under my bed (1)

as i sit and wait for topps 2012, i decided to take a peek under my bed... and in a shoebox, here is some of what i found... 1989!




i love Ron Darling as an announcer - and i did like him as a pitcher, but he had the misfortune of pitching with Gooden and the super-Mets of the mid-80's. although, now that i think about it, he probably benefitted from pitching at this time - instead of the Mike Pelfrey of the last 2 seasons who has been labeled an ace without really having the tools to become one, Darling got to simply be a solid pitcher on an amazingly deep and varied staff. In 1989, he went 14-14, a disappointment after four VERY good years: 16-6, 15-6, 12-8, 17-9... 60-29 over that stretch!

only one good season after that, going 15-10 with Oakland in 1992, but still one of the symbols of the greatest Mets teams of my lifetime.

Kevin Mitchell had a wild career - and i think i read that the Mets shipped him out because he was a bad-boy who was having an influence on some of the other players... But, if you know anything about the '86 Mets, then turning them into bad-boys was a ship that had already sailed...

Jose DeLeon was a great pitcher in my memory because of one amazing season - that 1985 with the Pirates where he went 2-19!!! But check out his IP/H that season: 162 IP and just 138 H - and his bb/k wasn't bad either: 89-149... i mean, his walks were high, but he was no Bobby Witt!

Another amazing thing about DeLeon - he actually lost 19 games TWICE! (7-19 in 1990) -

and lastly, he was born and grew up five minutes from my hometown, in Perth Amboy, NJ...




enjoy!