Ruben Tejada

[letsgometsgo]

Cornerstone players: Ike D, David W, Travis D, Matt H, Dan W, Jon N, and maybe Bobby P.
Not too shabby. Just need better complimentary players. Lol

[fanofclendennon]

Originally Posted by clayamtion
Who are these complimentary players?
Possibly Tejada, Murphy and Cowgill.

Davis and Wright are cornerstones and eventually d'Arnaud.

Buck is a back up. Turner and Baxter are bench players. I hope Kirk can be more than a 4th outfielder, but unless his contact rate improves he'll be lucky to be just a 4th.

Correct on Tejada and Murph. Complimentary players to good cornerstone types. I have no idea about Cowsill (go ahead, link the Cowsills video). Buck, Turner, Baxter are throw aways, easily replaced if they sign elsewhere or are throw ins in a deal.

The problem continues to be the OF. Right now the OF has no cornerstone types or complimentary players. We have no OFer that would cause me to be concerned if we lost them. That's a sad statement.

We need (at least) one solid cornerstone like Upton and two good complimentaries. Until we get those three guys, this is a sub .500 team.

David Wright is the only cornerstone we have right now. While I believe Ike will be one real soon (possibly 2013) it still remains to be seen.

And many people think that the Cowsills were the inspiration for the more popular but less real Partridge Family.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFtuTktbofc

[MetsFanatic19]

The Mets are looking to be more pitching-dominant in the future anyway (Harvey, Wheeler, Familia, etc...) so having a low cornerstone to complimentary position player ratio wouldn't be the worst thing that could happen.

Look at the '69 Mets. How many "cornerstone" position players were on that team? I'd say the lineup consisted of mainly complimentary players. But they won with the great pitching they had in Seaver, Koosman, Ryan, etc...

Hopefully Harvey, Wheeler, and Syndergaard can turn into Seaver, Koosman, and Ryan 2.0

[jomota]

The Mets are looking to be more pitching-dominant in the future anyway (Harvey, Wheeler, Familia, etc...) so having a low cornerstone to complimentary position player ratio wouldn't be the worst thing that could happen.

Look at the '69 Mets. How many "cornerstone" position players were on that team? I'd say the lineup consisted of mainly complimentary players. But they won with the great pitching they had in Seaver, Koosman, Ryan, etc...

Hopefully Harvey, Wheeler, and Syndergaard can turn into Seaver, Koosman, and Ryan 2.0

Cleon, Agee and Swoboda vs Frick, Frack and Duda.

That is worse.

[MetsFanatic19]

Cleon, Agee and Swoboda vs Frick, Frack and Duda.

That is worse.

Obviously, but I wasn't comparing this year to '69. Also, other than Cleon and Agee, who would you say is more than a complimentary player on that team?

When the Mets are ready to compete in a few years, I could see that team and the '69 team being very comparable.

[fanofclendennon]

The Mets are looking to be more pitching-dominant in the future anyway (Harvey, Wheeler, Familia, etc...) so having a low cornerstone to complimentary position player ratio wouldn't be the worst thing that could happen.

Look at the '69 Mets. How many "cornerstone" position players were on that team? I'd say the lineup consisted of mainly complimentary players. But they won with the great pitching they had in Seaver, Koosman, Ryan, etc...

Hopefully Harvey, Wheeler, and Syndergaard can turn into Seaver, Koosman, and Ryan 2.0

The 1969 Mets were an anomaly. They won 100 games with a team that batted .245 because they were uncanny in high impact situations. But they were barely a .500 team in subsequent seasons.

Still, they had a left fielder who hit .340 and a gold glove caliber centerfielder who hit 24 homers. They were also very strong defensively.

And yeah, there were those two pitchers who were much, much better than anyone on this staff!

[fanofclendennon]

Obviously, but I wasn't comparing this year to '69. Also, other than Cleon and Agee, who would you say is more than a complimentary player on that team?

When the Mets are ready to compete in a few years, I could see that team and the '69 team being very comparable.

Jerry Grote was a front line catcher but hardly an All Star with the bat. Still, you have to remember that team had regular platoons at first, second, third, and right. Only Jones, Agee, Grote, and shortstop Buddy Harrelson were full-time players.

And even Harrelson missed a significant part of the season when he was called in to serve on active reserve duty for the Army.

At any rate, although the 1969 Miracle Mets were one of the great stories in baseball history and would forever ruin FoC's life, they're a poor example of how to build a baseball team.

[jomota]

Obviously, but I wasn't comparing this year to '69. Also, other than Cleon and Agee, who would you say is more than a complimentary player on that team?

When the Mets are ready to compete in a few years, I could see that team and the '69 team being very comparable.

You can't really compare the '69 Mets with anything. I don't even know if they had complimentary players. They had a lot of role players. It was just magical that year everything went our way. Man for man, the Cubs had a better team at almost every position…but we had the pitching.

And the black cat. Can't forget him.

[fanofclendennon]

You can't really compare the '69 Mets with anything. I don't even know if they had complimentary players. They had a lot of role players. It was just magical that year everything went our way. Man for man, the Cubs had a better team at almost every position…but we had the pitching.

And the black cat. Can't forget him.

The Cubs pitching matched up very well with the Mets. Offensively, the Mets couldn't be on the same field as the Cubs hitters.

But the Cubs had no bench and they had a manager who thought he could run the same 8 players out onto the field for 162 games, including 81 home games all played under the sun.

If Leo Durocher hadn't run his team into the ground, there is no Miracle of 1969.

[jomota]

The Cubs pitching matched up very well with the Mets. Offensively, the Mets couldn't be on the same field as the Cubs hitters.

But the Cubs had no bench and they had a manager who thought he could run the same 8 players out onto the field for 162 games, including 81 home games all played under the sun.

If Leo Durocher hadn't run his team into the ground, there is no Miracle of 1969.

It was the black cat.

[jomota]

I wish no one would bring up the '69 Mets. Every time they do I get this still image of Seaver in my mind on the mound rearing back with that long stride getting ready to throw a fastball. What a great pitcher.

[fanofclendennon]

I wish no one would bring up the '69 Mets. Every time they do I get this still image of Seaver in my mind on the mound rearing back with that long stride getting ready to throw a fastball. What a great pitcher.

His concentration and focus were second to none. And that stride....

[jomota]

His concentration and focus were second to none. And that stride....

Seems like that photo was on the back page of the News about a thousand times.

[fanofclendennon]

Thank God he got injured down the stretch with Boston in 1986. Could you have imagined him pitching in the WS against us?

[Paulie6986]

Obviously, but I wasn't comparing this year to '69. Also, other than Cleon and Agee, who would you say is no more than a complimentary player on that team?

When the Mets are ready to compete in a few years, I could see that team and the '69 team being very comparable.

MF19, I agree with jomo and FoC.

To add, the '69 Mets was one of the best clutch teams I've ever seen play in my lifetime. I mean if they needed a strikeout or a clutch hit they got it.

On May 27, they were 18-23. The rest of the way they went 82-39!!!!

Again, the key was incredible starting pitching whether it be Tom Terrific, Koos, Gary Gentry, Jim McAndrew, Don Cardwell, and a 22 year old Nolan Ryan. The BP was anchored by the deadly RP Tug McGraw and Ron Taylor. Most of the time they exceeded expectations.

The everyday players were really a bunch of guys that seemed to play above their abilities.

Players like Wayne Garrett, Bobby Heise, Al Weis, Ed Charles, J.C. Martin, Bobby Pfeil and others - a bunch of average guys at best playing their defined roles to perfection. It was uncanny and amazing from a group of guys who had previously been ignored for the most part.

From 1962 - 1968, the team had five 10th (last) place finishes and two 9th place finishes. So what happened came as a shock to the ENTIRE baseball world.......

Bottom line (but, you've heard it before)......Pitching, pitching, pitching and more pitching, exceptional defense and clutch hitting will always win.