Is Davey Johnson Poised To Make The Nationals Remind Us Of The 86 Mets?

By Rob Carr, AP

Yes, I know, Blasphemy!, well at least to New York Mets
fans anyway. Can you think of a better headline to use
that goes with Davey Johnson, a 9-3 start, and lots of
young talent like the Nationals have? Maybe, but as a
life long Mets fan, Davey Johnson has a special place
in my heart and it irks the the beejesus out of me that
a manager who has a win percentage as high as he does,
a World Series title and never had managerial record of
worse than 77-85 during a full season, had to wait over
ten years to get his next shot as a Major league manager.

Davey Johnson has a .562 career winning percentage, and
a record that is 262 games over .500! He has managed
in the Olympics, for both the American & Dutch national
teams, and even taught a little baseball in China.
Now Johnson is back at the helm of an MLB team, and has
the parts to make some hay. Stephen Strasburg may not
exactly remind you of Doc Gooden yet, but the potential
comparison is there. There isn't a Keith Hernandez type
on this team, but how many teams have that anyway?
This Nats squad has Jayson Werth, not Gary Carter as it's
big name gun from another team. For a home grown leader
they lean on Ryan Zimmerman instead of a Daryl Strawberry
or a Mookie Wilson, and though you may not get as many
practical jokes out of Brad Lidge and Drew Storen as you
did from Jesse Orosco, and Roger McDowell, you might get
more saves.

OK, so maybe the '86 Mets are a lofty comparison 12 games
into the season, but this team definitely has a chance to
do a couple of things that team did, win the division, and
win the World Series. I also can't help but feel that
Davey Johnson is once again poised to show the rest of us
what a smart baseball man he is, and his link to that 1986
team is obviously inevitable. I will still root for my
Mets, but I have to root for Davey too. He deserves it.


Tweet Don't Believe In Plays, Believe In Players - Al Davis

Gary Carter Passes, But The Kid Will Never Die

Photo: Ray Stubblebine/Reuters

I remember the announcement like it was yesterday, and yes
some of the facts get a little blurry after 29 years, but
there was an announcement on Monday Night Football that
the New York Mets had made a blockbuster trade to acquire
Gary Carter form the Montreal Expos. Yes, you read right,
they announced it during a FOOTBALL game, so you knew it
was BIG news. So many feelings ran through me, because
one of my favorite Mets was being traded to Montreal in
the package, Hubie Brooks, but once I got over that part
of the process, all I could think is how good the Mets
were gonna be, and good they were.

The Mets only won one title with that group, and they
probably should have, and could have won more, but they
haven't won one since, so they obviously made the right
move. People will talk and say many things about Gary
Carter, like the rally he started against the Red Sox
in game six to stave off elimination, and eventually win
that game and the series, or that he never met a camera
or microphone he didn't like. What you will also find
though, is that just about every single thing you hear
will attach his smile to it, and his infectious energy.

Gary Carter wasn't my favorite Met, but maybe he should
have been. I was more of a Keith Hernandez fan, but that
doesn't matter today, because I miss him like many Mets
and baseball fans everywhere, and realize the the world
is just not as good a place without him in it.

R.I.P. Kid, you were one of a kind!


Tweet Don't Believe In Plays, Believe In Players - Al Davis