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The origins of the Miami-Dade Mets can be traced back as
early as the Spring 1995 season of the SFBL. That would be the last season that Outfield/First Baseman
Dean Cosme
would see as a regular player. The team was the Miami
Twins and manager Peter Rafalski had decided that he had managed
long enough. With the end of the season looming Peter announced
that the Spring 1995 season was going to be his last. He then
asked if there was anyone on the team that would be interested in
managing the team for the future. One player stepped up.
That player was
Dean Cosme.
Dean Cosme took over a team that had
never won more than 4 games in any of it's three prior seasons.
Dean's first order of business was to put
together a strong roster. Keeping holdover's Jim Steinbauer (2B),
Ed Cooper (OF/1B) and
Fred Krochmal (P), Dean's next task was the draft. Dean's first ever draft pick was a player from
Pennsylvania named
Sal Trancucci. Sal was a shortstop/pitcher who
possessed a strong right arm and a potent bat. Top rated
outfielder
Rolando Gonzalez was an absolute steal in the 4th round.
The question many may ask is why was Roly available so late. Well, Roly had buddied up with 3 other
players. In this league, when you buddy up, it's discouraging to
the drafting manager because in many cases, the manager has not had the
opportunity to "scout" the other player/s. Their focus is usually the
main player. But in this case for Dean, this pick was a no brainer,
because not only could he use Roly, but he actually could use ALL the
players. Those players would become major players in the future of
the Miami Twins.
The Miami Twins would take the field
in the
Fall 1995
season with a new manager, new players and a new
attitude. The goal was to win. And win they did.
Behind an amazing rookie season by
Rolando Gonzalez, the Twins would finish
7-5 and just miss the playoffs. But it was
first year manager
Dean Cosme and rookie
Rolando Gonzalez
that would shine through. Rolando would win
top honors in five (5) offensive categories and
Dean Cosme would look
like a genius for making such a pick. He took over a perennial
losing team, revamped the roster, and turned them into a winning team.
The Twins would go onto make the playoffs the next season
(Spring 1996) and would then fold as manager
Dean Cosme had bigger and
better plans for his team. He transformed the Twins into the Miami
Mets for the
Fall
1996 season. If not for an expansion team folding just 2 weeks
prior to the start of the season, the Miami Mets might never have taken
off. It was from that fold, that Dean was able to acquire several
players that would be key cogs in the
Fall 1996 season. As it turned out
the season would be special. How special? The Miami Mets, led by 3rd
season manager
Dean Cosme, would make the playoffs and face
the Miami White Sox in the League Championship Game.
The Fall1996 Season would be a special one
for Dean Cosme and the newly named Miami Mets. With only 2
returning players from the previous season, the Miami Mets finished in
second place in their division with a 7-5 record. In the
Semi-Final round the Mets faced off against the Miami Giants who
finished 11-1 in their division. In a tightly contested battle, starting
pitcher Mark Benitez, shut down the mighty Miami Giants, allowing only 1
run on 4 hits, while striking out 3 and walking 2. The defense behind
Mark was solid, but the offense was rather dormant until Rich Alvarez
laced a 2 run double down the right field line to break the 1-1 tie and
ultimately win the game for the Miami Mets.
The Championship Game for the Miami Mets
didn't go as well. But that's not to say they didn't put up a
fight. The Miami Mets got off to an early lead but it wouldn't
last very long as the Miami White Sox stormed back and took the lead in
the middle innings and although the Mets battled back, the White Sox
were too strong and their defense bent but did not break and they put
the Mets away 6-4 to win their second consecutive Championship.
For the Miami Mets, it was only the beginning of a long storied history.
It would be 11 more seasons before
Dean would see the post season again as a Manager/Player, but when that
time came, the Mets were ready and armed to make a run at the Big Game again.
The Spring 2002 season saw the MD Mets once again battle for League
supremacy as they maneuvered their way through the season and into the
playoffs. Although they would go on to lose in the semi-finals,
the pieces were in place for MD Mets history to be made. That
history came one year later in the Spring 2003 season when the
Miami-Dade Mets captured the SFBL MABL Division Crown by defeating the
South Beach Bombers in a 4-hour/10 inning marathon 16-15.
|
SEASON |
WON |
LOSS |
TIES |
PLAYOFFS |
FORMER NAME |
|
FALL
1995 |
7 |
5 |
0 |
- |
MIAMI TWINS |
|
SPRING
1996 |
7 |
5 |
0 |
Q- |
MIAMI TWINS |
|
FALL
1995 |
7 |
5 |
0 |
S+F- |
MIAMI METS |
|
SPRING
1997 |
4 |
8 |
0 |
- |
MIAMI METS |
|
SPRING
1998 |
4 |
8 |
0 |
- |
KENDALL
METS |
|
FALL
1998 |
5 |
7 |
0 |
- |
KENDALL
METS |
|
SPRING
1999 |
8 |
4 |
0 |
- |
KENDALL
METS |
|
FALL
1999 |
6 |
6 |
0 |
- |
KENDALL
METS |
|
SPRING
2000 |
4 |
8 |
0 |
- |
KENDALL
METS |
|
FALL
2000 |
5 |
7 |
0 |
- |
KENDALL
METS |
|
SPRING
2001 |
5 |
7 |
0 |
- |
KENDALL
METS |
|
FALL
2001 |
7 |
5 |
0 |
- |
|
|
SPRING
2002 |
6 |
4 |
1 |
Q+S- |
|
|
FALL
2002 |
6 |
6 |
0 |
- |
|
|
SPRING
2003 |
7 |
4 |
1 |
S+F+ |
|
|
FALL
2003 |
2 |
10 |
0 |
- |
|
|
SPRING
2004 |
2 |
10 |
0 |
- |
|
|
FALL
2004 |
2 |
9 |
0 |
- |
|
|
SPRING
2005 |
8 |
4 |
0 |
- |
|
|
FALL
2005 |
7 |
4 |
1 |
Q- |
|
|
SPRING
2006 |
8 |
3 |
1 |
Q- |
|
|
FALL
2006 |
8 |
3 |
1 |
Q- |
|
|
TOTAL |
125 |
132 |
5 |
|
|
|
WINNING
PCT |
.474 |
|
|
|
|
|
POSTSEASON |
WON |
LOSS |
|
TOTAL |
WINNING PCT. |
|
|
4 |
6 |
|
10 |
.400 |
|
QUARTER
FINALS |
1 |
4 |
|
5 |
.200 |
|
SEMI
FINALS |
2 |
1 |
|
3 |
.667 |
|
FINALS |
1 |
1 |
|
2 |
.500 |
|
CHAMPIONSHIPS |
1 |
|
|
|
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*Team records do not include 3 previous seasons
played as the Miami Twins from Winter 1994 - Spring 1995. At that time
Dean Cosme was not the manager.
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