Worst Record but the Best Comedy Team

The New York Mets are in their 30th year, but none of the previous clubs, not even the championship teams, have generated as many stories as the first squad, the hapless 1962 expansion team that lost a modern major league record 120 games.

In a new book, “On a Clear Day, They Could See Seventh Place,” authors George Robinson and Charles Salzberg recount a few.

Like the time first baseman Marvelous Marv Throneberry, the ultimate symbol of Met ineptness, appeared to have finally struck back at his critics, however briefly, with a two-run triple.

But in typical Mets’ fashion, he was called out for missing first base.

Enraged, Manager Casey Stengel prepared to go after the umpire, only to be stopped by one of his coaches.

“It won’t do any good, Casey,” he was told. “He missed second base, too.”

Add Stengel: The New York manager caught a cab one day in St. Louis with a couple of young sportswriters covering the team.

“Are you fellows players?” the cab driver asked.

“No,” Stengel interjected, “and neither are my players.”

Last add Stengel: Greg Goossen, who played for the Mets before becoming a part of the Ten Goose Boxing Club of North Hollywood, remembers a compassionate Stengel.

One day in the clubhouse, the Met manager called in a young pitcher to inform him he was being sent to the minors. Stengel decided to let the player down easy, rather than simply telling him he wasn’t even good enough for the Mets.

“We’re sending you down to work on your fastball,” Stengel said.

“But I have a great fastball,” the pitcher insisted.

“Uh, well, then go down and work on your curve,” Stengel said.

“My curve’s good, too,” the pitcher replied.

“Well then go down and develop a changeup,” an increasingly exasperated Stengel said.

“But I already have a changeup,” the pitcher said.

“Well for all I care,” said Stengel, finally snapping, “you can go down and work on your baserunning.”

Trivia time: When Boris Becker won his first Wimbledon title in 1985 by beating Kevin Curren, 6-3, 6-7, 7-6, 6-4, it was historic for two reasons. Name them.

No sense of direction: Cal Ripken, interviewed in the Baltimore Sun, was asked how he likes hitting in Toronto, site of Tuesday’s All-Star game.

“So far, so good,” Ripken said. “The Kingdome has been a good park for me.”

But not so good for this year’s All-Star game as the Kingdome is in Seattle .

Never mind a negotiating agent. Get this man a travel agent.

Add Ripken: A year ago, he was batting .207 and some were blaming his slump on his consecutive-game streak.

The streak is now up to 1,491 games, but nobody is denigrating it since Ripken is leading the American League in hitting.

“I never maintained that (the streak) was the culprit last year . . . Fatigue is not a factor,” he told the Hartford Courant. “But if I struggle in the second half or next year as long as the streak lasts, people are going to say that’s the problem. The fact I can do this well this year should lay all that to rest.

“I doubt it will.”

Trivia answer: At 17, Becker was the youngest to win the men’s singles title. And he was the first unseeded player to do so.

Quotebook: Golfer Chi Chi Rodriguez, on why he plays so quickly: “Successful people do things fast. There are some people in this world who take two hours to watch 60 minutes.”