Meet The Menkees: The All-Time Mets-Yankees Roster

One of the things I’ve learned from years in business is that when you start a company, a perk is that you get to choose the name and the logo. Welcome to the Jordan Silver Baseball League. Or as I choose to nickname it: JSBL (trademarked).

Another perk is that you get to make the rules. The JSBL will be rearing its head several times as I subscribe to the first commandment of the JSBL:

MEN LOVE LISTS!

There, I said it. In the 1980s – before Spotify, YouTube and Pandora – Casey’s (Kasem not Stengel) Top 40 ruled Sunday mornings nationwide. For some reason we like lists. Except for the dreaded “honey-do” list (listeners of Bob Murphy will remember that this was one of his favorite terms when the question of players off-season plans came up), we love a good list. My favorite all-time list – yes, a list of lists – combined the best of the Brooklyn Dodgers with the best of the New York Giants. That team featured Jackie Robinson, Willie Mays, Duke Snider and Mel Ott.

The second commandment of the JSBL:

MEN LOVE TO DEBATE

So send your comments and arguments as I dedicate several entries to lists. Today’s list:

The All-Time Roster of Players Who’ve Been on the Yankees and the Mets

Readers of my column know that I rarely use the proper name that “other” New York baseball team. I like to call them “that team from the Bronx.” Or the “Y-word.” Sometimes I get very snarky and condescending when I call them the Junior Varsity. Be that as it may: almost 130 players have worn the pinstripes for both teams (including Ike Davis this season). They’ve even shared four managers. This was a tough list to put together. Several who played for the Yankees did so in the forties and fifties and only played for the Mets during the early years. Still, with the advent of free agency – and certainly the trade deadline hired guns – a lot of players wound up taking the field for both teams. So you will see a lot of players from the modern era.

Introducing the Menkees. Not to be confused with the pop-band from the 1960s known as the Monkees. If Long Island Native and Ward Melville High School Graduate Steven Matz suits up for that other team, would that make him a Mankee?

As with anything, you need rules. As commissioner of this fantasy of all fantasy drafts I make the rules. How is the roster comprised?

1. Players must have been on either Major League team for a portion of the regular season and recorded a stat (inning pitched, at bat, etc.). Spring training doesn’t count.
2. The criterion for making the roster is not based on what they may have done for each team, but their overall career. For instance, Tony Clark (who didn’t make the list) would be judged for his body of work (career .262) not the .232 he posted as a Met or the .221 as a Yankee.
3. The coaching staff (manager and two coaches) had to be managers for each team not a first base or pitching coach (eliminating Frank Howard and Mel Stottlemyre).
4. The team is made up as follows:
   • 8 starting players
   • 5 starting pitchers (right handed or left)
   • 1 closer (had to be a closer)
   • 1 back-up catcher
   • 2 utility infielders (any position)
   • 2 back-up outfielders (any position)
   • 1 pinch hitter (not necessarily someone who was a pinch hitter or a designated hitter)
   • 5 bullpen pitchers (who may have been starters or relievers)

So before I reveal the team let me tell you who didn’t make the team:

Bobby Abreu
Darryl Boston
Octovio Dotel
Kevin Elster
Scott Erickson
Karim Garcia
Stanley Jefferson
Tim Leary
Eliot Maddox
Rafael Santana
Claudell Washington

Introducing the

So there you have my list of the all-time Mets-Yankees roster. Agree? Disagree? Who was left out? Who shouldn’t have been included? Leave your comments.

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Rookie lefthander, Steven Matz is donating to Angela’s House with every strikeout he throws. Purchases of this shirt will also result in donations to this vital charity. Click here:
http://www.mondomonsterwear.com/products/mets-aces

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Jordan Silver has been a journalist and marketing/multimedia consultant for over twenty years. He has produced documentaries and television productions both nationally and internationally. Aside from his own blog which observes politics and modern culture, he has been published in the Miami Herald, ABCNews.com and various other publications. His company Ag Media Solutions, Inc. (www.agmediasolutions.com) represents several boutique firms and religious organizations as their outsourced marketing department. In addition, his apparel line, Mondo Monster Wear (www.mondomonsterwear.com), features designs that parody sports and pop culture.

He enjoys wine, cooking, golf, vintage movies and researching history and politics. In addition, he shares his love of the Mets, NY Giants, NY Rangers and music (The Beatles, RUSH and 80s Heavy Metal) with his two children. He lives on Long Island and can be found most summer weekend days on the beach or boat with his girlfriend and their blended families.