Favorite and Least Favorite "Bad Mets"

by Alex Nelson on Mar 28, 2005 1:41 AM EST

Recently at Baseball Toaster the bloggers listed their favorite players who just weren't very good. They might be good enough at something, but they just didn't perform all that well. These are the sorts of guys that don't give you any reason on the field to be fans, but there's still something you like about 'em.

Take this for example (from my folks): Choo Choo Coleman. Choo Choo couldn't hit or field. At all. He hit .197 over his career and Rob Neyer called him the worst defensive catcher the Mets have ever had. But he had a great name and provided this gem on Kiner's Korner once. The interview was going very badly as Coleman had no desire to be there, so Ralph resorted to small talk:

Ralph (after several moments of silence): So, what's your wife's name and what's she like?
Choo Choo: Her name's Mrs. Coleman, and she likes me, Bub!

Just for fun you can also add your least favorite -- the guy you just couldn't stand (preferably for no good reason), and you're pretty "glad" they couldn't play a lick.

Here are my personal answers:

Favorite: D.J. Dozier. Dozier was an outfielder who had been a pretty decent prospect in the early 90's, who just couldn't put things together with the bat. He was very athletic, and he was the Mets' version of Bo Jackson, playing both pro football and baseball. At the time I thought that was pretty cool. That and I liked the way his last name sounded: Dozier.

Least Favorite: A tie between "Super" Joe McEwing and Jeff McKnight. Light-hitting utility guys just never did it for me. I remember McKnight being an automatic out at the plate, and I'll never be able to rid myself of McEwing's horrible-looking practice cuts between every pitch of every at bat.

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the baby Bells

Two names leapt into my mind from recent Mets history reading through this, and while both were really BAD Mets, I had very different emotional takes on them.

Favorite: Derek Bell. I know I'll take some heat for this -- and the guy was a godawful ballplayer, for sure -- but during his time with the Mets he always seemed like a laid-back and decent fellow with a good sense of humor. Kind of like Roger Cedeño in that regard, in fact. The whole "Operation Shutdown" thing got blown way out of proportion, but he definitely seemed like a bigger jerk during the brief post-Met era in his career.

Least Favorite: Jay Bell. Speaking of light-hitting utility guys. He should have been hired as a coach, and would make a fine one, but instead he got a roster spot and took a bunch of at-bats out of pure charity that should have belonged to Ty Wigginton.

by anonymous on Mar 28, 2005 3:52 PM EST reply actions

Young

I've long been obsessed with some Mets from the classic `92 and `93 teams, in particular the astonishing Anthony Young, who lost an extraordinary 27 games in a row. AMAZING!

by DavidNYC on Mar 28, 2005 7:00 PM EST reply actions

agree

I agree with McEwing. Whenever I saw this guy hit I wondered "why is he still here?" He just looked like he was going to hit an out. You did have to admire him though, he tried hard on every play, even if he lacked ability.

My favorite: Jim Tatum- Who can forget that epic atbat with Darryl Hamilton in '98? Hamilton pops foul up to third, but Tatum looses it in the sun and drops it. Hamilton again pops up to third foul and Tatum looses it and collides with Ordonez. Finally Hamilton pops up fould to third again and Tatum catches the ball on his knees. What a moment?

by mrmetaa on Mar 28, 2005 7:53 PM EST reply actions