The Dirty Dozen ... Dozen ... Dozen

In honor of 12/12/12, I have decided to play a little game with you, the Studious Metsimus reader.

Here are the photos of twelve players who have worn No. 12 at some point in their careers as members of the New York Mets.  Your mission, if you choose to accept it - and you will - is to identify who's behind the No. 12 in each photo.

After you've gone through the 12 photos and the accompanying helpful hints, there will also be a bonus photo for you to identify.  Call it a baker's dozen if you will.

Ready to play?  Begin!

(Answers can be found in small print underneath the final photo.  No peeking!)

Photo No. 1:

Hint: He was a very good Met, but at the same time, he wasn't good.  (He also doesn't look like a lady.)

Photo No. 2:

Hint: This No. 12 only scored 12 runs as a Met, but he's most known for a 12-pitch at-bat that took place three frames after the 12th inning.

Photo No. 3:

Hint: Trust me.  Even though you can't see his uniform number, this was a former No. 12.  I'm just happy I managed to find this photo.

Photo No. 4:

Hint: In 19 postseason at-bats for the Mets, this No. 12 had a .421 batting average.  Not bad for a guy who averaged exactly one hit every four at-bats during his eight-year stay in New York.

Photo No. 5:

Hint: He survived many boos at Shea Stadium.

Photo No. 6:

Hint: This No. 12 might be taking off his jersey in the photo, but he also took off from Brooklyn to Queens before any other Met did.

Photo No. 7:

Hint: He went from perennial All-Star to perennial boo-bird faster than you can say Jason Bay.






Photo No. 8:

Hint: Talk to this guy in his No. 12 batting practice jacket and he'll be sure to tell you about when he hit home runs in back-to-back games.

Photo No. 9:

Hint: That No. 12 hiding under this player's elbow went into hiding for good soon after this photo was taken.  Let's just say this player was more known for wearing two other numbers during his career as a Mets fan-favorite.

Photo No. 10:

Hint: What do those letters on this Mets novelty jersey spell?  They certainly don't spell OBP.

Photo No. 11:

Hint: He was traded to the Mets for one of the other players on this list.  He played for a team that went to the World Series after he was traded to the Mets, then played in the World Series after he left the Mets. I'm showing you his face in this photo.  What more can I say about him?




Photo No. 12:

Hint: He was traded to the Mets for one of the other players on this list.  He played for a team that went to the World Series the year before he came to the Mets.  I'm showing you his face in this photo.  He's not the guy in Photo No. 11.  His name rhymes with Falvaro Mespinoza.





Bonus Photo!!

Hint: There's a player wearing No. 12 in this photo, but you wouldn't know that because you're staring at that fine ass on the left, aren't you?

Thanks so much for playing 12 photos with us on this special day, 12/12/12.  Be sure to check underneath the final picture below to see if you got your answers right.

Can't see 'em?  That's because I purposely wrote them in a font as small as Jason Bay's batting average in ... you guessed it ... two-thousand-TWELVE!!  (Don't you just love it when things work out like that?) 

No, the Mets have never scored 12 runs in an inning.  But they will, probably in one of the 12 months.

Super tiny answers:    1. John "Bad Dude" Stearns      2. Shawon Dunston      3. Willie Randolph      4. Ken Boswell      5. Jeff Kent      6. Danny Garcia      7. Roberto Alomar      8. Ron Darling      9. Lee Mazzilli      10. Jeff Francoeur      11. Joaquin Arias      12. Alvaro Espinoza

Bonus photo:   Scott Hairston (duh!)

Photo of Scott Hairston taken by Sharon Chapman.
Photos of other players taken by photographers to be named later.