Just In Case The Ax Falls

We're a little fatigued today and are going to work on some database maintenance, but we'll leave you with a tidbit we learned from a colleague in the last week.

If Willie Randolph does get fired, and we're not expecting it this week, it will actually be his first walk-off since July 25, 1998. How can that be possible, considering that Randolph retired in 1992?

Well, it turns out that Randolph hit a walk-off home run that day, one that gave the Yankees Oldtimers a 1-0 four-inning victory over the Dodgers Oldtimers in a pre-game exhibition at Yankee Stadium.

True Mettimers know...That June 10 marks the 25th anniversary, not of a significant trade (that's coming soon though), but of the latest walk-off home run in Mets history, Dave Kingman's 17th-inning blast to beat the Expos, 4-2. No Met has hit a walk-off home run later than the 17th inning.

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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...

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 ...

Green Party

* Mets walk-off win #347 was the Mets 6th this season, against no defeats. This is the first time in Mets history that they've started a season with at least 6 walk-off wins before their first walk-off defeat. * It was Shawn Green's 2nd career walk-off home run, his first since September 20, 2001, when he homered in the 13th inning to beat Greg Swindell and the Diamondbacks, 3-2. It was the second walk-off home run allowed by Russ Springer, but his first since April 11, 2000, when Ed Sprague and the Padres beat him with a 13th inning home run. It was the first home run that Springer allowed all season. * This is the 5th time in Mets history that they've had as few as 3 hits and won a game in walk-off fashion. The last was June 28, 1998, when they had 3 hits and beat the Yankees 2-1 on Luis Lopez's sacrifice fly (the game where Brian McRae nearly cost the Mets the winning run by wandering aimlessly off first base on the SF). The fewest Mets hits in a Mets walk-off win is...

Mets Walk-Offs And Minutiae

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