While I’m not a huge fan of westerns as a movie genre, one
of the exceptions for me is “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.”
For those of you who haven’t seen or don’t
remember this classic directed by John Ford, it concerns the rise of a
lawyer-turned-politician named Ranse Stoddard (Jimmy Stewart) whose ascension
to prominence was the result of mistaken perception on the part of the
townspeople who all thought he was the one to dispose of outlaw Liberty Valance
(Lee Marvin) with a well-placed shot during a gunfight.
In fact, it was cowboy Tom Doniphan (John
Wayne) who shot Valance, but he let the deed go credited to Stoddard who
eventually became a United States Senator.
This week a lot of people were making veiled references to
the infamous incident during the 1969 World Series year when Gil Hodges walked
all the way out to left field to yank his star hitter Cleon Jones from the game
for not hustling.
It came up because not
once but twice perennial All Star Robinson Cano was perceived to be loafing and
not showing the hustle one would expect from top tier echelon player,
particularly when the club has been doing so poorly of late.
Many people were asking why manager Mickey Callaway didn’t “pull
a Hodges” and march out to remove Cano from the game to let the others on the
club know that not hustling was unacceptable and no matter how big a star you
are (nor the size of your paycheck is) will allow you to get a free pass when
others are busting their butts to try to win games.
Finally, on Monday Cano was given a seat on
the bench and, coincidentally, the Mets beat the Nationals that night.
Unfortunately, the story that played out in the media about
the whole Gil Hodges incident that has become the stuff of Mets legend is, in
fact, apocryphal. At the time of the incident Cleon Jones was hitting .350 on
his way to a season-ending .340 batting average, a record for Mets hitters that
stands to this day. Jones was more of a
contact hitter than slugger, never having hit more than 14 homers in a season,
but during that magical 1969 campaign he struck out just 60 times while walking
64 times!
Obviously you don’t want to
take that kind of bat out of the lineup, but, as the story goes, Hodges wanted
to send a message to the rest of the ballclub that Jones’ loafing on fielding
Johnny Edwards’ line drive to left. With
the team having lost the first game of the doubleheader 16-3 and were in the
process of losing the second 8-0, that gesture became a rallying cry for the
team.
The truth of the matter is that Jones was suffering an ankle
injury that he and Hodges decided he could play through rather than resting
it.
It had rained very heavily the
previous night and the field was still full of water. When Hodges came out he first asked Jones
about his ankle and the outfielder told the manager to look down at the ground
to see the condition of the field.
Hodges got the meaning and decided that he couldn’t risk further injury
to his star player, so he lifted him from the game.
Just like the movie, the crowds interpreted things entirely
differently and even the other players were unaware of what really
happened. It became an accidental
motivational ploy which was not the intention, yet the results were
spectacular.
Now no one is saying that sitting Cano and having the Mets
beat a much more formidable pitcher in Patrick Corbin and much better hitting
team in the Washington Nationals was a result of A causing B.
It may be that Callaway simply decided the
aging second baseman simply needed a day off and against a formidable lefty it
enabled him to get a right-handed bat in Todd Frazier into the lineup with Jeff
McNeil shifting to 2nd. However,
if it indeed motivated the team to do better, we as fans will surely take
it.
Never knew the real Cleon story - thanks for the real news.
ReplyDeleteCleon's health drove him down to .340 - he was hitting .354 in late August - September was 10 for 44 with 3 RBIs - still an excellent season, but a shame he got hurt.
This 2019 team needs motivation - if unmotivated, take a seat please.
One guy whose handling last night unintentionally gave them the win was JD Davis - his availability to pinch hit and blast a 3 run homer was key - and at the risk of toom much repetition, he should be playing every day.
If anyone missed the Alonso HR last night, watch it - somewhere, Dave Kingman is smiling. On pace for 55 homers.
Todd Frazier has been up 70 times, scored 3 runs, 2 of them on homers. Eight RBIs, 4 on a grand slam. He has warmed up a bit to .206, but I remain unconvinced. He has been a big factor in an offense that was humming, then sputtered and stalled when he returned.
ReplyDeleteHe is feisty, though. Just ask Adam Eaton.
I remember being told that Gil escorted him out to the parking lot and made him get in his car and get off the property.
ReplyDeleteFake news.
Cleon was a guy who could have greatly benefited with shorter Shea fences. I can't remember how many balls he stroked to the 396 ft. section of right center at Shea that were caught or went as a double or triple. 385 instead and I think he would have had a bunch more homers. There I go with fence distances again...I'm obsessed, I admit it.
ReplyDeleteTom your right and it also killed our biggest star with the move to citi for David Wright as that power alley to right center he loved so much was gone.
ReplyDeleteWikipedia backs up the injury story:
ReplyDelete"After losing the first game 16–3,[10] the Mets were down 7–0 in the third inning of the second game when Johnny Edwards hit a double to Jones in left field to make the score 8–0. Mets manager Gil Hodges emerged from the dugout, walked past Nolan Ryan on the mound, and walked all the way out to left field. A few minutes later, Hodges walked back to the dugout, with Jones a few paces behind him, and replaced Jones in left with Ron Swoboda.[11] Newspapers at the time said Jones suffered a leg injury and he was not in the Mets lineup for several games[12] after July 30. Later accounts say that Jones was removed for failure to hustle,[13] and Hodges decided to do so publicly to show that he would not tolerate lack of effort on his team, even from its star player.[14]
On August 22, 2009, following pre-game ceremonies honoring the 40th anniversary of the "Miracle Mets", Jones discussed the incident during SportsNet New York's telecast of that night's game. Jones said Hodges asked him why he did not look good going after a fly ball on the previous play. According to Jones, he pointed down to the water-filled turf. Hodges then said that something must be wrong with Jones's ankle and pulled him for that reason. Jones explained that Hodges was his favorite manager, and that he would never publicly embarrass a player. According to Jones, neither party ever revealed the contents of the conversation. Jones believes that the fear instilled in other players by the incident was the turning point in the season.[15]"
The 2020 NYM Rotation could possibly be something like this: 1. Syndergaard 2. Kay 3. Wheeler 4. Peterson 5. Open. I wouldn't advise re-signing Jacob deGrom due to the fact that will be 31/32 in 2020 and possibly another David Wright re-signing with the injuries.
ReplyDeleteAs far as pitching goes, the Seattle Mariners have eight really good starters down in the farm system. My favorites are Logan Gilbert (22), Sam Carlson (20), and Justin Dunn (23). And the Mariners need a really good young first baseman.
I would probably consider trading J31 year old ake deGrom by the end of this season's trade deadline, to get back one or two really good kid starters for the future.