Well, the first half of the season ended in a way consistent with the 97 games of garbage that 2026 has been for Mets fans. The one positive is that we’ve already passed the halfway point of the season, so only 65 more games to go. Magic number for 100 losses is 43. Keep playing like this, trade away five or six pitchers at the deadline, and they may yet get there!

I gave up on the Mets earlier than at any time in my 51 years of following the team—and that includes all those late 1970s and early 1980s years where a good season was one in which the Cubs were so bad the Mets couldn’t finish last. Now the Cubs are in another division, are competitive, and beat the Mets all seven times they will face them in 2026. The June four-game sweep by the Cubs in New York—including a six-error debacle I saw in person that was one boot (or official scoring judgment) shy of breaking a record for futility set (against the Cubs) in 1962!—was the final straw that resulted in firing the manager. For the record, the 2026 Mets have also been swept at home by the A’s, and the Rockies, and the Marlins, and now the Red Sox.

In April the Mets endured a 12-game losing streak. They have since added a seven-game losing streak, a five-game losing streak, and whatever this three-game skid morphs into with a road trip to Philadelphia and Milwaukee coming off the break. If this were the late 1970s or early 1980s, or the mid-1990s, or the early 2000s, or the early 2010s, or the late 2010s, or the early 2020s, I’d figure they were rebuilding. Instead, the Mets have the highest payroll in the game. And are a couple of games away from the worst record in baseball.

Sorry to say, but the title The Worst Team Money Could Buy has been taken. Unless authors Bob Klapisch and John Harper plan to make this into a series. There is still a lot of games to drop before a new title is necessary.

All that said, there are some ground rules on how the grades are done.

First-Half 2025 Report Card

Because major league teams send players up and down the minor leagues and to the injured list constantly—and often for no good reason—I only hand out grades for players who accrued at least 50 plate appearances or 15 innings pitched. Hitters who didn’t reach the new minimum include, from least used to most: Andy Ibanez, Nick Morabito, Vidal Brujan, Zack Short, Tommy Pham, Hayden Senger, Austin Slater, and Eric Wagaman. Those pitchers not staying long enough to reach the minimum include (in reverse order of usage): Guillo Zuniga, Xzavion Curry, Matt Seelinger, Daniel Duarte, and Carl Edwards Jr. None will be missed.

Juan Soto B+ Great year with the bat. Amazed he’s being pitched to. His defense, like the effort part of my old report cards, keeps his grade down.

A.J. Ewing B+ I’ve been impressed by the kid. Speed, pop, good glove, and a great eye.

Carson Benge B+ Yes, the whole outfield gets the same high grade. Everything else about this year sucks.

Clay Holmes B+ He’s been out for weeks and still has best WAR for a Mets pitcher.

Zach Thornton B+ He just qualified for this list with his great outing Sunday. Please keep him in majors.

Christian Scott B He’s come back from injury and shown poise and promise.

Nolan McLean B He’s survived WBC and a sabotaging team to look good so far.

Luke Weaver B Mets may need to trade him to get back the kind of talent they gave up for Peralta.

A.J. Minter B See above.

Brooks Raley B Ditto. Seeing a trend?

Huascar Brazoban B- If he’s gone, it means there was a full fire sale. If he’s here, means no one wanted him.

Luis Torrens B- Can’t hit unless he’s pinch hitting, but best backup catcher in the game.

Francisco Alvarez C+ One of only five guys on this list hitting .250. His catching needs work, though.

Bo Bichette C+ Early on, I was worried he’d opt out. Now I wish he would.

Freddy Peralta C 104.1 IP÷20 GS = 5-Inning Freddy. 7-year deal? He’ll be a reliever or retired by then.

Jared Young C Last year’s report card had him at the very bottom. This year he’s replaced Pete Alonso. With 6 HRs!

Sean Manae C He’s run the gamut: terrible, serviceable, versatile, not a total loss.

Francisco Lindor C- Is he still hurt? Or is he just more bored than me by this team?

Devin Williams D+ We all know Diaz wanted out, but this is an eighth-inning guy. At best.

Austin Warren D+ Before being canned, Mendoza killed one last arm by overusing a reliever showing a brief pulse.

Bret Baty D+ With 328 plate appearances he’s still getting chances, he’s just making little use of them. A WAR of 0.0.

Luis Robert D+ Back when there was hope, his HR won second game of year. Bonus points for being injured long enough to be replaced by A.J. Ewing.

Tyrone Taylor D Good fourth OF. Bad at getting on base.

Craig Kimbrel D He’s done, but he set an example for deportment to this messy staff,

Cionel Perez D His 20 innings show how much garbage time Mets have had to fill.

Ronny Mauricio D- This guy has so much talent and looks so bad. And is hurt so much.

Mark Vientos D- Hate to kick a guy when he’s down, but he’s been so bad I’m amazed he batted .211.

David Peterson D- Lefties get extra chances and the Mets were generous with those. Cubs can try him in different roles.

MJ Melendez F There are worse guys having worse years, but every time he comes up I have to say, “There are no other outfielders?!”

Tobias Myers F Was excited he was on team. Feeling faded fast.

Kodai Senga F Almost worthless since his rookie year. His bullpen mop-up is improving, though!

Marcus Semien F I get it. Stearns hated Brandon Nimmo’s contract, age, defense, and fragility. But Simien, whom Texas gave the Mets for Nims to make the money work, is done.

Jorge Polanco F Like Simien, he too is done. Only this guy was somehow acquired by choice!

Manager/GM

Andy Green D Green in every sense of the word. Can the Mets ever have a manager anyone else wants?

Carlos Mendoza F Seems like a good guy. Got lucky in 2024, got exposed in ’25, and lousy in ’26.

Stearns F With so many “Fire Stearns” banners and posts, isn’t that his first name. Is there any president anywhere having a worse year or is hated by more people? Um…

Artist Thomas Sarrantonio was an avid Mets fan as a teen in the late 1960s. He went off to school and lost the bug somewhat, but he does still play softball on Sundays in the Hudson Valley (sometimes with me!). His once beloved Mets books, bought and devoured in 1969 and 1970, remained for years in his beautiful artist’s studio. So he did what others have done when it is time to get rid of stuff like this: “Let’s get Matt to take them.” I gladly accepted the donation of a dozen Mets books from that era. I’ve written a few books on the team I grew up with—coming of Mets age after the glow of ’69 had dulled to something like a communicable disease in the late 1970s. One caveat: Tom expects book reports! This was one area I excelled in at school. So now I pull these books off the pile in my office in the order I randomly placed them on the shelf. Keep in mind there are 100+ other unread books piled in my office. This could take some time.

_{*I changed the normal series title for this book from “Party Like It’s 1969” to 1962 because of the subject matter and the fact that after 31 games the 1962 Mets, a brand-new club en route to becoming the worst team in post-1900 National League history, had a better record (12-19) than the current Mets (10-21).}

Can’t Anybody Here Play This Game? (New York: Ballantine Books, 1963)

Jimmy Breslin hits different. I don’t know what that actually means, but then I never quite understood the meaning of his catch line, “It’s a good drinking beer,” in his Piels beer commercials. In the foreword for Can’t Anybody Here Play This Game, a re-issued 1970 paperback honoring the inept franchise turned world champions, Breslin explains that before he wrote the book, the Daily News columnist was in hock and had his home phone cut off and car repossessed while living in a crowded home in Baldwin, Long Island. After this hit (different), the copy boy turned columnist became a national figure. In 1969 he ran for city council president, working with mayoral candidate Norman Mailer on a ticket where the city would secede from the state. We all may be fortunate he lost.

But the man can turn a phrase. Inside a lot of jokes at the expense of Casey Stangel and the fledgling Mets, he showed the softer side of the Ol’ Perfessor, team president George Weiss, owner Joan Payson, and, yes, Marv Throneberry. Thanks to Breslin, “Marvelous Marv” eventually got his own beer commercials—and a better brand of beer than Breslin got. I had a Lite Beer from Miller at the Mets-National game the other night—the 14-2 drubbing in the rain to mark my first Mets game of this challenging year. The beer was the best part of the experience.

What I appreciate about Breslin is that, unlike some writers, he does not play loose with the truth while trying to get yuks. There are genuine laughs aplenty here. Breslin, who died in 2017 at 88 (Casey lived two years longer—just saying), goes to pains to get the facts and figures to back up the laughs. I’m sure plenty of players hated him for the book, but Casey, Mrs. Payson, Marv, and even Weiss came to realize that Breslin helped create a brand that would capture hearts for decades to come. People still love the team to the point of exasperation, even when the Mets are eliminated from contention, which is often.

The Mets are still on draft in New York, while plenty of other local teams are only available in cans or bottles. And you always want your drinking beer from the tap.

Artist Thomas Sarrantonio was an avid Mets fan as a teen in the late 1960s. He went off to school and lost the bug somewhat, but he does still play softball on Sundays in the Hudson Valley (sometimes with me!). His once beloved Mets books, bought and devoured in 1969 and 1970, remained for years in his beautiful artist’s studio. So he did what others have done when it is time to get rid of stuff like this: “Let’s get Matt to take them.” I gladly accepted the donation of a dozen Mets books from that era. I’ve written a few books on the team I grew up with—coming of Mets age after the glow of ’69 had dulled to something like a communicable disease in the late 1970s. One caveat: Tom expects book reports! This was one area I excelled in at school. So now I pull these books off the pile in my office in the order I originally placed them on the shelf. Keep in mind there are 100+ other unread books piled in my office. This could take some time.

Last to First by Larry Fox (New York: Harper and Row, 1970)

Here we stand on the cusp of another baseball season. To me it is both great and horrible. Great because there is nothing that I know better or appreciate more than baseball; horrible because there is nothing that can bring me more torment on a daily basis… save perhaps for a prolonged illness with no known cure. In the spring of 1969, there was nothing but horrible in terms of Metdom. Seven seasons in the books and only once did the Mets break the 90-loss barrier. They lost 100 games five times in that span—and somehow have done so only once since.

Like other books in this series of reviews, this hardcover has a lot of schtick and some good stories about the lousy years from expansion team to world champion in the 1960s. Last to First adds a small wrinkle in italicized vignettes Fox writes whenever a ’69 Mets enters the baseball orbit, like Ed Kranepool, who was a senior in high school when the Mets debuted in 1962, and was still just 17 when he took the field as a major leaguer late in 1962 during the club’s still-standing, infamous, 120-loss unveiling. (It is still the National League record; 2024 White Sox be damned.) Fox noted that in May of ’62 the Mets pried the soon-to-be-dubbed Marvelous Marv Throneberry from Baltimore. The author then inserted:

While the Mets were getting Throneberry, another left-handed-hitting first baseman at James Monroe High in the Bronx was breaking home run records set 30 years before by Hall of Famer Hank Greenberg. Greenberg never hit more than seven home runs in one year for Monroe; Ed Kranepool would hit nine.

Fox wrote something similar for every player on the ’69 team, plus manager Gil Hodges, who was acquired in the autumn of 1967 in a trade with the Washington Senators. It was probably the most important deal by the Mets to that time—the biggest was sheer luck, a special lottery that gave the Mets Tom Seaver after the Braves fouled up his draft paperwork. Other names soon to be familiar to fans in 1969 were signed as amateurs (Jerry Koosman, Ron Swoboda, Tug McGraw); selected in the early years of the baseball draft, inaugurated in 1965 (Nolan Ryan, Gary Gentry, Ken Boswell); and a handful of trades landed the soon-to-be New York household names in ’69 (Tommie Agee, Al Weis, Art Shamsky).

Larry Fox was working for the New York Daily News at the time and had already written a book about Joe Namath. For his book on the Mets he added some nice touches beyond the usual 1969 Mets stories that have made the rounds a bit in the past 57 years. I liked this reportage far from the glow of the celebrations of clinching the first National League East title. on the other side of the country, in a humdrum game between the Giants and the expansion Padres, Roger Craig, who’d suffered mightily amid bad offense and worse defense in the first two years of Mets existence, was now the pitching coach with a San Diego team destined to lose only 110 games in its first season. The Padres catcher was another Mets alum of the glum days, Chris Cannizzaro. Both knew the Mets had clinched their division and exchanged a single word and a smile on the subject: “Amazin’.” Wes Westrum, the Mets manager prior to Hodges, who quit before he could be fired, was now a coach with the Giants. Ron Hunt was San Francisco’s second baseman. Both beamed about how the Mets and the fans deserved this suddenly unstoppable team. “But as for M. Donald Grant,” Hunt said of the Mets board chairman, chief blowhard, and future villain, “he can kiss my foot.” Hunt, who held the Mets career record for being hit by a pitch from the 1960s to the 2010s—and who established the post-19th century major league mark with 50 HBP in 1971—always knew how to take one for the team.

The Miracle Mets were quite business-like in winning all but one of their postseason games in ’69 and celebrated like the champions they so unexpectedly were. May we all be so blessed again.

Artist Tom Sarrantonio was an avid Mets fan as a teen in the late 1960s. He went off to school and lost the bug somewhat, but he does still play softball on Sundays in the Hudson Valley (sometimes with me!). His once beloved Mets books, bought and devoured in 1969 and 1970, remained for years in his beautiful artist’s studio. So he did what others have done when it is time to get rid of stuff like this: “Let’s get Matt to take them.” I gladly accepted the donation of a dozen Mets books from that era. I’ve written a few books on the team I grew up with—coming of Mets age after the glow of ’69 had dulled to something like a communicable disease in the late 1970s. One caveat: Tom expects book reports! This was one area I excelled in at school. So now I pull these books off the pile in my office in the order I originally placed them on the shelf. Keep in mind there are 100+ other unread books piled in my office. This could take some time.

Joy in Mudville by George Vecsey (New York: The McCall Publishing Co., 1970)

Reading baseball books 55 years after they were written, it’s easy to see a pattern: Mets bad, bad, bad, bad, less bad, bad, not so bad, and ends with Mets Amazin’! George Vecsey, still around at 86, and the first in a family of writers and artists, including New York Post pundit and younger bro Pete Vecsey, George grew up in Queens and was Hofstra Class of 1960. With the New York Times he covered everything from religion to soccer (in some parts of the world, these two topics are the same), but he made his bones with baseball.

Vecsey got the plum assignment to cover the brand-new Mets in 1962. They were lousy but they were cool in a way that your old man’s Yankees—though championship caliber—were not. The 1969 Mets ruined maybe the Cubs’ best chance at a world championship until they finally won in 2016. Another Chicago team swiped the Mets’ claim as the worst team since 1899 when the 2024 White Sox took that mantle from the Mets—though the White Sox won one more game than the ’62 Mets, who had two games not made up.

The book takes us from the dawn of the franchise to the 1969 victory parade and the weeks afterward. It ends with Johnny Murphy, the team’s GM, who died a few weeks after the champagne dried: “We realize it took hard work and spirit and luck—and that’s what it will take again.” Here we are, 56 years later, and that’s still the hard-to-find recipe. In 1969 the League Championship Series was brand new and it represented a new mountain for a team to climb on its way to a world championship. The ’69 Mets made it look easy, overtaking the stumbling Cubs, and then winning seven of the eight postseason games they played that fall. Even the one loss—the first game of the World Series in Baltimore—felt like it was tossed in for added drama. A moment where the naysayers could shake their head and say, “We told you. This team shouldn’t even be here.”

The Mets won four straight—as predicted by Rod Gaspar, mockingly called “Rod Stupid” by Frank Robinson in the Orioles’ champagne-soaked locker room after they swept Minnesota in the first ALCS the same day the Mets burned Atlanta in the NLCS. Gaspar just didn’t say which four they’d win in a row.

There are lots of good insights by a reporter who followed the team’s every move, and who’d just turned 30. Vecsey had his eyes on a life of writing about things other than locker rooms. He helped craft insightful autobiographies with country legend Loretta Lyn (Coal Miner’s Daughter), Stan “The Man” Musial, and a revelatory book on Bob Welch, a star World Series hero living a second life as a young All-Star alcoholic. And Vecsey certainly knew a good quote when he heard it. I love the quote from Tom Seaver about his time spent packing raisin crates in his native Fresno before college, earning plenty of wisdom on top of the $2.05 per hour in his pay envelope: “I realized how fortunate I was. It opened my eyes to see how so many people were messed up. People go through life thinking the world owes them a living. The world owes them nothing. They owe the world something.”

Not to put words in Vecsey or Seaver’s mouth, but there is plenty to learn from this today. Mets fans are spoiled. Not in championships, but in the idea that the world owes them pennants and every overpaid player on or off the market. The Mets have had some ownership lows—the end of the Payson regime after Joan passed and various points of embarrassment during the Wilpon ownership. The Mets built championship teams by going with their gut. The ’69 team was built from within as was the ’86 team, for the most part. There have been other NL pennant winners, but in each case the team soon fell on hard times. This is the team we’ve chosen, whether we got on board in the ‘60s, the ‘70s, the 2000s, or the day they signed Juan Soto.

I trust the people that own the Mets because… I have no other choice. I like to look back on the old days and see what I might glean from spending so much time following a team chasing a ball. One day they’ll get it right again. I hope George Vecsey is around to see it. And I hope that I’m here, too. In the meantime, we wait. And dream of parades while we hump raisin crates day after day.

So… I kind of hoped we’d have gotten these last day gaffes permanently out of the system after the last-day reversal in 2024. What do I know? It would be fitting if MLB allowed two teams with the same record to have a one-game playoff to determine the final playoff spot instead of using tiebreaker rules. But Rob Manfred knows better. The Mets know how the Diamondbacks felt getting left all alone with the same record as two teams that made it. Tiebreak this.

All that said, I will try to give honest grades based on both halves of the season. The first half was quite something. I put those grades out in July. Today I am doing the second half along with final grades. The final grade is the average of both marks (unless the player appeared in only one half). So even a lot of wholesale F’s won’t get us a lot of flunkings. The whole flunking year reminds me of a love child of 2007 and 2008, grandfathered in by 1998. It’s days like this where I feel like I may never see the Mets lift another championship trophy. Maybe the player who makes that happen is not yet even born. It’s a black thought, but this is a black day. Long life to you.

I’ll be OK. You will be, too. That’s why we try to have things in our life other than baseball. This is also why we can’t have nice things.

Here’s the rules: For the first grade period, batters had to have 50 at bats and pitchers 15 innings pitched to get a grade; so we’ll make it 80 at bats and 25 innings for the full year. My convoluted rules prevent handing out grades to outfielders/pinch runners Jose Siri and Travis Jankowski. Makes you wish Jose Azocar, who hit .278 in 18 at bats, had gotten a little more playing time.

Between injuries and ineffectiveness, the pitching was a disaster. For the first time I won’t list the pitchers who did not make the cut because 29 did reach 25 innings (including several mop-up position players). Typing their names in would be a punish assignment and this season proved to be one already. So if you wonder why this guy or that guy didn’t get an F, the answer is he wasn’t even good enough to fail.

Second-Half 2024 Report Card

                           1H 2H Final 

Juan Soto A- A: A For the haters… Soto led the NL in walks, Offensive WAR, and even steals, while having a record season… and salary

Francisco Lindor A- A-: A- A real team player, he’ll take this season pretty hard. Mets should make him captain. Or something.

Edwin Diaz A- A-: A- Don’t blame the closer for this el foldo. He was better in second half, but with many fewer chances. He will opt out of contract.

Pete Alonso A B: A- Slight drop off in the second half, but 126 RBI is quite a year. The Mets need him and he needs them.

Brandon Nimmo B- B: B Nimmo isn’t in the same class as the ones above, but he is on base when the big guys come up and drives in a few himself.

Clay Holmes B+ C+: B Pitched 102.2 more innings than in ’24, when he was a reliever. His arm went dead at one point, yet his best start was his last.

Brandon Waddell C+ B-: B- Long man would have been a savior as starters went kaput. He too went down with a hip issue.

Brett Baty C-  B: C+ Baty and Vientos are streaky. Brett is a better fielder and overtook Mark with bat this year. It’s time to decide which one to keep.

Tyrone Taylor C- B-: C+ With CF a wasteland, his stellar defense was crucial. And he hit 52 points higher in 2H.

Starling Marte C+ C+: C+ Actually a little better in 2H. His contract is up and I think another team should take on his veteran leadership.

Francisco Alvarez C- B-: C Started only 68 games all year. Handled staff well and handled himself well after demotion and injuries.

Luis Torrens D B: C Actually had more plate appearances than Alvarez. Much better offense in 2H. One of baseball’s top backup backstops.

Jeff McNeil B- C-: C  Played 6 different positions. At times was the only CF who could hit; ’26 will be last guaranteed year of contract.

Ronny Mauricio C C- C Kid has power and his defense isn’t bad. Rotted on bench in 2H. Switch hitter may push Vientos out of nest.

Huascar Brozoban C C: C He’s been either good or bad. He has shown a lot as a long man. Just when you count on him, though… “That ball is outta here!”

Kodai Senga A- D-: C Terrible and then injured down stretch yet still had best WAR of any Mets starter in ’25. Says it all right there.

David Peterson B+ F: C Where was the guy who saved the season with a gem on the final Sunday of ’24? Was a 2025 All-Star, then invisible.

Reed Garrett C+ C-: C Mendoza leans on him hard until his arm gives out. Happened again this year and it really cost the team.

Luisangel Acuna C- D+: C- Served as defensive replacement/pinch runner in 2H. If Little Acuna makes it, it may be somewhere besides NY.

Mark Vientos D+ D+: D+ The definition of a sophomore slump. Earned B+ last year. After a slight revival in 2H, he did nothing the last few weeks.

Ryne Stanek C- D-: D+ Occasionally comes in throwing smoke and getting outs. More often he enters issuing walks and surrendering hits.

Hayden Senger D D: D Rookie showed a good arm and got the rare hit. With all the catching injuries he snuck on the report card.

Only Appeared in One Half as Met

Nolan McLean A Only one of the three callup savior starters to qualify for a grade. He was a find. Fourth on staff in WAR in just 8 starts.

Griffin Canning B+ An unknown pitcher David Stearns dug up. Excellent! Then he got hurt. Crap! What they would have given for him in September.

Max Kranick B: Made the mistake of firing strikes and showing an ability to relieve a lot. Of course his arm was worn out before July.

Brooks Raley B Took the final loss of the season, but it wasn’t his fault. Three-year contract ends with a lot of what ifs about his health.

Jose Butto B I understand why Mets traded this multiple-innings eater. Tyler Rogers is more durable for Mendy’s daily abuse.

Tylor Megill C The Bobby Jones of the 2020s. He usually takes the ball and does OK. Great down the stretch in ’24; hurt at the end of ’25.

Tyler Rogers C- Five outings in the final week: Pitched in 3 wins, 1 blown save, 1 loss, tattooed in game 162. Giants win trade.

Jesse Winker D+ Amazed he had more than 80 plate appearances to make the list. Didn’t do much, though.

Sean Manaea D  From last offseason I wished they’d brought back Jose Quintana and let Manaea walk, as they did Severino.

Cedric Mullins F Failed acquisition from O’s. Hit .182, not good defensively, and felt like his purpose was to show how much better Taylor was in CF.

Jared Young F He made a token appearance or two in 2H, including a homer, but his F from the first half holds up.

Manager/President

Carlos Mendoza B F: C Gave him an A+ for the second half in ’24. This year he failed to deal with issues or help eke out wins down the stretch. You don’t win 83 games, lose out to the Reds, and pass. He’s back in ’26, but he’ll be gone after first long losing streak.

David Stearns B- F: C- .Finding reliable starting pitchers today isn’t easy. Their arms can and will give out at any time. He was creative with finding solutions, but it’s on him that Mets had no reliable starters at the end. While Stearns has a longer leash than Mendoza, this can’t happen again. Ever!

Coaches

People always want to fire coaches. Coaches don’t have that big an outcome on wins and losses. There is an exception: The third base coach’s asinine decision against Cleveland to hold a runner who would have easily scored a walkoff run. The Mets lost the next inning. It’s one of those things that aggravated me at the time and will continue to do so for months to come. I purposely forgot his name and will not look it up to prevent my last thoughts on winter nights being about him and the one game that could have changed it all. Sweet dreams.

Artist Tom Sarrantonio was an avid Mets fan as a teen in the late 1960s. He went off to school and lost the bug somewhat, but he does still play softball on Sundays in the Hudson Valley (sometimes with me!). His once beloved Mets books, bought and devoured in 1969 and 1970, remained for years in his beautiful artist’s studio. So he did what others have done when it is time to get rid of stuff like this: “Let’s get Matt to take them.” I gladly accepted the donation of a dozen Mets books from that era. I’ve written a few books on the team I grew up with—coming of Mets age after the glow of ’69 had dulled to something like a communicable disease in the late 1970s. One caveat: Tom expects book reports! This was one area I excelled in at school. So now I pull these books off the pile in my office in the order I originally placed them on the shelf. Keep in mind there are 100+ other unread books piled in my office. This could take some time.

The Year the Mets Lost Last Place by Paul D. Zimmerman and Dick Schaap

(New York: World Publishing, 1969: $5.95)

Back in 1976 The Year the Mets Lost Last Place was the first book on the Mets I recall getting my hands on. My mother probably found the book somewhere. Mom was always trying to get me to read—she succeeded. I have an eerie ability to recall not only what happened in Mets games many years ago but also what I was doing at the time. I have tried to use this power for good and not for evil. Hence all the Mets books under my name.

The Mets were playing the Cubs on a Friday afternoon in the summer of ’76. I was reading this book as I listened to the Mets blow out the Cubs behind Mike Phillips—my original Favorite NonPlaying Met—hitting for the cycle. (I am still furious that this game wasn’t on WOR-TV, as most Mets games from Wrigley were at the time.) The Cubs were bad, the Mets were a decent third-place team a mile behind the Phillies, and the Metties pounded the Cubs the last six times they played at Wrigley that year. That ’76 game was a good introduction to this book, which focuses on a much better Cubs team that spent much of ’69 dominating the National League East in the first year of divisional play.

The Mets, the unquestioned laughingstock of baseball from the franchise’s inception into the National League in 1962, suddenly found competency in 1969. It didn’t hurt that manager Gil Hodges had taken the Mets in hand, or that the team’s pitching staff comprised Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman, a very raw Nolan Ryan, a wise-cracking Tug McGraw, and a host of lesser-known but strong arms. Jerry Grote was a rock behind the plate, the infield was adept if not overpowering, and the outfield was excellent: Cleon Jones was in the midst of a career year, Tommie Agee was never better, and right fielder and future writing partner Art Shamsky hit .300 in the cleanup spot against righties (autumn hero Ron Swoboda played right field against southpaws in the Hodges platoon system).

The Year the Mets Lost Last Place was written in the summer of ’69. The publisher felt confident that with the expansion Expos in the division the Mets wouldn’t hit bottom with a bad second half and make a liar out of World Publishing Co. Like the NL West expansion Padres, the Expos finished last and lost 110 games in ’69. Meanwhile, the Mets won 100, the first NLCS, and the World Series. A fall ’69 book release was prescient indeed.

Re-reading this book 56 years after it came out, I got the same giddy feeling I had in the summer of ’76. This tale of the heroes of ’69 was all new information to an 11-year-old kid. The book takes place over the course of “nine crucial days.” It begins with the Mets playing the Cubs on July 8, 1969—the first series of significance in team history. The Mets rallied in the ninth to win the series opener at Shea, Seaver’s Imperfect Game the next night was like a current of electricity, and Chicago took the ho-hum third game. In the next series the Mets stumbled in the opener against Montreal but scored late twice on Sunday to sweep a doubleheader at Shea from Canada’s fledgling club. The Mets traveled to Wrigley and took that series. Nine crucial days, six big wins, and a very readable book was good for basting a boy in Mets lore.

The book goes minute by minute, covering everything from the players at home, to fans, to random people, and includes drawn scorecards of each game, which in 1976 was a skill I was starting to master. Sometimes I wonder how the writers knew what occurred in the Koosman home at exactly 11:20 a.m., but poetic license is the backbone of literature. And you go with it, just like hitting to right on a hit-and-run.

It was great to recall the afternoon I curled up with a good book—my first descent into Mets lit beyond the scorecard and yearbooks I devoured along with regular helpings of the Daily News (also the first time I ever picked up a newspaper with purpose beyond cleaning dog poop). I was still reading and smiling from the Mets win and the ’76 cycle at Wrigley when my Dad came home from work that night. Since the Mets had already played that day at light-free Wrigley, I had the night free to watch whatever I wanted on TV. Yet I’m pretty sure I just kept reading The Year the Mets Lost Last Place. It certainly was worth savoring. The Mets would again find the bottom of the standings soon enough.

Overall Grade: B+

What a first-half of the season it has been for the New York Mets! Yes, sometimes it’s hard to focus on that amidst the whining that has taken over the Mets cyberverse. I miss the days when the only moaning you heard was from the person sitting near you at Shea Stadium or some odd sentiment scrawled on a bed sheet on Banner Day. I guess this is what we call progress.

These ’25 Mets are about winning streaks and losing streaks, timely hitting and frustrating slumps, fans getting on Juan Soto because he’s not hitting a home run every game and fans getting on the powers that be for not making him an All-Star. The Mets are right there with the Phillies, a half-game back at the All-Star break. If you can’t enjoy that, you really must find something better to do with your time.

Well, that’s enough complaining about complaining. Here is how to read this report card before Mom and Dad sign it.

The Mets have 54 names who have appeared in a game this season. That’s a new player on the roster every 1.8 games! I am only handing out grades for players who accrued at least 40 plate appearances or 15 innings pitched. (Usually the cutoff is 50 at bats, but I wrote up Hayden Senger and Jared Young before I realized that, so you get bonus criticism!) Hitters who didn’t reach the new minimum include Jose Siri, Oscar Azocar, and Travis Jankowski.

The Mets have endured a ton of injuries to their pitching staff, which isn’t new, but 37 different pitchers—including turns by otherwise worthless outfielders Jared Young and Travis Jankowski—means a lot of Band-Aids on a pitching staff. Those pitchers not staying long enough to reach the minimum include (in order of usage): Justin Hagenman, Jose Castillo, A.J. Minter, Dedniel Nunez, Chris Devenski, Danny Young, Genesis Cabrera, Dicky Lovelady (it pains me not to take a crack at this name), Justin Garza, Austin Warren, Rico Garcia, Sean Manaea, Alex Carillo, Ty Adock, Jose Urena, Kevin Herget, Tyler Zuber, Zach Pop, Jonathan Pintaro, and Colin Poche.

First-Half 2025 Report Card

Pete Alonso A Homegrown Mets slugger needs to stay put. They’d be in trouble without him.

Kodai Senga A- Wait, he’s healthy? His stats are astounding and confounding: 7-3, 1.39 ERA. Keep it up!

Francisco Lindor A- A true leader. He was clearly worth the investment and now an All-Star. Next captain?

Juan Soto A- Treated unfairly by some fans, Mets gave the money to the right guy. He is who he is: One of game’s best.

Edwin Diaz A- He is a gamer and a great teammate. Sugar will be worth a lot of money when he opts out.

David Peterson B+ The lefty has come into his own and earned his All-Star spot. Also deserved to start Opening Day.

Clay Holmes B+ Second in innings, first in winnings. Not bad for a compromised Yankees reliever.

Griffin Canning B+ He too was a pleasant surprise, but his arm gave out and you won’t see him for a year or more.

Reed Garrett B Not perfect, but at times he was. Mendoza has to avoid using Reed too much and getting him hurt.

Jose Butto B The way Mets starter rarely see past the fifth inning, Butto’s durable long-man role is invaluable.

Max Kranick B Mets fan like him would give his right arm to pitch for the team. He did. Mendoza pitched it off.

Brandon Nimmo B- Nimmo’s .361 OPB midway through last year was 40 points higher than now. Less whiffy, more walky.

Jeff McNeil B- A year ago McNeil had a D and earned it. This time he has shown versatility, patience, and pop.

Starling Marte C+  He has been injured a lot and his age is showing, but .270/.353/.387 doesn’t hurt.

Brandon Waddell C+ Versatile lefty will come in handy for Mendoza. Stearns needs to get him some southpaw help.

Ronny Mauricio C Of the 3B, he may be the best by year’s end. He’s big, strong, fast, and young. Let him play!

Tylor Megill C There is nothing fancy about Megill, but he has 14 starts, 5-5, 3.95 ERA. Not great, not bad.

Huascar Brazoban C  He is 5-2, 3.99 ERA, 0 WAR. He’s hard to figure, but when he’s on the other team’s off.

Tyrone Taylor C- People get on his .213 average, but there’s nothing average about his defense. Leads MLB in CF assists.

Brett Baty C- I love that the Mets are giving the kids a shot, but someone has to go for arms. If they’re wanted.

Francisco Alvarez  C- A year ago he had an A- at the break. Now he is MIA. The Mets need him back with his mind right.

Ryne Stanek C- He’s been pounded a few times, but he has had some superb outings. Mets need more of the latter.

Luisangel Acuna C- He does a lot not reflected by a .235 average. What he doesn’t have is power. Stop swinging for the fences!

Mark Vientos D+ He is the only Met with 50+ AB with negative WAR. Even if you hate the stat, that’s bad.

Jesse Winker D+  It’s hard to keep the mojo going from the trainer’s room. His HR total is 1 more than mine!

Frankie Montas D+ He is 32 and I still don’t think I’ve ever seen him pitch. Either that or he’s just not memorable.

Luis Torrens D I am all for defense, but you can plainly see he’s not an everyday catcher: .206/.276/.309.

Hayden Senger D Sure, he’s hitting .174. What do you expect from a backup catcher? Good arm and insurance.

Blade Tidwell D- Blade just made the cut. He gets a passing mark because he has 1 win and is only 24. But he is wild.

Paul Blackburn F This guy has been hurt. And he’s been bad. I try to be positive, but he’s tossing BP.

Jared Young F He showed pop and his .415 slugging is better than some regulars, but he’s been an outs machine.

Manager/President

Carlos Mendoza B Like most managers, he can make you crazy with in-game decisions. He’s juggled a lot and been all right.

David Stearns B- People get on him for not paying for every high-priced free agent (except for this Soto guy). He’s had someone there to fill in when injuries hit hard.

For those of you who don’t know, I have a new book out! Spring starts promotion for the book I co-wrote with Art Shamsky: Mets Stories I Only Tell my Friends, published through Triumph Books. Art is doing several signings on his own. I am doing some events with him, which I’ll try to keep updated on this site. Your support is appreciated.

This is my first baseball book in six years and Art’s first in nine. His first two books were really good and sold even better. We hope that number three sees us pull into third with a three bagger. (Art had 15 career triples, 11 with the Mets, putting him in 43rd place in team annals, ahead of John Stearns, Keith Hernandez, and speedster Roger Cedeno! Bonus fact not available in the book!!!)

Mets Stories I Only Tell My Friends talks about how he got to the Mets in 1967, how he adjusted to the team and its new manager and coaches, the camaraderie of the 1969 Mets, the post Miracle years, his affiliation with numerous media outlets and his time as a Mets broadcaster, the ties that still bind the ’69 Mets together, his time as manager in the Israeli Baseball League, and more. Art constantly reworked the stories to ensure there was always something new in his telling. His attention to detail and concern about his teammates and fans really shines through. He is among the best people I’ve met anywhere and I know you’ll enjoy knowing more about his Amazin’ life.

I am going to try to keep up with my events, with the most recent events first:

Who                When              Where/What                                      Details

Matt                7-10-25           Baseball Hall of Fame, Cooperstown, NY      Signed books still on sale at HOF

Matt                5-24, 25, 26     Walkway Over the Hudson, Highland, NY    3 Days at Mayfest, 12-5!

Matt                4-6-25              Blue Heron Books, High Falls, NY                 4 p.m. post time!

Matt & Art      3-30-25            Bookends Ridgewood, NJ                              Sunday fun day! Noon start.

Matt & Art      3-28-25            SABR NYC                                                       Scandinavia House, Park Ave.

Matt                3-10-25            WKNY Kingston, NY                                      Gabfest with Dan Reinhard!

Matt                3-6-25              National League Town Podcast                    Great talk with Jeff Hysen!

Matt & Art      2-27-25            Kiner’s Korner with Mark Rosenman            Art makes Ralph proud!

Reviews: Lloyd Carroll of Queens Chronicle