Skip to main content

Didja Ever Notice: What else did he do?

Appropos of nothing, other than that I haven't written one of these in awhile. Part of our continuing series regarding Game 6 of the 1986 World Series.

Other stories in the series can be found here:
http://metswalkoffs.blogspot.com/search/label/Bill%20Buckner

I just noticed that if you include the World Series in your tally, Bill Buckner played in 162 "other" games against the Mets. That is the equivalent of a full major league season.

So how did he fare? Among our discoveries:

* Bill Buckner had 174 hits in 623 at-bats in those "other" 162 games against the Mets, good for a .279 batting average. That's about 10 points below what he normally hit, so the Mets did a good job of keeping him in check.

* Bill Buckner had 8 home runs and 55 RBI in those games against the Mets. He played at least 140 games against 9 other teams. The Mets held him to fewer RBI than any of those teams.

* Of the 8 home runs that Buckner hit against the Mets, 7 gave his team the lead.

* Bill Buckner played in 162 "other" games against the Mets. His teams went 81-80-1(yes, a tie) in those 162 games. Add in Game 6 of the World Series and Buckner's teams went exactly .500 against the Mets.

* In 1982, Bill Buckner had 4 home runs and 18 RBI in 18 games against the Mets. He had more RBI against the Mets that season than any other player in baseball that season and also managed a 12-game hit streak against them.

* Bill Buckner had 19 hits against Craig Swan, his most against any Mets pitcher.

* Bill Buckner, in those 162 "other" games struck out a total of 27 times, which is VERY impressive. Tom Seaver struck him out the most- 4 times. Buckner was 13-for-59 against Seaver (.220 batting average) during Seaver's Mets tenure.

It should also be noted that Buckner led his league in being toughest to strike out in four different seasons, including 1986. That the Mets struck him out 3 times in that series is impressive.

* Bill Buckner had 15 go-ahead hits against the Mets. Amazingly, none came in the 7th inning or later.

* Bill Buckner was the final batter in 12 Mets wins. In 1979, he was the final out on April 5 against Jesse Orosco, in a game in which Orosco was making his major-league debut.

* Bill Buckner had three games against the Mets in which he had 4 hits. Two of them came in losses.

* Bill Buckner made 9 errors against the Mets. None came in games that the Mets won by walk-off.

* Bill Buckner was never, other than in the top of the 10th inning of Game 6 of the World Series, hit by a pitch by any Mets moundsman.

True Metners know... That Bill Buckner played in 9 "other" games that the Mets won by walk-off.

Comments

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