Mets Walk-Offs And Minutiae

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, par

So if we were having a vote as to which New York sports team has tortured its fans more over the years, could our butterfly ballot contain the pictures of Chad Bradford, representing the Mets, and Chad Pennington, representing the Jets? Bradford brings his funky, submarine style delivery to Shea Stadium this season and it's entirely possible that with the significant damage to his rotator cuff from the last two seasons that Pennington's best shot at throwing a football again might be to use that same motion. Anyway, the Bradford/Pennington references allow me to segue, ever so slightly to a football story, since it is the last week of the NFL's regular season, one that has been a total waste right from the start if you're a follower of the J-E-T-S. Let me say that of the four majors, football fluctuates between my third and fourth favorite sport, which probably has more to do with my distaste for violence over anything else. I never get pumped up for Monday Night Footba

I'm a little late to the gate on this one, since Edgardo Alfonzo got traded from the Giants to the Angels last week, but I was in the middle of my holiday week tribute, which I didn't want to disturb. I don't think Alfonzo would mind. It didn't seem like much bothered Alfonzo during his eight-year tenure with the Mets. The guy was pretty much unflappable, regardless of the situation and it's a shame that Giants fans didn't get to see him during the prime of his career. Alfonzo wasn't a superstar but he developed into a terrific player One of these days, I'm going to make a list of the most clutch Mets of all-time (I have a date in the future in mind) and the only players guaranteed spots, in my mind, are Keith Hernandez, John Olerud, and Alfonzo. It didn't matter if he played second or third, hit second, third or wherever, Alfonzo was clutch at the plate, on the bases, and in the field. Finding examples of the latter two are difficult, so you'll

OK, so apparently the stategy that Mr. Minaya has taken to load up his bench this season is to sign guys who have crushed the Mets in the past. In other words, if you can't beat em, sign em. First there was the purchase of Tike Redman, and now they've signed Endy Chavez to what basically amounts to a tryout battle for the fifth outfield slot (loser leads off for Norfolk). Chavez has a .259 batting average over a 436-game major-league career, which is basically unimpressive. What he does best is slap-hit and that's a skill that didn't work for him much in 2005, as in stints with the Phillies and Nationals he barely hit above .200. Based on the way he's performed against the Flushing 9, fans may think they just picked up Eric Chavez. He's the type of guy that would be an ideal fit for the Braves come September, so it's probably a good thing that he is where he is now. He's a .326 career hitter against the Mets, with a .519 slugging percentage over 129 at-b

Thanks to those who helped us clear the 20,000 hit mark. Happy holidays! Santa Klaus, and yes there's a reason I've spelled it that way, came down the Shea Stadium chimney a little prematurely in 1965, but Mets fans didn't mind, as he came bearing a perfectly nice gift- a walk-off win over the Houston Astros. April 15 of that season marked an unusually early time for the Flushing 9 to be celebrating victory, as it was only their third game of the season. It was a taxing day for some (pardon the pun), but one of the last good ones as Mets manager for Casey Stengel, a jolly, happy soul if there ever was one. There was some early excitement in this one, as in the second inning, the Mets defense turned a triple play. With runners on first and third, Jimmy Wynn hit a fly ball to right-center field. Johnny Lewis made the catch, and his throw home was in time for catcher Chris Cannizzaro to tag oncoming runner Walt Bond for the second out. Meanwhile, future Met Bob Aspromonte got

Regular readers may recall that I got a little prematurely excited during the season regarding the religious status of former Met Mike Jacobs, thinking initially that he, like me, was Jewish before learning that he was not. While Jacobs won't be lighting the menorah or spinning the dreidel this Sunday (yes, the first night of Hanukkah coincides with Christmas), six other former Mets will. Two had walk-off hits for the Flushing 9. As it turns out, we've already written about one , but we'll give the other recognition today. Elliott Maddox, a native of East Orange, New Jersey, was a baseball star at the University of Michigan, whose baseball claims to fame are varied. You can read more about them here http://jewsinsports.org/profile.asp?sport=baseball&ID=121 but to summarize, Maddox played on the 1971 Washington Senators (the final season of baseball in D.C. until 2005), finished as high as eighth in the AL MVP voting while with the Yankees, and, before joining the Mets,

Thanks to Barry Federovitch for the suggestion regarding this particular entry I made nearly 20 trips to Shea Stadium during the 2005 season and for every one, I brought either a jacket or umbrella. I have been to the Flushing ballpark enough times to know that one or the other is likely going to be needed, even during the warm summer months, because the weather, on a good day, can be nasty, and at worst, be putrid. And if I ever need a reminder of how bad it can get, here's a game worth remembering. We talked about Opening Days in my last post, and I'm glad to say I was nearly four years from birth on April 6, 1971 when the Mets and Expos commenced the season in the combination of 40 degree temperatures, 40-mile-an-hour winds and a driving rainstorm in what New York Times writer Joseph Durso described as "a day not fit for man or beast or baseball player." The good news for those in attendance was that this affair lasted only 96 minutes. The Mets struck first in the

When I was in elementary school at PS 190 (82nd between 1st and 2nd), we had a music teacher named Ms. Rosen, who started a school chorus. I was a member and during my two-year tenure as a sorprano, I had the opportunity to perform a solo during a performance at the ritzy Plaza Hotel. Ms. Rosen loved Christmas songs and shared her adoration with her chorus and the music classes. They got drummed into us pretty good because of weekly repetition. I don't celebrate Christmas, but for whatever reason, I like Christmas and holiday music. My tastes range from "Frosty the Snowman" to "My Two Front Teeth" to "Winter Wonderland." I find these songs soothing, but I don't know why. So this week, I'm going to spin a holiday theme throughout my blog posts, be in it the titles or the stories themselves. In baseballese, the most wonderful time of the year isn't Christmastime (except for the recently signed ex-free agents who are busy counting their money)

Ok, I changed my mind...I will post today. The Cardinals signing of Braden Looper served as my inspiration You could argue that Braden Looper's somewhat laughable contract is the byproduct of one pitch. It came on October 22, 2003, the fourth game of the 2003 World Series between the Marlins and Yankees. This was supposed to be Roger Clemens night, since he fraudulently purported that this game would be his farewell to baseball and many still remember it for the popping flashbulbs and the opposing applause that came when Clemens left the game after seven innings, outpitched by Carl Pavano and trailing 3-1. In the ninth inning, the Yankees worked one of their magical, miraculous comebacks that sometimes make you wonder if the Baseball Gods were born in the Bronx. They had two men on with two outs against Marlins closer Ugueth Urbina, and Joe Torre sent Ruben Sierra up to pinch-hit for Karim Garcia. Sierra delivered a game-tying two-run triple and the Yankees were 90 feet away from t

Note: I'm leaving this post up through the end of the week, a) because I don't have time to pump out something new and b)because I was hoping to build a really good list of entertainment industry walk-offs...so if you're looking for something new, check back on Monday or so... Of course, if there's a major trade or move, I'll adjust and try to post something... In the meantime, click on the "Table of Contents" link as well. It has been updated. SPOILER ALERT: Read at your own risk Caught the ending of "A League of Their Own" on one of the movie channels the other day and it got me to thinking that it would be fun to compile a list of walk-offs from movies, television, and other forms of entertainment. Here's the start, and only the start, as I spent about 30 minutes or so thinking it over Help me fill in the blanks by filling out the comments section. "A League of Their Own"-- Racine beats Rockford for the All-American Girls Profess

So Roberto Hernandez walks off into the Mets sunset to Pittsburgh, though not by his choice, since team management decided it could live without him. Age couldn't have been the reason, since based on the signing of Julio Franco, they're willing to shell out the dough for the aged. Hernandez had a good season for the Mets in 2005. It was a really good season, one that far exceeded expectations. You could count his bad outings on two hands, which isn't bad for a guy that pitched 67 times and was only charged with runs on 12 occasions. I talked to a couple of people this season (not Mets fans) who disliked Roberto Hernandez for one reason or another, but as much as they tried, they couldn't change my opinion that he was legitimately one of the team MVPs. Sitting here on a Friday night with nothing better to do, it got me to thinking about others whose Metsy days lasted only a single season. I wrote a couple of pieces for New York Mets Inside Pitch titled "Mets for a

So I just spent the past hour and 15 minutes searching for games in which newest Met Julio Franco got a walk-off RBI. It was not an easy process by any means, combing thru a few hundred Retrosheet boxscores and Lexis-Nexis stories before I hit paydirt. I think the most important thing I learned from this is that Julio Franco has played a lot of baseball. And I don't use the term "a lot" loosely. In 1982, Franco's rookie season, he played in games in which megastars Mike Schmidt and Pete Rose had walk-off hits. Later in his career, he appeared in contests in which not-so-immortals Doug Frobel and Jerry Willard had their walk-off moments in the sun. He hit two home runs in a Nolan Ryan no-hitter. He's been on dreadfully bad teams (like the 1985 Indians), reasonably average squads (pick a Rangers team from 1990 to 1993), and pretty good clubs (the 2001-2004 Braves)., though he's yet to appear in a World Series. He has played as little as one game in a season (1

Being perceived as blog-troversial is kind of a new thing for me, but apparently I am after I (gasp) had good things to say about Paul Lo Duca. I wonder what the reaction is going to be when I make nice regarding the signing of Jose Valentin. This one's a little harder, because the guy is a career .241 hitter, whose closest comparable at the plate, Mets-wise, is Dave Kingman. But by all accounts, Valentin is a much better person than King Kong. He was nominated by the White Sox for the Roberto Clemente Award in each of of his last four seasons with the team, and has his own charitable foundation to raise money for low-income children with special health needs. Of course that's not necessarily important to those who flock here wanting to know how the latest Mets acquisitions will help the team win 130 games this season, but I place some value in inhabiting a clubhouse with good people. There's only so much goodwill that you can tolerate with a Mendoza-line batting average, I

I think I've read it elsewhere (another blog, perhaps), or at least heard it said that the best compliment you could pay a baseball player is to say "He played the game the way it should be played." John Olerud retired yesterday, a move that will get little attention because his credentials don't quite match the potential of those making news at the Winter Meetings in Dallas. Olerud finished with 2,239 career hits, a .295 batting average and a place in the immortal pantheon of "Really good players who weren't quite Hall-of-Fame caliber, but whose accomplishments we appreciate nonetheless." Olerud was a Met for three seasons and was best known for his clutch hitting, great glovework and quiet professional demeanor. Some say that the 1999 Mets were better than the 2000 squad because the former had Olerud's presence and the latter had the ever-too-patient Todd Zeile as his replacement. Some said the Mets should have offered him more money before he bolt

If I told you that the Mets had just obtained a guy who is a career .316 hitter with runners in scoring position? How about if I told you that the Mets just traded for a hitter who has consistently ranked among the toughest in baseball to strike out? Or if I mentioned that the Mets just dealt for a player who was selected to the NL All-Star team the last three seasons, with the last honor coming via a vote by his peers? So, although he's on the down side age wise, his throwing arm isn't as good as it used to be, and he doesn't provide much power, there are a lot of good things that Paul Lo Duca brings to the New York Mets. For example: He'll sacrifice his body for the good of the team The Dodgers and Braves squared off on August 23, 2002 and Lo Duca made an impact both on the start and finish of this game. Three pitches after being dusted by Greg Maddux, Lo Duca made him pay with a first-inning home run. The Braves rallied to tie the game, 3-3 in the ninth, but their bu

Those that listened to Billy Wagner's press conference last week might have heard him reference former Mets catcher Ron Hodges with whom he discussed the city and the idea of playing baseball for the Flushing 9. I remember Ron Hodges as over the hill, slow and on his last legs as a major league player when I first started following the team, but apparently others, like Wagner think rather highly of him. It probably has something to do with both being from Virginia. Hodges from Rocky Mount and that name has farm town written all over it. If you're old enough, you probably remember Hodges because of the famous "Ball on the Wall" game from 1973, in which Hodges got the winning hit (a link to which can be found at: http://metswalkoffs.blogspot.com/2005/09/ball-on-wall-remembered.html ), but that wasn't the only time that Hodges had a significant game-ending hit. On September 20, 1975, the NL East race was close to decided and the Mets decided to stomp on the Phillies

When's the Tike Redman press conference? On back-to-back days, the Mets paraded their newest acquisitions- Carlos Delgado and Billy Wagner- in front of the New York media, eager to gloat about the bold moves that management hopes will make this a banner summer for the Flushing 9. Alas, baseball is a 25-man game and pennants are not won in November. The best moves aren't necessarily the ones you don't make, but rather the ones that go unnoticed (Raise your hand if you were at last year's press conferences announcing the signings of Roberto Hernandez, Marlon Anderson, and Chris Woodward). That brings us to Redman (his real first name is Julian), who has a connection with Mets closers past and the Mets closer of the future. By purchasing Redman's contract from the Pirates, the Mets made a bold and smart move. They prevented the 29 other teams from picking him up. You remember Redman, don't you? It was this past July 8th when the Mets suffered one of the most pathet

We're a little busy at the moment, but within 24-48 hours, we'll fill this space with a Billy Wagner-themed post. One of the issues is that we have some homework to do...Billy never pitched in a Mets walk-off win, so we have to do some investigating into his walk-off background to paint the proper picture. In the meantime, take a gander through the archives by clicking on one of the links to your right...

There's no truth to the rumor that Saturday's Knicks hero, 5-foot-7 guard Nate Robinson, grew up a member of the "Midget Mets" Booster Club. Robinson put himself into Knicks walk-off lore with his buzzer-beating 3-pointer against the 76ers at Madison Square Garden. The littlest Knick has already put his stamp on the game, and drawn the ire of head coach Larry Brown for being too much of a human highlight film. The littlest Met to hit a walk-off home run also was the recipient of commentary from his skipper, Casey Stengel, as being a good "low-ball catcher," which wasn't meant so much as praise but as a commentary that the rest of his game wasn't too nifty. Clarence Coleman, best known to Mets fans by the nickname "Choo Choo" (source of which is unverified) is listed at 5-foot-9, two inches taller than Robinson, but still rather small for a ballplayer who wasn't a good glove. Anyways, Coleman was known for being a little quiet and innoc

Well, Saturday was an eventful day at Madison Square Garden as both the Knicks and Rangers pulled out improbable walk-off wins. For those who missed it, the floundering Knicks had their nicest moment of the year, as 5-foot-7 munchinesque rookie Nate Robinson hit a rainbow 3-pointer from the corner at the overtime buzzer, giving the hometown team a victory over the Philadelphia 76ers. They changed over the Madison Square Garden floor to ice and at 8pm the Rangers and Washington Capitals faced off at Madison Square Garden. The Rangers failed to hold a 2-0 lead and were lucky just to get the game to a shootout after Jaromir Jagr got called for an illegal stick in overtime. The goaltenders put on a show big-time in this edition of bonus pucks and it appeared that the Capitals were going to win after scoring in the 14th round. But defenseman Jason Strudwick tied it for the Rangers, and then after rookie goalie Henrik Lundqvist stopped Washington's 15th shooter, 6-foot-6 Rangers defensem

Somehow, the news that Steve Henderson is back in the major leagues (Devil Rays hitting coach) pales by comparison. Welcome to New York, Carlos Delgado and a Happy Thanksgiving to all as Santa Minaya left an early holiday present under the tree for Mets fans in the form of a player whose career home run total matches that of Ralph Kiner (who once noted, according to one site tracking such statements that "Solo homers usually come with no one on base.") Delgado has 369 career home runs and while Shea Stadium might hold him back from a few, we project his power display to be Kingmanesque (his defense too). Delgado has three career walk-off home runs, all with the Blue Jays, and it seemed like a good idea to share the details of those. The first came on May 16, 1999, a three-run shot with nobody out in the ninth inning against Red Sox reliever Kip Gross, giving the Blue Jays a 9-6 victory. The second occurred on August 16, 2000, a two-run blast in the ninth inning against Ange

I had particular reason to be excited for the 1991 baseball season and not because the Mets had signed Vince Coleman to replace Darryl Strawberry as the team's primary offensive weapon (a frightening thought looking back now). The reason I thought that this was going to be a fun season was because the family name was going to be represented on the Mets roster In the winter of 1990, the Mets plucked a lefty pitcher named Doug Simons off the Twins roster in the Rule V Draft, and with the way that draft works, that meant if Simons made the Mets, he would likely remain for an entire season. Simons made his major-league debut in the second game of the season, an afternoon tilt against the Phillies. With the Mets trailing 1-0 after Frank Viola pitched six stellar innings, Bud Harrelson turned the ball over to his bullpen and got good work from rookie Pete Schourek and Jeff Innis for two frames. Simons entered with a slew of lefties due up. "I remember thinking that if I could just g

Mike Cameron is what I like to call a "chaser," both at the plate and in the field. His habit of swinging at everything that came his way left him in a few too many 0-2 holes for my liking ( a friend assured me he'd hit .265 his first season. I knew better.) His penchant for tracking down fly balls by judging the expected spot of their landing didn't work as well as I would have thought in Shea Stadium's vast centerfield (I thought he was pretty good in right field, actually), resulting in a few more misplays than expected from a Gold Glover. I don't dispute that Mike Cameron has the skills of a very good ballplayer. I think that as a Met, Cameron didn't necessarily get the most out of his skills, partly due to injuries and partly due to his own overeagerness. Nonetheless, as Cameron departs in favor of Xavier Nady, a decent player with a more favorable contract, we'll pay tribute to him in this space by acknowledging his place in Mets history. Cameron