Mets Walk-Offs And Minutiae

I haven't seen this kind of refuse to lose attitude (altitude?) from the Colorado Rockies since Opening Day 1995. Finally, the Rockies have a new signature moment to replace the Dante Bichette fist-pump that concluded that miserable evening of baseball, the play in which Matt Holliday scored the wild-card clinching run without ever touching home plate. And if Colorado keeps winning, that game against the Mets will be pushed farther and farther out of the memory banks. It's about time. If you wanted to rate the worst losses in Mets history, that in hindsight didn't really mean much, Opening Day, 1995, ranks atop the list. Remember that in 1995, we were welcoming baseball back after an early season's end and a canceled World Series, due to labor issues. The Mets would have been better off skipping over this one (the umpires did...they were on strike and the game was reffed by replacements). It was the first baseball game at Coors Field and the Mets felt hospitable enough

So as I pick at the carcass that is Yankees defeat, I decided to endeavor an exercise. It occured to me that Jorge Posada (who has the ability to become a free agent if he chooses) would be a good option as far as being the Mets starting catcher next season. I think that determining who the starting catcher is next season will be the most important thing the Mets will do this offseason (because I don't see the pipe dream wishes for Santana and Oswalt coming true). Catcher is the most interesting of needs, because there is one player who could be out there, who is significantly better than all the others. It doesn't interest me to evaluate the other positional possibilities at this point, but for some reason, I've been preoccupied thinking about catcher these last two days. I figured it was worth a closer look. Possible Starting Catchers 2008 Mets Paul Lo Duca Upside: You know what you're getting. He's gonna hit about .270 with 8 home runs, and not strike out very mu

Faced without baseball for two days, we look for things to do to fill our spare time. In such situations, we like to fill our voids with trivia and offer up this October baseball quiz you might enjoy. Answers here: http://metswalkoffs.blogspot.com/2006/10/our-special-bonds-october-notables.html 1) Let us begin with a question of recent significance. Prior to Jorge Posada, this Met was the only player to strike out FOR THE YANKEES to end a postseason series. Name him. 2) The opposing catchers in the October 3, 1951 game in which Bobby Thomson hit the "Shot Heard Round the World" both later worked for the Mets. Name them. 3) What future Met was the winning pitcher in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series, in which Kirk Gibson hit the game-winning home run against Dennis Eckersley? 4) What former Met was the winning pitcher in Game 7 of the 1992 NLCS, in which Francisco Cabrera singled in the tying and winning runs in the bottom of the 9th. 5) Ralph Terry gave up the World Series-winn

Alright...after a week of bitterness, it's time to focus on some of the positives from this season. Let's start with this list. #10 July 7- Mets 5, Astros 3 (17) The final spot on the list came down to this game, the 1-0 walk-off against Oakland on June 23 , and the crazy 7-6 win in Florida on September 23 . In the end, this game had too much goodness to pass up. Carlos Beltran, in his best moments of 2007, saved the game with the top defensive play of the season, than won it in the 17th, snapping an 0-for-6 in the contest with a go-ahead single. #9 September 12- Mets 4, Braves 3 In future games of Mets word association, September 12, is going to have the most negative of connotations, because it will be remembered in the following manner. "The Mets had a 7-game lead over the Phillies after a win on September 12..." But what a win it was, one in which Shawn Green celebrated the Jewish New Year with a go-ahead hit in the 8th, one that made up for multiple bullpen foibl