An unsung member of the NY Mets who deserves credit we can’t even give him

Heroes aplenty helped make the 2024 New York Mets a special group. Francisco Lindor putting together an MVP-caliber season. Pete Alonso struck in the postseason when the team was on life support. Jose Iglesias completely changed the culture around the team. There wasn’t a shortage of players who stepped up.

Also receiving a lot of the credit was first-year manager Carlos Mendoza. We didn’t know exactly what we were getting when he made the jump from the New York Yankees to the Mets. So far, we can only be glad to have him.

It’s difficult to give coaches credit when they deserve it. Blame is far easier. When a pitching staff struggles, point a finger at the pitching coach. When the hitters slump, fire the hitting coach. What about a bench coach? They don’t get wins or losses. Their input is impossible to measure.

Let’s give a little respect to Mets bench coach John Gibbons

Once upon a time a first-round draft pick by the Mets the same year they took Darryl Strawberry first overall, John Gibbons joined the Mets organization. He’d make his debut in 1984 with 35 plate appearances. Just 2 hits, both singles, were all he contributed. Two years later in 1986, Gibbons went 9 for 19 in his limited action. A World Series was in the team’s future and he was at least able to contribute in some way.

Gibbons would never see major league action again after 1986, traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers on April 1, 1988 for Craig Shipley. He bounced around the minors for a few seasons and would eventually become a two-time manager of the Toronto Blue Jays. He took over with 50 games to play in 2004. A few close calls but no playoff appearances, he was let go after a 35-39 start in 2008. He’d later return for the 2013 season. Finally in 2015 he was able to get the Blue Jays to the postseason.

Back-to-back losses in the ALCS was the peak of his tenure as skipper and of the franchise in recent history. The Blue Jays haven’t won a playoff game since 2016, owning a combined 0-6 record in three trips. Before he got to Toronto, they hadn’t even been in the playoffs since winning back-to-back World Series in 1992 and 1993.

A winning pedigree, or at least able to do what no one else could for more than two decades, Mets fans can wonder about just how much input Gibbons had on last year’s team. Sitting beside a rookie manager who seemed to regularly know what he was doing despite a lack of experience, having the kind of guidance Gibbons can provide must’ve been helpful in some way, no?

Bench coaches are easily forgotten. We only notice them when the skipper has been ejected and they take over. Sometimes during a brawl they’re the ones who get the most enraged. Important to some teams and more like mascots in other places, there must be some sort of credit we can give to Gibbons for the team’s success last year. His importance to the Mets is known and yet the impact, whether it is positive or negative, remains impossible to accurately measure.