Mets Walk-Offs And Minutiae

The headline in Saturday's New York Post regarding the Knicks newest acquisition was "Will He Randolph?" and that actually segues well into something I've wanted to write about for awhile. But first, let me say that this recent Knicks trade has me a little skittish. As if things couldn't get worse for that team, the faces of the franchise are now: * An owner, with a self-destructive nature, who can barely complete a sentence in English * A president/GM/coach who has been accused at various times of excessive gambling, sexual harassment, and extremely poor management of other people's money * Two players, one whose heart health is such that some had concerns that he'd drop dead at any moment, and the other for whom we have to bring out the "Do Not Disturb" sign that we'd supposedly retired when Latrell Sprewell left town. Isiah Thomas seems to think that he's the guy who can change Zach Randolph. I'm not convinced that Isiah, based on

For those looking for a way to take out their anger at seeing Adam Wainwright on the mound this evening. When you're done, do yourself a favor and buy a subscription to the Play Index at Baseball-Reference.com Then you can make up your own trivia questions. Answers here: http://metswalkoffs.blogspot.com/2006/06/our-special-bonds-cardinals-haters.html 1) Name the only Cardinals pitcher, a former Met, to suffer 3 walk-off losses (most of any Cardinals pitcher) against the Mets as a Cardinal. 2) Two Mets share the distinction of having the highest batting average (.380) against the Cardinals, as a Met (minimum 100 plate appearances). Each went 41-for-108 against them. One shares a last name with a big city. The other shares the first three letters of his first name with a small state. Name them. 3) Name the former Met who went 0-7 against the Mets, while a member of the Cardinals (the worst winless record by a Cardinal against the Mets). He shares part of his last name with a former

Tying up some loose ends * "Ceetar" asked about short spans between walk-off wins. The shortest span between Mets walk-off wins can be measured in hours, because they've had four doubleheaders in which they've swept both games by walk-off. May 12, 1962 vs Braves June 2, 1963 vs Pirates August 23, 1964 vs Cubs July 31, 1983 vs Pirates As for walk-offs on back-to-back days (not necessarily games), I count 23 instances, with the last coming on September 20-21, 2005 against the Marlins. * Tuesday marked the 83rd time in team history that the Mets got a game-tying RBI with 2 outs in the 9th inning or later (this doesn't include games tied on balks, wild pitches or errors) and the third such occurrence this season. It's the first Mets game-tying RBI at HOME with 2 outs in the 9th since Victor Diaz's 3-run home run off LaTroy Hawkins and the Cubs on September 25, 2004. The Mets are now 44-38-1 when getting a game-tying RBI in the 9th inning or later. * A Julio Fr

* Mets walk-off win #347 was the Mets 6th this season, against no defeats. This is the first time in Mets history that they've started a season with at least 6 walk-off wins before their first walk-off defeat. * It was Shawn Green's 2nd career walk-off home run, his first since September 20, 2001, when he homered in the 13th inning to beat Greg Swindell and the Diamondbacks, 3-2. It was the second walk-off home run allowed by Russ Springer, but his first since April 11, 2000, when Ed Sprague and the Padres beat him with a 13th inning home run. It was the first home run that Springer allowed all season. * This is the 5th time in Mets history that they've had as few as 3 hits and won a game in walk-off fashion. The last was June 28, 1998, when they had 3 hits and beat the Yankees 2-1 on Luis Lopez's sacrifice fly (the game where Brian McRae nearly cost the Mets the winning run by wandering aimlessly off first base on the SF). The fewest Mets hits in a Mets walk-off win is

With the great help of Washington Nationals official scorer David Vincent (author of the recently published book Home Run: The Definitive History of Baseball's Ultimate Weapon ) , who maintains an ejections database begun by the late Doug Pappas, I have been able to determine the following: * Saturday was the 9th time in which a Met (either a player/coach/manager) was ejected from what turned out to be a Mets walk-off win. * It was the first such occurrence since September 1, 1996, when John Franco was ejected and the Mets beat the Giants, 6-5 in 10 innings on a walk-off fielder's choice by Carl Everett. http://metswalkoffs.blogspot.com/2007/05/our-special-bonds.html * It was the first game in which a Mets position player was ejected from an eventual Mets walk-off win since May 11, 1996, in which a brawl between the Mets and Cubs resulted in Todd Hundley's departure (as well as that of John Franco, Pete Harnisch, Blas Minor, and coach, Steve Swisher). The Mets went on to wi

Listened to a little Billy Joel on the drive home, which explains the title of this entry. It's late and I'm tired, so for now we just simply present the facts. * Walk-off # 346 is the Mets fifth walk-off win of the season (against no walk-off defeats). This is the fourth time in club history and the first time since 1988 that the Mets started a season reaching the five walk-off win mark before suffering their first walk-off defeat. The others are 1966 and 1985. They've never gotten to six walk-off wins before their first walk-off defeat. * It is the 4th walk-off hit and 5th walk-off RBI of David Wright's career, his first since last May 29, when he beat the Diamondbacks with a walk-off single. It is his 2nd career walk-off double Editorial comment: If Wright gets credit for a double on that hit, Jose Reyes should have been credited for a triple on the ball on which Glavine failed to score on Friday night. Reyes was at third when Glavine was tagged out. Wright, was not