Skip to main content

The Pen is Mightier Than the Word

"What you witnessed on Monday was not just the first one-run Opening Day road win in Mets history, but also arguably the best performance by a Mets bullpen in an Opening Day game in a long time, if not all-time."
-- Me, after the Mets 2009 Opening Day win.

Seems like a good time to dissect the other candidates...

March 31, 1998
Greg McMichael, Dennis Cook, John Franco, Mel Rojas, Turk Wendell
8 innings, 0 runs, 5 hits, 4 walks in a 1-0 14-inning win vs the Phillies

Major kudos to this combo, and if you wanted to say it's the best, I couldn't argue. The quintet fought gamely to preserve this scoreless tie before Alberto Castillo won it with a walk-off hit in the 14th. Go figure that the escape artist of the day would be Mel Rojas, who struck out Bobby Abreu as part of an inning-ending double play in the 11th, and coaxed a Scott Rolen flyout with two on to end the 12th.

April 1, 1996
Blas Minor, Jerry Dipoto, Doug Henry, John Franco
5 1/3 innings, 0 runs, 5 hits, 1 walk in a 7-6 win vs the Cardinals

The Mets were down 6-0 in this one when the bullpen began its work in the fourth. They stalled the Cardinals long enough for the Mets to rally, though the true relief in this one came from shortstop Rey Ordonez, who threw Royce Clayton out at the plate with a relay throw from his knees, after a Ray Lankford double in the seventh. The Mets trailed 6-3 at the time, but that was the impetus for the comeback, which came in the home half of the frame.

April 5, 1983
Doug Sisk
3 innings, 0 runs, 2 hits, 2 walks in 2-0 win vs Phillies

This one is much better known for Tom Seaver's Mets return, so the last three innings are oft-forgotten. Yes, Doug Sisk makes the list solo here, primarily for a ninth inning in which, with the tying runs on base, he retired back-to-back Hall of Famers in Mike Schmidt and Tony Perez, to end the game.

April 9, 1981
Tom Hausman, Neil Allen
3 1/3 innings, 0 runs, 1 hit in 2-0 win at Cubs

Tom Hausman struck (pardon the pun) a Cubs rally in the 6th, picking a man off second for his only work. That was followed by three modestly-dominant innings from Neil Allen, who struck out three, to finish the combined shutout for Pat Zachry.

April 15, 1972
Tug McGraw
3 innings, 0 runs, 0 hits in 4-0 win vs Pirates

Tug McGraw had the luxury of a four-run cushion, but he makes the list for a perfect three innings, a stint capped by a 1-2-3 ninth in which he set down Al Oliver and Hall of Famers Roberto Clemente and Willie Stargell with no issues.

April 7, 1970
Ron Taylor, Tug McGraw
3 innings, 0 runs, 0 hits, 1 walk in 5-3, 10-inning win at Pirates

The Mets began their Opening Day dominance with this win, their first in a season debut. Donn Clendenon's two-run single in the 10th brought back memories of 1969, but it wouldn't have been possible without yeomen's work from Taylor and McGraw, who were basically flawless in closing this one out.

Another debate worth checking out: Can you pick the best home-grown players by franchise? Fellow blogger Sully has. Check it out here:
http://sullybaseball.blogspot.com/2009/04/sully-baseball-presents-all-time-home.html

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Trip(le) Through Time

In their illustrious history, the Mets have had one 'Triple Crown Winner,' so to speak and I'm not talking about the typical meaning of the term. I've gotten some queries recently as to whether a walk-off triple is even possible and I'm here to tell you that it is. There has been one, and only one, in Mets history, though I don't have the full explanation of circumstances that I would like. It took place against the Phillies on September 10, 1970. This was a marathon game that would have fit in perfectly with those having taken place so far this season and allowed the Mets to maintain a temporary hold on first place in an NL East race oft forgotten in team history. It went 14 innings, with a tinge of controversy in a negated Ken Boswell home run, a thrilling play by Bud Harrelson, who stole home in the third inning, and some stellar relief pitching, in the form of five scoreless innings from Danny Frisella, aided by Tim McCarver getting thrown out in a rundown b

Best Games I Know: Phillies (Updated)

  The best wins against the Phillies in Mets history …   May 5, 2022 – Mets 8, Phillies 7 The Mets score 7 runs in the 9 th inning to overcome a 7-1 deficit and win in Philadelphia.   April 29, 2022 – Mets 3, Phillies 0 Tylor Megill and 4 Mets relievers combine on the second no-hitter in franchise history.   September 22, 2016 – Mets 9, Phillies 8 (11) The Mets tie it in the 9 th on a Jose Reyes home run and win it in the 11 th on a 3-run home run by Asdrubal Cabrera.   July 17, 2016 - Mets 5, Phillies 0 Jacob deGrom pitches a one-hitter. Only hit is a single by Zach Eflin in the 5 th inning.   August 24, 2015 – Mets 16, Phillies 7 David Wright homers in his first at-bat in more than 4 months. The Mets hit a team-record 8 home runs.   July 5, 2012 – Mets 6, Phillies 5 The Mets score 2 runs with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9 th to beat Jonathan Papelbon. The winning run scores on David Wright’s bloop down the right field line.   August 13

The best Mets ejections I know

When you think of the Mets and famous ejections, I'm guessing you first think of the famous Bobby Valentine mustache game, when after Valentine got tossed, he returned to the dugout in disguise. You know it. You love it. I remember being amused when I asked Bobby V about it while we were working on Baseball Tonight, how he simply said "It worked. We won the game." (true) But the Bobby V mustache game of June 9, 1999 is one of many, many memorable Mets ejection stories. And now thanks to Retrosheet and the magic of Newspapers.com , we have a convenient means for being able to share them. Ever since Retrosheet's David Smith recently announced that the Retrosheet ejection database was posted online , I've been a kid in a candy store. I've organized the data and done some lookups of media coverage around the games that interested me post. Those newspaper accounts fill in a lot of blanks. Without further ado (and with more work to do), here are some of my findings