The Ring Is The Thing ... Just Not In Flushing

Marco Scutaro (left) and Angel Pagan (right) traded in their orange and blue for some orange and champagne.

Last night, the San Francisco Giants swept their way to their second World Series title in three years.  Meanwhile, it's been 26 years (and counting) since the Mets won their last championship.

Mets fans have proudly been wearing their team colors year after year hoping to see the team claim what has eluded them for over a quarter century.  But some players who have worn those same colors during their time at Shea Stadium and Citi Field have traded them in for another team's colors, winning World Series rings for their new teams while their former fans in New York continue to wait ... and wait ... and wait some more.

Here is a list of players who played for the Mets after the team won its last World Series in 1986 (meaning those players never won a title wearing orange and blue), then left New York to became part of a world championship team elsewhere.  You'll see the player's name, followed by the year or years he played for the Mets, and capped off by when he won a World Series ring for another team.  The list, unfortunately, is longer than we'd like.

Player Name	Years With Mets	World Series Championships Won With Other Teams
Tom Edens	1987	1991 Twins
David West	1988-89	1991 Twins
Kevin Tapani	1989	1991 Twins
David Cone	1987-92, 2003	1992 Jays, '96-'98, '00 Yankees
Pat Tabler	1990	1992 Jays
Tony Castillo	1991	1993 Jays
Dick Schofield	1992	1993 Jays
Tony Fernandez	1993	1993 Jays
Alejandro Peña	1990-91	1995 Braves
Charlie O’Brien	1990-93	1995 Braves
Bobby Bonilla	1992-95, 1999	1997 Marlins
John Cangelosi	1994	1997 Marlins
Allen Watson	1999	1999, 2000 Yankees
Ryan Thompson	1992-95	2000 Yankees
Jose Vizcaino	1994-96	2000 Yankees, 2006 Cardinals
Lance Johnson	1996-97	2000 Yankees
Armando Reynoso	1997-98	2001 Diamondbacks
Alex Ochoa	1995-97	2002 Angels
Jorge Fabregas	1998	2002 Angels
Dennis Cook	1998-2001	2002 Angels
Kevin Appier	2001	2002 Angels
Carl Everett	1995-97	2005 White Sox
Timo Perez	2000-03	2005 White Sox, 2006 Cardinals
Jason Isringhausen	1995-99, 2011	2006 Cardinals
Preston Wilson	1998	2006 Cardinals
Braden Looper	2004-05	2006 Cardinals
Xavier Nady	2006	2009 Yankees, 2012 Giants
Guillermo Mota	2006-07	2010, 2012 Giants
Octavio Dotel	1999	2011 Cardinals
Marco Scutaro	2002-03	2012 Giants
Angel Pagan	2008-11	2012 Giants
Joaquin Arias	2010	2012 Giants

But wait, there's more!  Here are four additional notes on former Mets and the World Series rings they won (or in some cases, didn't win) after they left New York.


Note #1:  Darrin Jackson began the 1993 season in Toronto, but was traded to the Mets during the season.  He still received a World Series ring from the Blue Jays even though he finished the 1993 campaign in New York.  Similarly, Miguel Batista started the 2011 season in St. Louis, but was released by the Cardinals and finished the season with the Mets.  Batista was still given a World Series ring by St. Louis for his contributions to the team.

Note #2:  Wally Whitehurst (a Met from 1989 to 1992), and Paul Gibson (a Met in 1992 and 1993) played for the 1996 Yankees, but were never given World Series rings.  Stay classy, Yankee brass.

Note #3:  Bobby M. Jones (a Met in 2000 and 2002; no relation to Bobby J. Jones, who pitched a one-hitter to clinch the 2000 NLDS for the Mets) pitched three games for Boston in April 2004, but was not given a World Series ring when the Red Sox won the championship.  Despite the oversight, they're still classier than the Yankee brass.

Note #4:  Dennis Cook and Braden Looper share the unique distinction of being the only two players since 1986 to win a World Series ring the year before joining the Mets and the year after they moved on to another team.  Cook was part of the Florida Marlins world championship team in 1997, then played for the Mets from 1998 to 2001, before winning his second title as a member of the Anaheim Angels in 2002.  Similarly, Looper also won a title with the Marlins, although his came in 2003.  He then closed (or tried to close) for the Mets in 2004 and 2005, before signing with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2006 and becoming a part of their championship team.  This is yet another reason to always hate Braden Looper.

Joey's Soapbox: My Confusing 2012 World Series Pick

Hello, everyone.  I'm Joey Beartran and I'm one confused bear.  You see, I had the Cardinals playing the Tigers in the World Series, with St. Louis winning it all.  Although the Yankees obliged by playing dead in front of the Tigers, the Giants did not, winning the final three games of the NLCS to advance to the Fall Classic.

As a result, we're getting our first-ever Tigers-Giants World Series matchup. The two teams have met in four interleague series over the past decade, with the Giants holding a 7-5 edge in their 12 games, although the Tigers have won two of their last three series against San Francisco.

There is no bad blood between the two teams and no hatred between the two cities.  Basically, there's a whole lot of nothing going on, which does not make things easier for me to make my World Series pick.  But since I am Studious Metsimus' resident postseason prognosticator, I suppose I have a job to do.  Here goes (you guessed it) nothing.


World Series


Detroit Tigers vs. San Francisco Giants

As I stated before, there is no connection between the two cities in any sport.  San Francisco doesn't have a hockey team.  The Golden State Warriors play on the other side of the San Francisco Bay.  And the Detroit Lions have only defeated the San Francisco 49ers once in the last quarter century, losing 14 of their last 15 meetings since 1985.  That's not a rivalry.  And neither is Tigers-Giants.

Who would be happy if the Tigers won the World Series?  Kirk Gibson?  Ted Nugent?  Madonna?  Eminem?  Axel Foley?  Magnum P.I.?  Tony the Tiger?  (He would think a Tigers victory would be "grrrrrrrrrreat"!)

If San Francisco won its second title in three years, who would celebrate?  Joe Montana?  Keith Hernandez?  Tony Bennett?  Metallica?  Brian Wilson's beard?

Ha!  You thought this would be a photo of Brian Wilson's beard.  Well, it is Brian Wilson, but before he grew the beard.

Neither team has signature fans.  It's not like the Mets with Jerry Seinfeld, Matthew Broderick, Tim Robbins and Snooki.  In this year's World Series, you'll probably see celebrities in the stands who have no rooting interest in either team.  They'll just show up for five innings and conveniently mug for the cameras that always seem to find them.  Or better yet, if they're on a FOX television show, they'll get to be living, breathing, hot-dog munching advertisements for the shows they're on.

Am I rambling?  You bet your Billy Wagner bobblehead I am!  I'm stalling for time because I have no idea who to root for.

On the one paw, there's the Tigers, who have a strong starting rotation and fearsome middle-of-the-order.  With Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer, the Tigers have three brown eyes, one blue eye and two big-time strikeout pitchers.  And who can match the Tigers' one-two punch of Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder, who combined to hit .322 with 73 doubles, 74 HR and 247 RBI during the regular season.  Not only were both hitters extremely productive, they were also durable, with Fielder playing in all 162 games and Cabrera missing only one game.  Great starting pitching and great hitting goes a long way in the playoffs.

On the other paw, there's the Giants, who also have great starting pitching, a lineup that produces in the clutch, and ten million former Mets.  No, really.  I'm not exaggerating.

San Francisco took an entire team from New York in 1958.  Fifty-four years later, they settled for just a few ex-Mets.

Angel Pagan (a Met from 2008-2011) is the Giants' leadoff hitter and starting centerfielder.  Marco Scutaro (a Met in 2002 and 2003) just won the NLCS MVP Award by hitting .500 in the seven-game series against the Cardinals and playing a steady second base.  Joaquin Arias (a Met for 15 seconds in 2010) has done well off the bench, hitting .375 in the postseason with two doubles.  Even Xavier Nady (a Met for not enough time in 2006) is a Giant.  Okay, so not every ex-Met has done well in the playoffs for the Giants.  I'm talking about Guillermo Mota (a Met in 2006 and 2007), who has allowed four runs on six hits in 1⅔ innings.  But Mets fans would rather forget about Mota, especially ones who remember the Mike Piazza spring training incident when Mota was a Dodger.

So we have the Tigers in one dugout and the Giants on the other.  Both teams have great starting pitching.  The Giants have better relievers.  The Tigers have the big boppers.  The Giants have the most former Mets.  Decisions, decisions.  Which team should I take?  Hmmm...

By the power of Grayskull, I think I've got it!

Prediction:  The World Series will go 7 games and someone will win.


There, that wasn't so hard now, was it?  I didn't want to pick San Francisco because then Ted Nugent would shoot me and claim it was because I was a wild bear.  I didn't want to pick Detroit because James Hetfield and the rest of the guys from Metallica would chase me into Brian Wilson's beard, a place where bears check in, but they don't check out.  So I'll just say the World Series will go the distance and it'll be a fun, competitive series where both teams will fight to the very last pitch.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm about to get ready to watch the Fall Classic with a friend who you might say has a rooting interest.  Maybe it's a good thing I didn't pick Detroit to win it all or else I'd never get the remote control back.  Enjoy the series, everyone!

Lou Seal can have the remote.  I'll keep my paws on the chocolate and corn chips.