Yardbarker: Edgardo Alfonzo

What the Breakfast Chicken Hatched

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 18:10:07 -0500

Athletes have been known be implored to attend Bar Mitzvahs. Sometimes it's because a particular athlete is Jewish; there's a great bit in a movie called Keeping Up With The Steins about an extraordinarily competitive L.A. family trying to get then-Dodger Shawn Green to show up at their son's affair. Sometimes it's because the fan issuing the invite thinks an athlete is Jewish — as was the commonly misconceived case when David Cone came to the Mets with a name that sounded pre...

Alfonzo Applesauce - Mets upset season ticket holders, Alfonzo wants Met return, Backman to Brooklyn

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 08:47:57 -0500

So, yeah, that new format didn't work out so well. I was hoping it would be easier for me to put together, but would be much more work to get it to work properly. Oh well, you're stuck with the old-fashioned way. Meet the Mets The Mets promised an an AVERAGE across-the-board decrease in season ticket prices of 10%, but some fans are getting smaller price breaks. Outrage ensues. While the Citi Field prices do pretty much suck, I can't see how you can cr...

Edgardo Alfonzo signs with Yomiuri Giants, takes heat off A-Rod

Wed, 11 Feb 2009 23:45:02 -0500

It appears as though the Alex Rodriguez bubble-of-a-sports-world we live in has been momentarily popped for the time being, thanks to former Mets infielder Edgardo Alfonzo. Alfonzo, now amazingly just 35 years of age and not 65, apparently didn't retire...

Several Former Mets Coaching.......

Sat, 07 Feb 2009 17:04:14 -0500

Several former Mets will coach in the Mets system this year in the minors. Tim Teufel the former platoon partner of Wally Backman at 2B on the 1986 World Series Championship team, has been working for the organization since 2001. This year Teufel returns as the Mgr. of High A Port St. Lucie. ...

Fonzie Rising: A Comeback in the Offing

Fri, 16 Jan 2009 22:56:23 -0500

Edgardo Alfonzo, yes THAT Edgardo Alfonzo, is making a bid to return to the big leagues. Remember when we had the best defensive infield ever? Magical times my friends...magic. In a story... NY Sports Dog--a Place for Mets Fans

Picking the Perfect Mets Team

Wed, 14 Jan 2009 22:45:19 -0500

If you could go back in time, and pick and choose your greatest Mets starting lineup from all the players in Mets history, who would you choose? What years would you pick? What would your lineup... NY Sports Dog--a Place for Mets Fans

Venezuela Playoffs Start: Krod Gets Save

Sat, 03 Jan 2009 11:48:22 -0500

While here in the states we are gearing up for the NFL playoffs which start later today, the Winter League Playoffs are under way and the Venezuela League started their playoffs yesterday. The four teams are facing off with La Guaira against Caracas and Aragua against Lara. La Guaira won 4-3 in a close game and Aragua won out 8-4. There are only a few batting and pitching lines that would mean something to Mets fans, but the most important is Krod. He pitching an inning, picked up a save, all...

2009 Mets will have the Talent: Do they have the Swagger?

Mon, 29 Dec 2008 21:59:55 -0500

With the back-to-back depressing non-postseason Mets seasons, I often find myself watching videos of the 2000 Mets or the 1986 Mets. As I try to find the similarities and differences between the different blue and orange generations I come across some bold differences. Obviously there is a difference in players. In 1986 the foundation of the team was not really held within one player as there were many leaders from Mex to Nails to Mook to Straw to Doc to Hojo and on and on. There statistics d...

A History of the Mets at Second Base Part 6 - What Was and What Might Have Been (The Carlos Baerga era/error)

Sun, 07 Dec 2008 00:48:52 -0500

Editor's Note: This is the sixth in a series of new articles Barry will be writing on Mets second basemen for this site. - M.S. Historically, the Mets organization has not produced many major league caliber second basemen, but in the mid-'90's, it contributed no less than three. Unfortunately, ...

Fonzy, Murphy, Carp and Bowman.....

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 00:38:52 -0500

I can't help it, I know he's not the same player and he's probably closer to 45 y/o instead of his listed 35 y/o. But I still keep hoping that Fonzy finds his stroke enough to serve as the veteran leader off the bench, like Julio Franco did in 2006. Last year Fonzy played in the independent ...

Fonzie to be honored in Binghamton tonight

Sat, 23 Aug 2008 10:08:05 -0500

Edgardo Alfonzo will be one of four former local players to be inducted in to Binghamton Baseball Shrine tonight. The ceremony will be held prior to tonight B-Mets game at NYSEG Stadium.

The Mets' Metness

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 13:29:13 -0500

While all teams have a history, good, bad, great or pathetic, they also have some qualities about them that make them stand out from the others. At one end of the spectrum you have franchises like the Cardinals and Yankees with a long line of championships and Hall-of-Famers. The other end has the Tampa Bay Rays. Some have legendary announcers, a crazy mascot or a quirky moment in history that is all their own. Rooting for a team is more than just hoping they win (and let's face it, if your team wins all the time or is expected to win, it's just not as fun). It's listening to a familiar voice on the TV or radio every day. It's naming your dog Mookie. It's everybody thinking you're crazy because instead of having a photo of your wife and kids on your desk at work you have a picture of Ken Boswell. It's insisting that your friends and family call you Edgardo Alfonzo. The Mets fall somewhere in the middle of the pack in terms of past success or great moments, but they have a certain spirit or uniqueness that makes them special. In other words, the Mets have a Metness about them. Here is a list that makes the Mets what they are, and what no other team can claim. (This is part one, with part two coming tomorrow.) 1962 Mets: The ultimate expansion team debut, the '62 Mets were the most horrible collection of players yet were loved and popular. No other team's opening year has gone down in the annals of baseball history the way this team has. Does anybody look back on the '61 Angels or '69 Padres this way? With Casey Stengel's wit and wisdom deflecting the horrid performance of the team (40?120), the Amazin's (a combo platter of washed-up vets?Gil Hodges, Richie Ashburn?and zany characters?Marv Throneberry, Choo Choo Coleman, Don Zimmer) answered the manager's question of "Can't anybody here play this game?" with a resounding no. 1969 Mets: The '62 Mets set everything up for the '69 squad. But it wasn't just the expansion-year team that stunk?it was the '63, '64, '65, '66, '67 and '68 versions, too. And that just made '69 all the more sweeter. The Miracle Mets were arguably the biggest underdog winners in baseball history. Finishing in fifth place in their division would have been a success, but beating the 109-win, powerhouse Orioles? As was the saying of the time, "If we can send a man to the moon, the Mets can win the World Series." But it wasn't just luck, as they won 100 games during the season, surging ahead of the Cubs to win the division by eight games. And they had great pitching (Seaver, Koosman, Gentry, et al.), clutch hitting (with Cleon Jones batting .340) and, of course, stellar fielding, as Tommie Agee's and Ron Swoboda's catches in the Series proved. But most importantly, they had Gil Hodges. 'Meet the Mets': The Mets theme song, written by Ruth Roberts and Bill Katz, is without a doubt the best team song in baseball history. Sure, other teams have one (even the Yankees), but did George Costanza sing part of it on "Seinfeld"? Did Raymond and Robert Barone sing the whole tune at the end of an "Everybody Loves Raymond" episode? I don't think so. Even Yo Lo Tengo recorded a version of it. The Sign Guy: Mets fans of the first 20 years of the team's existence surely remember The Sign Guy?Karl Ehrhardt. He would bring up to 60 impeccably made, relevant signs to every game (he was a professional sign-maker, after all). When Jose Cardenal would strike out, Ehrhardt would pull out his "Jose, Can You See?" sign. As an opposing pitcher would be taken out of a game, his "Enjoy Your Shower" sign would rev up the crowd. And after the Mets' won the 1969 World Series, his sign said it all?"There Are No Words." Unfortunately, Ehrhardt passed away this past February, but he'll always remain in Mets lore. (It seems like there's a new sign guy at Shea now, and he's always wearing an Ed Kranepool jersey.) Dwight Gooden's 1985 Season: There have been other standout seasons involving young phenoms, mania, attendance records and hoopla?Vida Blue in 1971, Mark "The Bird" Fidrych in '76 and Fernando Valenzuela in '81?but Gooden's '85 year tops them all when you combine age, performance and atmospehere. He was 20 years old?the same age as Valenzuela, but younger than Blue and Fidrych?and he put up a 24?4 record, a 1.53 ERA and led the league with 268 strikeouts. Every game he pitched at Shea wasn't a baseball game, it was a rock concert. And it wasn't Kajagoogoo. It was Guns n' Roses. And he went on to do it year after year until he strolled right into the Hall of Fame. Oops?I guess that's one more thing that makes the Mets the Mets.

Castillo re-signs with the Mets

Tue, 20 Nov 2007 18:25:37 -0500

According to Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com, citing 'major-league sources,' the Mets and 2B Luis Castillo are close to agreeing to a four-year, $25 million contract. The Astros, Nationals, and Cubs all had expressed interest in Castillo, whom the Mets acquired from the Twins at the non-waiver deadline for two minor leaguers. Four years might be considered a risky move with Carlos Baerga, Roberto Alomar, and Edgardo Alfonzo as our previous 2nd basemen, but this was our only way t...