Q & A With Cleon Jones

Cleon Jones enjoying a slice of pizza named after him.
The Cleon(patra) Jones.

Cleon Jones was on hand Friday night for a Mets alumni event and to be honored by Two Boots, a Cajun-Italian inspired restaurant, who named one of their famous pizzas after the former Met. Jones was nice enough to take a few minutes to talk about the 1969 team and share some good stories.


On the 1969 team and Gil Hodges:
We were just having fun. From Seaver, Koosman, Agee, and Harrison...we were the worst team in baseball the year before, and we thought we were getting better. We never thought that we were good enough to win a world series, or even get there in the playoffs. But Gil Hodges kept telling us that we were good enough, and that's why I maintain the fact that sometimes the manager makes a difference. This particular year, he made all the difference in the world, because if not for Gil Hodges, it could have been Davey Johnson, it could have been Casey Stengel, it could have been any manager, if not for Gil  Hodges we would not be talking about the '69 Mets. That's how good he made us.

Finding out the team got Donn Clendenon:
We knew about a month before he came over. We thought he was probably going to be with the ball club, and we knew at that time that we were weak against left-handed pitching. We were pretty good against right-handed pitching ,and we thought by getting Donn, he would make us stronger against left-handed pitching. Never in my life did I think that he would make that much of a difference. He made a difference on the field and in the clubhouse. He became one of my leaders. He called himself a lawyer, and he was a clubhouse lawyer. He got on everybody....it made for a close-knit type atmosphere because we were always competing against one another...and even pulling our families together. We did a lot of family things with our entire family. We were family long before the Pittsburgh Pirates became a family, and that's because of Gil Hodges and Clendenon.

Comparing to the 2012 Mets:  
I just came out of the clubhouse, and these guys are having fun in the clubhouse. Therefore, they like one another, and when you like one another, you're going to do a better job as a team. I would put this group in the same level as the '69 Mets. As a matter of fact, they're probably more talented than we were. I won't say anything about the manager because I've never dealt with the manager. I don't know who he is, I know his name, but I don't know what his philosophy is, or how he's in control of the team. [Jerry] Koosman saw Gil Hodges smile in a photo and said, 'He never smiled like that around us!'

Competing for a batting title:
I was having fun, and we were better than we were the year before. That meant we were winning somewhere. Gil Hodges was callous man. I was hitting around .360, leading everybody by about 20 points, and I came in for a fly ball, and cracked a rib, but I didn't know it was cracked. I contained the play and it got worse and worse. Finally I had to come sit down for about two weeks. When I came back I wasn't the same the entire year. '69 was a miracle year for the Mets. It was a miracle year for me. No doubt in my mind I would have lead the league in hitting that year had I been free of injury, because I was in a zone like I've never been before of since then. It didn't matter who was pitching. I knew I was going to get my hit because we were playing that kind of ball, and we were winning. It's easy to contribute to your stats when you're winning. That's what was taking place at that particular time.

Hodges taking him out of the outfield:
It wasn't what everybody thought it was. Gil Hodges was a just individual, he would never embarrass anyone. We had just had a talk in Montreal, I had sprained my ankle, and we had a talk in his office. I said, 'I don't want to come out of the lineup unless I'm hurting the team. If I get to the point where I'm hurting the team, then take me out of the lineup.' We were playing Houston here, and it rained all day, all night. The field was soaked. They were taking the tar to us. They were hitting everything we threw up there. They were just beating us pretty good. We come into the dugout and we acted like we were liking it, I guess. Everybody was still doing their same, normal things, and we weren't concentrating one what we should do, or how we are going to get out of this. He got tired of that.

When he came out of the dugout, I was totally surprised. I thought he was coming to take the pitcher out. Then he passed the pitchers mound, so I'm like 'What the hell did Buddy do?' Buddy was our shortstop. He passed Buddy. When he passed Buddy, I'm looking around. He came up to me and said, 'I don't like the way you ran at that last ball.' I said, 'What?' He said, 'I don't like the way you ran at the last ball.' I said, 'A left-handed batter hit a ball down the line. That's a double, Gil.' I said, 'Look down.' He looked down and my feet was on the wall and his feet was on the wall. I said, 'You can't ever get out here.' He said, 'You have a bad ankle, so you probably need to come out of the game anyway.' I said okay. Everybody got all excited about he was reprimanding me, I wasn't hustling, but that never happened. He wasn't that kind of a person.                       

ICYMI: The Week In Review

After getting swept by the Yankees last weekend in the Bronx, the Mets moved on to St. Petersburg where they swept the Rays in a three-game series.

Chris Young recorded his first win with the Mets since his return. His last win as a Met? April 5, 2011.

Terry Collins and pitching coach Dan Warthen mixed things up in the bullpen earlier in the week. With the exception of Frank Francisco as closer and Tim Byrdak as the lefty specialist, all other bullpen roles have been done away with. Essentially, if you want to be the eighth inning setup man, you're going to have to earn it.  

R.A. Dickey threw a one-hitter on Wednesday night. The Mets appealed to have that one-hitter changed to a no-hitter, arguing that David Wright should have been charged with an error after attempting to field a hit by B.J. Upton. They lost the appeal.

National League All-Star manager Tony LaRussa selected Terry Collins to join his staff for this year's All-Star game.

Ike Davis is starting to heat up at the plate. He has a seven game hitting streak and his average is now up to .192.

The Mets have signed 15 of this year's draft picks. For the complete list, visit ESPN.

On the injury front...

Jayson Bay was placed on the 7-Day disabled list with a concussion after crashing into the left field wall Friday night.

Justin Turner was activated from the disabled list following Bay's injury.

Ronny Cedeno, who has been on the disabled list since May 27 with a calf strain, is expected to return some time this week. In Triple-A Buffalo Saturday, Cedeno played all nine innings at shortstop and went 0-3.

The Mets are hopeful that Ruben Tejada will begin a rehab assignment on Monday. According to Terry Collins, Tejada ran in a straight line on Friday.

Observations From Friday Night's Game

On Friday night, the Mets were nice enough to allow other bloggers and myself to attend the evening's festivities.

Here are a few things that stood out.

It's a good thing David Wright is not a doctor.

Shake it up a little more, David. 

After crashing, head first, into the left field wall, Jason Bay left the game with what the team described as a possible concussion.

Now, any normal person would say things like, "Feel better, Jason," or, "I hope you're okay." Not David. No, he decides to get in there and shake Bay's head around even more.

I was pretty embarrassed to be a Mets fan when Bay exited the game. If you were listening to the game on the radio or watching it on t.v., you may have noticed that Bay left the field to boos. Yes, an alarmingly large number of Mets fans were booing their own team's player after being injured. Scott Hairston practically got a standing ovation when he entered to take Bay's spot out in left. This isn't Philadelphia. Knock it off.

Finally...

Will anyone ever put a stop to the wave? I don't know if 34,000 people were just extremely bored, but at one point the wave went around the stadium at least 6-7 times in a row. I would be impressed that such a large group of people would be committed to completing the wave that many consecutive times, but I hate the wave.

I'm Sorry For Ever Doubting You, R.A.

Raise your hand if you were excited about the Mets signing R.A. Dickey back in December of 2009? If you raised your hand, you're a liar.

I was scrolling through my Facebook page the other day, and ran across this post.

Silly me. If only I knew then what I know now.

R.A. Dickey is amazing.

Dickey has gone from being the butt of jokes among Mets fans to becoming one of the most dominant pitchers in all of baseball in 2012 and a large percent of the fanbases' favorite player.

Dickey showed off his brilliance again Wednesday night against the Rays, throwing a one-hitter, and striking out a career high 12 batters.

He also now holds the franchise record for scoreless innings at 32 2/3.

As the lone knuckleballer in baseball, I would have to think, if R.A. keeps this up, there will be kids out there determined to pick up a baseball and try and throw knuckleballs.

He's inspiring.

I even tried to throw a knuckleball last weekend during a game of catch (I failed miserably though).

Consider this my apology to R.A. I'm sorry for doubting you in the beginning, and thanks for proving me wrong.

ICYMI: The Week In Review

The Mets began interleague play Friday night with a series against the Yankees. So far, it hasn't gone well. The Mets have dropped the first two games of the three-game series. They will try to win the series finale this afternoon. Game time is 1:05.

In his first start since throwing the no-hitter, Johan Santana got smacked around by the Yankees Friday night. He gave up six runs on seven hits in five innings of work.

Kirk Nieuwenhuis rode the subway to Yankee Stadium.

David Wright now holds the franchise record for runs scored. He passed Jose Reyes Tuesday night, scoring his 736th run as a Met.

Political commentator, Bill Maher, purchased a minority stake in the Mets.

The MLB Draft was earlier this week. With the 12th overall pick in the first round, the Mets selected shortstop, Gavin Cecchini. Cecchini has agreed to the terms of a contract with the Mets for $2.3 million. For a complete list of all of the Mets selections from this year's draft, visit St. Lucie To Flushing.

Ike Davis still can't hit. Word on the street is that a decision may be made (keep playing him, bench him, or send him to Buffalo) on Davis once interleague play ends later in the week and the DH is no longer needed.

To make room on the roster, Josh Satin and Jack Egbert were designated for assignment on Wednesday. They both cleared waivers and joined Buffalo.

The Mets created quite the hullabaloo on Thursday after announcing that they would be reprinting all 41,922 tickets from Johan Santana's no-hitter and selling them for a measly $50. Those who actually attended the game are not pleased with the fact that another fan who did not attend will have a ticket stub with their seat printed on it.

With his last win, R.A. Dickey now leads the major leagues in wins and is one inning away from leading the majors in consecutive scoreless innings pitched.

On the injury front...

Omar Quintanilla has a fracture in his left index finger. The injury has not kept him out of the line up.

Jon Rauch missed the series in Washington due to debris in his elbow. He has since returned to the bullpen.

Jason Bay is back! I know you're all excited...or not. Bay was scheduled to make his triumphant return on Thursday after fracturing a rib back in April. He was scratched, however, after the antibiotic he had been taking for a sinus infection caused him to be nauseous.

Ruben Tejada pulled himself from a rehab game in Buffalo on Tuesday with tightness in his right quadricep. He is now back in Port St. Lucie.

Chris Young returned to the Mets after having surgery in May of 2011 to repair a torn anterior capsule in his right shoulder. In five innings of work, Young gave up three runs on six hits, while striking out two and walking one. He threw just 75 pitches.

Jon Niese is expected to undergo surgery during the off-season to correct a heartbeat, that at times, has been irregular. After throwing six scoreless innings in last Sunday's game against the Cardinals, Niese was pulled due to a rapid heartbeat. Doctors have cleared Niese to continue playing baseball.

Mets Select SS Cecchini With 12th Overall Pick

With the 12th pick in the 2012 First Year Player Draft, the Mets selected 18-year-old shortstop Gavin Cecchini out of Barbe High School in Louisiana.

The righty hit .413 with seven home runs, 32 RBI and 31 stolen bases for Barbe this season.

Last Fall with the USA Baseball 18U National Team, he helped his team earn a gold medal at the Pan American Championship in Colombia, where he hit .500 with 17 RBI in 15 games.

As of right now, Cecchini is committed to the University of Mississippi, so it remains to be seen if he decides to sign or not.

I honestly don't know whether this will be a good pick for the Mets or not. I don't pay much attention to the draft. It's such a crap shoot. 

It doesn't matter to me where a player is drafted, whether they are a first round pick or some obscure player in the final round. It doesn't matter to me if they were the best in their high school, or if they were the best player on their college team. What matters is if they can perform in professional baseball.

If he decides to sign, I wish him well, and I'll check back in a year to see how he's doing.

To read more on Cecchini, check out ESPN HS.

He's not very active on Twitter, but if you care to follow, you can find him at @GavinCecchini2.

ICYMI: The Week In Review

Something big happened Friday night. You may have heard about it. JOHAN SANTANA THREW A NO-HITTER. For the first time in the franchise's history, that's 8,020 games played, a Mets pitcher threw a no-hitter. 

R.A. Dickey followed with a gem of his own on Saturday afternoon, throwing a complete game shut out. I guess that's one way to not have to worry about your bullpen imploding every day. Dickey was also named the National League Player of the Week. 

Banner Day returned last Sunday. The winning banner payed homage to Mike Piazza's home run on Sept. 21, 2001, and read, "The home run that helped heal NY...God Bless America! Let's Go Mets!" 

The Mets finally gave Manny Acosta the boot. He was put on waivers, but cleared and has since joined Triple-A Buffalo.

In his first major league hit, pitcher Jeremy Hefner hit a home run. 

David Wright told WFAN that he will not discuss a contract while the season is going on. 

The Mets optioned catcher Rob Johnson to Triple-A Buffalo, called up reliever Elvin Ramirez, and designated pitcher Chris Schwinden for assignment. Schwinden was claimed by the Toronto Blue Jays.

John Franco will be inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame prior to today's game against the Cardinals.

On the injury front...

Justin Turner went down with an ankle sprain after making an attempt to get back to first base. Omar Quintanilla was called up from Buffalo and has taken over at shortstop. Piece of trivia for you. Quintanilla is the first player in Mets history to have a last name that begins with the letter Q. 

The Mets placed Ronny Cedeno on the disabled list with a calf injury. Jordany Valdespin was called up from Buffalo. 

On Thursday, Chris Young pitched six scoreless innings in Buffalo. He walked three and gave up two hits in 87 pitches. He also hit 84 MPH on the radar gun. According to ESPN New York, Young will join the Mets rotation as soon as Tuesday.

Josh Thole returned to the Mets after spending nearly three weeks on the disabled list with a concussion. Thole got the concussion after taking an elbow to the head as Philadelphia's Ty Wigginton went into home plate. 

Mike Baxter suffered a displaced right collar bone after making a spectacular catch to preserve the no-hitter. Ramon Ramirez has a hamstring injury thanks to the no-hitter celebration. Baxter and Ramirez have been placed on the disabled list.

Jason Bay made a rehab start in St. Lucie on Saturday. He went 0-3 with two strike outs.

Miguel Batista is eligible to return from the disabled list on Monday. Pedro Beato may return today.