Mets Honored By Guinness Book Of World Records

The Mets were honored yesterday with a special award.  In a quiet ceremony during their off-day workout at Citi Field, the team was presented with a certificate by Danny Girton Jr. of the Guinness Book Of Records to honor their acheivement of being the team with the most guys named Feliciano.

The Mets current total of 2 Felicianos shatters the previous record of 1, which was also held by the Mets.  For the older Feliciano, it was a time to reflect on very different times.

Late in 2002, Pedro broke the Feliciano barrier when he pitched in 6 games for the Mets.  At the time there was a lot of speculation as to whether a Feliciano could make it in the big leagues. 

Vance Wilson, the only member of that team who would return our calls, describes the climate at the time.  "He used to take a beating from the fans.  He'd be in the bullpen at Shea and people would shout things like 'Go back where you came from you Feliciano' or 'Felicianos don't belong here'.  It was awful.  Even the umps used to get in on it.  After a foul ball they would fire a new ball right at his head.  He had to always be on his guard."

 "I never thought I would see a day when Felicianos would be accepted like this.", Pedro told The Apple. "It makes everything I have gone through worth it to know that in that doors will be open  for future generations of Felicianos."

The Mets plan to have their own ceremony to honor the contributions of Feliciano-Americans to the game.  Though a date has not been set, Jose Feliciano has been tapped to sing the National Anthem.

 All articles featured on The Apple are fictitious. No Mets were harmed in the writing of this story.

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