Supposedly. That would explain a lot.

Piazza to Hold Press Conference Saying He Does NOT Smoke Pot

Weren't the mid 80's Mets teams a haven for druggies too? I think coke was the drug of choice then.

Two words: Dock Ellis.

[quote]Originally posted by Jim Allen:
Weren't the mid 80's Mets teams a haven for druggies too? I think coke was the drug of choice then.

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Supposedly, Whitey Herzog traded (gave) Keith Hernandez to the Mets because he was using coke. I believe he was off the stuff with the Mets.

As far as Dock Ellis goes, wasn't LSD his drug of choice?

[quote]Originally posted by Charlie in the Trees:

...As far as Dock Ellis goes, wasn't LSD his drug of choice?

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Yeah. And according to legend, he pitched a no-hitter while tripping his brains out. So who cares if a couple Mets hit the bong once in a while?

I mean, as long as the weed isn't laced with, like, HGH or anything...

[ September 20, 2002: Message edited by: Jim ]

The '86 Mets did like to drink and whore, some liked more... and they won 108 games.

Is daily pot usage by a pro athlete a problem? In most cases, I think so. Are there probably more MLB players who drink to excess regularly? I would bet on it.

As for Grant Roberts, I can't be surprised... Looking at him all year, my first thought was usually "hot California stoner boy!"

Remember the record "Because I Got High" from the "Jay and Silent Bob" movie soundtrack? I understand there's a remake, and it goes a little somethin' like this...hit it!

I was gonna hit a home run until I got high
I was gonna get up and knock it out but then I got high
The runners were all left on base and I know why (why man?)
Because I got high, because I got high, because I got high

I was gonna strike 'em out before I got high
I was gonna pitch a perfect game but then I got high
They took me out after two innings and I know why (Why man?)
Because I got high, because I got high, because I got high

I was gonna make a great catch before I got high
"Baseball Tonight" woulda shown my Web Gem but I was high
Instead I'm on the blooper reels and I know why (Why man?)
Because I got high, because I got high, because I got high

To clarify on the "Doc Ellis Throws No-No While Blazing"--it wasn't on purpose! He wasn't scheduled to pitch that day so he and his girlfriend took some acid. Imagine his shock when the Pirates called and said come to the ballpark, you're going to be pitching today.

Needless to say, Doc doesn't like to talk about it much these days.

True, it was by accident. But you'd think he'd be proud of having coined the term "no-no" at least!

Mikey should schedule a press conference to say, "I do not smoke grass, and as a reminder, I do not smoke men either."

Based on how well the Shmetz played this year, my guess is they were hittin' the gravity bong in the dugout.

[quote]Originally posted by AU Tiger in LA:

Based on how well the Shmetz played this year, my guess is they were hittin' the gravity bong in the dugout.

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Packed tight with Humboldt County, apparently.

Conan O'Brien: "It's been reported that seven players on the New York Mets have been using marijuana this season. I guess this proves are parents were right, marijuana is for losers."

Hey Bill W -- welcome back -- hope your visit to our fair capital city went well ...

Letterman sends his best:
TOP TEN SIGNS YOUR BASEBALL TEAM IS ON DRUGS
10. Your first baseman demanded a trade to the Devil Rays.
9. That ain't ivy growing on the outfield wall.
8. They ask organist to play a lot of Pink Floyd.
7. During meetings on the mound, pitcher and catcher exchange money.
6. Keep asking if there are any roadtrips to Colombia.
5. Half of them are wearing football helmets.
4. Keep using bullpen phone to order Domino's.
3. Stare in wonder at David Wells and mutter "Duuuuude."
2. Rumor has it the ball boy is wearing a wire.
1. You swear you saw two half-naked guys attack a first-base coach

I could go for #8.

Not a big fan of the gapped-toothed Hoosier, but that's a good list.

That Letterman list is hysterical.

The fun continues with Letterman's Top Ten NY Mets Promises for Next Season:

10. We'll win more games than the New York Jets -- and that's a promise.
9. 2-for-1 tickets for shirtless father and son lunatics.
8. Players will no longer leave in the 6th inning to beat the traffic.
7. Bobblehead dolls will have 15% more bobble.
6. You think Jeter's got a nice ass? Wait'll you get a load of mine next year.
5. We're opening a second men's room.
4. Good news -- we just signed Ty Cobb.
3. Unveiling new secret weapon: Otto the base-stealin' monkey.
2. Bobby Valentine will lead the New York Mets back to the World Series! (What? He got fired?)
1. Every 100th ticketholder gets to kick Mr. Met in the nuts (CBS, 10/1).

"THE OLD BONG GAME"

FROM THE NEW YORKER
10-07-2002 ISSUE

The New York Mets ended their lacklustre season this past weekend amid
allegations of widespread marijuana use. The initial report didn't name
names — of sources or of players — except for those of Tony Tarasco and Mark
Corey, benchwarmers who a few months ago fessed up to a night of
pot-smoking, and Grant Roberts, a relief pitcher who was shown doing a bong
hit in a photograph provided to Newsday by an angry (and allegedly
extortionary) Long Island woman. One "friend" of the team claimed that a
player had had someone stowpot in peanut-butter jars to elude bomb-sniffing
dogs at Shea, and another said that Mets minor leaguers buried their weed
and accoutrements near hotels so that they could dig up the stash the next
time they were in town.

In the wake of these reports, columnists have observed that if the Mets had
demonstrated the kind of energy on the field that they seem to have exerted
in devising ways to get high, they might have had a shot at the pennant. At
least, they probably would not have led the major leagues in errors. To some
commentators, however, the connection between cannabis consumption and
lacklustre performance is less clear. Steve Bloom is the manager of the
softball team at High Times, a New York-based magazine for marijuana
enthusiasts. Since 1996, the team, the Bonghitters, has gone 50-8-4, and
only recently ended an amazing three-year winning streak. Bloom attributes
this success to a disciplined regimen.

"Part of the secret for us personally is that we don't go out on the field
too stoned," Bloom said the other day. "You don't smoke just before you go
out on the field, 'cause you kinda lose your concentration. Baseball's a
concentration game. People here may smoke during the day, doing whatever
they're doing. I don't keep tabs on every player. And, you know, they may or
may not wake 'n' bake. But, basically, we'll smoke one in the car on the way
up to the game, and that's the extent of it. And then we go out and do our
batting practice and play our game, and then maybe in the middle of the
game, if we really feel so inspired or feel we need a rally joint or
something, we light one up. But it's generally kind of an after-game thing.

"Not overdoing it is the best thing, when it comes to baseball," he went on.
"Maybe in football and contact sports, where you're banging into each other,
you'd feel it a little less. Or in basketball, where you're out there sort
of instinctively doing things very quickly, moving very fast. With baseball,
you're standing around the outfield for days, you know. It's easy to zone
out. You gotta run from first to third when there's one out and the ball's
hit to short right. One of our worst things is our baserunning, and we have
guys who get in rundowns, and get thrown out. They're not concentrating. So
it might be partially because they're stoned."

Bloom mentioned that his pitcher, Kyle Kushman, who covers cultivation
issues for the magazine, does tend to keep a joint burning throughout the
game. "Being the pitcher, I have a single task," Kushman said. "And the pot
allows me to have kinda almost like tunnel vision, and narrow my focus. But
it's not good for making rapid multiple-choice decisions, like being a
shortstop, where you have a million choices as the ball is coming to you. Is
this guy running or is he not running? But for me, for pitching, which is
basically a repetition thing, like hitting, it's very good. It's like
bowling, kinda. You wanna bowl a three hundred? Well, when you're stoned you
put 'em down every time." (Grant Roberts, it might be worth mentioning, has
the second-best earned-run average on the Mets.)

"But it's not to be taken lightly," Kushman said, "because THC is a
miraculous substance. It's just so hard to quantify and qualify." Once,
toking up in the office a few years ago, he blacked out and fell into the
lap of a colleague. If he were a professional athlete, he says, he would
save the smoke for after the game. "I think that I would have the
self-control to give the respect that's due to the position that I've been
given, should I get called up from the Bonghitters."

— Matt Dellinger