These Met-lympians brought home the gold

Well, Met pitcher Brandon Knight fared better against the Cardinals than he did today against the Koreans in Olympic action.

Amazingly, Knight is not the only Mets player to have a connection with the Olympics. In honor of the Beijing games starting on 8-8-08, we now should take a look at our top eight Met-lympians. And that’s not counting skipper Davey Johnson, who is guiding the American team as we speak.

We’ll start at the bottom and work our way up to the gold “Met-al” winner.

No. 8) Doug Mientkiewicz, 2000 Team USA.

Dougie Eye-chart had a decent Olympics, even hitting the game-winning home run against South Korea in the semi-finals in Sydney. That team went on to win the gold medal.

And he’s not even the worst player on the list. But he’s No. 8 because he’s a punk. Mientkiewicz started out decently enough with the Twins, and ended up on the Red Sox because he can flash the leather and the Sox didn’t want another Buckner moment.

And sure enough, Douggie caught the final out, then famously pocketed the ball. All of Red Sox Nation was pissed off, which, granted isn’t hard to do. After much bickering, Doug allowed the ball to tour New England with the trophy, then be sent to Cooperstown. Then again, Doug says it’s the game ball. With this guy, you never know.

Mientkiewicz then came into his Metdom the next year, giving good quotes to the press but hitting a measly .240 with 11 homers and showing that he defense was over-rated.

Then after the season, Doug burned his bridges, saying all kinds of unkind things. Since then, he’s made the tour of teams of stink and evil, spending time with the Royals, the vile Yankees and currently the Pirates, where he seemingly had more hits against the Mets on Monday than he did the entire year at Shea.

No. 7) Braden Looper, 1996 Team USA

Looper was part of the bronze medal winners in Atlanta and became the Marlins’ closer before Trader Jack lost confidence in him. So who knows why the Mets thought he could close for them? I’m sure Pedro was asking that very same questions when two Reds fired bombs to blow Martinez’s Mets debut.

Loops then came back to haunt us in the 2006 NLCS and openly mocked the Mets during the post-game celebration.

No. 6) Mike Kinkade, 2000 Team USA

Kinkade came to the Mets from the Brewers’ farm for Bill Pulsipher in 1988,and left with Melvin Mora in late 2000 in the trade for Mike Bordick. He enjoyed only cups of coffee at Shea, hitting just .196 with a couple homers in 46 at-bats for the 1998 team.

But unlike Looper and Mientkiewicz, he didn’t tick anyone off.

No. 5) Kris Benson, 1996 Team USA

Benson didn’t tick anyone off, either. But his bombshell wife Anna sure did. Kirk arrived in a deadline deal in 2004 – not that deal – and really didn’t pitch too poorly. He just wasn’t all that great either; at least not great enough to deal with the headaches his wife caused the front office.

On the bright side, Omar sent him to the Orioles in a deal where John Maine was a throw-in, one of our GM’s best heists.

No. 4) Dae-Sung Koo, 2000 Team South Korea

Koo also played in Sydney, and had one year with the Mets, logging 33 games without a save and unimpressive 3.90 ERA.

Ah, but Koo had one golden moment. He had just two career at-bats in the majors. One was an expected strikeout. But the other was a glorious double hit off a shell-shocked Randy Johnson in a Subway Series game. That Johnson remained on the team even through the end of that game was proof that George Steinbrenner was no longer involved in the day-to-day operations.

Bronze Met-al) Hideo Nomo, 1988 Team Japan

Nomo was a member of the Japanese team long before his 1995 American debut and all that ensued.

Alas, he seemed done when jettisoned to the Mets for spare parts Greg McMichael and Dave Mlicki after starting 2-7 in LA in 1988. Nomo was a little better at Shea, going 4-5 with a 4.82 ERA,

We released him the next spring, and naturally Nomo went on toss a no-no while playing for Boston – and he pitched all the way through this season, making an appearance with the Royals.

Silver Met-al) Orlando Hernandez, 1992 Team Cuba

El Duque earned gold in Barcelona, escaped from the oppressive regime in Cuba to the vile regime in the Bronx.

He was finally liberated in 2006, swiped from the Snakes for Jorge Julio, back in the days when Omar could do no wrong. Hernandez added 9 wins before the end of the season and gimped to the playoffs.

Duque won 9 more games in an injury-filled 2007, and is spending this season vacationing in Port St. Lucie, allegedly still on the roster while awaiting Nike elves to produce some alleged magic cleat that will bring comfort to his aching bunion.

Gold Met-al: Robin Ventura, 1988 Team USA

Rockin’ Robin and his gold medal came to the Mets as a free agent in 1999 and made Steve Phillips look brilliant, finishing sixth in the MVP voting that year. Of course he was robbed.

His glorious Grand Slam Single against the Braves should have already earned him a bust in the Mets Hall of Fame.

He’s such a good guy we can overlook that he rediscovered his stroke after we sent him to, of all places, the vile Yankees, where he earned his second All-Star appearance.

There you go, Met-lympians can claim their medals and stand atop the podium while “Meet the Mets” plays to a misty eyed house.

Finally I'm fashionable

It appears that my wardrobe is suddenly fashionable, possibly for the first time in my life.

You have to understand that I'm not the most adventuresome dresser. We had a discussion in the office that my many khaki Dockers were the type O blood of men's clothes because they go with everything -- at least all the dark-colored polo shirts I wear. I wore a shirt with a pattern one day and the newsroom was abuzz.

But according to the New York Post, my outside-of-work wardrobe, assorted Metswear, is now hot, hot, hot. Mets merchandise is now among baseball’s best-sellers. And David Wright has bumped off Derek F. Jeter as the most popular player for T-shirts and jerseys.

This shouldn’t be a complete surprise. The Mets have long had the best-looking uniforms in the game, just ahead of the Cardinals and Dodgers.

But I suspect this means a lot of demoralized, bandwagon-jumping Yankee fans are realizing that life is better on the Queens side of the street. Or maybe they’re trying to infiltrate.

I’ve long been a jersey-lover, and I mean the apparel, not the state. And Mets gear always maintained a large presence in my closet.

Now that I have a baseball room, I have a special rack to display my jerseys. I’ve searched for both authentic and game-worn, when I can find and afford them -- and I don't spend a lot of money on these things. I stay away from the cheesy replicas on principle.

I get them from various sources; including a family-owned business that always have a booth at the National Sports Collectors Convention. You know the jerseys are legit because they have all almost all the players, including the scrubs and coaches. And I favor the srcubs and coaches because they’re affordable and they’re more likely to fit me, since I only buy jerseys I can wear.
Here are my favorites, at least the ones from our beloved team.

1) 1969 Mitchell & Ness Tom Seaver home flannel. (Authentic replica)
This was an anniversary present, and it was expensive, but before these things got stupid expensive. I wear it on special occasions. When you are with my company for 10 years, they shoot a photo of you and make a little plastic cut-out that is displayed in the cafeteria. To prevent them from all looking the same, you’re supposed to be doing something that shows who you are or what you do. Naturally, I’m wearing the Seaver jersey and holding a big red apple.

2) 1991 Barry Lyons warm-up.
This is kind of a strange thing. It’s a pull-over with a short zipper. The player’s name is stitched into the back, but the number is on the sleeve. The classic NY logo is on the chest. And for some reason, there are pockets sewed into the sides.

3) 1986 home (authentic replica)
I don’t know if there is still a Gerry Cosby store on Long Island, but it was jersey Mecca when I was a kid. This was my first real jersey, and Mom sewed the 1986 patch properly on the racing stripe. I proudly wore this when I was attending the University of Missouri at the height of the Mets-Cards rivalry. And I was wearing it when I proposed to my wife. Would she have said yes if I was wearing a cheesey replica instead? We'll never know.

4) 1992 Eddie Murray home (authentic replica)
It is the button-down version of the racing stripe jersey. And I was thrilled when Mets acquired the surly slugger because I could finally put my own name on a jersey. I have the 1993 version, too, with the disastrous addition of the tail under the team name. Now that Metstradamus has labeled it “the wardrobe of failure” I don’t wear it much.

5) 1997 Mel Rojas road batting practice
I got this from the team store, and there’s two reasons I can’t wear it much. The first is that it’s autographed, which makes it hard to wash without ruining the autograph. The second is that it’s Mel Rojas instead of Cookie, who I like. It’s a weird jersey, made of a satin mesh that seems too thin. And the letters are gray on a blue jersey, so they don’t stand out much.

6) 1997 Rick Trlicek home batting practice jersey
I like this one better. Trlicek had cups of coffee with the team in 1996 and 1997. The high number makes me think this one is from spring training. The home version is just so much brighter than the road BP jersey, and Trlicek, while not especially successful, is no Mel Rojas.

7) 1999 Mercury Mets “Turn Ahead the Clock” Night (authentic replica)
For one infamous night, most teams wore futuristic versions of their uniforms. Some were awesome. The Mets versions were not. Other teams had bright colors and their logos blown up to cover almost all the chests. For reasons unknown, the Mets decided to become the Mercury Mets, with a silver symbol for the planet taking the place of the NY on the cap, and a black and gray jersey featuring the symbol floating above the planet’s surface. It’s so horrible...that it’s kind of cool.

8) 1993 Bobby Bonilla road (Authentic replica)
Kind of a double whammy here. It represents both the wardrobe of failure and the player who personified the era. But I found it on clearance at the outlet store for Manny’s Baseball Land in Florida, which was like Cosby’s South but with much, much cheaper stuff and sales clerks that were actually nice. I was wearing it to a spring training game one night, and it turned out I was sitting a row in front of Shawn Abner – he was trying to make a comeback – and some other Mets minor-leaguers. Abner was mocking me for wearing a Bonilla jersey, and we all got to talking and had a nice conversation throughout the game. At one point Abner, who was loud and kind of obnoxious, went to get more beer and one of the other players said to me, “Can you believe the Mets wasted a No. 1 pick in the nation on that goofball?”

9) 2001 Robin Ventura alternate road (Authentic replica)
Found this one really cheap on eBay. It’s my one black Mets jersey. Ventura was such a classy guy, and it’s my souvenir of those magical 1999 and 2000 seasons.

10) 2005 Pedro Martinez All-Star game batting practice jersey (Authentic replica)
This was on clearance because, as you know, Pedro was selected for the team but didn’t go to the game. I love the All-Star Game, and this one in Detroit so I was able to hang out at the FanFest all day and check out the action around the yard and clean up on some last-minute souvenirs.

I have several more, but these are the favorites. And they even go with khaki Dockers.