Mets Walk-Offs And Minutiae

Remember watching Edwin Díaz mess up game after game last season and saying to yourself “This will be the one in which he turns everything around” only for that never to happen. This is the story of the time that it did. If I’m going to write about great relief stints in Mets history then it is imperative that I make sure you know the tale of Tug McGraw circa 1973. I’m guessing if you’re reading this, you’re familiar with the story of “Ya Gotta Believe!” and how McGraw’s rallying cry became the spark that carried the Mets to Game 7 of the World Series. But do you know the numbers that go with it? On August 20, McGraw was the losing pitcher in an 8-3 16-inning loss to the Reds. That dropped to Mets to 55-67, the second-worst record in the NL, and left them seven games out of first place. McGraw allowed 5 runs in 3 1/3 innings in that game – one run in the 13 th and four more in the 16 th . Part of the deal with McGraw that year was that when he got hit, he got hit a lot . He al

When we talk about the best pitching stretches in Mets history, the discussion usually starts with something from Dwight Gooden circa 1985 or Tom Seaver from any number of seasons or a Jacob deGrom stretch from 2018 or 2019. One oft forgotten is Jesse Orosco and his run of dominance in 1983. The 26-year-old Orosco went 13-7 with a 1.47 ERA and 17 saves in 62 relief appearances spanning 110 innings. This was a time when it wasn’t unusual for a good relief pitcher to be asked to pitch two to three innings in a game, which Orosco did 33 times. That was all good enough to place Orosco third in the NL Cy Young voting behind John Denny and Mario Soto. He also won NL Pitcher of the Month for August. Orosco’s most dominant run that season is one I’d like to relive here. On July 19, he allowed six runs in one inning in relief of Seaver in an 11-7 loss to the Braves. The Daily News called it the most humiliating Mets loss of the season as Seaver failed to hold a 6-1 lead. That appeara