Mets Walk-Offs And Minutiae

I'm going to Atlanta for the three Mets/Braves games this weekend as part of an unusually timed vacation, and I'm looking forward to the trip. The one thing that has me a little wary is that on all three occasions in which I've mixed major league baseball games and vacations, I've seen walk-offs. I would hope not to see one these next three days. The first occurrence came on August 23, 1990 when my family visited Toronto on my first and only sojourn outside of the 50 states. A friend of my father's knew a season-ticket holder who provided us with two terrific seats in the SkyDome for a Blue Jays-Red Sox game during the heart of the AL East race between the two squads. We were 10 rows off the field, at most, behind the third base dugout, the perfect view from which to get an awesome photograph of Wade Boggs lining a single. With no rooting interest for either team, my father and I cheered for ex-Met Mookie Wilson and our applause was rewarded. Wilson singled in the g...

If I were going to catalog my Barry Bonds memories, I think the earliest may come from a game relevant given Tuesday's events, particularly Bonds' futile 3-inch vertical try for Xavier Nady's go-ahead home run. In July of 1988 the Mets were locked in a race for the NL East title with the surprising Pittsburgh Pirates, whose squad featured a host of young up-and-comers like Bonds, then a thin leadoff hitter with both pop and speed, and a Bronx-born power hitter named Bobby Bonilla. Pittsburgh came to town on July 29 with a little confidence, trailing in the standings by only two games, and sending talented southpaw John Smiley to the hill against Mets lefty Bob Ojeda. I remember attending this game. I went with my uncle Zachary and my friend David Cooper. Our seats were really good, box seats along the left field line, which gave us a nice vantage point for long fly balls. There weren't too many of those on this particular Friday evening because the two starters got invo...

Moises Alou had 5 RBI against the Mets on Monday night, thus continuing a rather bothersome family trend for which perhaps a dose of Steve Bartman is needed. Moises' father, Felipe Alou, a career .286 hitter, hit .303 in 509 lifetime AB against the Mets. He's also 69-66 against them as a manager. His uncle, Matty Alou (Felipe's brother), a career .307 hitter, hit .333 in 513 lifetime AB against the Mets. His other uncle, Jesus Alou (Felipe and Matty's brother), a career .280 hitter, hit .306 in 396 lifetime AB against the Mets and .265 in 102 AB for them. His cousin, the infamous Mel Rojas, who went 3-2 with 12 saves and a 3.48 ERA against the Mets, and a rather misleading 5-4 with four saves and a horrendous 5.74 ERA. A fellow tried to convince me the other day that Lance Johnson for Brian McRae was a good swap, but he neglected to mention that the actions of Mel Rojas canceled out any benefits from either McRae or Turk Wendell. But since we're here to speak good o...

I can remember a time when Brian Giles was a Met, beating the Padres in extra-inning walk-off fashion, rather than a Padre doing such to the Mets, as he did on Friday night. I'm referring of course to a Brian Giles of a different time (and race) than the one that plays now. That particular middle infielder looked a little like my childhood friend, Daniel Caraballo (or maybe Carabello, whose acquaintance I don't believe I've made in more than 20 years), and unfortunately if that's the best thing I can say about him, it tells you that he was a long way from having the talent of the outfielder who currently goes by that name. The baseball game that took place on September 3, 1983 bore some resemblance to that of the one that occurred this past Friday night. particularly in the quality of relief pitching. Jesse Orosco relieved Mets starter Tom Seaver in the seventh inning and allowed an inherited runner to score, tying the score at three. After that, the game turned into a ...

Good to see that David Wright got a chance to redeem himself in the field a day later... Click on the "Comments " section...if it's not up already, a post will be up in a bit (hopefully), by guest writer Barry Federovitch, about a player who got some nice walk-off redemption, way back when... I have errands to run today...but I'll have something new up in the next couple days.

Had David Wright homered in the bottom of the ninth inning of the Mets loss to Atlanta on Wednesday, it would have been grand redemption for his three miscues from earlier in the game. It would not have been unprecedented for a player to have had such a horrific game in the field only to make up for it with walk-off plate performance. While the Mets were struggling in putting the finishes on their NL East title in 1986, the Braves and Giants had a gathering at Candlestick Park that is highly regarded in walk-off lore. It took place on September 14, 1986 and was basically insignificant, but for this. In the fourth inning, then-Giants third baseman Bob Brenly made four (!) errors, allowing the Braves to send four men plateward for a 4-0 lead. Brenly somehow kept his composure in the field (it helped that only one ball was hit his way in the next three innings) and that carried over in his trips to the plate. In the fifth inning, his home run cut the lead to 4-1. In the seventh inning, Br...

I hum a few bars of "The Mets Stiffo Rap," a tribute to mediocre Mets found here... http://metswalkoffs.blogspot.com/2005/11/minutiae-break-mets-stiffo-rap.html and if that doesn't cure my blowout-loss blues, the Curly Shuffle does the trick just fine http://www.ilovewavs.com/comedy/Music/Misc/The%20Curly%20Shuffle.wav back with a new post on Thursday...

Metsblog visitors can go to http://metswalkoffs.blogspot.com to see the rest of the site. It wasn't a walk-off, but it might as well have been. I'm referring both to Pedro Martinez's most recent victory and to his first one, which, as some of you may recall, took place against the Mets on May 5, 1993. For those who don't, well...that's why we're here. Pedro Martinez was the youngest player in the majors when he made the first of two appearances in September 1992. The Dodgers were the worst team in baseball that season, at 63-99, so there weren't as many paying notice to this highly-touted Dominican dandy, who in 1991 was The Sporting News Minor League Pitcher of the Year, but who dealt with injuries the following season. Martinez pitched two shutout innings in his lone relief appearance, than six in his lone start that season, taking the loss despite allowing only two tallies. When the season ended, he had anterior capsulolabral reconstruction performed on ...

I'm using Monday to update sections of my database, so let's go the "Metscellaneous" route for some quick-hitters... *Here's a link to an article offering a behind-the-scenes look at "Game 6, The Video Game Reenactment." Good stuff. Click here: Re-creating a classic - MLB - Yahoo! Sports *Albert Pujols hit 3 home runs, including a walk-off shot to beat the Reds yesterday. Last guy with three dingers and a walk-off HR in a game was Todd Hollandsworth (2001 Rockies). No Mets player has ever done that. Jim Beauchamp, Ed Charles , Jerry Buchek , Tim Harkness and Rico Brogna each have hit 2 HR in a game for the Mets, including a walk-off shot. * Javy Lopez and the Orioles were denied a home run when he and Miguel Tejada inadvertently crossed paths on the bases, when Tejada thought Darin Erstad had robbed Lopez of a home run. The folks at Retrosheet offer a nice list of basepath passings and "deprived" 'home runs ,' including Robin Ventura...

Elaine: Kramer! Kramer: Oh, hey. Elaine: What are you doing? Kramer: Oh, well, I-I-I'm dominating. Elaine: You never said you were fighting children. Kramer: Well, it's not the size of the opponent, Elaine, it's, uh, the ferocity. Seinfeld episode, original airdate, September 19, 1996. A scene in which Elaine visits Kramer's karate class. The most dangerous team for a pennant contender is a last-place team because it can spoil many a hard-earned victory with a couple of cheap triumphs. We've referenced in print previously how the bottom-feeding Mets have served as super spoilers in seasons in which the end result has been less than impressive. We've seen some pretty good seasons (see 1998) wrecked by the actions of basement-dwellers. One of the nice things about the first eight games for the Mets was their dominance over the teams they should beat, i.e. the "children" of the National League East. Gary Cohen said it on SNY after one of the first few gam...

Part of a continuing series of posts related to Game 6 of the 1986 World Series. I don't remember if it was during the initial viewing or one of the many reruns of the events of October 25, that my dad and I became rather puzzled by the judgement of NBC's broadcast crew. "The Miller Lite Player of the Game (portrayed humorously in the " RBI Baseball Reenactment of Game 6 ") is Marty Barrett," Vin Scully declared with two outs, nobody on, and Gary Carter up in the last of the 10th inning. Scully proceeded to run down Barrett's credentials- three singles, two walks, two RBI, and "handled everything hit his way" (one putout, four assists). Several issues come into play here. One is that the game was not over yet, but that one's so obvious that it goes without saying? The other issue is this: By citing Barrett aren't you slighting the man who, had the Red Sox won, would have had the biggest hit in franchise history? It's not like Dave H...

Last night I posed the question to someone who would know, from having faced him a couple dozen times. What kind of pitcher was Brian Bannister's father? "Floyd? He was nasty..." The Mets found that out firsthand during the 1977 season when the elder Bannister, then a rookie not long removed from being the No. 1 overall draft pick, faced them three times. He was quite nasty on each occasion. On the first, on June 12, he more than held his own against Tom Seaver and carried a 1-0 lead and three-hit shutout into the eighth inning before faltering slightly. The Mets tallied twice, scoring the second run on a wild pitch to send Bannister down to an eventual 3-1 defeat (with Seaver retiring Art Howe for the final out). The story in Houston that day may have been Bannister's tough-luck performance and fifth straight defeat, but there was a much greater story brewing in New York. Seaver was on the verge of being traded. He would be dealt to the Reds three days later. Seaver...

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8547285560243429315&q=RBI+baseball&pl=true The above is a link to an amazingly done reenactment of the 10th inning of Game 6 of the 1986 WS, using the video game RBI baseball. I suggest you check it out while waiting for my next posting. I'm planning my own version, using sock puppets...

Combing the internet for nuggets about prior David Wright walk-offs proved to be an unsuccessful journey through the information superhighway, but I did make a nice detour on the information Subway. I think the reason that Willie Randolph likes Wright so much is not because of Wright's penchant for superb play, but rather his affinity for a certain deli treat. Years ago, Wright was asked for his pre-game meal preference and he indicated his choice would be a turkey sandwich from his favorite fast-food chain, Subway. Move over Jared the weight-loss wiz and Joe Torre. I think it's time for someone to sign an endorsement deal. That restaurant would be wise to sign Wright while the price is still affordable. They're already in tight with the Mets, as evidenced by the advertisements on the back of this years ticket stubs. It seems likely that Sunday's win provided the first of many walk-off moments for Wright, who in the opening week of the season lived up to the billing of...

In honor of the Mets reaching the 10,000 doubles milestone on Friday, we present the following tidbits... * Ed Kranepool holds the all-time club record for career doubles with 225 (one was a walk-off). Bernard Gilkey set the Mets single-season record for doubles with 44 in 1996. * The Mets have had 25 walk-off doubles ( by my count , I've written about 9 of them ). Of those, 16 have driven in one run, seven have driven in two runs, one has driven in two, and had the other score on an error, and one has driven in three runs. * Among Mets pitchers, Ron Darling had the most career doubles- 20. Darling (1987) and Rick Reed (1997) share the mark for most in a single season. * Choo Choo Coleman went double-less in 277 plate appearances in 1963, the most double-less performance by any Mets player in a season. Pat Zachry had no doubles in 252 career plate appearances for the Mets, the worst double-less performance by a player in his Mets tenure (Jeff Duncan was worst among position p...

Monday's Opening Day win ended in rather unusual fashion, even for the Mets, with Jose Vidro getting thrown out by Carlos Beltran trying to extend a single into a double. The good folks at Retrosheet , led by David Smith, sent us a list of Mets contests that ended in a similar manner. Originally, I referred to the manner of contest conclusion as a "Slide-off" and then "tag-off" but hastily realized that in my request to Retrosheet, I left certain possibilities out of the equation (A runner could get thrown out attempting to advance on a flyout or groundout, which also could involve a tag play). Thus, in searching for a new name, I came up with the idea of the "Agony to Ecstasy Finish." The definition of the "Agony to Ecstasy Finish" is a game in which your team won, in which the final out of the game came as the byproduct of a base hit. Agony to ecstasy seems like the ideal phrase to describe the emotions of the fan whose team emerges victori...

I don't usually do analysis of this sort, but I can't resist... Commercials, repeated every other inning, in which a human television set speaks of painting toenails Keith Hernandez, wearing a manfur that would have made David Puddy proud, referring to an opposing pitcher as a Wookie Billy Wagner's velocity in Game 2 maxxed out at 92 MPH Ryan Zimmerman's first major-league home run is a little too reminiscent of Chipper Jones' , as are his Mets-killer 10-for-20 numbers. That I'll do what I did this afternoon and post a blog entry under the wrong date, and thus no one will scroll down far enough to read it (See " Minutiae Break: The Debut ") In other news, David Smith of Retrosheet did me a nice favor and put together an all-time list of Mets "tag-offs," which I hope to fully review by the weekend.

...to Yankees fans offended by Billy Wagner's choice of entrance music, then the solution is simple. Tell Mariano Rivera to pick something new I haven't heard this much about the value of "theme songs" since Ally McBeal picked Tracey Ullman to be her therapist (most of you won't get that, but those brave enough to confess to watching FOX on Monday night's a few years ago will.) Back with a new post either later this morning, sometime this evening, or early Thursday

So I'm at work on Monday and it had been about seven hours since I had eaten. A colleague wanted to go get dinner, but something was holding me back. He was rather insistent about going. I was rather insistent about waiting. He went. I stayed. That's how I got to see Mike Piazza's first at bat with the San Diego Padres. I'm glad I delayed my dining. I invoked what I'm now calling the "Stanley Jefferson Rule." This is in reference to a story I told a few days ago about how I remember Jefferson's first at bat as a Met. I was in the bathtub on that particular day, 20 years ago, when my father's voice beckoned. I indicated that I could wait. Then he said words that I remember to this day. "If he hits a home run, you'll regret that you missed it." Stan the Man struck out in his Mets debut, while I was drying myself off, but that's besides the point. The important thing here is to understand the value of the debut. A player, whether it ...

Answers to the quiz posted here on April 4, 2008 http://metswalkoffs.blogspot.com/2008/04/our-special-bonds-spy-questions.html 1) Who has more WS titles...Mets or Glavine. The Mets have 2, one more than Glavine has, or hopefully ever will have. 2) Name the 40 current or former Mets to hit .300 against Glavine. Carlos Delgado (.588), Damon Buford (.500), Mo Vaughn (.500), Craig Shipley (.471), Paul Lo Duca (.464), Hubie Brooks (.440), Mookie Wilson (.429), Dave Magadan (.425), Richard Hidalgo (.417), Manny Alexander (.412), Cliff Floyd (.400), Rick Parker (.400), Charlie O'Brien (.389), Lenny Dykstra (.385), Luis Lopez (.385), Alex Ochoa (.385), Luis Castillo (.384), Shawn Green (.382), Xavier Nady (.364), John Olerud (.364), Butch Huskey (.357), Kevin Mitchell (.356), Gary Bennett (.353), Joe McEwing (.348), Mike Piazza (.343), Benny Agbayani (.333), Kevin McReynolds (.333), Melvin Mora (.333), Juan Samuel (.333), Jose Vizcaino (.333), Todd Zeile (.326), Eli Marrero (.316), Willie...