Dipping Into The Archives Vol. 23

1994

With the possible exception of 1919, 1994 was the gloomiest season in MLB history. A players’ strike led to the cancellation of the World Series, and the work stoppage lasted long enough into the following year that we got dangerously close to having to suffer through scab ball. Needless to say, there weren’t many positive things that could be taken from the year, but the Mets did begin the slow progress of climbing out of their personal quagmire.

Two of the central figures of the era did rebound and have good seasons. After 2 injury plagued seasons, Bret Saberhagen finally returned to form, finishing 3rd in the Cy Young Award vote. And Bobby Bonilla had a strong year as well. Unfortunately, fans had already made up their minds about both players, so neither redeemed themselves all that much in the eyes of the Shea faithful. Their poor first impressions ensured that neither would ever become fan favorites. Both would be traded away before the end of the ‘95 season, although as some of you may have heard, Bonilla eventually returned.

In the offseason the Mets mercifully ended the Vince Coleman Experiment. There was no chance he would ever wear the uniform again following the previous year’s firecracker incident, so his departure was inevitable. He was traded to Kansas City in return for old friend Kevin McReynolds. Kevin Mac was pretty much done by this point. 1994 would in fact be his final major league season, but any return, however meager, for Coleman was a net positive.

But McReynolds was far from the most significant returning hero in 1994. After an absence of more than 15 years, the franchise brought Mr. Met back! Phasing him out was a major unforced error; he remains one of the most beloved mascots in any sport. Now he was finally back where he belonged. And he sure looks happy to be there.

The season also began with the dismantling of the 1986 championship team almost complete. There were only 3 remaining members on the ‘93 squad, and two of those, Sid Fernandez and Howard Johnson would depart via free agency. Which meant that as of Opening Day 1994 Dwight Gooden officially became the last man remaining. It feels appropriate that he lasted the longest, no one epitomized the excitement of that era better than he did. I’d love to say that his Mets tenure ended in a blaze of glory, but that would not be the case. A toe injury limited him to only 7 starts, and sadly he suffered a substance abuse relapse in the offseason. A positive drug test led to a suspension for the entire 1995 season, which was also the final year of his contract, and the Mets did not resign him. He bounced around the league in his final years, and in somewhat of a gut punch he went on to pitch a surprise no-hitter. With the Yankees. At a time when no Mets pitcher had yet accomplished that feat. Have I ever mentioned that Mets fans can’t have nice things?

A longtime Mets figure received a significant honor that year. Despite what the blurb in the yearbook says, I’m going to play the um, actually, card. Bob Murphy won the prestigious Ford Frick Award, but he was NOT inducted into Cooperstown. No matter how often the phrase is used, there is no such thing as a broadcaster’s wing of the Hall. Having said that, it was a well deserved honor and a happy recap to a tremendous career. And look who is making his first appearance in the yearbook. Howie Rose had been the chief Mets reporter for WFAN for years, but now he was an official game broadcaster as well and therefore gets to be put in the book.

It was another losing year for the team, but at least some slight progress was made. 1994 was the year in which the leagues realigned to 3 divisions, and the Mets finished in 3rd place in the new NL East, with a record only 3 games below .500. Of course, the strike meant that the season ended about 7 weeks prematurely, so there’s no way of knowing where they would have wound up had the season played out to its conclusion. At least there were baby steps.

And a promising future was starting to come into focus. I had largely stopped including the photo spreads of minor league prospects in these writeups. Minor league development had become so shallow that in some years none of the featured players amounted to anything - there were few players with September call ups in their futures, let alone significant major league careers. Here we can at least see some names who would become significant. Alas, Kirk Presley would not be one of those. When he was drafted, a lot was made over the fact that he was Elvis’ cousin, but professional baseball proved to be cruel and he found himself caught in the trap of minor league ball, never to make it to the majors.

Despite the slight progress, this is still the 1990’s Mets. The year couldn’t end without some ugliness. As the strike date approached, a report approached Bonilla. At the time Bonilla was the game’s highest paid player, therefore he had the most to lose financially from a work stoppage. So he was asked if that fact bothered him. Well, see for yourself.

Let’s end this on a happier note. Jeff McKnight was one of many players who plays the game without making much of an impression; he barely falls into Remember Some Guys category. But this photo is glorious.

SNL Recap

I’ve noticed that in the past couple of seasons the show has cut back on the overuse of ringers and surprise cameos. It’s as if everyone realized that with such a large cast, it makes more sense to actually use them rather than outsource Alec Baldwin to punish the audience with his execrable Trump impersonation. This week we had a lot; as 4 different outsiders popped up to assist host Bad Bunny.

Bunny proved to be a game host; English is not his first language and as a result this is the most bilingual episode of the show that I can recall ever seeing. The cameos started immediately in the monologue. Pedro Pascal came on stage so that Bunny could largely use his native tongue and Pascal served as a translator. Pascal returned later on in a reprise of a sketch from last season as the smothering mother of Marcello’s character, with Bad Bunny appearing as the aunt. This time Marcello brought his new girlfriend, portrayed by rookie Chloe T., to meet the aunt with the mother unexpectedly home as well. All due respect to Bad Bunny, but this was clearly Pascal’s showcase. I loved the moment where Pascal accepted Chloe’s gift of the tin of Danish butter cookies, dumps the cookies in the trash, and then fills the empty tin with sewing material.

My highlight of the week is also a repeat bit from last season, a pre taped piece set on a subway platform. Devon’s down on his luck man was trying to get a job from JAJ’s investment banker, with insanity occurring in the closed subway car in the background. Very well done.

Not well done was the cold open. Following last week’s sincerity, this week returned to the standard format of satirizing the week’s chief current event. Mikey’s Jim Jordan was attempting to gain support for his ultimately futile bit for the speakership and received a visit from George Santos and a phone call from Lauren Boebert. (I had figured that Heidi would be cast as Boebert, but Chloe got the gig. And yes, she phoned Jordan from the audience of a production of Aladdin, where she got a feel from her seat mate.) JAJ as Trump came in to close the bit.

As for the other surprise guests? Fred Armisen appeared with Bad Bunny in a pre taped piece as Spanish explorers describing to their benefactors the New World they “discovered” on their route to China. Lady Gaga had the honor of introducing Bad Bunny’s first song. And appearing in two sketches was none other than Mick Jagger. Not sure if he really added much other than providing the audience an opportunity to say “wow! Mick Jagger in a nun’s habit!”

There wasn’t a whole lot this week that was all that memorable. The showcase sketch focused on a rap battle between Bad Bunny’s El Fuego and Mikey’s insecure white guy. His friends convinced him that the best strategy would be to preemptively insult himself so that Bunny’s character would be out of verbal ammo, but Mikey’s self-insults grew more humiliating with each verse. This week’s Please Don’t Destroy was OK. Bunny talked the fellas into taking part in a script he wrote for a Shrek movie. Update was briefer than normal this week; the only correspondent piece was Ego as Jada Pinkett Smith. She’s done better.

I give Bad Bunny credit for throwing himself into situations that weren’t completely in his wheelhouse. I’d call this week’s show a nice effort, but lacking in good material. Marcello was the week’s standout; his natural exuberance lifted up the pieces he appeared in this week. Kenan was next best; his emcee saved the rap battle sketch. Next week’s show is hosted by standup star Nate Bargatze. Foo Fighters make their umpteenth appearance as musical guest.

I Missed My Calling

There’s a lot of last minute bookkeeping in the final days leading into a new NBA season. More specifically, this is the brief window in which teams are allowed to extend contracts, and this is when we see exactly how much money the league generates. Some of the contract numbers are incomprehensible.

I don’t begrudge the money that players make. Yes, we can and should make the standard argument that no athlete deserves to make so much money when vital professions such as teaching are undervalued and underpaid. But the billions of dollars that leagues bring in must trickle down to the players rather than being hoarded by the venture capital vultures and the modern day robber barons that own the franchises. The sports industry is lucrative; trust me, every owner of a franchise can pay the exorbitant salaries. Every fan I know watches the playing field and not the owner’s box. The players have earned their money.

With that out of the way, the NBA money that’s out there would make even Scrooge McDuck raise an eyebrow. The contract that caught my attention was the extension that Zach Collins just signed with San Antonio - 2 years, $35 million. All that, for a man who has played a total of 102 games over the past 4 seasons. A man who has started 42 games over the course of his career. A man who has averaged fewer than 20 minutes a game.

I see numbers like that and question the directions my life has taken. Admittedly when I was of NBA age league revenues were not as high as they are now so even under the best case scenario I would not have made anything close to that type of money. But I have to wonder - what if I had been born 20 years later? What if I were 3 or 4 inches taller than I am? Most importantly, what if I was any good at basketball? Maybe in another life.

Please Clap, 2024 Edition

Can you feel the electricity? Mike Pence sure knows how to whip a crowd into a frenzy. At least he got a larger dressing room than the puppets.

I also believe that I’ve found this year’s Halloween costume. I will dress up as the gentleman in the foreground. He speaks for all of us.

Bye-Bye

The good news is that Jim Jordan will not be Speaker, and our democracy has dodged a major bullet. The bad news is that of the 9 men who have thrown their hats in the ring, 7 of them (7!) voted against certifying the 2020 election. Ugh. On that cheery note, see you all again on Wednesday. Let’s be careful out there!