News item: Mets claim lefthanded pitcher Patrick Misch on waivers from the Giants.
"I'll always be a winner, and you'll always be a loser,"
This is the second time I've quoted the same line of the Seinfeld episode, "The Revenge." and its appropriate here with the news that the Mets added Misch to their major-league roster.
Mishmash is more like it.
Patrick Misch sports a win-loss record of which only Charlie Brown could be proud. If Misch never pitches in the majors again, he'd be one of 15 pitchers since the advent of the major leagues to sport a record of no wins, and at least seven losses.
That's a fun list of pitchers to look through. It's one that includes the likes of
Tommy McCarthy, who has no relation to the former Met broadcaster (not that I know, anyway), but is a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame. McCarthy wasn't much for moundsmanship, going 0-7 for the 1884 Boston Reds of the Union Association, but was quite an able batsman once he converted to full-time outfield duties. Baseball-Reference reports he was one of the pioneers of the hit-and-run and the "trapped-ball" play.
Steve Gerkin, and that's not spelled Gherkin, like the cucumber twin. Instead, this Gerkin was nicknamed "Splinter" and I didn't check as to why. Gerkin's most similar player, by way of Baseball-Reference, is Farmer Ray. I'm not sure why he was named Farmer, but I'm guessing it had nothing to do with planting Gherkins, or Gerkins. This Gerkin went 0-12 for the 1945 Philadelphia Athletics. He didn't pitch in the majors again, though he was the MVP for the 1947 Minneapolis Millers of the American Association.
Scott Ruffcorn, whom I feel sorry for, despite the fact that he once was a member of the Phillies. Ruffcorn pitched in 30 major league games from 1993 to 1997. He faced 12 NL teams, though the Mets never got a crack at him. In those 30 games, his team NEVER won. Ruffcorn, a star of stars in the minors (career record: 68-30 as a first-round pick by the 1991 White Sox) went 0-8 in the big leagues with an 8.57 ERA.
The Mets have beaten a pair of the pitchers on "The Biggest Loser" list.
On June 25, 1970, the combo of Tom Seaver and Nolan Ryan swept a doubleheader from the Cubs, pushing the Mets past Chicago and into first place in the National League. In the nightcap, Ryan's fine effort of seven innings, in which he allowed one run and one hit (retiring the last 15 he faced), was far better than that of Archie Reynolds, who suffered the fourth of eight career defeats by yielding five runs in six innings. Reynolds finished his career with no wins.
On June 21, 1998, the Mets celebrated the beginning of summer with a 3-2 win over the Marlins and Joe Fontenot, who lost for the fifth time in his winless career. Fontenot would finish 0-7 in eight career appearances though with a little luck, he could have managed one win.
Fontenot's day was done after seven innings, with his team down a run. The Marlins had a great chance to tie or lead but missed on their opportunity to bail out their starting pitcher's decent effort. Florida loaded the bases with no outs in the eighth, but John "I'm known for making things difficult" Franco (his words, after the game), escaped via an ugly force out (Franco made a bad throw home) and a pair of strikeouts. Franco then completed the save for Al Leiter by retiring the side in the ninth.
Those who know Misch-ter Met know...The complete list of pitchers with career records of 0-7 or worse:
0-16 Terry Felton
0-12 Steve Gerkin
0-10 Charlie Stecher
0-8 Scott Ruffcorn
0-8 Archie Reynolds
0-8 Paul Brown
0-8 Ed Albosta
0-8 Ed O'Neil
0-7 Pat Misch
0-7 Joe Fontenot
0-7 Walt Craddock
0-7 Roy Bruner
0-7 Charlie Barnabe
0-7 Walter Moser
0-7 Tommy McCarthy
Showing posts with label Seinfeld References. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Seinfeld References. Show all posts
Saturday, June 06, 2009
Tuesday, May 05, 2009
Leapin' Larry
Larry Jones now has 40 career regular-season home runs against the Mets. Thanks to the variety of research tools at Baseball-Reference.com and BaseballMusings.com, we can tell you...
* He's the 6th player with 40+ career home runs against the Mets
Most Career HR vs Mets
60-Willie Stargell
49- Mike Schmidt
48- Willie McCovey
45- Hank Aaron
42- Pat Burrell
40- Larry Jones
* The Mets are now 9-26 in regular-season games in which Larry Jones homers against them.
* The Mets are 6-13 in regular-season games in Atlanta in which Larry Jones homers against them. They went 3-13 in regular-season games at Shea Stadium in which Larry Jones homered against them.
* Larry Jones has 5 multi-homer games against the Mets. The Mets are 0-5 in those games.
* Larry's 40 home runs are his second-most against any team. He has 42 against the Phillies.
* Larry's 40 regular-season home runs against the Mets have come against 27 different pitchers. Bobby Jones and Steve Trachsel have each allowed the most- four.
* Of the seven current Mets pitchers who have faced Larry Jones, he's homered against five of them. He's yet to homer against Pedro Feliciano or Johan Santana, each of whom he's faced 13 times.
* David Wright and Larry Jones have homered in the same game three times. The Mets have now won two of those three games.
* Larry has made 451 regular-season outs against the Mets. Al Leiter got him out the most times, 41.
* If Larry Jones retired right now (we wouldn't object), he could say he hit both his last career home run against the Mets and his first career home run against the Mets.
True Metppers know...The Mets have never had a walk-off win in a game in which Larry Jones homered.
* He's the 6th player with 40+ career home runs against the Mets
Most Career HR vs Mets
60-Willie Stargell
49- Mike Schmidt
48- Willie McCovey
45- Hank Aaron
42- Pat Burrell
40- Larry Jones
* The Mets are now 9-26 in regular-season games in which Larry Jones homers against them.
* The Mets are 6-13 in regular-season games in Atlanta in which Larry Jones homers against them. They went 3-13 in regular-season games at Shea Stadium in which Larry Jones homered against them.
* Larry Jones has 5 multi-homer games against the Mets. The Mets are 0-5 in those games.
* Larry's 40 home runs are his second-most against any team. He has 42 against the Phillies.
* Larry's 40 regular-season home runs against the Mets have come against 27 different pitchers. Bobby Jones and Steve Trachsel have each allowed the most- four.
* Of the seven current Mets pitchers who have faced Larry Jones, he's homered against five of them. He's yet to homer against Pedro Feliciano or Johan Santana, each of whom he's faced 13 times.
* David Wright and Larry Jones have homered in the same game three times. The Mets have now won two of those three games.
* Larry has made 451 regular-season outs against the Mets. Al Leiter got him out the most times, 41.
* If Larry Jones retired right now (we wouldn't object), he could say he hit both his last career home run against the Mets and his first career home run against the Mets.
True Metppers know...The Mets have never had a walk-off win in a game in which Larry Jones homered.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
You Are Aware...
Those who know what "The Penske File" is will appreciate our take on Jerry Manuel's comment after Thursday's Mets win:
"I really feel like we're about to take off..."
What we think he's going to say, probably sometime in the next 24 hours is...
"I'm sorry I gave you the wrong impression. What is was going to say was I really feel like we're about to take off...for the rest of the winter. We expended so much energy getting through the first 145 games, we had nothing left for the last 17. You saw the last of what was left on Thursday. Oh, and our board of directors ..."
"I really feel like we're about to take off..."
What we think he's going to say, probably sometime in the next 24 hours is...
"I'm sorry I gave you the wrong impression. What is was going to say was I really feel like we're about to take off...for the rest of the winter. We expended so much energy getting through the first 145 games, we had nothing left for the last 17. You saw the last of what was left on Thursday. Oh, and our board of directors ..."
Friday, August 29, 2008
That's The Ticket
Russell: "We like to look at the show as if it were an EKG. You have your highs and your lows and it goes up and down."
George: "The show will be like a heart attack!"
Jerry: "Just a huge massive coronary."
Jerry and George pitching their sitcom pilot in Seinfeld, Season 4, Episode 4, "The Ticket"
These are your Mets. I think Seinfeld would have appreciated this script.
------
Game-winning, late-inning grand slams are in Mets history are rare. Here's a brief history.
* This marked the third time that the Mets won a game, with the game-winning hit being a grand slam in the top of the 9th.
Mets Win In Top of 9th
Winning Hit is Grand Slam
2008- Carlos Beltran (at Marlins)
1999- Edgardo Alfonzo (NLDS Game 1)
1988- Kevin McReynolds (at Cubs...same day as Gary Carter's 300th HR)
* The Mets have had two extra-inning road wins in which the game-winning hit was a grand slam
Mets Win On Road In Extra Innings
Winning Hit is Grand Slam
2000- Benny Agbayani (vs Cubs, 11th inning, in Japan)
1995- Todd Hundley (vs Expos, 10th inning)
* The Mets have had three walk-up wins (won in bottom 8th), in which the game-winning hit was a grand slam
Mets Win In Bottom 8th (Walk-Up)
Winning Hit is Grand Slam
1985- Gary Carter (vs Braves)
1978- Lee Mazzilli (vs Phillies)
1963- Jim Hickman (vs Braves)
* The Mets have had five walk-off wins, in which the game-winning hit was a grand slam.
Mets Win By Walk-Off
Winning Hit is Grand Slam
1991- Kevin McReynolds (vs Expos)
1986- Tim Teufel (vs Phillies)
1980- Mike Jorgensen (vs Dodgers)
1963- Jim Hickman (vs Cubs)
1963- Tim Harkness (vs Cubs)
* This was the first time, for any of those previously-referenced games, that the Mets won by one run.
* It's the third time the Mets have won a game against the Marlins by scoring the winning run in the ninth inning. The previous two were in 2001 and 2007.
* This was the second time that Carlos Beltran had a game-winning hit with the bases loaded and two outs in the ninth inning.
The first was on May 4, 1999. With the Royals trailing the Devil Rays, 3-1 with the bases loaded and two outs in the ninth inning in Tampa, Beltran smacked Roberto Hernandez's 0-2 pitch for a game-winning, three-run triple.
Is it rude for me to wish he'd had one more?
True Metckets know...Carlos Beltran had all five Mets RBI in their 5-4 win. He accounted for all of their runs with his RBI. He's only the second Met to have a 5+ RBI game, in which his RBI accounted for all of the team's runs.
Todd Zeile had 5 RBI in a 5-3 win against the Phillies on June 2, 2004. Zeile tied the game with a three-run home run in the eighth inning, than hit a two-run home run to win the game in the 10th inning. Braden Looper than survived a ninth inning almost as dicey as Luis Ayala's, getting Jim Thome to ground out with the bases loaded to end the game.
George: "The show will be like a heart attack!"
Jerry: "Just a huge massive coronary."
Jerry and George pitching their sitcom pilot in Seinfeld, Season 4, Episode 4, "The Ticket"
These are your Mets. I think Seinfeld would have appreciated this script.
------
Game-winning, late-inning grand slams are in Mets history are rare. Here's a brief history.
* This marked the third time that the Mets won a game, with the game-winning hit being a grand slam in the top of the 9th.
Mets Win In Top of 9th
Winning Hit is Grand Slam
2008- Carlos Beltran (at Marlins)
1999- Edgardo Alfonzo (NLDS Game 1)
1988- Kevin McReynolds (at Cubs...same day as Gary Carter's 300th HR)
* The Mets have had two extra-inning road wins in which the game-winning hit was a grand slam
Mets Win On Road In Extra Innings
Winning Hit is Grand Slam
2000- Benny Agbayani (vs Cubs, 11th inning, in Japan)
1995- Todd Hundley (vs Expos, 10th inning)
* The Mets have had three walk-up wins (won in bottom 8th), in which the game-winning hit was a grand slam
Mets Win In Bottom 8th (Walk-Up)
Winning Hit is Grand Slam
1985- Gary Carter (vs Braves)
1978- Lee Mazzilli (vs Phillies)
1963- Jim Hickman (vs Braves)
* The Mets have had five walk-off wins, in which the game-winning hit was a grand slam.
Mets Win By Walk-Off
Winning Hit is Grand Slam
1991- Kevin McReynolds (vs Expos)
1986- Tim Teufel (vs Phillies)
1980- Mike Jorgensen (vs Dodgers)
1963- Jim Hickman (vs Cubs)
1963- Tim Harkness (vs Cubs)
* This was the first time, for any of those previously-referenced games, that the Mets won by one run.
* It's the third time the Mets have won a game against the Marlins by scoring the winning run in the ninth inning. The previous two were in 2001 and 2007.
* This was the second time that Carlos Beltran had a game-winning hit with the bases loaded and two outs in the ninth inning.
The first was on May 4, 1999. With the Royals trailing the Devil Rays, 3-1 with the bases loaded and two outs in the ninth inning in Tampa, Beltran smacked Roberto Hernandez's 0-2 pitch for a game-winning, three-run triple.
Is it rude for me to wish he'd had one more?
True Metckets know...Carlos Beltran had all five Mets RBI in their 5-4 win. He accounted for all of their runs with his RBI. He's only the second Met to have a 5+ RBI game, in which his RBI accounted for all of the team's runs.
Todd Zeile had 5 RBI in a 5-3 win against the Phillies on June 2, 2004. Zeile tied the game with a three-run home run in the eighth inning, than hit a two-run home run to win the game in the 10th inning. Braden Looper than survived a ninth inning almost as dicey as Luis Ayala's, getting Jim Thome to ground out with the bases loaded to end the game.
Wednesday, August 06, 2008
The 'Man'zere
Baseball-Reference has pitch data dating back approximately 20 years.
They have no other instances of a one-pitch save in Mets history besides the one recorded on Tuesday night. That makes sense. Very little in Mets history is angst-free.
The Mets last two one-pitch wins have been of the walk-off variety. Remember Jorge Sosa? He got a one-pitch win against the Phillies on April 10 (Angel Pagan walk-off hit). Aaron Heilman got the last one prior to that, on May 14, 2007, when the Mets beat the Cubs on Carlos Delgado's walk-off walk.
There are three other one-pitch wins in their logs. The only other one at Shea Stadium was of the walk-up variety. But we'll give Josias Manzanillo a little more credit for that one.
It was July 19, 1994, not too long before the season ended early due to a labor dispute. The Mets and Dodgers clashed at Shea on a day where Todd Hundley hit second and Joe Orsulak batted fifth. Perhaps it should have been the other way around.
The Mets trailed 4-2 in the visitors eighth and the Dodgers loaded the bases against Roger Mason. Manzanillo replaced Mason with a dangerous hitter up- Mike Piazza. The matchup was short and sweet. Piazza grounded into a force play on the first pitch.
That swung the momentum back to the Mets and in the home eighth, they had an offensive explosion. The key hits were by Kevin McReynolds (two-run game-tying single), and Ryan Thompson (three-run go-ahead double against former Met Roger McDowell).
John Franco, incapable of an easy save in those days, required 18 pitches and a little angst to get the job done. He put two men on base before getting Eric Karros and Carlos Hernandez out on ground balls to end the game. Franco got a save, albeit a rather cheap one. In this case, the win, and the save, probably should have gone to Manzanillo.
True Metzanillos know...Recent call-up Dan Murphy, quickly becoming a Metswalkoffs favorite, has a walk-off home run this year. Binghamton play-by-play voice Rob Ford tells us that Murphy hit one in the 14th inning to beat the Connecticut Defenders on July 18, the first of three walk-off home runs hit by Binghamton that month.
They have no other instances of a one-pitch save in Mets history besides the one recorded on Tuesday night. That makes sense. Very little in Mets history is angst-free.
The Mets last two one-pitch wins have been of the walk-off variety. Remember Jorge Sosa? He got a one-pitch win against the Phillies on April 10 (Angel Pagan walk-off hit). Aaron Heilman got the last one prior to that, on May 14, 2007, when the Mets beat the Cubs on Carlos Delgado's walk-off walk.
There are three other one-pitch wins in their logs. The only other one at Shea Stadium was of the walk-up variety. But we'll give Josias Manzanillo a little more credit for that one.
It was July 19, 1994, not too long before the season ended early due to a labor dispute. The Mets and Dodgers clashed at Shea on a day where Todd Hundley hit second and Joe Orsulak batted fifth. Perhaps it should have been the other way around.
The Mets trailed 4-2 in the visitors eighth and the Dodgers loaded the bases against Roger Mason. Manzanillo replaced Mason with a dangerous hitter up- Mike Piazza. The matchup was short and sweet. Piazza grounded into a force play on the first pitch.
That swung the momentum back to the Mets and in the home eighth, they had an offensive explosion. The key hits were by Kevin McReynolds (two-run game-tying single), and Ryan Thompson (three-run go-ahead double against former Met Roger McDowell).
John Franco, incapable of an easy save in those days, required 18 pitches and a little angst to get the job done. He put two men on base before getting Eric Karros and Carlos Hernandez out on ground balls to end the game. Franco got a save, albeit a rather cheap one. In this case, the win, and the save, probably should have gone to Manzanillo.
True Metzanillos know...Recent call-up Dan Murphy, quickly becoming a Metswalkoffs favorite, has a walk-off home run this year. Binghamton play-by-play voice Rob Ford tells us that Murphy hit one in the 14th inning to beat the Connecticut Defenders on July 18, the first of three walk-off home runs hit by Binghamton that month.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
A Really Very Nice and Good Kind of Game
George: Is there a pinkish hue?
Jerry: A pinkish hue?
George: Yes, a rosy glow.
Jerry: There's a hue.
Seinfeld, "The Fix-Up" (original airdate February 5, 1992)
Go figure that the Mets are heading into the All-Star Break playing a brand of baseball unprecedented in modern times (this 3 hits or fewer in five straight games thing). The Mets got "fixed-up" albeit in a different manner from George Costanza. And for all those bloggers that put together First Half Report Cards, those can be ripped up right about now.
In that same episode, Jerry made this notation in the opening monologue.
I tell ya, I never really understood the importance of the conductor. I mean between you and me, what the hell is this guy doing?
Well, apparently ours is doing something right these days. Enough to give me both a rosy glow and a pinkish hue when thinking about the team for which I root.
On to the minutiae about Saturday's game (our next post will come after the All-Star Break)...
* This was the Mets 33rd one-hitter (including postseason) and they've come in all shapes and sizes.
* The 5-inning cheapie that John Maine threw last July 29 counts just as much as Terry Leach's marathon 10 innings against the Phillies in 1982.
* The first 14 Mets one-hitters were of the complete game variety (Tom Seaver had five), but the last three the Mets have thrown in games lasting nine innings required multiple moundsmen, including this most recent one needing five.
* There's no guarantee of a Mets win with a one-hitter, though they have emerged triumphant in 31 of the 33 instances (losses to the Cardinals in 1991 and the Astros in 2006).
* As a wise woman named Elaine Benes said to the friend she was fixing up with George: "You know, maybe you need somebody between good and mediocre." The Mets have gotten one-hitters from both the goodest of the good (Seaver, Nolan Ryan, and Dwight Gooden) and the mediocrest of the mediocre (Jack Hamilton, Shawn Estes).
* The one hit can come at any time, be it at the beginning (Joe Amalfitano's 1st-inning single was the only hit against Al Jackson on June 22, 1962) or the end (hello, Jimmy Qualls and Leron Lee).
* It can be a dinky dribbler (Keith Moreland, Paul Hoover) or a legitimately clean shot (most, though not all, of the others).
* It can be by a Met of the future (Ray Sadecki, 1966, Trot Nixon, 2001, Luis Castillo, 2005) or a Met of the former (Jeff Kent, 2000 NLDS Game 4).
* It can be by the ultimate no-name (Hoover, Chin Hui Tsao, Kit Pellow), an average-joe (Von Hayes, Ray Lankford, David Eckstein), or a megastar of Hall of Fame caliber (Ernie Banks, Roberto Clemente, Tony Gwynn).
* Some who have been on our side for such an event have since turned to the dark side (current Braves pitching coach Roger McDowell tossed three hitless innings in a combo effort with Sid Fernandez in 1985), while in other instances, there may be an enemy who eventually becomes a friend (Luis Aguayo had the lone hit in the Terry Leach game in 1982).
A full list of Mets one-hitters can be found here:
http://www.nonohitters.com/onehitters/
True Metstanzas know...The two-hitter thrown on April 11, 2008 was the 102nd two-hitter in Mets history. Exactly 100 of them have come in the regular season (the two in the postseason were in Game 2 of the 1969 World Series and Game 2 of the 1973 NLCS).
For those wondering about the title of this entry, it comes from another quote within that Seinfeld episode, where Jerry is describing the body of one of Elaine's friends.
Also, if you like reading "almost no-hitter stories" than read this gem from the Faith and Fear archives.
http://faithandfear.blogharbor.com/blog/_archives/2005/8/16/1141154.html
Jerry: A pinkish hue?
George: Yes, a rosy glow.
Jerry: There's a hue.
Seinfeld, "The Fix-Up" (original airdate February 5, 1992)
Go figure that the Mets are heading into the All-Star Break playing a brand of baseball unprecedented in modern times (this 3 hits or fewer in five straight games thing). The Mets got "fixed-up" albeit in a different manner from George Costanza. And for all those bloggers that put together First Half Report Cards, those can be ripped up right about now.
In that same episode, Jerry made this notation in the opening monologue.
I tell ya, I never really understood the importance of the conductor. I mean between you and me, what the hell is this guy doing?
Well, apparently ours is doing something right these days. Enough to give me both a rosy glow and a pinkish hue when thinking about the team for which I root.
On to the minutiae about Saturday's game (our next post will come after the All-Star Break)...
* This was the Mets 33rd one-hitter (including postseason) and they've come in all shapes and sizes.
* The 5-inning cheapie that John Maine threw last July 29 counts just as much as Terry Leach's marathon 10 innings against the Phillies in 1982.
* The first 14 Mets one-hitters were of the complete game variety (Tom Seaver had five), but the last three the Mets have thrown in games lasting nine innings required multiple moundsmen, including this most recent one needing five.
* There's no guarantee of a Mets win with a one-hitter, though they have emerged triumphant in 31 of the 33 instances (losses to the Cardinals in 1991 and the Astros in 2006).
* As a wise woman named Elaine Benes said to the friend she was fixing up with George: "You know, maybe you need somebody between good and mediocre." The Mets have gotten one-hitters from both the goodest of the good (Seaver, Nolan Ryan, and Dwight Gooden) and the mediocrest of the mediocre (Jack Hamilton, Shawn Estes).
* The one hit can come at any time, be it at the beginning (Joe Amalfitano's 1st-inning single was the only hit against Al Jackson on June 22, 1962) or the end (hello, Jimmy Qualls and Leron Lee).
* It can be a dinky dribbler (Keith Moreland, Paul Hoover) or a legitimately clean shot (most, though not all, of the others).
* It can be by a Met of the future (Ray Sadecki, 1966, Trot Nixon, 2001, Luis Castillo, 2005) or a Met of the former (Jeff Kent, 2000 NLDS Game 4).
* It can be by the ultimate no-name (Hoover, Chin Hui Tsao, Kit Pellow), an average-joe (Von Hayes, Ray Lankford, David Eckstein), or a megastar of Hall of Fame caliber (Ernie Banks, Roberto Clemente, Tony Gwynn).
* Some who have been on our side for such an event have since turned to the dark side (current Braves pitching coach Roger McDowell tossed three hitless innings in a combo effort with Sid Fernandez in 1985), while in other instances, there may be an enemy who eventually becomes a friend (Luis Aguayo had the lone hit in the Terry Leach game in 1982).
A full list of Mets one-hitters can be found here:
http://www.nonohitters.com/onehitters/
True Metstanzas know...The two-hitter thrown on April 11, 2008 was the 102nd two-hitter in Mets history. Exactly 100 of them have come in the regular season (the two in the postseason were in Game 2 of the 1969 World Series and Game 2 of the 1973 NLCS).
For those wondering about the title of this entry, it comes from another quote within that Seinfeld episode, where Jerry is describing the body of one of Elaine's friends.
Also, if you like reading "almost no-hitter stories" than read this gem from the Faith and Fear archives.
http://faithandfear.blogharbor.com/blog/_archives/2005/8/16/1141154.html
Saturday, July 05, 2008
You've Selected: Agent Zero
Inspired by the noticing that Rickey Henderson never had a triple for the Mets.
An Agent Zero (named after a fictitious movie reference in Seinfeld) is a player who never had a (fill in the blank) for the Mets.
For the purposes of these lists, I did include pitchers within the tally.
Agent Zeroes
Mets History
Most Plate Appearances, No Singles
47- Randy Tate
34- Brian Daubach
23- Andy Hassler
22- Sandy Alomar Sr.
21- Mike Remlinger
>> Next position player: Ross Jones, 13
Most Plate Appearances, No Doubles
252- Pat Zachry
183- Jeff Duncan
179- Nolan Ryan
162- Roger Craig
118- Glendon Rusch
>> Next position player: Dick Stuart, 96
Most Plate Appearances, No Home Runs
798- Alex Trevino
657- Chris Cannizzaro
541- Jon Matlack
457- Al Leiter
455- David Cone
355- Tom Glavine
340- Phil Linz
Most Plate Appearances, No RBI
78- Eric Hillman
73- Doug Saunders
63- Ray Burris
62- Anthony Young
58- Charlie Puleo
57- Neil Allen
>> Next position player: Harry Chiti, 43
Most Plate Appearances, No Runs
52- Kelvin Torve
45- Warren Spahn
41- Mike Bruhert
38- Jimmie Schaffer
32- Jorge Sosa
>> Next position player: Matt Watson, 25
Most Plate Appearances, No SB
1,002- Mackey Sasser
894- Jason Phillips
654- Mo Vaughn
626- Mike Vail
586- Barry Lyons
541- Jon Matlack
Most Plate Appearances, No Strikeouts
9- Tim Corcoran
7- Brent Strom
7- Doug Henry
6- Gary Thurman
6- Tony Castillo
Most Plate Appearances, No Walks
131- Tracy Stallard
97- Shawon Dunston
94- Orlando Hernandez
83- Pedro Astacio
78- Eric Hillman
>> Next position player: Joe Moock, 40
Most Plate Appearances, No IBB
1,139- Tom Seaver
926- Jerry Koosman
837- Dwight Gooden
622- Derek Bell
605- Alex Ochoa
600- Ron Darling
Most Plate Appearances, No Sacrifice Flies
843- Rod Kanehl
573- Bobby Klaus
457- Al Leiter
426- Bobby Jones
421- Craig Swan
346- John Stephenson
336- Willie Randolph
An Agent Zero (named after a fictitious movie reference in Seinfeld) is a player who never had a (fill in the blank) for the Mets.
For the purposes of these lists, I did include pitchers within the tally.
Agent Zeroes
Mets History
Most Plate Appearances, No Singles
47- Randy Tate
34- Brian Daubach
23- Andy Hassler
22- Sandy Alomar Sr.
21- Mike Remlinger
>> Next position player: Ross Jones, 13
Most Plate Appearances, No Doubles
252- Pat Zachry
183- Jeff Duncan
179- Nolan Ryan
162- Roger Craig
118- Glendon Rusch
>> Next position player: Dick Stuart, 96
Most Plate Appearances, No Home Runs
798- Alex Trevino
657- Chris Cannizzaro
541- Jon Matlack
457- Al Leiter
455- David Cone
355- Tom Glavine
340- Phil Linz
Most Plate Appearances, No RBI
78- Eric Hillman
73- Doug Saunders
63- Ray Burris
62- Anthony Young
58- Charlie Puleo
57- Neil Allen
>> Next position player: Harry Chiti, 43
Most Plate Appearances, No Runs
52- Kelvin Torve
45- Warren Spahn
41- Mike Bruhert
38- Jimmie Schaffer
32- Jorge Sosa
>> Next position player: Matt Watson, 25
Most Plate Appearances, No SB
1,002- Mackey Sasser
894- Jason Phillips
654- Mo Vaughn
626- Mike Vail
586- Barry Lyons
541- Jon Matlack
Most Plate Appearances, No Strikeouts
9- Tim Corcoran
7- Brent Strom
7- Doug Henry
6- Gary Thurman
6- Tony Castillo
Most Plate Appearances, No Walks
131- Tracy Stallard
97- Shawon Dunston
94- Orlando Hernandez
83- Pedro Astacio
78- Eric Hillman
>> Next position player: Joe Moock, 40
Most Plate Appearances, No IBB
1,139- Tom Seaver
926- Jerry Koosman
837- Dwight Gooden
622- Derek Bell
605- Alex Ochoa
600- Ron Darling
Most Plate Appearances, No Sacrifice Flies
843- Rod Kanehl
573- Bobby Klaus
457- Al Leiter
426- Bobby Jones
421- Craig Swan
346- John Stephenson
336- Willie Randolph
Monday, September 24, 2007
The Minutiae Number is 5
"You don't even know what a Wright-off is, do you?"
-- Jerry Seinfeld to Kramer in an episode discussing some bit of minutiae
I do!! I do!! It's what we'll call Sunday's game-winning hit against the Marlins by the man with the Magic Number.
I've provided advertisements for David Wright's MVP candidacy in this space before, but after Sunday's victory, I feel the need to supplement some of that information.
I think the appropriate definition of an MVP is someone who raises his game to another level when it matters most. How has David Wright done that?
* From Opening Day through August 31, David Wright hit .319, with a .413 on-base percentage and a .534 slugging percentage. In September, he's increased himself across the board by hitting at a rate of .333/.424/.654.
* From Opening Day through August 31, David Wright had 87 RBI, a pace that would have given him approximately 106 for the season. In September, Wright has 18 RBI in 20 games, a pace that if maintained for a full season, would give a hitter 146 RBI.
* From Opening Day through August 31, David Wright struck out a lot- 105 times, or about once every 4.7 at-bats. In September, he's struck out just 8 times, or once every 9.8 at-bats
* That gets me to my last point. One of the areas in which David Wright struggled earlier this season was his 2-strike hitting. It was the primary problem in a miserable April and something that he'd previously been good at, so you had to figure the necessary skill sets would return.
They dribbled in slowly, and by August 31, David Wright was hitting .188 this season with 2 strikes. In September, things changed, and perhaps the credit should go to Howard Johnson for reverting David Wright back to his old tactics. In the final month of the season, David Wright is 12-for-40 with a 2-strike count. That's a .300 batting average, and he should get bonus points for his hit in Sunday's victory. Perhaps, with the MVP voters, he will.
The truly Metvaluable know... That 3 of the Mets 7 walk-off RBI this season have come with 2-strike counts: Carlos Delgado's 3-2 walk against the Cubs on May 14, Delgado's 2-2 HR against the Giants on May 29, and Shawn Green's 3-2 HR against the Cardinals on June 25.
Please vote in my poll, located in upper right portion of the page!
-- Jerry Seinfeld to Kramer in an episode discussing some bit of minutiae
I do!! I do!! It's what we'll call Sunday's game-winning hit against the Marlins by the man with the Magic Number.
I've provided advertisements for David Wright's MVP candidacy in this space before, but after Sunday's victory, I feel the need to supplement some of that information.
I think the appropriate definition of an MVP is someone who raises his game to another level when it matters most. How has David Wright done that?
* From Opening Day through August 31, David Wright hit .319, with a .413 on-base percentage and a .534 slugging percentage. In September, he's increased himself across the board by hitting at a rate of .333/.424/.654.
* From Opening Day through August 31, David Wright had 87 RBI, a pace that would have given him approximately 106 for the season. In September, Wright has 18 RBI in 20 games, a pace that if maintained for a full season, would give a hitter 146 RBI.
* From Opening Day through August 31, David Wright struck out a lot- 105 times, or about once every 4.7 at-bats. In September, he's struck out just 8 times, or once every 9.8 at-bats
* That gets me to my last point. One of the areas in which David Wright struggled earlier this season was his 2-strike hitting. It was the primary problem in a miserable April and something that he'd previously been good at, so you had to figure the necessary skill sets would return.
They dribbled in slowly, and by August 31, David Wright was hitting .188 this season with 2 strikes. In September, things changed, and perhaps the credit should go to Howard Johnson for reverting David Wright back to his old tactics. In the final month of the season, David Wright is 12-for-40 with a 2-strike count. That's a .300 batting average, and he should get bonus points for his hit in Sunday's victory. Perhaps, with the MVP voters, he will.
The truly Metvaluable know... That 3 of the Mets 7 walk-off RBI this season have come with 2-strike counts: Carlos Delgado's 3-2 walk against the Cubs on May 14, Delgado's 2-2 HR against the Giants on May 29, and Shawn Green's 3-2 HR against the Cardinals on June 25.
Please vote in my poll, located in upper right portion of the page!
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
The 411 on Metskilledya
The post counter on my blogger page tells me that this is post #411 and I'll go with that, even though some of them consist of me merely saying "No post today, back tomorrow."
With that in mind, my goal today is to be as informative as I was in post #410, which I'd have to rank among my all-time favorites (maybe at 500, we'll do a "best of"). So today, rather than pay tribute to Mets killers, I'm going to borrow an idea from Jerry Seinfeld and do the opposite. It's my little tribute to his tv show (and George's gym teacher, Mr. Heyman) that I'm going to refer to the players I write about today as "Metskilledya."
Again, following the Q and A format, with mucho kudos to the Play Index section at Baseball-Reference.com
Who holds the record for longest "hitless" streak against the Mets?
Well, in order to do this, we have to adjust our criteria to suit what Baseball-Reference can handle, and as a result, there are several answers.
The most consecutive games without a hit, against the Mets (with at least 1 AB or SF per game) is 17. Dennis Martinez went 0-35 in a 17-game stretch from 1988 to 1993. Bill Hands was even worse, going 0-45 over 17 games from 1966 to 1970.
If we go the non-pitcher route, we're looking at Manny Sanguillen, who was 0-19 over a 15-game swing from 1979-80, but that includes time as a pinch-hitter and defensive replacement.
If we enforce the criteria that you had to start each game, the longest skein is 11 games, by shortstop Bobby Wine (0-26) from 1964 to 1965, one more than Mike Scioscia (0-32 over 10 starts in 1987-88) and Tommy Gregg (0-37 over 10 starts from 1989 to 1991).
Aren't you glad you asked?
Who holds the record for most consecutive STARTS without reaching base, against the Mets (non-pitchers)
The answer is two guys whose names I've never heard- Luis Gomez (1980) and the immortal Skip Jutze (1973-76)
Who, among non-pitchers has the longest streak of games, without a home run, against the Mets?
The answer is a former Met, Larry Bowa, who had none over 254 games from 1970 to 1985. That doesn't particularly appeal to me because he never hit home runs. Among credible home run hitters, the top two are basically Lou Brock (118 games, 1967 to 1974) and our favorite, Bill Buckner (78 games, 1970-1979).
Who, among non pitchers, has the longest streak of games with a strikeout, against the Mets?
Not surprisingly, the answer is former Met Andres Galarraga, who struck out in 19 straight games against them from 1988-1989. If we include pitchers, the answer becomes Wayne Twitchell and Bob Veale, who each had 21-game runs. Special kudos to current Met farmhand Fernando Tatis, who had a run of 19 straight starts with a whiff from 1998-2001.
Who had the most consecutive games of hitting into a double play against the Mets?
A twin killing deserves a twin "Metskilledya." John Kruk (1986-87) and Al Oliver (1969) share the honors, with four games apiece.
Who suffered a loss in the most consecutive games against the Mets?
Interestingly, the answer is a former Met, Pete Falcone, who lost 7 straight appearances against the Mets from 1976-1978, despite a respectable 4.04 ERA. Falcone finished his career an unremarkable 0-9 against the Mets, making him the patron saint among "Metskilledya" pitchers.
This question has a fun spinoff. If you make the query: Whose team suffered the most defeats in his consecutive appearances against the Mets (make sense?), the answer is poor Larry McWilliams. During one stretch of his career (1985-1988), McWilliams appeared in 16 games against the Mets, and his team dropped all 16. His name was McWilliams, not McLucky.
What team had the longest losing streak against the Mets?
The 1986-87 Pirates dropped 15 straight in one stretch, four worse than the 1969 Padres, but they got their revenge by hurting the Mets division title chances in the latter part of the 1987 season.
What team went the most games without a home run, against the Mets?
The 1991 Cardinals, reliant on speed more than power, won 8 of 12 games against the Mets in one span without going deep once, edging out the 1969-70 Phillies (11) by one game.
And just to appease those curious from Wednesday night's disaster...
True Metrezs know...The most walks by a Mets pitcher in a walk-off win is 8, by Rick Ownbey, against the Expos on September 21, 1982. Ron Gardenhire, yes the current Twins manager, bailed Ownbey out with a walk-off home run to give the Mets a 2-1 win.
With that in mind, my goal today is to be as informative as I was in post #410, which I'd have to rank among my all-time favorites (maybe at 500, we'll do a "best of"). So today, rather than pay tribute to Mets killers, I'm going to borrow an idea from Jerry Seinfeld and do the opposite. It's my little tribute to his tv show (and George's gym teacher, Mr. Heyman) that I'm going to refer to the players I write about today as "Metskilledya."
Again, following the Q and A format, with mucho kudos to the Play Index section at Baseball-Reference.com
Who holds the record for longest "hitless" streak against the Mets?
Well, in order to do this, we have to adjust our criteria to suit what Baseball-Reference can handle, and as a result, there are several answers.
The most consecutive games without a hit, against the Mets (with at least 1 AB or SF per game) is 17. Dennis Martinez went 0-35 in a 17-game stretch from 1988 to 1993. Bill Hands was even worse, going 0-45 over 17 games from 1966 to 1970.
If we go the non-pitcher route, we're looking at Manny Sanguillen, who was 0-19 over a 15-game swing from 1979-80, but that includes time as a pinch-hitter and defensive replacement.
If we enforce the criteria that you had to start each game, the longest skein is 11 games, by shortstop Bobby Wine (0-26) from 1964 to 1965, one more than Mike Scioscia (0-32 over 10 starts in 1987-88) and Tommy Gregg (0-37 over 10 starts from 1989 to 1991).
Aren't you glad you asked?
Who holds the record for most consecutive STARTS without reaching base, against the Mets (non-pitchers)
The answer is two guys whose names I've never heard- Luis Gomez (1980) and the immortal Skip Jutze (1973-76)
Who, among non-pitchers has the longest streak of games, without a home run, against the Mets?
The answer is a former Met, Larry Bowa, who had none over 254 games from 1970 to 1985. That doesn't particularly appeal to me because he never hit home runs. Among credible home run hitters, the top two are basically Lou Brock (118 games, 1967 to 1974) and our favorite, Bill Buckner (78 games, 1970-1979).
Who, among non pitchers, has the longest streak of games with a strikeout, against the Mets?
Not surprisingly, the answer is former Met Andres Galarraga, who struck out in 19 straight games against them from 1988-1989. If we include pitchers, the answer becomes Wayne Twitchell and Bob Veale, who each had 21-game runs. Special kudos to current Met farmhand Fernando Tatis, who had a run of 19 straight starts with a whiff from 1998-2001.
Who had the most consecutive games of hitting into a double play against the Mets?
A twin killing deserves a twin "Metskilledya." John Kruk (1986-87) and Al Oliver (1969) share the honors, with four games apiece.
Who suffered a loss in the most consecutive games against the Mets?
Interestingly, the answer is a former Met, Pete Falcone, who lost 7 straight appearances against the Mets from 1976-1978, despite a respectable 4.04 ERA. Falcone finished his career an unremarkable 0-9 against the Mets, making him the patron saint among "Metskilledya" pitchers.
This question has a fun spinoff. If you make the query: Whose team suffered the most defeats in his consecutive appearances against the Mets (make sense?), the answer is poor Larry McWilliams. During one stretch of his career (1985-1988), McWilliams appeared in 16 games against the Mets, and his team dropped all 16. His name was McWilliams, not McLucky.
What team had the longest losing streak against the Mets?
The 1986-87 Pirates dropped 15 straight in one stretch, four worse than the 1969 Padres, but they got their revenge by hurting the Mets division title chances in the latter part of the 1987 season.
What team went the most games without a home run, against the Mets?
The 1991 Cardinals, reliant on speed more than power, won 8 of 12 games against the Mets in one span without going deep once, edging out the 1969-70 Phillies (11) by one game.
And just to appease those curious from Wednesday night's disaster...
True Metrezs know...The most walks by a Mets pitcher in a walk-off win is 8, by Rick Ownbey, against the Expos on September 21, 1982. Ron Gardenhire, yes the current Twins manager, bailed Ownbey out with a walk-off home run to give the Mets a 2-1 win.
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
Name Dropping
I feel a little like Mulva/Gipple/Bovary/Dolores from Seinfeld right about now, but am greatly appreciative of Gary Cohen's on-air mention on Tuesday night. Yes, he erred ever so slightly on the blog name, but judging from the reaction of friends and family, it was a pretty thrilling mention nonetheless.
Speaking of forgotten names, I've got a neat one from past Metsdom for you: Hal Reniff. Remember him? Probably not. He lasted two months with the Mets in 1967 and though the overall numbers aren't particularly memorable, his pitching performance in his first three weeks is unrivaled in team history.
Reniff was claimed off waivers by the Mets from the Yankees on June 28 of that season. He toiled for the Bronx Bombers for parts of seven seasons and closed for them regularly in 1963, before the save was considered fashionable or statistical. He was an average pitcher for the most part, and apparently in 1967, when mediocrity reigned in the Bronx, he was deemed no longer useful.
Reniff's value to the Mets was immediate and significant. On July 1 he debuted with three scoreless innings, allowing the Mets to rally and beat the eventual world champion Cardinals, 6-4.
The next day was Reniff's 29th birthday and his best present came gift-wrapped in the form of a rather bizarre victory in Game 1 of a doubleheader against the Redbirds.
We'll skip ahead to avoid boring you with the details, other than to say that the Mets had rallied from a 4-2 seventh inning deficit to tie by the ninth inning, in which Reniff entered with two outs and two on, asked to get future St. Louis broadcaster Mike Shannon out. Reniff threw a wild pitch, advancing both runners into scoring position, but recovered to fan Shannon and send the game tied into the last of the ninth.
With one out, Bud Harrelson started the winning rally with a single. With Tommy Reynolds up, Harrelson tried to steal second. He did so successfully and advanced to third when the throw from the catcher went into centerfield. The Mets had some of their best hitters upcoming, so the Cardinals elected to have Nelson Briles continue pitching to Reynolds. The count went to 3-1 and the next pitch produced a rather unusual combination. It was low and away, too far away for the catcher to handle. The ball rolled away and Harrelson raced to the plate. Hal Reniff was a winner, thanks to a walk-off walk/wild pitch, the only one of its kind (that I've documented) in Mets history.
As for Reniff, his Metroduction set the standard for the likes of Duaner Sanchez. In his next nine outings (giving him a total of 11), Reniff was not charged with a run (he allowed one inherited baserunner to score). His scoreless stint reached 21 innings, the longest by any pitcher to begin his Mets career. Unfortunately, as good as Reniff was at the beginning, he couldn't make his success last and his career ended in rather unmemorable fashion. In fact, he was scored upon in each of his final four innings of the season (kind of an anti-streak) and his major-league baseball career ended when he was released at season's conclusion.
True Metiffs know...As I mentioned in the comments section for my last post, I've referenced three other walk-off wild pitches (out of the 10 total documented occurrences) in Mets history
http://metswalkoffs.blogspot.com/2005/09/i-want-my-turn-at-bat.html
http://metswalkoffs.blogspot.com/2005/11/walk-off-asterisk_113133903264154526.html
http://metswalkoffs.blogspot.com/2005/07/torre-story.html
Speaking of forgotten names, I've got a neat one from past Metsdom for you: Hal Reniff. Remember him? Probably not. He lasted two months with the Mets in 1967 and though the overall numbers aren't particularly memorable, his pitching performance in his first three weeks is unrivaled in team history.
Reniff was claimed off waivers by the Mets from the Yankees on June 28 of that season. He toiled for the Bronx Bombers for parts of seven seasons and closed for them regularly in 1963, before the save was considered fashionable or statistical. He was an average pitcher for the most part, and apparently in 1967, when mediocrity reigned in the Bronx, he was deemed no longer useful.
Reniff's value to the Mets was immediate and significant. On July 1 he debuted with three scoreless innings, allowing the Mets to rally and beat the eventual world champion Cardinals, 6-4.
The next day was Reniff's 29th birthday and his best present came gift-wrapped in the form of a rather bizarre victory in Game 1 of a doubleheader against the Redbirds.
We'll skip ahead to avoid boring you with the details, other than to say that the Mets had rallied from a 4-2 seventh inning deficit to tie by the ninth inning, in which Reniff entered with two outs and two on, asked to get future St. Louis broadcaster Mike Shannon out. Reniff threw a wild pitch, advancing both runners into scoring position, but recovered to fan Shannon and send the game tied into the last of the ninth.
With one out, Bud Harrelson started the winning rally with a single. With Tommy Reynolds up, Harrelson tried to steal second. He did so successfully and advanced to third when the throw from the catcher went into centerfield. The Mets had some of their best hitters upcoming, so the Cardinals elected to have Nelson Briles continue pitching to Reynolds. The count went to 3-1 and the next pitch produced a rather unusual combination. It was low and away, too far away for the catcher to handle. The ball rolled away and Harrelson raced to the plate. Hal Reniff was a winner, thanks to a walk-off walk/wild pitch, the only one of its kind (that I've documented) in Mets history.
As for Reniff, his Metroduction set the standard for the likes of Duaner Sanchez. In his next nine outings (giving him a total of 11), Reniff was not charged with a run (he allowed one inherited baserunner to score). His scoreless stint reached 21 innings, the longest by any pitcher to begin his Mets career. Unfortunately, as good as Reniff was at the beginning, he couldn't make his success last and his career ended in rather unmemorable fashion. In fact, he was scored upon in each of his final four innings of the season (kind of an anti-streak) and his major-league baseball career ended when he was released at season's conclusion.
True Metiffs know...As I mentioned in the comments section for my last post, I've referenced three other walk-off wild pitches (out of the 10 total documented occurrences) in Mets history
http://metswalkoffs.blogspot.com/2005/09/i-want-my-turn-at-bat.html
http://metswalkoffs.blogspot.com/2005/11/walk-off-asterisk_113133903264154526.html
http://metswalkoffs.blogspot.com/2005/07/torre-story.html
Friday, April 14, 2006
Dojo Domination
Elaine: Kramer!
Kramer: Oh, hey.
Elaine: What are you doing?
Kramer: Oh, well, I-I-I'm dominating.
Elaine: You never said you were fighting children.
Kramer: Well, it's not the size of the opponent, Elaine, it's, uh, the ferocity.
Seinfeld episode, original airdate, September 19, 1996. A scene in which Elaine visits Kramer's karate class.
The most dangerous team for a pennant contender is a last-place team because it can spoil many a hard-earned victory with a couple of cheap triumphs. We've referenced in print previously how the bottom-feeding Mets have served as super spoilers in seasons in which the end result has been less than impressive. We've seen some pretty good seasons (see 1998) wrecked by the actions of basement-dwellers.
One of the nice things about the first eight games for the Mets was their dominance over the teams they should beat, i.e. the "children" of the National League East. Gary Cohen said it on SNY after one of the first few games, that if the Mets really want to be a great team this season, that has to start by pounding on some of the lesser foes.
Looking back through past seasons, I can't recall many Mets teams that had the kind of success of which I speak, until I work my way back to the way the 1986 squad performed against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The 1986 Pirates were a young, rather mediocre group, a few years from contention, which explains the 64-98 record. They recalled one outfielder, a guy named Barry Bonds, in midseason. Another, a guy named Bobby Bonilla, also got a look-see, and was the team's final out that year (better known as Sid Fernandez's 200th K).
The Mets and Pirates clashed 18 times during the season. They met on Opening Day and they met on Closing Day, the perfect bookend to the Mets season. The Mets scored 99 runs in the 18 games. The Pirates tallied 45. The Mets won 17 times. The Pirates won but once.
The second meeting of the season took place on April 21, 1986. The Mets were ordinary, not extraordinary, at that point in the season, and entered with a 5-3 mark after a sweep of the Phillies. Pittsburgh was off to a hot start at 6-2, with six straight wins, not realizing what lay ahead.
This game is singled out on the 1986 highlight video, "A Year to Remember" as representing the turning point of Ray Knight's season because of what happened in the eighth inning, but through the first seven frames, the story of the game was Pirates pitcher Larry McWilliams. The crafty southpaw (who beat the Mets 10 times, more than he defeated any other franchise) carried a 4-2 lead into the eighth inning by outpitching Rick Aguilera. The only damage done was Gary Carter's game-tying two-run home run in the third.
In the eighth, rookie skipper Jim Leyland decided that McWilliams night was done and replaced him with Cecilio Guante. With two outs and nobody on, Guante walked George Foster, bringing Knight to the plate. On "A Year to Remember" Knight recalled that he expected Howard Johnson to be sent up as a pinch-hitter, but manager Davey Johnson decided to give Knight a chance against a tough righty. Knight rewarded that with a two-run game tying home run, for which he sprinted around the bases and gave a rousing curtain call. With the homer, Knight was hitting .391 with three long balls and seven RBI.
The Pirates were undaunted by the Mets comeback efforts and scratched out a run against Roger McDowell in the top of the ninth when Joe Orsulak's two out bunt scored Lee Mazzilli from third base.
So it was left to the Mets to rally from a 5-4 deficit in the last of the ninth and Lenny Dykstra led off the inning with a single ("like a good little leadoff man," wrote Jack Lang of the Daily News)against soft-tossing (but not crafty) southpaw Pat Clements. After Kevin Mitchell's successful sacrifice (the only time all season he did so), Tim Teufel tied the game with a double into the left field corner. Clements next walked Keith Hernandez, giving the Mets two on with one out for Gary Carter. Leyland, who probably stuck with Clements too long to begin with, finally pulled him to get a righty-righty matchup with Jim Winn.
Winn couldn't live up to his name. On a 1-0 pitch, Carter lashed a single to left. Teufel scored easily as Carter high-fived first-base coach Bill Robinson. That hit gave the Mets a win by a score that would become rather familiar in 1986, 6-5.
The carryover effect from this game lasted, if not overnight, than perhaps for the next 5 months. The Mets scored five runs in the first three innings the next day and cruised, behind Bob Ojeda, to a 7-1 victory. The five-game win streak stretched to 11 games after a four-game road sweep of the Cardinals and wins in two games over the Braves. The NL East race was effectively over before it began.
Bill Madden, in the collection of Daily News stories that documented the 1986 campaign referred to this particular walk-off win as "both a prelude and a microcosm of their entire postseason." Maybe that will help you understand why I picked the Seinfeld episode titled "The Foundation" (albeit a word that has multiple meanings) from which to quote at the beginning of todays entry.
True Metination know...Seven members of the 1986 Pirates played for the Mets at some point in their careers. They were Bill Almon, Bobby Bonilla, Barry Jones, Lee Mazzilli, Joe Orsulak, Junior Ortiz and Rich Sauveur.
Kramer: Oh, hey.
Elaine: What are you doing?
Kramer: Oh, well, I-I-I'm dominating.
Elaine: You never said you were fighting children.
Kramer: Well, it's not the size of the opponent, Elaine, it's, uh, the ferocity.
Seinfeld episode, original airdate, September 19, 1996. A scene in which Elaine visits Kramer's karate class.
The most dangerous team for a pennant contender is a last-place team because it can spoil many a hard-earned victory with a couple of cheap triumphs. We've referenced in print previously how the bottom-feeding Mets have served as super spoilers in seasons in which the end result has been less than impressive. We've seen some pretty good seasons (see 1998) wrecked by the actions of basement-dwellers.
One of the nice things about the first eight games for the Mets was their dominance over the teams they should beat, i.e. the "children" of the National League East. Gary Cohen said it on SNY after one of the first few games, that if the Mets really want to be a great team this season, that has to start by pounding on some of the lesser foes.
Looking back through past seasons, I can't recall many Mets teams that had the kind of success of which I speak, until I work my way back to the way the 1986 squad performed against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The 1986 Pirates were a young, rather mediocre group, a few years from contention, which explains the 64-98 record. They recalled one outfielder, a guy named Barry Bonds, in midseason. Another, a guy named Bobby Bonilla, also got a look-see, and was the team's final out that year (better known as Sid Fernandez's 200th K).
The Mets and Pirates clashed 18 times during the season. They met on Opening Day and they met on Closing Day, the perfect bookend to the Mets season. The Mets scored 99 runs in the 18 games. The Pirates tallied 45. The Mets won 17 times. The Pirates won but once.
The second meeting of the season took place on April 21, 1986. The Mets were ordinary, not extraordinary, at that point in the season, and entered with a 5-3 mark after a sweep of the Phillies. Pittsburgh was off to a hot start at 6-2, with six straight wins, not realizing what lay ahead.
This game is singled out on the 1986 highlight video, "A Year to Remember" as representing the turning point of Ray Knight's season because of what happened in the eighth inning, but through the first seven frames, the story of the game was Pirates pitcher Larry McWilliams. The crafty southpaw (who beat the Mets 10 times, more than he defeated any other franchise) carried a 4-2 lead into the eighth inning by outpitching Rick Aguilera. The only damage done was Gary Carter's game-tying two-run home run in the third.
In the eighth, rookie skipper Jim Leyland decided that McWilliams night was done and replaced him with Cecilio Guante. With two outs and nobody on, Guante walked George Foster, bringing Knight to the plate. On "A Year to Remember" Knight recalled that he expected Howard Johnson to be sent up as a pinch-hitter, but manager Davey Johnson decided to give Knight a chance against a tough righty. Knight rewarded that with a two-run game tying home run, for which he sprinted around the bases and gave a rousing curtain call. With the homer, Knight was hitting .391 with three long balls and seven RBI.
The Pirates were undaunted by the Mets comeback efforts and scratched out a run against Roger McDowell in the top of the ninth when Joe Orsulak's two out bunt scored Lee Mazzilli from third base.
So it was left to the Mets to rally from a 5-4 deficit in the last of the ninth and Lenny Dykstra led off the inning with a single ("like a good little leadoff man," wrote Jack Lang of the Daily News)against soft-tossing (but not crafty) southpaw Pat Clements. After Kevin Mitchell's successful sacrifice (the only time all season he did so), Tim Teufel tied the game with a double into the left field corner. Clements next walked Keith Hernandez, giving the Mets two on with one out for Gary Carter. Leyland, who probably stuck with Clements too long to begin with, finally pulled him to get a righty-righty matchup with Jim Winn.
Winn couldn't live up to his name. On a 1-0 pitch, Carter lashed a single to left. Teufel scored easily as Carter high-fived first-base coach Bill Robinson. That hit gave the Mets a win by a score that would become rather familiar in 1986, 6-5.
The carryover effect from this game lasted, if not overnight, than perhaps for the next 5 months. The Mets scored five runs in the first three innings the next day and cruised, behind Bob Ojeda, to a 7-1 victory. The five-game win streak stretched to 11 games after a four-game road sweep of the Cardinals and wins in two games over the Braves. The NL East race was effectively over before it began.
Bill Madden, in the collection of Daily News stories that documented the 1986 campaign referred to this particular walk-off win as "both a prelude and a microcosm of their entire postseason." Maybe that will help you understand why I picked the Seinfeld episode titled "The Foundation" (albeit a word that has multiple meanings) from which to quote at the beginning of todays entry.
True Metination know...Seven members of the 1986 Pirates played for the Mets at some point in their careers. They were Bill Almon, Bobby Bonilla, Barry Jones, Lee Mazzilli, Joe Orsulak, Junior Ortiz and Rich Sauveur.
Friday, December 30, 2005
Heave-Ho
Warning: This story may gross you out at the conclusion. Consider yourself warned.
My vomit streak may not rival that of Jerry Seinfeld's, but I mark the last day I upchucked as a significant one in my history as a football fan.
On December 29, 2002 the Jets were in the final week of a multi-team AFC playoff mishmash involving the Patriots, Dolphins and Cleveland Browns, one caused by an awful loss against the Bears a few weeks earlier. The Jets were facing the Packers at the Meadowlands at 4pm but needed the right combination of results at 1pm to set up a scenario by which beating Green Bay would mean a postseason spot. It had been an exciting, up-and-down season, one in which Chad Pennington made his first impact on the New York sports scene, taking over as the team's starting quarterback early in the season and leading them to several impressive wins. My dad and I had gone to the Meadowlands a couple of times that season and he suggested we make another trip. I resisted, partly because while football games provide a fun atmosphere, they're not necessarily better to view in person.
"I think this will play out better if we watch it on tv," I told him.
Around noonish, I went across the street from my apartment for lunch at a pizza place. For some reason, rather than get a couple of slices, I ordered a chicken parm hero and washed it down with a bottle of Orange Gatorade. It was not a good mixture.
Basically the Jets needed either the Browns to lose to the Falcons, or the Dolphins to lose to the Patriots to render their game meaningful and those two games caused their share of gastric distress on their own.
The Browns led 10-0, trailed 16-10, then went ahead in the fourth quarter and cemented their lead with just under four minutes to play when William Green's touchdown run put them in front 24-16.
Meanwhile, the Dolphins were dominating. Ricky Williams, who rushed for 185 yards, ran for two first-half scores and Miami's lead was rather comfy at 14-0, 21-10, and 24-13 with just under five minutes to play.
Now with my health issues gradually worsening, I decided that desperate times called for desperate actions. I gathered myself together, grabbed the remote control and moved, from my computer desk to an area maybe 18 inches from my television set and stretched out. It was time to invoke the power of "The Spot."
I wrote a lengthy essay on this after the fact (I've also seen articles on the subject by Bill Simmons), but to summarize, "The Spot" can be defined as the place that a sportsfan rests or contorts his/her body to bring good luck to a team. There is limited movement allowed, except in cases of emergency. Being in the spot requires maximum concentration and positive energy. The location varies from house to house and moment to moment, but a true fan has an intuitive sense as to where it should be at a particular time. In this case, it was lying down 18 inches from my TV.
I don't have an exact timeline of the events of the day, but as I recall it went something like this.
The Falcons drove the ball to Cleveland's four-yard line with less than two minutes remaining. The Patriots started a drive as well, but were still two scores behind, so I harnessed my energy towards Cleveland.
Warrick Dunn rushed for three yards on first down (So far so good), so it seemed reasonable that with three shots, Atlanta would score and get a two-point conversion chance. Dunn got stopped at the line of scrimmage on second down (OK, I can live with that, more positive vibes coming), then stopped again at the line of scrimmage on third down (uh-oh), and then, amazingly stopped again at the line of scrimmage on fourth down (negative energy overflow causes stomach to churn violently). Browns win. This spot was batting .000, a sign that you're supposed to try another. The Jets options rested in Miami. My options rested 18 inches from the TV, as I was feeling both sportingly ill and humanly sick.
(switch to New England-Miami telecast)
The good news was that the Patriots drive was a successful one. Tom Brady threw a touchdown pass to Troy Brown, the two-point conversion was successful, so the Patriots trailed by only three points with 2:46 to play.
I'd like to think at this point that the power of my spot, combined with those of other Jets fans, sitting in their apartment, took over at this point, because the Dolphins went into all-time brainlock mode. First they misjudged New England's intentions on the kickoff, and Travis Minor watched a deep kick die down shy of the end zone. Travis Minor fielded it and got pummeled on his own four-yard line. Then, Dave Wannstedt decided that rather than hand the ball to Williams, who could have all but ended the game with a nice run or two, that the Dolphins would throw the ball. Two incompletions and a short quarterback run later, Miami was forced to punt and their subsequent kick was horrendous. New England got the ball back at the Dolphins 34. They barely had to move to get in field goal range and Adam Vinatieri was clutch, hitting from 43 yards out to tie the game with 1:09 left. The Dolphins conceded on their next possession, setting up overtime, which began right around the same time the Jets and Packers kicked off from the Meadowlands.
At this point, I'm ignoring every IM chime and focusing completely on the coin toss, fully believing in the value of "The Spot." If ever a game was won by a coin toss, it was this one. As soon as the coin landed, Tom Brady pumped his fist, and it was as if the Dolphins captains had just had their "deflate" button pushed. The Patriots got great field position when Miami's kickoff went out of bounds, and took advantage. A 20-yard pass from Brady to Kevin Faulk set up Vinatieri. This time his kic was true from 35 yards away and the Patriots had a miraculous walk-off victory. "The Spot" had worked its magic and now could safely be vacated, both as part of the ritual and for the good of my health.
(switch immediately to Jets telecast)
I have three really significant recollections of the Jets-Packers game that afternoon
1- The first words from FOX announcer Dick Stockton over a montage of pictures of Woody Johnson and other fans celebrating New England's win: "And now the Jets have everything to play for..."
2- The Jets could do no wrong in this game. Sometimes you just know that your team is going to win, kind of like how you know when you've picked out the best place for "The Spot." I've spoken to a lot of Mets fans who knew that the Mets were going to win Game 7 of the World Series. Once the Patriots beat the Dolphins, it was like a giant whoosh had come along and sprinkled victory dust along the members of Gang Green. Pennington threw for four touchdowns, two to Chrebet. Curtis Martin and LaMont Jordan each ran for a score. The defense played a near-perfect game, holding Brett Favre in check, other than one moment at the end of the first half in which a laser-like pass went for a touchdown.
3- At some point in the first quarter, I heaved, and gakked the chicken parm and Gatorade into a toilet bowl (sorry to gross you out, but I try to do so tastefully, and as part of the story). It was pretty awful. I've had two bad cases of food poisoning, one about seven or eight years ago, after eating some appetizers that had been sitting out on a tray at work for several hours, and this instance, which coincided with a case of pigskin hysteria. I watched most of this game between coughs, sniffles and gags, though I do recall making a trip to Wendy's for a baked potato (kids, don't try this at home). I did my best to disguise my woes. In fact, I don't think my parents ever became aware of it (until reading this entry).
The good news was that my suffering was not long-term and that since, I haven't had any such recurrences (I have limited my chicken parm and Gatorade intake). By Monday, I was fine and dandy, as were the Jets, who had a home playoff date with the Colts and the AFC East division title.
True Metchuck's know...Jerry Seinfeld's vomit streak is referenced in two episodes of his tv show- "The Masseuse" and "The Dinner Party." Seinfeld had one streak of eight years and another of more than 13. He notes that he threw up on June 29, 1972 and June 29, 1980 (exactly eight years apart, both on dates of Mets losses), and then after eating a stale black and white cookie in "The Dinner Party" (air date February 3, 1994) his streak comes to an inglorious end
My vomit streak may not rival that of Jerry Seinfeld's, but I mark the last day I upchucked as a significant one in my history as a football fan.
On December 29, 2002 the Jets were in the final week of a multi-team AFC playoff mishmash involving the Patriots, Dolphins and Cleveland Browns, one caused by an awful loss against the Bears a few weeks earlier. The Jets were facing the Packers at the Meadowlands at 4pm but needed the right combination of results at 1pm to set up a scenario by which beating Green Bay would mean a postseason spot. It had been an exciting, up-and-down season, one in which Chad Pennington made his first impact on the New York sports scene, taking over as the team's starting quarterback early in the season and leading them to several impressive wins. My dad and I had gone to the Meadowlands a couple of times that season and he suggested we make another trip. I resisted, partly because while football games provide a fun atmosphere, they're not necessarily better to view in person.
"I think this will play out better if we watch it on tv," I told him.
Around noonish, I went across the street from my apartment for lunch at a pizza place. For some reason, rather than get a couple of slices, I ordered a chicken parm hero and washed it down with a bottle of Orange Gatorade. It was not a good mixture.
Basically the Jets needed either the Browns to lose to the Falcons, or the Dolphins to lose to the Patriots to render their game meaningful and those two games caused their share of gastric distress on their own.
The Browns led 10-0, trailed 16-10, then went ahead in the fourth quarter and cemented their lead with just under four minutes to play when William Green's touchdown run put them in front 24-16.
Meanwhile, the Dolphins were dominating. Ricky Williams, who rushed for 185 yards, ran for two first-half scores and Miami's lead was rather comfy at 14-0, 21-10, and 24-13 with just under five minutes to play.
Now with my health issues gradually worsening, I decided that desperate times called for desperate actions. I gathered myself together, grabbed the remote control and moved, from my computer desk to an area maybe 18 inches from my television set and stretched out. It was time to invoke the power of "The Spot."
I wrote a lengthy essay on this after the fact (I've also seen articles on the subject by Bill Simmons), but to summarize, "The Spot" can be defined as the place that a sportsfan rests or contorts his/her body to bring good luck to a team. There is limited movement allowed, except in cases of emergency. Being in the spot requires maximum concentration and positive energy. The location varies from house to house and moment to moment, but a true fan has an intuitive sense as to where it should be at a particular time. In this case, it was lying down 18 inches from my TV.
I don't have an exact timeline of the events of the day, but as I recall it went something like this.
The Falcons drove the ball to Cleveland's four-yard line with less than two minutes remaining. The Patriots started a drive as well, but were still two scores behind, so I harnessed my energy towards Cleveland.
Warrick Dunn rushed for three yards on first down (So far so good), so it seemed reasonable that with three shots, Atlanta would score and get a two-point conversion chance. Dunn got stopped at the line of scrimmage on second down (OK, I can live with that, more positive vibes coming), then stopped again at the line of scrimmage on third down (uh-oh), and then, amazingly stopped again at the line of scrimmage on fourth down (negative energy overflow causes stomach to churn violently). Browns win. This spot was batting .000, a sign that you're supposed to try another. The Jets options rested in Miami. My options rested 18 inches from the TV, as I was feeling both sportingly ill and humanly sick.
(switch to New England-Miami telecast)
The good news was that the Patriots drive was a successful one. Tom Brady threw a touchdown pass to Troy Brown, the two-point conversion was successful, so the Patriots trailed by only three points with 2:46 to play.
I'd like to think at this point that the power of my spot, combined with those of other Jets fans, sitting in their apartment, took over at this point, because the Dolphins went into all-time brainlock mode. First they misjudged New England's intentions on the kickoff, and Travis Minor watched a deep kick die down shy of the end zone. Travis Minor fielded it and got pummeled on his own four-yard line. Then, Dave Wannstedt decided that rather than hand the ball to Williams, who could have all but ended the game with a nice run or two, that the Dolphins would throw the ball. Two incompletions and a short quarterback run later, Miami was forced to punt and their subsequent kick was horrendous. New England got the ball back at the Dolphins 34. They barely had to move to get in field goal range and Adam Vinatieri was clutch, hitting from 43 yards out to tie the game with 1:09 left. The Dolphins conceded on their next possession, setting up overtime, which began right around the same time the Jets and Packers kicked off from the Meadowlands.
At this point, I'm ignoring every IM chime and focusing completely on the coin toss, fully believing in the value of "The Spot." If ever a game was won by a coin toss, it was this one. As soon as the coin landed, Tom Brady pumped his fist, and it was as if the Dolphins captains had just had their "deflate" button pushed. The Patriots got great field position when Miami's kickoff went out of bounds, and took advantage. A 20-yard pass from Brady to Kevin Faulk set up Vinatieri. This time his kic was true from 35 yards away and the Patriots had a miraculous walk-off victory. "The Spot" had worked its magic and now could safely be vacated, both as part of the ritual and for the good of my health.
(switch immediately to Jets telecast)
I have three really significant recollections of the Jets-Packers game that afternoon
1- The first words from FOX announcer Dick Stockton over a montage of pictures of Woody Johnson and other fans celebrating New England's win: "And now the Jets have everything to play for..."
2- The Jets could do no wrong in this game. Sometimes you just know that your team is going to win, kind of like how you know when you've picked out the best place for "The Spot." I've spoken to a lot of Mets fans who knew that the Mets were going to win Game 7 of the World Series. Once the Patriots beat the Dolphins, it was like a giant whoosh had come along and sprinkled victory dust along the members of Gang Green. Pennington threw for four touchdowns, two to Chrebet. Curtis Martin and LaMont Jordan each ran for a score. The defense played a near-perfect game, holding Brett Favre in check, other than one moment at the end of the first half in which a laser-like pass went for a touchdown.
3- At some point in the first quarter, I heaved, and gakked the chicken parm and Gatorade into a toilet bowl (sorry to gross you out, but I try to do so tastefully, and as part of the story). It was pretty awful. I've had two bad cases of food poisoning, one about seven or eight years ago, after eating some appetizers that had been sitting out on a tray at work for several hours, and this instance, which coincided with a case of pigskin hysteria. I watched most of this game between coughs, sniffles and gags, though I do recall making a trip to Wendy's for a baked potato (kids, don't try this at home). I did my best to disguise my woes. In fact, I don't think my parents ever became aware of it (until reading this entry).
The good news was that my suffering was not long-term and that since, I haven't had any such recurrences (I have limited my chicken parm and Gatorade intake). By Monday, I was fine and dandy, as were the Jets, who had a home playoff date with the Colts and the AFC East division title.
True Metchuck's know...Jerry Seinfeld's vomit streak is referenced in two episodes of his tv show- "The Masseuse" and "The Dinner Party." Seinfeld had one streak of eight years and another of more than 13. He notes that he threw up on June 29, 1972 and June 29, 1980 (exactly eight years apart, both on dates of Mets losses), and then after eating a stale black and white cookie in "The Dinner Party" (air date February 3, 1994) his streak comes to an inglorious end
Sunday, November 06, 2005
Walk-Off Asterisk
To borrow a little humor from the Shakespearian work, Seinfeld, I find the asterisk (aka "*") to be the pinky toe of symbols. It's one of those things that doesn't really have a significant use, but should be appreciated for its existence.
The role of the asterisk has been of value to some, so say the folks at Wikipedia. I have put it to use as a substitute for inappropriate language within my writing ("f**k" reads better than "bleep.") but it also has other uses in linguistics, mathematics, as well as the sport of cricket.
Baseball's usage of the "*" is an old-wives tale, one greatly exaggerated over time. When Roger Maris pursued Babe Ruth's home run record in 1961, than commissioner Ford Frick ruled that unless the record were broken within 154 games (as baseball formerly played a 154-game schedule), it should be listed separately within record books. Historians have noted that it is a myth that Frick requested that Maris's record be marked with an * and newspaper stories have served the purpose of embellishing Frick's request.
I'm here to bring back the *, at least as it relates to Mets walk-off wins, as there is one game in the history of the franchise that requires scrutiny. I'm referring to September 26, 1995.
It was a murky, rainy night at Shea Stadium. Newspaper writers would later state the game between the Mets and Reds probably should not have been played, but the two teams sloshed through. Mets rookie Jason Isringhausen, in search of his seventh straight win, and Red pitcher Mark Portugal each yielded only one run to their opponents through the first five-and-a-half innings.
Reds manager Davey Johnson, frustrated with the playing conditions, removed a couple of his regulars midway through the game and brought Tim Pugh in to relieve Portugal in the last of the sixth.
Pugh had a lot of trouble gripping the baseball. Jose Vizcaino led off the inning with a single and went to second when Pugh walked Carl Everett. That brought up Jeff Kent and Pugh made matters worse by balking the runners to second and third. With the count 2-2, Pugh chucked a wild pitch, behind Kent's head, past catcher Benito Santiago and all the way to the backstop. Vizcaino scored to give the Mets a 2-1 lead.
Johnson and his coaching staff were quite irked at the way things had gone. One of his coaches, ex-Met Ray Knight, got ejected from the game after voicing his displeasure too loudy. After an argument with the umpiring crew, Johnson got his wish. The tarp was placed on the field. After a rain delay of nearly 90 minutes, the game was called. The Mets had a rather odd 2-1 win. Johnson filed a protest regarding the outcome but the ruling was that the result would stand.
Some of those scoring at home would say that this game is a walk-off win, since the final play of the contest was a wild pitch that produced the deciding run. Naysayers would argue that the contest concluded due to an umpiring decision and thus should be ruled a "rain-off" rather than a walk-off.
I consulted with a sports statistics expert on the matter and he remained neutral. He was of the opinion that it was not a walk-off, but since there are no rules governing such decisions (walk-offs are not an official statistic), I was free to decide however I chose. I take the responsibility of setting an example for future generations to follow very seriously.
It is an interesting philosophical discussion as to what makes a walk-off win. I have pondered the issue for days, much like Peppermint Patty did in the Peanuts comic strip when trying to answer the question "How many angels can fit on the head of a pin?"
I have decided to include this contest within my database, but have marked it with an * to note that there is controversy surrounding the decision. It is also a tribute to Johnson who undoubtedly got a nice stream of profanities within his conversation with the umpiring crew.
True Metkerisks know...Roger Maris hit .245 with 3 home runs and 9 RBIs (none of the walk-off variety) in 30 career games against the Mets.
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
I Want My Turn At Bat
I can remember a game from my disastrous final season of Little League in which we trailed by 10 runs or so in the final inning. With two outs, I was on deck,with a runner on third and two outs. The opposing pitcher threw one that was slightly askew, but our baserunner wasn't quick enough scampering down the line, and was thrown out at the plate to end the game. It wasn't a smart play at the time, but our team wasn't exactly known for it's baseball intellect.
It isn't so much the ridiculousness of the play I remember, but the reaction on the face of the batter to what happened.
"Man," he said to his mom and dad. "They didn't even give me a chance to hit."
It would be about a dozen years later that I'd see that look again, only this time, it came from a New York Met.
There was no doubt that the Mets were going to win the 162nd game of the 1999 season to either win the wild card, or set up a one game playoff against the Cincinnati Reds. Well actually, there was a lot of doubt, especially considering that the Simon men were going to be at the game. To that point, my dad and I had a history of attendance at bad Mets moments (homers by Cedeno, Pendleton and Scioscia among them), and I had just spread some negative karma a week prior, attending a game in Philadelphia. That Sunday, with the Mets trailing by a run, I had last-out clairvoyance, predicting that "The Mets will load the bases and not score." When Rickey Henderson hit into a game-ending double play with the bags drunk, my traveling companion Barry Federovitch, was ready to assault me. It got worse on the car ride home when we learned that Pokey Reese hit a walk-off home run for the Reds.
The Mets had won the previous two days and were helped by the Brewers, who beat the Reds twice to even the wild card race. Sunday's pitching matchup featured veteran Orel Hershiser for the Mets and future-Met Kris Benson for the Pirates. The PA system played "Baby I'm Ready to Go" for Hershiser's warmups, but it was the Pirates who scored first. Benson nursed a 1-0 lead into the fourth before the Mets tied it on Darryl Hamilton's RBI double.
Hershiser was terrific for 5 1/3 innings, allowing only one run and two hits. The parade of relievers that followed were also up for the challenge provided that day by Benson, who scattered just seven hits and that lone run over seven excellent innings.
The score remained even after Armando Benitez got the final out of the ninth inning and the Mets came to bat against their former farmhand, Greg Hansell. With one out, Melvin Mora singled and Edgardo Alfonzo advanced him to third base by singling him to right field. With John Olerud up next, Pirates manager Gene Lamont called for an intentional walk, figuring he had a better chance to retire Mike Piazza, who was 0-for-4 in the game, and who had a tendency to beat certain pitches into the ground for easy double plays.
Another former Met entered the game in submarine-style pitcher Brad Clontz, whose Flushing tenure lasted a mere two games in 1998. Bizarre conspiracy theorists may suggest that Clontz wanted to help out his former club, but he insisted after the game that his only desire was to get Piazzza out.
Clontz's first pitch barely made it two-thirds of the way to the plate. It skidded away from catcher Joe Oliver all the way to the backstop. Mora raced home with the winning run. It was a great moment in the history of the New York Mets. Though they were not assured of any playoff fate (rain in Milwaukee delayed the Reds-Brewers finale) for six hours, the Mets were assured of having forced a one-game playoff at worst and clinched the wild card at best. That was unbelievable, considering that on Friday they were two games back with three to play in what looked to be another season of bitter disappointment.
The best way to describe Piazza's reaction to the events that unfolded would be to use the words that the doctor used, testifying at the trial of Massachusetts vs Seinfeld, Costanza, Benes, and Kramer.
Restrained jubilation.
Piazza was no doubt elated that the Mets had won, but the look on his face said, "Man, I wanted to be the one to win this thing."
I hold no grudge against Piazza for wanting to bat in that ninth inning spot. This was the situation for which he was brought to Shea Stadium, to hit the Mets into the postseason. This was going to be his magic moment. He, like the batter in my Little League game, wanted his chance to make something special happen.
The good news for Piazza was that there were still plenty of special Mets moments to come.
True Metazza know...The Mets have had 10 walk-off wins in which the game ended on a wild pitch (there's an asterisk here, but I'll explain it another time). The last such game was this one, on October 3, 1999.
It isn't so much the ridiculousness of the play I remember, but the reaction on the face of the batter to what happened.
"Man," he said to his mom and dad. "They didn't even give me a chance to hit."
It would be about a dozen years later that I'd see that look again, only this time, it came from a New York Met.
There was no doubt that the Mets were going to win the 162nd game of the 1999 season to either win the wild card, or set up a one game playoff against the Cincinnati Reds. Well actually, there was a lot of doubt, especially considering that the Simon men were going to be at the game. To that point, my dad and I had a history of attendance at bad Mets moments (homers by Cedeno, Pendleton and Scioscia among them), and I had just spread some negative karma a week prior, attending a game in Philadelphia. That Sunday, with the Mets trailing by a run, I had last-out clairvoyance, predicting that "The Mets will load the bases and not score." When Rickey Henderson hit into a game-ending double play with the bags drunk, my traveling companion Barry Federovitch, was ready to assault me. It got worse on the car ride home when we learned that Pokey Reese hit a walk-off home run for the Reds.
The Mets had won the previous two days and were helped by the Brewers, who beat the Reds twice to even the wild card race. Sunday's pitching matchup featured veteran Orel Hershiser for the Mets and future-Met Kris Benson for the Pirates. The PA system played "Baby I'm Ready to Go" for Hershiser's warmups, but it was the Pirates who scored first. Benson nursed a 1-0 lead into the fourth before the Mets tied it on Darryl Hamilton's RBI double.
Hershiser was terrific for 5 1/3 innings, allowing only one run and two hits. The parade of relievers that followed were also up for the challenge provided that day by Benson, who scattered just seven hits and that lone run over seven excellent innings.
The score remained even after Armando Benitez got the final out of the ninth inning and the Mets came to bat against their former farmhand, Greg Hansell. With one out, Melvin Mora singled and Edgardo Alfonzo advanced him to third base by singling him to right field. With John Olerud up next, Pirates manager Gene Lamont called for an intentional walk, figuring he had a better chance to retire Mike Piazza, who was 0-for-4 in the game, and who had a tendency to beat certain pitches into the ground for easy double plays.
Another former Met entered the game in submarine-style pitcher Brad Clontz, whose Flushing tenure lasted a mere two games in 1998. Bizarre conspiracy theorists may suggest that Clontz wanted to help out his former club, but he insisted after the game that his only desire was to get Piazzza out.
Clontz's first pitch barely made it two-thirds of the way to the plate. It skidded away from catcher Joe Oliver all the way to the backstop. Mora raced home with the winning run. It was a great moment in the history of the New York Mets. Though they were not assured of any playoff fate (rain in Milwaukee delayed the Reds-Brewers finale) for six hours, the Mets were assured of having forced a one-game playoff at worst and clinched the wild card at best. That was unbelievable, considering that on Friday they were two games back with three to play in what looked to be another season of bitter disappointment.
The best way to describe Piazza's reaction to the events that unfolded would be to use the words that the doctor used, testifying at the trial of Massachusetts vs Seinfeld, Costanza, Benes, and Kramer.
Restrained jubilation.
Piazza was no doubt elated that the Mets had won, but the look on his face said, "Man, I wanted to be the one to win this thing."
I hold no grudge against Piazza for wanting to bat in that ninth inning spot. This was the situation for which he was brought to Shea Stadium, to hit the Mets into the postseason. This was going to be his magic moment. He, like the batter in my Little League game, wanted his chance to make something special happen.
The good news for Piazza was that there were still plenty of special Mets moments to come.
True Metazza know...The Mets have had 10 walk-off wins in which the game ended on a wild pitch (there's an asterisk here, but I'll explain it another time). The last such game was this one, on October 3, 1999.
Thursday, September 15, 2005
Jerry and the Mets
"You can't win. You can't beat me. That's why I'm here and you're there. Because I'm a winner. I'll always be a winner and you'll always be a loser."
I harken back to television again, since it's Emmy weekend and reference a line from an episode of the best written television show of all-time, Seinfeld (aptly titled "The Revenge"), because it was one of the first things I thought of after the Braves swept the Mets out of Atlanta, effectively ending the Summer of False Hope. Watching some of the camera shots of the Braves in the ninth and 10th inning of the series finale, you almost got the impression that some of the players were mocking the Mets, laughing like George Costanza's boss, Mr. Levitan when George tried to slip back into work after quitting in anger a week before.
It was pretty evident that the 1995 season wasn't going to be worth the wait for the New York Mets, particularly the way Opening Day ended, with Dante Bichette knocking a ball out of Coors Field and the Mets blowing leads in the ninth, 13th, and 14th innings. Ten games into the season the Mets blew an 11-4 eighth-inning lead to the Reds, losing on a walk-off knock by Jerome Walton. At that point, a lot of fans of the Flushing 9 were probably wishing that the players and owners had never agreed to resolve the differences that led to the abrupt conclusion of play in 1994.
On August 5, the Mets were dead last 35-57 and 13 games out of second place when something rather odd happened. The inept Mets, who cleared out some dead wood by trading Bret Saberhagen (to the Rockies) and Bobby Bonilla (to the Orioles) at the deal deadline, suddenly morphed into the unbeatables. The games didn't matter much at all, but some of the kids were pretty good, particularly rookie Jason Isringhausen, who went 9-2 with a 2.81 ERA.
This brings us to the final weekend, in which the Mets found themselves playing for something (second place) after sweeping NL Central champ Cincinnati and the Braves were sleepwalking to the finish in preparation for their one postseason of triumph. Still, it is the Mets and the Braves and any time you can talk about the Mets having an opportunity to mock back, you take it.
The Mets won both on Friday and Saturday, setting up a Sunday finale between Isringhausen and the abbreviated five-inning effort from Smoltz. Isringhausen was terrific, pitching eight innings of four-hit ball. The game was prolonged by Braves skipper Bobby Cox, who trotted out reliever after reliever for a few batters at a time (though Jung Bong, utilized in one season finale weekend to mock the marijuana puffing-photo of Grant Roberts was nowehre to be found, yet) for the necessary tune-up. Neither team scored through the first 10 1/2 frames and it seemed neither team was in any rush for the game to end.
The Mets loaded the bases with no one out in the 11th inning, but Jose Vizcaino nearly killed that rally with a double play. The bases were reloaded after Brad Woodall walked Carl Everett, but it looked like the game would continue for a few more hours when Tim Bogar fell behind 0-2. Woodall missed with ball one, ball two and ball three and by that time, the crowd was stomping and screaming and treating this game as if it was really important. Ball four came next and the crowd that was left responded with a Seinfeldian touch of unbridled enthusiasm as the players threw their caps into the stands as souvenirs.
That was a good way to end a pretty mediocre season. From the reaction of the crowd, you would have never know that it wasn't really that impressive of a season (though the Mets finished tied for second at 69-75). The good thing about the 1995 Mets was that they knew when to get off the stage, with a six-game win streak that matched the best that season. It's appropriate then that we reference another line from Seinfeld (The episode titled "The Burning") when Jerry explains to George how he should react in work-related meetings when he delivers a well-timed one-liner. It was a metaphor for Seinfeld, the television show as well. Jerry knows television, and he knows baseball (and he roots for the Mets!) and he sums it up perfectly with an indirect endorsement for this website.
"When you hit that high note, you say good night, and walk off."
True Metfelds know...The Mets have three walk-off walks against the Braves. The team against which they have the most walk-off walks is the Giants, with four.
PS: Check back this weekend. We'll have at least one Emmy-related walk-off story posting
I harken back to television again, since it's Emmy weekend and reference a line from an episode of the best written television show of all-time, Seinfeld (aptly titled "The Revenge"), because it was one of the first things I thought of after the Braves swept the Mets out of Atlanta, effectively ending the Summer of False Hope. Watching some of the camera shots of the Braves in the ninth and 10th inning of the series finale, you almost got the impression that some of the players were mocking the Mets, laughing like George Costanza's boss, Mr. Levitan when George tried to slip back into work after quitting in anger a week before.
It was pretty evident that the 1995 season wasn't going to be worth the wait for the New York Mets, particularly the way Opening Day ended, with Dante Bichette knocking a ball out of Coors Field and the Mets blowing leads in the ninth, 13th, and 14th innings. Ten games into the season the Mets blew an 11-4 eighth-inning lead to the Reds, losing on a walk-off knock by Jerome Walton. At that point, a lot of fans of the Flushing 9 were probably wishing that the players and owners had never agreed to resolve the differences that led to the abrupt conclusion of play in 1994.
On August 5, the Mets were dead last 35-57 and 13 games out of second place when something rather odd happened. The inept Mets, who cleared out some dead wood by trading Bret Saberhagen (to the Rockies) and Bobby Bonilla (to the Orioles) at the deal deadline, suddenly morphed into the unbeatables. The games didn't matter much at all, but some of the kids were pretty good, particularly rookie Jason Isringhausen, who went 9-2 with a 2.81 ERA.
This brings us to the final weekend, in which the Mets found themselves playing for something (second place) after sweeping NL Central champ Cincinnati and the Braves were sleepwalking to the finish in preparation for their one postseason of triumph. Still, it is the Mets and the Braves and any time you can talk about the Mets having an opportunity to mock back, you take it.
The Mets won both on Friday and Saturday, setting up a Sunday finale between Isringhausen and the abbreviated five-inning effort from Smoltz. Isringhausen was terrific, pitching eight innings of four-hit ball. The game was prolonged by Braves skipper Bobby Cox, who trotted out reliever after reliever for a few batters at a time (though Jung Bong, utilized in one season finale weekend to mock the marijuana puffing-photo of Grant Roberts was nowehre to be found, yet) for the necessary tune-up. Neither team scored through the first 10 1/2 frames and it seemed neither team was in any rush for the game to end.
The Mets loaded the bases with no one out in the 11th inning, but Jose Vizcaino nearly killed that rally with a double play. The bases were reloaded after Brad Woodall walked Carl Everett, but it looked like the game would continue for a few more hours when Tim Bogar fell behind 0-2. Woodall missed with ball one, ball two and ball three and by that time, the crowd was stomping and screaming and treating this game as if it was really important. Ball four came next and the crowd that was left responded with a Seinfeldian touch of unbridled enthusiasm as the players threw their caps into the stands as souvenirs.
That was a good way to end a pretty mediocre season. From the reaction of the crowd, you would have never know that it wasn't really that impressive of a season (though the Mets finished tied for second at 69-75). The good thing about the 1995 Mets was that they knew when to get off the stage, with a six-game win streak that matched the best that season. It's appropriate then that we reference another line from Seinfeld (The episode titled "The Burning") when Jerry explains to George how he should react in work-related meetings when he delivers a well-timed one-liner. It was a metaphor for Seinfeld, the television show as well. Jerry knows television, and he knows baseball (and he roots for the Mets!) and he sums it up perfectly with an indirect endorsement for this website.
"When you hit that high note, you say good night, and walk off."
True Metfelds know...The Mets have three walk-off walks against the Braves. The team against which they have the most walk-off walks is the Giants, with four.
PS: Check back this weekend. We'll have at least one Emmy-related walk-off story posting
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