centerfield maz

Brady William Clark was born April 18th, 1973 in Portland Oregon. The six foot, two inch right handed outfielder attended San Diego State University where he was a West Coast Conference All Star in 1995. He was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds as an amateur free agent in 1996. Two years later he was the Southern league's MVP batting .326 with 17 HRs & 75 RBIs. He followed up batting .304 with 16 HRs & 69 RBIs in 2000. After a brief cup of coffee in 2000 he played in 89 games for the Reds in 2001 hitting 6 HRs while batting .264. In September of 2002 he was traded to the New York Mets along with Pedro Feliciano in exchange for Sean Estes. He debuted on September 11th with the Mets scoring a run as a pinch runeer in Atlanta in a 8-5 loss to the Braves. The next day he doubled in Montreal as a pinch hitter driving in Rey Ordonez in the Mets 5-2 win over the Expos. Clark went 2-6 as a pinch hitter before getting two starts at the end of the season. Overall he batted .417...

The 2015 Queens Baseball Convention at McFadden's Citi Field turned out to be another big winter hit. Mets fans from all generations came out to talk Mets history & current state of the team.  1986 Mets stars; Wally Backman & Mookie Wilson told stories, took photos & signed autographs for the fans. 1969 Met; "The Glider" Ed Charles was also on hand to receive a Gil Hodges Award. Mets broadcaster Josh Lewin was on hand with ESPN's Adam Rubin, filmmaker Heather Quinlan (1986 Mets The Movie). Mascots- Mr. Met, Sandy & Pee Wee (of the Brooklyn Cyclones) the 7 line calendar girls  & a whole lot of Mets bloggers & internet people involved in Mets related web sites.  Special thanks to the Shannon Shark of the Mets Police for getting this thing going & having centerfieldmaz involved.      http://metspolice.com/2015/01/11/qbc15-thanks-thoughts-whats-next/ Mets Police- Shannon Shark inspects '69 To...

Longtime Mets Groundskeeper Pete Flynn (1962-2011) has been elected to the Grounds Keepers Hall of Fame as a 2015 inductee.   Pete Flynn was born in County Leitrim, Ireland and emigrated to the United States & has been a long time Queens Village resident.  In the Winter of 1962 he responded to an add looking for help at the Polo Grounds where the new National League New York Mets would be playing. He went for an interview at 19th Street in Manhattan & was hired as a handyman. His first day on the job was also the first time he ever walked on to a baseball field. Flynn drives the Beatles in Shea 1965 He worked his way up to becoming a groundskeeper in time where they used a rake & a shovel without the use of (as Rush would say) modern day machinery. He moved along with the team to Shea Stadium in 1964 & worked there until it's final day in 2008.  In 1965 he drove the Beatles in an armored car from second base to center field during their leg...

Mario Rafael Diaz Torres was born January 10, 1962 in Puerto Rico. He was signed by the expansion Seattle Mariners in 1978 and a decade later made his MLB debut. He played sparingly in Seattle for three seasons hitting over .300 twice with a high of 72 at bats in 1988. He got traded to the New York Mets in June of 1990 for Brian Givens when Kevin Elster went down with an injury. He would only play 16 games for the Mets (3-22) with a Mets career batting average of .136 with one RBI. His claim to fame in Mets history came in a crazy July 25th 1990 game against the Phillies. The Mets had a 9-0 lead going into the bottom of the 7th inning at Veterans Stadium. In the last of the 9th they led 10-3 & things looked pretty good. But Wally Whitehurst & Julio Machado in relief of Sid Fernandez, allowed seven straight hits & six runs before John Franco coul d put out the fire. The last out was a line drive to Mario Diaz playing at shortstop.  Announcer Bob Murphy sh...

Frank Menechino was born January 7, 1971 in Staten Island, New York. He was raised in a middle class family, his father taught him how to use a shovel & a jack hammer as to earn a blue collar living. “He made sure I’d have a trade if I didn’t make it in baseball, and I worked construction as a kid — demolition, paving, regular contracting work,” Menechino said. Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/mlb/miami-marlins/article1960470.html#storylink=cpy  The local Italian / American played baseball at Susan E. Wagner High School on Staten Island. At five foot nine, he was a solid infielder who batted right handed. He went on to play college baseball at Gulf Coast Community College in Panama City, Florida, before switching to the University of Alabama. In 1993 he was drafted way down in the 45th round, by the Chicago White Sox. In 1997 he was drafted away from Chicago by the Oakland Athletics.  After a six year minor league career, he debuted in...

Carlos Antonio Diaz was born on January 7th, 1958 in Kaneohe, Hawaii. The six foot right hander was a first round draft pick of the Seattle Mariners (15th pick overall) in 1979. He was the 13th major leaguer to be born in the state of Hawaii. After two seasons in the Mariner organization he was traded to the Atlanta Braves for Jeff Burroughs. He made his big league debuted in 1982 going 3-2 with the Braves when in September of that year he was traded to the New York Mets for Tom Hausman. He made four appearances in relief, finishing four games for the Mets. In 1983 he was a member of the Mets bullpen, getting his first Mets win in the second game of an April 20th double header against the Pittsburgh Pirates. He pitched three innings of relief allowing a run. Two days later he blew a save in Atlanta against his old Braves team mates. He was used in 54 games throughout the season going 3-1 with two saves & five holds to his credit, posting a 2.05 ERA. These numbers put him ...

Mark Randall Bobb  was born New Year's Day 1948 at Verdugo Hills, California, right outside Los Angeles. He was first drafted out of high school but chose to attend Arizona State University where he played for the Sun Devils baseball team in 1967 along with future 1969 Met Gary Gentry & pitcher Larry Gura. Out of Arizona State Bobb was chosen as a first round pick (second pick overall) by the Chicago Cubs the next year. He went right through the ranks of the minors that year & was brought up in September. The catcher got action behind Cubs main backstop Randy Hundley in seven games in 1968 getting his only career hit in his second career game, coming against the Atlanta Braves. He spent 1969 in the minors, getting called up in again September after the Amazing Mets had taken over first place from the Cubs. At the end of Spring Training 1970, Bobb was traded to the New York Mets for 1969 World Series Game #4 hero; J.C. Martin. The Cubs Manager at the team, the legend...