J.J. Putz: 2009's first pie thrower

Early in 2009, a 32-year-old pitcher new to New York with initials for his first name introduced pies in the face to an often-tense clubhouse. His new team, which had finished a disappointing 89-73 in 2008, missing the playoffs, would do far differently in 2009.

They would win 70 games.

That's right - A.J. Burnett was not the only pie thrower in New York this year. (And yes, as hard as it is to believe now, the Mets and Yankees did have the same record only a year ago.)

Early in spring training, new Met J.J. Putz hit SNY' s Kevin Burkhardt in the face with a pie.

MetsBlog's Matthew Cerrone posted the video here:

At the time, Cerrone wrote of Putz:

his attitude in the clubhouse, the way he keeps people loose and having fun, and it's a big reason why he was acquired, because it is believed he can have a positive impact on the clubhouse for a team that is often tight when playing under pressure…

Putz and Cerrone had the right idea. But Burnett was the one who took this concept all the way to November, while Putz did not make it past the first week of June.

The three-way trade for Putz was one of the highlights of last year's offseason for Mets fans. Little did we know at the time that Omar Minaya was trading for damaged goods.

With Putz signing with the White Sox and Jeremy Reed probably not coming back, all Minaya has to show for the trade now is Sean Green.

It is too bad that the Mets never got a chance to see what a healthy Putz could do.

But it is probably just as well that Putz' pie-throwing was curtailed. Because the way things went last season, one of those pies in the face probably would have resulted in some sort of injury and would have been played endlessly on YouTube.

Putz is no Bastardo

When J.J. Putz nearly blew Sunday's game against the Marlins, the fans sitting next to me were screaming at Putz, mispronouncing his name of course. I wondered if these fans had pronounced his name correctly when he was going better.

But after giving up four straight hits in the eighth tonight against the Pirates to blow the lead and the game, Putz will be lucky if any Met fan uses the proper pronunciation. Whether he is hurt, tipping his pitches, or just pitching like a..., Putz can't pitch in the eighth until he and the Mets figure it out.

And now Putz will not even have the most distinctive name among NL East pitchers. The Phillies are bringing up one of their top pitching prospects from Triple A to start Tuesday night in San Diego, replacing the injured Brett Myers. His name is Antonio Bastardo.

Phillie fans have formed fan clubs based on players' names. Randy Wolf had the Wolfpack, Sal Fasano had Sal's Pals and Chase Utley has Chase's Chicks. I wonder what they will come up with if their new pitcher becomes a fan favorite? Perhaps something based on the upcoming Quentin Tarantino film "Inglourious Basterds."

Soon the citizens of the City of Brotherly Love will be able to say they booed Santa Claus and cheered a Bastardo.

Bastardo was pitching in Triple A for the Lehigh Valley IronPigs. Pro baseball is glamorous for some, while others have IronPigs on the front of their jersey and Bastardo on the back.

(Speaking of jerseys, Squawker Lisa, both the Mets and Yankees allow you to personalize your jersey with "Bastardo.")

If Bastardo were not a Phillie, I would be rooting for him. Forget about voting for Manny for the All-Star Game - I want to see Bastardo!

The 2007 All-Star game did include Putz. Let's hope he can regain that form and Met fans can go back to pronouncing his name correctly.