Mets Walk-Offs And Minutiae

For those who read the July 19 post, where I griped about Carlos Beltran's mediocre numbers at Shea Stadium, here are some others, entering Saturday, that bug me just a little bit... Billy Wagner Home: 4.43 ERA, 3 blown saves, 21 appearances Road: 0.42 ERA, 1 blown save, 20 appearances Pedro Feliciano Home: 3.93 ERA, 23 hits, 18 2/3 IP Road: 0.46 ERA, 15 hits, 19 1/3 IP Carlos Delgado Home: .200 BA, 10 HR, 27 RBI Road: .291 BA, 14 HR, 34 RBI Ramon Castro Home: 7 for 45 (.156 BA), 20 K Road: 20 for 66 (.303 BA), 15 K True Metpickers know... A link worth checking out...The folks at Baseball-Reference.com have done some nice Retrosheet research on walk-off hits, walk-off home runs, walk-off HBP's, walk-off steals of home, and walk-off balks (all since 1957 or so). Their lists can be found here: http://www.baseball-reference.com/blog/archives/78#more-78

So apparently Msrs. Ron Howard, Dennis Miller, and birthday celebrant Tom Hanks didn't stick around for Thursday's clash between the Reds and the "Catch Me If You Can" Mets, though I'll give them credit for lightening (lightning?)the mood at Wednesday's disastrous soakfest. I think Mr. Miller would appreciate my the little joke I cracked upon seeing a hitchhiker on the highway today hoisting a sign that read "I won't kill you!" (If he broke his promise, how would I know? makes for a decent "Punchline" I suppose) Some notes as we head into a weekend series with the Vandal/Pettitte-less Astros. Is it safe to say that "Happy Days" are here again, now that the team has straightened itself out and won 4 of 6 on the road? * Newest acquisition Ruben Gotay, headed to Norfolk to play some second base, has never had a walk-off hit in the majors. Ruben's uncle Julio was a bit of an oddball (he had a fear of the cross), but we owe him

Perhaps when the baseball team returns to Flushing they could sprinkle some pixie dust, or whatever it is they do at a Salvation Miracle Revival Crusade and heal Carlos Beltran's home sickness.   The splits are both alarming and amazing. Consider the following stats after Tuesday's win.   Carlos Beltran in road games :  .346 BA, 17 HR, 54 RBI, 42 games Carlos Beltran in home games :  .207 BA, 10 HR, 24 RBI, 40 games   Observing closely as I do regularly, I couldn't help but notice that Beltran's swing has appeared much smoother on the road. I'd be willing to bet he leads the Mets in home popouts (not talking about curtain calls) because he has a propensity to overswing to try to impress the denizens of the Queens ballpark.   This is not a new situation for the Mets. Many a quality hitter has been spooked by Shea and shined elsewhere, though this is certainly an extreme situation.   It is somewhat reminiscent of one overlooked by fans of the 19

While my dad and I were belatedly celebrating his 60th birthday on Saturday, Reds outfielder Chris Denorfia was legitimately enjoying the 26th anniversary of his birth in Cincinnati. As luck would have it, Denorfia, recalled when the Reds traded Austin Kearns away, came to the plate in an all-or-nothing scenario, his team trailing the Rockies by a run with the bases loaded and two outs in the last of the 9th. Rockies closer Brian Fuentes had just inadvertently beaned each of the previous two hitters and was now in the position of having to throw a strike. The count ran to 2-2 and Denorfia got what was described as a lousy swing at the next pitch and hit a slow chopper to short. Rockies shortstop Clint Barmes charged the ball, then just plain missed it. It eluded Barmes for a walk-off two-run single, making Denorfia a very happy birthday boy. Intrigued, I sent an e-mail to Retrosheet guru David Smith, who with a little programming magic was able to generate a list of every player to ge

In the now 60 years that my dad has lived (effective July 12), he has seen a lot. But during our celebration of his birthday this past Saturday, he saw 2 things he never had before. The first was a 90-year-old woman, falling out of her motorized scooter, and onto the curb at the corner of 75th street and Park Avenue. Good samaritans that we were, we helped rescue Judith and escorted her to the ER at Lenox Hill Hospital where she was treated for a rather nasty gash on the arm. The next was having the couple sitting next to him at dinner, a couple of strangers maybe separated from us by 3 feet, agree to get married. The happy bride-to-be spent the next half hour calling friends and showing her engagement ring to anyone who would look- except us. It seems that things like these tend to come in threes, so there was the expectation that something else unique might happen before the night was out. As it turned out, we had to wait for 24 hours or so, although in my dad's case, he's

Questions here: http://metswalkoffs.blogspot.com/2007/07/our-special-bonds-even-steven-questions.html 1) Fling your glove to the sky if you knew the correct answer was the man who wore that uniform number regularly, Jesse Orosco. 2) Barry Bonds doesn't make this list, but Hank Aaron does, as do Willie Mays, Sammy Sosa, Frank Robinson, Mike Schmidt and Willie McCovey. 3) How soon we forget Randy Johnson-killer Dae-Sung Koo . 4) Former Pirate and current Pirate broadcaster Steve Blass (he of "Steve Blass Disease"). 5) The well-educated southpaw, Mike Hampton 6) If you got this one, you're in like Doug Flynn . 7) Neither of the Bob Millers come before Keith Miller on the Mets alphabetical list. But former pitcher Dyar Miller does. 8) The only team against whom the Mets had a prayer on a regular basis in 1962 was the Cubs .