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HoJo: Mets Front Office “Anti-’86″



By Mike Silva ~ September 9th, 2011. Filed under: New York Mets.

Howard Johnson has taken to Twitter and days after he questioned Moneyball, he is now telling the fans the Mets front office is against the 1986 team.

It started with a fan suggesting to Johnson (@20hojo), Darryl Strawberry (@DarrylStrawman), and Dwight Gooden (@docgooden16) the Mets should bring back Old Timers Day. Johnson responded with the following:


@BobbyBroad @mets @darrylstrawman @docgooden16 that would be awesome! Only problem, front office is “anti ’86″ believe it or not. It’s trueless than a minute ago via Twitter for iPad Favorite Retweet Reply

I asked some members of the organization during the winter whether there would be a celebration for the 25th anniversary of the ’86 team, and whether they would consider bringing back Old Timers Day. They elected to do alumni weekends where certain members of the ’86 team, along with other editions, made appearances at the ballpark and at charitable events. The Old Timers Day idea wasn’t dismissed, but it doesn’t appear to be an option right now. I do not have a clear reason as to why the ’86 team wasn’t celebrated other than the fact the team elected to go in a different direction. Two other members of the ’86 squad expressed disappointment to me recently about the team’s decision. To be fair, they did just have a huge celebration in 2006, which seems like yesterday. Don’t forget, the Mets elected Frank Cashen, Davey Johnson, Darryl Strawberry, and Dwight Gooden to the Mets Hall of Fame last summer. There has been plenty of ’86 celebrations over the last five years.

So what is HoJo referencing? Honestly, I don’t know. Mookie Wilson is a coach on Terry Collins staff; Wally Backman and Tim Teufel are managers are Double-A and Triple-A respectively. Ron Darling and Keith Hernandez are in the SNY booth, while Bobby Ojeda does studio work.

I talked to HoJo after he played for the Rockland Boulders on Monday. I asked him if a return to the Mets organization is a possibility and he said “not right now.” It appears there is some bad blood between the two parties due to Johnson’s dismissal as hitting coach after last season. I know Terry Collins was upset earlier this year about HoJo discussing Jason Bay‘s benching with the media.

It seems like both sides are just not seeing eye-to-eye right now, which is unfortunate because you never like to see a popular alum not on good terms with the organization.

Mike Silva is a freelance writer and radio host since March of 2007. This website is his own personal "digest" of New York Baseball He's also hosts NYBD Radio on Blog Talk Radio and 1240 AM WGBB. Check out his sports media commentary at www.sportsmediawatchdog.com. Check out his official website, www.mikesilvamedia.com
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5 Responses to HoJo: Mets Front Office “Anti-’86″

  1. Pizza Man

    Maybe they realized that you can only lean on a 25 year old championship for so long.

  2. Chuck Johnson

    There’s no one in the organization with any authority who was there in 1986, Johnson is clearly pissed at his dismissal and is looking for a scapegoat.

    Do teams hold grudges? Sure, just ask Yogi.

    The Dbacks are having a four day celebration this weekend for the tenth anniversary of their WS title and invited back everyone.

    Even Curt Schilling.

  3. Stu B

    I agree with Chuck. Sounds like sour grapes on HoJo’s part.

  4. Will in Central NJ

    In addition to the six 1986 Mets alumni named who are currently employed by the team, there’s also former LHP Randy Niemann, who is the team’s Rehab Coordinator. He’s working with Johan Santana on his current rehab stint. I also believe that in 2009, Lee Mazzilli was an in-studio SNY analyst, working the slot now occupied by Ojeda.

  5. kranepool society

    Mike I have to agree with the rest of the comments here HoJo needs to pipe down as he sounds like a bitter ex-wife here, the Mets gve him a shot at managing he failed at that, they gave him a shot at hitting coach and from what we’ve seem this season with Dave Hudgens firing HoJo was a another great Alderson move.

    I hate to pile on HoJo as he was a terrific Mets player but it’s time to STFU

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