It doesn’t matter if it’s the big leagues, high school, college or little league; most players are very protective of their “number”. In MLB, when a player is traded from one team to another, players have paid whatever the market would bear to obtain their “number” if it’s being used by a new teammate. Some times a case of beer or a watch is the going rate for a number switch. Other times a player will just relinquish the digit as a sign of team harmony. But however it’s obtained uniform numbers mean a lot. So it is appropriate that Jon Springer and Mathew Silverman have written a book , METS BY THE NUMBERS (skyhorse publishing) that not only lists every number and every player who wore those numbers but it also tells the history of the New York Mets while doing it.

As Mets fans we all know 14, 37, 41 and 42 are retired by the team but do we know who wore those numbers for the Mets before they became immortalized? (14 was Gil Hodges number with the Mets as a player in 1962 and he was given in back in 1968 when he became manager only Casey Stengel wore 37, Gordon Richardson wore 41 in 1965 and pitched in a combined no hitter in spring training as we learn in the books forward written by the great Howie Rose, and of course 42 is retired for Jackie Robinson but last worn by Butch Huskey) Of course my favorite all time Met, Edward Emil Kranepool was and is known as 7 (the Mets should really do the right thing here and retire my man’s #7 in fact I think one of my pet projects this year is to raise hell over this over site. The Mets could have a day for Steady Eddie, now that Shea is on its farewell tour. Jose Reyes could play Phil Bourque to Kranepools Phil Esposito and switch to # 77 and Mex’s 17 and Kooz 36 should be retired as well) but what I didn’t know and learned in this book is that Eddie wore #21 but gave it up to Warren Spahn when Spahn joined the team in 1965. Always the consummate teammate was Ed Kranepool. The chapters of the book go from 1-50 and covers every Met who wore those numbers. Then there is chapter #51-99 The High Numbers and #00-0 which covers coaches and the whacky 99 Turk Wendell and my favorite chapter #5, 7, 15, 17, 18 The Jeff McKnightmare. If there is a player who sums up what the New York Mets are all about its Jeff McKnight. This morning it was 11 degrees with a minus real fucking cold wind chill factor but as I sat on the slow boat to Manhattan (a/k/a Staten Island Ferry) this morning reading METS BY THE NUMBERS all I thought about was this week pitchers and catcher will report to St. Lonesome, we have an ACE of the pitching staff and pretty soon I’ll be wearing shorts, t-shirts and flop flops. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

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