Mets Know About Tricks of the Trade

New York has gone crazy over the acquisition of Alex Rodriguez by the Yankees. The city hasn’t been this excited about a baseball trade since the Mets acquired second baseman Roberto Alomar from the Cleveland Indians in December 2001.

The Alomar trade didn’t work out too well, though. The 12-time All-Star, who’d signed a five-year, $37-million contract with the Indians in 1998, batted .266 in 2002, his lowest since his rookie year of 1988. He batted .262 for the Mets last year before being dealt to the Chicago White Sox, where he batted .253 in 67 games.

In January, Alomar signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks for $1 million, a far cry from the $8 million he’d made in 2003.

Read a headline in the New York Post: “A-Rod a sure thing? Remember the Alomar.”

Trivia time: What former Brooklyn Dodger -- he was in the dugout when Bobby Thomson hit his dramatic home run for the New York Giants in 1951 -- was an Angel manager in the 1970s?

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Can’t miss can: If there is no sure thing in baseball, there is certainly no sure thing in horse racing.

Trainer Richard Mandella has the heavy favorite in Saturday’s Santa Anita Handicap, Pleasantly Perfect. The last time Mandella was in such a position, things turned out anything but pleasantly perfect.

Mandella’s horse in the 1998 Big ‘Cap, Gentlemen, was a 1-20 favorite. He finished fourth in a four-horse field.

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Unenviable spot: Maybe Stanford likes being No. 1 in college basketball, but no one wants to be No. 1 in the Big ‘Cap.

The No. 1 post has produced only two winners in 66 runnings of the Big ‘Cap -- Mr. Right in 1968 and Malek in 1998. Gentlemen started from the No. 1 post in 1998. Best Pal in 1993 and Silver Charm in ’99 were other favorites who failed starting from the No. 1 post.

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Bengal bashing: Mike Ditka, appearing on Fox Sports Net’s “Best Damn Sports Show Period,” had this to say about the Cincinnati Bengals’ choosing Carson Palmer over Jon Kitna as their starting quarterback:

“This is the best year Cincinnati has had since when? And you’re going to change quarterbacks now because it’s politically correct? Give me a break.”

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Looking back: On this date in 1985, an all-time record Santa Anita crowd of 85,527 saw Bill Shoemaker notch the last of his record 11 Big ‘Cap victories aboard Lord Of War for trainer Charlie Whittingham.

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Trivia answer: Dick Williams. Note: Williams, 74, who lives in Henderson, Nev., underwent surgery at Stanford Medical Center last week to remove an arterial aneurysm in his stomach. Williams had triple-bypass heart surgery in 1997.

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And finally: In the 1985 Big ‘Cap, Greinton, another Whittingham horse, finished second to Lord Of War but came back the next year to win with Laffit Pincay Jr. aboard. Finishing second in 1986 was a diminutive colt named Herat, tabbed “the little guy” by track announcer Trevor Denman. Herat went off at 157-1 and paid $80 to place. Greinton paid $8 to win.

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Larry Stewart can be reached at larry.stewart@latimes.com.