Mets Walk-Offs And Minutiae

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...