AY is, of course, part of Met lore and baseball history for his 27-game losing streak in the early '90's.
Yet for those of us who watched this record unfold, AY is still registered in our collective mind as a good pitcher. The guy could throw, he was just ridiculously unlucky. AY was also ridiculously gracious throughout and after the streak. He never melted down or blamed anyone else. And it's great to see him years later, at peace with himself and his career.
AY also has a special bit of history in Loge13. The day he ended his streak - July 24, 1993 - was also the day our own Ron Hunt caught a foul ball IN HIS ARMPIT in Loge13. It is still one of the greatest catches - dare I say one of the greatest feats of athletic prowess - I have ever witnessed. The man had a cup of ice cream in one hand and a glass of Jack Daniels in the other and still caught the Benito Santiago foul ball. Try that, Endy Chavez!
Someday, Ron or I will write up that entire play for posterity. For now, here is the AY article:
Fans sent Anthony Young all sorts of good-luck talismans while he
was enduring his infamous losing streak - four-leaf clovers,
horseshoes, rabbit's feet. One woman gave him her treasured $2 bill.
Psychics called the Met offices offering aid. Letters of encouragement
poured in from folks who sat in the bleachers as well as Hall of Famer
Bob Feller.
More than 15 years after his record 27-game losing
streak ended, Young still holds onto his memories of "what I'm known
for," as he puts it. He still has most of the trinkets, stored in his
attic in the same box he kept them in at his locker at Shea. Recently,
he says, he poked around in the box and watched several old videotapes
- his appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and a meeting he had
with the family of Cliff Curtis, the pitcher who set the record from
1910-11 that Young eventually broke.
Nowadays, deep into a
coaching career, Young gets occasional reminders from the kids on the
five select teams he oversees. "Once they find out you were in the big
leagues, they 'Google' you," Young says. "Then they say, 'Coach, you're
known for a losing streak!'"
Young, who will be 43 later this
month, had a 9-5 job at a chemical plant for eight years after his
playing career ended in 1996. But he wanted to coach and now runs five
different teams of kids from 9-13 years old in Houston, his hometown.
He also gives private pitching lessons as part of his own company, AY
Enterprise.
"It's a big business now and there's a lot of
competition," Young says. Young says his teams have played tournaments
against teams coached by ex-players such as Charlie Hayes, Chuck
McElroy and Eric Anthony.
"Life is good," Young adds. "I'm a
grandfather. It's been a pleasure watching my kids grow up and I'm
keeping busy with baseball."
Young, who is also a regular at Met
fantasy camps, knows that people will forever remember him as the
promising pitcher who dropped 27 consecutive decisions from May 6, 1992
to July 24, 1993 - he's gone to memorabilia shows where people want him
to acknowledge the streak next to his autograph. But sometimes he
wishes everyone also remembers that he didn't pitch that poorly during
the streak - managers don't keep giving you the ball if you're getting
clobbered every time you pitch.
"I got a bad rap on that,"
Young says of the streak, in which he had a 4.36 ERA. "I always said I
didn't feel like I was pitching badly. It just happened to happen to
me. I don't feel like I deserve it, but I'm known for it. It was an
82-year-old record and it might be 82 more years before it's broken.
"Everything that could happen, happened. It was just destiny, I guess."
At
one point during the streak, Young converted 12 straight save chances
and threw 23.2 straight scoreless innings subbing for closer John
Franco. He was 0-14 as a starter and 0-13 as a reliever.
It all
ended on July 28, 1993 when the Mets scored twice in the bottom of the
ninth against the Marlins. Young had entered at the top of the inning
and allowed a tie-breaking unearned run after a Todd Hundley throwing
error.
A few weeks later, Young flew to Los Angeles to be on
The Tonight Show. While mired in the streak, he had been prime
monologue material for Leno and when they met, Leno offered the chance
for comic retribution, telling Young, "You can make fun of my chin if
you want to."
"It was a lot of fun," Young says.
While the
end of the streak offered relief, it is not nearly Young's favorite
moment of his six-year career with the Mets, Cubs and Astros. That
would be his debut against the Cubs on Aug. 5, 1991 when he relieved
Pete Schourek with the bases loaded in the seventh and got Shawon
Dunston to ground out to end the inning.
"That," says Young, "is one of the best memories of my life."
I think I'm too young to remember AY for any promise he had or any bad luck dealt to him. But I was there the night he got the win. And that's all I remember about the streak. I would love to see video of the foul ball in the armpit.
Loge13 reader Eli sent me this note over the Christmas break about his Shea surprise. Very cool story. Thanks for sharing! And if any other readers want to share their good fortunes or good purchases, just drop me a line (kingmanATblogsbyfans.com)
And now over to Eli...
The sign below is what my wife Maggie and my good friend Blayne pooled resources for to got me for Christmas.
Of all Shea memorabilia that was available, I mentioned to my friend that this was the piece I would want, never once believing I would ever get it. There is no mention of Shea or the Mets, but I loved the Parks insignia and the phrase "Stadia Division". I think if it said "Stadium division" I wouldn't have wanted it. For me, it was about my NYC home and the bureaucracy that built Shea Stadium. I felt it was more subtle and had a certain classiness to it that other Shea memorabilia did not have...as if an 8ft long piece of white sheet metal with green block lettering could ever be subtle or classy. It was presented to me tonight, and a part of me was a little miffed at the purchase. It is maybe the most impractical gift I have ever received. But when I saw it, I was speechless. For all its impracticality, it also was maybe the most generous and thoughtful gift I have ever received. I got all choked up looking at it, remembering all the history (MY history) that went along with the sign, the stadium, the Mets, and the friends and family that joined me at all those ballgames.
Where we put this 8'x3' sign in our NYC apartment is still in discussion, but I have no doubt my wife and I will figure this out, because...well...how could we not?
Thought you might be interested since all started with your post.
I have no problem with the Mets selling off stuff to charity and letting fans get a piece of their favorite stadium along the way. But all season long we wondered: what is coming to Citi Field? Beyond the Home Run Apple replica?
"From the Shea sale to the Citi Field renderings to the Mets' statements,
sometimes I get the uneasy feeling that the Mets see nothing wrong with
rewriting or even restarting their history, casting aside the jumble of
lovable futility, unlovable futility, championships won by an underdog
and an overdog, ignoble chokes and noble failures for a simpler
narrative: Once there were Brooklyn Dodgers, we won two titles, isn't Citi Field great?"
Definitely take a trip to F&FinF and read the whole post.
I got my seats today and there is on one way to describe them...RIP OFF!!!!!
The seats are dirty, have to somehow be modified so that you can
actually sit in them and have nothing on them to indicate that they are
authentic.
The Wilpon's must need the money from these seats to offset their investment losses to Bernie Madoff.
So far, Gerard seems to be in the minority. Ron Hunt called me as soon as his Loge level honeys arrived and sent along these photos and his thoughts:
My Loge Shea Stadium seats arrived today and I
must admit that while I was very excited when the email came with the
delivery date but after seeing them and SITTING in them, I'm beside
myself.
Having to drag these 95 lbs beasts from my driveway,
into my basement and then up the stairs to my living room, I felt in
the season, like I had the power of ten Grinch's plus 2.
My
"new Loge" seats, numbers 3 & 4, are kinda worn, they look like
they lived on the third base line loge box or left field loge box
seats. They are faded from the sun - which went down that foul line -
unlike my pristine Loge13 seats covered by the press and suite level
from the climates. But faded Shea seats seems appropriate...and they
are in my living room.
The armrests have been stripped and repainted. On either side are
remnants of the hardware from the seat bottoms of the seats next to
you. They did a nice job of adding these black L - brackets to
accommodate for the fact that the seats were previously attached to the
cement risers and not the floor. I'm thinking mahogany or teak for
under my seats, your thoughts are welcome. And, yes - they may never
make it to my backyard, they are too cool in my living room. My own
bleachers!
The best thing was sitting in them, it was an immediate feeling
of, I've been here, and very comforting. We've all been in many stadia,
but these are Shea seats, no doubt. It was great to sit back, put my
arm over the empty seat and relax, close my eyes and think of Shea,
imagining the old section and park.
My blue seats look as if they tore the stadium down first and were dug from the rubble later.
The seat backs have a nice layer of concrete dust or paint that gave them more of a confederate gray look. To make matters worse, some heathen scraped the word Yankees into one of them, most likely with the edge of his crackpipe.
The seat part is nice and blue though. I'm thinking of all the cleaning and buffing that I'm going to have to do for an item that I know was clean on the last day of Shea
The seats are somewhat low, although I find them comfortable and it only takes a few seconds to get used to.
As I mentioned, I plan on adding some wood to the base to stabilize them, so that will add some inches to the height. Might make them the proper height.
The latest noise had the Mets in talks with the Dodgers to unload one bloated contract for another. Specifically, Luis Castillo (and the $18M we owe him) would go to LA for Andruw Jones (and the $22.1M they owe him).
Supposedly, the Mets had broached the subject at the winter meetings. Jones would not replace Beltran but could have possibly moved into right field.
Even though the trade may be stalled or DOA, it's interesting to see what lengths (or depths) t he Mets may go to to lose Luis. Andruw had a horrid injury-riddled 2008, appearing in only 75 games, and has already said he doesn't want to return to the Dodgers.
Many of y'all are familiar with Matthew Silverman. He is the author of, among other books, "100 Things Mets Fans Need to Know and Do Before They Die."
Silverman is now working on a new project and needs help from Met fans. Please see his note below. Loge13 readers have been very kind in sharing their personal archives in the past so if you can help Matt out, drop him a line.
And now, a word from Mr. Silverman:
Matthew Silverman, who co-wrote Mets by the Numbers with Jon
Springer, plus Meet the Mets annual, Mets Essential, 100
Things Mets Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die, and other Mets
things with long titles, is putting together a book on the 1969 Mets
through Maple Street Press. He need photos, memorabilia, and other tchotkies
from the 1969 season or its aftermath. Only two problems: it's a
volunteer effort (so there's no pay for anyone who actually possesses
these desired items) and it has to be photos that you have the rights
to use (reprinted photos and such from newspapers unfortunately won't
do). Newspaper covers are fine as are photos actually taken of Shea, or
a view from a certain vantage point, desecration of the field (three
riots to choose from!), the parade in NYC, etc. If you have something
that's used in the book, you'll be credited, which is entitled The
Miracle Has Landed http://www.potomacbooksinc.com/Books/BookDetail.aspx?productID=186448
Scans are great, as long as they're readable/viewable. Please send
inquiries or scans to Matt@metsilverman.com.
It's a 40th anniversary book, so we're looking for things between now
and the first of the year so it can be out by the time the season
starts. Thanks for your attention and let's see if we can bring a
Miracle back to Shea...er, Citi...er, the Mets.
Well it's been a rough year for Met fans...and pretty much everyone else too.
Shea Stadium turned out to be an unlikely metaphor for 2008. A beloved and perfectly fine ballpark was collapsed to make room for a smaller, more expensive yard with a badly timed name. Shea is now in pieces, much like our economy, and it's time to clean up the mess and move on. You wouldn't know it from the Yankees bursting payroll but things are still pretty bleak. Here's hoping we're sitting at the bottom of the hole now and can start climbing our way out in 2009.
Thanks for hanging in section Loge13 this year. Lets do it all over again next year. To lighten the mood, here is a bit of the greatest secular Christmas tune of all time. Excuse the bits of bad language; you know how we Irish get.
There a pile of great blogs in the BBF network, all run by fans and covering teams such as the Spankees, SF Giants, Red Sox, Angels and more. Oh yes, the vaunted MLBTradeRumors.com is also a partner in the network.
So we're doing a round-robbin roundtable, which I am kicking off. Brian fed me some questions, which I have dutifully answered below. I will then posit my questions to the next blogger, the celebrated El Lefty Malo, who covers the SF Giants. He'll answer on his blog and move the questioning forward. And a good time will be had by all. Or at least by us.
So lets begin:
1. I'm calling the Mets the big winners at the Winter Meetings. They locked down
the best free agent closer at below-market value in K-Rod, then pulled off a
trade another top-flight closer without giving up any key pieces (JJ Putz). Now
that the bullpen is taken care of, what's next this offseason for the
Mets?
KINGMAN: I don't think Omar is done with the bullpen. Rumors are he'll get another reliever (possibly Jason Marquis, or even Chad Bradford). Meanwhile, Scott Schoenweis will be traded or dropped. No way Scott can set foot in the new stadium, unless he buys a ticket.
Then there is the starting pitching. The Mets would like to get Oliver Perez back. Scott Boras represents both Ollie and Derek Lowe. The word is the market for Ollie will be set after Lowe gets a deal. Given it's Boras, any deal will probably not happen until the new year. The Mets have said they are not in the market for Lowe and may instead be pursuing Randy Wolf, recently of the Astros.
Then there's the outfield. A healthy Ryan Church will help but left field is still a question mark. Manny does not seem to be at all on Omar's radar (amen). The Mets also need to replenish their bench now that Endy Chavez is gone and Damien Easley is apparently done. The latest rumor has Alex Cora coming to Queens.
The Mets would love to trade Luis Castillo. He is damaged goods with a big contract but Minaya has proven in the past that he will dump a guy he wants to dump, no matter what he gets in return.
2. If you could flip the script on the Johan Santana trade last
year and the Sabathia signing this year, would you do it? Meaning, the Yanks
traded for Johan and extended him last winter and the Mets got Sabathia this
winter as a free agent and held on to those prospects.
KINGMAN: Ah hypotheticals. Lets explore this. If the Mets had not signed Santana and the Spankees did, what would have happened? Odds are, Johan would have won over 20 games (given that he had Mo on the back end to preserve the many leads the Mets pen blew). Maybe the Yankees even win it all and Joe Girardi is lauded as manager of the year by the press and all those Yank fans now calling for his head.
Meanwhile, the Mets would have never contended in 2008. They would instead be spending big bucks this off-season on Lowe, CC and others. They would probably be trading all those prospects away anyway, and probably including Reyes or Beltran in some deal.
Why? Because they are opening a new stadium and are not going in there in "rebuilding" mode. I think the Mets were already thinking 2009 during the 2006 and 2007 off-seasons so not getting Johan probably wasn't an option. 3. Any chance the
Mets bring Oliver Perez back at this point? Do you want him back?
KINGMAN: Yes I do want him back. He is a kook and will probably never be more than a solid number 3 starter. But he has proven he can pitch in New York and most important, can pitch in big games. He owns the Phillies and the Braves. Given that prices are deflated so far this off-season, I think the Mets will be able to scrape together the cash to keep him.
4.
Finally, here's a direct quote from Cole Hamels made on Thursday, "But, yeah,
that's kind of what we believed and I think we're always going to believe that
until they (The Mets) prove us wrong," Hamels said. "For the past two years
they've been choke artists." Thoughts?
KINGMAN: Just to clarify, the Mets did not choke in 2008. We lost our closer and rode out the rest of the season on fumes. That's much different than what happened in 2007, when we choked in glorious fashion.
2008 was the Phillies year, there's nothing more to say on the subject. It helps that they play in a matchbox of a stadium where every pop up is a home run. Now that we have Taxpayer Field (which everyone compares to Citizen's Bank Park), maybe we'll have some of the same slugging success.
Let the Phillies have their glory. No matter what smack they talk, the sad fact is they still have to live in Philadelphia, so they deserve our pity. And what kind of name is Cole anyway? I'm guessing his dad was a miner who couldn't spell.
Please drop the "Taxpayer Field" stuff, that's crap! Call it Shiti Field, New Shea or Citi Field but nobody's wallet is getting pinched here. More taxpayer money went into Shea than the new park.
If the gov't had done something for Lehman, maybe none if this would even been happening. So be glad Citibank didn't go under.
The idiot's in the City council were just looking for PR, please don't cave in to their stupid idea.
i dont like to do this, but......................you are an idiot ron hunt, stick to the mets and not economics which you clearly know nothing about....have you seen lehmans balance sheet as compared to citibanks.........go root for the mets and leave the politics alone
Kingman: A follow-up question for the roundtable, if you please...
Q: Any interest from the Mets, or you personally, in Pat Burrell? I mean, signing him means he won't get a chance to beat you guys with walk-off bombs for a couple years.
Yes it is an obvious headline but I had to use it at least once.
The Aaron Heilman era has ended. After signing K-Rod yesterday, the Mets pulled off an overnight 3-team trade with the Mariners and Indians. Bottom line, the Mets got:
JJ Putz Right handed reliever Sean Green (no, not Shawn Green) Outfielder Jeremy Reed
And gave up
Aaron Heilman Joe Smith Endy Chavez Minor League first baseman Mike Carp Right-handed pitcher Maikel
Cleto Outfielder Ezequiel Carrera Left-handed pitcher Jason Vargas
The only one that hurts is Smith. He had alot of potential and showed poise and durability for such a young guy. We may regret that move one day.
Chavez, not so much. He is known for a great play in an ultimately meaningless game. Loge13 is frankly tired of hearing Met fans speak of that catch with such ebullience. As a player, I liked Chavez alot but he had become almost totemistic. Manuel clearly did not like him much, as judged by his decreased playing time last year.
We sure gave up alot of players. Putz has already said he'd rather be a closer but will adjust to the role. Meanwhile, the other two guys don't exactly come with sterling credentials:
In addition to Putz, the Mets added Green, 29, to their relief corps,
cushioning the loss of Smith. Green, like Smith, has proven to be a
vastly better pitcher against right-handed batters, and he could step
into a late-inning role with the Mets. Green excelled during the first
half of 2008, before posting an 8.65 ERA in 24 games after the All-Star
break. He has made a combined 136 appearances for the Mariners over the
past two seasons.
Reed, 27, is a former top prospect who hasn't hit with any consistency
in the big leagues since batting .397 over 58 at-bats in his rookie
season. Once the Mariners' starting center fielder, Reed spent much of
last season at Triple-A Tacoma, producing a .269 average in 97 games
with Seattle.
I am a bit baffled that we gave up seven players (four of whom with major league experience) for this crew. But if Putz can reclaim the 8th inning for Mets fans in the names of all things Cook and Turk, then Loge13 welcomes Putz.
Heilman is addition by subtraction. It's a bit ironic that Endy and Aaron leave in the same trade. Although Endy made the catch, Heilman ALWAYS got away with giving up the Molina HR in the top of the 9th, more so than Beltran. All I heard was swing, Carlos, swing... when the real culprit was Aaron all along.
Glad to see him gone. He was worthless to the Mets.
It really sets up the end game for us...finally! I don't think we gave up too much as I'm not high on Smith. He's very inconsistent, his good streak last year was preceded by a really awful period. Plus, this might re-open the talks to return Chad Bradfors, who the Rays want to dump, to the Blue & Orange. There was no sense in having two sub-mariners.
I say the mets go after manny now they need a big bat...he intimidates pictures david will get even more pitches to drive with him in the lineup.. and then possibly sign a randy wolf .. any opinions
"Chavez, not so much. He is known for a great play in an ultimately meaningless game. Loge13 is frankly tired of hearing Met fans speak of that catch with such ebullience. As a player, I liked Chavez alot but he had become almost totemistic."
Wow this is an unintelligent, uninformed statement. Do you realize how valuable Endy's defensive contributions were to the team?
Read that - basically Endy could be a league average PLAYER (not hitter) at a premium position. Mets blogs need some serious lessons in baseball statistics. There's more to baseball than just hitting.
I certainly do know how valuable Endy's defense was to the team. I also think he was a pretty smart hitter in that he knew his limitations. Endy never tried to swing for the fences when a base hit (or well-placed bunt to trick an infield) would better suit the situation. If you re-read my comments, you'll see I was referring to Endy's aura amongst Mets fans. He has been awarded Mookie-esque status for a play that ultimately doesn't mean alot in the annals of history. Moving on is a good thing for him and better for the organization.
As for the notion that he will blossom as someone else's center fielder, I'm not as convinced. I would have liked to see Endy get more playing time this year, especially when Alou, then Church went down. But the fact is, Chavez didn't make much with the time he got, which leads me to believe he is a great role player who probably can't put together a complete season as a player (not just a hitter). Just my opinion.
As many of you know, Loge13.com is part of the 
Yes it is an obvious headline but I had to use it at least once. 
I think I'm too young to remember AY for any promise he had or any bad luck dealt to him. But I was there the night he got the win. And that's all I remember about the streak. I would love to see video of the foul ball in the armpit.