Mets Walk-Offs And Minutiae

Inspired by the noticing that Rickey Henderson never had a triple for the Mets. An Agent Zero (named after a fictitious movie reference in Seinfeld) is a player who never had a (fill in the blank) for the Mets. For the purposes of these lists, I did include pitchers within the tally. Agent Zeroes Mets History Most Plate Appearances, No Singles 47- Randy Tate 34- Brian Daubach 23- Andy Hassler 22- Sandy Alomar Sr. 21- Mike Remlinger >> Next position player: Ross Jones, 13 Most Plate Appearances, No Doubles 252- Pat Zachry 183- Jeff Duncan 179- Nolan Ryan 162- Roger Craig 118- Glendon Rusch >> Next position player: Dick Stuart, 96 Most Plate Appearances, No Home Runs 798- Alex Trevino 657- Chris Cannizzaro 541- Jon Matlack 457- Al Leiter 455- David Cone 355- Tom Glavine 340- Phil Linz Most Plate Appearances, No RBI 78- Eric Hillman 73- Doug Saunders 63- Ray Burris 62- Anthony Young 58- Charlie Puleo 57- Neil Allen >> Next position player: Harry Chiti, 43 Most Plate Appe

* Walk-off loss #377 was the Mets 6th walk-off loss of the season, surpassing their total from all of 2007. * It marks the 2nd time this season that the Mets have lost 2 games by walk-off in a 3-game span (Padres, June 5, 7). * This is the 40th time that the Phillies have beaten the Mets in walk-off fashion, and the third straight season in which they've had at least one walk-off win against the Mets. * Duaner Sanchez is the 6th different pitcher to be on the mound at the end of a Mets walk-off loss this season, joining Matt Wise, Aaron Heilman, Scott Schoeneweis, Pedro Feliciano and Carlos Muniz. * This is the 2nd time in Mets history that they lost a July 4 game in walk-off fashion. I don't feel like looking up the details, but the other defeat game via walk-off catcher's error (Norm Sherry) against the Cubs on July 4, 1963. * Carlos Beltran, who looks as lost at the plate as at any point in his Mets career, is now 3-for-26 in games that the Mets have lost in walk-off fas

How bored am I? Bored enough to ask the question: By letter, who is THE BEST PLAYER TO EVER WEAR A METS UNIFORM by letter of the alphabet? Note, that this is not: WHO IS THE BEST MET by letter of the alphabet? This will be a much different list. Thankfully, UltimateMets.com makes this a fairly easy project, allowing you to see an alphabetical list of everyone who ever played for the Mets. Best Players to Wear Mets Uniform By Letter of Alphabet A- Roberto Alomar That's a good one to get you stirred up right away... B- Yogi Berra Remember...it's best player overall, not as a Met... C- Gary Carter Runner-up: David Cone. D- Carlos Delgado Good battle for 2nd between Shawon Dunston, Len Dykstra, and Ron Darling. E- Carl Everett An unusually weak letter in the Mets alphabet history. Everett is the best among 15 choices. F- John Franco You could argue that this is the first case in which the player picked would also be considered the best Met. G- Tom Glavine As much as it pains me… H

Let's play a game...I call it "Who has more triples?" The answers are linked in the comments section. * Who has more career triples...Jose Reyes or Keith Hernandez? Jose Reyes tied Mookie Wilson's Mets triples record on Thursday with the 62nd of his career. Most Triples Mets History 62- Mookie Wilson 62- Jose Reyes 45- Bud Harrelson 33- Cleon Jones 31- Steve Henderson 30- Darryl Strawberry * Who has more career triples...Jose Reyes or Carlos Beltran? Carlos Beltran has the same number of triples in his career as Wade Boggs and Bobby Bonilla. Who has more career triples...Jose Reyes or Willie Randolph? Mookie Wilson still has the Mets club record for most games with a triple. Most Games with at least one triple Mets History 61- Mookie Wilson 58- Jose Reyes 44- Bud Harrelson 33- Cleon Jones 31- Steve Henderson 30- Darryl Strawberry Who has more triples...Jose Reyes or Mickey Mantle? Jose Reyes has now had 4 seasons with 10+ triples. The all-time record is held by Ty Cob

Yes, another post today (keep scrolling down for the others). Apparently Wednesday was historic...it marked the 2,000th time, by Baseball-Reference calculations, that a Mets starter got a no-decision. I must admit I find this kind of list fascinating. Most No-Decisions Mets Starter, Team History 75- Ron Darling 75- Tom Seaver 74- Sid Fernandez 71- Jerry Koosman 61- Dwight Gooden 60- Bobby Jones 59- Craig Swan I mentioned that the Mets were 4-14 when Pedro Martinez started and got a no-decision. Tom Seaver can relate. The Mets went 29-46 in games in which Tom Seaver started and got a no-decision. Most Mets Losses Starting Pitcher Got No-Decision 46- Tom Seaver 40- Sid Fernandez 36- Jerry Koosman 34- Dwight Gooden 33- Craig Swan 30- Ron Darling 27- Bobby Jones Yet, they were 45-30 in games in which Ron Darling started and got a no-decision. Most Mets Wins Starting Pitcher Got No-Decision 45- Ron Darling 35- Jerry Koosman 34- Sid Fernandez 33- Bobby Jones 29- Tom Seaver 27- Dwight Gooden

I could have written a detailed history of Carlos Beltran's strikeouts, but instead I chose to write in honor of the best team in baseball... Answers here: http://metswalkoffs.blogspot.com/2007/07/our-special-bonds-know-your-rays.html 1) 20 pitchers have pitched for both the Mets and Rays. Only one of those 20 had a winning record FOR THE RAYS. Name him. 2) The Mets have employed 4 players who hit 10+ career home runs for the Rays. Here are hints for each one Player 1- Navidad Player 2- Shares his initials with those after whom a famous bridge is named Player 3- If you go to Shea, buy a burger in his honor Player 4- Currently plays in the state of Texas 3) The Mets won the first meeting with the Rays. The losing pitcher in that game pitched 2 career games for the Mets. Name him. 4) A man who played against the Mets in a postseason broke up Rick Reed's no-hitter in the 7th inning of that game. Name him. 5) The Rays hitting coach is Steve Henderson. Steve Henderson got his first

So I recently bought a book called "The Book" (yes, that's the title) which is a rather interesting look at the mathematics of baseball strategy. Among the things it looks at, in-depth are win probabilities, ie: the chance of a team winning, based on how often teams in that situation have won over a certain period of time. The 2008 Mets * Lost a game to the Brewers in which they led 6-2 in the top of the 4th According to the win probability chart in "The Book," the home team, when leading by 4 runs in the top of the 4th, wins nearly 87 percent of the time. * Lost a game to the Diamondbacks in which they led 5-1 in the top of the 3rd According to the win probability chart in "The Book," the home team, when leading by 4 runs in the top of the 3rd, wins 85 percent of the time. * Lost a game to the Diamondbacks in which they led 4-0 in the top of the 8th. According to the win probability chart in "The Book," the home team, when leading by 4 runs

Tony Armas Jr. was the 28th starter that the Mets have put on the mound since August 23, 2004. None of them were named Scott Kazmir. So yes, it's fair to say that we definitely miss the guy. Kazmir pitches for the Rays, in their attempt to complete a sweep against the Red Sox on Wednesday. Here are Kazmir's career totals, for an era that began with the Rays on August 23, 2004 W-L 42-32 ERA 3.50 Strikeouts 689 Starts 108 Here are the Mets leaders in those categories since August 23, 2004 Wins- Tom Glavine, 44 (4.03 ERA) ERA- Aaron Heilman 3.61 (minimum 300 IP) Strikeouts- Pedro Martinez, 398 (yes, nearly 300 fewer than Kazmir) Starts- Tom Glavine, 107 And for those curious. At last check (I don't even wanna know if he pitched Tuesday), Victor Zambrano was 0-6 with a 9.45 ERA in 2008 for the Triple-A Colorado Sky Sox. True Metmirs know... The Rays have 3 walk-off wins in games started by Scott Kazmir, though none yet in 2008.

Look on the bright side, hard as that may be after a rather fugly loss on Monday night. Tuesday marks the 35th anniversary of another of the gut-wrenching losses that typified the early part of the 1973 season. I'm referring to Game 2 of a doubleheader against the Cubs, one that came after a 6-5 Mets win in the doubleheader opener. I'm referring to a game that took place two days after an equally gut-wrenching loss to the Cubs (a game tied with two outs in the 9th) on the only home run of Gene Hiser's career) and one that took place one day prior to a gut-wrenching loss to the Expos (the great Boots Day won that one with a pinch-hit walk-off home run). The baseball sandwich to those contests was one in which the Mets led 5-3 with two outs in the home ninth, thanks partly to some really strong relief pitching from Ray Sadecki, who entered for struggling Harry Parker in the first, and hauled zeroes for 6 2/3 innings in allowing the Mets to build their lead. That was spoiled

The good Oliver Perez 3-0, 1.04 ERA vs Yankees/Phillies The bad Oliver Perez 0-3, 12.08 ERA vs Mariners, Giants, Nationals, Rockies The good Oliver Perez 6-0, 1.60 ERA, 7 runs allowed in his 6 wins The bad Oliver Perez 0-5, 7.59 ERA in his 11 other starts The good Oliver Perez 1-3, 7.29 ERA on 4 days rest (a win on Sunday) The bad Oliver Perez 5-2, 2.62 ERA on 5+ days rest The good Carlos Delgado .293 BA, 10 HR, 27 RBI in 30 day games The bad Carlos Delgado .190 BA, 4 HR, 18 RBI in 49 night games The good Jose Reyes .330 BA, 40 runs scored in last 47 games The bad Jose Reyes 11 errors, 1 fewer than had in all of 2007 The good Pedro Feliciano Nine outings this season of at least 1 IP, without allowing a hit or walk The bad Pedro Feliciano Allows the first batter he faces to reach base 21 out of 42 times The good Billy Wagner 6 IP, 0 R, 2 H since June 15 The bad Billy Wagner 2 1/3 IP, 6 R, 6 H from June 8-12 The good Mets 40-0 when they win The bad Mets 0-41 when they lose (thanks to Bas

My sister leaves, on vacation, for Mexico on Monday. What better time to talk about, in this Summer of Exasperation (see: Runner getting picked off 2nd base with hottest hitter up), than Golden Sombreros? * In Saturday's 3-2 loss to the Yankees, Carlos Beltran recorded the 66th regular season Golden Sombrero (4 plate appearances, 4 strikeouts) in Mets history. * It was the Mets first Golden Sombrero since August 22, 2007 (Lastings Milledge, Padres) and Beltran's first Golden Sombrero as a Met. * Beltran is the second Met with a Golden Sombrero against the Yankees joining Carlos Delgado (June 15, 2007). * Beltran is the first Mets centerfielder with a Golden Sombrero since Ryan Thompson (April 17, 1994, Astros). Mets CF With Golden Sombrero All-Time Carlos Beltran 2008 Ryan Thompson 1994 Mookie Wilson 1987 Mookie Wilson 1981 (twice!) Tommie Agee 1971 Ron Swoboda 1965 * Beltran does not have to worry much about breaking the Mets record for Golden Sombreros any time in the near f