Where Are They Now?

[Joe Rigatoni]

I'm guessing that Joe Rigatoni can add quite a wealth of information to this thread. Joe?

Milladrive,old buddy,as Sollozzo said to Michael Corleone in The Godfather:"You think too much of me,kid." "I ain't that clever." I really don't know what a lot of ex-Mets are doing right now.If I get any information on them I'll post them on
this thread.Interestingly,only 11 players in Mets history have played at least five years with the Mets and have not played
with another major league team.And 3 of those players have been mentioned on this thread:Ed Kranepool,Jeff Innis,and
Bruce Boisclair.And one player you can keep on the list because even though he signed a two-year contract with the
Yankees he never got into a major league game with them(Pedro Feliciano).And once Mike Pelfrey throws a pitch for the
Twins in a regular season game in 2013 you can take him off the list.And Bobby Parnell just joined the list after his 2012
season.And besides David Wright,the rest of the players on the list aren't exactly superstars(Ron Hodges,Ron Gardenhire,
Grant Roberts,and Bob Apodaca).

One of my favorite Where Are They Now stories is actually a fictitious story.When Felix Unger mentioned on Oscar Madison's
sports radio show that little Billy Pomerantz who Babe Ruth promised to hit a home run for when Billy was a kid grew up and
owned his own stationery store.

I will give you two Where Are They Now stories in reverse.Cowtipper mentioned the Mets hired Randy St.Claire to be their
Triple-A pitching coach.I went to a Mets-Expos game on Friday September 21,1984 that the Mets won 6-2.But the story
for me was during batting practice I caught a foul ball on a fly hit by Danny Heep and I had Danny Heep and Mike Ramsey
of the Expos sign it.Also,throughout that whole batting practice Randy St.Claire who was a rookie relief pitcher and a
September callup for the Expos at that time would pretend to throw baseballs into the stands for the fans and instead
would throw them back on the field like he was Mr.Big Shot.And since that time every time I would see him pitch in a game
or come out to the mound as a pitching coach I would think of that batting practice.Also,during that same batting practice
fans would ask Billy Beane to throw baseballs into the stands.And Beane would humbly and politely say that he can't do it
otherwise he would get in trouble.I see that he's been a little bit more forceful in his later years.

Also,I know I mentioned this story in a previous thread.When I was a kid when Roy Staiger played for the Mets he used to
live in my hometown Hicksville L.I.A friend of mine who had a Newsday paper route at the time came up with the idea of
having Roy Staiger subscribe to Newsday.So my friend went to Staiger's house and rang the bell to see if he was interested
in subscribing.Staiger's wife answered the door and was wearing a Mets T-shirt at the time politely said that they weren't
interested in subscribing to Newsday.So that was the end of that.Staiger was supposed to have done an autograph signing
recently but cancelled supposedly due to the fact that he didn't like the way baseball was going since he played.So VI
Baseball,Is it possible if you could please tell us what Roy Staiger is doing these days? I really appreciate it.

[Francoeurstein]

Benny Agyabani (I probably butchered that).


And I apologize earlier, I didn't realize this was Mets only.

[Blue387]

Benny Agyabani (I probably butchered that).

I also liked Benny Agbayani.

[VIBaseball]

I really liked Benny too. After his U.S. pro days ended in 2003, he went to Japan, where his #1 backer -- Bobby Valentine -- was managing the Chiba Lotte Marines. Benny had some big years there and (naturally) remained a crowd favorite. His jersey said BENNY. After the 2009 season, the Marines parted ways with Bobby V and then bought out Benny’s option. He retired and went back home to Hawaii. He and his wife Niela have three children. He became an educational assistant at Mililani High School on Oahu, working in classrooms with teachers and counseling children. He also established a foundation called MYTH: Motivate Yourself to the Highest.

Joe Rigatoni, I will turn to Staiger soon.

[Francoeurstein]

Doug Mientkiewicz? Victor Diaz?

[VIBaseball]

Roy Staiger

The Mets made one of their infrequent trades with the Yankees in December 1977, obtaining skinny little Puerto Rican shortstop Sergio Ferrer even up for Staiger, their one-time first-round draft choice (January phase, 1970). The third baseman spent three seasons at Triple A with the Yankees from 1978 through 1980, with a final call-up to the majors in September 1979. He got into four games with the Bronx Bombers.

Around 2000, Staiger moved from his native Oklahoma to Lebanon, Missouri. He is yet another ex-Met who is involved in teaching baseball to children. Church work has long been important to him, and his church sponsored the youth clinic that he started. Here's the 2002 story:

http://www.zoominfo.com/#!search/profile/person?personId=199121873&targetid=profile

Roy and his wife, Patti Vaughn Staiger, continue to reside in Lebanon.

[VIBaseball]

Doug Mientkiewicz

The slick-fielding (but not so heavy-hitting) first baseman was still in the pros as late as 2010, playing four games for New Orleans, then the Triple-A affiliate of the Marlins. He'd spent the 2009 season in the Dodgers organization, including 20 games with the big club.

Last year he managed a rookie-league club for the Dodgers, the Ogden Raptors in the Pioneer League. For the upcoming 2013 season, he will manage the Fort Myers Miracle, a Twins affiliate in the Florida State League (high Class A). He, wife Jodi, and son Steel reside in Plantation Key, Florida.

http://keysnews.com/node/35458

[VIBaseball]

Víctor Díaz

He hasn't been in the majors since 2007 (37 games with Texas), but the Dominican is still chasing his dream. He split 2008 between the Triple-A clubs of Houston and Seattle, joined the Baltimore organization in 2009, but played most of that year in Korea. He played a little in the independent Northern League in 2010, but spent most of that year and 2011 with Veracruz in the Mexican League. Then last year, he got a tryout with the Chunichi Dragons of Japan's Central League and made the club against long odds. He played in only 21 games with the Dragons, spending most of the season with their ni-gun (farm) team. He has been resigned for the 2013 season.

[milladrive]

I'm really likin' this thread.

[Cowtipper]

We should have an entry for every single former Met. Don Aase is first on the list if you're so daring.

[VIBaseball]

If that's the goal, I'm gonna need help! Anyway, we'll chip away...

Don Aase

I remember this veteran reliever for two things: his walrus mustache and an awful collapse in a game I attended at Shea on August 20, 1989. Here's the Retrosheet recap of Aase's blown save in relief of Sid Fernandez with the Mets up 3-1:

Dodgers 9th: BEAN BATTED FOR HUFF; Bean grounded out (second to
first); Scioscia popped to shortstop; HARRIS BATTED FOR PENA;
Harris singled to left; On a bunt Griffin singled to second
[Harris to second]; Randolph homered [Harris scored, Griffin
scored]; Murray walked; INNIS REPLACED AASE (PITCHING); Marshall
doubled to left [Murray to third]; Hamilton singled to left
[Marshall to third, Murray scored]; On a bunt Gonzalez grounded
out (pitcher to first); 4 R, 5 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Dodgers 5, Mets 3.

Yes, the man who hit that three-run bomb was future Mets player and manager Willie Randolph. Various other future Mets featured in that inning: pinch-hit king Lenny Harris started the rally while batting for Alejandro Peña, while Eddie Murray and Mike Marshall helped get the insurance run. Earlier in the game, a past Met, Ray Searage, pitched for L.A.

Aase lasted one more year in the majors -- with the Dodgers! He has been living ever since in Yorba Linda, California. That's in Orange County, where he was born, and near where he spent a good deal of his career. In the 1990s, Aase owned two batting cages in California, Winning Streak and Don Aase's The Slam. Since then he appears to be retired.

Don and his wife Judy had one child, but were unable to conceive another on their own, so they adopted a daughter in late 1985. Then they had another child naturally, and it was quite a story. The doctors said the child would most likely be born with cystic fibrosis, which was ironic because Aase had done charity work on behalf of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. But the boy was born healthy and turned out to be a pitcher himself (at the college level).

[Joe Rigatoni]

If that's the goal, I'm gonna need help! Anyway, we'll chip away...

Don Aase

I remember this veteran reliever for two things: his walrus mustache and an awful collapse in a game I attended at Shea on August 20, 1989. Here's the Retrosheet recap of Aase's blown save in relief of Sid Fernandez with the Mets up 3-1:

Dodgers 9th: BEAN BATTED FOR HUFF; Bean grounded out (second to
first); Scioscia popped to shortstop; HARRIS BATTED FOR PENA;
Harris singled to left; On a bunt Griffin singled to second
[Harris to second]; Randolph homered [Harris scored, Griffin
scored]; Murray walked; INNIS REPLACED AASE (PITCHING); Marshall
doubled to left [Murray to third]; Hamilton singled to left
[Marshall to third, Murray scored]; On a bunt Gonzalez grounded
out (pitcher to first); 4 R, 5 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Dodgers 5, Mets 3.

Yes, the man who hit that three-run bomb was future Mets player and manager Willie Randolph. Various other future Mets featured in that inning: pinch-hit king Lenny Harris started the rally while batting for Alejandro Peña, while Eddie Murray and Mike Marshall helped get the insurance run. Earlier in the game, a past Met, Ray Searage, pitched for L.A.

Aase lasted one more year in the majors -- with the Dodgers! He has been living ever since in Yorba Linda, California. That's in Orange County, where he was born, and near where he spent a good deal of his career. In the 1990s, Aase owned two batting cages in California, Winning Streak and Don Aase's The Slam. Since then he appears to be retired.

Don and his wife Judy had one child, but were unable to conceive another on their own, so they adopted a daughter in late 1985. Then they had another child naturally, and it was quite a story. The doctors said the child would most likely be born with cystic fibrosis, which was ironic because Aase had done charity work on behalf of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. But the boy was born healthy and turned out to be a pitcher himself (at the college level).

I was at that August 20,1989 game as well.The Dodgers pulled a 1986 Mets Game 6 World Series comeback being down by
two runs with no on and two outs and down to their last out.I strongly believe that this game was the turning point of the
1989 season for the Mets.For me personally,I rank this game as the third worst loss I ever experienced as a Mets fan and
the second worst loss I ever been to at a Mets game.The worst loss I ever experienced as a Mets fan was Game 4 of the
1988 NLCS,ironically enough also against the Dodgers,the Mike Scioscia home run which was the turning point of that NLCS.
I wasn't at that game though but still the most painful loss I ever experienced as a Mets fan.That was on October 9,1988.
The second worst loss I ever experienced as a Mets fan was against the Cardinals,the Terry Pendleton home run game
which was the turning point of the 1987 season.I was at that game and it was the worst loss I ever been to at a Mets game.That was on September 11,1987.I could have went to the U2 concert at Giants Stadium that night but I turned
down the tickets because I was going to the Cardinals-Mets game in the pennant race.That August 20,1989 loss was also
a turning point in going to Mets games for me that year as well.Going into that August 20,1989 game I was 16-2 in going
to Mets games that year.I was one out away with a two-run lead and no one on base from being 17-2 at that point.
Instead not only did the Mets lose that game but I also finished at 18-6 in going to Mets games that year.And to add
insult to injury on September 6,1989 I went to a Mets game against the Cardinals and I had a chance to catch Kevin
McReynolds's home run in the bottom of the second off of Ricky Horton in the left field loge seats but I couldn't make
the catch and someone else got the ball in back of me.I had my glove on and I jumped as high as I could and I raised
my arm with my glove as high as I could and the ball hit my glove and landed in back of me and someone else got the
ball.I was bummed out about it the rest of the night.Oh,btw,the Mets lost that game 3-2.I was surprised that in
baseballreference.com when describing that Kevin McReynolds's home run in the bottom of the second off of Ricky
Horton it doesn't say a butterfingers fan couldn't catch that ball.(lol).One other thing I remember about Don Aase
is that he got the save on Mets Opening Day in that year 1989 against the Cardinals in which I was at that game
but Aase only got one more save for the Mets that year and that was four days before this August 20 collapse.
Then ironically enough Aase went to the Dodgers in 1990 and that was the last year of his major league career.

[VIBaseball]

The second worst loss I ever experienced as a Mets fan was against the Cardinals,the Terry Pendleton home run game
which was the turning point of the 1987 season.I was at that game. That was on September 11,1987.

We have attendance at that game in common too, Joe. The other main thing I remember from that one is that Ron Darling was pitching really well but had to come out after hurting his thumb while fielding a Vince Coleman bunt. Many years later, I read in Darling's book that he could never grip his curveball properly again because of that ligament injury, and that's why he turned to the splitter. It was a beautiful classic curve too...I don't think he was the same pitcher after he lost it.

When Pendleton hit that homer off McDowell, I've never heard a 50,000-plus crowd go quiet so quickly.

[VIBaseball]

Kevin McReynolds

This should come as no surprise to anyone who was a Mets fan in the late '80s and early '90s -- Kevin McReynolds' life continues to revolve around duck hunting in his native Arkansas. He owns a commercial duck hunting club called The Double Deuce (remember that his uniform number was 22). It's in DeWitt, which is a couple of hours or so southeast of Little Rock. The spread is 565 acres; as McReynolds said in 2001, "there is a lot of upkeep involved."

McReynolds and his wife, Jackie, had a daughter named Amanda.

PS: I had clean forgotten that McReynolds ended his big-league career back with the Mets. The club re-obtained him from Kansas City in 1994 after deciding to dump Vince Coleman.

[VIBaseball]

Calvin Schiraldi

For a long time, Schiraldi has been the baseball coach at St. Michael's Catholic Academy in Austin, Texas. He attended both high school and college in Austin.

Calvin and his wife Debbie (whom he met while playing Double-A ball for the Jackson Mets) had two children, Samantha and Lukas. It's funny how history repeats itself -- Schiraldi and Roger Clemens both starred for the University of Texas, and now their sons will be playing Longhorns baseball too. Kacy Clemens and Lukas Schiraldi are both righty pitchers. Lukas stands 6'5" like his father.