Mets Walk-Offs And Minutiae

I went looking for the best game by a hitter in a Mets loss and came across this one from the otherwise completely unmemorable 1978 season. It was a May 24 game between the Mets and Pirates attended by just over 5,300 fans, likely rendering it forgettable to many. But for Willie Montañez, it was about as good a day as he could have at the plate. For those unfamiliar with Montañez, he was a player with some personality to his game. It didn't play well with some people at the time. As was described in his SABR Bioproject : When Willie Montanez walked to the plate from the on-deck circle he would flip his bat end over end like a baton. When he swung and missed he had a high, circular finish reminiscent of a matador twirling his sword at a charging bull. At first base, he would sometimes tap runners on the rear end with his glove which on occasion led to more than one altercation. He was called a hot dog or showboat or worse, all of which Montanez disputed. “I’m just being me,” he said

  We are coming up on the 50 th anniversary of one of the most remarkable individual games in Mets history. It features one of the best individual games for a hitter and the worst individual games for a fielder. And they happen to be the same person! Joe Foy isn’t remembered fondly in Mets history. The Mets hoped that Foy would be the answer to their third base problem when they traded minor leaguers Amos Otis and Bob Johnson to the Royals for him in December 1969. While Otis went on to be a star and Johnson won a World Series ring with the 1971 Giants, Foy didn't perform up to the expectations he set when he had a 4-WAR season with the 1966 Red Sox or hit .262 with 11 home runs and 37 stolen bases for Kansas City. His only season with the team came in 1970. Despite a .373 on-base percentage (lots of walks since he hit only .236) Foy was a below-average offensive player. In actuality, he wasn't that  bad, but there was more to the story than what happened on the field.  It