Skip to main content

Clinching Minutiae

The Mets clinched the NL East on Monday, but if you're coming here, chances are that you knew that (and a whole lot more) already. So we do as we usually do in these circumstances- try to provide a perspective with which you may not be familiar. To do so, we offer up the following pieces of information, and yes, we try to work in some walk-off notes on occasion.

PLEASE NOTE: That we are referring only to NL East clinching information and thus minutiae related to the wild card clinchings in 1999 and 2000 is not being utilized.

* This win marked the fifth time the Mets clinched the NL East title, with the previous opponents being the Cardinals (1969), Cubs (1973 and 1986) and Phillies (1988). The Marlins are the third team against whom the Mets had both a walk-off victory AND an NL East clinching victory in the same season (1969 Cardinals, 1988 Phillies are the other two)

* September 18 marked the second-earliest division clinching in Mets history, trailing only 1986 (September 17). The other parallel with 1986: The Mets clinched at home, after missing out on a chance to clinch on the road, with one loss each season coming in walk-off fashion.

* This was the second time that a Mets division clinching came as the result of a shutout, with the other taking place in 1969. In fact, the 6-0 shutout in 1969 was the first of four consecutive shutouts recorded by that pitching staff. The 1969 clinching is still the only one in team history that came the game after a walk-off win.

* Jose Valentin is the second Met to hit two home runs in a Mets division clincher, joining Donn Clendenon (1969). However, Valentin is the only player to hit two home runs in a Mets division clincher, and have a walk-off hit in the same season.

* The 2-hour 29 minute time of game was the third-fastest division clincher in Mets history. All five were played rather quickly, with the fastest being 2-hours 2 minutes (1969) and the slowest being 2-hours, 33 minutes (1988).

* Steve Trachsel earned his 15th win of the season, matching the total that the last Mets NL East-clinching pitcher (current broadcaster Ron Darling) had at the time of his victory. This was also the first start all season in which Trachsel allowed no runs.

* Tug McGraw (1973) and Billy Wagner are the only two relief pitchers to have been on the mound for a Mets NL East clinching win. Both also were the winning pitchers in walk-off triumphs earlier that same season.

* Willie Randolph is the third manager to manage the Mets to the NL East title, who formerly played for the Mets, joining Gil Hodges and Yogi Berra. Hodges is the only person to get a walk-off hit for the Mets and later manage them to a division title.

* Josh Willingham is the 1st player to beat the Mets with a walk-off hit and be the last batter in a Mets division clincher in the same season. The other last outs, for the record: Joe Torre (1969), Glenn Beckert (1973, though technically speaking, I suppose it's catcher Ken Rudolph, who was doubled off first base on the final play), Chico Walker (1986) and Lance Parrish (1988)

* The Mets have never had a regular-season walk-off win that occured after clinching a division that season. They did, of course, have postseason walk-off wins in the division-title seasons of both 1969 and 1986

Comments

Let's talk about real walkoffs tonight: What fans were chanting as they were walking out of Shea.
1. Yankees suck. Typical. Almost cliched.
2. Tomahawk chop. Mocking the Braves. Bury the ghost. Waited a long time for this one.
3. Let's Go Mets. Traditional. Never gets old.
4. Rockies suck. Didn't understand this one, but going down the ramp at Gate C it actually was chanted briefly.
Note: I didn't hear a 'We're No. 1' walkoff chant, which was in vogue in '69 and '73. Seems like walkoff fans vary as much as walkoff hits.

Popular posts from this blog

Best Games I Know: Phillies (Updated)

  The best wins against the Phillies in Mets history …   May 5, 2022 – Mets 8, Phillies 7 The Mets score 7 runs in the 9 th inning to overcome a 7-1 deficit and win in Philadelphia.   April 29, 2022 – Mets 3, Phillies 0 Tylor Megill and 4 Mets relievers combine on the second no-hitter in franchise history.   September 22, 2016 – Mets 9, Phillies 8 (11) The Mets tie it in the 9 th on a Jose Reyes home run and win it in the 11 th on a 3-run home run by Asdrubal Cabrera.   July 17, 2016 - Mets 5, Phillies 0 Jacob deGrom pitches a one-hitter. Only hit is a single by Zach Eflin in the 5 th inning.   August 24, 2015 – Mets 16, Phillies 7 David Wright homers in his first at-bat in more than 4 months. The Mets hit a team-record 8 home runs.   July 5, 2012 – Mets 6, Phillies 5 The Mets score 2 runs with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9 th to beat Jonathan Papelbon. The winning run scores on David Wright’s bloop down the right field line.   August 13

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

Trip(le) Through Time

In their illustrious history, the Mets have had one 'Triple Crown Winner,' so to speak and I'm not talking about the typical meaning of the term. I've gotten some queries recently as to whether a walk-off triple is even possible and I'm here to tell you that it is. There has been one, and only one, in Mets history, though I don't have the full explanation of circumstances that I would like. It took place against the Phillies on September 10, 1970. This was a marathon game that would have fit in perfectly with those having taken place so far this season and allowed the Mets to maintain a temporary hold on first place in an NL East race oft forgotten in team history. It went 14 innings, with a tinge of controversy in a negated Ken Boswell home run, a thrilling play by Bud Harrelson, who stole home in the third inning, and some stellar relief pitching, in the form of five scoreless innings from Danny Frisella, aided by Tim McCarver getting thrown out in a rundown b