Skip to main content

We've Met Bonds Before (Answers)

Without further ado, the answers to the questions posed here:

http://metswalkoffs.blogspot.com/2007/05/weve-met-bonds-before-questions.html

1- From the rooftops, shout it out, that the first pitcher that Barry Bonds faced in the majors was Orel Hershiser. Bonds went 0-for-5 that day. His first hit came the next day against Rick Honeycutt, who has no Mets connection and is thus rendered irrelevant.

Bonus: Joe Orsulak batted second and went 0-for-3 that day, so the Pirates table-setters didn't exactly have a good day in that contest.

2- On September 5, 1990, Barry Bonds had a walk-off hit against John Franco, making GEICO caveman lookalike (others have said far worse, I'm sure he's a good person...) Zane Smith a victor against the Mets. Another lefty, Neal Heaton, beat the Mets in the second game of that day's doubleheader, one pivotal to the NL East race that season.

Bonus: Bobby Bonds, then with the Giants, had a walk-off hit against Tug McGraw on August 11, 1973, pre-dating the Mets Amazin' run to the division title. The winning pitcher that day was Billie Jean King's brother, Randy Moffitt.

3- Barry Bonds has 100 career plate appearances against Tom Glavine. The lefty he's faced the second-most is Sid Fernandez (80 plate appearances) and the lefty he's faced the third-most is Bob Ojeda (69 plate appearances).

Bonus: The first pitcher listed alphabetically on the list of those whom Barry Bonds has faced is former Met Don Aase. Bonds never homered against Aase (3 career plate appearances), but Willie Randolph did, and I still don't like to remember that.

4- Chan Ho Park has pitched in only one game for the Mets and hopefully he won't be needed in this series. He's one of five pitchers to allow eight home runs to Barry Bonds.

Bonus: Terry Mulholland is the only pitcher we know who can say he's allowed eight home runs to Barry Bonds and thrown out Keith Hernandez by throwing his glove, with the ball wedged inside it, to first base.

5- Barry Bonds went homerless despite many attempts in the regular season against Rick Sutcliffe, Bruce Ruffin and John Franco (39 plate appearances) and we're quite thankful that Bonds went homerless against Franco in the 2000 postseason as well.

Bonus: Barry Bonds apparently struggled early in his career against pitchers who supposedly scuffed baseballs. He had 31 plate appearances against Mike Scott, but managed just five hits, two walks, and no home runs.

Comments

Stormy said…
That was tough. I was able to name Don Aase & Keith Hernandez. I'm sorry to say I didn't fare too well with the others.
Anonymous said…
I'm happy to say that, with some lucky guesses, I got five of the ten (Orsulak, Smith, Fernandez, Aase, Hernandez). Tough (but good) stuff!

Popular posts from this blog

Walk-Offs in Movies, TV, and Other Places

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

The best Mets ejections I know

When you think of the Mets and famous ejections, I'm guessing you first think of the famous Bobby Valentine mustache game, when after Valentine got tossed, he returned to the dugout in disguise. You know it. You love it. I remember being amused when I asked Bobby V about it while we were working on Baseball Tonight, how he simply said "It worked. We won the game." (true) But the Bobby V mustache game of June 9, 1999 is one of many, many memorable Mets ejection stories. And now thanks to Retrosheet and the magic of Newspapers.com , we have a convenient means for being able to share them. Ever since Retrosheet's David Smith recently announced that the Retrosheet ejection database was posted online , I've been a kid in a candy store. I've organized the data and done some lookups of media coverage around the games that interested me post. Those newspaper accounts fill in a lot of blanks. Without further ado (and with more work to do), here are some of my findings

The 'Duca of Earl (and walk-offs)

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