centerfield maz

Thursday May 18th, 1978: On this Spring evening, Joe Torre's fifth place New York Mets (16-21) hosted Bobby Cox's last place Atlanta Braves (16-21).  Both managers were in the early days of their Hall of Fame managing careers leading two of the worst teams in the National League. From 1977 to 1981, Joe Torre managed the Mets going 286-420 never finishing above fourth place. From 1978 to 1981  Bobby Cox would manage the Braves in his time around,  going 266-323 also  never finishing above fourth place.  Ironically, Cox was replaced by Joe Torre. In 1982 he led the Braves to their first NL West title since 1969. Torre remained in Atlanta for three years finishing second & third respectively.  Bobby Cox went to the Toronto Blue Jays managing them for four years winning an AL East title in 1985. He returned to the Braves as a General Manager (1986-1990). He then returned to the dugout managing the Braves from June 1990-2010 winning five pennants ...

Sunday May 21st, 2000: In a rematch of the previous years' NLDS, Buck Showalter's Arizona Diamondbacks (27-16) who were riding high in first place, came to Shea Stadium to play Bobby Valentines third place Mets (24-20) in front of 38,826 fans. The Mets super utility man Joe McEwing, would have one of his biggest days as a Met. The popular McEwing was brought in during the off season in a trade for veteran Jesse Orosco who had a brief tenure again with the Mets late in his career.  McEwing became a favorite weapon of Bobby Valentine as one of his super-subs. The Mets fans also loved McEwing earning him the name "Super Joe" McEwing for his versatility. McEwing would play seven different positions as a Mets player. The reigning Cy Young Award winner Randy Johnson who came into the game at 7-1 with a league leading 0.97 ERA took on the Mets Rick Reed who was 3-1 with a 3.38 ERA. Both pitchers had tough days giving up five runs each, both getting to the 9th inni...

In 1977, there wasn't too much for Mets fans to get excited about. Things just seemed to get worse & worse as the year went on.   It was the start of one of the darkest periods in team history, the start of seven straight losing seasons. Tom Seaver was on the verge of being traded & in the new era of free agency, management had no intentions of signing any high-priced players. When Jon Matlack took the mound in this night game, the Mets were in the midst of a losing streak that would go 12 of 14 games, with Matlack breaking a five-game losing streak. Friday May 13th,1977: A crowd of 19,448 mostly coming to see Tommy Lasorda's high flying NL Champion Los Angeles Dodgers (24-7) take on Joe Frazier's Mets (11-19).  Mets manager Joe Frazier was on the hot seat, the press were asking if he thought he'd be fired soon. Quotes- Joe Frazier: "If it happens it happens, nothing I can do about it". Frazier had led the Mets to an 86-76 third place finish in 1976. ...

Steven John "Turk" Wendell was born on May 19, 1967, in Pittsfield, Massachusetts in the southwest part of the state of Massachusetts. His father Charles was a foreman for GE & also owned a variety store. His mother Bea was a homemaker taking care of Turk, his brother & four sisters. Wendell grew up in the same town as former Mets & MLB reliever Jeff Reardon. Turk grew up a Red Sox fan & his hero was Hall of Famer, Carl Yastrzemski. Turk nickname: Turk said his grandfather gave him the nickname of Turk after one of his buddies, because he was always doing stupid rebellious things. The six foot two, right-handed pitcher attended Quinnipiac College, setting single season strikeout & ERA records there. Wendell was then drafted in the fifth round of the 1988 draft by the Atlanta Braves. He began his minor league career as a starter, going 11-11 in 1989 at both the A & AA levels. He fell to 5-12 the next year moving into the bullpen as a ...