24
By Howard Megdal ~ July 24th, 2009. Filed under: Howard Megdal.
Look, I like the number 24 as much as the next person. It’s a multiple of eight, it looked glorious on the back of Willie Mays, and it’s been a popular show for many years.
But why do the Mets insist on playing with 24 players at all times? The league allows 25 on a roster.
I do not claim to have more informed medical reports than the Mets do. But when Gary Sheffield, 40 years old, left last Friday’s game limping, I was certain, unless he was back on Saturday, that he wouldn’t play again for a while. Of course, even Jerry Manuel knew it at some level; hence his joke about “surgery on Thursday” for Sheffield.
And here we are a week later; Sheffield still isn’t in the Friday night lineup against Houston.
Now, maybe part of it is thinking the Buffalo Bisons don’t have much help to provide. After all, Cory Sullivan is already up, and Emil Brown was recently given his unconditional release. Still, it is my belief that a player of meager ability is more helpful than a player who cannot be used. It’s a slim reed to hold onto, but therein lies the upside of the Mets’ season.
And so it must be with Alex Cora as well, who aggravated his thumb injury after gamely playing with it. That’s a story that didn’t get enough attention, incidentally- Cora played with a splint he made himself, rather than listening to the team doctors.
I’m suprised no one has spoken to Cora about this, or more generally, spoken to doctors over at the Hospital for Special Surgery. Surely they are eager to defend their reputation, no? If they are in this relationship with the Mets to raise their profile, they better hope there truly isn’t any such thing as bad publicity.
As for the fans, be thankful the Mets aren’t playing with 24 tonight. The bad news is, they’re playing with 23.
