Mets Walk-Offs And Minutiae

I hope that whoever designed the Shawn Green "Yom Kippur Clipper" t-shirts that were being hawked in Grand Central prior to Game 7 of the NLCS have the capability for another artistic creation. With utility man David Newhan in the fold, the Mets now have two Jewish players on the roster. T-shirt designers want to make note than Newhan's nickname is "Son of Scribe." Newhan is the son of a Hall of Fame honoree, Los Angeles Times baseball writer Ross Newhan. The elder Newhan has been known to get rather emotional when following his son. When in 2004, the younger Newhan homered in his first at bat back in the majors after nearly three years and two shoulder surgeries, the elder Newhan let out a yelp that columnist Bill Plaschke described as "Howard Dean-esque" (Ross was following his son's Orioles-Rockies game on the internet while covering the Dodgers) That hit was part of a magical 2004 campaign for Newhan, one that the Mets hope he can duplicate af...

We've had a couple of walk-off finishes in these meaningless exhibitions known as college football bowl games and the one that really seems to have this country buzzing is Boise State's crazy victory over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl. I had an inkling to write something about walk-off trickery, like the kind used by Boise State to tie late in regulation and then win in overtime, but I haven't been able to find an example of such to provide a worthy story If you want to talk about the gutsiest decision made in a Mets walk-off win, you should probably read this posting, about the daring nature of Tommie Agee, who would have been a perfect fit for that Boise squad. http://metswalkoffs.blogspot.com/2005/07/should-i-stay-or-should-i-go.html My tribute to Boise State comes in talking about it's most noteworthy baseball alumnus (there have only been two to make the majors. That would be Larry Jackson. Larry Jackson plays an important role in Mets history, that of Mets-killer. F...

Part of a continuing series of essays within this blog related to Game 6 of the 1986 World Series There was a brief discussion the other day, when I told the story of a Mets loss on the night of Richard Nixon's resignation announcement, of other significant events to take place on the date of momentous Mets victories. Loyal reader Barry Federovitch pointed out that the famous "Ball on the Wall" victory over the Pirates took place the same day as the "Battle of the Sexes" tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs. Fellow blogger Greg from "Faith and Fear in Flushing" noted how Matt Franco's game-winning hit against Mariano Rivera in 1999 took place the same day of Brandi Chastain's goal that gave the United States women's soccer team victory in the championship game of the World Cup. While I haven't been able to find many events of historical or sporting significance, I did come across one of particular importance to some. If...