Mets Walk-Offs And Minutiae

Some minutiae on Friday's win ... * Nelson Figueroa is the 5th pitcher born in Brooklyn to start and win a game for the Mets, joining John Pacella, Ed Lynch, John Candelaria, and Pete Falcone. He's the 5th Brooklyn native to be a Mets starting pitcher (the other is Frank Seminara). Note: John Franco never started a game as a Met, which is why he's not listed. * As mentioned multiple times on the broadcast, Figueroa's last win was also against the Brewers, August 15, 2003. They are the only team in the majors against whom he has more than one win (he has 2). * Figueroa's only previous start at Shea Stadium was a Mets walk-off win- with the Phillies on July 29, 2001. He allowed two runs in six innings that day as well, and the Mets won 6-5 on Mike Piazza's 9th inning home run off Rheal Cormier. * This was only the 2nd time in Nelson Figueroa's last 22 outings that his team won the game (talk about ultimate-mop-up). His appearance in the Mets 13-0 win over the

I quote from the pilot episode of Cheers in this blog entry, hoping that walk-off win #349 will serve as the pilot episode for a better season ahead. For those curious, the quote originates from Diane taking a phone message for Sam. When she gets done, Sam asks for the message. Diane replies with the line I used in the title. Sam's punchline is "Thanks. What's the message?" From what I understand, you're supposed to keep things simple when writing a pilot episode, so we'll do so with these notes. * It only took the Mets 8 games (3 at home) to ensure that they'd have at least one walk-off win for the 47th straight season. It was their first walk-off win since August 21, 2007, when Luis Castillo singled in the winning run. * It's the first walk-off win against the Phillies since Carlos Beltran beat them with a 16th inning home run on May 23, 2006. It is the 34th walk-off win for the Mets against the Phillies, and only the second to last 12 innings. The

And you thought Wednesday night's game was weird. Shea Stadium has seen weirder. Though it's been awhile. The only other time the Mets scored AT LEAST 8 runs while getting 5 hits OR FEWER at home was on May 14, 1969, against the Braves. But this was not a garden-variety 9-run, 5-hit effort in a 9-3 walk-up victory (for newcomers: that means a game won in the bottom of the 8th, rather than 9th). This was one of those games that made the season particularly Metmorable, and the account from the New York Times is particularly entertaining. The matchup was one pitting a pair of future Hall of Famers- Tom Seaver and Phil Niekro, and for six innings, the knuckleballer was the better of the two. Not only did the Mets trail 3-0 heading to the home seventh, they were a team without a hit. Niekro retired the first 13 batters and had allowed no damage until Ken Boswell's triple started the seventh. Boswell would score on a groundout by Cleon Jones, but Niekro was still up, 3-1, headin

For those unfamiliar with what game Governor Patterson was talking about during his interview with Kevin Burkhardt during Tuesday's Mets game. On May 4, 1964, the Mets and Braves clashed in Milwaukee (not Atlanta, yet) in more ways than one. The game itself was a great pitchers duel between Mets hurler Galen Cisco and Braves moundsman Denny Lemaster. The Mets, losers of 13 of 16 entering, got a run right off the bat, when third baseman Charley Smith clubbed a leadoff home run. They would not score again. In fact, Lemaster was the master, allowing only one hit the rest of the way. The Braves took the lead in the home second when Moises Alou's father, Felipe singled in two runs following an error by Mets centerfielder Joe Christopher. The Mets didn't really threaten again until the ninth inning when, with one out, Ron Hunt singled, than advanced to second on a Christopher single. Their biggest power threat, Frank Thomas followed, with a ground ball to third base, apparently n

I actually thought it was pretty cool that Red Sox fans gave Bill Buckner a standing ovation upon his return to Fenway Park. I will say this though: I don't care if the Mets win the next 20 World Series. I would never endorse anything of the sort for Tom Glavine. Considering how Tuesday went, that's all I have to say for now.

The Mets have been 2-3 before. Many times. In fact, they were 2-3 in 1969, 1986, and 2000, so maybe that's a good omen. Of course, they've been 2-3 in some lousy years, so maybe not. But the Mets have never had as interesting a 2-3 start as they did 40 years ago. Greg Prince, of " Faith and Fear " did a nifty job chronicling the precursors to the Miracle team in the recently published Meet the Mets annual, but we'll zoom in a little closer on the beginnings of those beginnings. The 1968 Mets opened with a walk-off loss, but it wasn't just any walk-off loss. It was a blow-your-guts out and eat 'em with a knife-and-fork 5-4 loss, in a game in which Tom Seaver led Juan Marichal and the Giants, 4-2 in the ninth inning. Moises Alou's uncle Jesus delivered the stomach-punch, a two-run double off Danny Frisella that plated the tying and winning runs. The Mets didn't get many opportunities to win games like that. Some might even call it a devastating defe

Can Johan "The best defensive pitcher the Mets have ever had" Santana play goalie for the New York Rangers? I think he would be pretty good actually, based on what I've seen from his first two starts. I have some slight concerns, both for the New York baseball team and the New York hockey team heading into this week. My baseball concerns can be alleviated by recalling that the 1986 Mets started 2-3. But I can't seem to shake my nervousness about the Rangers-Devils playoff matchup, scheduled to begin Wednesday night. What teams led the NHL in walk-off losses? Well, there was a tie- the Rangers and Blues, each with the unlucky 13. Who had the 2nd-most walk-off wins in the NHL? The Devils and Thrashers tied with 15, trailing only the Oilers. I'm sorry, but as much as I like Henrik Lundqvist, I have to admit that I'd take Martin Brodeur over him every day of the week (even though 9 of those 13 losses were in shootout, and there are no playoff shootouts). And given