Mets Walk-Offs And Minutiae

So I was in the midst of my first media-guide surfthrough of the season the other day and that's normally a rather pleasant experience. But then I came across something that really bothered me. It came to my attention that Luis Aguayo is now a Met. Just my luck. Aguayo the team's field coordinator, meaning that he oversees spring training for the Mets minor league teams, extended spring training, and the Mets instructional league team and for all I know, he may absolutely fantastic at handling the duties of that position. But that doesn't mean I have to like it. Luis Aguayo is a Mets fans source of absolute heartbreak, not quite on the scale of Yadier Molina, but close enough in my mind to warrant thoughts of disdain. It was the fall of 1987, some 20 years previous, when the Mets limped, stumbled and staggered their way to 92 victories despite a mess of injuries and the drug-related downfall of the Doctor. (Gooden). There were a lot of bad losses that season and though many...

The post counter on my blogger page tells me that this is post #411 and I'll go with that, even though some of them consist of me merely saying "No post today, back tomorrow." With that in mind, my goal today is to be as informative as I was in post #410, which I'd have to rank among my all-time favorites (maybe at 500, we'll do a "best of"). So today, rather than pay tribute to Mets killers, I'm going to borrow an idea from Jerry Seinfeld and do the opposite. It's my little tribute to his tv show (and George's gym teacher, Mr. Heyman) that I'm going to refer to the players I write about today as "Metskilledya." Again, following the Q and A format, with mucho kudos to the Play Index section at Baseball-Reference.com Who holds the record for longest "hitless" streak against the Mets? Well, in order to do this, we have to adjust our criteria to suit what Baseball-Reference can handle, and as a result, there are several a...

I'd been wanting to write something on Mets-killers and streakholders for quite some time and the news of Ryan Howard's accomplishment Monday struck me as a good chance to do so. For those unaware, Howard became the first player since Hank Aaron to homer in 5 consecutive games against the Mets. That's pretty impressive company, perhaps even more so considering that Aaron did it back in 1962-63. So, with the help of those new handy-dandy Retrosheet search engine tools on Baseball-Reference.com , I thought I'd take a look at other noteworthy streakholders against the Mets. To make it an easier read (and perhaps inspire a trivia question or two), we'll offer it up in a Q and A format. Who holds the record for the longest hitting streak against the Mets? Matty Alou, 22 games, spanning from 1971 to 1973. Steve Finley (1995-97) and Gary Templeton (1978-79) rank 2nd with 21-game streaks. Who holds the record for longest hitting streak against the Mets, at Shea Stadium? Lui...

Have the Mets ever won a game via walk-off due to a shortstop's miscue? You betcha. In fact, we've written about it twice previously http://metswalkoffs.blogspot.com/2005/06/fatherson-walk-off-memory.html http://metswalkoffs.blogspot.com/2005/06/win-like-flynn_21.html Those two games represent half the number of times that the Mets have triumphed via the E6 and for the purpose of moving towards completing the set, we'll tell you about the most recent of this quartet of occurrences today. Even though the Mets home opener wasn't a walk-off win (and the E6 only tied the game), there is a parallel to what happened Monday at Shea (and if you couldn't tell, we love historical parallels) in that the game a)took place in April and b) was against a team from Pennsylvania, but we doubt that Pirates shortstop Kevin Polocovich made any comments about his squad being a team to beat. It's a good thing because the Pirates went on to finish 69-93 and games like this didn't ...

It's a beautiful day for baseball this Monday (more or less) as the game returns to Flushing for the first time this season and we're excited that there's finally a chance for walk-off wins again. That got us to doing some research into what we're calling HOTWOOD. No, that has nothing to do with the Mets bats from their first few games, nor is it the town in Indiana where (name that obscure Met) grew up. HOTWOOD stands for Home Openers That Weren't On Opening Day. And here's what we can tell you about them... * The Mets are 12-9 all-time in HOTWOOD, a good record, but far shy of their 29-17 Opening Day mark. *The Mets have won 5 HOTWOOD in a row, though that comes with an asterisk attached to the 2000 HOTWOOD win. When the Mets opened in Japan in 2000, they were technically the home team on Opening Day, but to call that game the "home opener" would be inappropriate, as it would also be to acknowledge the second "fake" Opening Day" that c...

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.