Mets Walk-Offs And Minutiae

WARNING: This is a long entry, has only a little to do with the Mets and is extremely self-indulgent (it is slightly humorous). Regular programming on this blog will resume on Monday...Anyway, if you read further, don't forget that you've been warned... I've taken a lot of crap at work recently because I shared a significant number of details of my Little League career with my colleagues. They laugh when I tell them that my career high batting average was .250 (4-for-16 in my career year, including a "disputed" hit), and how my biggest thrills were going 2-for-2 in a 19-0 win over the Wildcats and Carl Schurz Playground legend Tim Murphy, and turning an unassisted double play at first base on the mud field that is located under the 59th Street Bridge. I happen to have a really good memory, and I get a little carried away sometimes. It occured to me that it might be worthwhile to share my tales on paper rather than verbally, as a writing exercise, and that's wh...

Hey folks Good article on walk-offs here , by Dan Shaughnessy of the Boston Globe. Definitely worth a look, even if he doesn't use a hyphen.

Anyone out there who knows whatever happened to Masato Yoshii? I do, now. I'm going to write about him today because I wanted to do something related to a Mets-Yankees walk-off, and my mind is still unable to comprehend the way that the Mets first regular-season walk-off win against the Yankees ended. The Mets don't have the best track record with Asian-born pitchers (see: Satoru Komiyama, Mr. Koo, Jae Seo, Hideo Nomo and Kaz Ishii), but Yoshii had a few moments of Mets glory. One of those was on June 28, 1998, when he matched up in an outstanding pitcher's duel with Orlando Hernandez on a Sunday night at Shea. Yoshii lasted seven innings, allowing just one run and two hits, striking out 10 primarily with his fastball and better-than-usual splitter. Yoshii even had a no-hitter going for 4 2/3 innings before Derek Jeter broke it up. The only Yankees run came on a Scott Brosius home run in the seventh inning, with the Mets holding a 1-0 lead (despite not managing a hit agains...

I believe it was in the winter of 1982, that for my seventh birthday, my dad gave me two books. One was called "Baseball's 100," and its author, Maury Allen, ranked the best players in baseball history to that point. The other was "This Date in New York Mets History" by Dennis D'Agostino. If you wanted to measure the impact that "This Date in New York Mets History" had on me, the closest thing I could equate it to would be that which L Ron Hubbard's "Dianetics" had on Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes (except I'm not jumping up and down on Oprah Winfrey's sofa anytime soon). "This Date in Mets History" is 222 pages long and I have read every word on every page, probably 222 times. It was there that I learned such valuable lessons like that I share a birthday with Bob Apodaca (January 31), that Bill Sudakis was known to his Metsmates as "Suds," that one series sweep by the Phillies in 1980 was known as "The L...

On June 21, we remember John Stephenson as being the final out of Jim Bunning's perfect game, on that date in 1964. On all other days, we tend not to remember John Stephenson's baseball career at all. Today we do, and we reminisce about one of his two Mets walk-off moments, with a little treat for those who read all the way through. Again it's the Dodgers that we're talking about, as the Mets opponents on August 24, 1965. It's a Dodgers team that would go on to be world champs, and yet somehow the Mets took three of the four games in this matchup (with Tug McGraw outpitching Sandy Koufax in the series finale). They took this one in the same Metsian fashion in which they took the game referenced in our previous post, with a three-run rally in the ninth inning. An error and two singles loaded the bases for the pinch-hitting Stephenson, who brought home all three runners with a double to right center field. That gave reliever Dave Eilers his first major-league win. Sor...

I don't really have a specific reason for writing about the Mets walk-off win over the Dodgers on June 5, 1978, but I wanted the challenge of picking a game, almost at random, and seeing if I could make it interesting for readership. The thing is, the game that day does a pretty good job, without my creative interpretation. So we'll simply tell you that this was a pretty unlikely walk-off, one in which the Mets trailed 8-2 after 3 1/2 innings on a Monday night at Shea Stadium. The bullpen combo of Paul Siebert, Dale Murray, and Skip Lockwood did its job that day, setting down the last 16 Dodgers as the Mets chipped away at the lead, scoring once in the fourth, twice in the fifth and once in the sixth. They didn't score in the seventh or eighth though, and trailed by two runs against Dodgers lefty Terry Forster going into the ninth. But in their usual Metsian way, they made things a little exciting for everyone, dragging out this comeback win. With one out, Willie Montanez d...

The following is a test of some new software I just downloaded. Here's a fan's eye view of a walk-off moment, a picture from the stands taken by Mets fan, Richard Simon.This is the celebration shot from Cliff Floyd's walk-off home run that beat the Angels on June 11. You can read the post related to this walk-off, as it is called "Cliff Notes"

We're getting a lot of hits today and we attribute that to a nice link from the folks at "The Hardball Times." Thought it might be a good idea to briefly re-introduce what I'm trying to do (for those too lazy, or lacking time to check out the archives), so in summary... The Mets have a long history of amazing walk-off wins. I thought it would be an interesting summer project to chronicle them. What you'll read below are snapshot flashbacks of games from the past and present, with material culled from newspapers, magazines, books, interviews, and personal experiences. If you're a Mets fan, you'll probably find some pleasant memories here. If you're just a baseball fan, you'll probably find some fascinating stories. Either way, welcome, and enjoy...

The walk-off time machine takes us back 34 amazing years to June 20, 1971 and our focus is again on Father's Day, but more specifically, Game 1 of a doubleheader between the Mets and Phillies at Shea Stadium. The two teams were coming off a 15-inning marathon, the day before, in which the Mets won in walk-off fashion (we'll tell the tale of that game eventually), so manager Gil Hodges needed to figure out how to get through this day without overtaxing his bullpen any more than it already had been. The problem for Hodges was that he had his most inconsistent pitcher on the mound, a flamethrower from Texas who had struck out 16 Padres less than a month prior, but who also had a three-start stretch early in the season in which he walked 22 batters in 23 innings, and had dropped his last three decisions. This was the kind of pitcher who would load the bases, then strike out the side, as he did in the first inning on of this game. In fact, this moundsman looked pretty sharp through ...

About a year ago, John Buccigross penned a column for ESPN.com that told the story of how his son kept him updated on an important hockey game by sending text messages, as the elder Buccigross was on a lengthy drive, with limited access to radio updates. I really liked that piece and it reminded me of something that my dad used to do with me. When I was a young Mets-fan pup in 1984, 85, and 86, I had the misfortune of having to go to bed before many games were over. I was not a kicker and a screamer about this, because I understood the importance of a good night's sleep at an early age, but I think my dad sensed that I was eager to know the results of games as soon as I possibly could. So, he took to leaving notes scotch-taped on my bedroom door. Usually they just had the final score with a one or two-line summary. I remember two in particular. One was a Mets-Dodgers classic pitching duel between Dwight Gooden and Fernando Valenzuela that went extra-innings on the West Coast. The ...

The Mets weren't a particularly good team in their first seven seasons of existence, but their penchant for dramatic comeback victories is such that you can find one from practically every one of their 44 years of existence. Ron Swoboda reminded us of this when we briefly chatted with him about Mets walk-offs on Thursday. Now a broadcaster for the Triple-A New Orleans Zephyrs, Swoboda had his share of remarkable Mets moments, such as the two home runs he hit to beat Steve Carlton the day in 1969 that Carlton whiffed 19 Mets and the 9th inning diving catch that was an significant moment of the Mets win in Game 4 of the World Series that season. Swoboda, known by the nickname "Rocky," had one walk-off hit during his career with the Mets and he shared his memory of that moment with us. First, some background, with some help from Swoboda and Bob Lipsyte's story of that game in the New York Times. It was August 4, 1966 and the Mets trailed future Hall of Famer Juan Maricha...

Joe Shlabotnik may be the most creative baseball manager I've ever come across. As manager of the Waffletown Syrups of the Greengrass League, Shlabotnik was fired after calling for a squeeze play- albeit with nobody on base. That was a fictional reference, one coming from a Peanuts comic strip (I believe Lucy once called for a squeeze play as the defensive team, saying she would "Squeeze the catcher"). In real life, the most creative baseball manager I've seen is former Mets third baseman Don Zimmer , and his unusual managerial methods played an integral role in the walk-off we'll discuss today. The Mets-Cubs game on June 2, 1988 featured a terrific pitchers duel between David Cone and Calvin Schiraldi (better known for his role in another walk-off win). Both pitchers held their opponents scoreless for nine innings, and Davey Johnson , going against his usual approach, sent Cone out for the 10th inning. Damon Berryhill led off with a home run, giving the Cubs a...

Don't know how many of you saw the footage the other day of the nasty brawl in an International League game between Richmond and Syracuse. In case you didn't, here's the description from the AP story. (Richmond outfielder Esix)Snead charged the mound in the second inning after SkyChiefs pitcher David Bush threw a pitch that went between Snead's legs. Snead started walking toward Bush and both dugouts emptied, but the incident was limited to heated jawing from both sides. Moments later, after Snead walked, he started up the line toward first, then suddenly sprinted toward the mound with his helmet in one hand, tackling Bush, who had his back to Snead and was bent over. Both dugouts quickly emptied again. Apparently this dated back to something that happened the day before, when a Snead bunt, with a four-run lead angered Syracuse pitcher Matt Whiteside, to the point where he hollered some profanities Snead's way. There's more to the story, but the gist of it is th...

Before there was Cliff Floyd, there was Steve Henderson.It was 25 years ago today, June 14, 1980, that the Mets staged one of their most remarkable comebacks, in a history lined with improbable comebacks. Trailing the Giants 6-0 after 4 1/2 innings and 6-2 with two outs in the ninth, the Mets rallied for another amazing win.During the relatively dismal 10-year period that was 1974 to 1983, this was probably the win that left fans with the most hope. The Mets, newly purchased by owners Nelson Doubleday and Fred Wilpon a little more than five months previous, were coming off taking 3 of 4 from the defending champion Pirates, and a sweep of the Dodgers. The slogan that year was "The Magic is Back!" and it was particularly fitting on this homestand, one filled with big hits in key spots. Still, the Mets found themselves down four runs against Giants closer Greg Minton, with two outs and a runner on second base. Two singles and a walk got the Mets two runs and got Minton out o...

Alright, so it's 2 days later and the challenge for me now, after reading through about a dozen game stories and listening to talk radio, is to provide a fresh perspective on walk-off #324. If you're going to be a serious reader of this blog, you know what happened already, so let's look at what made this particular walk-off stand out. It would seem that the place to start is with the idea that everything broke just right on both sides of the ball. Particularly, I'm talking about Carlos Beltran's catch in the 7th inning, where he went over the center field fence to rob Jose Molina of a home run. Every no-hitter seems to have one defensive gem that makes it possible and perhaps that's true of great walk-off moments as well (We'll be looking into that!) Marlon Anderson's home run required a remarkable combination of events. It was only the sixth inside-the-park home run at Shea Stadium by a Met and the first since Darryl Strawberry in 1989. It required tha...

If I had to guess, I'd probably say that I've written 25-30 "Where are they now?" related pieces for the various journalistic endeavors in which I've been involved. There had always been one person in particular that I wanted to track down, and last year, by writing a "Where are they now?" for "New York Mets Inside Pitch," I finally had a legitimate purpose to try to find Ross Jones. In 1984, I was nine years old, and for the first time in my brief life, the Mets were a good team. They had a rookie pitcher named Dwight Gooden, a second-year slugger named Darryl Strawberry and a veteran star in Keith Hernandez. The Mets won 90 games that year and hung in the pennant race into September. They did so despite being outscored by 24 runs and because they got key hits in big spots. The Mets were 10-8 heading into a game with the NL East defending champ Phillies at Shea Stadium on April 28 1984. My dad and I went to this game, and if I recall right, we...

Whenever I am informed during a phone call that the call is being "recorded and monitored for quality assurance purposes" I always make a point to say "hello to the person monitoring the call." The primary purpose is to get a laugh from the person on the other end of the call, though I've always wondered how the "call monitors" felt. I bring this up for two reasons. One is to alert you that traffic to my blog is being monitored "for quality assurance purposes" by StatCounter . The other is to say hello to the folks who came to this link via Blogger...I have discovered via "quality assurance monitoring" that I already have an international following, having received hits from people logged on in India, Spain, England, and Belgium. Granted, these people likely were on the site for no more than 5 seconds, but I appreciate the visit nonetheless (nice ego boost to see a big # in the counter). Also a hi to those that came to this link via...

I welcome suggestions, comments, and other feedback. Please e-mail them to Metswalkoffs(at) AOL.com, as I am keeping this e-mail account specifically for this blog. A friend asked me what my approach was going to be. The simple answer for that is: It depends on the day. If I have the time, I will go into "full-journalist" mode, making phone calls, going through newspaper archives and so forth. On other days, I may just keep it simple and utilize easy-to-use references such as Retrosheet and The Ultimate Mets Fans Database . Time will also determine the number of hyperlinks I post.

Hobie Landrith holds a handful of distinctions in baseball history 1- He is the only person to play in the major leagues named "Hobie." 2- He was the Mets first pick in the expansion draft, prompting the famous quote from Casey Stengel. "You gotta have a catcher or you're gonna have a lot of passed balls." (The Mets used seven catchers in 1962 and had 26 passed balls) Most importantly to us... He is responsible for the first walk-off win in Mets history... Landrith's pinch-hit two-run home run off Hall of Famer Warren Spahn enabled the Mets to beat the Milwaukee Braves 3-2, at the Polo Grounds, in Game 1 of a doubleheader on May 12, 1962. The book "The Complete Year-By-Year New York Mets Fan's Almanac" describes Landrith as laughing as he rounded the bases, because the distance on his homer was barely more than 250 feet, in the horseshoe-shaped stadium. Approximately four hours later, Gil Hodges launched the second walk-off home run in Mets his...

I have added a counter to this page. It only took me 45 minutes to figure out how to do so...