Mets Walk-Offs And Minutiae

Rumor has it that some other ballpark is closing this weekend. Funny thing: If you visit StubHub, you'll see about 300 tickets for sale for some game in the Bronx this Sunday night. You'll also find more than 5,000 tickets for sale for next Sunday's game in Flushing. I think that's pathetic. But since this weekend's ballpark closing is apparently of importance, we'll have to pay tribute in our own special way. Let's count down the 10 best games in that ballpark's history 10. The Last Day of the Yankee Dynasty (May 3, 1965, Mets 2, Yankees 1, Mayor's Trophy Game) The Yankees enjoyed an unprecedented run of success from 1947 to 1964, but their dynasty would crumble in 1965. All the proof needed that these Yankees were in for some trouble that season was the Mayor's Trophy Game of 1965. The Yankees mustered only one run in 10 innings, getting shut out over the first three by some young dude named Tug McGraw. The Mets would win, 2-1 in the 10th when ...

But that's just me. As Gary and the AFLAC duck reminded us, Dwight Gooden holds the Mets single-season record for most consecutive starts without a loss. He had 18 in 1985. Johan Santana ranks second with 15, after Thursday's win. He snapped a tie for second with David Cone and another former Mets lefty, Tom Glavine. Cone's positioning, for 1989, not 1988 as some would have thought is legit. Glavine's inclusion, and I'm sorry to be both biased and rude here, is a joke. Santana's ERA during his 15-start lossless stretch is 2.27. He's had 13 quality starts, one in which he left after five innings with a shutout due to rain, and one bad start (4 innings, 5 runs in Cincinnati on July 17) Glavine's ERAs during his not one, but two streaks of 14 straight lossless starts (one in 2006, one in 2007), were 3.74 and 3.44 Glavine avoided losses in the following starts June 7, 2006 at Dodgers- 5 1/3 innings, 6 runs June 13, 2006 at Phillies- 4 1/3 innings, 4 ...

So Jerry Manuel has Johan Santana on a 170-pitch count this evening after burning through most of the bullpen last night (Al Reyes, where art thou?) While throwing that many pitches would necessitate a herculean effort, it would not set a Mets record. Baseball-Reference.com has a handful of pitch counts from games from the Mets earliest days, and within that exists a game in which a Mets pitcher threw 172 pitches. Newspaper reading indicates that the tally was 215, and while I can't currently reconcile that difference of opinion, I feel comfortable in acknowleding that 170 pitches would not make history. The Mets game against the Phillies on August 14, 1962 would not be considered historic by my standards, though it would certainly qualify as a doozy, one witnessed by only slightly more than 5,000 fans at the Polo Grounds. The Mets managed only one run over 15 innings despite drawing 12 walks, seven from Phillies starter Dallas Green. Why the Phillies were frightened enough of the ...

I made the comment to my father a few weeks ago that Brandon Knight was going to throw the most important pitch of the Mets season. What does that mean? I think it's one of the following... 7 IP, 0 R, 3 H in Pete Walker circa 2001 rescuer form or 3 IP, 7 R, 10 H in Julio Valera circa 1990 meltdown form But I digress, because what I've become reminded of in the last few hours is the seven-game losing streak that dotted the last two weeks of the 1999 season. In that stretch... * The Mets lost games 2-1, 3-2, 4-2, and 3-2 * The Mets hit .215 and slugged .303 * The Mets went 6-for-52 with runners in scoring position * Everyone was pressing because of the collapse of 1998 Seems familiar, eh?

Arrive home at 2:40 AM after a very long day's work, interrupted by many predictable bouts of frustration. I have an e-mail. It's the results of a game in my computer baseball league. I've been in this league a long time. I've had good wins and bad losses. The game of September 16 was a loss. That's nothing new. My team has been slumping. But how we lost bothers me, more than a little. Ryan Howard hit a walk-off home run to beat us. As Charlie Brown once said: "Rats!" As Charlie Brown also once said: "Maybe I should just stay home and lie in bed all day."

My friend Paul (the only person who will get the title of this posting) asked me the other day if I had any interest in going to see a Mets game this week in Washington D.C. I politely declined. Monday, I was glad I did. It's good to know that I'm not the cause of whatever is presently ailing the Mets, unlike in previous seasons. I was at the Thursday/Friday losses in the final week of 2007 I was at Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS I was at the Armando Benitez blown save against the Braves in late September, 2001 I was at Game 5 of the 2000 World Series I was at the Rickey Henderson game-ending DP in Philadelphia the next-to-last weekend in 1999 I was at the Mike Scioscia home run game, Game 4 of the 1988 NLCS I was at the recently mentioned Terry Pendleton HR game in 1987 I was at the Cesar Cedeno HR game in 1985 I was at the Banner Day doubleheader loss to the Cubs in 1984 But I'm proud to say that I was not at either of the giveaway games that took place at Shea this past weekend...

We all got so caught up in the story of it being Chipper Jones last game at Shea. We forgot it was the last one there for Terry Pendleton too. How come they didn't have him and coaching buddy Roger McDowell peel a number off the Shea wall for old-time sake? Somewhere the ghosts of Don Aase and Willie Randolph smirk too.

If Jonathon Niese's siblings have baby boys, are they Niese's nephews? Jonathon Niese... * Became the fourth pitcher in Mets history to throw 8+ shutout innings within his first 2 MLB games. The other 3 pitchers to do that... 1994- Jason Jacome (shut out Dodgers in 2nd MLB start) 1966- Dick Rusteck (shut out Reds in 1st MLB start) 1965- Dick Selma (shut out Braves in 10 IP in 2nd MLB start) *The only other starter in Mets history to win a game in September, within his first 2 MLB games, in the midst of a pennant race (my judgment) is Julio Valera. He allowed five runs in six innings in his debut, a 6-5 win over the Giants on September 1, 1990. * Only 3 Mets starters have pitched 8+ shutout innings in a game this season: Johan Santana, Mike Pelfrey, and Jonathon Niese.

Part of an ever-continuing series of stories related to the baseball game played on October 25, 1986. The first 10 games in which Mookie Wilson (and Wally Backman) played for the Mets, the team did not win. Thankfully, management was not discouraged by this in any way. Mookie Wilson had a fine Mets career, one best remembered for one moment about which we can all reminisce fondly. It's my understanding that he's recently had a falling out with the organization, and that's too bad, because there are other stories that Mookie could tell about his Mets career as the (now second) greatest base-stealer in team history. One you won't get to hear is about Mookie's first Mets win. It came on September 14, 1980, and revealing the opponent partly gives away the punchline, so I won't do that just yet. Mookie Wilson had 11 four-hit games, as well as one five-hit game for the Mets, and this was one of his finer performances. He showed off his speed at every opportunity, firs...

Wednesday's game got me to thinking: What's the highest scoring walk-off win in Mets history? The Mets have never had a walk-off win in which the final score was double-digits to double-digits. They've had three 10-9's (most recently against the Yankees in 2004), a 10-8 (1990 vs Cardinals), and a pair of 10-7's (1980 and 1998). But the only walk-off win in which the Mets and their opponents combined for 20 or more runs took place on June 22, 1997, against the Pirates. This was a game in which the Mets had leads of 4-0, 5-4, and 9-6, and couldn't hold on, on an 87 degree rainy day at Shea. That fit right in with how the rest of this series went. The Mets had already won three games from the Pirates, albeit each by a single run. In the opener, the Mets beat Ricardo Rincon on Jason Hardtke's hit, after John Franco blew a save by allowing a three-run home run to Dale Sveum with two outs in the ninth. Bobby Jones pitched the kind of gem we'd all be thankful f...

Carlos Delgado tied Dave Kingman for most multi-homer games by a Met in one season, with his 7th on Tuesday. Just in case you were wondering... The Mets record for multi-hit games in a season: Lance Johnson, 75 in 1996 (Jose Reyes had 58 in 2008, tied with a bunch of players for 2nd-most) The Mets record for multi-single games in a season: Lance Johnson, 49, in 1996 (Jose Reyes leads the current team with 30) The Mets record for multi-double games in a season: David Wright, 7 in 2007 (Wright has 6 in 2008) The Mets record for multi-triple games in a season: Jose Reyes, 2 in 2005 (Reyes has 1 in 2008) The Mets record for multi-RBI games in a season: Mike Piazza, 35 in 1999 and 2000 (Carlos Delgado has 27 in 2008) The Mets record for multi-run games in a season: Jose Reyes, 34 in 2006 (David Wright has 21 in 2008) The Mets record for multi-walk games in a season: Keith Hernandez had 28 in 1986 (David Wright had 20 in 2008) The Mets record for multi-stolen base games in a season: Roger Ce...

When's the last time the Mets had a September walk-off win that was pertinent to their playoff positioning? That would be September 13, 2000, and admittedly there was some comfort with a 4 1/2 game lead over the Diamondbacks for the wild card spot, but the deal wasn't sealed just yet. I'm presuming that one of the reasons the Mets pursued then-Brewer Jeff D'Amico was his performance in games like this one. For eight innings, D'Amico stymied the Mets and outdueled Mike Hampton. D'Amico got an early 1-0 lead, courtesy of a Lenny Harris miscue, and wouldn't let go for eight innings. Alas it was determined that with three outs to go, and 112 pitches thrown, D'Amico could not attempt to finish his own victory. Curtis Leskanic was deemed the better fit to conclude the game and that decision proved not to be wise. Jay Payton led off the Mets ninth with a double. It figured that the odds of the Mets scoring at this point, with Edgardo Alfonzo, Mike Piazza, and R...

What you have just witnessed may have been the most boring 'important series' in Mets history. Important series being defined as: September series having direct, significant impact on postseason race, played between two teams both chasing the same goal. Why do I say that? Because there was no true moment of angst. Not a nailbiting victory or agonizing defeat. This is how the rest of the baseball world lives sometimes. But never the Mets. In Game 1, a pitcher on a great roll beat a pitcher on a great roll. But this wasn't Gooden vs Tudor. It was a 3-0 game, and the Mets never really had a good shot, save for Ryan Church's final swing. In Game 2, an aging, crafty lefty, beat an aging, uncrafty righty. The game wasn't close. In Game 3, the Mets took a first-inning lead and never trailed again. Yawn. Granted, the baseball gods have given us plenty to fret over during the last two months, but this series lacked a defining moment that we'll fret over, or remember fon...

Couple random trivia questions for those as bored as I am...answers in the comments section 1- Brett Myers will hopefully be the last pitcher to do the following against the Mets at Shea Stadium... - throw 8+ shutout innings - strike out at least 10 The first pitcher to do so, more than four decades ago, was also a member of the Phillies. Name him. This isn't as hard as you'd think. 2- Jose Reyes enters Sunday tied for the Mets all-time stolen base lead with 281. One other player in MLB history has exactly 281 stolen bases. He's a former teammate of Reyes'. Name him. 3- Mike Schmidt faced this former Mets lefty 66 times in his career and never hit a home run against him. That's Schmidt's most appearances against any pitcher, without hitting a home run. 4- June 5, 1963 marks the first time that the Mets ever swept a HOME doubleheader from the Phillies. The losing pitcher for the Phillies in Game 1 is a "person of significance" for both the Mets and Phil...

The only thing you can contemplate writing about is Ricardo Rincon joining the ranks of Mets with 0.00 ERAs. For the record, he joins (listed with innings) 1-Jon Adkins 1- Desi Relaford 1-Kenny Greer 1-Manny Hernandez 1-Bob Gibson 1 2/3-Bob Johnson 2- Kevin Brown 2-Don Rose 2 2/3-Felix Heredia 5 2/3-Dan Schatzader 5 2/3 C.J. Nitkowski True Metzeros know... The highest ERA in Mets history belongs, not to Jonathon Niese (15.00), but to Todd Zeile (45.00).

Shea Stadium has been home to 335 Mets walk-off wins (so far). It just occurred to me that I've never written about the first one. The beginning began on May 8, 1964, a Mets-Cardinals game at Shea and who knew then that the Cardinals would go on to be World Series champs, and that the Mets would play such a significant role in their end-of-season race past the Phillies. You may have heard those stories before. There isn't as much to this tale, but it's still noteworthy nonetheless. Two of the primary participants for the Cardinals, starter Ernie Broglio and reliever Bobby Shantz weren't long for St. Louis, as they'd be traded a month later for someone named Lou Brock. The Mets started well off Broglio, scoring twice in the first, with the key hit being Jesse Gonder's RBI triple. They'd be up 4-1 by the eighth, with Jack Fisher sailing along, but alas with two on and two out in the eighth, pinch-hitter Carl Warwick hit a game-tying three-run home run. The las...

Newest Met Ricardo Rincon has a claim to fame that is very significant to this blog. On July 12, 1997, Rincon was the winning pitcher in a walk-off no-hitter. The Pirates haven't had many things go right since losing the 1992 NLCS on Francisco Cabrera's walk-off hit. They haven't had a winning season since. This would rank as one of their better days of recent vintage. Granted, Pirates starter Francisco Cordova, a good friend of Rincon's, did most of the dirty work for nine hitless innings against the Astros that day (part of a 23-inning, 3-hit stretch against them) and Billy Wagner's outing for Houston (1 1/3 innings, four strikeouts) was of a higher level of success, but we cannot ignore Rincon's contribution to history. Rincon's four-batter stint came in the top of the 10th inning. He faced two players with a Mets connection (Bill Spiers and Derek Bell) and two who are still active (Luis Gonzalez and Brad Ausmus) and his only blemish was Bell's walk....

* Tuesday's game was the 179th Mets road extra-inning win, their fourth this season (yes, we're charting those now too). * It's the Mets first road extra-inning win in Milwaukee in team history. * The last person to hit a game-winning sacrifice fly in a road extra-inning win for the Mets (before Endy Chavez) was in Miller Park on Tuesday. Mike Cameron had one for the Mets against the Pirates, September 18, 2004. * The Mets last 6-5 road extra-inning win prior to this one featured an unusual game-winning hit, a Rey Ordonez home run to beat the Marlins in the 10th inning, on May 31, 2002. * This was the 6th time this season that a Mets pitcher got a win, while pitching 1/3 of an inning. That is a franchise record, breaking the previous mark of five such regular season wins in 2000. *Lastly, Here are some minutiae bits on Daniel Murphy that came into play Tuesday (thanks BB-Reference). - He's 7-for-11 with three walks in plate appearances that came in a tie game. - He'...

Jonathon Niese was born on October 27, 1986. Expect this to be referenced often, because it's the date that the Mets won the World Series. But what happened on the baseball-season birthdays of other current Mets? Moises Alou, July 3, 1966 The Mets split a doubleheader with the Pirates, losing 8-7 and winning, 9-8, as seven Mets drove in runs in the nightcap. In a bizarre finish to Game 2, the Pirates ran out of players, and pitcher Bob Purkey (career .110 hitter) struck out as a pinch-hitter with two on base to end the game. Orlando Hernandez, October 11, 1969 The Mets lose Game 1 of the World Series, 4-1 as Mike Cuellar beats Tom Seaver. Don Buford starts things off with a leadoff home run and the Orioles never look back. Billy Wagner, July 25, 1971 Ron Taylor struck out Roger Metzger with runners on second and third and two outs in the ninth to preserve a 7-6 win. Cleon Jones led the Mets with three hits, including a home run. Carlos Delgado, June 25, 1972 The Mets got swept by t...

To read my other post today, please link to http://www.metswalkoffs.com/2008/09/its-your-nieses-birthday.html The wonderful Baseball-Reference allows me to generate such lists as this one. In their illustrious history, the Mets have had 9 previous occasions in which they've started a lefty who was making his major league debut. There's a reason this doesn't happen often. Lack of success might have something to do with it. The lineup includes 1995, Bill Pulsipher: 5 career Mets wins 1994, Jason Jacome: 4 career Mets wins 1988, David West: 1 career Met win 1985, Bill Latham: 1 career Met win 1972, Brent Strom: 0 career Mets wins 1971, Jon Matlack: 82 career Mets wins 1967, Les Rohr: 2 career Mets wins 1966, Dick Rusteck: 1 career Mets win 1965, Rob Gardner: 4 career Mets wins Perhaps it's a good omen that Tuesday's starter is named Jon.