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Bob Cerv
As you probably know, the Vault spit out a couple of Bob Cerv with the Mets images a while back. So I was doing a little research on Bob's time with them. Bob had had knee surgery late in 1961 and the knee really hadn't come around so he started only 3 games for the Yankees in '62 and 5 for the Colts. The rest of the time, he was just used as a pinch hitter. Through his career, he'd been a fearsome pinch hitter, but not in '62. So the Colts released him at the end of July and Bob was talking retirement. Home with his family in August, however, he changed his mind and, figuring he'd be another year removed from the knee surgery, he was talking comeback.
So the Mets invited him to spring training in 1963. What did they have to lose, they reasoned. Well, the knee still hadn't come around by spring and Cerv was limited to just three pinch hitting appearances in spring games (going 0-for-3) before he was released on March 25. But Bob had done something else while in camp. In the first intrasquad game on March 3, he took a mighty swing and connected....with catcher and Mets teammate Chris Cannizzaro. That's Chris lying on the ground in the picture (with the umpire and Cerv standing). A few days later, he did the same to Norm Sherry. Cerv was not offered a contract.
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