Mets Walk-Offs And Minutiae

I've sung the praises of this new Baseball-Reference Play Index tool a few times already, so I'll tell you again how wonderful it is to be able to use it to share some more minutiae with you. People like to speak of the excitement of the multi-homer game. A multi-triple game, like the one Jose Reyes had in another rout on Friday, is as exciting, and a lot more rare. * It was the 3rd multi-triple game of Jose Reyes' career. The two previous ones came in 2005- on May 18 against the Reds and May 26 in Florida against the Marlins. * The 3 multi-triple games are a team record, breaking the mark he previously shared with Doug Flynn (who once had a 3-triple game) and Lance Johnson. * Johnson had 8 multi-triple games, most by any player within the last 50 years, one more than George Brett and two more than Willie Mays. The active leaders are Carl Crawford and Omar Vizquel, who have 5. * Among the other notable players to have had 3 multi-triple games: Joe Morgan, Pete Rose (2 comin...

I know many of you are preoccupied with thoughts today about how the Braves are a formidable foe (not to brag, but we knew that on Tuesday ), but I'm going to focus elsewhere. So apparently Daisuke Matsuzaka proved he was the real deal on Thursday, striking out 10 in his major-league debut as the Red Sox beat the Royals. Every baseball pundit in America (and Japan) is analyzing the performance today, guessing what it means for the future of this young, Japanese attention-getter. It got me to wondering what the Mets record was for strikeouts by a pitcher in a major-league debut. It turns out that the answer is eight and that two pitchers share the mark. The 40th anniversary of their debuts comes in the next week, so it seems appropriate to reference it now. I presume most of you reading this blog know who Tom Seaver (the pitcher, not the winemaker who likes to leave games early) is, so I won't go into explaining his background or the postscript, but just tell you his debuting de...

I'd imagine the Cardinals approval ratings are about as low as our current President, especially after... * This, which was the third time in the history of the Mets-Cardinals rivalry that the Mets scored 10 or more runs and the Cardinals tallied none. The first was a Jon Matlack 13-0 shutout at home on July 1, 1976. The second was an 11-0 Sid Fernandez gem in St. Louis on August 1, 1989. * It was the first time the Mets beat the Cardinals by 10+ since a 13-1 romp on September 7, 1989. * The 2 runs allowed by the Mets in their first three games were the fewest they've surrendered in an opening trio in team history. The previous best was 4, in 1981, a season interrupted by strike. The Mets are 3-0 for the first time since 1994, also a season wiped out by strike. * John Maine became the 2nd Mets starter ever to pitch at least 7 innings, allowing 1 hit or fewer, within his team's first 3 games of the season. The other was the "great" Bruce Berenyi, who matched Maine...

It was about a year ago at this time that we honored the Mets for reaching the 10,000 double plateau. We have no such milestones approaching for double plays, but since they've been the most important thing to come out of the two victories so far, we thought we'd pay homage. * With 7 double plays turned in 2 games, the Mets are on pace to turn 567 for the season. That would shatter the club record of 171, previously set in 1966 and 1983. It would also destroy the major-league record of 217, set by the 1949 Philadelphia Athletics. * The Mets turned 4 DP on Opening Day and 3 in the second game of the season. The record for double plays turned in a game is 5, previously set August 8, 1962 (a 5-2 win vs the Giants), May 24, 1973 against the Dodgers (7-3 19-inning win), June 9, 1983 against the Cubs in Wrigley Field (6-4 11-inning win) and June 5, 1997 at home against the Marlins (a 6-0 regulation victory). * The information is a little more easily accessible on ground-ball double ...

I hope it's not a sign of the times but we went walk-off-less on Opening Monday for the first time this century, though we can rest our hopes today on the debut for the Giants and Padres if we so choose. Did you know that it's been 33 years since the Phillies last had a walk-off win on Opening Day? Mike Schmidt hit the winning homer off Mets closer Tug McGraw that day and that became relevant yesterday in the final frames of the Phillies-Braves game, which brings me to the point I wanted to make today. I know there's a lot of talk (much from Jimmy Rollins) about how this year's NL East race is about the Phillies and the Mets. I choose to differ with that viewpoint. I think it's about the Mets and the Braves. And that worries me. I picked the Braves to go to the World Series in my preseason predictions (to face the other NY team) and the reason for that was on display in the latter part of yesterday's game. The Phillies should have scored at least once in the las...

Without further ado, answers to the queries posed here: http://metswalkoffs.blogspot.com/2007/06/our-special-bonds-ownership.html 1- You may recall us mentioning once before that Bud Harrelson had significant success against Hall of Famer Bob Gibson , but so did Wayne Garrett and Ed Kranepool. 2- Steve Carlton lost to the Mets 3 times on Opening Day. Rick Reuschel was one better, with four Opener defeats against the Mets. Lee Mazzilli homered three times against both of them. 3- By far, my favorite question of these 10. Tom Seaver homered in his only plate appearance against accused scuffballer Dave Smith and convicted felon Denny McLain . 4- Ya gotta know that the all-time Mookie Wilson triples-yielding king is Tug McGraw. 5- Those of you who remember that Curt Schilling was with the Astros in his pre-Phillies days should have gotten that one right. Anthony Young was 3-2 vs Houston, 12-46 against everyone else. 6- All of these men share the distinction of having pitched even after R...

The last time the Mets opened a season in St. Louis (1992, for those curious) their second baseman was their future (now current) manager. Perhaps the next time they open in St. Louis, the second baseman of today will be their future general manager (or some other front-office position appropos for someone who runs a winter-league team). I think the best thing to come out of Opening Day from a walk-off perspective (that's what we do here) is that a few of the Flushing geriatrics, in whom I'm currently showing little faith, walked-off the field on their own power. I told someone the other day that by the end of the season that David Newhan would be the everyday second baseman and Endy Chavez would be the regular left fielder. That person shunned and mocked my thinking, particularly after what Msrs. Valentin and Alou showed from a defensive perspective in Game 1. I didn't write a season-preview piece but had I done so, I would have voiced significant concerns over both of tho...

With the birth of a new year upon us, I feel it necessary, once again, to both reintroduce and reinvent myself to fit the needs of the blogging community. Walk-offs have run (or walked) their course and it's time to focus on something new. You may recall that I dabbled in such a thought at this time last year, but my foolish pursuit to chronicle the history of Mets walks lasted merely one day. I don't profess to be an expert in this blogging thing by any means, but I think it has been a worthwhile experience. About 22 months ago, I came across a blog that was very unique- PlunkBiggio , which is devoted to recording Craig Biggio's hit-by-pitch count. It is rare to find such a cleverly done "niche blog" and in thinking about it, I decided that my niche just isn't clever enough. To make a long story short, I have decided to retool my blog to focus not on walk-offs, but on chalk-offs. For those who don't understand the meaning, think of how a ball must be clea...

Thanks, in large part, to the new, Baseball-Reference.com PI tool, you can stump your friends with the following trivia... * Six Mets have had 4 hits in an Opening Day game, but none has ever had more. The 6 are Richie Hebner, 1979 Kevin McReynolds, 1988 Darryl Strawberry, 1988 Jeff Kent, 1994 Todd Hundley, 1995 Xavier Nady, 2006 * Two Mets have scored 3 runs in an Opening Day game, but none has ever scored more. The 2 are Jerry Grote, 1969 Brett Butler, 1995 (interestingly, the Mets lost both games) * Two Mets have stolen 2 bases in an Opening Day game, but none has ever had more. The 2 are Mookie Wilson, 1985 Darryl Strawberry, 1989 * Five Mets have homered twice in an Opening Day game, but none has ever had more. The 5 are Cleon Jones, 1973 Darryl Strawberry, 1988 Kevin McReynolds, 1988 Bobby Bonilla, 1992 Robin Ventura, 2001 * Four Mets have had at least 4 RBI in an Opening Day game, but none has ever had more. The 4 are Ron Swoboda, 1968 Richie Hebner, 1979 Todd Hundley, 1995 Rob...

Let's get some of this stuff out of the way now, if you don't mind...we might revisit the topic again, but while it's fresh on my mind, let's make sure you're prepared for Sunday with an initial burst of knowledge. * The Mets are 28-17 on Opening Day all-time, and that's after an 0-8 start, so we're looking at a nice 28-of-37 run.. Their first Opening Day win came in 1970, and their most recent Opening Day win came in 2006. * The Mets have alternated wins and losses in their last 5 Opening Days and not to alarm you, but if the streak continues, they're due to lose on Sunday. * The Mets are 11-9 all-time on the road on Opening Day (counting Tokyo as a neutral site), having lost 4 of their last 6 road Opening Day affairs. * The Mets are 4-2 against the Cardinals in Opening Day games, with the wins coming in their last four Opening Day meetings (1985, 1989, 1992 and 1996). The losses came in their first two Opening Days- 1962 and 1963, by a combined score o...

The comeback attempts of Sammy Sosa and Paul Wilson are intertwined by the moment in Mets history that they share in common. While Sosa is having success in his comeback attempt with the Rangers, Paul Wilson's bid to return from injury to the Reds was halted by news of his release the other day. Paul Wilson is a lesson to the likes of Mike Pelfrey, Phil Humber and Joe Smith, that things don't always work out as they planned. They can go awfully well for awhile, to the point where you think you're invincible, only to shatter in an instant or two. Baseball life can be extraordinarily frustrating when great expectations are unfulfilled and Wilson is the poster child for that. Let's go back to Wilson's rookie season, 1996, his only season with the Mets, and remember how bright the future was for the trio of Wilson, a collegiate No. 1 pick, Jason Isringhausen and Bill Pulsipher. It was May 3 at Wrigley Field and the Mets were facing the Cubs in the first of three games. ...

If you're concerned about the Mets spring training performance thusfar (and I'm always one to get concerned too quickly), keep this in mind: * In 1963, the Mets went 15-12 in spring training. They went 51-111 in the regular season. * In 1986, the Mets went 13-13 in spring training. They went 108-54 in the regular season. * The Mets were also a sub .500 spring team in 1987, 1989 and 1999. They went a combined 65 games over .500 in the regular season. There is no proof that spring training performance translates into regular season performance. I'm back to posting regularly, so for those that have been checking every day, wondering when I'd post next, you can rest assured that we'll get back to the usual stories and other minutiae.

I'm a little slow to react as I've been quite busy, but I see that on Wednesday the Mets lost a spring training game against the Red Sox via walk-off grand slam. For the record, this is a fate that has befallen the Mets on six different occasions in regular season play. The culprits have been, for the most part, as unlikely as Boston's wannabe rookie Ed Rogers. Most will probably single out the walk-off grand slams by Bo Diaz (1983, trailing by 3 runs), Tom Herr (1987, set the tone for the season) and Brian Jordan (2001, basically finished off hopes of a miracle finish) as the least Metmorable in team history, but there's another one that stands out in my mind as having caused great anguish. I'm referring to the particularly painful clash with the Phillies on Friday, August 13, 1993. That, for those who forget, was a misery-filled campaign, which hit the lowest of low points on this unlucky day. I was a few weeks away from going off to college for the first time in ...

OK, I've returned from my hiatus. Let's review what happened while I was away. * Gil Hodges didn't get into the Hall of Fame That's unfortunate, because he deserves it, and I have a feeling what's holding him back is a lack of appreciation from those whose careers began after Hodges' untimely death. Perhaps Tom Seaver would be wise to educate them on facts such as this, gleaned from Hodges' Wikipedia bio: Of the 21 players who had 300+ career home runs at the time of Hodges' retirement, Hodges is the only one not in the Hall of Fame. True Metges know: Hodges had the second walk-off hit in Mets history, just a few hours after the first, a game-winning home run against the Braves, in game 2 of a doubleheader on May 12, 1962. * Spring Training games began, and the Mets got a walk-off win We don't count spring games in our tally, but if we did, we'd probably spend some space singing the praises of Carlos Gomez, who we got to see in one appearance for...

My apologies for not posting for awhile, but I've been busy with other endeavors. I'll be back up and running soon...Probably my next post will be on Monday March 5.

A hearty welcome to Sandy Alomar Jr. with the hopes that he fares better than his namesakes did in Mets jerseys. You may just think I'm referring to Roberto, but keep in mind that Sandy Sr. went 0-22 with the 1967 Mets. If Sandy Jr. makes the team (which would require something happening to Ramon Castro) he would have the distinction of becoming the first person to play for the Mets who had a walk-off RBI in an American League Championship Series. Chris Chambliss had one too, but he was only a Mets coach. You may think that we're talking about Sandy's home run off Mariano Rivera but that wasn't a walk-off (it was a game-tying shot in the 8th inning) and it wasn't the ALCS (it was Game 4 of the ALDS). Our reference is to Game 4 of the series that followed- the ALCS against the Orioles. There's a nice Mets twist to this game in that it featured six one-time players, including a couple who played a prominent role in the game's outcome, and a significant former ...

Now that camp has begun, I've decided to unveil my slogan for the season. In the recent past I've gone with Ya Gotta Deceive (1991-93), Ya Gotta Make Believe (2005) and I Wanna Believe (2006) and looking back, I can come up with variations on the theme such as Ya Gotta Conceive (1962), and Ya Gotta Achieve (1969 and 1986). This year, my philosophy is a simple one: Ya Gotta Get Worse. The reasoning for this is easy to explain and I could probably even persuade Willie and Omar of its validity. In 2005, the Cardinals won 100 games. In 2006, they won 83. The 17-game decline from '05 to '06 was the biggest in the majors. And yet, the Cardinals emerged as champions. I'm all for copycatting what worked in previous instances, so let's take that same approach as the folks from St. Louis. So it doesn't really bother me that the Mets don't really have any established answers in spots three through five in the pitching rotation. It doen't worry me that the leftf...

By now you've probably heard about the miracle of birth that is Ty Wigginton's son , Cannon (yes, that's the name), delivered by the ex-Met by hand. On MetsBlog, they referred to it as one of Wigginton's finest defensive plays. My joke was going to be that it's the most clutch Wigginton has been since July 15, 2004, the date of his only walk-off hit as a Met. I liked Ty Wigginton as a player, but I never felt like he was clutch. The numbers bear that out for his second season, when Wigginton hit only .190 with runners in scoring position before being traded to the Pirates (he hit .288 with RISP the season before, but there weren't many notable Mets hits in 2003). The closest thing Ty Wigginton got to a big Mets hit was in this game, against the Phillies, an 11th-inning triumph that moved the Flushing False Hopes to 45-43 and within a game of first place. The story of this game, prior to its conclusion, was the performance of the Mets bullpen in relief of Steve T...

It seems a little too easy for me to write about former Mets Bobby or Ellis on this day of amore, so I shall look for something a little more challenging. There is another former Met with a name connection to this date and his place in team history is underrecognized. That's expected when your big league career consists of but one major league hit and your only baseball card is put out by "The Wiz." Those are the kind of Mets who are among my favorites- the Mike Glavine's and Ross Jones' of the world. For every superstar, there is someone like this, whose name is meant to be kept alive through the magic of blogs like this. The fellow of whom I speak today is Greg Harts, who I imagine from time to time wonders what might have been, with his three-game major league career. I can fill you in on what was. Here's what I know. * Greg Rudolph Harts was born on April 21, 1950 in Atlanta. He was a scholastic MVP in baseball and football at David Howard High but went un...

It seems an appropriate time to tell this story, with catchers and pitchers due to report in a couple days. You may recall that Casey Stengel once said something to the effect of "You've gotta have a catcher. Otherwise, you're going to have a lot of passed balls." Well, it took the Mets five years to bear this out, but Stengel's wisdom proved to be prophetic. The bizarre season that was 1967 took a twist ever so unusual on that July 27, when the Mets were in Los Angeles to take on the Dodgers. We'll pick up the action in the 7th inning, wiht the Mets trailing 3-2. With two on and two outs, backup catcher John Sullivan struck for a game-tying single to center. Mets manager Wes Westrum elected to pinch-hit for pitcher Danny Frisella with another catcher, Greg Goossen. That move, in and of itself wasn't so strange, but the companion to it- having regular catcher Jerry Grote run for Sullivan- put the Mets in the position of using all three of their catchers in...