Mets Walk-Offs And Minutiae

If my blog were titled "Mets Blowouts and Other Minutiae," I'd feel a little better about Eli Marrero. I just spent half an hour going through Retrosheet, clicking on every box score in which Marrero had an RBI at home. What I discovered: When Marrero has a good game, his team usually wins by a lot. That's good for him, bad for me. I guess when you're in lineups surrounded by big boppers there aren't that many opportunities for walk-off dramatics. There also aren't many chances when you're 1-for-your-last-24 as a pinch-hitter, as Marrero is. Marrero made good on one of his few chances on April 13, 2002, as a member of the Cardinals. That day, against the Astros, the score was even, 1-1 in the last of the ninth, after a fine pitchers duel between Darryl Kile and Roy Oswalt. Jason Isringhausen had fanned the side on nine pitches in the top of the ninth, so the Cardinals went into the home half with momentum, expecting to win. The Cardinals had stranded 1...

The reason that we "took inventory" on Thursday was because that it marked the one-year anniversary of the start of this blog and it seemed the appropriate thing to do. Friday marks the anniversary of the first "walk-off posting" so I thought it right to reminisce in a self indulgent manner, just for a bit, before we return to such work. Mets Walk-Offs and Other Minutiae was an idea born out of envy, boredom, and creativity. During our many trips to the world wide web, we came across a blog devoted to cataloguing Craig Biggio's hit by pitches. That intrigued me greatly and made me think "Hey, why can't I do something like that?" It so happened that I had the free time to embark on a major project. For the most part, during the baseball season, I work nights, and there isn't much of interest to do during daytime hours. In past years, I've had a summer project to work on, but during the summer of 2005, my days were still free. The previous ...

Today seemed like as good a day as any to do an inventory check...   METS WALK-OFFS INVENTORY   339 Mets walk-off wins 332 regular-season walk-offs 7 postseason walk-offs 11 interleague play walk-offs 3 Opening Day walk-offs 15 walk-off wins in last calendar year 162 extra-inning walk-offs 2 18th-inning walk-offs 1 6th-inning walk-off 41 doubleheader walk-offs 37 walk-off swings that turned deficits into walk-off wins 1 March walk-off 56 September walk-offs 12 October walk-offs 39 Pirates walk-offs (most vs team) 1 Angels, Blue Jays, Royals, Red Sox walk-offs (least) 108 walk-off home runs 5 walk-off grand slams 1 walk-off "shoulda been a grand slam" 25 walk-off douvbles 1 walk-off triple 143 walk-off singles 15 walk-off walks 12 walk-off sacrifice flies 12 walk-off errors 10 walk-off wild pitches 7 walk-off fielders choices 4 walk-off combos (hit+error) 1 walk-off hit by pitch 1 walk-off steal of home 155 2-outs when winning run scor...

I'm sure I won't be the first and I likely won't be the last to tell you that Roger Clemens is pitching today...on 6/6/06...how appropriate! It came to my attention that Thursday marks 25 years to the day that the Mets selected that particular righthander, out of Spring Woods High, with the 288th overall pick in the 12th round of MLB's Amateur Draft. I do not begrudge him for choosing not to sign. He told the New York Times in 1986 that Mets manager Joe Torre and pitching coach Bob Gibson had watched him pitch in 1981 and neither came oaway particularly impressed. That apparently was a turn-off and enough reason to walk-off. However, there are plenty of reasons to dislike Roger Clemens and I could easily list 100 why, but I'll simply choose to discuss one. There is strong reason to believe that the man is a vandal. I harken back to October 25, 1986, the sixth game of the World Series, which I do every so often in this space, and a particular camera shot not long aft...

The walk-off win on Sunday was the 340th in Mets history and the 10th this season...oh, wait a minute...they didn't win, did they? It's gotten to the point where it's become expected and I guess that's a good thing. This week, the Mets will attempt to become the first team to win in walk-off fashion on the road. In the meantime, since I started writing, here's some Mets Minutiae you might appreciate. * The home run by Lastings Milledge was the 1st of his career, the team's 74th of the season and the 5,447th in Mets history. * Milledge is 754 home runs behind Hank Aaron for most all-time. Aaron's first major-league home run came on April 23, 1954 against Vic Raschi. * Milledge has as many career home runs as Esix Snead and Craig Brazell, each of whose only home run was a Mets walk-off home run. He's 67 behind Steve Henderson, whose first home run was a pinch-hit walk-off home run for the Mets on May 21, 1977. * Milledge has as many home runs as pitcher Ja...

The title is in reference to two family members, both of whom got put in position of having to walk-off prior to a walk-off because of previously purchased tickets to a Broadway show (and not in reference to the book "Tuck Everlasting" which was published in 1975, the year I was born). They got out of Shea in a little better shape than SNY broadcaster and occasional blog reader Gary Cohen, who left, the victim of an appendicitis attack. Get well soon, Gary!! In the meantime, a few quick notes on walk-off #339 as it's late and I have an early day of work on Sunday. * The Mets have nine walk-off wins this season. That's more than they had all of last season. * The Mets have won three games on walk-off "somethings" by Chris Woodward, with the somethings being a home run, a single, and the 12th walk-off sacrifice fly in team history. * For the first time in team history, the Mets have had two walk-off sacrifice flies in the same season. * This was the first walk...

In their illustrious history, the Mets have had one 'Triple Crown Winner,' so to speak and I'm not talking about the typical meaning of the term. I've gotten some queries recently as to whether a walk-off triple is even possible and I'm here to tell you that it is. There has been one, and only one, in Mets history, though I don't have the full explanation of circumstances that I would like. It took place against the Phillies on September 10, 1970. This was a marathon game that would have fit in perfectly with those having taken place so far this season and allowed the Mets to maintain a temporary hold on first place in an NL East race oft forgotten in team history. It went 14 innings, with a tinge of controversy in a negated Ken Boswell home run, a thrilling play by Bud Harrelson, who stole home in the third inning, and some stellar relief pitching, in the form of five scoreless innings from Danny Frisella, aided by Tim McCarver getting thrown out in a rundown b...

I've done the Shea Stadium trip on the verge of chicken pox, so to make the trek to Flushing on Wednesday night given my current malady (let's just say day-to-day with an "undisclosed non-life threatening injury" and the possibility of a DL stint for now) was a little more difficult than usual, but the view from Loge 2 Row H Seat 2 wasn't so bad by game's end (despite the many fans walking the aisles who got in the way...my dad had Seat 1, a much better alternative). I'm going to be brief in summarizing walk-off #338 as the hour is late and my injury is bothersome enough that I'll be finishing the AB (ala Carlos Beltran) but may be in need of a little rest. * The 8th walk-off win of the season capped the most eventful walk-off month in team history (Was it the Most Metmorable Regular-Season Month in Team History???). The Mets had 7 walk-off wins in May, winning on both the first and last day in walk-off fashion. * To answer a query from the comments se...

In the interest of preventing guilt feelings, apparently I'm not the only Mets blogger to title his post in this way. See Metstradamus for another such perspective. So we substitute die-hard Mets fan Julia Stiles (it says so in her IMDB.com bio) and her eephus-ball first-pitch for another Hollywood actress, Alyssa Milano and we get another walk-off win. Here's hoping Julia stuck around through the rain drops as my sister did to witness walk-off win #337. * It was the 4th walk-off RBI for David Wright this season (2 singles, a double and a sac fly). He's one shy of the Mets record of 5, set by George Foster in 1983 (CORRECTED VIA METS TELECAST ON 5/30). We can call him Mr. Walk-Off (or perhaps NY Post writer, Phil Mushnick, not a fan of the term, would prefer "Mr. Game-Ender). We can also call Paul Lo Duca "Mr. Memorial Day" as he's 13-for-18 for his career on that holiday. * Wright is now halfway to Kevin McReynolds Mets record of 8 career walk-off ...

Walk-Off win #336 was a bit of an adventure, eh? * It was the 5th walk-off win this calendar month. My initial research indicates that is a first in franchise history * It was the first to go at least 16 innings since that 1-0, 17-inning Kenny Greer only MLB win classic against the Cardinals on September 29, 1993 * It's the longest decided by a HR since Dave Kingman hit one in the last of the 17th to beat the Expos on June 10, 1983 * It's the second to go exactly 16 innings. The only other took place on September 1, 1963, won on a two-run HR in the 16th by Tim Harkness. By coincidence, just a few days ago, I received an e-mail from an attendee of this game. * It is the 8th decided by a 9-8 score (we had one last year- Mike Piazza walk-off walk vs Milwaukee on August 2, 2005) * Carlos Beltran is the 3rd Met to go 3-for-7 and collect a walk-off hit, joining the previously mentioned Harkness and Del Unser (September 16, 1975, 18-inning walk-off walk vs Expos) * It's the first ...

We're going to break a rule here, one we stated early on in our blogdom, of how we would speak only of triumph rather than heartache, because in looking back to Saturday's contest, we felt it would be rather cathartic to produce another of our famous lists. I was irked enough yesterday to yell at a number of personalities through my television set, not limited to Jon Miller, Joe Morgan, Tom Glavine and Billy Wagner. I was peeved, miffed, annoyed, bothered, flummoxed and angry, and although much of that washed away after Sunday's victory, there is still some residue resting in chip form on my shoulder. It comes from "The Gak-Off." A Gak-Off, in case you were wondering, is a Mets loss that fits the criteria of absurdity (as opposed to one that is bothersome, a category filled to the brim with varying degrees of devastation that we'll probably approach at a later date). It is a group of games from which the Hollywood screenwriter may someday borrow, to conjure up...

The first time the Mets ever defeated the Phillies in walk-off fashion marked a key moment in the career of one of the most memorable Mets. My dad likes to tell the story of the game that got away from Ed Kranepool, the NY City high school championship game in 1962 against Curtis High of Staten Island (my dad and Kranepool, though they didn't know each other, were classmates) in which Kranepool went something like 0-for-5 with 5 infield popouts in a rather hideous defeat. A few weeks later, he was pulling up to his school in the Bronx in a brand new car, having been signed by New York's newest baseball team for an $85,000 bonus. Kranepool was good enough, or rather the Mets were bad enough, such that he earned looks from the big club while still a teenager. Three games as a 17-year-old in 1962 allowed him to eventually boast of playing in each of the first 18 Mets seasons. Kranepool became a semi-regular by 1963, at least until he hit a slump partway through. The Mets injected ...

It's a weird world when Alyssa Milano sticks around at a Mets-Yankees game longer than Tom Seaver, who walked-off after just 2 1/2 innings, including a rather odd stint in the WB 11 broadcast booth in which he seemed more interested in talking wine than baseball. That's alright though because the Mets needed a little magic to show who was boss on Friday and got it in the form of yet another walk-off win. For the record, and for Mr. Seaver, who noted that he still enjoys reading game recaps and boxscores, we offer up the following... * Mets walk-off win #335 was their fourth against the Yankees and second against Mariano Rivera (the other was July 10, 1999, in the game in which Matt Franco got the winning two-run pinch-hit in the 9th inning). * It's the 5th walk-off win this season and the 4th this month. The last time the Mets had four walk-off wins in a month was October of 1999, but we cheat a bit here since we include postseason games. * The last time the Mets had four r...

Regardless of whether it's spring training, a Mayor's Trophy exhibition, a regular season interleague game, or a Subway Series matchup, every game against the Yankees is significant. The proof of that comes from page 470 of this year's media guide, which lists the Flushing 9's all-time record against the Bronx Bombers as 63-92-1 (the tie came in a Mayor's Trophy match) and offers a thorough breakdown of the win-loss mark. The first meeting was significant enough that it warranted nine lines of mention in "The Complete Year-by-Year N.Y. Mets Fan's Almanac" from which we learned it deserves mention on this site. It was March 22, 1962 that New York's rivals first met in an exhibition game at Al Lang Field in St. Petersburg, where more than 6,000 came to watch. The Mets treated this contest more seriously than the Yankees, as both the almanac and newspaper stories indicate how manager Casey Stengel and president George Weiss was angry at their former e...

From The Parenting Casebook, a how-to manual on child discipline by the author of Metswalkoffs and Other Minutiae Rule 18, Section II The Walk-0ff Exception Doug Flutie's retirement announcement on Monday reminded me of November 23, 1984, a Friday afternoon in which this nine-year-old caught the end of Boston College vs Miami and saw the dramatic walk-off touchdown pass to Gerald Phelan that concluded the contest. I was only 9 years old but knew from the way the play was celebrated that I had just seen something significant and I relayed the information to my father rather excitedly (considering I had no rooting interest) when he got home later that day. "That's great" was his reply, "but you weren't supposed to be watching television today." In fact I wasn't. I had committed some inane offense in the previous 48 hours or so for which my punishment was a TV-free day. Normally, such a rules violation would lead to further discipline, but if I recall c...

I mentioned recently that I didn't know whether 19 men left on base was some sort of a Mets walk-off record (that's the total they had in their marathon win over the Pirates a week and a half ago). Well, this morning, I happened to stumble upon notice of another such contest in which the Mets stranded 19, and by happenstance, it took place 44 years ago this May 15. I imagine the frustration of Mets fans over the teams recent play is rather significant and perhaps it matches that of Lou Klein, the skipper of the day in the "College of Coaches" system, who was running things that day for the Cubs in this ninth-place showdown. The Cubs led this game 1-0, 4-1 (against first-time Mets starter Vinegar Bend Mizell) and 5-4 but did not win it. The Mets did and did so in rather ugly fashion, as the game stories of the day explained. The first four runs came home on a wild pitch, a sacrifice fly, an infield single that barely reached the pitcher, and a bad-hop single by Gus Bel...

...but I don't feel like writing today...might have something to do with the lack of sleep or the frustration of an 8-hour-15 minute drive round-trip (through rain) to watch 4 1/2 innings of baseball (Memo to Bud Selig: Mandate all new ballparks to have retractable roofs. The NFL, NBA and NHL all play games to their rightful conclusion. Baseball should follow suit)....Mama said there'll be days like this, I guess... Instead, I offer up a few "instant classic" appropriate for today... Like the one about the rain-shortened walk-off win http://metswalkoffs.blogspot.com/2005/11/walk-off-asterisk_113133903264154526.html the one that happened 20 years ago Friday http://metswalkoffs.blogspot.com/2005/11/roger-codger.html or the one that started it all...Mets walk-off #1, which happened 44 years ago Friday. Happy anniversary, Hobie! http://metswalkoffs.blogspot.com/2005/06/and-so-we-begin.html TrueMetmasboys know... That, by my count, I've written I've written about 1...

I got an e-mail from a former colleague (for anonymitys sake, we'll call him "Eric Terrapin") a few days ago lamenting his visit to Citizens Bank Park this past Sunday, particularly a badly timed walk-off of sorts. "So I take my wife to see Bonds last night...My seat: Section 202, Row 8, Seat 24...The man who caught the (713th home run) ball: Section 202, Row 7, Seat 24...The man who caught it was Carlos, the very nice young man who sat right in front of me...Where was I during Bonds's at-bat in the sixth? I was trying to buy my wife a fleece because she got cold so we were not in our seats and missed a chance to get the ball. As soon as I saw where the ball landed, I knew it was right at our seats." Naturally Eric Terrapin was a bit perturbed by this course of events (both because he missed history and missed a chance to get rich by obtaining something he could purchase for $8 in a good sporting goods store) and properly so. If you go to a baseball game, y...

It seems that everyone these days is winning via the walk-off E1. The tradition has even seeped down to the minor league level. In between the Mets both winning and losing by walk-off pitcher miscues, their Double-A affiliate, the Binghamton Mets took advantage of a mound miscue to beat the New Hampshire Fisher Cats. The May 5th contest was a 1-0 10th inning thriller that snapped a four-game losing streak. With the bases loaded and one out in the final frame, Michael Abreu's 20-foot chopper was barehanded, than dropped by pitcher Tracy Thorpe, allowing speedy Carlos Gomez to race home with the winning run. That's one of a couple of walk-off parallels between the Mets and the "Baby Mets." Both teams got off to hot starts (the Binghamton Mets were 7-1 and winners of six straight before slumping a bit) and both had a marathon walk-off triumph. The Binghamton Mets version on April 9 lasted one inning longer than the 14-inning classic the Mets played last week. Jorge Padil...

Let's be honest here and acknowledge that Kurt Abbott's Mets career was unrewarding. He was a member of the 2000 squad that went to the World Series but did little to advance their cause. Abbott was a fill in at shortstop for Rey Ordonez and a rather mediocre one at that. He wasn't good enough to play everyday once Ordonez went down for the season, forcing Steve Phillips to trade Melvin Mora for Mike Bordick. The expectations were high, or at least modest, for a guy that showed in past years that he could hit a little bit and Abbott had a solid April, hitting .308, but he was a sub-.200 batsman after that. Abbott's most redeeming Mets moment came on June 8, 2000, when he hit a walk-off home run in the 10th inning, giving the Flushing 9 an 8-7 win over the Orioles. The Mets rallied from a four-run deficit and blew a ninth inning lead before Abbott's long ball ended things off Orioles reliever Jose Mercedes. You're much more likely to remember Abbott as the shorts...