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Showing posts from July 5, 2020

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 d