Mets Walk-Offs And Minutiae

Getting right to it... Damion Easley's inside-the-park HR was indeed the 24th in Mets history * 10 at home, 14 on the road * 23 different players. The only one with 2 is Darryl Strawberry * Most is: 5 against the Phillies, 4 against the Reds * First was by Gil Hodges, May 16, 1962 against the Cubs at the Polo Grounds * First at Shea was by Ron Hunt, June 5, 1966 against the Dodgers (Game 1 of doubleheader against Sandy Koufax, while trailing 15-2) * There have been 2 inside-the-park HR to come in walk-off wins. May 16, 1962- Gil Hodges vs Cubs (Felix Mantilla walk-off hit) June 11, 2005- Marlon Anderson vs Angels (Cliff Floyd walk-off HR) * Mets who have had a walk-off HR and an inside-the-park HR: Darryl Strawberry, Dave Kingman, Gil Hodges, Howard Johnson, Kevin Elster, Lee Mazzilli and Steve Henderson * Most HR by a Met who never hit an inside-the-park HR, Mike Piazza, 220, Todd Hundley, 124 * Seasons with more than one: 1962, 1979, 1980, 1982, 2006, all with 2

With all the hubbub the last few days regarding the inabilities of Msrs Bonds and Rodriguez to hit a milestone home run, I became reminded of something similar from Mets history. I'm referring to Gary Carter's pursuit of 300 home runs, a story that is one of the most painful I can remember in my life as a Mets fan. On May 16, 1988, Carter hit his 299th career home run, in San Diego. Little did anyone know then that his 300th would not come until nearly three months later. During the 64-game stretch that followed Gary Carter went from a solid batsman, one hitting .284 and slugging .550 with 8 home runs in 31 games, to a psyched-out, horribly mediocre hitter, one who hit .237 with 15 RBI, and treated balls hit to the warning track as if they were major events. It was so blatantly obvious that Carter was pressing that it became hard to watch his at-bats. And yet, he was still selected by fans to be the NL's starting catcher in the All-Star Game. In a column by Joe Durso, that ...

That's okay, I didn't want to go through a whole season without one of these anyway... * Walk-off loss #366 was the first Mets walk-off loss of the season. The Mets were the last team in the majors to lose via walk-off in 2007. The last Mets walk-off loss was against the Pirates last September 16. The Mets are 6-1 this season in games ending via walk-off. * It is the 119th time the Mets have lost a game on a walk-off home run (postseason included) and the 24th time they've lost on a walk-off 2-run home run. * Aaron Sele joins Aaron Heilman as Aaron's to give up a walk-off hit in a Mets loss. Ronny Paulino beat Heilman with a double last September 16. Hank Aaron once beat the Mets with a walk-off home run, on June 13, 1972. * The Brewers now have a walk-off win against the Mets in each of the last two seasons. Bill Hall hit a walk-off home run against Chad Bradford with a Mother's Day pink bat on May 14, 2006. * The last time the Mets lost via walk-off on trade deadl...

On August 9, 1996, Luis Castillo was a gung-ho rookie second baseman, about to play in his second major-league game in Florida, against the New York Mets. On that same date, Tom Glavine, located slightly north in Atlanta, was efforting in an attept to win career game number 137 against the Colorado Rockies. Tonight they unify in a common goal (presuming Castillo shows up in Milwaukee), in an attempt to get Castillo off on the right foot and earn Glavine a historic milestone. But perhaps Glavine would have reached this mark a little sooner had the Mets won the battle for Castillo's services when he was previously a free agent. The value of having someone like Castillo as your second baseman could be seen on that particular August date, 11 years ago. It was a night in which the Mets starting lineup featured Alvaro Espinoza at third base (how far they've come since) and featured one of the finest pitching performances of Robert Person's career. The only blemish through seven i...

I haven't written one of these essays, devoted to Game 6 of the 1986 World Series in quite some time, partly due to the many stories I've already penned on that game, and partly because I've found the conjuring of trivia quizzes to be more entertaining and less time-consuming. I was in the midst of preparing another trivia quiz when I came upon a piece of information that just had to be shared. I'm a little puzzled that I hadn't previously read about it, so if someone is aware of a source for more information on this matter, please share it. September 21, 1969, is a significant day in Mets history in a rather peripheral sort of way, far beyond the Mets recording a doubleheader sweep against the Pirates, three days before clinching the NL East. It marks the major-league debut of one William Joseph Buckner for the Los Angeles Dodgers. The action for that day took place in San Francisco, appropros for the moment since the teams of those two cities meet this week (albei...