Jose Reyes — Aside from carrying the team this year for stretches at a time, the spark-plug shortstop won the first batting title in franchise history with an average of .337. Furthermore, the pending free agent scored at least 100 runs (101) for the fourth time in his career and stole 39 bases; he is the franchise leader in both categories. If this was goodbye, thanks for the memories, Jose! - http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ycn-9174449
Darren Oliver, Texas Rangers -- Yes, Darren Oliver is still in the league. Yes, Oliver is still effective with a 7.6 bWAR since departing the Mets for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim following the 2006 season. He was an afterthought in 2006 following a year where was released from two different minor league organizations, but the Minaya touch unearthed another gem that added gusto to the southpaw's second wind in the Majors. Oliver was on the roster for the last Mets playoff appearance, which should make it even easier for you to root him on. He'll also be joined by fellow 2006 teammate Endy Chavez, another player who needs no introduction to Mets fans. And Oliver will be cheered on by a few ex-Mets alumni in Rangers co-owner Nolan Ryan and pitching coach Mike Maddux. - http://www.amazinavenue.com/2011/9/30/2459916/a-mets-fans-guide-to-recognizing-your-saints-in-the-2011-mlb-playoffs
10-3-11: - http://www.metsminorleagueblog.com/season-review-the-full-season-catchers - Kai Gronauer led the B-Mets in games caught with 51, hitting .253/.326/.373 at age 24. His season was interrupted by a hamstring injury. Gronauer is a good communicator and a good interview, but threw out 29% of opposing base stealers (17 of 58). That’s not enough to even be Nickeas.
Darryl Strawberry (1990): Until recently the best offensive player the Mets have ever produced, Straw’s contract expired at the end of the 1990 season. At the time he was at the pinnacle of his career: at age 29 he was on pace the break the all time home run record and was coming off a 37-home run season. Darryl spurned the Mets, instead inking a lucrative five-year $22.25 million contract with his hometown Los Angeles Dodgers. He proved to be a bust in LA, hitting only only 38 home runs in three years there before being released. He drifted to San Francisco and then later to the Yankees where he enjoyed a revival of sorts, but his sure-fire Hall of Fame career when he left the Mets was lost in a haze of injuries and drug abuse. He has since reconcilled with the Mets and recently surfaced, warning Reyes to stay in New York. Hard to envision what could have happened had he stayed (many blame the influence of hometown friends on his demise in LA) but the cost of replacing him—first Vince Coleman and then Bobby Bonilla—ushered in a Mets Dark Age that lasted from 1991 to 1998 and the arrival of Mike Piazza. - http://www.metstoday.com/7084/11-12-offseason/adios-jose-five-free-agents-who-left-the-mets
Bob Knepper and the Astros led 3-0 in the ninth inning. A New York loss would tie the series and put the Mets at Mike Scott's mercy in Game 7. Scott already had two complete game victories, suffocating New York on eight hits. The Mets were 108-54 during the season, running away with the NL East by a staggering 21½ games. Suddenly, everything was in peril. Mets outfielder Mookie Wilson: "The team was arrogant enough to deny defeat. They didn't think that was possible. But once the series started, I sensed fear for the first time. … I think of all the things we feared the most was facing Scott in Game 7. We knew what was at stake. We knew that if we lost Game 6, Game 7 was pretty much a write-off. Mentally, most of the guys on that team didn't think that we could beat Scott.'' - http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/story/2011-10-03/1986-playoffs-bill-buckner-mets-red-sox/50646152/1
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