Mets Walk-Offs And Minutiae

I want to make the quizzes on this site a consistent occurrence during the offseason (ie: weekly) and I was blocked for something to write about until I found out that Friday marks the 72nd birthday for a Mets nemesis (and former pitching coach, Bob Gibson). I've done my fair share of referencing Gibson on this site, though his 28-14 mark against the Flushing fellows makes it hard to find too many positives. I don't know the demographics of my readership, but I'm guessing those that never saw Gibson pitch will struggle mightily with this quiz, while those in the 50-and-older set, will have a better shot. Answers here: http://metswalkoffs.blogspot.com/2006/11/our-special-bonds-hoot-and-holler.html (As always, thank you Baseball-Reference.com) 1) Bob Gibson allowed at least five home runs to 7 different players. Two of them have a Mets connection. One played for the Mets for a single season and is not fondly remembered. The other coached for the Mets, the same year that Gibso...

So I got sucked in to watching a chunk of this major upset in college basketball last night, in which Gardner-Webb shocked Kentucky. Turns out that Gardner-Webb was named after the former governor of North Carolina and his wife, which is funny, because I thought it was dubbed in that manner in honor of a pair of former Mets walk-off winners. We've written about Rob Gardner previously (Wes Gardner never got a walk-off win for the Mets) and I think he could live up to the Gardner-Webb nickname (see blog title) but I don't believe we've ever referenced former Met Hank Webb. Webb (who looked a little like Calvin Schiraldi) won 7 games in his big league career and though he had cameo appearances with the Mets in 1972, 1973, 1974 (his miscue cost the Mets in a 25-inning loss to the Cardinals),and 1976, his only victories came with the 1975 Mets. The first of those came as the result of some walk-off perseverance. Webb had pitched three innings of relief in a 7-3 loss to the Brav...

Kudos to David Wright and Carlos Beltran. Most Gold Gloves Mets History Keith Hernandez 6 (1B) Rey Ordonez 3 (SS) Carlos Beltran 2 (OF) Tommie Agee 1 (OF) David Wright 1 (3B) Bud Harrelson 1 (SS) Doug Flynn 1 (2B) Robin Ventura 1 (3B) Ron Darling 1 (P) Some interesting minutiae * Tommie Agee was the first Mets Gold Glove winner (1970), winning in the same year in which he had a walk-off steal of home. * Keith Hernandez had one more Mets Gold Glove (6) than he had walk-off RBI (5). * Rey Ordonez had as many Mets walk-off hits as he had Gold Gloves (3). * Doug Flynn is the only position player on this list not to have had a walk-off hit for the Mets. * Ron Darling allowed a walk-off home run the year after he won the Gold Glove (he won in 1989). It was the only walk-off allowed by Darling in his Mets career. * Hernandez, Ordonez, Ventura, Beltran, and David Wright all had walk-off hits in years in whic...

I've liked what Marlon Anderson has brought to the Mets in both of his stints with the team, so I'm happy to hear that he's going to re-sign with the club. He is quite the useful player and his value is significant. I also like the following piece of trivia: Marlon Anderson's first career walk-off hit came against the Marlins. How funny is that? That there's a Mets connection throughout this game makes it pretty cool. It happened on April 9, 2001, when Anderson was a second baseman, hitting eighth, for the Phillies, who had to rally to pick up this particular victory. Florida jumped out in front 4-1 edge with four runs in the third, capped by Cliff Floyd's three-run home run against Bruce Chen, following a two-out error. Bobby Abreu's home run cut the lead to 4-2 in the sixth and Philadelphia's game-tying rally would come in the seventh inning when the first two hitters reached, and Brad Penny was chased for Braden Looper. The future Mets closer got outs...