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Bail of Hey

Things would have been a lot simpler if home plate ump Jeff Nelson had just given Mark Reynolds first base...

Let's call this a "Bail-out walk-off win." (as the New York Daily News basically did, as well)

A bail-out walk-off is one in which the Mets "bail out" a reliever who blew a save in the 9th inning. (Bill James sometimes calls these "BS wins"

Note that this does not encompass all relievers who blew leads in the 9th (you could have blown a lead in a non-save scenario) or all Mets walk-off wins in which they blew a 9th-inning lead (I'm ignoring scenarios where a pitcher in line to win the game, blew the lead in the 9th)

Sometimes I worry that too many criteria make this hard to understand, so let's simplify

In a "bail-out walk-off win"

A) A pitcher screws up in a situation in which both he (with a save) AND ANOTHER PITCHER (with a win) would tangibly benefit.

and

B) The Mets bail the guy out by winning anyway, via walk-off.

Used in a sentence: "The Mets got a bail-out walk-off win Wednesday when Carlos Beltran saved Billy Wagner from eternal humiliation with a game-ending home run in the 13th inning."

Alternate description: How about "boo-off?"

On with the minutiae...

* Mets walk-off win # 353 was their 5th of the season, their first since the May 28 win over the Marlins.

* Carlos Beltran's walk-off HR was his 5th, his 3rd with the Mets, and his 2nd that occurred in the 13th inning or later (the other was against the Phillies, in the 16th inning in 2006). Two other Mets hit a pair of walk-off home runs in the 13th inning or later: Tim Harkness and Dave Kingman.

* Carlos Beltran's 4 RBI are the most by a player who got a walk-off hit for the Mets since Rico Brogna had a 4-RBI game, and a walk-off hit against the Cubs on May 11, 1996.

* The Mets last 13-inning walk-off win came in a game started by Brandon Webb, on May 31, 2006, when the Mets beat the Diamondbacks, 1-0 on Endy Chavez's walk-off single.

* The Mets last 13th inning walk-off home run came in Game 3 of the 2000 NLDS, by Benny Agbayani against Aaron Fultz and the Giants.

* The Mets now have 5 walk-off wins against the Diamondbacks. The last one was the Chavez single on May 31, 2006.

* All five Mets walk-off wins this season have come in extra innings (they like to torture).

* Claudio Vargas earned his first Mets walk-off win. The only other Mets pitcher, whose last name started with "V," to earn a walk-off win is Frank Viola.

* Edgar Gonzalez joins Mike Gonzalez as the only "Gonzalez's" in major-league history to suffer a walk-off loss against the Mets.

* I had previously stated that June 11 was the anniversary of Steve Henderson's famous walk-off HR in 1980. This was incorrect. Mike Jorgensen actually hit a walk-off grand slam to beat the Dodgers that day. Henderson's HR came 3 days later.

Those who didn't bail on the Mets know...That this was the 3rd time that Billy Wagner earned a blown save in a Mets walk-off win, the second time that it happened this season. The first was on April 29 against the Pirates when David Wright bailed him out with a walk-off hit.

Your all-time leader in times needing to be bailed out: John Franco. As Billy Wagner might say: "Shocker!"

Relievers Whose Actions Led To The Most Bail Out Walk-Offs
Mets History

9- John Franco
4- Roger McDowell
3- Billy Wagner
3- Armando Benitez

Comments

Anonymous said…
There is a great picture of Beltran jumping into Delgado with the team ready to pounce on top at home plate.

Perhaps that can be the new photo on the top of the site. I just switched the pics in my wallpaper.
8:50 AM
metswalkoffs said…
Yeah, I've seen a couple of variations of it. Not a bad idea.
9:35 AM
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