centerfield maz

Leroy Bobby Stanton was born on April 10, 1946 in Latta, South Carolina. The six foot outfielder was signed by the New York Mets as an amateur free agent in 1965. Stanton spent two years serving in military service during Vietnam. He then spent five seasons in the Mets farm system where he earned a reputation as a speedy outfielder. He hit ten triples each season at the A ball & AA ball levels. In 1970 he had a huge year at AAA Tidewater batting .303 with 19 HRs, while leading the club with 94 RBIs &15 stolen bases. That September he got a call up & made his MLB debut in a 3-2 win over the Philadelphia Phillies at Shea Stadium. He went hitless that day & got five pinch hit opportunities on the season (1-5). He got his first career hit in his last appearance of the 1970 season, in a 6-3 win against the Chicago Cubs, also at Shea Stadium. In 1971 he hit .324 with 23 HRs & 101 RBIs at Tidewater, showing a lot of promise to be a future outfielder for the Mets

Donald Gary Rose was born on March 19, 1947 in West Covina, California. The six foot three right hander attended Stanford University & was selected in the 11th round of the 1968 draft by the New York Mets.  In 1969 as the Amazing Mets were winning the World Series, Rose was showing promise as a future candidate for the Mets staff going 13-6 in A ball. In 1971 Rose went 11-10 at AAA Tidewater, on a staff with Jon Matlack (11 wins), Jim Bibby (15 wins) & Buzz Capra (13 wins). Rose got a September call up & made his only Mets appearance on September 15, 1971 at Shea Stadium. He pitched two scoreless innings against the Chicago Cubs, allowing one hit & striking out the opposing pitcher Burt Hooton. Two months later, on December 10th he was involved in one of the biggest trades in Mets history.  Rose was a minor part of the deal & New York certainly got the worst end of the deal. Don Rose along with Leroy Stanton & Francisco Estrada all were part of the pack

Francisco Estrada Soto was born February 12, 1948 in Mexico. The catcher known as "Paquin" was one of the players dealt away in the Nolan Ryan trade.  Estrada only played in one career game with the New York Mets; On September 14, 1971 he replaced Jerry Grote at catcher, in the 6th inning of a 12-1 Montreal Expos blow out of the Mets, at Shea Stadium. The next inning Estrada singled off the Expo’s Bill Stoneman, in his first career at bat. His second and last Mets at bat, was grounding out for the final out of the game.  On December 10, 1971 he was involved in one of the worst trades in Mets history. Estrada along with Don Rose, Leroy Stanton & future Hall of Famer; Nolan Ryan were traded to the California Angels for former All Star; Jim Fregosi.    Estrada, never made it back to the big leagues, but did set a record. He holds the minor league record for games caught behind the plate with 2,847. He also spent twenty six summers in the Mexican League, (1966- 1970 /

Angel Maria Berroa was born January 27, 1978 in Santa Domingo. The shortstop was originally signed by the Oaklnad A’s and got traded to the Kansas City Royals in a three team deal that included Johnny Damon & Roberto Hernandez. He had two September cups of coffee in his first two seasons, getting a hit in his first MLB game in 2001. In 2002 he played in the Futures Game & Pacific Coast All Star Games. By 2003 he was given the job as the Kansas City Royals everyday shortstop replacing Neifi Perez, starting out by making 19 errors in the first two months and was batting under .200 in the ninth spot. Manager Tony Pena moved him to the leadoff spot and Berroa turned his season around. He won the Rookie of the Year Award in one of the closest races for the Award in years. He ended up with a .287 batting average, hitting 17 HRs with 28 doubles 21 stolen bases 13 sac hits (2nd in the AL) & 73 RBIs. He led the league in errors at short (24) put outs (264) & was second i

Elmer (Jusaino) Dessens was born on January 13th 1971 in Hermosillo Sonora Mexico. The five foot eleven right handed pitcher was signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1993. Three seasons later, Dessens was pitching in the big leagues, spending three seasons seeing brief action in the Pirates bullpen. Hewould become a journey man pitcher first as a starter in Cincinnati with the Reds (2000-2002). In 2000 he was 11-5 with a 4.28 ERA then going 10-14 the next year pitching in 205 innings. In 2002 he posted a 3.03 ERA which was 6th best in the NL. He would move on to the Arizona Diamondbacks (2003-2004) and eventually become a middle reliever.  He pitched for the Los Angeles Dodgers (2004-2006) Kansas City Royals (2006) Milwaukee Brewers (2007) Colorado Rockies (2007) & Atlanta Braves (2008) before signing a minor league contract with the New York Mets in 2009.  He began the year at AAA Buffalo and was 3-2 with 11 saves posting a 2.31 ERA with the Bison's before getting

Tuesday May 6th 1986: 41,722 fans including centerfieldmaz & his little brother came to Shea Stadium to see two undefeated pitchers go head to head.  On this night the Mets celebrating their 25th season, honored former Met Manager Yogi Berra, who was now a coach with the Houston Astros. Berra served as a coach with Houston from 1986-1989.  Rusty Staub presented him with a lithograph of himself from his managing days. Staub was a player under Berra (1972-1975) including the Mets 1973 NL Championship season. This was the first time Berra appeared at Shea since he was manager in 1975. The first place Mets (17-4) already running away with the division, had the reigning Cy Young Award winner- Dwight Gooden (4-0) on the mound. In those good old days, it was always a special night when Doc took the mound. His opponent was Bob Knepper, for the western division, first place Houston Astros. All signs were pointing to this being an early preview of that years NLCS, which it was.