Mets Walk-Offs And Minutiae

While doing research for my Mets Walk-off Hall of Fame post, I came upon a rather odd discovery. I'm not sure of the significance at the moment and it will take some work to determine whether this piece of information is really noteworthy, but at least for now, I think that it is. Ed Lynch had a Mets walk-off record of 5-0. That means he had five walk-off wins and no walk-off losses. That strikes me as pretty good. If anything, it gives me something new to remember Lynch by. Prior to that, my association with Lynch came from reading a game program story about him during my childhood. It told the story of how Lynch nearly chopped off his fingers in a childhood accident. Perhaps those victories, all attained in the 1984 season, were the baseball gods way of rewarding Lynch for his stellar performance during a period of Mets mediocrity. Lynch went 19-24 for the Mets during the gloom-and-doom years of 1980-83, then 19-16 with them over the next two seasons. He had the misfortune to be ...

Apparently amphetamine tests aren't the only thing that give Barry Bonds trouble. So too does a certain lefthanded pitcher just signed by the Mets to a contract that some may find a bit too lofty for their liking. That Barry Bonds is 1-for-7 with four strikeouts against Scott Schoeneweis (including three in one game during the 73 HR season of 2001) is one a few good reasons to root for the newest Met. The primary one, besides the jersey he'll be wearing, is that Schoeneweis is a cancer survivor (testicular) who overcame his health issues to produce a reasonably successful major-league career. I don't have any great walk-off stories for Schoeneweis, other than to tell you that he's earned a Shea walk-off win already, even though he didn't play for the Mets. I'm referring to a game last May 27th when the Blue Jays beat the White Sox on a Shea Hillenbrand walk-off home run. I'd rather focus on the Bonds story, which knocked Tim Teufel's return to the Mets o...

If there were such a thing as The Mets Opponents Walk-Off Hall of Fame (and thank goodness there isn't), you could make a great case for many candidates, but I just want to make an argument for one. He has the distinction of having three walk-off RBI against the Mets (two more than Cal Ripken Jr. and 3 more than Mark McGwire, for those curious.), tied for the most by any Mets opponent. It took Tony Gwynn all of five major league games to string together three consecutive multi-hit efforts, with each in that span coming against the Mets. In the last of that trifecta, Gwynn showed that he was not only going to be a great hitter, but he was going to be a clutch one as well. On July 25, 1982, the Mets wrapped up a three-game series with the Padres and the story, for the first eight innings, was the unlikely pitchers duel between Mets rookie Charlie Puleo and John Montefusco. Puleo was almost as good as he was in a shutout of the Padres in May, allowing one run through the first eight f...

If there were such a thing as a Mets Walk-Offs Hall of Fame (and you can consider this the creation point), I think a good number of the pickings would be quibble-free. Those in my inaugural class induction list (selected by unanimous, "one to zero" vote) are: * Hobie Landrith First walk-off RBI in Mets history. * Benny Agbayani , J.C. Martin , Todd Pratt , Len Dykstra , Gary Carter, Robin Ventura Mets Postseason walk-off heroes. * Kevin Mitchell, Ray Knight, Mookie Wilson Game 6 warrants separate billing . * Kevin McReynolds and Rusty Staub Your all-time leaders in Mets walk-off RBI with 8 and 7 respectively. * Tommie Agee The only Met with a walk-off steal of home. * Darryl Strawberry Three walk-off home runs, but more importantly, set stage for several key walk-off moments with non-walk-off shots. * Mike Piazza Four walk-off home runs ties Chris Jones, Cleon Jones, and Kevin McReynolds for most in team history. Earns bonus points for the majestic nature of his shots ....