Mets Walk-Offs And Minutiae

It was mentioned on Friday's telecast how much success David Wright has had at Coors Field (career batting average of .391, entering Saturday), so that got me to thinking about Mets batting averages at other ballparks. Thanks to BaseballMusings.com, I was able to generate a chart of Mets players best batting average by ballpark. How to read the chart The first name and number listed is the best batting average by a Met, minimum 50 plate appearances If there are 2 names, The 2nd name and number, noted with an *, is the best batting average by a Met, minimum 100 plate appearances Best Mets Batting Average By Ballpark Astrodome (Houston) Bruce Boisclair .453 Kevin McReynolds .307* Atlanta Fulton County Stadium Todd Hundley .342 Kevin McReynolds .328* Bank One Ballpark (Arizona) Edgardo Alfonzo .352 Old Busch Stadium (St. Louis) Daryl Boston .400 Ed Kranepool .347* Candlestick Park (San Francisco) Lance Johnson .417 Mookie Wilson .307* Cinergy Field (Cincinnati) Tim Teufel .373 Keith ...

I don't know if Trot Nixon is a "Gangsta" (am I the only one who doesn't like that reference), but he did become the 335th player to hit a home run for the Mets. * Of those 335, 64 have hit exactly one home run for the Mets. Among those he's tied with: Tug McGraw, AFLAC answer from the other night Tim Foli (200+ games for Mets and Angels), Jimmy Piersall (who backpedaled around the bases), and recently deposed Blue Jays manager John Gibbons. * He's the 6th player whose last name starts with "N" to homer for the Mets. Most HR For Mets Last Name Starts with N 14-Xavier Nady 14-Charlie Neal 9-Dan Norman 2- Jon Nunnally 1- Trot Nixon 1-David Newhan * Trot Nixon now has 137 career home runs. That's the same number of home runs hit by Jackie Robinson, for whom the rotunda in the Mets new ballpark is named. He entered the season with 136 home runs, the same number of home runs hit by former Mets manager Davey Johnson. * Trot Nixon had 133 home runs for ...

Normally, I'm a big-time mocker of people who suddenly become fans of a team, just because the going is good at the moment. However, in this case, I must admit that I'm enjoying my adoption of the Tampa Bay Rays as my No. 2 team. Let the record reflect that my first acknowledgement of Rays fanhood came on May 14th , when I lamented that Tampa Bay and the Mets would not be playing this season. And for those wondering, I'm not copying the folks at MetsGeek, who pretended to change their site's name to RaysGeek. I was a few days ahead of them :) This is not a Scott Kazmir thing, a Cliff Floyd thing, and it's not even a Dan Wheeler thing (my early candidates for favorite Rays are third baseman Evan Longoria and pitcher Andy Sonnanstine). Maybe it's a Steve Henderson thing (he's a coach), but I don't think so. It's more just a 'I've seen them play and I think they've got a good thing' thing. It's totally fair-weather. It's totally ...

My usually-stellar memory is a bit hazy today. Back in my newspaper-reporting days, I remember covering a Rider-Seton Hall baseball game in which one of the Seton Hall players was Tony Bernazard Jr. Tony Sr. was at the game and that part I recall distinctly. I know I conversed with Tony Jr., who being from Princeton, was local for our circulation. I seem to remember approaching Tony Sr. as well and my inkling is to say he wasn't particularly pleasant, but I'm wondering if that's clouded by all the stories I've seen the last few days. I've heard/read that he isn't the nicest man around (anyone remember the Carlos Delgado quote about Bernazard being the highest-paid translator in the majors?). There's one area in which Tony Sr. was good in a 1-1 scenario and that was on the baseball diamond itself. Tony Sr. had four walk-off RBI in his major-league career. Three were singles and one was a sacrifice fly. Here's the weird part. All four came in games that we...

Oh, I'd say almost 2,000 hours or so... My internet connection finally got fixed. The Mets season? Still a lot of fixing to do. Perhaps it's worth noting that this win came on a day in which the Mets started a different right side of the infield than usual Clearly a new manager was just what David Wright needed to snap his 1-for-20-in-the-9th-inning funk...But why be bitter? * This marked the 84th time in Mets history, and the first this season that the Mets got a game-tying RBI in a situation in which they were one out from defeat. To make things easier, from now on, let's just call them GT2O RBI's (I'll add it to my dictionary ). * The Mets are 45-38-1 when they get a GT2O-RBI, 17-25 when they get one on the road. * It is David Wright's first career GT2O-RBI with the Mets. He has as many for the Mets as Damion Easley does. Easley got one last season, on April 24 against the Rockies, a game won on Endy Chavez's bunt single. * The Mets have won 4 of the last...

Here's the difference between a really good team and a really mediocre one. Carlos Delgado has made eight errors this season. Tampa Bay 1st, 2nd, and 3rd basemen have combined to make six errors this season. Did you see the walk-off brilliance that was the end of the Rays-Cubs game on Tuesday night? Down a run, with a runner on third and two outs in the bottom of the ninth, the Cubs tried a squeeze play to try to tie the game. Rays third baseman Evan Longoria made a great play to barehand the ball, then fired off-balance to first, on a bounce. The Rays first baseman, Willy Aybar, playing his 10th career game at the position, made an incredibly difficult play to handle the throw, twisting to grab it a split-second before the baserunner crashed into him, all while holding his foot to the base. Game over. The Rays are 41-29. Had that been the Mets, the throw would have bounced off Delgado's stomach and caromed into the outfield. Tie game. Then, Billy Wagner would have walked a lef...

Let's just say I thought that 3 a.m. firings were the kind of thing that James Dolan would do... At least Willie walks off looking like the good guy in this scenario. * Willie Randolph's tenure ends with him as the 4th-winningest walk-off manager in Mets history. Most Walk-Off Wins By Mets Manager (includes postseason) 55 Davey Johnson 54 Bobby Valentine 35 Gil Hodges 31 Willie Randolph 29 Joe Torre 29 Casey Stengel Mets Walk-Off W-L By Manager (In order of tenure, includes postseason) Casey Stengel 29-34 Wes Westrum 17-24 Salty Parker 2-1 Gil Hodges 35-27 Yogi Berra 19-34 Roy McMillan 3-6 Joe Frazier 7-9 Joe Torre 29-42 George Bamberger 6-17 Frank Howard 11-3(!) Davey Johnson 55-51 Bud Harrelson 11-5 Mike Cubbage 0-1 Jeff Torborg 7-13 Dallas Green 25-32 Bobby Valentine 54-39 Art Howe 12-15 Willie Randolph ...

In a best-case scenario, Trot Nixon will turn out to be a lightning-in-a-bottle, older version of Ryan Church, sans concussions. In a worst-case scenario, I'm thinking Richard Hidalgo, Shane Spencer, or Karim Garcia. I like the idea of a youth movement, even if the youth comes in the form of a 34-year-old playing Triple-A with bad knees. In fact, I'd completely forgotten that he was still playing somewhere, and never would have guessed Arizona as his most recent residence. And I think we'll like Nixon (the ballplayer, not the walk-off president), at least for the short term. He plays hard, and with a lot of fire. Boston fans liked him, as he was an integral part of the 2004 championship team. (Clever banner possibility: Nixon for 'Resident) Trot is also the answer to two intriguing trivia questions. * Who had the last home run off Roger Clemens? Nixon did, in Game 3 of the 2007 ALDS, as a member of the Indians. He also had a go-ahead hit against the Red Sox in extra-inn...

If you know a Mets fan dad (ideally one of a young child), he's probably in need of a pick-me-up because of the way the team is playing in 2008. One possible gift (even if it's belated) would be a book I got in the mail today "The '86 Mets, Buckner & The Bambino," part of a series titled "Daddy's Heroes: Unforgettable Sports Moments To Share With Children." I don't usually do product reviews here, but I'm a sucker for the subject and I like to encourage entrepreneurial efforts, so I'll make an exception. In this edition, authors Tom Garcia and Karun Naga tell the story of my favorite game, Game 6 of the 1986 World Series in a manner in which young children can understand. They explain the origin of the Curse of the Bambino and summarize the history of events leading to the matchup between the Mets and Red Sox. They go through the key moments in Game 6, with special attention to Mookie Wilson's famous ground ball, weaving in the pr...

Not interested in talking about Thursday's loss. Have been wanting to put this out for awhile, so I'll do so today... Mets Walk-Up Win (n) - A Mets victory in which the decisive runs are scored in the bottom of the eighth inning. Said victory requires Mets pitchers to retire the side, maintaining the advantage, in the top of the ninth. Etymology: Fellow blogger Greg at Faith and Fear , invented the term. Date of origin, unknown. The Mets have 165 walk-up wins in their history, if we include the postseason, and we shall for the purposes of this tallying. * Their most frequent victim is the Braves. Most Mets Walk-Up Wins By Opponent Braves 22 Expos 19 Astros 16 Pirates 15 Dodgers 14 >> Includes Postseason * The most common type of go-ahead RBI in a walk-off victory comes from a single. Most Frequent Walk-Up RBI Mets History 1B 58 HR 55 (3 grand slams) 2B 29 SF 8 >> Least frequent among those that have happened: 1 passed ball, 1 triple, 1 groundout, and 1 hit-by-pitch ...

When I went to sleep, I was rather annoyed with the lack of Mets involved in the postgame "bunny hop" (Chris Russo's term) at home plate. I thought it paled in comparison to that which I saw from the Marlins after Dan Uggla's walk-off grand slam not long before, and its paled comparitively from those which I've seen from a team like the Rays (who as a colleague noted: "They're the team you wish yours was."). However, upon second look, thanks to a photo from the NY Daily News, and watching the highlight, I feel a little better. Those teams are younger, and a little more demonstrative. The Mets are old and creaky, so it's hard for them to match the spirit or leap-height of those other squads (didn't it look like Beltran jumped off the wrong foot?). It may have been a celebration lacking in fire , but not in numbers. I can see Beltran, Wright, Delgado, Schneider, Easley. Maine, and Aguila...via TV I saw Reyes (first one in line for any hopathon)...

Things would have been a lot simpler if home plate ump Jeff Nelson had just given Mark Reynolds first base... Let's call this a "Bail-out walk-off win." (as the New York Daily News basically did, as well) A bail-out walk-off is one in which the Mets "bail out" a reliever who blew a save in the 9th inning. (Bill James sometimes calls these "BS wins" Note that this does not encompass all relievers who blew leads in the 9th (you could have blown a lead in a non-save scenario) or all Mets walk-off wins in which they blew a 9th-inning lead (I'm ignoring scenarios where a pitcher in line to win the game, blew the lead in the 9th) Sometimes I worry that too many criteria make this hard to understand, so let's simplify In a "bail-out walk-off win" A) A pitcher screws up in a situation in which both he (with a save) AND ANOTHER PITCHER (with a win) would tangibly benefit. and B) The Mets bail the guy out by winning anyway, via walk-off. Used ...

The newest Met, Chris Aguila, doesn't have any walk-off history from his time in the majors, but he should make the walk-off celebrations (and the home run handshakes) a little more interesting. Aguila's family, based on accounts I've read, is very into Polynesian dancing (his mother is a combination of Polynesian, Samoan, Tongan, and Fijian). This is not your typical exercise. It involves a little bit more risk. "Because of the danger, I wasn't taught the Fire Knife Dance until I was 16," Aguila once told the media. "Basically, it's twirling and spinning a burning knife while someone is playing the drums. Sometimes I'll put it on my tongue. It's a lot of fun." Just do yourself a favor, Chris. If you do anything like that...keep Jose Reyes a safe distance away.

Happy anniversary, Cliff Floyd! http://metswalkoffs.blogspot.com/2005/06/cliff-notes.html and Steve Henderson (3 days from now...duh!) http://metswalkoffs.blogspot.com/2005/06/hendu-can-do.html http://metswalkoffs.blogspot.com/2005/06/hendu-part-ii.html

We're a little fatigued today and are going to work on some database maintenance, but we'll leave you with a tidbit we learned from a colleague in the last week. If Willie Randolph does get fired, and we're not expecting it this week, it will actually be his first walk-off since July 25, 1998. How can that be possible, considering that Randolph retired in 1992? Well, it turns out that Randolph hit a walk-off home run that day, one that gave the Yankees Oldtimers a 1-0 four-inning victory over the Dodgers Oldtimers in a pre-game exhibition at Yankee Stadium. True Mettimers know... That June 10 marks the 25th anniversary, not of a significant trade (that's coming soon though), but of the latest walk-off home run in Mets history, Dave Kingman's 17th-inning blast to beat the Expos, 4-2. No Met has hit a walk-off home run later than the 17th inning.

Today seems like a good day to unveil the product of a previous period of Mets frustration. The following is a yearly list of which pitchers beat the Mets the most in each of the teams respective seasons of play. It is the place where Pat Combs and Chris Nabholz can cross paths with the likes of Sandy Koufax, Juan Marichal and Don Drysdale, trading stories of how they caused great bouts of mental anguish to good folks like you and me. Most Regular Season Wins vs Mets Year By Year 1962 65 pitchers, 120 wins vs Mets Jack Sanford 5 Jim Golden 5 Bob Friend 5 1963 60 pitchers, 111 wins vs Mets Jim Maloney 5 Juan Marichal 4 Sandy Koufax 4 Don Drysdale 4 Lew Burdette 4 Dick Ellsworth 4 1964 59 pitchers, 109 wins vs Mets Don Drysdale 5 Jim Bunning 5 Gaylord Perry 4 Larry Jackson 4 Bob Gibson 4 Bob Friend 4 Dick Ellsworth 4 1965 58 pitchers, 112 wins vs Mets Juan Marichal 5 Bob Gibson 5 Don Drysdale 5 1966 59 pitchers, 95 wins vs Mets Sandy Koufax 4 Tony Cloninger 4 Clay Carroll 4 1967 59 pitch...

Cha Seung Baek was the latest pitcher to shut the Mets down, on Saturday night. And thus continued a trend that is rather disturbing in this rather unpleasant 2008 campaign. The Mets are not beating righthanded starting pitching. And that's a very bad sign. The Mets are 16-23 in games in which the opposition starts a righthanded pitcher. That seems rather odd considering that they can throw out a lineup in which six or seven bats will bat from the left side of the plate, and remember how concerned we were about this team being too lefthanded. Last season, an NL team, on average, faced a righthanded starter 112 times, and a lefthanded starter 50 times. Translate the pace that you set at 16-23 too 112 games and you get a record of 46-66. You know where teams that finish 46-66 against righthanded starters finish? Last place. And yet, the Mets have beat up some righthanders, like Chien-Ming Wang and Brad Penny pretty well this year. But they're not doing it on a consistent basis. B...

* Mets walk-off loss #375 (postseason included) was their second in the last three days and fourth this season. It is the second time this season that they've lost a game on a walk-off home run. * The four losses match the Mets walk-off total for all of 2007. * It is the first time that the Padres got two walk-off wins against the Mets in a season since 1995. * The Mets have 25 walk-off losses against the Padres. Seven of them have been by a 2-1 score. * It marked the first time in Pedro Feliciano's career that he gave up a walk-off hit. * Scott Hairston is the 5th Padre to hit a walk-off home run against the Mets Walk-Off HR vs Mets Padres History 2008 Scott Hairston 1995 Brian Johnson 1989 Chris James 1986 Tony Gwynn 1979 Jerry Turner * Scott Hairston now has 3 walk-off home runs, all of which have come since August 3, 2007, all for the Padres. In fact, Hairston also had the go-ahead extra-inning home run for the Padres in their one-game playoff against the Rockies last seaso...

Big Brown is going for the Triple Crown on Saturday. So I looked up a few things related to that * While no Met has ever won the Triple Crown, their have been six instances in which a Met won the "Team Triple Crown." This required leading the Mets in batting average, home runs, and RBI in the same season. Led Mets in BA, HR, RBI Same Season 2001 Mike Piazza 2000 Mike Piazza 1995 Rico Brogna 1989 Howard Johnson 1971 Cleon Jones 1967 Tommy Davis >> Tied for team lead in HR The most interesting of these is Mike Piazza's capture of the crown in 2000. He won in a photo finish with Edgardo Alfonzo. Piazza batted .32365, while Alfonzo hit .32352, meaning Piazza won the Mets batting race by one-tenthousandth of a point. * Dwight Gooden won the NL's pitching Triple Crown in 1985, leading the NL in wins, ERA and strikeouts. Tom Seaver never did that as a Met. The three times he led the NL in both ERA and strikeouts (1971, 1973, 1975), he got beaten out for the wins lead. ...

I haven't done the research on Ike Davis and his walk-off resume, but I did come across a rather gruesome discovery. I knew that Ike's dad, Ron Davis, despite registering 130 saves, had his share of struggles during his major league career. But I didn't realize just how deep (and you'll pardon the pun in a second) they ran. Ron Davis gave up a walk-off RBI on 26 occasions in his walk-off career. That strikes me as significant. That's enough to create a sub-site, I'm thinking "Ron Davis Walk-Offs and Other Minutiae" won't get too many visitors. How amazin' is that? You could create an All-Star lineup of players to get a walk-off RBI against him Let's make that our first order of business. 1B- Eddie Murray 2B- Lou Whitaker SS- Robin Yount 3B- Paul Molitor LF- Jim Rice CF- Fred Lynn RF- Don Baylor DH- Kirk Gibson C- Clint Hurdle (ok...that's a stretch) Bench- Don Mattingly, Frank White, Lloyd Moseby Manager- Willie Randolph(!) Coach- Tom N...