Mets Walk-Offs And Minutiae

I'm having a hard time reconciling the fact that Rickey Henderson is back in a Mets uniform, albeit as a "coach," with the memories of one of the most frustrating days of baseball I can remember- September 26, 1999. The second of what appeared to be annual Mets freefalls was in the midst of occurring that day. The team was in the process of gagging away a playoff spot having lost five straight, including three crushers to the Braves. Yet on this Sunday afternoon, my friend Barry Federovitch and I trekked to Veterans Stadium from Trenton to torture ourselves by watching the Mets take on the Phillies. I think the ticket sales windowperson sensed that we were not pro-Philadelphia people and decided to punish us, telling us the best available seats, on a day the ballpark was more than half empty, were buried out towards centerfield, with a mix of some rather grotesque townsfolk (no offense to the residents of that city). No offense was what the Mets had that day, as they were...

There are a number of things I like about Willie Randolph. I think one of them is that he's a guy who usually ends up on the right side of games like the one that took place between the White Sox and the Brewers on May 1, 1991. You may forget that Willie Randolph was a Brewer, but he was for one season and a pretty good one at that. He hit .327, played his usual steady second base and walked nearly twice as much as he struck out, which wasn't too bad for a guy who turned 37 in midyear. Speaking of which, this turned out to be a game for the ages, though no one seemed to know it when it began. It looked like it was going to be a White Sox runaway in the early going. Frank Thomas homered in the first inning and Chicago pounded out five runs in the first three frames. The Brewers rallied with a six-run fifth inning, capped by a go-ahead three-run home run by Franklin Stubbs. Randolph hit into what appeared to be a rally-killing double play in that frame, but was bailed out by a ba...

They are throwing a parade on Tuesday for Pittsburgh's newest sports heroes, the Super Bowl champion football team that plays in that city, and they are a rightfully deserving group. But we're going to throw our own little parade here, paying tribute to another of Pittsburgh's finest for a walk-off of a rather impressive nature. I'm referring, of course, to the game between the Mets and Cardinals that took place on July 9, 1964, a couple of weeks in which Shea Stadium was witness to a feat that, while not quite as amazing as the 23-inning game that took place a little more than a month prior, or as impressive as Jim Bunning's perfecto a few weeks hence, was worthy of high acclaim. The Cardinals would eventually prove to be parade-worthy themselves, and on this day, they jumped on Mets starter Al Jackson for two first-inning runs and handed the ball to lefty twirler Curt Simmons, a pitcher whose reliability earned him two World Series starts that October. Simmons had...

Continuing our series of essays tying in various aspects related to Game 6 of the 1986 World Series. We've talked in the past about the signs indicating that its your year and how so many events foreshadowed the end result for the 1986 New York Mets, but those same mysterious powers were at work for a couple of other baseball teams that season. That's what I like so much about that particular season. My fellow bloggers over at Faith and Fear in Flushing are relating, on a weekly basis, their favorite thoughts about that campaign and I encourage you to indulge them every Friday. I don't know what their topic of choice is this week, but I'm going to write about one of my favorite 1986 games, one that I've never even seen, other than in boxscore form. If you thought the Mets comeback on October 25, 1986 was improbable, fasten your seatbelts, as a wise man once said, for one that surpasses it in terms of amazingness and includes a couple of Metsian blasts from the past....

January 31 is the best birthday in baseball. You know why? Because it's the birthday of Jackie Robinson, a baseball pioneer of great courage and fortitude who stood up to racism and oppression and paved the way for those who followed his path. Because it's the birthday of Ernie Banks, a man who loved baseball so much that he'd always rather play two. The 512 career home runs were a pretty good reason why. Because it's the birthday of Nolan Ryan, a pitcher of great strength and endurance, who sent 5,714 batters muttering and cursing back to the dugout in frustration. Because it's the birthday of Charlie Robertson who showed that perfection can be attained (see Tigers vs White Sox, April 30, 1922) even in the face of mediocrity (see a 49-80 career record). Because it's the birthday of Duke Maas, Pinky Hargrave, Stuffy Stewart, Steamboat Williams, Goat Cochran, Honey Barnes, whose presence reminds us of the wonder of the nickname, to have fun with the sport, and to...

Jorge Julio is too similar to Armando Benitez to make me optimistic that he's going to succeeed in New York. The only game in which I saw him pitch, in person, took place on August 10, 2003 between the Orioles and Red Sox at Fenway Park. I fast-forward this one to the ninth inning, since that's what's most relevant, with the Orioles holding a 5-3 lead. In trots Baltimore's closer and I do a double-take. Despite being three inches shorter, Julio bears a striking resemblance to Benitez. Like Benitez, he's a gas guzzler, spitting out pitches that hit 98 on the radar gun at the expense of stamina and control. My nickname for Benitez during his Mets tenure was "Ball One." I'm thinking of christening Julio as "Ball II" even though he signficantly reduced his walk total last season. The final frame of this contest would have made for a great Mylanta commercial. It commenced with Trot Nixon drawing a leadoff walk. Been there, seen that too many times...

I think that one of the factors that hurt Rich Gossage's Hall of Fame candidacy is that he hung around the game a bit too long. Whether or not he deserves to be punished for that is a matter for another discussion, but he's topical, or was last week at least, when Gossage griped to anyone who would listen that he should have been elected along with Bruce Sutter. The freshest memory I have of Gossage is not that of the dominant, overpowering Hall of Fame worthy closer, who was one of the key members of World Series bound Yankees and Padres squad, but rather of a chunky, over the hill, overthrower who played a role in one of the weirdest walk-offs in Mets history. The game to which I am referring took place on May 19, 1989 between the Mets and San Francisco Giants. The Mets were a first-place team at that point in the season with hopes of defending their 1988 National League East Division title. David Cone started for the Flushing 9 that day and had to really battle his way throu...

I've never been one for neatness, so you might say I'm a little messier than the average guy. Or, if we're talking hockey, you could also say I'm a little Messier than the average guy and I'd be okay with that too. Of course, in that case, we're talking about ex-New York Rangers legend (and that is the appropriate word here) Mark Messier They raised the captain's No. 11 to the rafters of Madison Square Garden on Thursday night in what by all accounts was a touching display, and Jaromir Jagr took the proverbial torch from the Rangers captain and lit the lamp for the game-winning goal in overtime as the Rangers defeated the Edmonton Oilers. Mark Messier shall be hailed forever in New York sports as the leader of the team that ended a 54-year drought without a Stanley Cup championship. You can place him on a level with the all-time greats who have played for city teams, and if you insist on separating the imports from the homegrowns, his place belongs right alo...

This is one of those weeks where I'm too busy to get everything on my plate done. So, while I may get around to a fresh post sometime in the next day or two, I'm going to post links to the two previous posts I've written that referenced walk-offs in which the Mets beat the newest Hall of Famer, Bruce Sutter. http://metswalkoffs.blogspot.com/2005/07/mookie-proof-walk-off.html http://metswalkoffs.blogspot.com/2005/06/hendu-part-ii.html Enjoy...

So basically Bret Boone is Andres Galarraga without the goodwill vibe. It's hard to get excited about this guy, who who will be 37 a couple of days after the season opens. You can count the number of 37-year-old second baseman who had good years on your fingers (Nap Lajoie and Eddie Collins, he's not) and the number of 37-year-olds who had good years a season after hitting a rather pathetic .221 on your toes and you'll have, at the very least, your pinkies left over. That might be one of the weirdest sentences I've written on this blog, but I like it, as I'm not feeling particularly inspired by this move. I guess the way that Omar Minaya looks at it like this. Maybe Boone's presence will push Msrs. Kaz Matsui, Jeff Keppinger and Anderson Hernandez in spring training. Maybe Boone will turn into this year's Roberto Hernandez and be the feel-good reclamation project of the summer. At the very least, it's a favor for someone's agent, and you can never do...

Those visitors to this specific page can check out the whole site at http://metswalkoffs.blogspot.com Although I had no rooting interest whatsoever in the national championship game, I must admit to being extremely impressed with the performance of Texas quarterbackVince Young, particularly on those magnificent last two drives. The only thing missing from that final sequence? A fake-spike, of course. Pete Carroll, I'm not generally bitter, but I still haven't forgiven you for the way your team lost five straight to close the 1994 NFL season. Yes, Texas won the game more than your team lost it, but the ending was very reminiscent to me of the way that many contests concluded during your tenure with Gang Green. When the game came down to one play on fourth down in the final seconds, I was in the middle of an instant message session with a friend, Jeff the bowling Miami attorney. We both agreed that the best call for the situation would be a quarterback draw or something of that i...

Shea Stadium has puzzled, bedeviled and flummoxed many a good hitter with its combination of dimensions and weather conditions. There's a frustration factor that comes from too many long fly balls turned into outs and the result is that the batting average plummets. In my 25-odd years of Mets watching, I've seen the ballpark dominate the player, rather than the other way around, a few too many times. There was one hitter though, who for what was otherwise a rather dismal campaign, had a complete mastery of everything Sheaness. In 2003 we were introduced to Jason Phillips, a rather candid Californian with molassesesque speed, a sharp quick bat, and a penchant for doing nimble splits to catch stray throws at first base. In the absence of Mo Vaughn, Phillips, who signed with the Blue Jays on Tuesday, became the team's most pleasant surprise. By July 13, the Mets were basically dead and buried, at 39-53 and in the NL East basement with one day remaining before the All-Star Brea...

Since the calendar has turned itself over, it seems that a re-introduction is in order. As someone who is a big believer in the idea that actions speak louder than words, I've always preferred "solutions" to "resolutions" so I don't do the whole thing regarding promising to be a better person than I was the previous year. The Mets, on the other hand, always promise to be better than they were the previous season. They make resolutions in the form of "solutions", always bringing in new people, whether it be in the front office, in management, or on the field. The history of this dates all the way back to the beginnings of the franchise in 1962 when ownership decided to bring in as many familiar faces as possible, hoping to generate immediate interest. That's why the Mets had George Weiss and Casey Stengel running the ship, with a roster in the early days that included the likes of Don Zimmer, Gil Hodges, Duke Snider, Roger Craig, and Gene Woodli...

Warning: This story may gross you out at the conclusion. Consider yourself warned. My vomit streak may not rival that of Jerry Seinfeld's, but I mark the last day I upchucked as a significant one in my history as a football fan. On December 29, 2002 the Jets were in the final week of a multi-team AFC playoff mishmash involving the Patriots, Dolphins and Cleveland Browns, one caused by an awful loss against the Bears a few weeks earlier. The Jets were facing the Packers at the Meadowlands at 4pm but needed the right combination of results at 1pm to set up a scenario by which beating Green Bay would mean a postseason spot. It had been an exciting, up-and-down season, one in which Chad Pennington made his first impact on the New York sports scene, taking over as the team's starting quarterback early in the season and leading them to several impressive wins. My dad and I had gone to the Meadowlands a couple of times that season and he suggested we make another trip. I resisted, par...

So if we were having a vote as to which New York sports team has tortured its fans more over the years, could our butterfly ballot contain the pictures of Chad Bradford, representing the Mets, and Chad Pennington, representing the Jets? Bradford brings his funky, submarine style delivery to Shea Stadium this season and it's entirely possible that with the significant damage to his rotator cuff from the last two seasons that Pennington's best shot at throwing a football again might be to use that same motion. Anyway, the Bradford/Pennington references allow me to segue, ever so slightly to a football story, since it is the last week of the NFL's regular season, one that has been a total waste right from the start if you're a follower of the J-E-T-S. Let me say that of the four majors, football fluctuates between my third and fourth favorite sport, which probably has more to do with my distaste for violence over anything else. I never get pumped up for Monday Night Footba...

I'm a little late to the gate on this one, since Edgardo Alfonzo got traded from the Giants to the Angels last week, but I was in the middle of my holiday week tribute, which I didn't want to disturb. I don't think Alfonzo would mind. It didn't seem like much bothered Alfonzo during his eight-year tenure with the Mets. The guy was pretty much unflappable, regardless of the situation and it's a shame that Giants fans didn't get to see him during the prime of his career. Alfonzo wasn't a superstar but he developed into a terrific player One of these days, I'm going to make a list of the most clutch Mets of all-time (I have a date in the future in mind) and the only players guaranteed spots, in my mind, are Keith Hernandez, John Olerud, and Alfonzo. It didn't matter if he played second or third, hit second, third or wherever, Alfonzo was clutch at the plate, on the bases, and in the field. Finding examples of the latter two are difficult, so you'll ...

OK, so apparently the stategy that Mr. Minaya has taken to load up his bench this season is to sign guys who have crushed the Mets in the past. In other words, if you can't beat em, sign em. First there was the purchase of Tike Redman, and now they've signed Endy Chavez to what basically amounts to a tryout battle for the fifth outfield slot (loser leads off for Norfolk). Chavez has a .259 batting average over a 436-game major-league career, which is basically unimpressive. What he does best is slap-hit and that's a skill that didn't work for him much in 2005, as in stints with the Phillies and Nationals he barely hit above .200. Based on the way he's performed against the Flushing 9, fans may think they just picked up Eric Chavez. He's the type of guy that would be an ideal fit for the Braves come September, so it's probably a good thing that he is where he is now. He's a .326 career hitter against the Mets, with a .519 slugging percentage over 129 at-b...

Thanks to those who helped us clear the 20,000 hit mark. Happy holidays! Santa Klaus, and yes there's a reason I've spelled it that way, came down the Shea Stadium chimney a little prematurely in 1965, but Mets fans didn't mind, as he came bearing a perfectly nice gift- a walk-off win over the Houston Astros. April 15 of that season marked an unusually early time for the Flushing 9 to be celebrating victory, as it was only their third game of the season. It was a taxing day for some (pardon the pun), but one of the last good ones as Mets manager for Casey Stengel, a jolly, happy soul if there ever was one. There was some early excitement in this one, as in the second inning, the Mets defense turned a triple play. With runners on first and third, Jimmy Wynn hit a fly ball to right-center field. Johnny Lewis made the catch, and his throw home was in time for catcher Chris Cannizzaro to tag oncoming runner Walt Bond for the second out. Meanwhile, future Met Bob Aspromonte got ...

Regular readers may recall that I got a little prematurely excited during the season regarding the religious status of former Met Mike Jacobs, thinking initially that he, like me, was Jewish before learning that he was not. While Jacobs won't be lighting the menorah or spinning the dreidel this Sunday (yes, the first night of Hanukkah coincides with Christmas), six other former Mets will. Two had walk-off hits for the Flushing 9. As it turns out, we've already written about one , but we'll give the other recognition today. Elliott Maddox, a native of East Orange, New Jersey, was a baseball star at the University of Michigan, whose baseball claims to fame are varied. You can read more about them here http://jewsinsports.org/profile.asp?sport=baseball&ID=121 but to summarize, Maddox played on the 1971 Washington Senators (the final season of baseball in D.C. until 2005), finished as high as eighth in the AL MVP voting while with the Yankees, and, before joining the Mets, ...

Thanks to Barry Federovitch for the suggestion regarding this particular entry I made nearly 20 trips to Shea Stadium during the 2005 season and for every one, I brought either a jacket or umbrella. I have been to the Flushing ballpark enough times to know that one or the other is likely going to be needed, even during the warm summer months, because the weather, on a good day, can be nasty, and at worst, be putrid. And if I ever need a reminder of how bad it can get, here's a game worth remembering. We talked about Opening Days in my last post, and I'm glad to say I was nearly four years from birth on April 6, 1971 when the Mets and Expos commenced the season in the combination of 40 degree temperatures, 40-mile-an-hour winds and a driving rainstorm in what New York Times writer Joseph Durso described as "a day not fit for man or beast or baseball player." The good news for those in attendance was that this affair lasted only 96 minutes. The Mets struck first in the...