Because having a Met free October has really given me nothing to do, and because I can't help but think that either Kaz Matsui or Tony Clark may...quite possibly...exit this 2007 baseball season with a ring, I did some research.You wouldn't believe what I found.
And you wouldn't believe I found it because:
- somebody else didn't think of this first, or...
- Metstradamus has no life.
I wanted to find the last World Series Champion whose roster had been completely devoid, throughout their entire championship season, of a player who had previously spent time with the Mets. I figured it would be easy enough to find this out through the incomparable Baseball Reference website. You could have done this yourself, but you've most likely found better things to do than to wonder about such things.
Last season, we all bemoaned the fact that Braden Looper got himself a World Series ring.
In 2005, the White Sox featured Carl Everett and Timo Perez.
Yes, that Timo Perez.
The curse-breaking 2004 Red Sox had Pedro Astacio on their roster at some point...along with Jersey Bobby Jones for three games.
Surely, there had to be a recent team not to have an ex-Met on it, right?
2003 featured the Florida Marlins, with Lenny "Pork Chop" Harris.
The 2002 Rally Monkeys had Donne Wall in their bullpen.
All right, the 2001 Diamondbacks. They couldn't have had an ex-Met on their roster, right? Wrong...they had Armando Reynoso.
(Mind you, we're not talking about future Mets like Jay Bell and Mike DiFelice...only players who had already spent time in Flushing when they were on a team that went on to win the World Series.)
Uh-oh. Now I'm starting to get worried, because those Yankee teams featured plenty of ex-Mets, much to our chagrin...as Jose Vizcaino killed the Mets in the 2000 Series, 1999 featured David Cone, and 1998 had Darryl Strawberry. Even the '97 Marlins had Bobby Bonilla.
I think I'm starting to get sick.
The 1996 Yankees had Dwight Gooden along with Strawberry, which at the time was bad enough.
All right, the 1995 Braves...there's a team that couldn't have possibly had a former Met on it, right?
Oh damn, their back-up catcher was Charlie O'Brien. And they also had Alejandro Pena. (Yeesh!)
The 1993 Blue Jays had plenty of future Mets like Al Leiter, Shawn Green, and Carlos Delgado. But former Mets? Just one...Dick Schofield (yet one is enough).
The '92 Jays had our friend David Cone.
The Twins in 1991 were loaded with them, partly thanks to the Frank Viola trade, between Kevin Tapani and David West. They also had Tom Edens and Junior Ortiz. Remember those two? Edens pitched one game for the Mets, and I believe it was in Los Angeles...and he wore number 32. Why must God curse me with a memory full of useless things while I lose my house keys five times a day?
(Actually, he pitched two games for the Mets, so I don't feel too bad. But I was right about the Dodgers.)
The Reds in 1990 had Randy Myers and Herm Winningham.
The 1989 Athletics...and believe me, this is a stretch...but they did have ,for 79 very mediocre at bats, a guy named Billy Beane.
Don't remind me about 1988 and Dodger reliever Jesse Orosco.
The Twins in 1987? Would you believe Beane again? (Along with a guy named Jeff Reardon.)
And that brings us to 1986, our last title.
And wouldn't you know it, the 1985 Kansas City Royals featured nobody who had previously worn the Mets uniform.
So besides the fact that I have absolutely nothing to do with my time thanks to the collapse, it should tell you that the Red Sox shouldn't measure their fingers for rings just yet (the Red Sox are devoid of former Mets on their roster, while Cleveland features Chip Caray's favorite pitcher: Paul Byrd).
It should tell you that when the 2007 Mets' roster turns over, at least one of the jettisoned players will win a ring in '08 and make us sigh. (And it gives Tampa Bay some hope...Thanks again, Jim Duquette.)
And it tells us that the only way to break this cycle is for the Mets to win the series their own selves. Or else, the curse continues.
