Remembering Jordany Valdespin

“I am the man right now!”

Former Met and best friend of Terry Collins Jordany Valdespin has found his way back into New York — as a member of the Long Island Ducks.

Valdespin spent two years with the New York Mets, knocking 12 home runs and batting a whopping .219 over the course of 160 games. Those numbers were good for a WAR of -0.6. Take that as you will.

But he was the man.

Valdespin began his illustrious major league career in 2012, crushing a go-ahead three-run home run against Phillies closer Jonathan Papelbon. He went on to hit five pinch-hit home runs for the rest of that season, which broke a Mets record. Yes, he’s in the Mets history books.

Valdespin went on to make more history in his Mets career, including an entertaining amount of controversy with former Mets skipper, Terry Collins. He wasn’t hitting anywhere close to the Mendoza line in 2013, so he didn’t really get much playing time. How did he try to solve that problem?

He called his manager a cocksucker.

Then he demanded to be placed on the disabled list.

That same year, the Biogenesis case broke out, and resulted in the suspensions of star players including Ryan Braun, Nelson Cruz, Alex Rodriguez, Jhonny Peralta, and Jordany Valdespin.

He didn’t call anyone a cocksucker this time. He accepted his season-ending 50 game suspension, and somehow found his way on another major league team, the Miami Marlins.

Perhaps the best memory of our beloved Jordany was during 2013’s spring training. The left-handed Valdespin was up to bat against all-star flamethrower Justin Verlander. For some reason, Valdespin decided that it wasn’t necessary to wear a protective cup that day. Verlander launched a 95 mile per hour fastball inside to Valdespin, and it hit him square in the crotch. This moment also birthed one of the greatest baseball photos of all time.

All this talk about the male genitalia, only to get hit in your own by a 95 mile per hour Justin Verlander fastball. How ironic.

That brings us today. Valdespin is now on the team where pitcher Rich Hill resurrected his career. Will he have the same fate? We’ll have to find out, as the Ducks play their first game on April 27th.