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Showing posts from September 7, 2008

Niese On, Post Game Live

If Jonathon Niese's siblings have baby boys, are they Niese's nephews? Jonathon Niese... * Became the fourth pitcher in Mets history to throw 8+ shutout innings within his first 2 MLB games. The other 3 pitchers to do that... 1994- Jason Jacome (shut out Dodgers in 2nd MLB start) 1966- Dick Rusteck (shut out Reds in 1st MLB start) 1965- Dick Selma (shut out Braves in 10 IP in 2nd MLB start) *The only other starter in Mets history to win a game in September, within his first 2 MLB games, in the midst of a pennant race (my judgment) is Julio Valera. He allowed five runs in six innings in his debut, a 6-5 win over the Giants on September 1, 1990. * Only 3 Mets starters have pitched 8+ shutout innings in a game this season: Johan Santana, Mike Pelfrey, and Jonathon Niese.

Didja ever notice? Mookie This, Mookie That

Part of an ever-continuing series of stories related to the baseball game played on October 25, 1986. The first 10 games in which Mookie Wilson (and Wally Backman) played for the Mets, the team did not win. Thankfully, management was not discouraged by this in any way. Mookie Wilson had a fine Mets career, one best remembered for one moment about which we can all reminisce fondly. It's my understanding that he's recently had a falling out with the organization, and that's too bad, because there are other stories that Mookie could tell about his Mets career as the (now second) greatest base-stealer in team history. One you won't get to hear is about Mookie's first Mets win. It came on September 14, 1980, and revealing the opponent partly gives away the punchline, so I won't do that just yet. Mookie Wilson had 11 four-hit games, as well as one five-hit game for the Mets, and this was one of his finer performances. He showed off his speed at every opportunity, firs

A Lot, To a Lot

Wednesday's game got me to thinking: What's the highest scoring walk-off win in Mets history? The Mets have never had a walk-off win in which the final score was double-digits to double-digits. They've had three 10-9's (most recently against the Yankees in 2004), a 10-8 (1990 vs Cardinals), and a pair of 10-7's (1980 and 1998). But the only walk-off win in which the Mets and their opponents combined for 20 or more runs took place on June 22, 1997, against the Pirates. This was a game in which the Mets had leads of 4-0, 5-4, and 9-6, and couldn't hold on, on an 87 degree rainy day at Shea. That fit right in with how the rest of this series went. The Mets had already won three games from the Pirates, albeit each by a single run. In the opener, the Mets beat Ricardo Rincon on Jason Hardtke's hit, after John Franco blew a save by allowing a three-run home run to Dale Sveum with two outs in the ninth. Bobby Jones pitched the kind of gem we'd all be thankful f

Multi-tasking

Carlos Delgado tied Dave Kingman for most multi-homer games by a Met in one season, with his 7th on Tuesday. Just in case you were wondering... The Mets record for multi-hit games in a season: Lance Johnson, 75 in 1996 (Jose Reyes had 58 in 2008, tied with a bunch of players for 2nd-most) The Mets record for multi-single games in a season: Lance Johnson, 49, in 1996 (Jose Reyes leads the current team with 30) The Mets record for multi-double games in a season: David Wright, 7 in 2007 (Wright has 6 in 2008) The Mets record for multi-triple games in a season: Jose Reyes, 2 in 2005 (Reyes has 1 in 2008) The Mets record for multi-RBI games in a season: Mike Piazza, 35 in 1999 and 2000 (Carlos Delgado has 27 in 2008) The Mets record for multi-run games in a season: Jose Reyes, 34 in 2006 (David Wright has 21 in 2008) The Mets record for multi-walk games in a season: Keith Hernandez had 28 in 1986 (David Wright had 20 in 2008) The Mets record for multi-stolen base games in a season: Roger Ce

Payton's Place

When's the last time the Mets had a September walk-off win that was pertinent to their playoff positioning? That would be September 13, 2000, and admittedly there was some comfort with a 4 1/2 game lead over the Diamondbacks for the wild card spot, but the deal wasn't sealed just yet. I'm presuming that one of the reasons the Mets pursued then-Brewer Jeff D'Amico was his performance in games like this one. For eight innings, D'Amico stymied the Mets and outdueled Mike Hampton. D'Amico got an early 1-0 lead, courtesy of a Lenny Harris miscue, and wouldn't let go for eight innings. Alas it was determined that with three outs to go, and 112 pitches thrown, D'Amico could not attempt to finish his own victory. Curtis Leskanic was deemed the better fit to conclude the game and that decision proved not to be wise. Jay Payton led off the Mets ninth with a double. It figured that the odds of the Mets scoring at this point, with Edgardo Alfonzo, Mike Piazza, and R

Where's the Angst?

What you have just witnessed may have been the most boring 'important series' in Mets history. Important series being defined as: September series having direct, significant impact on postseason race, played between two teams both chasing the same goal. Why do I say that? Because there was no true moment of angst. Not a nailbiting victory or agonizing defeat. This is how the rest of the baseball world lives sometimes. But never the Mets. In Game 1, a pitcher on a great roll beat a pitcher on a great roll. But this wasn't Gooden vs Tudor. It was a 3-0 game, and the Mets never really had a good shot, save for Ryan Church's final swing. In Game 2, an aging, crafty lefty, beat an aging, uncrafty righty. The game wasn't close. In Game 3, the Mets took a first-inning lead and never trailed again. Yawn. Granted, the baseball gods have given us plenty to fret over during the last two months, but this series lacked a defining moment that we'll fret over, or remember fon