There have been 1,193 players who have appeared for the Mets, according to Baseball Reference as of this morning, but only 1,187 names for players in Mets history. Yesterday, Bobby Jones — an entirely different Bobby Jones than either of the Mets’ Bobbys Jones, and the golfer Bobby Jones, and not the Hall of Famer from the 76ers Bobby Jones either, that was the point — came up on Twitter thanks to my old Sporting News colleague Adi Joseph. It got me thinking… how many times have the Mets had that happen, the double Bobby Jones thing?
So, I went to the list of all-time Mets names and found the repeaters. Let’s take a look at these six pairs and declare the definitive Met for each name.
Sandy Alomar was traded from Atlanta to Houston around the start of spring training in 1967, then traded by the Astros to the Mets for Derrell Griffith at the start of spring training. At the age of 23, Alomar went 0-for-22 as a Met, and got traded to the White Sox in August of 1967 as the player to be named later in the Bill Southworth trade (the Mets also gave up Ken Boyer). Alomar was more significantly with the Yankees, playing three seasons in the Bronx, but mostly a California Angel. Anyway, here are the lowest OPS figures for players with at least 4,000 plate appearances in the live ball era:
Doug Flynn (1975-85): .560
Alomar (1964-78): .578
Tommy Thevenow (1924-38): .579
Mark Belanger (1965-82): .580
Ed Brinkman (1961-75): .580
In 2007, Sandy Alomar Jr. joined his old man in accumulating 22 at-bats as a Met. In the last eight games of a career that deserved better than 2.8% of the Hall of Fame ballot and going off the ballot in his first year, Alomar collected three hits: two singles and a double. The Mets’ third base coach at the time? Of course it was Sandy Alomar Sr., the definitive Met Sandy Alomar because of that coaching stint.
On May 10, 1967, with their original Sandy Alomar in the fold, the Mets purchased the contract of Bob Johnson from the Orioles. Playing all over the infield, but mostly second base, Johnson acquitted himself nicely in his first taste of National League ball, hitting .348/.377/.474 with five homers — the best hitting of his career, really. After the season, the Mets traded Johnson to the Reds for Art Shamsky, who became part of the 1969 championship team alongside Bob Johnson, a lefty pitcher. This Bob Johnson pitched two games for the Mets, and retired five of the seven batters he faced for a World Series-winning team (two quick outs to mop up against the Pirates on September 19, and a 12th-inning save at Wrigley Field on October 1). Johnson did pitch in the World Series against the Orioles, but not in 1969. He did that in 1971 with the Pirates, having been traded from New York to Kansas City (along with Amos Otis, oops) after the 1969 season for Joe Foy. The original Bob Johnson has a greater claim to the Mets’ throne of Bobs Johnson.
Bobby Jones, we don’t even really need to go deep on. He and Bobby Jones were teammates on the 2000 Mets, and whether you differentiated them as Bobby J. and Bobby M., righty and lefty, starter and reliever, or white and Black, there was never any question that the main Bobby Jones was the 1997 All-Star and former first-round pick — not the journeyman.
Mike Marshall is best known as a Dodger, either for winning the 1974 Cy Young Award or for his three-run homer that broke open Game 2 of the 1988 World Series, depending whether you decide to talk about him or Mike Marshall. In Mets history, neither is particularly significant. The pitching Marshall signed with the Mets in August of 1981, posted a 2.61 ERA in 20 appearances, and called it a career. On December 20, 1989, the Mets traded Juan Samuel to Los Angeles for the slugger Marshall and Alejandro Peña… Marshall was traded to Boston that July after hitting .239/.278/.411 with six homers in 53 games. Once again, can’t beat the original.
Bob Miller was a lefty who went 2-2 with a 7.08 ERA for the 1962 Mets (hey, that’s 5% of their wins!) after coming over from Cincinnati in May of the teams’s first season, along with Don Zimmer. Righty Bob Miller likewise ended his career with the Mets, joining the club near the end of the 1973 season after having his contract purchased from the Tigers, then sticking around through 1974. Neither is that exciting, go once again with the original for the Zimmer connection.
Last but not least, we’ve got Chris Young and Chris Young, and anyone who remembers the outfielder’s doomed stint in Flushing in 2014 knows that it’s the pitcher, here in 2011 and 2012, who is the ulti-Met CY.
We Can Pod It Out 89: Doctor Robert