Skip to main content

How Many ROD in a ROOD?

We're going to invent some more terminology here, as we've been known to do on occasion, and as Sally Brown once did when she asked her brother Charlie about fictionalized units of measurement, "How many Rods in a Rood."

You may recall that we once referred to home openers that weren't on Opening Day as "HOTWOODS."

A ROD, for our purposes, doesn't stand for any players nickname, but is an abbreviation for "Road Opening Day," and the Mets will have one of those on Monday afternoon in Cincinnati.

* The Mets are 13-9 all-time in RODs, but are 0-2 on them in Cincinnati, having lost in 1984 and 2005.

* In those 22 RODS, the Mets have outscored their opponents, 123-111, meaning you can expect a high-scoring game. The Mets are averaging 5.6 runs per ROD and their opponents are averaging 5.0.

* The Mets have scored at least 6 runs in each of the 5 RODs they've played in this decade. They are 4-1 in those 5, with the only loss coming in Cincinnati.

* Johan Santana is one of seven Mets STARTING pitchers to earn a win in a ROD. He'll try to join Dwight Gooden (3) and Tom Glavine (2) as the only Mets starters with more than one. The other four starters with a ROD win are Pat Zachry, Craig Swan, Tom Seaver, and Randy Jones.

* Dwight Gooden (1986) is your only Mets pitcher with a complete game in a ROD. He threw one against the Pirates in a 4-2 victory. Gooden also holds the Mets record for most runs allowed in a ROD (7, 1994), thanks to the three-homer game from Tuffy Rhodes.

* Four Mets have had a multi-homer game in a ROD: Robin Ventura (2001), Bobby Bonilla (1992), Kevin McReynolds (1988) and Darryl Strawberry (1988).

* The Mets club record for RBI in a ROD is 4, shared by Robin Ventura (2001), Todd Hundley (1995), Richie Hebner (1979), and Ron Swoboda (1968).

* Some of those same names share the club record for hits in a ROD: Todd Hundley (1995), Jeff Kent (1994), Darryl Strawberry (1988), Kevin McReynolds (1988), and Richie Hebner (1979).

* Jose Reyes take note: No Met has ever had more than one stolen base in a ROD, and only one Met (Jose Vizcaino, 1994) has ever had a triple in a ROD.

* Of the 9 ROD losses, 4 have come by walk-off. They were in 2005 against the Reds, 1995 against the Rockies, 1974 against the Phillies, and 1968 against the Giants. The 1974 walk-off loss, on Mike Schmidt's two-run home run off Tug McGraw, came 35 years ago to the day. It was a rather rude (or perhaps ROOD) beginning to the year, wouldn't ya say?

True Metrods know...The Mets, regardless of whether they open at home or on the road, are 4-1 all-time when opening on April 6.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Best Games I Know: Phillies (Updated)

  The best wins against the Phillies in Mets history …   May 5, 2022 – Mets 8, Phillies 7 The Mets score 7 runs in the 9 th inning to overcome a 7-1 deficit and win in Philadelphia.   April 29, 2022 – Mets 3, Phillies 0 Tylor Megill and 4 Mets relievers combine on the second no-hitter in franchise history.   September 22, 2016 – Mets 9, Phillies 8 (11) The Mets tie it in the 9 th on a Jose Reyes home run and win it in the 11 th on a 3-run home run by Asdrubal Cabrera.   July 17, 2016 - Mets 5, Phillies 0 Jacob deGrom pitches a one-hitter. Only hit is a single by Zach Eflin in the 5 th inning.   August 24, 2015 – Mets 16, Phillies 7 David Wright homers in his first at-bat in more than 4 months. The Mets hit a team-record 8 home runs.   July 5, 2012 – Mets 6, Phillies 5 The Mets score 2 runs with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9 th to beat Jonathan Papelbon. The winning run scores on David Wright’s bloop down the right field line.   August 13

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

Trip(le) Through Time

In their illustrious history, the Mets have had one 'Triple Crown Winner,' so to speak and I'm not talking about the typical meaning of the term. I've gotten some queries recently as to whether a walk-off triple is even possible and I'm here to tell you that it is. There has been one, and only one, in Mets history, though I don't have the full explanation of circumstances that I would like. It took place against the Phillies on September 10, 1970. This was a marathon game that would have fit in perfectly with those having taken place so far this season and allowed the Mets to maintain a temporary hold on first place in an NL East race oft forgotten in team history. It went 14 innings, with a tinge of controversy in a negated Ken Boswell home run, a thrilling play by Bud Harrelson, who stole home in the third inning, and some stellar relief pitching, in the form of five scoreless innings from Danny Frisella, aided by Tim McCarver getting thrown out in a rundown b