Thursday, January 27, 2011

19 Days

What's a better way to count the days to Spring Training than thinking of players who have worn the number of days left?  That sentence kind of sucked, but you get my point.

#19.  A bunch of great Mets have to have worn #19.  Not quite.

The last person to wear it was Mike Hessman.  Sure, he could hit the ball a long way.  Too bad he only seemed to be able to do that in the minor leagues.  Last season it was also worn by Gary Matthews Jr.  His Opening Day start is just one of some oh-so-fond memories his brief stint with the Mets brought.

In 2009, Cory Sullivan wore #19.  His season with the Mets was somewhat successful.  He contributed more than anybody thought he would.  

And before that there was Ryan Church.  Quick recap, concussion in Spring Training, comes back.  Concussion in early season game against Braves, flies to Colorado with team, tries to come back, symptoms get worse, out for season, Mets medical staff looks stupid.

But, if you want someone good to think about wearing #19 then you can remember that Bobby Ojeda wore it.  (I never know if I should use 'Bobby' or 'Bob' when referring to him.)  Ojeda has a World Series ring from the Mets and now does in-studio commentary on SNY.  If you want to remember somebody for wearing #19, remember him.

Some other players to wear #19: Heath Bell, Jeff Conine, Roger Cedeno, Ron Gardenhire

Let's Go Mets!

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