Mets Walk-Offs And Minutiae

At some point today, Tom Glavine will announce that he's declining the 2008 option on his contract, thus making himself a free agent while he contemplates retirement, a return to the Mets, or the likeliest option, signing with the Braves. http://metswalkoffs.blogspot.com/2007/10/our-special-bonds-hopefully-this-means_04.html I've already made it known that I don't want him back and I don't want to rehash my reasoning. I had this whole plan to write another essay, nicknaming him "The Stench," but it's just not worth it. I guess I softened slightly after hearing his appearance on WFAN the other day (reduced my Glavine anger to 99 on a scale of 100). I'll say this...had it just been a couple dink hits and a 2-3 run first-inning, I think I could have lived with it better. But the throwing error and the HBP basically ended any chance of us ever having a positive relationship. Let's just complete the divorce proceedings with this goodbye tribute trivia. ...

Hockey season starts today and the Mets have already frightened me into refusing to believe that the Rangers could contend for a Stanley Cup (I'm having visions of a season-ending cruciate tear for Henrik Lundqvist). So I thank them for that, and send them my best wishes for the off-season within this posting. There are a few people I've left out in the address that follows, so please feel free to share your own ideas for them in the comments section. Jose Reyes walk-off, and don't do too much this winter. We don't need you to break down again like a gasping racehorse at the end of the season. Moises Alou walk-off while your knees are still capable of allowing you the ability to play with your future grandkids. And thank you for your efforts. Luis Castillo, walk-off, sit down, and don't get up again until February. Your knees need the rest too. Shawn Green, walk-off into whatever business-world endeavor you wish. Your performance at the conclusion of your career was...

Let me say that I'm glad that Willie Randolph will be brought back for next season. I don't think it ever should have been an issue. What happened was not Willie's fault. I've been asked by about 1962 different people where I am placing the blame. For me it's a simple order to the list: 1) Players 2) The person who picked the players. If Willie makes the list, it's somewhere down at the bottom, probably just below Chan Ho Park. Let's look at where we were when Willie was hired: pathetically hopeless. Let's look at where we are now: just plain pathetic There were 20 victories separating the line between "pathetically hopeless" and "just plain pathetic", but only 1 (or 2) victories separting "just plain pathetic" from "champion." That's the residual bitterness talking, but the reality of it is that the Mets are a lot better with Willie Randolph than without him. Willie is a hunch manager, but for the most part, h...

"What did I do this weekend? On Sunday I had my heart taken out of my chest and eaten in front of me." -- Mets fan Jon Stewart in his opening monologue on "The Daily Show" After watching Monday's one-game playoff between the Rockies and Padres, I am reminded of another quote. I once covered a wrestling match featuring a team that had lost something like 80 straight against a five-person prep school squad, whose best athlete was a 112-pound girl, who spent the better portion of the event caressing her boyfriend. The 80-straight losses team won, so it was kind of neat to be there for what was locally a "historic" moment. I figured for sure that I'd be able to get the kind of great quote that I could frame an entire story around. I was half right. As the victorious team headed back to the locker room, I heard one team member say to another. "How about that? There's someone out there who sucks worse than us!" And that's why for some r...

I should always trust my first instinct. When Tom Glavine signed with the Mets, my first instinct was that this was a bad move. I had some reasonable statistical evidence to back up this conclusion, as his performance at the end of his Braves career was not stellar. I also had a strong gut feeling that bringing someone from the Braves in as a mercenary, one clearly only here for the money, was a bad idea. In 2003, he went out and proved that I was right. His work during the Art Howe error (not era) was miserable. I told this to anyone and everyone who asked, and throughout his Mets tenure, I've had very little positive to say about Tom Glavine. As Glavine's performances got better, I've been questioned about my comments, but I've always held steadfast to a strong dislike. I've just never really felt that he enjoyed his Metness. I applauded out of respect when he took the mound for his first start at Shea Stadium after winning his 300th game. I don't dispute that...

Whatever your rituals and superstitions are for when you're faced with important moments in your (sports-fan) life, take great care to observe them on Sunday. For those of you who didn't watch the Mets-Marlins game on TV on Saturday (I know a few who were in attendance), one of the best moments of the broadcast was when Kevin Burkhardt showed how the Mets placed a picture, in fact, the picture that adorns the top of this blog, in the walkway from the clubhouse, with instructions to tap it before entering the dugout. I'm a big believer in that kind of stuff, as silly as it sounds, making a difference. I have things that I do in certain circumstances and resorted to a few on Saturday morning. I know, in my brain, that they had no impact on what happened on the field, but in my heart, I felt like I was contributing to the effort. Believing that I matter is silly and in some ways, ridiculous, but it's important. It's part of being a fan and in fact, it's probably my...

Passed by a bunch of news vending machines today and one of the freebie mags had David Wright and Jose Reyes on the cover, with recipes of theirs and Willie Randolph's favorite meals. I believe the mag was titled "Good Health." It was right next to the New York Observer bin, which had a cover story of Randolph saying something to the effect of "I like the stress." And I found myself asking: "If I wanted good health, why would I be a Mets fan?" But I digress. For some reason today, I'm having 1999 flashbacks and I remember that not only did the Mets sweep their final series that season, but they also got significant help from the Brewers. The Reds were 2 games up on the Mets with 3 games to go and were playing in Milwaukee that night. While Mets fans suffered through the trauma of an extra-inning affair that eventually went there way, the manner in which the Brewers beat the Reds was equally amazing. The Reds were ahead 3-1 in the 8th inning of thi...

I was at Shea Stadium for the Cesar Cedeno HR in 1985 I was at Shea Stadium for the Terry Pendleton HR in 1987 I was at Shea Stadium for the Yadier Molina HR in 2006 Some might say I'm a jinx. I think I'm due. See you at the ballpark. (My apologies for not writing more, but this is my busiest time of year work-wise)

Think positive thoughts. At least they're not the Knicks.

"You don't even know what a Wright-off is, do you?" -- Jerry Seinfeld to Kramer in an episode discussing some bit of minutiae I do!! I do!! It's what we'll call Sunday's game-winning hit against the Marlins by the man with the Magic Number. I've provided advertisements for David Wright's MVP candidacy in this space before, but after Sunday's victory, I feel the need to supplement some of that information. I think the appropriate definition of an MVP is someone who raises his game to another level when it matters most. How has David Wright done that? * From Opening Day through August 31, David Wright hit .319, with a .413 on-base percentage and a .534 slugging percentage. In September, he's increased himself across the board by hitting at a rate of .333/.424/.654. * From Opening Day through August 31, David Wright had 87 RBI, a pace that would have given him approximately 106 for the season. In September, Wright has 18 RBI in 20 games, a pace th...

And we thank Scott "I'm Jewish but my favorite holiday is Christmas" Schoenweis for not taking Friday night off to observe Yom Kippur. And to reward those who endured that particular game, we offer up the following tidbit. This was the third time in Mets history that they scored at least nine or more runs, but the opposing staff yielded one earned run or fewer. The most recent occurrence, I believe I've referenced before: a 16-4 victory over the Astros in the opener of a doubleheader on July 27, 1985 (attended by this blogger, than a puzzled 10-year-old scorekeeper), in which all 16 runs were unearned, thanks to five Astros errors. The other was a 10-inning 11-9 loss to the Braves on June 5, 1963, a game in which the Mets rallied from 9-1 down to tie, only to lose in extra innings.

* Walk-off loss #370, arguably one of the most brutal regular season ones of my lifetime was the Mets 4th walk-off loss of the season. Notice that I skipped over #369, and that's because I discovered I was missing a game from 2005 from my database (blocked it from memory, so to speak). So I've added September 7, 2005, when Ryan Langerhans beat Shingo Takatsu with a two-run, 10th inning bases-loaded single (uggggggggggggggggg!) to the list and thus my documented tally is now at 370 and counting. * It was their first walk-off loss against the Marlins since August 1, 2006, when Josh Willingham beat them with a 2-run HR off Billy Wagner. * It was the first 8-7, 10-inning walk-off loss in Mets history and the 7th Mets walk-off loss to be decided by such a score. The last such 8-7 loss was on September 6, 1996, when Terry Pendleton (ugggggggggggggg!) and the Braves beat them with a 9th-inning single. * Dan Uggla is the second Dan to beat the Mets with a walk-off hit. Dan Driessen bea...

"You should treat that Cardinals-Phillies game like a Mets walk-off win. It was as important as any Mets win this season." -- E-mail from my dad at around midnight, as we chuckled at the notion of the season coming down to rooting for Adam Wainwright and Yadier Molina. OK, I can do that... * Let's start here: Yadier Molina is the first player in baseball history to beat the Mets with a Game 7 9th inning home run, then help them out with a walk-off hit the following season. * It was Molina's 3rd career walk-off hit, his first since 2005. The first of the three came against the Mets and Mike Stanton, on August 7, 2004, a bases loaded, two-out single to give the Cardinals a 2-1 win. * Molina's 3 walk-off hits break a tie with Bengie for most hits by a Molina brother. Bengie has 2. Jose has none. * It was the Cardinals 4th walk-off win of the season and their first against the Phillies since a Jim Edmonds 13th inning walk-off home run on April 29, 2004. * It was the P...

As Greg over at Faith and Fear noted on Monday, the Mets were at the point at which they had met one of my silly preseason goals. They were assured of finishing 2007 with a worse record than they had in 2006. Y'all may remember my preseason slogan- "Ya Gotta Get Worse!" in which I illustrated how the Cardinals took the biggest tumble among teams from 2005 to 2006, yet still won the World Series and how I felt if the Mets took a small step back, they'd be able to take a small step forward in October. Looking back on it today, I can tell you this. That mantra sucks. This is no fun. But I'm not ready to start an essay on Mets Choke-Offs and Other Minutiae just yet. Instead, let's for a moment harken back and remember the way of the 2005 Indians. The AL Central wasn't really a race that season, not until the very end. On August 17, the Indians got shut out by the Rangers and were 11 games out of first place. The White Sox were the team to beat, having played g...

Equal time for the other member of the Mets broadcast crew as we continue to wallow in the misery of this great malaise Answers here: http://metswalkoffs.blogspot.com/2007/09/our-special-bonds-ron-darling-answers.html 1) Ron Darling lost to the Phillies in his major-league debut. I'd ask who the winning pitcher was for the Phillies, but I don't believe that's a challenging question, once I refer to him as a former Met. So I ask instead: What future Hall of Famer struck out as the first batter of that game? 2) On the subject of strikeouts. Name the Hall of Famer who was Darling's most frequent strikeout victim? From 1983 to 1991, this player (not a pitcher) had 82 AB against Darling and whiffed 21 times. 3) The first 3 batters to hit home runs against Ron Darling all played for the Mets at some point in their careers. The first played only a season for them, playing 79 games, with 10 home runs on a team that didn't hit many home runs. The second hit a grand slam, one...

Please try to think happy thoughts today. I know its difficult, but at least let me offer this as consolation. Monday marks the 21st anniversary of the Mets NL East division clinching. And keep this in mind: The 1986 squad couldn't beat the Phillies either. And they turned out just fine. The 1986 Mets went 8-10 against the Phillies, the only team against which they had a sub-.500 record. And the Phillies beat them 6 straight in one stretch, including a 3-game sweep when the Mets needed only 1 victory to clinch the NL East. Those Phillies were a pain in the ass. Von Hayes was their Chase Utley, hitting .357 against the Mets with four home runs and 16 RBI in 17 games. Mike Schmidt was Ryan Howard, hitting .373 with 15 RBI against the Mets, and he copped an MVP along the way. And while the rotation wasn't too impressive, it did feature a rookie lefty, Bruce Ruffin, who pilfered two victories from the Flushing 9. Had their been a wild-card in 1986 (though with 2 divisions, that wo...

In celebration of Shawn Green and the holiday of our people, a few nuggets worth sharing. * Wednesday was the 4th time in Shawn Green's career that he won a game with a "walk-up" hit (defined as a tiebreaking hit in bottom of 8th inning), his first since July 1, 2004. * It was the first of those four hits to be a single. He had a home run and two doubles previously. * It was the third time the Mets won a game this season via walk-up RBI and the second time they did so against the Braves. Lastings Milledge got one on a 2-out single July 14 to beat the Reds, 2-1. Moises Alou hit a walk-up home run on August 8 to beat the Braves, 4-3 in a game better remembered for Billy Wagner "tighroping" (surviving bases loaded, no outs) the 9th inning. The 3 walk-up RBI matched the team's total from 2006 * With 2 more hits against John Smoltz, Green is now 19-for-35 against Smoltz in his career and that .543 batting average is his best against any active pitcher he's f...

Wednesday is the 22nd anniversary of one of my favorite regular season walk-off wins and since I don't feel I could write it any better than this http://metswalkoffs.blogspot.com/2005/08/ode-to-playgrounds-and-egg-creams.html I'm going to use it as a means of segue to ask some trivia about a favorite, whose base hit won that game, for whom there's a short film out bearing his name, and who has taken some flak from local media for spending too much time goofing off in the booth. So without further ado, let's get to some Keith Hernandez trivia questions. As always, mucho thankyous to Baseball-Reference.com, without which such frivolity would not be possible. Answers here: http://metswalkoffs.blogspot.com/2006/09/our-special-bonds-im-keith-hernandez.html 1) Keith actually shortchanged himself on the air the other day, claiming he only he had one multi-homer game in his career. That wasn't true. He had three, and his first was against the Mets. But getting back to the t...

Another guest column, this one from regular reader Nate Little, who was looking for an outlet for some of his Mets research. He noted that my "Met nerdery is unparalleled" and when someone says something so nice, I figure, why not offer him the space for his work. I came across this excerpt from the always-excellent Hardball Times: "#1 Boston Red Sox (Dartboard Factor = 98, 100): Congratulati[ons] to Clay Buchholz on the no-hitter. It is kind of weird that [we] celebrate so many luck-driven events in baseball. Johan Santana strikes out 17 Rangers and walks none [in] 8 innings, but because he gave up two harmless hits along the way, not many people will remember his performance. Buchholz strikes out only 9, walked 3 and hit a batter. But since he yielded no hits, his day will be much talked about." This inspired me to propose a new stat: the no-walker. 9 IP, 0R, 0BB, and however many hits may have landed. I wondered how the Mets compare to other franchises ...

Yes, I know that everyone may be talking about the Most Valuable Pedro today and that's fine, as I'm sure I'll have something to say about that in the near future. Today I'd rather talk about the Mets best chance at winning Most Valuable Player. I hadn't really bought into the David Wright for MVP talk until the last week or so, but a few things (victories) have happened to change my mind. I took a closer look at the numbers and it got me to thinking that the Mets have a really good chance to have their first MVP winner. The last two days, David Wright has hit go-ahead home runs and that prompted me to take a closer look at his 26 homers this season. What I found is that all 26 could be considered meaningful. 11 of the 26 snapped ties. Add the one he hit on Monday against Aaron Harang and you have 12 home runs that have given the Mets the lead. The other New York third baseman doesn't have that many go-ahead dingers and he's got a lot more to work with. Wrig...