Bill Monbouquette – PaulHadsall.com

Remembering the departed

Posted on November 1, 2015 by Paul

Today is All Saints Day. In the Protestant church, it’s a time to remember the people who have departed this world and joined the Church Triumphant in Heaven.

On this day of remembering, I’d like to take a moment to recognize the members of the New York Mets family who we’ve lost over the past year.

Ray Sadecki – November 17, 2014 (Player 1970-1977)
Bill Monbouquette – January 25, 2015 (Coach 1982-1983)
Charlie Williams – January 27, 2015 (Player 1971)
Jeff McKnight – March 1, 2015 (Player 1989, 1992-94)
Nelson Doubleday – June 17, 2015 (Co-Owner 1980-2002)
Daryl Hamilton – June 21, 2015 (Player 1991-2001)
Yogi Berra – September 22, 2015 (Player 1965; Coach 1965-1971; Manager 1972-1975)
Dean Chance – October 11, 2015 (Player 1970)

Charlie Williams' 1972 Topps baseball card

Baseball, Uncategorized

Charlie Williams (1947-2015)

Posted on January 31, 2015 by Paul

We almost made it through January, but this week we lost two members of the New York Mets alumni family. As I noted on Wednesday, Bill Monbouquette passed away on Sunday.

And now we get word that 1970s pitcher Charlie Williams died Tuesday as the result of complications following surgery. Greg Prince wrote about the man Mets traded for Willie Mays in 1972, and I’d urge you all to read it.

(If today’s social media forums were around in 1972, I wonder what the reaction would have been to trading a talented home-grown pitcher who was born in Flushing for an aging superstar.)

Williams continued to receive autograph requests in the mail right up until the end of his life, his brother-in-law told New York Times reporter Patrick McGeehan. “It was a regular thing for a long time,” he said. “People would want to complete their collections.”

(Interesting enough, SportsCollectors.Net shows collectors who wrote to Williams and recorded their results had an 0-for-16 success rate over the years.)

Baseball, Uncategorized

Will Johan Santana’s comeback be successful?

Posted on January 28, 2015 by Paul

Johan Santana (Photo credit: Paul Hadsall) — Johan Santana *(Photo credit: Paul Hadsall)*

Former New York Mets pitcher Johan Santana is hoping to return to the major leagues in 2015 after missing all of the last two seasons due to injuries.

But Santana’s comeback has not been going smoothly. Santana, 35, retired six straight batters in his first appearance with the Navegantes del Magallanes on January 13th. However, Santana’s manager Carlos Garcia told reporters that the pitcher’s left shoulder has been slow to recover and he won’t pitch again in the Venezuelan Winter League.

FOX Sports reporter Jon Morosi tweeted that Santana may still throw for MLB scouts, but those plans are unclear.

I’d love to see Santana’s comeback be successful – it’s always better to be able to leave on your own terms than to have injuries force you out the door. But at this stage, we might have to get ready to accept the idea that we watched Santana’s final MLB appearance on August 17, 2012.

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