Skip to main content

Step to the Mike

It was only two months ago that Mike Pelfrey did something he could never recall doing in his pitching career.

The Binghamton Mets hurler failed to even get through the first inning, as he was pulled after just 39 pitches. The Mets had some folks in the stands watching, hoping that Pelfrey would show them something good and earn the call up that went to Alay Soler. Instead, what Pelfrey displayed was an arm in need of a little fine-tuning. He allowed two runs on three walks and two singles. The struggles weren't totally Pelfrey's fault. A two-out error by third baseman Jay Caliguiri kept the inning, then scoreless going, and Pelfrey came unglued afterwards.

Those who made the trek to see Pelfrey pitch may have been disappointed, but they could only be pleased with the end result, a walk-off win. Caligiuri made up for his miscue with two RBI, the last a bases-loaded single in the bottom of the 8th (the game was part of two on the day, and thus was scheduled for only seven innings) to bring in the winning run.

“I’m just going through a rough time right now," Pelfrey told media, including those who made the trip up from the New York City papers to see him pitch. "When I’m on and I’m doing the things I need to be, I’m going to be successful. It’s just a matter of me putting it together.”

Pelfrey did put it together after that. He's 4-1 with a 2.05 ERA in seven starts since that blemish (No truth to the rumor that he credited the walk-off for turning his fortunes around) and on Saturday he'll be making a highly-anticipated major-league debut against the Florida Marlins.

True Metfrys know...We're not in the biz of placing high, unfair expectations on a kid, so consider this a "Did You Know?" just for the heck of it...Tom Seaver earned 2 walk-off wins in his rookie season of 1967

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Walk-Offs in Movies, TV, and Other Places

Note: I'm leaving this post up through the end of the week, a) because I don't have time to pump out something new and b)because I was hoping to build a really good list of entertainment industry walk-offs...so if you're looking for something new, check back on Monday or so... Of course, if there's a major trade or move, I'll adjust and try to post something... In the meantime, click on the "Table of Contents" link as well. It has been updated. SPOILER ALERT: Read at your own risk Caught the ending of "A League of Their Own" on one of the movie channels the other day and it got me to thinking that it would be fun to compile a list of walk-offs from movies, television, and other forms of entertainment. Here's the start, and only the start, as I spent about 30 minutes or so thinking it over Help me fill in the blanks by filling out the comments section. "A League of Their Own"-- Racine beats Rockford for the All-American Girls Profess...
10 comments
Read more

The best Mets ejections I know

When you think of the Mets and famous ejections, I'm guessing you first think of the famous Bobby Valentine mustache game, when after Valentine got tossed, he returned to the dugout in disguise. You know it. You love it. I remember being amused when I asked Bobby V about it while we were working on Baseball Tonight, how he simply said "It worked. We won the game." (true) But the Bobby V mustache game of June 9, 1999 is one of many, many memorable Mets ejection stories. And now thanks to Retrosheet and the magic of Newspapers.com , we have a convenient means for being able to share them. Ever since Retrosheet's David Smith recently announced that the Retrosheet ejection database was posted online , I've been a kid in a candy store. I've organized the data and done some lookups of media coverage around the games that interested me post. Those newspaper accounts fill in a lot of blanks. Without further ado (and with more work to do), here are some of my findings ...
Post a Comment
Read more

The 'Duca of Earl (and walk-offs)

If I told you that the Mets had just obtained a guy who is a career .316 hitter with runners in scoring position? How about if I told you that the Mets just traded for a hitter who has consistently ranked among the toughest in baseball to strike out? Or if I mentioned that the Mets just dealt for a player who was selected to the NL All-Star team the last three seasons, with the last honor coming via a vote by his peers? So, although he's on the down side age wise, his throwing arm isn't as good as it used to be, and he doesn't provide much power, there are a lot of good things that Paul Lo Duca brings to the New York Mets. For example: He'll sacrifice his body for the good of the team The Dodgers and Braves squared off on August 23, 2002 and Lo Duca made an impact both on the start and finish of this game. Three pitches after being dusted by Greg Maddux, Lo Duca made him pay with a first-inning home run. The Braves rallied to tie the game, 3-3 in the ninth, but their bu...
8 comments
Read more