Three Mo-METS In Time: Kenny Rogers, Aaron Heilman, Tom Glavine (The Three Enemigos)

A general manager can acquire baseball players in several ways.  These ways include - but are not limited to - trading for players, signing free agents or drafting players.  From 1997 to 2003, the man who traded, signed and drafted players for the Mets was general manager Steve Phillips.

Phillips helped build the Mets into a contender, adding proven talent like Mike Piazza and Robin Ventura to a squad that had ended a six-year run of futility during the first year of Phillips' tenure.  He also set the Mets up for success after his departure by drafting David Wright and signing Jose Reyes.

But Phillips also had his share of duds, as anyone who remembers the 2002 season can attest.  (The law office of Alomar, Vaughn, Burnitz and Cedeño lost a lot of cases for that team.)  He also failed to keep quality players when he had them.

Phillips could not re-sign first baseman John Olerud, who went back home to the Pacific Northwest after Phillips made a poorly-timed comment about the World Trade Organization riots going on in Seattle, saying, "I can't understand why anybody would want to play in Seattle after seeing the chaos.  I would think there'd be a mass exodus."  Olerud went on to win three Gold Gloves and made an All-Star team with the Mariners (he accomplished neither in his three years as a Met).  He also played in the postseason four times after leaving the Mets.

In addition to Olerud, who left via free agency, Phillips also pushed the panic button when shortstop Rey Ordoñez got hurt in 2000, trading Melvin Mora to the Orioles for short-term solution Mike Bordick.  The 35-year-old Bordick, who was having a career year in Baltimore (.831 OPS), underperformed in New York (.685 OPS).  Mora went on to become a two-time All-Star and Silver Slugger recipient in ten seasons with the O's, while Bordick went on to become an Oriole again in 2001, leaving the Mets as a free agent.

Needless to say, Phillips had his ups and downs as general manager of the Mets.  But three players - players who are now vilified in New York - were originally viewed as key pieces to helping the team either make a push for the postseason or bringing the team back to respectability.  One was acquired via a trade.  Another was drafted by Phillips.  The third came to New York as a free agent.  For the most part, they performed well while in New York.  But no one ever remembers that.  The only thing anyone remembers about them was their contribution to three of the lowest moments in Mets history, essentially turning them into the Three Enemigos - enemies of Mets fans who wanted so badly to taste postseason success, only to have it taken from them through three epic meltdowns.

Kenny Rogers, Aaron Heilman and Tom Glavine - the Three Enemigos!

In 1998, the Mets failed to end a ten-year postseason drought, coughing up a one-game lead in the wild card race in the season's final five games.  Although New York added future Hall of Famer Mike Piazza in May, the team only made minor moves at the trade deadline in 1998, dealing for players such as Tony Phillips, Wille Blair, Jorge Fabregas and Mike Kinkade.  Not wanting to use the same approach in 1999, general manager Phillips went all-out at the trade deadline, acquiring veterans Darryl Hamilton and Shawon Dunston.  He also made two separate trades with Oakland, dealing away former Generation K member Jason Isringhausen for reliever Billy Taylor and shipping off outfield prospect Terrence Long (who became the AL Rookie of the Year runner-up in 2000) for starting pitcher Kenny Rogers.

Rogers pitched well for the Mets during the season's final two months, tossing two complete games, one of which was a four-hit shutout against the San Francisco Giants on September 6.  The Mets won ten of the 12 starts made by Rogers, including his critical performance in the first game of the season-ending series versus the Pittsburgh Pirates.  With the Mets two games out of the wild card with three games to play, Rogers held the Bucs scoreless into the eighth inning, striking out a season-high ten batters.  But Rogers allowed a run in the eighth, then watched from the bench as a walk by Turk Wendell and a single off John Franco allowed the tying run to score.  The Mets eventually won the game in 11 innings to keep their postseason hopes alive and three days later, their playoff dreams came true after they defeated the Cincinnati Reds in the season's 163rd game.

In his first nine starts for the Mets following the trade, Rogers was a perfect 5-0 with a 3.23 ERA and 1.26 WHIP.  The Mets won eight of those nine starts, which impressed manager Bobby Valentine.

''He surprises me with his curveball, something I didn't know he had developed so well,'' said Valentine.  ''He's a much better pitcher than I remembered. ... He's everything that we had hoped for.'' 

What Valentine hadn't hoped for was Rogers falling apart in his next two starts, allowing a total of ten runs and not making it past the fifth inning in either game, both of which came against the sub-.500 Phillies.  His strong performance against the Pirates in his final regular season start only served to place a bandage on a cracking dam.  That crack would burst in the postseason.

The Mets lost a total of five games against the Arizona Diamondbacks and Atlanta Braves in the 1999 postseason.  Three of those five losses were charged to Kenny Rogers.  A home run by backup catcher Todd Pratt ended the division series in four games, temporarily making Mets fans forget that Rogers was responsible for the team's only loss in the series, a game in which he allowed four runs in 4⅓ innings.

Rogers didn't fare much better a week later in his first NLCS start.  After dropping the first game to Atlanta, the Mets desperately needed a series-tying win before coming back home to Shea Stadium.  Although Rogers kept the Braves scoreless through the first five innings, he was constantly pitching in and out of trouble, allowing eight base runners in those five frames.  But the Braves squandered several scoring opportunities, grounding into two double plays and getting picked off first base on two occasions.  Rogers was more lucky than good in the first five innings.  His luck ran out in the sixth, as he allowed a game-tying two-run homer to Mets killer Brian Jordan, followed by another two-run homer by light-hitting catcher Eddie Perez.

"I can't believe I just gave up a homer to Eddie Perez." (Steve Schaefer/AFP/Getty Images)

It was bad enough that Rogers had coughed up the lead in the critical Game Two loss to the Braves.  But that's not what Mets fans remember him for.  The moment that truly made Rogers an enemy of the Mets' state happened four games later, when two of his fellow pitchers blew late-inning leads and he was called upon to keep the game tied.  Until it wasn't.

As a result of the game-winning Grand Slam Single by Robin Ventura in Game Five - a game in which Kenny Rogers pitched two scoreless innings of relief, the Mets became just the second team in big league history to force a Game Six after dropping the first three games of a best-of-seven series.  The series shifted back to Atlanta for the sixth game, but the Mets didn't show up for that game until after it had begun, falling behind by five runs in the first inning.

The never-say-die Mets did not panic, despite the early 5-0 deficit.  New York scored eight runs from the sixth through the eighth innings, taking a one-run lead into the bottom of the eighth.  But John Franco allowed a one-out single to Eddie Perez (you may remember him as the aforementioned light-hitting catcher), a stolen base by pinch-runner Otis Nixon and a run-scoring single by Brian Hunter.  Once again, the Mets and Braves were going to extra innings with the Braves a run away from winning the pennant.

In Game Five, Todd Pratt tied the game in the 15th inning with a bases-loaded walk.  Two days later, Pratt gave the Mets an extra-inning lead, hitting a sacrifice fly to score Benny Agbayani in the tenth.  But once again, the Mets bullpen could not hold the lead, as Armando Benitez allowed a one-out RBI single to yet another light-hitting Brave - pinch-hitter Ozzie Guillen.  The game was now tied, 9-9, as the teams moved on to the 11th inning.  This time, the Mets could not push across a run to take the lead in their half of the inning, a frame that saw the Mets use Shawon Dunston as a pinch-hitter for Benitez.  New York had used nine pitchers in their Game Five victory.  With Benitez now out of the game, the Mets needed an eighth pitcher to start the bottom of the 11th in Game Six.  Valentine rolled the dice and turned to Kenny Rogers.  The decision ended up costing the Mets their magical season.

Rogers allowed a leadoff double to Gerald Williams, who advanced to third on Bret Boone's sacrifice bunt.  Valentine then had Rogers intentionally walk Chipper Jones and Brian Jordan to set up a force play at every base.  But that also forced Rogers to pitch with pinpoint control to slugger Andruw Jones.  Finally, on a 3-2 count, Rogers threw a pitch that wasn't even close to the strike zone, allowing Williams to scamper home with the pennant-winning run and the Mets to fly home with their season coming to a screeching halt.

Although he pitched fairly well during the regular season following his mid-season trade to the Mets, Rogers fell apart in the postseason, going 0-3 with a 6.75 ERA.  Rogers pitched 12 innings in two starts and two relief appearances, allowing 26 base runners (16 hits, nine walks, one hit batsman).  The Mets eventually did win the pennant in 2000, but they did so without Rogers, who signed as a free agent with the Texas Rangers following his postseason pratfalls.  For many Mets fans, he left the team four balls too late.

After the Mets lost the 2000 World Series to the Yankees (without Rogers), Steve Phillips went into the 2001 June amateur draft hoping to find a talented arm who could help the team in the near future.  After all, four of the club's five starting pitchers in 2001 were already in their thirties and the team had just lost starting pitcher Mike Hampton to free agency.  However, as a result of Hampton's defection to the thin air and utopian school system in Denver, the Mets received two first round draft picks from the Rockies.  With their supplemental pick from Colorado, the Mets chose infielder David Wright and with their compensation pick, New York selected pitcher Aaron Heilman.

At least David Wright turned out okay.  (Doug Benc/Getty Images)

As a student-athlete at Notre Dame, Heilman set school records in career wins (43) and strikeouts (425).  He also rarely gave up home runs, allowing just 12 homers in 393⅔ innings.  That trend continued in the minor leagues, as Heilman surrendered just 15 homers in three minor league seasons before making his major league debut for the Mets in 2003.  Unfortunately, Heilman took some time to adjust to major league hitters, especially ones with power.

From 2003 to 2004, Heilman made 18 starts for the Mets, allowing 17 homers in 93⅓ innings.  It was more of the same for Heilman in his first start of the 2005 campaign, as he allowed home runs to noted Met-killers Brian Jordan and Chipper Jones in a loss to the Braves on April 9.  His next start was a revelation, as Heilman pitched a complete-game one-hit shutout against the Florida Marlins, allowing just a fourth-inning single to future Met Luis Castillo.  But when Heilman faced the Marlins again in his next start, he allowed seven runs and 11 hits in just four innings of work.  A month later, Heilman had lost his spot in the starting rotation.

The home run ball was one of the reasons why Heilman never made it as a starting pitcher, as he served up 22 taters in his first 25 career starts.  But once he moved to the bullpen, Heilman thrived.  He allowed just one homer in 45 relief appearances, with that long ball coming in garbage time on August 24 during the late innings of an 18-4 Mets victory over the Diamondbacks.

In 2006, Heilman once again finished strongly.  From July 19 to the end of the season, Heilman made 33 relief appearances, posting four wins, 12 holds, a 2.29 ERA and a stellar 0.93 WHIP.  Opposing batters hit just .190 off Heilman in those 33 games and most importantly, failed to hit any home runs off him in 35⅓ innings.  Heilman went nearly three months without allowing a home run until he surrendered what appeared to be a meaningless home run to Wilson Betemit in Game Two of the division series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.  It was the only run allowed by the Mets in a 4-1 victory.  Two weeks later, Heilman allowed another home run.  This time, the blast wasn't so meaningless.

In a tension-filled seventh game of the NLCS against the St. Louis Cardinals, the Mets and Cards were tied, 1-1, going to the eighth inning.  As he had done throughout the season, manager Willie Randolph brought in Heilman to pitch the eighth inning.  Heilman rewarded his manager by pitching a scoreless frame, sandwiching two strikeouts around an intentional walk to Albert Pujols.  But instead of bringing in closer Billy Wagner to start the ninth, even though there was no chance for a save situation with the Mets playing at home, Randolph decided to hold Wagner in case the game went into extra innings, allowing Heilman to pitch the ninth.

Heilman had pitched beautifully in 2006, but he was most effective as a one-inning pitcher.  During the regular season, Heilman was asked to pitch more than one inning in 17 of his 74 relief appearances.  He allowed runs in nine of those 17 outings.  When asked to pitch no more than one inning, Heilman held the opposition scoreless in 45 of those 57 appearances.  But Game Seven was a different animal, and Heilman was going to pitch as long as Randolph needed him to stay on the mound.  Three batters into the ninth, Heilman became a part of Mets history, but not for a moment he wanted.

I wonder what's got everyone's attention in this photo.  (Photo by Bill Kostroun/AP)

During the 2006 regular season, Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina batted .216 and had a .271 on-base percentage.  He also was not a threat to go deep, as he had notched just 16 career homers in 1,033 plate appearances.  Clearly, Molina was not a Mike Piazza-type hitting catcher.  In fact, he couldn't even be compared to someone like, oh, let's say Mike Scioscia.  Although Molina's power was comparable to Scioscia, who hit 35 homers in 3,295 plate appearances through 1988, at least Scioscia knew how to reach base (.263 batting average, .350 on-base percentage during the same span).

In 1988, Scioscia had 31 plate appearances against the Mets during the regular season.  He produced no homers and one RBI against them.  Similarly, in his short career, Molina had 32 lifetime regular season plate appearances versus the Mets entering the 2006 NLCS.  Those plate appearances produced - you guessed it - no homers and one RBI for Molina.  In the 1988 National League Championship Series, Scioscia pulled a two-run homer off Dwight Gooden in the ninth inning at Shea Stadium in what was considered the turning point of the series.  Eighteen years later, a catcher with little power was batting in the ninth inning at Shea during a critical moment of the NLCS.  Once again, the light-hitting catcher had a runner on base and was facing a homegrown, first round draft pick.  And once again, the ball was pulled out of the yard.

Ever since becoming a relief pitcher in 2005, Aaron Heilman had become a master of keeping the ball in the park, allowing just six homers in 119 relief appearances during the 2005 and 2006 campaigns.  But once Molina beat him for a pennant-winning two-run homer in Game Seven of the 2006 NLCS, Heilman became quite susceptible to the long ball, serving up 18 homers in 159 games over the next two seasons.  And it wasn't just the fact that he was giving up homers.  He was also giving them up with men on base.

From 2003 to 2006, Heilman allowed 28 homers.  Exactly half of them (14) were solo shots.  After giving up the fateful home run to Molina, Heilman yielded 18 homers in his final two years as a Met.  Only four of them were hit with no one on base.  Six of them came with at least two runners aboard (four three-run homers, two grand slams).

Aaron Heilman was supposed to be a top prospect for the Mets who prided himself on keeping the ball in the park.  As a relief pitcher in 2005 and 2006, he was one of the best at doing just that.  That is, until Yadier Molina took a page out of the Mike Scioscia Guide to Hitting Devastating Home Runs.  Heilman - and the entire Mets franchise, for that matter - never recovered.

Speaking of being devastated, one player who signed with the Mets as a free agent during Steve Phillips' tenure as general manager was present at both the Kenny Rogers and Aaron Heilman meltdowns.  As a member of the Braves in 1999, he was in a celebratory mood when Rogers walked Andruw Jones to force in the decisive run, but seven years later he was more somber as a member of the Mets who witnessed the Molina home run.  One year after the Molina bomb, he put up a stinker of his own, not that he was all that devastated by it.

Tom Glavine was an enemy before and after he became an "enemigo".  In 17 years with the Braves (1987-2002, 2008), Glavine made 36 regular season starts against the Mets, posting a 17-7 record and 2.82 ERA.  His .708 winning percentage versus New York made him one of just three pitchers (min. 35 starts) who won at least 70% of his decisions against the Mets, joining two former Giants - Juan Marichal (26-8, .765 winning percentage) and Mike Krukow (22-7, .759).  But when Phillips needed to make a splash following the Mets' first losing season in six years, he turned to the Mets' nemesis, signing Glavine to a three-year, $35 million contract with a fourth-year option.  Glavine, who had 242 career wins at the time, thought he needed four productive seasons to reach 300 victories.

''I want to have the opportunity to win 300 games, and I think in order to do that, I have to pitch four years,'' said Glavine.  ''So I don't want to make a decision and in three years have to find a team to pitch for in the fourth year.  That fourth year is an important part of it.''

Glavine needed more than four years to reach 300 wins, as he produced 48 victories in his first four seasons as a Met.  But after becoming the only Mets pitcher to win multiple games during the 2006 postseason and needing just ten wins to become the first pitcher to win his 300th game while wearing a Mets uniform, the Mets almost had to bring Glavine back, which they did when they signed him to a one-year, $10.5 million contract to pitch for the team in 2007.

The Mets weren't nearly as successful in 2007 as they had been a year earlier.  Neither was Glavine, for that matter.  After going 15-7 with a 3.82 ERA in 2006, allowing three runs or fewer in all but seven of his 32 starts, his 2007 campaign was quite pedestrian (13-8, 4.45 ERA).  Glavine also allowed six runs or more in seven of his 34 starts in 2007.  One of those seven poor efforts came in Glavine's next-to-last start of the season, when he allowed six runs in five innings against Washington.  The Mets scored six runs in the ninth inning to make the Nationals sweat, but fell short by a single tally, losing a 10-9 heartbreaker.

Although Glavine could have easily been remembered for that subpar performance, the Mets still had a two-game lead in the division over the Phillies with five games to play.  Glavine would get one more opportunity to pitch before the end of the regular season, with the Mets hoping that the division could be clinched before then.  But it wasn't.  And Glavine's final start would determine if there would be October baseball at Shea Stadium.  Spoiler alert: There wasn't.

One day after John Maine had one of the best pitching performances in franchise history (no runs, one hit allowed, 14 strikeouts, no-hitter broken up with two outs in the eighth), Glavine had one of the worst.  Four batters into the game, Glavine had already given up more hits than Maine did the previous day.  Glavine faced every batter in the Marlins' lineup in the regular season finale.  He retired one of them.  The southpaw allowed four singles, a double, two walks and made a throwing error before hitting opposing pitcher Dontrelle Willis with the bases loaded to force in a run.  When reliever Jorge Sosa allowed a two-run double to Dan Uggla - the only batter Glavine retired in his abbreviated outing - the book on Glavine was closed.

In the Mets' biggest game of the season, Glavine pitched one-third of an inning, allowing seven runs - all of them earned.  His ERA for the day was an unfathomable 189.00.  The only thing larger than his earned run average was the enormity of the loss, as the 8-1 defeat, coupled with the Phillies' 6-1 victory, gave Philadelphia its first division crown in 14 years.  The crushing loss also sent the Mets home prematurely after the team held a seven-game lead in the division with 17 games to play.

As upset as Mets fans were with the team's collapse during the final three weeks of the season, they became even more incensed after hearing how Glavine felt about his performance, especially his choice of words when asked by a reporter if he was devastated by the loss.

"I'm not devastated, but I am disappointed.  Devastated is a word used for greater things in life than a game.  I was disappointed in the way I pitched."





For Mets fans who lived and died with the team since before Glavine had thrown his first pitch in the majors, the season-ending loss in 2007 was one of the toughest to comprehend, almost as difficult to swallow as Glavine's post-game comments.  Glavine's performance not only capped an historic collapse, it reinforced the notion that the Mets could not win the big game, similar to Kenny Rogers' loss in Game Six of the 1999 NLCS and Aaron Heilman's defeat in Game Seven of the 2006 NLCS.

The Mets once again lost a late-season division lead in 2008, although that one was just a three-and-a-half game lead, then followed that up with six consecutive losing seasons.  If only Kenny Rogers had not suffered a postseason meltdown in 1999, or if Aaron Heilman had known that light-hitting catchers can indeed become supermen at Shea Stadium in October, or even if Tom Glavine had been a little more terrific and a little less horrific in his final start as a Met, the history of the franchise could have been quite different.

Steve Phillips helped put together a team that made the only back-to-back playoff appearances in club annals.  He also helped lead the team down a dark path with some ill-fated trades, draft picks and free agent signings.  Three of those acquisitions had success with the Mets for most of the time they toiled in New York.  But they wilted horribly when the team needed them the most.

Kenny Rogers (traded to the Mets), Aaron Heilman (drafted by the Mets) and Tom Glavine (signed as a free agent with the Mets) could have been remembered for many things.  But their legacies will always come down to three heartbreaking defeats, turning three potential heroes into villains in the eyes of long-suffering Mets fans.

Nothing the Three Enemigos did prior to their untimely performances with the Mets will ever matter.  Whether they admitted it or not, those three moments in time will always be devastating.


Note:  One Mo-MET In Time is a thirteen-part weekly series spotlighting those Mets players who will forever be known for a single moment, game or event, regardless of whatever else they accomplished during their tenure with the Mets.  For previous installments, please click on the players' names below:

January 5, 2015: Mookie Wilson 
January 12, 2015: Dave Mlicki
January 19, 2015: Steve Henderson 
January 26, 2015: Ron Swoboda
February 2, 2015: Anthony Young
February 9, 2015: Tim Harkness

Why I'm Not Sad About Ozzie Guillen's Firing

Prior to the 2012 season, the Marlins changed their name, their uniforms, their home address and most notably, their locks on the team's piggy banks.  Or to be more accurate, they got rid of those locks altogether, spending money freely to sign, sign and sign some more big-name players.  In addition to the well-known players they added to their roster, Miami also added a manager with a championship pedigree in Ozzie Guillen.

Guillen was signed to a four-year contract in the hopes that he would lead his ragtag bunch of Marlin misfits to the playoffs for the first time since 2003.  But Guillen lost control of his players and the team just lost.  A lot.  The Marlins finished in last place without Guillen in 2011, and at 69-93 in 2012, they finished in last place with him.  They won't do the same thing in 2013.

Earlier today, the Ozzie Guillen era came to an end in Miami, as the Marlins terminated their headline-grabbing manager with three years and $7.5 million left on his contract.  Upon hearing the news, I had just one word to say about the firing.

Waah.

Yakety yak!  Don't come back!

As Mets fans, it's not very hard to hate anyone and anything associated with the Marlins.  If you didn't hate them before 2007, you certainly had reason to despise them after then.  But even before then, they weren't easy to like.

Although no one expected the Mets to do much in 1997, they competed for the wild card until the final week of the season.  They didn't win it, but the Marlins did.  And they rode that wild card all the way to the World Series title.

In 2004, Armando Benitez signed as a free agent with the Marlins, just months after the Mets had traded away their boo magnet across town to the Yankees.  He proceeded to thank the Mets by recording 11 saves against them in '04, to go with a 0.68 ERA and 0.30 WHIP.

And then there was 2007.  Which was followed by 2008.  Nothing further needs to be said about those years and how the Marlins fit in.

But Ozzie Guillen wasn't part of the Marlins' 1997 World Series-winning wild card team.  Nor was he anywhere near Miami when Armando Benitez turned into Sandy Koufax against the Mets.  2007 and 2008?  Both seasons were Ozzie-free.

So why do I hate Ozzie Guillen so much?  It's because I have a long memory.  And I remember that he was an Atlanta Brave for one full season and part of another.  His full season came in 1999.  And if you've been a Mets fan as long as I have, you know exactly where I'm taking this.

Why couldn't Guillen have played his entire career in Chicago?

In 1999, the Mets and Braves hooked up in a classic National League Championship Series.  The Braves won the first three games of the series before the Mets pulled out a Game 4 victory with two late runs.  Game 5 was a rain-soaked extra-inning thriller, with Robin Ventura sending the series back to Atlanta with his Grand Slam Single.

Game 6 saw the Braves take a quick 5-0 lead.  The Mets cut the lead to 5-3, but the Braves tacked on two runs in the sixth inning to up the lead to four.  Atlanta's lead was short-lived, as the Mets put up a four-spot to tie the game in the seventh.  One inning later, the Mets took an 8-7 lead before the Braves tied it in the bottom of the eighth.  The see-saw game went into extra innings, with the Mets taking a 9-8 lead in the top of the tenth.  New York was only three outs away from becoming the first team in baseball history to force a seventh game in a best-of-seven postseason series after losing the first three games.  But Armando Benitez was pitching his second inning of relief.  And he didn't exactly have a history of being a big-game pitcher.  Yup.  Poop happened.

Andruw Jones led off the tenth with a single.  Two batters later, Benitez issued a one-out walk to Ryan Klesko.  Walt Weiss was due to bat, but Braves' manager Bobby Cox sent up a pinch-hitter for Weiss.  That pinch-hitter was Ozzie Guillen.

Guillen delivered a game-tying single off Benitez, sending the game to the 11th inning.  The Braves won the game in their half of the 11th when Kenny Rogers forced in the pennant-winning run by walking Andruw Jones with the bases loaded.

Armando being Armando.  Guillen being a forgotten Met-killer.

Everyone remembers ball four to Andruw Jones.  But you'd be hard-pressed to find someone who remembers that it was Ozzie Guillen's run-scoring single in the 10th that made the 11th inning possible.  Oh, and for the record, that hit was Guillen's only hit in the entire 1999 postseason.  He went 0-for-8 in all other plate appearances that October.  It was also Guillen's last hit as a Brave, as he was released by Atlanta the following spring.

So you can hate Guillen for all the times he's stuck his foot in his mouth.  You can hate him for wearing the uniform of the despised Marlins, even if he only managed them for one season.  But the main reason why all Mets fans should not feel sorry for Ozzie Guillen is because he was instrumental in denying the Mets an opportunity to play for a National League pennant in a potential Game 7 in 1999.

To be sad about Ozzie Guillen being fired is tantamount to shedding a tear whenever Yadier Molina plays his last game.  Good riddance, Ozzie Guillen.  This Mets fan won't be missing you.

Like Night And Day For Johan Santana

Two Fridays ago, the Rangers were eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs and I passed a kidney stone the size of Mr. Met's head.  That was a bad night.

Last Friday, Johan Santana pitched the first no-hitter in team history.  The only things coming out of my body that night were tears of joy.  That was a good night.

Last night, Johan Santana took the mound at Yankee Stadium for the first game of the Subway Series.  He allowed six runs on seven hits, four of which left the park, including back-to-back-to-back shots by Robinson Cano, Nick Swisher and Andruw Jones.  At the time of their missile launches, both Swisher and Jones were hitting under .250 for the season.  Needless to say, that was a very bad night.  (Although I'm proud to say that nothing left my body other than a few mumbled words directed at certain pinstriped players.)

It is high, it is far, it is ... ah, shut up, John Sterling!  We get it!

With the loss, Santana dropped to 3-3 on the year.  But what's more troubling is that this is not his first poor performance at the new Yankee Stadium.  In fact, after last night's debacle, Santana is now 0-3 with a 12.21 ERA and 2.00 WHIP in three career starts at the House That Juice Built.  Santana has pitched 14 innings at the new digs, allowing 19 runs on 24 hits.  Six of the 24 hits have allowed Yankee hitters to practice their 120-yard trots around the bases.

Santana's performances at the new Yankee Stadium have been quite the contrast from how he fared at the old Yankee Stadium.  At that hallowed yard, he was 3-0 with a 2.05 ERA and 1.04 WHIP in five appearances (four starts).  Despite the fact that he pitched more than twice as many innings at the older park (30⅔ innings compared to 14 innings at the new park), Santana allowed two fewer home runs there.

Clearly, Johan Santana and the new Yankee Stadium do not agree with each other.  How can a pitcher go from no-hitting the best offensive team in the National League to being yes-hitted by the Yankees over and over and over again in his five innings of work?  No one has a clue why Santana channels his inner Oliver Perez every time he steps on the mound at the new Yankee Stadium.

One thing's for sure.  Just like the differences between my last few Fridays have been like night and day, so are Johan Santana's performances between the old Yankee Stadium and the new pinball model.  Santana's next start will be at Tropicana Field in Tampa on Thursday.  Let's hope he can pinball his way back to the Johan Santana we expect to see and not the one who almost got whiplash from craning his neck so many times to see the balls fly out of Yankee Stadium.

M.U.M.'s The Word (Most Underrated Mets): Turk Wendell

Quick. Name a middle reliever for the Mets. Any middle reliever. You probably won't have an immediate answer for that one. Had I asked for a starting pitcher, Tom Seaver, Dwight Gooden or Johan Santana might have instantaneously rolled off your tongue. Had I asked for a closer, I might have heard Tug McGraw, Jesse Orosco or Francisco Rodriguez within a second of asking the question. Middle relief? "Let me get back to you on that one" and "Uhhhh" might have been the most popular choices.

Middle relief is perhaps the most unglorified position in the major leagues. Similar to an offensive lineman in football and a defenseman in hockey, middle relievers do their jobs while the players at the more high-profile positions get all the accolades.

One such middle reliever pitched for the Mets for three full seasons and parts of two others. Although his time in New York was relatively short, his contributions to the team and his outgoing, sometimes quirky personality endeared him to Mets fans long after he played his final game at Shea Stadium. His given name was Steven, but Mets fans will always remember him as Turk.

No one wanted the ball more than Turk Wendell during his days with the Mets.

Steven John Wendell, better known as Turk, was traded by the Cubs to the Mets during the 1997 season. At the time of the deal, the Mets were competing for the National League wild card, but were leading the major leagues with 22 blown saves. The Cubs, with the second worst record in the National League, had fallen out of contention almost from the time "Play Ball" was uttered on Opening Day. In the deal, the Mets acquired Wendell and Mel Rojas (who had saved 66 games over the previous two seasons) to bolster their bullpen. They also received Brian McRae, who had played brilliantly in 1996 (.276, 17 HR, 37 SB, 111 runs scored), but had underachieved in 1997. The cost for this trade was fan-favorite Lance Johnson, the spark plug who shattered the single-season club records for hits (227) and triples (21) in 1996.

But needs were needs, and the Mets thought the addition of two quality arms for the bullpen would offset the loss of their best centerfielder and leadoff hitter since Mookie Wilson and Lenny Dykstra shared those duties a decade earlier. Mel Rojas didn't bring the goods, finishing his Mets career with a 5.76 ERA over 73 games before being ostracized by the fans and eventually the front office. Turk Wendell, on the other hand, performed better than anyone could have expected.

It didn't start out well for Turk as a Met. In 13 games after the trade, he gave up runs in eight of them. Over the final two months of the 1997 season, Wendell's ERA was 4.96. However, the Mets still hadn't found a role for Turk, as he mostly pitched in games the Mets were already losing.

Although the Mets allowed Turk to pitch in closer games in 1998, his performance on the field over the first two months of the season remained unchanged from his late 1997 showing. Through games of May 20, Wendell had pitched in 13 games and his ERA was a bloated 6.89. At the same time, the Mets were also underperforming with a 22-20 record. Wendell, who would have pitched in every game if he was allowed to do so, was sent to the bench, not pitching again until June. But once he returned, he was a new man.

From June 1 to August 31, a three-month span, Wendell was virtually unhittable. In 37 appearances, Turk pitched 41 innings, allowing only 26 hits. Opposing batters hit only .181 against him over those three months. In addition, Wendell held the opposition scoreless in 34 of the 37 appearances, resulting in a 1.10 ERA. But Turk was at his best when he was cleaning up other pitchers' messes.

From June 20 to August 28, Wendell allowed an inherited baserunner to score once. Once. Only 10% of the runners he inherited came around to score, which was a major reason why the Mets were leading in the wild card race in September. In that month of September, it seemed as if Turk Wendell was always on the mound. While the Mets were struggling to hold on to their wild card lead, Wendell pitched in 11 of the team's final 12 games, including nine straight from September 14 to September 23. During those final two weeks, Wendell was at his best. He allowed only eight hits in 15 2/3 innings, holding opposing hitters to a .151 batting average, .170 slugging percentage and .224 on-base percentage. His ERA was 1.15 and he stranded all five baserunners he inherited.

The Mets eventually fell short of the playoffs in 1998, but Wendell finally had a role. He was now the main right-handed reliever in a tremendous set-up crew, with Dennis Cook (8-4, 2.38 ERA in 1998) providing the left-handed relief. If 1998 was the year Turk Wendell "arrived" as a Met, 1999 was the year he set up permanent residence in the hearts of Mets fans.

In 1999, the Mets were poised to make the playoffs after falling just short of their goal in 1998. They had arguably the best offense in team history, featuring speed (Rickey Henderson and Roger Cedeño stole 37 and 66 bases, respectively), power (Edgardo Alfonzo, John Olerud, Mike Piazza and Robin Ventura combined for 143 doubles, 118 HR and 448 RBI) and a team-record .279 batting average, which included five regulars hitting over .300 and one falling just short (John Olerud hit .298, but walked a franchise record 125 times).

The Mets needed that offense to make up for their lack of quality starting pitching. Nine pitchers made at least one start for the Mets in 1999 and not a single one of them finished the season with an ERA under 4.00 (see list below):

• Al Leiter (32 starts, 4.23 ERA)
• Orel Hershiser (32 starts, 4.58 ERA)
• Masato Yoshii (29 starts, 4.40 ERA)
• Rick Reed (26 starts, 4.58 ERA)
• Octavio Dotel (14 starts, 5.38 ERA)
• Kenny Rogers (12 starts, 4.03 ERA)
• Bobby Jones (9 starts, 5.61 ERA)
• Jason Isringhausen (5 starts, 6.41 ERA)
• Allen Watson (4 starts, 4.08 ERA)

With so many starters giving up their share of runs, it was incumbent upon the relief squad to keep opponents off the scoreboard. After all, the Mets couldn't win every game by the score of 8-7. Fortunately for the Mets, they had the best foursome in baseball in their bullpen. The quartet of Turk Wendell, Dennis Cook, Armando Benitez and John Franco turned most games into six-inning affairs. If the starter could keep the game close going into the late innings, the Mets were confident that their bullpen would keep the opposition off the scoreboard long enough for the hitters to tack on a few insurance runs. Although the Mets had four dependable relievers who could pitch in any situation, the one who was called upon the most was Turk Wendell.

In 1999, Turk Wendell became the first pitcher in franchise history to appear in 80 games, breaking the old mark of 76, which was set by sidearmer Jeff Innis in 1992 (Armando Benitez also surpassed Innis' mark by appearing in 77 games). Wendell began the '99 season on fire, picking up a win, a save and nine holds through May 15. His 1.57 ERA was also tops on the team. Wendell then suffered through a rough period over the next few weeks that saw his ERA climb by almost two runs.

After the Mets lost to the Yankees on June 5 for their eighth consecutive defeat, the team dipped below .500 at 27-28. As a result of their poor play, the team fired just about every coach they could find, sparing manager Bobby Valentine. Out were pitching coach Bob Apodaca, bullpen coach Randy Niemann and hitting coach Tom Robson. Despite being allowed to remain as manager, Bobby Valentine knew that if he didn't right the ship, he would be next on the chopping block.

''In the next 55 games, if we're not better, I shouldn't be the manager. I'd (like) a sustained run; something like 40 and 15 would be good.''

Over the next two months, the Mets proved their manager's words to be prophetic, as they won 40 of their next 55 games to jump back into contention. One of the main reasons why the Mets went on such a hot streak was because Turk Wendell overcame his struggles and once again became a stopper in the mid-to-late innings.

Turk pitched in 27 games during the team's 40-15 stretch, striking out more batters (27) than he allowed hits (24). His ERA over the two month period was 2.08, as he picked up a win, two saves and eight holds. In addition to his own low ERA, he helped keep his teammates' ERA down as well, allowing only three of 13 inherited baserunners to score. Twice in a span of nine days, Turk came into a game with the bases loaded and one out. Naturally, he got out of both jams without allowing any of those runners to score.

Despite all of Turk's heroics, the Mets still found themselves two games out of the wild card lead with three games left to play. Basically, the Mets needed to sweep the Pittsburgh Pirates and hope for help elsewhere. The Mets did exactly what they needed to do at Shea Stadium, and Turk Wendell played a major part in their season-ending sweep.

On October 1, Turk came into the game in the eighth inning to face Pirates' cleanup hitter Kevin Young. With the tying and go-ahead runs on base, Wendell struck out the Pirates' main power threat. Although the Pirates eventually sent the game into extra innings with a run-scoring infield hit off John Franco, the Mets would prevail on Robin Ventura's walk-off single in the 11th inning. Wendell was not needed in the middle game of the series, as Rick Reed dominated the Bucs with a three-hit shutout. But Turk was definitely needed in the season finale, and he responded with one of his most memorable performances.

Before a packed house at Shea, the Mets were tied with the Cincinnati Reds for the wild card lead. A win would guarantee that the Mets would be playing more baseball in 1999 and would also erase the disappointment felt by Mets fans following the team's season-ending five-game losing streak the previous year that left them one game short of ending their decade-long playoff drought. Fans came to celebrate, but what they got was an unexpected pitchers' duel between Orel Hershiser and Kris Benson.

Through six innings, both teams had managed to put one run on the board. With the season on the line, the Mets gave the ball to Turk Wendell to start the seventh inning. After a season in which Wendell became the most-used reliever in franchise history, it was in this, his 80th appearance of the season, that he would have to be at his sharpest. With the weight of the season on his shoulders, Wendell delivered. He retired the first eight batters he faced, before giving up a two-out single to Kevin Young in the ninth inning. Armando Benitez relieved Wendell after Young's single, and was able to get out of the inning, although not before allowing Young to steal second and issuing a walk to Warren Morris.

The Mets went on to win the game in the bottom of the ninth inning, when Melvin Mora scampered home after Brad Clontz uncorked a wild pitch with the bases loaded. Although Benitez was given credit for the victory, the true "winner" for the game was Turk Wendell. Without his clutch performance, barely working up a sweat in his 34-pitch outing (25 strikes, 9 balls), the Mets would not have been in a position to win the game in their final at-bat. It was perhaps the best relief appearance in a crucial game since Sid Fernandez's effort in Game 7 of the 1986 World Series.

The next day, Al Leiter pitched a two-hit shutout against the Reds in Cincinnati to clinch the wild card, sending the Mets to Arizona for their first postseason game since 1988. Once again, Turk Wendell would be front-and-center for the Mets, getting the win in Game 1 of the NLDS after Edgardo Alfonzo's ninth-inning grand slam off Bobby Chouinard gave the Mets the lead. Wendell would also pitch a scoreless inning in the Mets' Game 3 victory over the Diamondbacks. After Todd Pratt's series-ending home run in Game 4, it was on to Atlanta for the NLCS, where Wendell would pitch in all but one game.

After giving up a run in Game 1 of the NLCS, Wendell kept the Mets close in Game 2 with 1 2/3 scoreless innings of work. The Mets were never able to mount a rally in the second game, losing to the Braves by the score of 4-3. Wendell didn't pitch in the Mets' Game 3 loss, but found himself on the mound in Game 4 in one of the key spots of the series. The Braves had just taken a 2-1 lead on back-to-back homers by Brian Jordan and Ryan Klesko. The consecutive blasts ruined what had been a dominant pitching performance by Rick Reed, who had faced the minimum 21 batters through the first seven innings. Reed was taken out of the game by manager Bobby Valentine and Turk Wendell was brought in to prevent more balls from flying over LaGuardia's airspace. Wendell proceeded to retire the next three batters, including the final two on groundouts, keeping the Braves' lead at one run. The Mets went on to take the lead in the bottom of the eighth inning, allowing Wendell to pick up the victory and keeping the Mets alive to see another day.

Game 5 of the NLCS will forever be known as the game in which Robin Ventura shocked the Braves with his 15th-inning "Grand Slam Single", but before Ventura could come through with his heroics, Turk Wendell played a key role in the game. With the game tied at 2 in the seventh inning, Orel Hershiser hit Bret Boone with a pitch. The Braves replaced Boone with the speedy Otis Nixon and sent notorious Met killer Chipper Jones to the plate. Jones had always done well against the Mets, but never more so than in his 1999 MVP campaign. In 12 regular season games against the Mets, Jones hit .400, with 7 HR and 16 RBI. Not too many Mets pitchers had had success against Jones in 1999, but one did. Turk Wendell.

Chipper Jones had two official at-bats against Wendell during the 1999 regular season, going 0-for-2 against Turk with a strikeout. So who did Bobby V turn to when Chipper Jones came up to bat in the seventh inning with the go-ahead run on base? You guessed it. Turk Wendell came hopping in from the bullpen to face "Larry" and made the Mets fans in attendance "chipper" with excitement when he struck out Jones. Although Jones was the only batter Wendell faced (he was removed in the middle of subsequent batter Brian Jordan's at-bat), his short outing kept the Braves at bay and helped set up the drama that unfolded eight innings later.

Unfortunately, the Mets could not ride the momentum of their Games 4 and 5 victories into Atlanta, as the Braves took Game 6 when Kenny Rogers (one of the many starting pitchers for the Mets with an ERA over 4.00 in 1999) came into the game in relief and allowed a bases-loaded walk to Andruw Jones in the bottom of the 11th inning. Turk Wendell tried his hardest to keep the Mets in the game, pitching a 1-2-3 fifth inning, before loading up the bases (including an intentional walk) with two outs in the sixth. Unlike Wendell, who was a master at not allowing inherited runners to score, the same could not be said for Dennis Cook, as the lefty relieved Wendell in the sixth inning and promptly gave up a two-run single to pinch-hitter Jose Hernandez.

The Mets fell short of the World Series in 1999, but the taste of October baseball made them hungry for more. Nothing short of a World Series appearance in 2000 would be acceptable for the Mets. For the team to advance to the Fall Classic in 2000, every player had to step up their game, and that included Turk Wendell. Could he improve in 2000? Oh yes. And he took the rest of the team with him.

Turk Wendell went 8-6 in 2000, with a 3.59 ERA, but that didn't tell the whole story. In 77 appearances, Turk pitched 82 2/3 innings, allowing only 60 hits. For the season, opposing batters hit only .206 against him, but at Shea Stadium, Wendell was completely unhittable. In 39 appearances at Shea, batters hit a measly .161 against Turk. Wendell went 5-2 at home, with a 1.99 ERA. As a result, the Mets cruised to their second consecutive wild card berth, finishing only one game behind the Braves in the NL East.

Compared to the 1999 Division Series and League Championship Series, the 2000 NLDS and NLCS was a breeze for the Mets. The Mets won seven of the nine games they played in the National League playoffs, with Wendell pitching in four of them. As he did in the 15-inning game in the 1999 NLCS, Wendell played a key early role in the 13-inning third game of the 2000 NLDS against the San Francisco Giants.

Turk Wendell was hunting for a pennant in 2000 and would stare down anyone who got in his way.

With the Mets trailing 2-1 in the seventh inning, Dennis Cook allowed a runner to reach third base with two outs. Not wanting to fall behind by more than one run, Bobby Valentine brought in his favorite IRS representative (Inherited Runners Stranded), Turk Wendell, to put out the fire caused by his defective Cook. Wendell got out of the jam by striking out Jeff Kent on three pitches. It would mark the second consecutive season that Wendell recorded a crucial strikeout against the season's eventual MVP winner, as Kent took home the 2000 NL MVP Award, a year after Chipper Jones did the same. Unlike his 1999 appearance against the Braves, this time Wendell was allowed to stay in the game for another inning, striking out two more batters in a scoreless eighth inning. The Mets would go on to win the game in the 13th inning on Benny Agbayani's walk-off home run against Aaron Fultz.

Wendell was not only great in Game 3 against the Giants; he was outstanding throughout the National League playoffs. In his four appearances against the Giants and the St. Louis Cardinals, Wendell allowed only one hit, walking two (one intentionally) and striking out seven in only 3 1/3 innings. He also picked up the win in Game 2 of the NLCS against the Cards. After the Mets defeated the Cardinals in Game 5, they were on to World Series for the first time since 1986, but this time, Turk wasn't as infallible as he had been in the National League playoffs.

Game 1 of the 2000 World Series against the Yankees might be known more for Timo Perez being thrown out at home after incorrectly assuming that Todd Zeile's double was going to leave the ballpark and for Armando Benitez's blown save in the ninth inning, but despite those game-changing moments, it was Turk Wendell who was on the mound when former Met Jose Vizcaino picked up the game-winning single in the bottom of the 12th inning. It would be the only blemish for Wendell in 13 postseason appearances for the Mets in 1999 and 2000.

Dang it, Timo! Had you not dilly-dallied around the bases, perhaps you could have spared Turk Wendell from suffering his only postseason loss with the Mets!

Wendell would get some modicum of revenge in Game 3 of the World Series, entering the game in the seventh inning with the score tied at 2. He struck out the first two batters he faced, including Vizcaino, before walking Derek Jeter and being replaced on the mound by Dennis Cook. Jeter was eventually stranded at second base and the Mets went on to win the game when Benny Agbayani and Bubba Trammell drove in the tying and go-ahead runs in the eighth inning. Wendell would not get called upon to pitch again in 2000, as the Mets lost Games 4 and 5 of the World Series to the Yankees.

With the Mets improving from year to year, it was not unreasonable to believe that they would return to the playoffs in 2001. However, the Mets underachieved with a capital "U", finding themselves 13½ games out of first place on August 17 with a 54-68 record. By then, general manager Steve Phillips had already decided to dismantle his high-salaried team. One of the casualties of the fire sale was Turk Wendell.

On July 27, the Mets traded the popular reliever, along with his bullpen mate, Dennis Cook, to the Philadelphia Phillies. In return, the Phillies sent minor leaguer Adam Walker and journeyman pitcher Bruce Chen to the Mets. Walker never made it to the major leagues, retiring after playing his final game for the Brooklyn Cyclones in 2003. Chen won a total of three games for the Mets, and has been racking up frequent flyer miles since his exodus from New York in 2002, pitching for the Expos, Reds, Astros, Red Sox, Orioles, Rangers and Royals.

Since the trades of Turk Wendell and Dennis Cook in 2001, the Mets have failed to put together a set-up crew similar to the one they employed during their late '90s, early '00s renaissance. In 2007, the Mets collapsed because they did not have dependable relievers who could bridge the gap between the starting pitchers and closer Billy Wagner. Had they been able to trot out a pitcher as effective as Turk Wendell was at keeping inherited runners from scoring, perhaps the Phillies' NL East dynasty would never have occurred as early as it did.

And what about those inherited runners? How did Turk do over his career as a Met? As this simple chart shows, he was among the best at stranding runners:

• 1998: 26 inherited runners, 10 scored (62% left stranded)
• 1999: 46 inherited runners, 12 scored (74% left stranded)
• 2000: 40 inherited runners, 6 scored (85% left stranded)
• 2001: 33 inherited runners, 10 scored (70% left stranded)

Note: In 13 appearances as a Met in 1997, Wendell did not come into a game with men on base.


If the double play is a pitcher's best friend, then Turk Wendell was a close second. From 1997-2001, Wendell allowed only 38 runners to score out of the 145 he inherited. That's an astounding 74% of inherited runners left stranded. By not allowing the men who were already on base to score, Wendell's teammates were able to keep their ERA down, but more importantly for the Mets, Wendell was able to keep the team in more ballgames, which contributed to more victories.

Need more proof on how clutch Turk Wendell was? From 1997-2001, Turk was brought into games a total of 46 times with at least two men on base. In 31 of those 46 games (more than two-thirds of the time), Turk did not allow any of those runners to score. In fact, in the Mets' pennant-winning season of 2000, Wendell was called upon to pitch 12 times with a minimum of two men on base. In 10 of those 12 games, he allowed none of the inherited runners to score and in the other two games, only one of those runners scored. There was never an instance during the 2000 season in which Turk Wendell came into a game and allowed multiple inherited runners to score.

When looking at MVP candidates for the Mets' 1999 and 2000 playoff teams, it's easy to look at an everyday player (Mike Piazza, Edgardo Alfonzo, Robin Ventura) or a starting pitcher (Al Leiter, Rick Reed, Mike Hampton). They're the ones who get the game-winning hits or pitch brilliantly over seven or eight innings. But the glue that kept those teams together was the middle relief corps and one man in particular did his job as effectively as any of the big hitters or front of the line starters did.

As a middle reliever, Turk Wendell was never going to pile up lofty win and save totals. In three full seasons (1998-2000) and parts of two others (1997, 2001), Wendell only won 22 games and notched 10 saves. But when you look beyond the wins, beyond the saves, beyond the tangible numbers you can find on any stat sheet, you'll notice that Turk Wendell was among the best middle relievers in baseball during his entire stay in New York.

If there was a runner on third base with less than two outs, it was Turk Wendell time. If there were multiple runners on base, Turk would leave them stranded. If an MVP candidate came up in a tight spot in the playoffs, Wendell wouldn't back down from the challenge.

Yes, Turk Wendell was a little - how shall we say this politely - different. Even his idiosyncrasies had idiosyncrasies. He'd brush his teeth between every inning. He ate licorice like there was no tomorrow. He'd never step on the foul line, preferring to hop over it as he was walking to and from the pitcher's mound. He would never catch a ball thrown at him by an umpire. He would wave to the centerfielder before each inning and not throw a pitch until he received a wave back. He was quite fond of the number "9", wearing uniform No. 99 and asking the Mets for a $9,999,999.99 contract after the 2000 season (too bad it wasn't after the '99 season).

Turk Wendell's contract demands made one particular vampire happy.

Despite being labeled an eccentric, he was also one of the most humble and caring human beings to ever put on a Mets uniform. Although he never wanted recognition for his volunteer and charity work, Wendell was honored with a Good Guy Award (presented by the New York Press Photographers Association) in 2000. He has also been an ardent supporter of American troops overseas, visiting Iraq and Afghanistan on multiple occasions.

Turk Wendell played for such a short time in New York, but worked his way into the hearts of many Mets fans. He was a key piece for the only Mets teams to make back-to-back playoff appearances. Yet despite his exceptional body of work for the Mets, Turk is still forgotten whenever people recall the best players of the Bobby Valentine era.

He was the only Met pitcher to win three postseason games during their two-year playoff run in 1999 and 2000, going 3-1 with a 2.84 ERA in 13 appearances. In five of those 13 appearances, he came into the game with men on base. Only once did he allow a baserunner to score (out of eight runners).

Simply stated, Turk Wendell is undoubtedly the most underrated middle reliever in Mets history, if not one of the most underrated players to wear the orange and blue (and sometimes black). The Mets finished with a winning record in each of the five seasons that Wendell suited up for them, and that's not a coincidence. Other players might have received the glory and the accolades for being part of one of the most successful eras in franchise history, but that's fine with Turk Wendell. He was just happy to be one of the guys.



Special note: There are two M.U.M. pieces left in the series, but I wanted to thank one particular reader for her invaluable assistance, especially for this piece, which was our "reader's choice" post. She gave me a sharp lead with her guided choice. Thank you for your continued readership and for your support, loyalty and generous contributions to Studious Metsimus over the years! You know who you are!


Note: M.U.M.'s The Word is a thirteen-part weekly series spotlighting some of the best Mets players of all-time who never got the recognition they deserved because they weren't the biggest names on the teams they played for. For previous installments, please click on the players' names below:

January 3, 2011: John Olerud
January 10, 2011: Sid Fernandez
January 17, 2011: Jon Matlack
January 24, 2011: Kevin McReynolds
January 31, 2011: Bobby Jones
February 7, 2011: John Stearns
February 14, 2011: David Cone
February 21, 2011: Rusty Staub
February 28, 2011: Rick Reed
March 7, 2011: Ron Taylor