Master Index of Archived Threads


The Cocky, the Flakey, and the Flambouyant

AG/DC Jul 01 2008 02:13 PM

Look deep in your soul, and ask yourself if you'd've liked these guys at all had they never suited up for your favorite team. Feel free to cmment, but I want yes's or no's for each of them. I've left out CF&F guys almost everybody hates, like Kent and Lima. Wally Backman Dennis Cook Len Dykstra Keith Hernandez Davey Johnson Cleon Jones Ray Knight Paul Lo Duca Pedro Martinez Lee Mazzilli Roger McDowell Tug McGraw Lastings Milledge Randy Myers Jose Reyes John Stearns Darryl Strawberry Bobby Valentine Billy Wagner Turk Wendell

AG/DC Jul 01 2008 02:18 PM

Bonus: Gary Carter.

Benjamin Grimm Jul 01 2008 02:20 PM

I'm not sure how much I would have known about them if they weren't Mets. I'll say "yes" to John Stearns. The others will all be "no." That doesn't mean I'd dislike them, but just that I wouldn't particularly have a liking for them. The ones I'd be most likely to dislike would be Dykstra, Reyes, and Wagner. (I'm drawing a blank on what CF&F might stand for.)

AG/DC Jul 01 2008 02:23 PM

Cocky, Flakey, and Flambouyant. If they played for a rival team, you'd know about them. Assume they all played for the Cubs pre-realignment.

themetfairy Jul 01 2008 02:32 PM

I tend to go for the flakes, even non-Metly ones (Mark Fidrych comes quickly to mind). So I'd probably have liked most guys on the list, even if they hadn't been Mets. I don't really think of Wagner as a flake, though. He's more of a redneck in my book.

sharpie Jul 01 2008 02:34 PM

Hard to say with guys who were originally Mets. Of the ones that started elsewhere: Cook: I had no opinion of. Hernandez: I liked before he was a Met. D. Johnson: Don't remember him as a player (though I should). Knight: I disliked him before he was a Met. Lo Duca: I liked him as a Dodger and Marlin Pedro: I liked him a lot as a Red Sox, specially cause he pissed off MFY fans Valentine: I didn't like him at all when he was the Texas manager. Wagner: I thought he was a good player as Astro and Phillie. Had no real like or dislike of him except he threw really hard. Wendell: Had no opinion of him prior to his Methood.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Jul 01 2008 02:40 PM

Wally Backman --Hate. Eckstein of his day Dennis Cook --Hate. Always angry Len Dykstra --Cheater and a dick. Keith Hernandez --Cokehead but I respected his swing and play Davey Johnson --No problems with him except ugly baseball cards Cleon Jones --OK with me Ray Knight --OK Paul Lo Duca --Never had much of an opinion Pedro Martinez --Very much admired his game Lee Mazzilli --No problems Roger McDowell --No problems Tug McGraw --Only when he shut us down in the 7th, 8th and 9th Lastings Milledge --Too big for his britches Randy Myers --Meathead Jose Reyes --Fun to watch, would argue against getting him for his dumb plays and questionable attitude John Stearns --OK with me, played hard Darryl Strawberry --Gotta respect the ability Bobby Valentine --It'd be easy to get whipped up against him as the opposing manager. Not sure I'd be capable of liking him unless he was on our side Billy Wagner --Overrated! Turk Wendell --Liked him Carter --Liked his game

AG/DC Jul 02 2008 07:43 AM

Wally Backman: One thing Wally could always be counted on to do was to find a way to get on when they needed baserunners in the ninth. I think I would have hated that as an opposing fan, getting hurt by a guy who hit the ball more than 150 feet once a month. Standing over there on first licking his awful moustache. Add to that his guild by association with Dykstra. Finally, when I was a teenager and stopped growing, rather than stick with my "smallish guy with surprising doubles power" act, I tried to imitate Backman as a slap hitter and began to suck. Dennis Cook: He made me laugh, always seeming constipated. I guess I'd appreciate that in an opponent. Len Dykstra: I didn't like him as a Met (almost from day one), so I don't see how I wouldn't have despised him otherwise. I didn't like Met fans who liked him, either. Keith Hernandez: Keith is the knd of character that makes baseball baseball. Really smart, but with enough arrogance to do reallly stupid stuff. Also, anybody stuck behind phonies like Steve Garvey and Pete Rose in the All Star pecking order gets my sympathy. How can you not like a guy (like Gary Maddox or Dave Concepcion) who found a new way to play his position? Davey Johnson: I like Davey Johnson as a manager of young players, not so much as a manager of older players. But I think any smart manager who's a combination of one of the guys and a lump at the end of the bench is quality entertainment. Sign me up. Cleon Jones: Was there real arrogance here? I don't know. Was he loafing or dealing with a hidden injury when Hodges pulled him? He clashed with Yogi too, but Yogi may have just been too old world. I imagine I wouldn't have noticed him that much on another team. Pass. Ray Knight: A big mouth and a thrower of classic a sucker punch. If I was a fan of another National League team at the time, he'd be at the top of my Met shit list. Paul Lo Duca: About 20% stupider than he thinks he is. Those guys can drive you crazy. But I don't notice him much on other teams. He seems to adjust his game to where he's needed in the lineup, and I can respect that. Pedro Martinez: A cockfighting, midget-exploiting pimp of the Hollywood-Santo Domingo-Washington Heights circuit, but what a beautiful pitcher to watch. If he was beating my team when he was young, with four A-list pitches and mastery of each of them, I imagine I'd consider that can't-miss TV. Hopefully we'd fight him to a standstill and get to his pen in the tenth. Lee Mazzilli: One of the greatest athletes we ever had, but he's like Danny Vermin, and fulfilled a lot of people's predicitons about him, and became a real scumbag. Torre took him under his wing and yeah, he seemed to develop a respect for and understanding of the game, but he also became a teacher's pet when he should have been raising his performance in 1980 and 1981. I don't know how much I'd have liked or disliked him. His batting stance looked like it hurt, I'll say that much. Roger McDowell: About 20% less funny than he thinks he is. That's annoying. Tug McGraw: I enjoyed Hrabosky. I'd probably have enjoyed him. Lastings Milledge: I have a feeling that he's going to have so much pressure on him to behave a certain way, he's going to get sick of people waiting for him to screw up and start being a shit just as a fuck-you to the haters. I think there was some of that in Darryl. Randy Myers: Meathead who wrongly thought that it was cool to wear camouflage. Jose Reyes: I like him, but his pouting would piss me off on rival team. I like Jimmy Rollins more or less, so I can take grownup sass. John Stearns: Never rounded off his offensive game enough to dislike, I guess. Good tough catcher. Darryl Strawberry: I have a soft spot for giants who can never fit in and get shit from jealous smaller men. Bobby Valentine: I guess I'd enjoy his maneuvering and how it challenged my manager to counter. Billy Wagner: The guy is a walking miracle out there. The funny thing is that he typically reserves his big mouth for comments about his own team, so I guess I never minded him as an opponent. Turk Wendell: Honestly, the necklace was bullshit. He knew enough to get rid of it when he was no longer pitching effectively enough for it to be tolerable. I'll give him that.