I know that earlier this year I made a comparison of Rangers center Chris Drury to Keith Hernandez, but I think my initial instincts were correct. The better choice is Drury's teammate, Brendan Shanahan. I'm in need of a new favorite Met now that Paul Lo Duca has departed (the besmirching of his name via Mr. Mitchell didn't help either) and I think that role is well-suited for Shanahan. The thing that's great about Shanahan is that he's 38, but plays hockey like someone who is 28 (he also took a very reasonable salary to stick around, aiding the team in a time of salary cap issues). He is often not only among the best offensive players in the game when he's on the ice, but one of the best defensive players. He's someone who makes the smart play and the clutch play, the latter in evidence on Sunday when he scored his 12th career regular-season overtime goal (5th-most among active players). He's a leader, who got a standing ovation at a game I attended on
A blog devoted to cataloguing New York Mets walk-offs and other trivia. For those unaware of the definition of walk-off just replace the term with the words "game-ending" and you should have a much better understanding of the phrase.