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Welcome to UnforMETable, an Amazin’ Avenue Audio show that looks back on less heralded, more obscure Mets players from the past.
Timo Perez began his professional baseball career over in Japan before the Mets scouted him and took a flyer on him prior to the 2000 season. A strong minor league campaign earned him a September call up, and his speed and versatility helped him find a place on the Mets’ postseason roster.
When regular right fielder Derek Bell went down with an ankle sprain in the first game of the playoffs, manager Bobby Valentine somewhat surprisingly turned to Perez to take over for him. Perez immediately provided the desired spark and seemed destined to put himself in the lore of unlikely baseball postseason heroes, until an unfortunate base running mistake cost the Mets a run in a World Series Game 1 they would lose in extra innings.
If you’ve got an idea for a player to be featured on UnforMETable, let us know in the comments.
Make sure to follow Rob on Twitter (@WolffRR), and you can now follow the show, too (@unformetable). Tune in next week for another tale from the Mets’ past.