Tom Brennan - The Best Mets OF Draftee Tandem Since Darryl and Lenny; POLANCO!

WALK SOFTLY AND CARRY A BIG BAT 

I was trying to think about which Mets players were drafted relatively simultaneously for the Mets outfield that were as impactful as we are hoping that Carson Benge and AJ Ewing will be for the Mets in 2026 and beyond. Who could they be??

I had to hearken back to the early 1980s for that one.  

Darryl and Lenny were the answer.

In 1981, in the 13th round, the Mets at draft time went to the hardware store and picked up some nails. Lenny Dykstra nails that is. 

Lenny had a 1983 that was simply out of this world: 

In High A, in 136 games, he hit .358, walked 107 times, stole 105 bases, scored 132 runs, and added 14 triple. Good golly, Miss Molly!

In a bunch of AAA games in 1985, he put up a .310/.392/.410 slash line, and the Mets then called him up for 83 games, in which he hit .254 with 15 of 17 in steals. He boosted that to .295 in 1986.

He had THE key hit of the 1986 Championship Series game against Houston:

The Mets had been smothered by lefty Bob Knepper, who led 3-0 heading into the 9th. A loss in that game 6 would’ve forced a game seven against the other worldly Mike Scott, who was annihilating every opponent, so it was imperative that the Mets rally to tie or win the game right there and win the series in six. Or…lose it in seven.

The lefty pinch-hitter Dykstra ignited the rally with a oh-so clutch leadoff triple to give the Mets a faint pulse. 

Then, the game recap noted the unfolding of a miracle: 

“Mookie Wilson singled off the tip of second baseman Bill Doran’s glove to score Dykstra. One out later, Keith Hernandez doubled, Wilson scored, and Houston closer Dave Smith entered. Smith, who’d given up Dykstra’s homer in Game Three, was ineffective again. He walked the first two men he faced, which enabled the third run to score on Ray Knight’s sacrifice fly. With the count 1 and 2 to Knight, home-plate umpire Fred Brocklander — whose controversial call at first base took a vital run away from Houston in Game Two — had the Astros screaming again when he called a ball.” 

The Mets won that 7-6, 16 inning game (“there’s never been anything like it”) and won the World Series. No one thought at the time that 40 years later, Mets fans would still be waiting for the next World Series championship to be secured by these Metsies.

Boy, that Lenny fella sure could hit in the clutch. 

In 32 career playoff games, he crushed it: .321/.433/.661. Wow.

He should have been a Hall of Famer, but…well, you know…

Pastor Darryl And “Snails” - A/K/A This Writer

Darryl? Drafted first overall in 1980. A Black Ted Williams, some said.

Great, enigmatic power hitter. 

Huge HR in the final game of the 1986 World Series.

The year before, he temporarily kept the Mets’ playoff hopes alive on the season’s final Friday night, with his 500+ foot lightning bolt drive off the outfield clock in St Louis in the 11th being the only run in a 1-0 nail biter.  

He also hit that homer off the 200 foot high roof in Montreal.

He should have been a Hall of Famer, but…well, you know…

Anyway, Carson Benge and AJ Ewing are the best Mets rookie outfield draft tandem since Darryl and Lenny.  One can only hope that they can be as good as their 1980s predecessors.

I am expecting both newbies to excel. It was music to my ears to hear Ewing say that this offseason, he sought to “work on my body, get my body in better shape, and be stronger, more mobile, because I think that just helps every part of the game, and also just get better at the stuff that made me have success last year, you know, make more contact, hit more line drives, all that stuff.” 

Man, of man, do I love to hear that a talented guy like Ewing decided to try to get BETTER by getting STRONGER!

Ewing had an awesome 2025, and Benge admirably shot up through the system like a missile.

It was Darryl and Lenny back then; it is Carson and AJ now. 

Nice. Very nice.

Let’s give them a new super hero duo nickname:

THE TASER AND THE LASER

YESTERDAY:

All my troubles WERE so far away…

Nolan McLean fanned the side in the first inning with filthy stuff, but later coughed up two taters. 

I would immediately go on a “no tater diet”. Suds, not spuds.

Polanco (looking ready) and Alvarez (looking ready) both went deep. 

- Combined, they went 4 for 5 and a walk. READY!

Peterson, Scott, Raley and Hudson allowed a run on 3 hits in a 6-1 win. 

Start the season already!

Baty and Ewing each got on base twice. 

Glad they’re on my side. How about you?

Team ERA? 3.05.  The best in baseball.

This time last year, Manaea and Montas were already down and out.

Mets hitting just .238. Perhaps the fact that Ramos, Rojas, Rortvert, and Clifford are a combined 1 for 57 has something to do with that.

Tong sent down to AAA, which is in Syracuse, which is way up north, so I guess he really got sent up. 

If he pitched for the Reds, who have a 7.38 team ERA, he’d be their opening day pitcher. Everything is relative you see…if you don’t believe me, ask Tommie Aaron.

Have a great day…don’t settle for anything less. Psalm 118:24.