John From Albany – Mets Breakfast Links 5/22/2020

Good Morning.  It's the anniversary of the Mike Piazza to the Mets trade, Mets will look to have Spring Training in Florida and MLB Players respond to MLB on the return proposal.

   

Section Links: Mets Links, MLB Links, Minor League Links, Asian Baseball Links, and This Day in Mets History.    

MLBPA has delivered its response to MLB’s health protocols. Includes notes on:

• Testing frequency
• Protocols for positive tests
• In-stadium medical personnel
• Protections for high-risk players and family
• Access to pre-, postgame therapies
• Sanitization protocols

— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) May 21, 2020

Mets Links:

Yankees and Mets will both be going back to Florida to conduct spring training at their regular spring sites (assuming MLB and union strike a deal). Teams have a choice and while New York’s Covid-19 numbers are improving, Florida’s numbers are better than most per capita.

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) May 22, 2020

Centerfield Maz: Remembering Mets History (5/22/1998): The Mets Aquire Mike Piazza In A Trade With The Marlins.

Centerfield Maz: Remembering Mets History (1972): First Place Mets Ride On Eleven Game Win Streak.

Mike’s Mets Talks about Jose Lima’s stint with the Mets in “Wrong Place, Wrong Time”. Jose Lima’s Mets line in 2006: 0-4, 9.87 ERA.

Mike Puma NY Post: Behind Mets’ struggles to find franchise catcher since Mike Piazza.

NY Post.com: SNY ends shows, trims staff because of coronavirus impact.

Ken Davidoff NY Post: Mets catcher's health battles led him to an uplifting connection. Ed Hearn talks about his health struggles and the connection he made with “John Thompson, the ambassador for the independent New York Boulders, and provided a boost for the 27-year-old.”

NY Post: Mets seeking encore from Justin Wilson, minus the injuries.

Faith and Fear in Flushing: This Beautiful Game in These Challenging Times.

Elizabeth Muratore Rising Apple: NY Mets: Five best player walk-up songs of all-time in Mets history. 5) Lucas Duda – “All Along The Watchtower” by Jimi Hendrix; 4) Noah Syndergaard – “Game of Thrones theme music” by Ramin Djawadi; 3) Daniel Murphy – “I’m Shipping Up To Boston” by the Dropkick Murphys; 2) Wilmer Flores – “I’ll Be There For You” by the Rembrandts; 1) Jacob deGrom – “Simple Man” by Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Tim Boyle Rising Apple: Mets fans are split on choice between Bartolo Colon and Matt Harvey.

Kyle Newman Elite Sports NY: New York Mets 2020 draft preview: 5 prospects to know. Casey Martin, SS, Arkansas; Cole Wilcox, RHP, Georgia; Dillon Dingler, C, Ohio State; Garrett Mitchell, OF, UCLA; Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF, Harvard-Westlake HS.

Metsmerized Online: Revisiting Mets’ Longest Winning Streaks Since 2015. The 11 game streak from April 12-23, 2015 leads the list.

Metsmerized Online: The Legend of Dae-Sung Koo.

Metsmerized Online: Amazin’ Memories: Darling, Viola Pitch The Greatest College Game Of All-Time. 5/21/1981 St. John’s Frank Viola beat Yale’s Ron Darling in a 12 inning 1-0 game.

MLB LINKS:

AP News: Cubs institute pay cuts, Pirates announce furloughs.

Newsbreak.com: The Bizarre Life and Tragic Death of Mark ‘The Bird’ Fidrych.

MLB.com: Cruz aiming to become 3rd-generation big leaguer. “Rice shortstop Trei Jose Cruz has been around the sport his entire life…His grandfather, Jose Cruz Sr., collected 2,251 hits in 19 Major League seasons…Trei’s dad, Jose Cruz, Jr., played 12 seasons in the big leagues.”

Mike Lupica MLB.com: Player of the century? So far, it’s Pujols.

CBS Sports: 2020 MLB Draft: Meet the five most polarizing players in the class, including a former teen phenom.

CBS Sports: Why the coronavirus shutdown could lead to MLB expansion in the near future. MLB could use expansion to offset financial losses suffered during the pandemic.

CBS Sports: Chipper Jones growing less optimistic about 2020 MLB season, says Blake Snell's comments were 'bad look'.

MLB Trade Rumors: Ranking The All-Time No. 1 Picks. Alex Rodriguez, (1993) came out on top with a 113.7 fWAR.

MLB Trade Rumors: MLB’s 5 Most-Traded Players.

Minor League Links:

Savannah Now.com: Savannah Bananas announce plans to live-stream games from Grayson Stadium. “The Bananas pushed back Opening Day from May 18 to July 1 and plan to implement social distancing at Grayson, which normally as a seating capacity of 4,100. About 2,000 fans will be allowed into games under the plan this season…will implement live streaming of games to give fans a chance to experience the lively Banana game atmosphere online.”

Baseball Mexico: AMID VENUE DOUBTS, CARIBBEAN SERIES TIX ON SALE. “Even though the organization that oversees the Caribbean Series has threatened to move the event elsewhere in 2021 if an ongoing dispute involving the ballpark where it would be played isn't resolved soon, the host Mazatlan Venados have begun selling prime tickets for the weeklong Crown Jewel of Latin Baseball.”

The Morning Call: How MLB’s proposed minor league overhaul affects the Phillies, IronPigs and more.     

Asian Baseball:

Kyodo News: Baseball: Hiroshima Carp let fans into practice. “Nippon Professional Baseball is looking to start its season in the middle of June or early July, but no date has been set. Although Tokyo remains in a state of emergency, teams across the nation are picking up the pace of training in order to be ready when the season begins.”

Yon Hap News: Ex-major leaguer Kang Jung-ho formally applies for return to KBO.

Tim Boyle Rising Apple: Former Mets pitcher Chris Flexen is excelling in the KBO. “Through three starts, Chris Flexen, is 2-0 with a 2.70 ERA. After 20 innings, he already has 22 strikeouts compared to just 4 walks.”

Aaron Altherr went 3 for 4 with 3 RBIs yesterday for the NC Dinos. (Box score).

Aaron Altherr puts the NC Dino’s up 10-4 with this HR. #aaronaltherr #homerun #hr #kbo #ncdinos #baseball former #mlb #player pic.twitter.com/JGGaP4PJU1

— Dee Black MMA (@Dee_Black_MMA_) May 22, 2020

Aaron Altherr is back in CF today for the NC Dinos, with a walk in his only plate appearance so far. (Box score).

Here is KBO’s Scoreboard.

Rain washed out the games in the CPBL again today. 

Yesterday at Mack’s Mets:

John From Albany - The All Time, All NY Born, Mets Team.

Tom Brennan - The Nolan Ryan Mets Trade Revisited.

Mack’s Blast From The Past: May 22nd 2014 -- Mets 5, Dodgers 3. (Box Score).  Jonathan Niese got the win and David Wright and Curtis Granderson each went 2 for 4.

Today in Mets History Per Ultimatemets.com:

Born on this date:

• Collin Cowgill (1986)

Died on this date:

• Ernie White (1974)

Transactions:

New York Mets released Gil Hodges on May 22, 1963.

New York Mets traded Preston Wilson, Geoff Goetz and Ed Yarnall to the Florida Marlins for Mike Piazza on May 22, 1998.

New York Mets released Scott Strickland on May 22, 2005.

New York Mets released Jorge Sosa on May 22, 2008.

New York Mets sold Keon Broxton to the Baltimore Orioles on May 22, 2019.

National Pastime.com: 

1998	The Mets trade Preston Wilson, Geoff Goetz, and Ed Yarnall to the Marlins for Mike Piazza. Florida had acquired the All-Star catcher last week from the Dodgers, along with Todd Zeile in exchange for Gary Sheffield, Bobby Bonilla, Charles Johnson, Jim Eisenreich, and Manuel Barrios.

Baseball Reference:

1963: The all-time shortest managerial career ends after one game - a loss - when Eddie Yost, who replaced Mickey Vernon (14-26) as the Senators' pilot, is replaced by Gil Hodges. Hodges was acquired today from the Mets, who receive veteran Jimmy Piersall in return.

Los Angeles's Don Drysdale beats the Mets, 7 - 3, on two hits - homers by Duke Snider and Tim Harkness.

1988 - Pedro Guerrero throws his bat at David Cone after being hit by a pitch in the Dodgers' 5 - 2 loss to the Mets. He will be suspended for four games by National League president Bart Giamatti. 

2019 - Veteran OF Rajai Davis has a surreal day: at 5:00 PM, he is taking batting practice with the Syracuse Mets in Allentown, PA, in anticipation of an evening game against the Lehigh Valley IronPigs of the International League. That's when he gets the news that he has been called up to the major league Mets. He hires a driver to take him to Citi Field and after a two-hour ride, arrives there in the 3rd inning. He gets lost on his way to the clubhouse and has to ask for directions. He finally meets his manager and teammates in the 5th. He is then sent to pinch-hit for Drew Gagnon in the bottom of the 8th and hits a three-run homer off Sean Doolittle of the Nationals, capping a six-run inning. The Mets win the game, 6 - 1.

Want more?  Check out https://sportspyder.com/mlb/new-york-mets/news. 

Want something else tracked here each day?  Please leave a comment below.