30 Years Ago

Hey Met fan...yes you, the guy with the Hernandez throwback jersey and the Santana bobblehead.

What are you complaining about? Pitchers? The hitting? Luis Castillo?

Ya want something to complain about, I'll give you something to complain about.

How about 1979? Yup, 30 years ago. You remember that time...hostages, run away inflation, post-Vietnam, crappy technology...the Mets.

Yes, the Mets....1979 was probably the worst year in team history.

It down right sucked...maybe not as much as the new Commodore Vic-20, but it sucked.

How bad was that? Well, in comparison to the 1979 Mets it was actually pretty damned awesome.

You see the 1979 Mets were last, or next to last, in everything.

12th out of 12th in attendance.

At 63-99, they had the worst record in the National League.

They scored the second fewest runs in the league.

Joel Youngblood led the team in HRs with 16.

Craig Swan, Pat Zachry, Wayne Twitchell and Roy Lee Jackson were the only players on the entire roster to have winning records.

Swan went 14-13
Pat Zachry went 5-1
Twitchell went 5-3
Roy Lee Jackson went 1-0

Thankfully they had Pete Falcone going 6-14 to offset all that pitching prowess.

Skip Lockwwod led the team in saves with 9.

And yes, the team featured none other than Tim Foli.

"Hey Tim, do they make those jackets for men?"

So my friends, as the season grows near and you find yourself with an urge to scream about the 2009 club, I ask you this: please remember our history.

It will make you feel better....I promise.