Keith Hernandez
Back in the 1980s (and even today), New York Mets fans hated everything about the St. Louis Cardinals. There really were only two exceptions – Keith Hernandez and Tim McCarver.
For Hernandez, it was the trade, his becoming the first captain, and the 1986 World Series. Now, it’s for his broadcasting.
In terms of McCarver, it was purely the broadcasting. Like Hernandez, he arrived in 1983. He would then build what was proven to be a Hall of Fame broadcasting career.
At the end of his time with Fox Sports calling the postseason, people were exhausted and exasperated with him. That was unfortunate because he was revolutionary and one of the greatest to ever do it.
For Mets fans, McCarver will forever be linked to Dwight Gooden. While most curveballs are dubbed Uncle Charlie, McCarver thought Gooden’s was far too good. Because he found it so regal and majestic, he referred to it as Lord Charles.
It was more than that, but it was indicative of what McCarver brought to the broadcast. He did it all with his 15 years with the Mets.
He did play-by-play. He was Keith before Keith. He was as insightful as they came. He had great stories from his playing days which mostly featured Bob Gibson.
He gave the biggest gift a fan could receive – honesty. McCarver didn’t hold back with his analysis, which might’ve cost him his job.
He educated an entire generation of Mets fans. He espoused the importance of the first pitch strike and the hazards of the lead-off walk. Back in the 1980s, it came across as genius because it really was. Much of what he shared was just that.
He was smart and fun. He made Mets broadcasts great. That’s because he was smart and fun. He was great.
Sadly, he’s passed away, and now, the Mets can’t give him the day at Citi Field and the rightful honor of being inducted into the Mets’ Hall of Fame. Hopefully, that day will come.
Tim McCarver was a true Mets legend. May he rest in peace.
Since taking over the New York Mets, Steve Cohen has set out to celebrate Mets history. That hasn’t just included things like Old Timers’ Day and retiring the numbers of Keith Hernandez and Willie Mays. It has been welcoming those players back to the organization.
In this latest effort, the Mets have welcomed back Carlos Beltran to the organization.
Earlier in the offseason, the Mets tried to bring back Beltran to work as a coach for Buck Showalter. After those efforts failed, the Mets were able to hire Beltran in an unnamed front office role.
This comes three years after Beltran was hired and fired as manager for the Mets. That came on the heels of the Houston Astros sign stealing scandal coming to light. Rather than stick by Beltran, the Wilpons fired him.
In many ways, Queens is where Beltran belongs. To this day, he remains the best free agent signing the team ever made. More than that, Beltran is the best center fielder in team history.
The Mets needed this partially because to this day they only have Tom Seaver and Mike Piazza in the Hall of Fame. Absent the Astros sign stealing scandal, Beltran would have been a first ballot Hall of Famer. Before the scandal, the only question was which hat was going to be on his plaque.
Beltran spent seven years with the Mets and Kansas City Royals. He also had notable stops with the Houston Astros and New York Yankees. You could see him wearing a Royals cap or even opting to go the route Greg Maddux, Roy Halladay (family), and Mike Mussina recently opted with a a blank cap.
However, with Beltran back with the Mets, you can see him wearing a Mets cap on his plaque when he is eventually inducted. You can also anticipate the Mets are going to do everything they can to ensure he is enshrined like he should be. We can also expect his 15 to be retired like it should be.
Overall, like in 2005, the Mets and Beltran needed one another. They’re back together, and we should see great things ensue.
With Steve Cohen, things have changed so much for the better. Just look at this offseason, So far, the Mets have given record deals to keep Edwin Díaz and Brandon Nimmo. They have also brought in Justin Verlander, Kodai Senga, Omar Narváez, José Quintana, and David Robertson. In the past, it would take the Wilpons more than a decade to bring in all of these players, and of that group, we’d never be able to consider a Verlander coming to Queens.
However, even with the Wilpons gone, they still find ways to mess with New York Mets fans. Of course, it comes with them being cheap and not realizing the value of franchise greats.
There is still a gap between SNY and Keith Hernandez in contract talks. Hernandez was offered a new deal, rejected it, and counter-offered. SNY has not yet responded with another offer.
— Mike Puma (@NYPost_Mets) February 1, 2023
SNY (read, the Wilpons) always seems to do this with Keith Hernandez. They make the contract negotiations more prolonged than they need to be. In many ways, they don’t realize his value to the franchise and their broadcasts. Keep in mind, Hernandez and his commentary keeps fans tuned in during blowouts because fans want to hear Keith in those situations. That’s not hyperbole.
Actually, maybe the Mets do realize Hernandez’s value. It may be much more likely they really just don’t care. Based upon their ownership of the Mets, we can safely assume that is the case.
That is what actually makes this worse. They already have their billions from the sale of the franchise. They were financially made whole from the Madoff Ponzi Scheme scandal. Now, they’re just making money off the Mets like they always do.
There is going to come a point in time where Keith steps aside, and we are no longer going to have Gary, Keith, and Ron. However, that has to come on GKR’s terms. They’re Mets legends, and they earned that right as they are about to surpass Lindsey Nelson, Bob Murphy, and Ralph Kiner as the longest serving Mets announcing trio.
The Wilpons cannot mess this up. They’ve already messed up too much, and for all they have done, this would be a step too far. We shouldn’t put it past them. All we can do is hope they finally do the right thing by the fans.
Scott Rolen was finally inducted into the Hall of Fame on his sixth year on the ballot. It took way to too long for one of the best third basemen ever, but he’s where he belongs.
For some bizarre reason, people were unwilling to accept it even though Rolen is a top nine third baseman by WAR. However, it is more than just WAR.
When you’ve done something only Mike Schmidt has done, you’re a Hall of Famer. That’s now officially true of Rolen.
Rolen’s induction is a testament that defense matters. More than that, great defense can make you a Hall of Famer. That’s why his WAR was so high.
That what got lost on people as they made laughable cases for players like Don Mattingly. There were also arguments made for Dale Murphy or Keith Hernandez (who actually should be in the Hall of Fame).
Here’s the thing, Rolen was a third baseman, and they’re not. First baseman and center fielders should be used for those players.
That said, Rolen’s induction should serve as a bellwether for another third baseman. Rolen’s induction should prompt the Veteran’s Committee to induct Graig Nettles.
Like Rolen, Nettles was a great defensive player who won two Gold Gloves. He would’ve won more if not for Brooks Robinson.
Nettles has the third and fifth best defensive seasons by a third baseman. He’s fifth all-time in defensive WAR, one spot ahead of Rolen.
In his career, Nettles had a 68.0 WAR, which is just 2.1 behind Rolen and 0.4 behind the average Hall of Fame third baseman. Nettles is also just behind Rolen in WAR7 and JAWS while he’s ahead of the average Hall of Fame third baseman.
Nettles also won two World Series titles and was the 1981 ALCS MVP. Overall, he was a great player worthy of enshrinement.
Despite that, he fell off the ballot in three years. That’s a reflection of the arcane standards of yore, but we know better now.
This is why there’s a Veteran’s Committee. It’s to induct players like Nettles who should’ve been inducted over a decade ago. Like Rolen, Nettles (and Hernandez) belong in the Hall of Fame.
When the New York Mets played the San Diego Padres in the Wild Card Series, it was the first time the Mets were in the postseason since they were in the postseason in 2016. In fact, that marked just the second time in team history the Mets went to the postseason in consecutive seasons.
While just seven years ago, none of the players from those 2015-2016 Mets teams are around anymore. Actually, that’s not entirely true with Jerry Blevins working on the SNY postgame and occasionally filling in for Ron Darling and Keith Hernandez.
Blevins isn’t the only player who is retired. Look back at their starting lineup in Game 1 of the 2015 World Series. Almost all of those players are retired:
- Curtis Granderson – retired
- David Wright – retired
- Daniel Murphy – retired
- Yoenis Cespedes – attempting a comeback after retiring
- Lucas Duda – retired
- Travis d’Arnaud – Atlanta Braves
- Michael Conforto – San Francisco Giants
- Wilmer Flores – San Francisco Giants
- Kelly Johnson – retired
That is five retired and one more effectively retired. Notably, with Johnson, we saw Michael Cuddyer and Kirk Nieuwenhuis pinch hit in that DH spot, and both are now retired. If anything, it would seem the San Francisco Giants is the official team of the 2015 Mets.
As we see with Conforto and Flores, there are still some of those Mets players still in the majors, Matt Harvey notwithstanding. However, when Jacob deGrom signing with the Texas Rangers, there are currently no players from that team still with the Mets organization.
When Seth Lugo signed with the San Diego Padres, that left the Mets with absolutely no pitchers from that two year run. When Conforto signed with the Giants, that meant Brandon Nimmo was the only Mets player from that two year stretch to remain with the Mets, and he only played in 32 games.
When deGrom signed with the Rangers, we obviously lamented the second greatest Met ever leaving the organization. However, it was Conforto and Lugo leaving which officially turned the page on those teams with so much promise which ultimately fell apart due to the Wilpons malfeasance and cheapness.
In a sense, we should welcome this chapter forever being closed. Now, it is all about Steve Cohen and how he runs the Mets. So far this offseason, that means Nimmo is a Met for life in addition to adding Justin Verlander, Koudai Senga, Jose Quintana, David Robertson, Omar Narvaez and hopefully, Carlos Correa. Oh, and by the way, the Mets brought back Edwin Diaz and Adam Ottavino.
So yes, it is sad to see a part of Mets history gone, but we will have those memories. More than that, we have an exciting new era and owner. Now, it is time to just wait for Correa to sign, and the Mets to win a World Series.
Right now, it is irresponsible to speculate if there was anything that could have been done to prevent Damar Hamlin from suffering cardiac arrest after that collision. Certainly, manufacturers are going to go back to the drawing board, and they are indeed going to look to see if they could do anything to prevent that awful moment from every happening again on the field.
Obviously, everyone is going to look at this as an NFL issue. With football being an inherently violent sport, you just assume this is going to happen in football more than any other sport. However, no other sport is immune to these types of tragedies, and this should be a wake up call for all sports to review their safety equipment and protocols.
Look at the New York Mets this past season. They were hit by pitches more than any other team in baseball. There were multiple scary moments with fastballs going up-and-in at the batters, and remember, these pitches are now traveling around or above 100 MPH at times. Pete Alonso and Francisco Lindor having the C-flaps on their helmets prevented each of them from more significant and potentially catastrophic injury.
Lindor just got beamed in the face (saved by helmet flap).
Dugouts & bullpens cleared, near brawl 👀
THIS IS APPLE TV+ BASEBALL #Mets #Nats pic.twitter.com/lkrbQOKXFg
— 4_sumthin_24 (@ace_1985) April 9, 2022
Even with that happening, not everyone on the Mets wears the c-flap. Part of the reason is the c-flap is not currently mandated by Major League Baseball. To a certain extent, the players are to blame because they are always resistant to different changes like that. For example, go back to the 1986 World Series, you’ll see players like Gary Carter and Keith Hernandez not wear the ear flaps on their batting helmets.
At some point, the league and the union has to save the players from themselves. For baseball, this goes beyond just the batting helmets.
There are heart protective shirts available to help protect the heart after a direct impact from a hard hit ball. Baseball doesn’t mandate that despite batted balls screaming towards the pitcher at speeds well in excess of 100 MPH. The same goes for infielders who are actively taught to take the ball off the chest when there is a bad hop. Mandating these shirts could prevent an injury or other catastrophic incident.
Former Met Cliff Floyd has invested in protective liners in caps to protect against line drives taken to a fielder’s head. This would be of real importance to pitchers who are vulnerable with line drives screaming back at the mound. We have all seen at least one incident where a pitcher is hit with a line drive and is left bloodied on the mound.
It is possible Floyd’s product is not ready for MLB use, but we also don’t hear or see MLB investing in it or a similar product. More than that, we never really hear MLB or players speak out about the need for protective equipment like this at the Major League or youth recreational levels.
What we do know is all sports are inherently dangerous. It takes an incident in the sport to mandate changes, and even with those incidents, players are typically dragged along instead of willing participants.
Whatever the case, we saw Damar Hamlin almost die on the field after what was a routine play. While the NFL has been criticized for its immediate response, the one thing they got right was the medical training and protocols for their medical professionals at the games. That saved a life, and it is something each and every sport should be investigating and emulating at the moment.
Make no mistake, what happened to Hamlin could happen in any sport. The goal for each sport right now is to immediately assess their safety equipment and protocols. They need to see what changes they can make to stop whatever trauma they can, and they need to make sure their medical policies and procedures match what the NFL had in place which ultimately saved Hamlin’s life.
While we deal with the anticipation of the Carlos Correa contract being finalized, there are far more pressing matters at hand. Keith Hernandez is still unsigned for next season.
Now, this is an SNY/Hernandez negotiation meaning Steve Cohen isn’t a part of it. Whenever the Wilpons are involved, you can never fully trust the right thing will be done.
The thing is this is a deal that needs to get done. Hernandez is Mets royalty who is second only to Tom Seaver in stature with this franchise.
From an SNY perspective, Hernandez has been must watch TV. Honestly, even in lousy games, fans do stay tuned in to hear what he’s going to say or guffaw.
That is an extremely rare gift. Fortunately, SNY has understood that right from its inception. Whenever it’s been time to get a deal done with Hernandez, they’ve stepped up and gotten the deal done.
When both sides want to get the deal done, they find a way. This is why we should expect Hernandez to return in 2023.
It’s also informative for what’s going on with Correa. Through the endless non-updates updates, what remains clear is both parties are motivated.
Through this Correa Watch, we continue to hear Correa was thrilled when he and the Mets came to terms. We’ve also heard just how motivated Cohen is and just how personally invested his family is in getting this deal done.
Realistically speaking, it would be shocking if Correa wasn’t a Met in 2023 and beyond. On that point, while other teams are inquiring, Correa is negotiating with the Mets exclusively.
In 2023 and years to come, Hernandez should be talking about Correa’s “good fundies” at third base. We should also get to see this Mets team win the World Series like Hernandez did with the Mets in 1986.