Write Jerry Koosman a Letter in Prison

Friends, I had a thought this morning, and I hope you'll all join me.

Write Jerry Koosman a letter, wish him well, tell him to hang in there.

As you know, Jerry is in prison for tax evasion, and he isn't scheduled for release until June.  The man is 67 years old.

I think he would appreciate hearing from his fans as this undoubtedly represents a low point in an otherwise successful life.

Anyway, as I sat drinking my coffee this morning I went on a hunt for Jerry.  I am no Internet sleuth, but I did manage to find him after about 30 minutes of searching around.

I did the Google thing with no luck.  Then I went to the Federal Bureau of Prisons website and looked up Jerry...no match, and then I remembered his first name is Jerome, and bingo, a match.  He is in the Duluth Federal Prison in Minnesota.

Name	Register #	Age-Race-Sex	Release Date	Location
JEROME M KOOSMAN	06864-090	67-White-M	6/30/2010	DULUTH FPC

To contact Jerry, use the following:

Inmate Mail

Use this address when sending correspondence and parcels to inmates confined at this facility. INMATE NAME; REGISTER NUMBER FPC DULUTH FEDERAL PRISON CAMP P.O. BOX 1000 DULUTH, MN  55814

I think Jerry would appreciate it.

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The All-Time Mets Team by Season

If you could go back in time, and pick and choose your greatest Mets starting lineup, pitchers and bench from all the players in Mets history, who would you choose?

What years would you pick?

What would your lineup card look like?

There have been so many amazing individual seasons--it's tough to narrow down--also, when you look at the all-time Mets stats, it's amazing how much better our lefthanded pitchers have been over the years. We have several great righty's, Tom Seaver and Dwight Gooden come to mind, but for individual outstanding seasons, the lefty's dominate.

The bench was difficult--you need speed, pinch hitting, and defense. There are several obvious omissions, but only so many slots. HoJo is my utility guy.

Overall I think this team would win about 125-130 games over a 162 game season and sweep the playoffs and World Series. Then again, we might lose 1 or 2 games in the playoffs with Benitez and Franco as the closers.

Here are my picks for the greatest Mets team ever:

The Starting Lineup:

Jose Reyes, SS, (2006 season), 122 Runs, 64 SB
Edgardo Alfonzo, 2B, (1999 season), 123 Runs, 122 RBIs, 125 OPS+
Carlos Beltran, CF, (2006 season), 41 HR, 116 RBI, 150 OPS+
David Wright, 3B, (2007 season), 113 Runs, .325 BA, 34 SB, 150 OPS+
Darryl Strawberrry, RF (1987 season), 39 HR, 104 RBI, 36 SB, 162 OPS+
Gary Carter, C, (1985 season), 32 HR, 100 RBI, 138 OPS+
John Olerud, 1B, (1998 season), 197 H, .354 BA, .447 OBP, 163 OPS+
Cleon Jones, LF, (1969 season), .340 BA, .422 OBP, 16 SB, 151 OPS+

The Bench:

Mike Piazza, C, (1999 season), 40 HR, 124 RBI, .303 BA, 134 OPS+
Keith Hernandez, 1B, (1984 season), 15 HR, 94 RBI, .311 BA, 143 OPS+
Lance Johnson, OF, (1996 season), 117 R, 227 H, 50 SB, .333 BA
Bernard Gilkey, OF, (1996 season), 108 R, 30 HR, 117 RBI, 155 OPS+
Howard Johnson, 3B/SS, (1989 season), 104 R, 36 HR, 101 RBI, 41 SB, 169 OPS+
Rusty Staub, PH, (1981 season), .317 BA, .398 OBP, 147 OPS+

The Starting Pitchers:

Tom Seaver, RHP, (1969 season), 25-7, 208 K, 165 ERA+
Dwight Gooden, RHP, (1985 season), 24-4, 268 K, 228 ERA+
Jerry Koosman, LHP, (1976 season), 21-10, 200 K, 1.09 WHIP
David Cone, RHP, (1988 season), 20-3, 213 K, 146 ERA+
Frank Viola, LHP, (1990 season), 20-12, 182 K, 141 ERA+

The Bullpen:

Jesse Orosco, LHP, (1983 season), 13-7, 17 SV, 247 ERA+
Armando Benitez, RHP, (1999 season), 4-3, 22 SV, 128 K in 78 IP, 240 ERA+
John Franco, LHP, (1996 season) 4-3, 28 SV, 219 ERA+
Pedro Martinez, RHP, (2005 season), 15-8, 208 Ks, 145 ERA+
Al Leiter, LHP, (1998 season), 17-6, 170 ERA+
Tug McGraw, LHP, (1971 season), 11-4, 200 ERA+

I'd absolutely want Gil Hodges managing this team with Davey Johnson as his bench coach.

For a look at the all-time Mets leaders, please click here.

Picking the Perfect Mets Team

If you could go back in time, and pick and choose your greatest Mets starting lineup from all the players in Mets history, who would you choose?

What years would you pick?

What would your lineup card look like?

There have been so many amazing individual seasons--it's tough to narrow down--here are my picks for the starters.

The Starting Lineup:

Jose Reyes, SS, (2008 season)
Edgardo Alfonzo, 2B, (1999 season)
Carlos Beltran, CF, (2006 season)
David Wright, 3B, (2007 season)
Darryl Strawberrry, RF (1987 season)
Mike Piazza, C, (1999 season)
John Olerud, 1B, (1998 season)
Cleon Jones, LF, (1969 season)

Tom Seaver, RHP, (1969 season)
Dwight Gooden, RHP, (1985 season)
Jerry Koosman, LHP, (1976 season)
David Cone, RHP, (1988 season)
Frank Viola, LHP, (1990 season)

Tomorrow we'll select the bench, followed by the coaches and manager.

For a look at the all-time Mets leaders, please click here.