Craig Mitchell -- The Legacy of the Lost 1st Baseman

Without a doubt the biggest point of contention, as far as the Met off season goes is the upcoming log jam at first base.  Ike Davis is the fallen golden boy.  It was thought he was most certainly going to be dealt this winter, and I suppose he still can. But it now seems less likely. David Wright appeared on WFAN in NY and publically stated that he for one is glad that the Mets did not sell low on Davis. The Mets need Ike Davis to be the powerful slugger he’s already shown he has the chops to be. If…he can get out of his own head.

I am reminded similarly of another powerful lefty the Mets had about 20 years ago.  He came out of nowhere to the Mets in a trade for one time heralded prospect Alan Zinter. I’m referring to Rico Brogna.  Brogna broke into the Mets line up in the middle of the ill-fated strike season of 1994.  Taking over for the overwhelmed David Segui, Brogna opened eyes batting a sizzling .351 in his 39 games. With 7 homers, 20 RBI with a stunning OPS of 1.0006! I remember it very plainly.  Every Met fan I knew said Rico WHO?

Rico Brogna, in 1994, was a 24 year old former 1^st round draft pick and later a cast off from the Tigers. We got him for Alan Zinter? What the hell? This Brogna guy can rake. Perhaps it was a fluke? Well. No. It wasn’t. After the strike was settled and the sport got going again in 1995, Brogna was installed as the starting first baseman for the Mets and he pretty much lived up to some lofty expectations.  While the Mets floundered for the season,  Brogna had a solid year batting .289 in 134 games with 22 homers and 76 rbi. The next year injuries got to Brogna, and he only managed to play in 55 games. He hit 7 homers, drove in 30 and batted .255.  Still, Brogna was only 27, better years where ahead.  Right?

Right. But it wouldn’t be for the Mets. Without much hoopla Brogna was traded on November 27^th to the Philadelphia Phillies for Toby Borland and Ricardo Jordan.  I thought the reason was clear. Three days earlier the Mets signed former Blue Jay John Olerud as a free agent. A great signing, Olerud was about the same age, but was more expensive.  Never-the-less back in 1997, the Mets did throw around money so Olerud it was.   Who could argue? Olerud had a career .295 average and a sterling glove. It was a win, win.

But still, in the back of my mind it always bothered me why the Mets gave up on Brogna. So I did a little research and I found out why.  Back in 1991, Brogna was diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis (a form of spinal arthritis.) No wonder the Tigers gave up on their 1988 1^st round pick. Likewise, with the Mets building up a strong team at the time, it makes sense that Brogna’s high physical risk of injury and possibly multiple trips to the disabled list got to them too.  Brogna became a stand out with the Phillies. Taking medication every day to keep his condition under control, Brogna only missed 28 games the next 3 years hitting 20 homers in each of the next three seasons and drove in 81, 102 and 104 RBI per year respectively.  Don’t get me wrong, Olerud was amazing for the Mets. After all he was part of one of the best defensive infields in MLB history  in 1998 and he batted  .354 in 1999 a New York Met all time record.  But it was never highly publicized why the Mets gave up on Rico. It always bothered me. Now maybe I lived under a rock, but in retrospect Brogna’s harsh reality forced the Mets to make business moves that were best for the team at the time.  After, 1999, Brogna never played more than 81 games a year again and his condition forced him to retire after the 2001 season at the age of 31. 

Why am I thinking about Brogna’s brief stint with the Mets now?  Well because of Ike Davis. Davis after hitting 19 homers in his first season with the Mets in 2010, was on his way to becoming a star. In 2011 he was batting .302 with 7 homers and 25 RBI and a .925 OPS when a fluke collision with David Wright in Colorado broke a bone in Davis’foot ending his season. Those numbers are so close in my mind to Brogna’s first dip with the Mets at Shea in 94’ that a comparison seemed inevitable. Now, Davis has been much more Jekyll and Hyde than Brogna ever was. Davis rebounded from a sub .170 first half in 2012 to bat .227 with 32 homers and 90 RBI. But then again, last year, Davis started horribly again only never came out of it.  After the struggling start he was sent to the minors to only return again. Then after getting injured for the year in August finished with 9 homers 33 RBI and batted .205.

My point? Well, first off, I am a huge Ike Davis fan. I am glad he is still with the Mets. I pull for him in every at bat and I want to see him become the slugger we know lives within him. However, Mets management would have been wiser to trade him after his return to form in 2012.  Once Davis struggled to begin 2013 any appreciated value for him crashed to the ground.  Now, Valley Fever or injuries  aside, Davis begins 2014 sink or swim with the Mets.  If he starts 2014 like he did in 2013 and 2012 and doesn’t recover,Davis has nowhere to go. No one will waste a prospect on him and Davis could wind up being released by June.

Baseball is a game. But it’s won by smart men who treat it as a business, most of the time. Emotionally I was disappointed when Rico Brogna was traded away with no fanfare. But at the time it led the Mets to two LCS’s and the 2000 World Series.  Brogna went on to coach High School basketball and football in his home state of Connecticut. In 2010 he managed the Mobile Baybears the Arizona Diamondbacks AA affiliate. In 2011 he was named the head football coach at Notre Dame-Fairfield high school in Connecticut, and stated he had retired from baseball (as a coach/executive) to concentrate his football duties year round. Baseball’s loss is Connecticut’s gain.  In the meantime,  it's all or nothing for Ike.