And his ledger bears that out: His big league career spanned from 1996 to 2008, but he reached the majors in only 9 of those seasons, and he averaged only 43 games per campaign when he was in the majors. His professional career, including minor and winter league ball, ran 21 years, from 1990 to 2010.

Casanova was one of a handful of Quadruple-A catchers the Mets used in 2008, his lone year with the club. They also threw Robinson Cancel and Gustavo Molina at the wall, as well as backup Ramon Castro and ostensible starter Brian Schneider. Casanova was among the best of the group, hitting .273 in 55 at-bats ... despite him being 35, the Mets should have kept him around a bit longer. 2008 was a good year for him offensively overall, as he also hit .295 at Triple-A.

Now for a couple things I didn't know about Casanova until I looked him up ... he actually began his professional career in the Mets system, being taken in the 8th round of the 1990 draft as a sprightly 17-year-old. That he was drafted that high shows that he was thought of as decent prospect potential, and that decent prospect potential helped net the Mets the ever-disappointing Tony Fernandez from the Padres in December 1992. Also, his only Mets home run, and the last home run of his big league career, came off future Hall of Fame pitcher John Smoltz.