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Hubie Doobie Doo

I went looking through my database for an instance in which a former Met significantly hurt the team, the year after he left them and found one reasonably decent example. And it came against the same franchise for which both Msrs Lo Duca and Milledge now toil

The Mets were in the midst of a harmful skid that would hurt them during the stretch run of the 1985 season. Granted, it was only June 15, 1985, but every game counts, and this was one of a few from that span that Davey Johnson would have liked to have had back.

The Mets had lost 9 of 12 and were reeling a bit, as Joe Durso of The New York Times described it  "a tailspin accompanied by injuries, slumps and the breakdown of the bullpen."

Hubie Brooks developed a rep for playing well against the Mets after they dealt him to the Expos for Gary Carter and he came through in a significant moment in this contest.

They got a little salt poured on their wounds in the ninth inning of this game. Due to the injuries and bullpen mishaps, Johnson stuck with Sid Fernandez a little deeper than usual, even after Fernandez allowed the Expos to bring in the tying run in the eighth. Then with two outs in the ninth inning of a 2-2 tie, Andre Dawson doubled off Fernandez, and Brooks followed with a walk-off single. The loss dropped the Mets into fourth place in the NL East.

''Nothing personal," Brooks told the media afterwards,   'No revenge factor. Well, it's gratifying to do something good against the Mets. A lot of people questioned my ability there.'

When researching this item, it disturbed me almost as much to learn that Hubie Brooks, a player I followed actively in my youth, is now 51 (I'm getting old), as it did the way that the Mets shoved Msr. Lo Duca out the door. That was reinforced when I heard Lo Duca on WFAN earlier today, saying his goodbyes to the two hosts with whom he had a weekly spot.

True Metducas know...The last former Met to get a walk-off hit against the Mets also did so on a June 15. Marco Scutaro beat the Mets with a walk-off hit on June 15, 2005, 20 years to the day that Brooks did.

 




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