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Despite going into the 2016 season as defending National League champions, the Mets still had a bittersweet taste in their mouths as a result of coming up short in the World Series against the Kansas City Royals. The roster that won the franchise’s fifth National League pennant underwent some changes during the off season. Daniel Murphy cashed in on his break out post season in 2015 to sign a free agent contract with the NL East rival Washington Nationals. With the prospect o

Welcome back to Sunday School: Forgotten Faces of Flushing, our weekly stroll through the Mets attic the place where the yearbooks are a little dusty, the bubble gum cards stick together, and every once in a while you stumble across a name that makes you stop and say, “Wait… I remember that guy.” Last week we untangled the curious case of the two Bobby Joneses two pitchers, same name, overlapping in the larger orbit of baseball history, and enough confusion to make even a sco

Welcome back to Sunday School: Forgotten Faces of Flushing, our weekly stroll through the Mets attic — the place where the yearbooks are a little dusty, the bubble gum cards stick together, and every once in a while you stumble across a name that makes you stop and say, “Wait… I remember that guy.” Last week we dusted off the file on John Buck, the catcher who spent most of his career being a solid, dependable big league backstop — until April of 2013, when he briefly turned

The expectations for the 2013 Mets were modest but, at the very least, they were hoping to take a step forward to becoming a contender. However, the season became a literal repeat of 2012 as the team finished with the exact same record of 74-88. There was some optimism stemming from the continued development of 24-year old pitcher Matt Harvey. The righthander burst on the scene in 2012 with an impressive rookie season. Throughout their history, the Mets have produced some gre

The Mets' shortstops of the 1960s won't go down in history as the strongest players to play the position for the team. That probably would come decades later. However, some solid players filled the role, back when the position was considered more of a fielding spot than a hitter's. The inaugural opening day shortstop in 1962 for the Mets was Felix Mantilla. He was a solid hitter, so he stayed in the lineup, playing most of his games at 3rd base that year. Elio Chacon took the

At Kiner’s Korner we usually remember the men in uniform who swung the bats, toed the rubber, or chased fly balls into the gap. Today we remember the man in uniform who made sure they did it honestly, loudly, and within 17 uncompromising inches. Bruce Froemming passed away on February 25, 2026 at the age of 86. For 37 straight seasons, from 1971 through 2007, he stood where few dare to stand and fewer survive for long, squarely between a pitcher’s ego and a hitter’s paycheck.

If you spend enough time around collectors, you start to notice that the best collections rarely begin with money. They begin with moments. A handshake. A story. A childhood connection that somehow follows you for the rest of your life. This month’s Kollector’s Korner Met-o-ra-bil-ia Hall of Fame inductee has built a lifetime of those moments, often without even chasing them. Meet Paul Friedlander. Paul is 71 years old and has spent more than 45 years working as a tax account

Welcome back to Sunday School: Forgotten Faces of Flushing, our weekly stroll through the Mets attic where the yearbooks are a little worn, the bubble gum cards stick together, and every once in a while you come across a name that makes you stop and say, “Wait a second… how did we forget that guy?” Last week we talked about the time the Mets brought in Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Gibson to serve as what manager Joe Torre jokingly called the team’s attitude coach. Because if your

The 1990s saw the end of an era for a beloved Mets third baseman, and the beginning of an era that still hasn't ended. That era is still shelling out just over $1 million a year until 2035, so we still got a ways to go. The decade ended with a legendary bat, who came through NYC and provided one of the best walk offs in team history. The Early 90s started the way the 80s ended, with the speed and the pop from the fan-favorite, Howard Johnson. In '90 he hit 23 HR and drove in

Welcome back to Sunday School: Forgotten Faces of Flushing, our weekly rummage through the Mets’ attic, where we brush off the dust, squint at old photos, and rediscover the people, places, and moments that once made Mets baseball feel new, hopeful, and occasionally sunburned. Last week, we were in St. Petersburg, Florida, the Mets’ original spring home. Before Shea. Before Port St. Lucie. Before winning seasons were anything more than a rumor. Back when baseballs occasionall

Terrance Gore was never the guy whose baseball card you bought for the home runs or batting titles. He was the guy managers quietly looked for when October tightened and ninety feet suddenly felt like a mile. And now, far too soon, he’s gone. News broke this weekend that Gore passed away Friday evening at the age of 34. Tributes quickly followed from across baseball — from organizations he suited up for and teammates who knew him — but the words that mattered most came from t

In the early 1980s, Shea Stadium was a place of echoes — echoes of past glory, echoes of empty seats, echoes of a fan base waiting for something to believe in again. The New York Mets were rebuilding not just a roster, but an identity. Nowhere was that transformation more clearly reflected than at third base. Over the course of the decade, the Mets’ hot corner evolved from a position of stopgaps and hard-nosed placeholders into one of the most productive and symbolic spots on

If the Kollector’s Korner Hall of Fame handed out scouting reports, this month’s inductee would come with something like this: position, relentless; tools, patience, research, memory, and phone numbers nobody else has; weakness, none detected; ceiling, every Met who ever appeared in a game. This month’s inductee is not just a collector. He is a tracker, a historian, a networking department, and occasionally a private investigator who just happens to wear Mets blue. Meet Steve

Welcome back to Sunday School: Forgotten Faces of Flushing, our weekly stroll through Mets history, where we dust off the forgotten, squint at the overlooked, and remind ourselves that Mets lore is about far more than box scores and batting averages. The last couple of lessons wandered slightly off the basepaths. First, we tipped our cap to Kathy Kersch, Miss Rheingold 1962, the smiling face of the Mets’ first major sponsor and the most photogenic rookie of their inaugural se

Some transactions exist purely to help a Triple-A roster survive the dog days. Others exist to give a manager a spring training body who can play short, second, third, and probably sell peanuts if needed. And then there are the rare ones that exist almost entirely to poke the baseball gods in the ribs and say, remember 1969? The Mets’ minor-league agreement with Grae Kessinger, complete with a non-roster invitation to spring training, fits squarely into that last category. On

The 1969 Miracle Mets hangover seemed to come in and out through the next decade for the franchise, trying to hold onto relevance, identity, and winning baseball in the 1970s. It was indeed a decade marked by transition, grit, and improvisation. No position reflected that reality more clearly than third base — the hot corner — where a rotating cast of players mirrored the Mets’ shifting fortunes throughout the decade. At the center of it all was Wayne Garrett, the most endu

Wilbur Wood never looked like a pitcher destined to be remembered. That may be the most fitting place to begin. He did not arrive early, he did not overwhelm hitters with power, and he did not follow a straight path to greatness. Yet when Wood passed away at 84, baseball said goodbye to one of its most unlikely and extraordinary careers, built on reinvention, endurance, and a pitch that defied convention. Before Mets fans marveled at R A Dickey bending time and logic with a

Welcome back to Sunday School: Forgotten Faces of Flushing, our weekly rummage through the Mets’ attic, where we brush the dust off the bubble-gum cards, flip through curling yearbooks, and rediscover the names that once made you stop mid-knish and say, “Hold on… he was a Met, right?” Last week’s lesson took a slight detour from the usual roll call of orange-and-blue alumni. Instead of Mets who were, we studied Mets who almost were, a half-dozen draft picks whose names were o

This column focuses on impactful trades in Mets history. Well, the first three World Series appearances of the Mets were fortified by three different consequential trades with the Montreal Expos! The Mets most likely do not see 1969 (Donn Clendenon), 1973 (Rusty Staub), and 1986 (Gary Carter) without these dynamic trades. Do not worry, Washington Nationals fans, its not that I'm ignoring the Nats, its just that the most significant trades were made when they were Les Expos.

Dave Giusti, a name Mets fans may not immediately place on the all time villains list but one that somehow always feels familiar, passed away on January 11, 2026, at the age of 86 If you grew up watching the Mets in the late 1960s and 1970s, Giusti was not a headline name like Gibson or Carlton. He may have not scared you like they did. What he did do, reliably, persistently, and often, was show up. And very often, that meant showing up against the Mets. Giusti appeared in 6