You may recall hearing Keith Hernandez pontificate about which pitchers scared him the most, and how he surprised Gary Cohen with his pick of Woodie Fryman (he also made a recent allusion to having difficulty with Jerry Koosman, against whom he batted .154).
But if he was going to talk about what cities gave him the most difficulty, at least for his Mets days, the answer would have to be San Francisco. That too should surprise the Mets broadcast crew, considering it is the city near where Hernandez grew up. Here's a closer look at the numbers.
Keith Hernandez
With Mets, in San Francisco
BA .250
HR 2
RBI 15
OBP .326
SLG Pct .336
K-BB 31-15
Games 34
Keith Hernandez
With Mets, elsewhere on road
BA .294
HR 40
RBI 238
OBP .382
Slg Pct .441
K-BB 213-220
Games 413
There are a couple of oddities here. For one, Hernandez was pretty good in San Francisco with the Cardinals (.317 BA).
Hernandez also had significantly greater success against the Giants at Shea Stadium, hitting .333 against them there, albeit with lousy (2 home runs and 18 RBI) other numbers.
That said, one of Hernandez's biggest hits as a Met came in San Francisco, so we must give him credit for that. We previously recounted it in our "Best Games I Know" series:
"Can one swing turn around a hitter? Absolutely."
That was the question asked and answered by Keith Hernandez on page 341 of the paperback edition of his book, If At First, after this game.
Hernandez ended August in a 1-for-17 funk and if the Mets wanted to have any shot at the division title in 1985, they needed a great September from Hernandez.
But with his best hitter struggling and lefty Dave Lapoint on the mound in San Francisco, Davey Johnson opted to bench Hernandez for that day's game. He saved him for when he was needed most.
That happened to be with Mookie Wilson representing the tying run on second base, with one out in the ninth inning and Giants reliever Mark Davis (whom the Mets beat 3 times that season) on to try to preserve a 3-2 lead.
Hernandez fell behind, 1-2, guessed curveball, and guessed right. He cranked an upper-deck home run, putting the Mets ahead for an eventual 4-3 victory.
"The swing today may be the best I've ever executed," Hernandez wrote. It got him back on track. He went 5-for-5 the next game against the Padres and ended up hitting .395 combined in his final 32 games.
The Mets didn't win the division, but Hernandez did everything he could to give them a chance.
Anyways, with the nostalgic bent that these broadcasts have been taking, and the subject of Keith's hometown sure to come up over the next couple days, we'd be curious to hear the question answered.
What vexed this Mex?
True Metrie Bradshaws know...Sarah Jessica Parker is a Yankees fan (apparently in one episode of the show whose title we parodied with our title, her character and friends visit Yankee Stadium), but her husband, Matthew Broderick, is a Mets fan.
For those who prefer other movies, we should also note that David Wright is baseball's "Iron Man" this season. He's the only player to play in every inning of every game in 2008. (Thank you, game notes).
But if he was going to talk about what cities gave him the most difficulty, at least for his Mets days, the answer would have to be San Francisco. That too should surprise the Mets broadcast crew, considering it is the city near where Hernandez grew up. Here's a closer look at the numbers.
Keith Hernandez
With Mets, in San Francisco
BA .250
HR 2
RBI 15
OBP .326
SLG Pct .336
K-BB 31-15
Games 34
Keith Hernandez
With Mets, elsewhere on road
BA .294
HR 40
RBI 238
OBP .382
Slg Pct .441
K-BB 213-220
Games 413
There are a couple of oddities here. For one, Hernandez was pretty good in San Francisco with the Cardinals (.317 BA).
Hernandez also had significantly greater success against the Giants at Shea Stadium, hitting .333 against them there, albeit with lousy (2 home runs and 18 RBI) other numbers.
That said, one of Hernandez's biggest hits as a Met came in San Francisco, so we must give him credit for that. We previously recounted it in our "Best Games I Know" series:
"Can one swing turn around a hitter? Absolutely."
That was the question asked and answered by Keith Hernandez on page 341 of the paperback edition of his book, If At First, after this game.
Hernandez ended August in a 1-for-17 funk and if the Mets wanted to have any shot at the division title in 1985, they needed a great September from Hernandez.
But with his best hitter struggling and lefty Dave Lapoint on the mound in San Francisco, Davey Johnson opted to bench Hernandez for that day's game. He saved him for when he was needed most.
That happened to be with Mookie Wilson representing the tying run on second base, with one out in the ninth inning and Giants reliever Mark Davis (whom the Mets beat 3 times that season) on to try to preserve a 3-2 lead.
Hernandez fell behind, 1-2, guessed curveball, and guessed right. He cranked an upper-deck home run, putting the Mets ahead for an eventual 4-3 victory.
"The swing today may be the best I've ever executed," Hernandez wrote. It got him back on track. He went 5-for-5 the next game against the Padres and ended up hitting .395 combined in his final 32 games.
The Mets didn't win the division, but Hernandez did everything he could to give them a chance.
Anyways, with the nostalgic bent that these broadcasts have been taking, and the subject of Keith's hometown sure to come up over the next couple days, we'd be curious to hear the question answered.
What vexed this Mex?
True Metrie Bradshaws know...Sarah Jessica Parker is a Yankees fan (apparently in one episode of the show whose title we parodied with our title, her character and friends visit Yankee Stadium), but her husband, Matthew Broderick, is a Mets fan.
For those who prefer other movies, we should also note that David Wright is baseball's "Iron Man" this season. He's the only player to play in every inning of every game in 2008. (Thank you, game notes).
Comments
Possible confirmation:
http://transplantedmetsfan.blogspot.com/2006/05/mets-loss-spike-lee-joint-lame.html