Joey's Soapbox: The Joey Jinx Strikes Again!

Chris Carter, the man known as "The Animal" to Mets fans, has become the latest player to fall victim to what is now known as The Joey Jinx. What, pray tell, is The Joey Jinx? I'm Joey Beartran and if you're not afraid of my jinx, I will get on my soapbox to tell you all about it.

Take a look at the photo below. That's Chris Carter holding me in the Mets' press conference room.


The photo was taken after the Mets' last regular season game in October. It was also the last time The Animal (not me...I'm talking about Chris!) was photographed as an employee of the Mets. In the offseason, the Mets decided to non-tender him, making him available to sign with any other team.

The Tampa Bay Rays have decided to fill the role of "any other team", as they have signed The Animal to a minor league contract.

If you haven't been able to figure it out yet, The Joey Jinx strikes whenever a Mets player holds me in a photograph. Carter is now the third former Met to fall victim to the Joey Jinx.

The first one was Eddie Kunz (see photo, right). Sweaty Eddie was invited to Port St. Lucie in February, after a brief cup of coffee with the Mets in 2008 and a full season at AAA-Buffalo in 2009. Then he met me in Spring Training and agreed to hold me for a picture. You can imagine what happened next.

Not only did Eddie Kunz fail to break camp with the Mets, he didn't even make it back to Triple-A. He played his entire 2010 season at AA-Binghamton and had the type of season that only his mother and Oliver Perez could be proud of.

He pitched in 42 games, of which 12 were starts. In 111.1 innings, Kunz recorded a 5.34 ERA, 1.65 WHIP and actually walked more batters than he struck out (68 walks/63 strikeouts). The only positive thing to come out of our meeting was his great Wikipedia photo (taken by Sharon Chapman).

The second player to be victimized by my jinx was Pedro Feliciano. He may have been known as Perpetual Pedro, but once he put his hands up my...I mean, once he was photographed holding me, his stay with the Mets was no longer perpetual.

Feliciano was a mainstay in the Mets bullpen for almost a full decade. He set the franchise record for appearances in each of the last three years. His 86, 88 and 92 games pitched from 2008-2010 also led the National League. Pedro has a solid 2009 season for the Mets, finishing the year with a 6-4 won-loss record, to go with a tidy 3.03 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP.

Then in between the 2009 and 2010 season, our photo op occurred. During the ensuing regular season, Pedro's record dropped to 3-6, while his ERA increased slightly (3.30) and his WHIP increased dramatically (1.53).

The Mets decided not to re-sign Pedro during the offseason, and he signed with the crosstown New York Yankees for two years and $8 million. Just between you and me, I hope he brings my jinx over to The House That Juice Built.

Chris Carter and Eddie Kunz were probably never going to be big stars in New York, while Pedro Feliciano, although important to the team, was only a middle reliever. I've been careful not to spread The Joey Jinx to one of the Mets' everyday players...or have I?

It is with great regret that I must inform you that this past December, I attended the Mets MVP Reception at Citi Field. Numerous players were in attendance that afternoon. I went for the food and the opportunity to discuss team politics with new GM Sandy Alderson and new manager Terry Collins.

Except those weren't the only people I ran into.

In a faraway corner of the Caesar's Club, one lone figure stood. I couldn't help but notice his unshaven face. He had the look of a man wise beyond his years and appeared slightly exhausted, perhaps due to months of throwing his body around into immovable objects, like a dugout railing or three.

I felt sorry for the bearded fellow, so I walked over to him and asked him if it would make him feel better if I took a photograph with him. He thought to himself for a moment, then smiled as he answered (and I quote) "uh...sure, why not?" It was then that I realized who this hirsute Metropolitan was...


Ladies and Gentle-Mets, the lonely bearded man in the corner was Mets first baseman Ike Davis.

It is unknown whether The Joey Jinx will cause Ike Davis to have a Sophomore Slump in 2011. He did finish the 2010 season well, hitting .330 and compiling a .427 on-base percentage after the calendar turned to September. But we have already seen the negative effects of being photographed with me.

Three times a Mets player has posed with me for a photo. Three times that player's production suffered and he was either demoted or signed with another team.

So to all you Mets fans out there, I would like to apologize in advance for going over to Ike Davis on that cold December day in the Caesar's Club. Had he been standing next to a railing instead of alone in the corner, perhaps I would have recognized him before I had the chance to jinx his 2011 season.

I promise that if I am ever photographed again with another baseball player, it will either be with Cliff Lee, Roy Halladay or Chase Utley. The Joey Jinx doesn't discriminate.