Mets Walk-Offs And Minutiae

Randy Tomlin Getting back to the subject of Mets frustration (and Friday seems like a good day to do so, given Thursday's events), you may have heard on Sunday that Phillies starter Adam Eaton is one of baseball's all-time best pitchers against the Mets, with a 5-0 mark. In fact, there's only one retired pitcher with a better perfect record against the Mets. That would be former Pirate Randy Tomlin, who currently works as a pitching coach for the Potomac Nationals , a Class-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. For those who don't recall, this, in a nutshell, is Randy Tomlin's career, which spanned from 1990-1994. That coincides with a time in which the Pirates were on the rise, and the Mets were on a steep decline. Tomlin vs Mets W-L 9-0 (4-0 at Shea) ERA 2.05 Opp BA .216 Tomlin vs Everyone Else W-L 21-31 ERA 3.55 Opp BA .277 Randy Tomlin's nickname was "Whispers" and we thought it could be because the Mets couldn't get within earshot of a vic

Here, we pay tribute to Billy Wagner, who has thrown eight no-hit innings this year, the first pitcher in Mets history to open a season with eight straight hitless appearances of at least one inning each. He's also the first pitcher in Mets history to have nine straight hitless outings of at least an inning each. You may recall (or blocked it out) that Wagner's last appearance in 2007 (7-4 loss to the Marlins on the final Friday) yielded a hit-free inning. So he's basically pitched the equivalent of a no-hitter, at nine innings and counting. The Mets have never had a pitcher throw a no-hitter in a regular season game. However, they've had "mini" no-hitters. Many of them. * It was the 3,270th time that a Mets pitcher appeared in a game, PITCHED AT LEAST ONE INNING, and finished with no hits allowed. John Franco is your all-time leader with 238 full-blown "minis." Your Top 5 Mets "Mini" No-Hit Outings (ie: 1+ innings, finished with no hits) J

For those linked directly to this page, might I also interest you in what I wrote yesterday? http://metswalkoffs.blogspot.com/2008/04/darryl-strawberry-your-time-has-come.html As well as something I wrote on Billy Wagner's hitless innings streak http://metswalkoffs.blogspot.com/2008/04/no-no-hitters-but-many-minis.html How's this for synergy? About 2 minutes after I win a Brian Bannister bobblehead doll on E-Bay, Johan Santana became the first Mets pitcher with two doubles in a game since ... Brian Bannister tore his hamstring doing so, against the Giants on April 26, 2006. It's an eclectic group of pitchers that have twice doubled in a game for the Mets: Johan Santana (2008) Brian Bannister (2006) Bobby Jones (1997) Sid Fernandez (1986) Mike Scott (1982) Tom Seaver (1967) Gerry Arrigo (1966) For the record, the only pitcher to lose a game in which he doubled twice for the Mets was Seaver, who got beat that 1967 day on a walk-off home run by Joe Torre. For those curious abo

Since the current team isn't worth talking about at the moment... I was, at some point, going to write an article about how the Mets next inductees ino the club Hall of Fame is a slam dunk: that you could coincide the opening of a real Mets Hall of Fame at Citifield with the induction of the entire 1969 Mets team, from 1-game wonder Jesse Hudson to Tom Seaver, they should all have their photos/names on display for all to see. But in thinking about it, I also began to ponder this. What to do about Darryl Strawberry? Darryl Strawberry has the most home runs (252) and most RBI (733) in Mets history. David Wright may surpass Strawberry someday as the best Mets home-grown position player, but that day has not come yet. Strawberry was a member of the team for eight seasons and in seven, the Mets were legit World Series contenders. He had an extraordinary number of positive contributions to the team. When he left, the Mets went south, and were a non-contender for a LONG time. Say what you

Agbayani List : List of hard-to-spell Mets. Agent Zero : A player who has had zero (singles, doubles, etc) in their Mets career Agony To Ecstasy Finish : Game won when the final out is recorded on an opponents base hit. Armando Junior: A 30+ pitch 1-inning save. Bail-Out Walk-Off : Walk-off in which a save chance is blown in the top of the 9th. Benitezian Save : Save in which a pitcher walks 4+ in an inning or less Best Games I Know: Favorite Mets wins, sorted by opponent. Bugaboo : Pitcher against whom you have no HR, or no hits. Caught-Off: Game that ends on a caught stealing Chalk-Off: When a ball, on the precipice of fair/foul status, hits chalk. Charles Schulz : Wise American philosopher, though not a Mets fan. Clockhands Final : Game in which the final score is 12-6. Didja Ever Notice ?: Name given to questions regarding the events of October 25, 1986. GT2O RBI : Abbreviation for Game-Tying RBI with 2 outs in the 9th. HOTWOOD : Stands for "Home Openers That Weren't O

I don't get many visitors on Sunday's, but just to have some fresh material up on site... David Wright currently leads the NL in RBI. He'd be trying to become the 2nd Met to lead the NL in RBI, joining hitting coach Howard Johnson (1991). By my count, 12 others, who played for the Mets at some point in their careers, have led their league in RBI (8 NL, 4 AL). Originally, I had hints listed...no one posted a guess in the comments section, so the answers are now listed below the hints. 2003 NL- Son of Dad Preston Wilson 1989 NL- "curveball, and that's gonna be hit to centerfield, base hit." Kevin Mitchell 1984 NL- Soonafter a Met Gary Carter 1976-78 NL- Metsmerize this George Foster 1971 NL - Skipper Joe Torre 1964 NL- In the Cards Ken Boyer 1962 NL- Initials are same as football scoring play Tommy Davis 1955 NL- Royalty Duke Snider 2003 AL- Slumping Carlos Delgado 1995 AL- He wasn't facing a pitching machine Mo Vaughn 1981 AL- Surly star Eddie Murray 1963 A