Skip to main content

The relief pitcher the Mets owned the most

Jeff Shaw was one of the game’s top closers from 1997 to 2001, his 194 saves were fourth-most in the majors behind Trevor Hoffman, Mariano Rivera and Robb Nen. Shaw excelled with the Reds and Dodgers, was a two-time All-Star, and saved 43 games in 2001, his final MLB season.

But against the Mets, he was something else -- very hittable.

Shaw was 0-8 with a 5.80 ERA and 1.43 WHIP against the Mets. Though he had 10 saves, he also blew five save chances, so there was no fear factor when he came in to pitch.

Shaw allowed four runs and seven hits in three innings against the Mets in his first appearance, a start, against them for the Expos in May 1993. That was a harbinger of things to come.

His first defeat wasn’t entirely his fault, though mostly so. On May 4, 1995, Shaw escaped a ninth-inning jam but then loaded the bases in the 10th. Shaw was hooked for lefty Bryan Eversgerd, who yielded a first-pitch pinch-hit grand slam to Todd Hundley.

He’d take another partial-fault loss 11 days later when after allowing the tying hit to Bobby Bonilla in the eighth inning, he exited for Ugueth Urbina, who allowed Edgardo Alfonzo’s game-winning two-run single.

The following season, Shaw was with the Reds but his Metsian struggles carried over across the Canadian border.  That April 23, Chris Jones beat him with a walk-off 444-foot two-run home run in the 10th inning. The 1995 and 1996 seasons were rough for Shaw when it came to the Mets. He allowed 15 earned runs in 14 innings. The 1997 season was better, five appearances, no losses and only one run allowed in 4 1/3 innings pitched.

Had the 1998 Mets made the playoffs (too soon!) one of their big thank yous could have been to Shaw. Yes, he saved five games against them, but he also lost four.

On April 24, he allowed a tying double to Edgardo Alfonzo and a go-ahead ground out to Butch Huskey on an 0-2 pitch in the eighth inning. On August 1, the Dodgers took a 1-0 lead into the ninth inning at Shea Stadium. Matt Franco tied the game with a home run and Alfonzo brought home the winning run with a double.

On August 28, the Mets rallied from 4-0 down, tying the game on John Olerud’s three-run homer in the seventh, and then won it when Mike Piazza scored the winning run when Eric Karros’ throw home pulled Charles Johnson off home plate in a bid for an out (it was Piazza’s first game in Dodgers Stadium as an opponent and ended at 2:08am eastern)

The next day, Shaw tried to close the ninth inning with a one-run lead but failed. It was his fifth appearance in six days. With two outs and nobody on, Tony Phillips walked and Alfonzo got Shaw again with a two-out, two-strike go-ahead home run. Alfonzo went 4-for-6 with two doubles and a home run against Shaw that season.

Shaw’s last loss to the Mets came in 2000, a game in which he couldn’t protect a one-run ninth inning lead at Dodgers Stadium. Todd Zeile singled in the tying run at which point Shaw was yanked for Terry Adams, who walked in the go-ahead run and then gave up a grand slam to Todd Pratt for good measure. This was the fifth straight game in which Shaw allowed a run and resulted in his being removed from the closer role for a little less than three weeks.

My biggest takeaway from all of this is that Shaw’s 0-8 wasn’t entirely his fault. He was overused in some spots, the victim of unfortunate circumstances in others. It’s more like he was 0-and-6-and-three-sevenths (or some other odd fractional combo).

Nonetheless, the stats are what the stats are. He’s 0-8 against the Mets for his career. The only pitchers with worse 0-fors are Pete Falcone and Dick Selma, both of whom pitched for the Mets at one point in their career. Each was 0-9.

One more note about Shaw. He retired at age 35 off that 43-save season. He did so not because of injury (or poor performance vs the Mets!), but because he wanted to spend more time with his family. When his 3-year, $15 million contract with the Dodgers expired, he was done.

You probably Shaw vaguely particularly when the Mets play the Brewers and his son, infielder Travis Shaw, long coached by Jeff, comes to bat. The younger Shaw was a Mets-killer in 2017 and 2018, hitting .365 with 12 RBI and a walk-off walk against them. It went better for the Mets in 2019 when he went 1-for-19 against them.

At least for one year, the Mets dominated him like they dominated his father.

2000 Fleer Tradition Baseball Card #285 Jeff Shaw

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Walk-Offs in Movies, TV, and Other Places

Note: I'm leaving this post up through the end of the week, a) because I don't have time to pump out something new and b)because I was hoping to build a really good list of entertainment industry walk-offs...so if you're looking for something new, check back on Monday or so... Of course, if there's a major trade or move, I'll adjust and try to post something... In the meantime, click on the "Table of Contents" link as well. It has been updated. SPOILER ALERT: Read at your own risk Caught the ending of "A League of Their Own" on one of the movie channels the other day and it got me to thinking that it would be fun to compile a list of walk-offs from movies, television, and other forms of entertainment. Here's the start, and only the start, as I spent about 30 minutes or so thinking it over Help me fill in the blanks by filling out the comments section. "A League of Their Own"-- Racine beats Rockford for the All-American Girls Profess...

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 ...

The 'Duca of Earl (and walk-offs)

If I told you that the Mets had just obtained a guy who is a career .316 hitter with runners in scoring position? How about if I told you that the Mets just traded for a hitter who has consistently ranked among the toughest in baseball to strike out? Or if I mentioned that the Mets just dealt for a player who was selected to the NL All-Star team the last three seasons, with the last honor coming via a vote by his peers? So, although he's on the down side age wise, his throwing arm isn't as good as it used to be, and he doesn't provide much power, there are a lot of good things that Paul Lo Duca brings to the New York Mets. For example: He'll sacrifice his body for the good of the team The Dodgers and Braves squared off on August 23, 2002 and Lo Duca made an impact both on the start and finish of this game. Three pitches after being dusted by Greg Maddux, Lo Duca made him pay with a first-inning home run. The Braves rallied to tie the game, 3-3 in the ninth, but their bu...