Mets Walk-Offs And Minutiae

News item: Mets claim lefthanded pitcher Patrick Misch on waivers from the Giants. "I'll always be a winner, and you'll always be a loser," This is the second time I've quoted the same line of the Seinfeld episode, "The Revenge." and its appropriate here with the news that the Mets added Misch to their major-league roster. Mishmash is more like it. Patrick Misch sports a win-loss record of which only Charlie Brown could be proud. If Misch never pitches in the majors again, he'd be one of 15 pitchers since the advent of the major leagues to sport a record of no wins, and at least seven losses. That's a fun list of pitchers to look through. It's one that includes the likes of Tommy McCarthy , who has no relation to the former Met broadcaster (not that I know, anyway), but is a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame. McCarthy wasn't much for moundsmanship, going 0-7 for the 1884 Boston Reds of the Union Association, but was quite an able bats

Wednesday was National Fistbump Day, but the Mets were a little tardy in allowing us to celebrate. We'll provide taps of honor to the oft-criticized Tim Redding and Sean Green for fine work in Friday's win in Washington. * It was the 180th extra-inning ROAD win in club history, by our count, the first such win of the season, and the first since a 6-5 win over the Brewers on September 2, 2008. * The Nationals are 0-7 in extra-inning road games. Earlier today I noticed an article on Hardball Times that their predecessors of 40 years, the 1969 Expos, went 0-12 in extra-inning games. The Mets had a road extra-inning win against that team too- On July 20, 1969, man walked on the moon, and the Mets won Game 2 of a doubleheader in Montreal, 4-3, on a squeeze bunt by Bobby Pfeil. * It is the first time in 20 years that the Mets won an extra-inning game by the exact score, 3-1. The last was a 3-1 win in 10 innings over the Giants on May 31, 1989. * David Wright now has 2 game-winning ex

There's a new Will Ferrell movie coming out today, and though I'm someone who thinks he's very hit-or-miss, I've gained a new appreciation for him recently. A couple of weeks ago, Ferrell was on Saturday Night Live, and one reran sketch featured him as an attorney named Wade Blasingame, best known for filing lawsuits against misbehaving dogs. Those who know Ferrell's work know he is a legit sports fan (favorite player: Pirates catcher Manny Sanguillen), and it made me laugh to see that he made it a point within the sketch to note that he was not playing the baseball player sharing the name of that attorney. Turns out that Wade Blasingame dogged the Mets pretty good during his day, of the ilk of a Josh Johnson or fellow southpaw Randy Tomlin . From 1964 to 1970, Blasingame went 9-0 against the Mets. That run of starts included May 20, 1965, in which he beat Warren Spahn, 7-1, and was kept from a no-hitter only by a Ron Swoboda seventh-inning single. One of the reason

Johan Santana, 11 starts to his name in 2009, is 1/3 of the way through his season, with a 7-3 record, and a 2.00 ERA. If we presume he maintains the same pace through a full schedule of 33 starts, here's what we'll have. * The first Mets pitcher with 21+ wins since... Dwight Gooden went 24-4 in 1985. The only pitchers with a 21+ win season as a Met are Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman, and Dwight Gooden. He'd be the first 20-game winner since Frank Viola in 1990. * The first Mets pitcher with 267+ strikeouts since... Dwight Gooden had 268 strikeouts in 1985. 267 would put Santana 5th in Mets history behind two seasons apiece of Msrs. Seaver and Gooden. * The first Mets starting pitcher to average 11+ K per 9 since... Dwight Gooden's 1985 season is the only one by a Mets starter (10+ starts) averaging 11-strikeouts per game or better. Santana's 11.13 is just a shade below Gooden's 11.39. * The lowest ERA by a Mets starter since... Dwight Gooden had a 1.53 ERA in 1985.

The folks at MikeMav.com were kind enough not only to confirm my belief that Jack Clark was tied for most walk-off RBI in the 1980s, but to provide a list of the walk-off RBI leaders by each decade in which the Mets have existed. The most intriguing list comes from the 1960s: Most Walk-Off RBI 1960s 13- Frank Robinson 13- Bob Aspromonte 13- Roberto Clemente 11- Felipe Alou 10- Ron Santo What name doesn't belong? I'll give you a hint: Frank Robinson ranked 3rd in the 1960s with 1,011 RBI Ron Santo ranked 5th in the 1960s with 937 RBI Roberto Clemente ranked 8th in the 1960s with 862 RBI Felipe Alou ranked 30th in the 1960s with 611 RBI The other guy on the list, Bob "I was the last active player who was a Brooklyn Dodger" Aspromonte, had 417 RBI, the 71st-most in the decade. A quick look at his career totals indicates that on his best day he was decent, and for the most part, he was a very average player. But one with one skill. For whatever reason, Bob Aspromonte was

Continuing our game summary noting Mets past and present who were born during the championship season of 1969. Part I is linked here: http://www.metswalkoffs.com/2009/05/in-summer-of-69-part-i.html (Thanks again to http://metstats.wordpress.com/ for the birthday data) June 2, 1969 (Kurt Abbott) The Mets got to .500 to stay with a 2-1 win over the Dodgers, evening their record at 23-23. Jerry Koosman rescued the Mets after a dicey start to the ninth inning put a Dodgers runner on third with no outs, coaxing a pair of popouts before getting Jim Lefebvre on a fly to left to end the game. The Mets got their lone runs on consecutive fourth-inning RBIU hits by Jerry Grote and Al Weis. Those celebrating a happy Mets birthday know... Kurt Abbott's lone Mets walk-off hit was a home run to beat the Orioles on June 8, 2000. August 19, 1969 (Matt Franco) One of the most famous Mets regular season walk-off wins came on the same day that a player who would shine in an equally famous walk-off wi

I'm getting old. I saw Jack Clark on the Cardinals post-game show on Friday night, and had to educate a couple of the young pups on why I found that significant. Jack Clark was one of the scariest players of my childhood. If you watched a Mets-Cardinals game in either 1985 or 1987, the entire game seemed to be built around when two players would be coming to bat. One was Darryl Strawberry. The other was Jack Clark. My father and I had a conversation at Monday's game about players we liked on other teams. Clark would definitely be a rep if we did an 80s squad. Clark was 6-2 going on 6-6, 205 pounds, but built more like 230, since his height and weight were well-sized for that time period. The best adjectives to describe him as a hitter were "frightening," and "powerful." Clark played for a number of teams, but I remember him best on the Cardinals and Giants. A lot of hitters put up good numbers in 1987 and one of those who took incredible advantage of the su