Carlos Beltran gets the finale off tonight, with Angel Pagan in CF. Nick Evans gets a shot in LF.
You may remember this video that I shot at the May 12 game between the Braves and the Mets…
The man with the monkey around his waist, who had been identified as Craig Coakley of Queens, N.Y., has been banned from Citi Field for one year.
Coakley will also have to serve 20 days of community service and must pay a $1,000 fine and $2,000 in civil penalties, reports the AP.
Coakley ran on the field due to a bet with his boss, who claimed he would pay him a weeks salary if he did it. I wonder if he’ll be using that money to pay his fines.
With some guy across town doing something special, I decided to take a look at the Mets all-time hit leaders. Here’s the top 20…
| # | Player | Hits |
| 1 | Ed Kranepool | 1,418 |
| 2 | Cleon Jones | 1,188 |
| 3 | Edgardo Alfonzo* | 1,136 |
| 4 | Mookie Wilson | 1,112 |
| 5 | Bud Harrelson | 1,029 |
| 6 | Mike Piazza | 1,028 |
| 7 | Darryl Strawberry | 1,025 |
| 8 | Howard Johnson | 997 |
| 9 | Jerry Grote | 994 |
| 10 | David Wright* | 963 |
| 11 | Jose Reyes* | 960 |
| 12 | Keith Hernandez | 939 |
| 13 | Lee Mazzilli | 796 |
| 14 | Kevin McReynolds | 791 |
| 15 | Felix Millan | 743 |
| 16 | Rey Ordonez | 720 |
| 17 | Rusty Staub | 709 |
| 18 | Carlos Beltran* | 703 |
| 19 | John Stearns | 695 |
| 20 | Wally Backman | 670 |
*denotes active player. And yes, Fonzi is still active.
What really intrigues me here are Reyes and Wright. Both seemingly have very long careers ahead of them, hopefully with the Mets. It would (will?) be kind of cool to watch as they climb the chart and possibly battle for the top spot, maybe game in and game out.
Also, would have never picked Rey Ordonez or John Stearns to be in the top 20 spots. Sorry, guys.
This morning, Joe Budd over at Amazin’ Avenue (one of my favorite Mets sites), wrote this “Where did Kirk Nieuwenhuis come from? If I thought it was hard to learn how to spell Francoeur, it's going to be a nightmare season if Nieuwenhuis becomes something.”
Which got me thinking about weird names. And off the top of my head, I could think of a few strangely named Mets players (at the major and minor league level). Here’s a rough list…
Mets
Jeff Francoeur – OF - I know his family is French, but I’m just not used to the combination of “c-o-e-u-r” and don’t think I ever will be. I always think I spell his name wrong.
Omir Santos – C - “Omar” would be one thing. “Omir” is something different. Only 208 people pop up with the name Omir on Facebook.
Tobi Stoner – P - I mean…come on!
Bisons
Ricky Bones – Coach – This guy?
Derrick Ellison – P – There are too many letters in the “Derek.”
Chip Ambres – OF – Anyone (nick)named “Chip” must have been mocked in middle school.
B-Mets
Mako Oliveras – Manager – What is he, a shark?
Emary Frederick – P – Um…Emary? I don’t even know where that comes from. Heck, he’s from Florida!
John Madden – P – BOOM! FOOTBALL!
German Marte – P – Have you met his brother, Polish? They used to not get along, but now they’re OK.
Jenrry Mejia – P – But hey, he’s good.
Elvys Quezada – P – Was he named for The King?
Kirk Nieuwenhuis – OF – Is that “new-when-house” or…um…something?
St. Lucie
Tim Teufel – Manager – I always found this name funny. Like he’s a character on a children’s show or something.
Reese Havens – IF – Yum.
Brahiam Maldonado – OF – I will name my first child Brahiam. Just don’t tell my future wife.
Sand Gnats
Jimmy Johnson – P – Nice hair.
Jean Luc Blaquiere – C – Oui oui!
Imbewer Alvarez – IF – I’ve got nothing here. I’ve never seen this name before. Ever.
Cyclones
Dock Doyle – C – Awesome name.
Jordany Valdespin – IF – I’m going to go by “Andrewy” from now on. Just add a “y” to your name and you can be equally cool.
Kingsport
Yohan Almonte – P – If he ends up half as good as Johan, I’ll be happy.
Guillaume Leduc – P – Another name I can’t pronounce. Is that “Gee-yam-me”?
GCL
ZeErika Hall – OF – I knew he existed, but I just couldn’t find him on any of the rosters. He was drafted this year. And he may have the greatest name of them all. (H/T to Ted Berg, a.k.a. OGTedBerg) – Update: Further investigations finds him on the roster of the Gulf Coast League affiliate.
Jeurys Familia – P – Sounds like a really bad television show on Univision. And let me tell you, there is some quality programming on that channel.
Lachlan Hodge – P – Lachlan spends his free time hunting kangaroos in the brush down under.
Jimber Mueses – P – My goodness. This GCL team might beat out the B-Mets for greatest names.
Nelfi Zapata – C – Anyone named Nelfi is OK in my book.
Aderlin Rodriguez – IF – Aderlin! Aderlin! Aderlin!
Wilfredo Tovar – IF – By far my favorite name.
Ray Van Gurp – IF – No, this is my favorite.
Marinus Vernooij – IF – Actually, it’s this one.
There were a few others along the way that I snickered at, but didn’t think belonged on the list. Did I miss anyone? How about some historic silly Mets names? Let’s hear them in the comments.
“Power doesn't always have to be in terms of home runs. Power can be in terms of triples, doubles and the sense that the opposition doesn't play you so tight. They play you fair.”
-Jerry Manuel on power
Ricky Nolasco (10-8, 5.27 ERA) vs. Pat Misch (1-1, 3.25 ERA)
(Chat removed, as usual.)
More tomorrow. It's been a long day.
Looks like Jerry Manuel’s is going with the “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Too bad it is broken.
In a somewhat joke of a poll, I asked fans who the ace of the Mets rotation was now that Johan Santana is on the DL.
Here are the results…
I’m shocked how many votes Pat Misch and Nelson Figueroa garnered.
Now if only Mike Pelfrey can turn in his last performance for the every start.
Next Poll: Is Omir Santos your starting catcher in 2010?
Have you seen this apple lately?
It used to pop out when the Mets hit home runs. Crazy, right?
The Mets have hit only 42 home runs this season, with Gary Sheffield leading the team. Sheffield had only 307 plate appearances for the Mets, good for sixth most on the team.
18 different players hit home runs for the Mets this season. They are…
| Player | Home Runs |
| Gary Sheffield | 10 |
| Daniel Murphy | 9 |
| David Wright | 8 |
| Carlos Beltran | 8 |
| Jeff Francoeur | 7 |
| Fernando Tatis | 7 |
| Omir Santos | 6 |
| Angel Pagan | 6 |
| Carlos Delgado | 4 |
| Ramon Castro | 3 |
| Brian Schneider | 3 |
| Cory Sullivan | 2 |
| Jose Reyes | 2 |
| Ryan Church | 2 |
| Nick Evans | 1 |
| Luis Castillo | 1 |
| Alex Cora | 1 |
| Fernando Martinez | 1 |
Yeesh. That’s a sad list.
“If we did some things situationally, we had a shot.”
-Jerry Manuel on last night’s game