always going to go home to Seattle anyway no matter what the Mets offered and this was just some sort of after-the-fact rationalization, but I remember Phillips making some sort of reference to Oleurd maybe not being as aggressive a hitter as he would have liked. iow, ONLY 291 Ribbies over three seasons despite hitting .315 during that time in the middle of what was usually a pretty good lineup meant that he wasn't making the most of the spot he was put in. But, while it wasn't like Zeile was lousy, he wasn't going to replicate JO's .425 OBA (even though he turned in a respectable .358) an edge which I believe was lost on SP and his very non-SABRE line of thinking. My other recollection, this all coming as it did during the MoFo days of internet NYM history, was that poster Nique **HATED** TZ from day one and with a passion that bordered on irrational. And then there was METSSC nicknaming him 'Un' -- as in his name should have been Unzeile for the lack of zeal he displayed -- but of course his whole persona was often irrational once he got a hold of an idea.

Centerfield Jan 12 2018 08:17 PM Re: Welcome Back Jay Bruce, The Trade Was Your Ticket Out

The "un" nickname was dumb. But LOBin Ventura is one of my favorites to this day.

Edgy MD Jan 12 2018 08:23 PM Re: Welcome Back Jay Bruce, The Trade Was Your Ticket Out

Oh, man, I think about METSSC a lot but NIQUE had escaped my consciousness.

Frayed Knot Jan 12 2018 08:30 PM Re: Welcome Back Jay Bruce, The Trade Was Your Ticket Out

Centerfield wrote: The "un" nickname was dumb. But LOBin Ventura is one of my favorites to this day. LOBin was certainly a more inventive handle, but it was also hung on him barely 24 hours into his NYM career on account of him leaving a couple of runners on in his very 1st NYM game (or maybe 2nd). Then the haters who were against the signing in the first place (Ambler was lead culprit on this one) acted as if his obvious 'unclutchness' was now not just a proven flaw but also a sign of what he always would be. And of course both players were part of the "too old, too slow, too white" criticism, a mantra which lasted until the Omar introductory press conference when his stated goal of making the team "more athletic" was derided as racist since these were obvious code words for only black and Hispanic players need apply from then on. I tells ya, sometimes ya just can't win!

Frayed Knot Jan 12 2018 08:37 PM Re: Welcome Back Jay Bruce, The Trade Was Your Ticket Out

Oh, man, I think about METSSC a lot but NIQUE had escaped my consciousness. I remember 'saying' to Nique one time: "Did this guy (Zeile) run over your dog or something?" I mean it's fine to dislike certain players but I don't recall her ever giving a specific reason for her outright hate in this case, just that it was total. And then after she'd spend half her day writing in the MoFo of her Zeile hatred, she was enough of a regular caller to 'Mike and the Mad Dog' that they knew her as the Zeile-hating Mets fan.

Edgy MD Jan 12 2018 08:44 PM Re: Welcome Back Jay Bruce, The Trade Was Your Ticket Out

SHUT UP SHUT UP STOP MAKING ME THINK OF NIQUE I HATE YOU SHUT UP!1!!!!11!

John Cougar Lunchbucket Jan 12 2018 09:10 PM Re: Welcome Back Jay Bruce, The Trade Was Your Ticket Out Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Jan 12 2018 09:14 PM

Zeile did have a rap for being less than enthusiastic before he came to the Mets. Whitey Herzog: “He's a good kid, he really is. But he's so damn laid back. We used to try to get him more fiery. We wanted him to throw helmets, cuss after he struck out, pump his fist, damn near anything to show emotion. But I'll tell you what, he wouldn't change … You aren't going to change Todd Zeile.” Walt Jocketty, when Zeile was traded from St. Louis to the Cubs: “We’re not happy with the chemistry and focus of this team. If you saw Todd Zeile play, you could see he’s not a real aggressive person in his approach to the game. He was kind of at one gait. Metssc: UNZEILE

dgwphotography Jan 12 2018 09:11 PM Re: Welcome Back Jay Bruce, The Trade Was Your Ticket Out

I just went back and looked - I had forgotten just how good Olerud was for us. Wasn't there something about him going to Seattle because he had a newborn, and his mother played the grandmother card? Or was that just postulation on our part?

dgwphotography Jan 12 2018 09:13 PM Re: Welcome Back Jay Bruce, The Trade Was Your Ticket Out

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Zeile did have a rap for being less than enthusiastic before he came to the Mets ALL HE NEEDED WAS ONE STEROID SHOT, AND TIMO COULD HAVE SKIPPED ALL THE WAY HOME...

John Cougar Lunchbucket Jan 12 2018 09:28 PM Re: Welcome Back Jay Bruce, The Trade Was Your Ticket Out

The famous GFaFiF wrote a great article about hanging out with Todd Zeile at a Mets game last year, and it helped inform my as-yet-unpublished SABR bio including the above quotes. Todd Zeile: A Man who deserves his own thread.

Frayed Knot Jan 12 2018 09:36 PM Re: Welcome Back Jay Bruce, The Trade Was Your Ticket Out

dgwphotography wrote: Wasn't there something about him going to Seattle because he had a newborn, and his mother played the grandmother card? Or was that just postulation on our part? Well Seattle was his hometown so there was definitely the thought that any offer other than the Mariners would have to be significantly better in order to work. Now no one ever confirms that kind of stuff publicly but sometimes just the fact that that everyone "knows" it's true makes it true whether it actually is or not. Of course everyone also knew that Mark McGwire was going to sign with a SoCal team so he could see his kid who lived with the former wife ... except that he wound up re-upping with the Cardinals before ever getting to the FA market. I don't remember if a baby was already born and/or under construction during Olerud's FA winter or whether just the speculation of one in the near future made that another factor in the mix.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Jan 12 2018 09:39 PM Todd Zeile Deserves His Own Thread

Phillips getting Zeile and moving him to first base was actually a clever move given the options once Olerud vamoosed, despite Phillips' lame baseball justifications. What was retarded in retrospect was getting Mo Vaughn to replace Zeile only 2 years later.

Edgy MD Jan 12 2018 09:55 PM Re: Todd Zeile Deserves His Own Thread (split from Welcome B

Cool Todd Zeile Fact: Todd hired Lieutenant Uhura before she was Lieutenant Uhura. [fimg=500:3docilpf]http://www.gstatic.com/tv/thumb/dvdboxart/89992/p89992_d_v8_aa.jpg[/fimg:3docilpf]

cooby Jan 12 2018 10:01 PM Re: Todd Zeile Deserves His Own Thread (split from Welcome B

Wasn't he married to an Olympic gymnast?

cooby Jan 12 2018 10:02 PM Re: Welcome Back Jay Bruce, The Trade Was Your Ticket Out

dgwphotography wrote: John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Zeile did have a rap for being less than enthusiastic before he came to the Mets ALL HE NEEDED WAS ONE STEROID SHOT, AND TIMO COULD HAVE SKIPPED ALL THE WAY HOME... Loved Timo

John Cougar Lunchbucket Jan 12 2018 11:10 PM Re: Todd Zeile Deserves His Own Thread (split from Welcome B Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Jan 12 2018 11:21 PM

cooby wrote: Wasn't he married to an Olympic gymnast? Julianne McNamara. They split up a few years ago. Their teen daughter is an actress on the TV show This Is Us, which I've never seen. Todd's nephew Shane Ziele is an outfielder in the Tigers system

DocTee Jan 12 2018 11:20 PM Re: Todd Zeile Deserves His Own Thread (split from Welcome B

Didn’t he have a reputation for stealing the wives of his teammates?

John Cougar Lunchbucket Jan 12 2018 11:22 PM Re: Todd Zeile Deserves His Own Thread (split from Welcome B

The rumor was that he might have a thing for his teammates' wives' boyfriends

John Cougar Lunchbucket Jan 12 2018 11:23 PM Re: Todd Zeile Deserves His Own Thread (split from Welcome B

One fun fact about Todd zeile I was unable to determine was the story that he was related to President John Adams. I traced his paternal grandmother's family back several Generations in Ohio but the trail went cold eventually. That family name was Todd, which was also the name Todd Zeiles dad Frank went by. I should add that I'm not a great historian of families. But if you search newspapers in Southern California in the 1950s you can find exploits of a baseball player named Todd zeile although he was actually Todd's father Frank If I recall properly the Zeiles were German scions of a dentist who settled in San Francisco in the 1800s.