Mets Walk-Offs And Minutiae

It seems reasonably safe to say that the Atlanta Braves will not be winning the NL East this season and their remarkable run of consecutive seasons with division titles will conclude, perhaps by the weekend. It has been 16 years since the phrase "The Braves have been eliminated from winning their division" was uttered and chances are that in 1990, it wasn't, as Atlanta was a rather insignificant speck of dust on the baseball universe back then, finishing the campaign in last place in the NL West. It pleased me to know that on the particular day in early September, I happened to be in the stands with my dad at Shea Stadium, for a game between the Mets and St. Louis Cardinals, which had significant ramifactions in the battle for the NL East lead. This was one of those games in which you were glad to be the team that batted last, particularly considering that the pitching matchup pitted neophyte Julio Valera against Ken Hill. Todd Zeile's second-inning home run gave the ...

It makes sense, at least to me, that since I wrote about the quickest Mets walk-off wins a few weeks ago, that on Labor Day, it is appropriate to write about the slowest Mets walk-off wins (or rather, the ones they had to work the longest to get). Having already penned a lengthy essay on the true longest walk-off (Game 5 of the 1999 NLCS vs the Braves, 5 hours and 46 minutes), I shall skip that contest for now and limit my lookings to regular-season contests only. In their 44-season history, only twice have the Mets won via walk-off in a regular-season affair that required more than five hours to consumate. The first took place on April 28, 1985, with my best recollection being that I attended a Sunday street fair and listened to the conclusion on the radio. I missed quite a bit that day, apparently, 18 innings worth of baseball as a matter of fact. Though if I had watched just the beginning and ending, I would have been rather satisfied, though I would have missed a lot of minutiae ...

I'm taking a little break from blogging for the rest of the week. I expect to have a new post up on Monday. Here are 5 random past entries that I liked, which can serve as your entertainment for the rest of the week Emmy-Night walk-off http://metswalkoffs.blogspot.com/2005/09/emmy-for-best-walk-off-goes-to.html Playgrounds, egg creams, and childhood walk-off memories http://metswalkoffs.blogspot.com/2005/08/ode-to-playgrounds-and-egg-creams.html "And we've got a brand new shiny one..." http://metswalkoffs.blogspot.com/2005/07/shiny-what.html "The Great American Mets Spelling Bee" http://metswalkoffs.blogspot.com/2005/10/minutiae-break-agbayani-list.html "Our Old friend, John..." http://metswalkoffs.blogspot.com/2005/06/his-old-friend-john.html

The 1971 Mets won't get their own night to honor their 35th anniversary, though in our world, they are a deserving group. That's because that club set a Mets record with 14 walk-off victories amongst their 83 triumphs. A 3rd-place finish, 14 games from the top, assured their status as a forgotten bunch. Monday and Tuesday mark the anniversary of this club's standard setting in the walk-off department, though such a record was not acknowledged then because the term "walk-off" had not yet been applied to this sport. We'll honor it here by recounting the events from those two contests. On August 28, 1971, the Mets did something they had never before done in their history- swept the Dodgers in a doubleheader. They triumphed in the first contest, 9-2, behind Tom Seaver, who went on to win the ERA title (1.76), and a 4-RBI game from first baseman Donn Clendenon. The second game was a closer matchup, a pitchers duel between Gary Gentry and future Hall of Famer Don Su...

It's an easy trick to remember Shawn Green's career total of eight walk-off RBI, since it coincides with the number of nights in every Jewish youngster's favorite holiday. Just in case you're having trouble, here's some helpful reminders. August 19, 1995 vs Royals, pinch-hit single (Jeff Montgomery) On the first night of Shawnukkah celebrate...That Shawn had 6 hits in his first 43 career pinch-hitting appearances, but since has gone 7 for his last 12. This is the only walk-off pinch-hit of his career to this point September 28, 1997 vs Red Sox, 2-run double (Tom Gordon) On the second night of Shawnukkah, celebrate...That this was the last day of the baseball season, and thus the last day in the playing careers of both Pete Rose and Ryne Sandberg May 28, 2001 vs Rockies, single (Ron Villone) On the third night of Shawnukkah, celebrate...That current teammate Paul Lo Duca, who was 6-for-6 in this 11-10 triumph, scored the winning run. September 20, 2001 vs Diamondback...

"Look over there in the corner of this wing. Right next to the one for Pete Rose. What's that, you may ask? It's Vince Coleman's Hall of Fame plaque. Yes, it's rather lengthy, but appropriately so. I'll read it to you... Overcame the adversity of having to play at Shea Stadium for five seasons to steal 1,492 career bases. The only player in baseball history to steal 100 or more bases in three straight seasons for two different teams, Coleman rejuvenated his career upon signing with the Mets prior to the 1991 season. Sparked miraculous efforts to win NL pennant in 1991, 1992, and 1993. His competitive spirit inspired teammates and fans alike, a la Jackie Robinson. Coined (and trademarked) the rallying cry "Ya Gotta Deceive!" If we're gonna talk Mets and Cardinals we have to talk a little Vince Coleman and the "Ya Gotta Deceive" Mets teams of 1991, 1992 and 1993. I was thumbing through "The Worst Team Money Could Buy" a while bac...

One of two posts for Wednesday, the other of which will recap Tuesday's win. It can be found here http://metswalkoffs.blogspot.com/2006/08/oy-vey-what-game.html It's August 23, so that means that we wish a happy 48th birthday to Julio Franco, a current Met whose exploits we previously chronicled rather tidily in the offseason at this link http://metswalkoffs.blogspot.com/2005/12/needle-in-haystack.html Unbeknownst to us at the time, Old Man Baseball actually has five walk-off hits, though he's been waiting more than 10 years since his last one. Anticipation was actually the theme of his most recent walk-off, back on July 2, 1996. Franco sat out that day with a bum hamstring against the last-place Royals and his teammates struggled a little bit with the bats against Tim Belcher. Indians starter Chad Ogea kept his team in the contest, despite 3 hits by current Met Michael Tucker and 2, with an RBI from wannabe Met Jose Offerman. The Indians took a 2-1 lead in the 8th when Oma...

One of 2 posts on Wednesday, with the other celebrating Julio Franco's 48th birthday, which can be found here... http://metswalkoffs.blogspot.com/2006/08/me-and-julio-down-by-ballyard.html Anyone know the Hebrew or Yiddish translation of Walk-Off Home Run? * Carlos Beltran's 2nd walk-off home run of the season (4th of career) gave the Mets their 341st walk-off win and 11th such win this season. Most walk-off wins in season Mets history 1971 14 1983 12 2006 11 1963 11 1969 11 *includes postseason* 1986 11 *includes postseason* 1995 11 *includes rain-shortened "asterisk" game* (5 seasons with 10) 2 Walk-off HR in Season Mets history Marv Throneberry 1962 Jim Hickman 1963 Tim Harkness 1963 Jerry Buchek 1967 Cleon Jones 1971 Steve Henderson 1980 George Foster 1983 Bobby Bonilla 1993 Chris Jones 1995 Chris Jones 1996 Carlos Beltran 2006 * It is only the 2nd time in their last 59 walk-off wins that the Mets got the winning hit while trailing (the other was Cliff Floyd's...

Let's extend the feel-good 1986 flashback for one more day, since it beats the alternative of pontificating about blood clots, Piazza-beaners, and Albert Pujols. Of the Mets 30 walk-off wins against the Cardinals, the one that's relevant to this particular subject matter took place in the first game of a doubleheader on August 14, 1986, a "Mitch-mash" as the New York Daily News referred to it the following day. I don't believe this game was referenced in any way this past reunion weekend and that may be because of what followed- a 4-game losing streak, the only such skid of that season. The hero of this particular contest was among those who returned to Shea Stadium for this past Saturday's festivities, Kevin Mitchell. The Mets most versatile player during that memorable season (he played six positions), Mitchell was in the No. 2 spot in the batting order, but in this game, he was second to none. With Ron Darling and the Mets trailing 2-1 in the 7th inning, M...

So, yesterday at work, I heard a colleague commenting about some piece of baseball minutiae that intrigued him (the Marlins having a good record in series finales since the All-Star Break). His last words on the subject, before moving on to other matters were: "I don't know what that means, but it's an interesting fact." That's kind of how I feel about what I'm going to share with you today, which feels particularly pertinent since I'm still a little groggy from watching last night's Yankees-Red Sox debacle. Be forewarned that this is a rather lengthy tale that begins with the following piece of information. True Metophiles know: 3 of the 5 quickest walk-off wins in Mets history ( asterisk game not included) took place on August 21, and they occurred over three consecutive seasons (1971, 1972 and 1973). We got cutesy a couple months ago and wrote about the quickest of the quick, a 1-hour, 58-minute affair that took place against the Dodgers on August 2...

If you're in the mood for some 1986 reading The "Didja Ever Notice" series (An ongoing look related to the events of Game 6 of the 1986 World Series) The look on his face... http://metswalkoffs.blogspot.com/2005/08/didja-ever-notice-look-on-his-face.html Signs, signs, everywhere signs http://metswalkoffs.blogspot.com/2005/09/didja-ever-notice-signs-signs.html What they wrote http://metswalkoffs.blogspot.com/2005/09/didja-ever-notice-what-they-wrote.html How the telecast ended http://metswalkoffs.blogspot.com/2005/10/didja-ever-notice-how-telecast-ended.html The evolution of Buckner's reaction http://metswalkoffs.blogspot.com/2005/10/didja-ever-notice-evolution-of-bill.html The other goats http://metswalkoffs.blogspot.com/2005/10/didja-ever-notice-other-goats.html Where I was http://metswalkoffs.blogspot.com/2005/10/didja-ever-notice-where-you-were-when.html The player of the game http://metswalkoffs.blogspot.com/2006/04/didja-ever-notice-player-of-game.html Roger Clem...

Bruce Froemming is scheduled to umpire his 5,000th game on Wednesday night in Boston and this is a rather significant milestone, one only achieved once previously, by Hall of Famer Bill Klem. I have done some reading on the subject and while there are those who praise Froemmings longevity, there are also plenty who are critical of his work, approach, and manner (he was once suspended for 10 days in for calling a female umpire administrator a "stupid Jew bitch") and their annoyance seems justified. Nonetheless, we prefer documenting to judging, so we'll incorporate the achievement into our walk-off tale for today. Froemming's first major-league umpiring assignment came in New York, where he handled the first four games of their 1971 schedule, rotating from third base to second, to first, to home. After splitting their first 2 games with the Montreal Expos, the Mets hosted the defending NL champion, injury-plagued Cincinnati Reds. On April 10 (with Froemming working fir...

So I'm reading the newspaper in the local pizza place on Monday and there's a story about former Met Darren Bragg and his post-retirement adventures playing in an adult baseball league in Connecticut. That which most interested us wasn't referenced until near the very end in the print version, when it mentioned that Bragg, who primarily pitched (he only batted once in the league's regular season) hit a walk-off home run to win a league playoff game within the last few days. Bragg wasn't a Met long enough to have had many important moments. His stint in 2001 lasted three weeks and 18 games, enough to tally five RBI before being claimed off waivers by the Yankees. His was a journeymans career of 11 seasons and 916 games with nine different teams, not particularly memorable to us, with one exception. Bragg had one walk-off home run in his major-league career (he told newspapers at the time that it was the only one he'd ever had in his life). It came on July 7, 199...

Continuing our everlasting series on the events of October 25, 1986... Michael Tucker got hurt as a young player creating his own walk-off scenario but perhaps a far more dangerous proposition for a player is celebrating the actual walk-off moment itself. Though the post walk-off scenario is certainly fun and entertaining, caution must be exercised to prevent accident and injury. Consider the Mets mini-pummeling of Jose Valentin a few weeks ago, which was actually mild in comparison to what the Dodgers did to Cookie Lavagetto after his walk-off hit broke up a no-hitter and won a World Series game back in 1947. "They are beatin' him to pieces," said Red Barber on the radio broadcast. "It's taken a police escort to get Lavagetto away from the Dodgers." Or consider the story of current Norfolk Tide Tagg Bozied . In July of 2004, while playing for the Padres Triple-A squad, Bozied hit a walk-off grand slam. When the team converged on Bozied, as he jumped on home...

Well, not exactly, but Michael Tucker the ballplayer (not the "LA Law" actor) is now a Met, recalled to fill Cliff Floyd's shoes for a couple of weeks, as he ably did on Thursday. Ricky Ledee may be one of "Willie's guys" but Tucker should find himself the preferred choice of a couple of teammates in the Mets dugout. Tom Glavine would be one, as he earned career win #160 on May 24, 1998, when Tucker's walk-off single allowed the Braves to beat the Cubs. Tucker actually got both of his walk-off hits for the Braves in games that Glavine started (his other coming on May 30, 1997). Carlos Beltran would be another, as he was a part of the 2002 Royals team on which Michael Tucker fell just a triple shy of hitting for the walk-off cycle. Within a span of two months, Tucker had a game-ending home run to beat the White Sox (July 18, two batters after a game-tying Beltran HR), a double to edge the Devil Rays (August 9), and a single to squeak past the Indians (Sep...

The writer at " Them Mets " has intrigued me on several occasions, both with the on-site "Kudos Board" (definitely worth checking out) and with a series of queries in the comments section of a couple of different postings on this site. This rather inquisitive person asked a dandy of a question a few days ago: Has there ever been a game that featured a walk-off double play? Now, via my memorization of the Shakespearian work "This Date in New York Mets History" I was able to recall one possibility and sure enough, hit paydirt with the entry listed for June 21, 1973. For those familiar with the " Ball on the Wall " classic against the Pirates later that season, think of this contest as its polar opposite. It came during a period in which the Mets were struggling, finding improbable ways to lose at every turn. The gory details take us to the last of the 9th at Three Rivers Stadium, of a pitchers duel between since-removed Jerry Koosman and Luke Walke...

I was pulling for the return of Lenny Harris, but Ricky Ledee will suffice. It soothed me to find out that Ledee has a good walk-off history, with four walk-off RBIs to his credit. Ledee's most memorable walk-off moment came during the summer of 1999 to conclude a rather ho-hum Yankees sweep of the Indians, in a series that included a 21-1 romp the day before. It was a pitchers duel that was the primary appeal the afternoon of July 25, pitting a struggling Roger Clemens against Bartolo Colon and the nearly 55,000 in the stands were rewarded with a low-scoring affair. Derek Jeter's home run in the fourth and Manny Ramirez's RBI single in the 6th accounted for the only scoring of the game. Clemens' success was one of the other storylines that day, as were Ledee's struggles. Colon struck out only five, but on three occasions he fanned Ledee, than a rookie leftfielder. Ledee also struggled in the field, resulting in multiple misplays, though no errors were charged. By t...

The Mets welcome back one of their baseball buddies on Tuesday night so it seems appropriate at this juncture to tell you about what happened the last time they did so. We refer, of course, to the return of Mets quasi-legend Derrel "Bud" Harrelson, to Shea Stadium, on May 19, 1978. For 1,322 games from 1965 to 1977, Harrelson was a "marvelous" (using a Bob Murphyism) Mets infielder. He was once a Gold Glove winner (1971), twice an All-Star (1970-71) and a three-time recipient, amazingly enough, of votes for MVP (1970, 1971 and 1973). He was a good-field, little-hit, occasional sparkplug who was a significant part of the first championship era. He played in 1,322 games, 2nd in Mets history to Ed Kranepool. Near the end of Spring Training 1978, the housecleaning Mets dumped Harrelson, a sub .200 hitter the year prior, on the Phillies, for young second baseman Fred Andrews. It was a good move for Harrelson in that it sent him from a cellar dwellar to a division champ b...

It has been nearly nine full years since Mike Piazza last played a game at Shea Stadium as a member of the enemy. In that last contest, on August 21, 1997, he hit a home run. He also homered, off Dwight Gooden no less, the first time he came to Shea Stadium with the enemy, back when he was an unknown rookie on April 27, 1993. As good as he was when he was a Met, Piazza has been 10 times better against the Mets. In 48 games against the Flushing 9, Piazza has a .341 batting average with 12 home runs and 35 RBI. Among active players with at least 200 plate appearances against the Mets, only Derek Jeter (.374) and Todd Helton (.362) have higher batting averages. The one good thing about Piazza's return to Shea Stadium on Tuesday night. He can't beat the Mets in walk-off fashion. But that doesn't mean he hasn't done it before. We flash back to July 8, 1994, just prior to the All-Star Break, with the humdrum Mets closing out the first half in Los Angeles for four games. The p...

By clicking on this link, you promise to continue coming to this site and supporting us in your Mets walk-off and minutiae endeavors. It is provided as a public service, for those curious. http://mikemav.com/xbl/GH_NYN.htm It's a list of every Mets regular-season walk-off (minus the "asterisk" game), indexed by player, from 1962 to 2005. The information was compiled by someone with major "Retrosheeting" skills and is part of a site that contains not only a list of walk-offs, by player, by team, but a great deal more entertaining information. Enjoy, but not too much!! Those who Chase the Mets know... That since hit streaks will be talked about a great deal these next 3 days (see Chase Utley, 35 games, ongoing) we can tell you that the only Mets player to have a walk-off hit in the midst of a hitting streak lasting 20 or more games is Cleon Jones, whose 14th inning walk-off triple (a one of a kind occurrence in Mets history) beat the Phillies on September 10, 197...