Joey Soapbox: Revisiting The Joey Jinx (With Apologies To Eddie Kunz and Jason Bay)

A few months ago, I wrote a piece about an accidental jinx I may have started. You see, while performing my Studious Metsimus roving reporter duties, I have met numerous Mets players and had them take a photograph with me. For example, last year I had the pleasure of meeting players such as Pedro Feliciano and Chris Carter, but in addition to meeting them, I also posed for pictures with them.

Less than a year later, both players are no longer on the Mets, with Feliciano moving on to the Yankees and Carter going south to Tampa. In addition, Perpetual Pedro is about to be placed on the disabled list for the first time in his career with muscle soreness in his left shoulder.

So as legend has it, anytime I take a photo with a Mets player, he either gets injured or traded (or sometimes both). It's getting to the point where I almost expect the Mystery Machine to pull up to the Studious Metsimus offices so that the Scooby Gang can investigate "The Case of the Joey Jinx". (If those meddling kids don't bring Scooby Snacks, I'm not cooperating!)

I was going to dismiss this jinx as being nothing but a co-inky-dink. After all, many people take their pictures with athletes and many of those athletes get injured and/or traded. But after today's events, it appears my dismissal of the Joey Jinx may have been premature.

Photo of Eddie Kunz and I taken by Sharon Chapman. Photo of Jason Bay, my colleague and I taken by Taryn Cooper.

Earlier today, the Mets traded Eddie Kunz to the San Diego Padres for minor league first baseman Allan Dykstra. (Hopefully, he will never be referred to as "the wrong Dykstra", like Victor "the wrong Zambrano" and Kaz "the wrong Matsui".) Of course, last year, Eddie and I had a good time together posing for this photo (see above, left) during a spring training break in Port St. Lucie.

As if Kunz's trade wasn't enough, later today it was revealed that Mets' starting leftfielder Jason Bay might have to start the season on the disabled list after feeling discomfort in his ribcage. Bay reported back to Port St. Lucie for further examination hoping for the best, but since he was photographed with me (and my Studious Metsimus colleague) last December (see above, right), the news does not bode well for the slugger.

Is there really a Joey Jinx? Nothing has been proven scientifically, but judging by the trades and injuries that have befallen numerous Mets and ex-Mets, it's something that might have to be looked at.

Personally, I don't believe I have the power to influence Mets transactions. I barely have the power to get a full night's sleep. You see, I've been having nightmares about Mr. Met falling down the dugout steps after finding out that he'd been traded for the Phillie Phanatic. Why would I ever dream of something as ridiculous as that?

Joey's Soapbox: The Joey Jinx Strikes Again!

Chris Carter, the man known as "The Animal" to Mets fans, has become the latest player to fall victim to what is now known as The Joey Jinx. What, pray tell, is The Joey Jinx? I'm Joey Beartran and if you're not afraid of my jinx, I will get on my soapbox to tell you all about it.

Take a look at the photo below. That's Chris Carter holding me in the Mets' press conference room.


The photo was taken after the Mets' last regular season game in October. It was also the last time The Animal (not me...I'm talking about Chris!) was photographed as an employee of the Mets. In the offseason, the Mets decided to non-tender him, making him available to sign with any other team.

The Tampa Bay Rays have decided to fill the role of "any other team", as they have signed The Animal to a minor league contract.

If you haven't been able to figure it out yet, The Joey Jinx strikes whenever a Mets player holds me in a photograph. Carter is now the third former Met to fall victim to the Joey Jinx.

The first one was Eddie Kunz (see photo, right). Sweaty Eddie was invited to Port St. Lucie in February, after a brief cup of coffee with the Mets in 2008 and a full season at AAA-Buffalo in 2009. Then he met me in Spring Training and agreed to hold me for a picture. You can imagine what happened next.

Not only did Eddie Kunz fail to break camp with the Mets, he didn't even make it back to Triple-A. He played his entire 2010 season at AA-Binghamton and had the type of season that only his mother and Oliver Perez could be proud of.

He pitched in 42 games, of which 12 were starts. In 111.1 innings, Kunz recorded a 5.34 ERA, 1.65 WHIP and actually walked more batters than he struck out (68 walks/63 strikeouts). The only positive thing to come out of our meeting was his great Wikipedia photo (taken by Sharon Chapman).

The second player to be victimized by my jinx was Pedro Feliciano. He may have been known as Perpetual Pedro, but once he put his hands up my...I mean, once he was photographed holding me, his stay with the Mets was no longer perpetual.

Feliciano was a mainstay in the Mets bullpen for almost a full decade. He set the franchise record for appearances in each of the last three years. His 86, 88 and 92 games pitched from 2008-2010 also led the National League. Pedro has a solid 2009 season for the Mets, finishing the year with a 6-4 won-loss record, to go with a tidy 3.03 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP.

Then in between the 2009 and 2010 season, our photo op occurred. During the ensuing regular season, Pedro's record dropped to 3-6, while his ERA increased slightly (3.30) and his WHIP increased dramatically (1.53).

The Mets decided not to re-sign Pedro during the offseason, and he signed with the crosstown New York Yankees for two years and $8 million. Just between you and me, I hope he brings my jinx over to The House That Juice Built.

Chris Carter and Eddie Kunz were probably never going to be big stars in New York, while Pedro Feliciano, although important to the team, was only a middle reliever. I've been careful not to spread The Joey Jinx to one of the Mets' everyday players...or have I?

It is with great regret that I must inform you that this past December, I attended the Mets MVP Reception at Citi Field. Numerous players were in attendance that afternoon. I went for the food and the opportunity to discuss team politics with new GM Sandy Alderson and new manager Terry Collins.

Except those weren't the only people I ran into.

In a faraway corner of the Caesar's Club, one lone figure stood. I couldn't help but notice his unshaven face. He had the look of a man wise beyond his years and appeared slightly exhausted, perhaps due to months of throwing his body around into immovable objects, like a dugout railing or three.

I felt sorry for the bearded fellow, so I walked over to him and asked him if it would make him feel better if I took a photograph with him. He thought to himself for a moment, then smiled as he answered (and I quote) "uh...sure, why not?" It was then that I realized who this hirsute Metropolitan was...


Ladies and Gentle-Mets, the lonely bearded man in the corner was Mets first baseman Ike Davis.

It is unknown whether The Joey Jinx will cause Ike Davis to have a Sophomore Slump in 2011. He did finish the 2010 season well, hitting .330 and compiling a .427 on-base percentage after the calendar turned to September. But we have already seen the negative effects of being photographed with me.

Three times a Mets player has posed with me for a photo. Three times that player's production suffered and he was either demoted or signed with another team.

So to all you Mets fans out there, I would like to apologize in advance for going over to Ike Davis on that cold December day in the Caesar's Club. Had he been standing next to a railing instead of alone in the corner, perhaps I would have recognized him before I had the chance to jinx his 2011 season.

I promise that if I am ever photographed again with another baseball player, it will either be with Cliff Lee, Roy Halladay or Chase Utley. The Joey Jinx doesn't discriminate.

The Animal And The Baltimoron

So, did you hear the one about the Animal and the Baltimoron? You haven't?

Let me set the story up for you so that you're not as confused as umpiring legend Frank Drebin was when he took a course in ejection etiquette.

On Friday night, Chris "The Animal" Carter hit his first major league home run against the Baltimore Orioles. He followed that up with his second major league home run on Sunday. Both home runs were three-run homers that helped the Mets extend the small leads they had at the time.

Usually, a team tries to recover any player's first major league hit and/or home run, as the Mets did yesterday when rightfielder Jesus Feliciano collected his first major league hit. However, although Chris Carter does have the ball he hit for his second major league homer, he still does not have the memento from Friday night's home run.

It's not as if the team didn't try to retrieve the ball for him. It's that the ball ended up in the hands of a Baltimoron, that rare creature who mutated from an otherwise polite group of Baltimoreans. How did this particular beast get the name "Baltimoron"? The answer is quite simple.

The Mets offered the fan who caught Carter's first home run autographed David Wright, Jose Reyes and Francisco Rodriguez baseballs, as well as a bat autographed by The Animal himself. Of course, being a Baltimoron, the fan refused to give up the treasured ball because he was holding out for signed items from Orioles' players.

That's right. It wasn't enough to get three autographed baseballs from established All-Stars along with an autographed bat from the player responsible for hitting the ball causing this commotion. No, you need signed items from guys who play for THE WORST TEAM IN BASEBALL!

Let's re-enact this scene for you, in case you missed anything.


Mets: Thanks for catching Chris Carter's first major league home run. He'd love to have that ball as a keepsake to commemorate his first big league blast. How about we make a trade. We'll give you autographed baseballs of three of our biggest stars and an autographed bat given to you by the man who hit the ball. What do you say?

Baltimoron: No, that's not good enough. Throw in some autographs from players representing the worst team in baseball and you got a deal.

Mets: But these players aren't on our team. They're not in our locker room. They're not as accessible as guys who are literally standing ten feet away from me who are willing to do this for you.

Baltimoron: Yeah, that's nice and all, but I'd really like Cesar Izturis' autograph.

Mets: You do know that once we give you these autographed baseballs of our three All-Stars, if you don't want them, you could sell them for hundreds of dollars and probably buy every Cesar Izturis baseball card ever made?

Baltimoron: Okay, you took too long. Now I want a Julio Lugo autographed glove as well. I also want our mascot, The Bird, to show up at my son's next birthday party. Have him bring Mark Hendrickson in a clown costume when he comes. And if you don't hurry up, I'll want Juan Samuel to sign this photo of himself so I can keep it next to the lock of his Jheri-curled hair that I stole from his barber back in 1988.

Mets: (Door slam)

Baltimoron: Hello? Hello? What if you just added a Lenn Sakata baseball card to the mix instead? He wouldn't even have to autograph it. You can even keep the stick of bubble gum...

So there you have it, my friends. Chris "The Animal" Carter has been denied the opportunity to have the ball he hit for his first major league home run. And all this is because of a Baltimoron who wanted too much for it.

It's okay, Baltimoron. You can have the ball. We'll just take the three victories from your putrid team and while we're at it, we'll hold on to that Lenn Sakata baseball card as well. At least you can take comfort in the fact that you still have Juan Samuel's hair from 1988.