I have been suffering from some bad health issues lately and need to take a break from this blog. Obviously the latest play of the Mets has not helped.
For those of you who root day in and day out for the Mets I really feel for you. Rooting for such an abusive front office is very damaging to everyone who takes the time out to do so.
Mets lose 2 of 3 in Puerto Rico, travel next to Washington
After being bludgeoned by the Marlins, the Mets pitching staff will look to regain some respect when they travel to the nations capital. Last night Mets pitchers surrendered 17 hits to the Marlins, but amazingly allowed only 5 runs in the Mets 6-5 win. This came after the Marlins had scored 10 runs on Monday night in a win and collected 13 hits in a walk-off win on Tuesday. Just like Tuesday night, the Mets failed to hold on to a 3-run lead, but this time were able to get the lead back and hold on for the win.
Marlins offense in 3 game series vs Mets
BA .348
Hits 39
Runs 22
HR 5
David Wright had an outstanding series for the Mets, who after struggling offensively on Monday night, erupted for 12 runs and 22 hits in the final two games of the series. Jason Bay collected 5 RBI in the series.
David Wright – Last 3 games vs Marlins
H-AB 7-13
BA .538
Runs 2
RBI 2
On Tuesday night the Mets rallied for 2 runs in the 9th to tie the game, but once again lost in walk-off fashion as Dan Uggla drove in Jorge Cantu with the winning run in the bottom of the 9th. The Mets now have 8 walk-off losses this season.
David Wright finished the month of June with a .404 BA and 29 RBI. He is the first player in Mets history to record a BA of .400 or higher with 25 or more RBI in a single month. (SOURCE: ELIAS SPORTS BUREAU)
David Wright – June Stats
BA .404
OBP .447
Slug .683
HR 6
Runs 20
RBI 29
Tonight the Mets and Johan Santana take on ex-Met Livan Hernandez in a rematch of a prior meeting this season between these 2 pitchers. On April 11th the Nationals pounded Santana for 4 runs in the first inning while Hernandez kept the Mets bats silent all day long as he went 7 innings allowing 0 runs and 5 hits. The Mets only runs came when Mike Jacbos homered off of Brian Bruney in a 5-2 loss.
Mets revive horrid past in Puerto Rico with wretched performance
The Mets third venture into Hiram Bithorn Stadium went as well as their first 2 visits when they went 2-5. Last night they were humiliated by a team with no manager and in complete disarray. In doing so the Mets fell to 9-20 on the road against NL opponents and a abominable 3-9 on the road vs NL East opponents, including now 0-5 vs the Marlins.
Mets on road vs NL East – 2010
W-L 3-9>>
ERA 6.78
BA .224
Runs PG 4.0
>>0-5 vs Marlins
R.A. Dickey finally showed signs of being human as the Marlins slapped him silly, scoring 5 runs in 5 innings against him. Fernando Nieve and Ryota Igarashi quickly added gasoline to the flaming inferno by allowing 5 runs on 3 home runs. It’s very disturbing to me how the Marlins seem to toy with the Mets. Despite being 7 games behind the Mets, the Marlins have enjoyed beating up on them.
Mets last 20 games at Florida
W-L 7-13
ERA 4.54
BA .268
Runs PG 4.4
Another point of frustration for the Mets is how badly Jose Reyes plays when put head-to-head against Hanley Ramirez. On mere talent, Reyes seems to have just as much if not more than Ramirez. However, Ramirez has continually outplayed Reyes when these 2 teams have met.
Reyes vs Ramirez Since 2009
Reyes Games: 14 BA: .143 Runs: 4 RBI: 4
Ramirez Games: 26 BA: .324 Runs: 15 RBI: 17
Another sore spot for Mets fans is the fact that the Marlins TWICE ended the Mets season in consecutive years when the Mets had a chance at the postseason and both times in New York. Met killers rain up and down their lineup. Cantu, Ross, Baker, Coglhan, Sanchez, all seem to love beating up on the Mets pitching staff. Some hit for high average (Coglhan .308, Sanchez .378, Ross .419) others hit for power and drive in runs (Cantu 30 RBI, Uggla 14 HR, 39 RBI). Chris Coglhan has 14 career HR, 5 which are against the Mets.
Jason Bay finally breaks out
Despite the Mets putting their tail between their legs and getting abused last night, Jason Bay finally showed some of the power that Mets fans have been yearning for as he hit 2 HR and drove in 3 runs. Although both his home runs were the result of the band box the Mets played in, which made the fact that the Mets have hit so poorly there (.189 BA, 5 HR, 18 runs scored in 8 games) much more disturbing. Both of Bay’s HR would have been fly balls in Citifield, but you can only do what the elements allow you to, and last night Bay was terrific.
Reyes back in slump
After ripping up the AL during interleague play, Reyes has sharply declined over his last 3 games, going 1-13 with no runs scored and no stolen bases. Simply put, when Reyes struggles the Mets don’t win. Mets fans have been inspired by Reyes play prior to this stretch, however disturbing trends started to develop during the last 2 days of his hot streak as a few of his hits were bloopers that just avoided the SS grasp. Since then he has once again made it a habit to pop up to the left side of the infield which is the absolute worst sign for Reyes. When he gets into those habits, that’s when he puts together a .140, 4 runs, 3 RBI month long stretch. Let’s hope that he will snap back to form tonight against a pitcher he should crush.
Perhaps the most alarming thing about Reyes season so far is how awful he has been on the road vs NL opponents. He ended his road woes for a brief stretch when the Mets traveled to Baltimore, Cleveland and the Yankees, but against NL opponents on the road, he has been an abortion.
Jose Reyes – 2010 on road
vs NL opponents Games: 27 BA .180 OBP .213 Runs: 10 RBI: 12
vs AL opponents Games: 9 BA: 375 OBP: .390 Runs: 10 RBI: 6
Robertson takes on Takahashi tonight as Mets look to rebound
Tonight the Mets get a chance to end their 5-game road losing streak to the Marlins on the road this season when they take on Nate Robertson. Obtained in spring training from the Tigers, Robertson has struggled a bit this season, going 5-6 with a 4.89 ERA in 15 games. Robertson will be making his 4th start against the Mets this season, which he has 2 of his 5 wins against despite posting a 5.28 ERA and a .313 opponent BA.
Hisanori Takahashi will take the mound for the Mets. Takahashi was pounded in his last start by the Tigers and bets are that if he gets pounded again tonight, or doesn’t give the Mets a chance to win, then this might be his last start. Look for runs a plenty tonight, as the Marlins pounded Takahashi in their 4 meetings vs him this season scoring 8 runs in 9.2 IP while hitting 3 HR and posting a .324 BA. The Mets have gotten much more than expected out of Takahashi and Dickey but play time is over. If the Mets want to seriously be a contender in the NL East they need another 1 if not 2 strong starters.
Cliff Lee would be nice, but not at the price of our young talent, especially since the Mets can get him for free in the FA market. Ted Lilly, Fausto Carmona or Ben Sheets would be nice at a much less price tag. Let’s hope that stuttering John (aka Omar Minaya) will pull the trigger and soon before the Mets hit a skid where Dickey and Takahashi are exposed and the team loses 15 of 20.
Help Fund for Cancer Survivors
I might as well use this blog to educate people that cancer survivors out there need your help. Many of us (myself included) have suffered awful side effects from the chemotherapy and radiation. As a result of my treatment, I now suffer from Hemochromotosis, Crohn’s Disease and Lymphedema. I had to retire in April 2008 after being diagnosed with Hemochromotosis. Disability payments are not NEARLY enough to live on and many of us in situations like mine need help. PLEASE help me by donating to a fund to start a foundation for cancer survivors. If you want more information or are looking for something like this and want to become involved, check out our facebook page or email me.
Johan loses again as Mets fall to Carl Pavano and Twins
For the third straight start Johan Santana was slapped around by an American League team. It’s a good thing Santana left the American League because judging from his last 3 starts, he might not win too many games anymore. The Twins jumped on him for 4 runs in the first inning, and much like when the Mets played the Nationals earlier in the season and they jumped on Santana for 4 runs in the first, the Mets offense went into a slumber.
Carl Pavano, yes the same Carl Pavano that was laughed out of New York while pitching for the Yankees, dominated the Mets lineup so easily that the Mets didn’t even get a runner past 2nd base. Jeff Francoeur had 2 of the Mets 3 hits on the day as the rest of the lineup might of well stayed home. Games like this against inferior pitchers just shows how far the Mets are from seriously competing among the baseball elite.
Carl Pavano allowed just 3 hits in winning his 8th career game vs the Mets.
Pavano has now defeated former Cy Young Award winners Roy Halladay and Johan Santana in consecutive starts, so at least the Mets can hide their shame by pointing out that the Phillies also lost to Pavano. However, unlike the confidence the Phillies still have in Halladay, the Mets have now lost confidence in Santana.
Santana leaving the game with his head down has become a familiar site this season.
Since scoring 7 runs for him against the Indians on June 15, the Mets have gone scoreless in Santana’s last 2 starts in losing to the Yankees (4-0) and the Twins (5-0). Despite his lack of run support, the Mets still seem to suffer from shock when Santana allows runs early. This is the 4th time now this season that Santana has allowed 4 runs or more before the 5th inning and in 3 of those starts the Mets have lost and scored a total of 2 runs in those 3 games.
Johan Santana – Allowing 4 runs or more by 5th inning – 2010 season
June 25 allowed 4 runs in first Mets were shutout
June 15 allowed 4 runs in first 4 innings Mets rallied to win
May 2 allowed 10 runs in first 4 innings Mets failed to score after
April 11 allowed 4 runs in first inning Mets scored 2 runs in loss
What this tells us is that the Mets seem to go into shock when Santana is slapped around. Although since the calendar almost reads July, this should no longer be a shock. Perhaps no one on the Mets has been as disappointing as Santana this season. Yes, the Mets have failed to provide him adequate run support in many of his ND or losses, but he has also failed to either continue win streaks or end losing streaks at some bad times this season.
Santana needs to get back the form that rewarded him with a $137.5 million contract.
I think the term “ACE” no longer applies to Santana. What the Mets have to think about is whether or not they can continue with him and his huge contract. In 2008 Santana signed a 6-year deal worth $137.5 million deal. Perhaps the Mets should look at the example Santana has set when deciding whether or not to sign Cliff Lee to a huge contract in the offseason.
Santana was 29 when the Mets signed him. Cliff Lee will be 32 next season. Can they risk another long-term contract on a pitcher who is almost past his prime? If Santana faltered and was 3 years younger upon his signing, is it wise for the Mets to invest another large contract on a over 30 pitcher?
Mets W-L Since May 13th
When Santana starts W-L: 2-7 Runs PG: 2.1 BA: .189 Runs PG allowed: 3.7
When others start W-L: 23-7 Runs PG: 5.5 BA: .293 Runs PG allowed: 3.8
Mets take 2 of 3 from Twins
Entering this home stand I mentioned how important it was that they continue their solid play and take at least 2 of 3 in each series. The Mets accomplished that feat and were a David Wright strikeout away from winning 5 of 6. The Mets threw their 11th shutout of the season yesterday which is the most in MLB.
Niese helped the Mets record their 11th shutout of the season which is the most in the majors.
Most shutouts – MLB 2010
Mets 11
Padres 10
Rockies 9
Athletics 8
Phillies 7
Blue Jays 7
Other notes on Mets win and interleague play
David Wright collected 24 RBI in interleague play this season which ties an NL record previously set by Hanley Ramirez of the Marlins last season. Jon Niese finished June with a 4-0 record. The only other Mets rookie pitcher to win 4 or more games in June was Ron Darling who won 5 games in 1984. The Mets have now won 6 straight home series, their longest streak since 2008. The Mets won their 13th interleague game this season which sets a new team mark for most wins in a single-season vs AL opponents.
Most Wins vs AL teams – Single season
2010 13
1999 12
2008 9
2000 9
1998 9
Most RBI, Interleague Play – Single-Season
Frank Thomas 2000 26
Jim Thome 2001 25
David Wright 2010 24
Hanley Ramirez 2009 24
David Wright tied an NL record for most RBI in a single season in interleague play with 24 this season.
As the Mets travel to Puerto Rico to take on the Marlins they now face another opponent that embarrassed them earlier this season on the road. The Marlins are having their own trouble right now as they recently fired manager Freddi Gonzalez and were thought to have named Bobby Valentine as their manager, but that has not happened as yet. They have lost 4 straight games. Unlike the series in May, this series will be played in Puerto Rico, not Florida. The Marlins have done very well playing at Hiram Bithorn Stadium as they won 5 of 6 games there when the Expos played games there during the 2003-04 seasons.
The Mets and Marlins will play this series in Puerto Rico.
The Mets have not faired so well in their 7 games played in Puerto Rico. Overall the Mets are 2-5 there, having lost all 4 games in 2003 and won 2 of 3 in 2004.
W-L at Hiram Bithorn Stadium
Marlins: 5-1 ERA: 1.87 Opp. BA: .203 Runs PG: 6.0
Mets: 2-4 ERA: 3.10 Opp. BA: .243 Runs PG: 2.1
>>Marlins won their last 3 games all by shutout
Top 10 Mets regular season moments (to see moments 10-2 look at previous entries of hopeisthebestofthings)
1. – 6 way tie: Mets clinch postseason berths - It’s hard to argue with games that officially put you in the postseason as the most important moments in a teams history. On September 24, 1969 the Mets secured their first postseason berth with a 6-0 win over the Cardinals at Shea Stadium. On October 1, 1973 the Mets secured their 2nd NL East title with a 6-4 win over the Cubs. On September 17, 1986 Doc Gooden pitched a complete game in the Mets 4-2 win over the Cubs. That clinching date actually took 6 days to reach as the Mets failed in their first 5 tries. On September 22, 1988, Ron Darling threw a complete game in a Mets 3-1 win over the Phillies to clinch the team’s 4th NL East title. On September 18, 2006 the Mets clinched their 5th NL East title with a 4-0 win over the Marlins. Last but not least, on October 4, 1999, the Mets defeated the Reds 5-0 to win the NL Wild Card. I did not put the clinching of the 2000 NL Wild Card since that was pretty much anti-climatic and the team didn’t even celebrate. It’s actually very interesting how in all the Mets clinchings in team history, they have pitched excellent.
David Wright celebrates the Mets 2006 NL East title.
Dates of Mets postseason clinchings – Team History
September 18, 2006 Clinched NL East SP: Trachsel (W) Final Score: 4-0
September 27, 2000 Clinched Wild Card SP: Reed (W) Final Score: 6-2
October 4, 1999 Clinched Wild Card SP: Leiter (W-CG) Final Score: 5-0
September 22, 1988 Clinched NL East SP: Darling (W-CG) Final Score: 3-1
September 17, 1986 Clinched NL East SP: Gooden (W-CG) Final Score: 4-2
October 1, 1973 Clinched NL East SP: Seaver (W) Final Score: 6-4
September 24, 1969 Clinched NL East SP: Gentry (W-CG) Final Score: 6-0
Bedlam rained on Shea Stadium when the Mets clinched their first postseason berth since 1973 on September 17, 1986.
This might seem lame to some of you, but there’s nothing quite like knowing your team will be in the postseason and getting excited for that clinching date. Also after that date, you get to finally relax as your team now can rest it’s players and you even get a chance to see some of the younger talent ready to come up. I remember in 1986, Dave Magadan playing for a flu-ridden Keith Hernandez and getting 3 hits and 2 RBI.
Part of the disappointments of the 2007-08 seasons was that once the magic number count down came into play (I start counting down at 10), that’s when the Mets seem to self-destruct. On September 14, 2007 the Mets magic number was at 11. It then took them 6 days to cut the number to 9 while the Phillies trimmed 5 games off the Mets lead. To be honest, I still have nightmares about the Mets final 17 games of that season in which they won only 5. One day I’ll write it out just to finally slay the demons that torment me.
Help Fund for Cancer Survivors
I might as well use this blog to educate people that cancer survivors out there need your help. Many of us (myself included) have suffered awful side effects from the chemotherapy and radiation. As a result of my treatment, I now suffer from Hemochromotosis, Crohn’s Disease and Lymphedema. I had to retire in April 2008 after being diagnosed with Hemochromotosis. Disability payments are not NEARLY enough to live on and many of us in situations like mine need help. PLEASE help me by donating to a fund to start a foundation for cancer survivors. If you want more information or are looking for something like this and want to become involved, check out our facebook page or email me.
Mets fail to sweep Tigers, win 1st game vs Twins
Trailing 6-1 in the 6th inning on Thursday, the Mets rallied for 4 runs and had the tying run on third with 1 out and David Wright at the plate. Wright struck out on a few pitches that would have walked in the tying run and the Mets never got that close again. Even though Wright has picked up the pace considerably of late, he still has way too many of these instances where he fails to come through especially late in the game.
David Wright since 2008 – Runner on 3rd less than 2 outs tied or behind by 2 runs or less in the 7th inning or later
H-AB 2-10
RBI 2
K 6
Despite being on a recent hot streak, Wright still tends to choke in big spots.
Last night, Mike Pelfrey again was without his best stuff but fought enough to get the win. He went 6 innings and allowed 2 runs in earning his 10th win of the season. Jose Reyes had 2 hits and scored a run, while David Wright, Jason Bay and Ike Davis each had hits that scored runs. K-Rod came on to earn his 17th save despite once again allowing 2 base runners in an outing. Pelfrey is now 6-0 at home this season and 8-0 in night starts.
Mike Pelfrey fought threw 6 innings to earn his 10th victory of the season for the Mets.
Most consecutive wins at home to start season – Mets SP last 20 seasons
2010 Mike Pelfrey 6
2005 Jae Weong Seo 5
2000 Al Leiter 5
2004 Al Leiter 4
SOURCE: ESPN
Mike Pelfrey – 2010 night vs day starts
Day Starts 5 starts W-L: 2-2 ERA: 5.28 Opp. BA: .303 WHIP: 1.57
Night Starts 10 starts W-L: 8-0 ERA: 1.57 Opp. BA: .216 WHIP: 1.07
Last night the Mets won their 12th interleague game which ties the most wins against the AL since interleague play began in 1997. In 1999 the Mets also won 12 games vs the American League. The Mets have the next 2 days to break the record.
Thanks to great instinctive plays, like this Ruben Tejada slide to avoid Joe Mauer's tag, the Mets are one win away from setting a team record for wins vs AL opponents in a single season.
Most Wins vs AL teams – Single season
2010 12>>
1999 12
2008 9
2000 9
1998 9
>>have 2 more games remaining vs AL opponents
Tonight Johan Santana will face his former team. Santana will become the 9th pitcher since 2003 to start a game against a team that they previously won a Cy Young Award with. Last night Roy Halladay defeated the Blue Jays in the same situation. Carl Pavano will go for the Twins. Pavano will be making his 20th career start vs the Mets (his first since 2005 with Florida).
Carl Pavano – Career vs Mets
Games 20 (19 starts)
W-L 7-7>>
ERA 3.60
Opp. BA .259
>>6-1 since 2002 vs Mets
Carl Pavano will be making his 20th career start vs the Mets tonight.
Top 10 Mets regular season moments (to see moments 10-3 see previous editions of hopeisthebestofthings)
2. Piazza lights up New York after 9/11 – the date was September 21, 2001 and America and especially New York was in mourning after the terrorist attacks of September 11th. The Mets were in the midst of an amazing run that had seen them knock 7-and-a-half games off the Braves lead in the last month. Trailing the Braves by 5-and-a-half games entering this game, the Mets had a chance to cut the lead to 2-and-a-half with a sweep with 12 more games remaining. A pitchers duel between Bruce Chen and Jason Marquis saw the Braves break a 1-1 tie with a 2-out RBI double by Brian Jordan off Armando Benitez. Down to their last 5 outs, Edgardo Alfonzo worked a walk off of Braves reliever Steve Karsay. Mike Piazza then stepped to the plate. Piazza crushed Karsay’s 0-1 pitch deep over the CF wall to give the Mets a 3-2 lead and send Shea Stadium into a frenzy. Combined with all the emotion of 9/11 their wasn’t a dry eye in the stadium. Benitez then went out and after giving up a lead off single, got B.J. Surhoff to strikeout and Keith Lockhart to ground into a double play to give the Mets the win.
Piazza HR sent Shea Stadium into chaos, while giving the Mets a key win down the stretch.
With everything else that was going on in the world, Piazza helped baseball fans forget about things for a moment with his dramatic HR.
Help Fund for Cancer Survivors
I might as well use this blog to educate people that cancer survivors out there need your help. Many of us (myself included) have suffered awful side effects from the chemotherapy and radiation. As a result of my treatment, I now suffer from Hemochromotosis, Crohn’s Disease and Lymphedema. I had to retire in April 2008 after being diagnosed with Hemochromotosis. Disability payments are not NEARLY enough to live on and many of us in situations like mine need help. PLEASE help me by donating to a fund to start a foundation for cancer survivors. If you want more information or are looking for something like this and want to become involved, check out our facebook page or email me.
Mets win 2nd straight vs Tigers
After the Mets loss on Sunday, I said that this home stand coming up was one that would make or break this season. So far the Mets have responded. Last night they got another strong performance from R.A. Dickey, throwing 8 shutout innings and Jose Reyes, who had 3 hits, scored 3 runs and homered. The 5-0 win was the Mets 10th shutout of the season which leads the majors.
Most shutouts – MLB 2010
Mets 10
Rockies 9
Padres 9
Athletics 7
R.A. Dickey allowed 4 hits in 8 shutout innings last night to lead the Mets to their major league leading 10th shutout.
Reyes is back to form
After looking overwhelmed and overmatched for most of the 2010 season, Jose Reyes has finally returned to his 2006-07 form. The low point of the season for Reyes came on May 19th when suffering through a 4-32 slump his average had dipped to .210. Since then Reyes has raised his average to a now season-high .283.
Jose Reyes – 2010 Season
Through May 19 BA .210 OBP .248 Slug .280 Runs 20 HR 0 RBI 11
Since May 19>> BA .372 OBP .413 Slug .620 Runs 28 HR 6 RBI 19
>> .435 BA, 5 HR, 9 RBI, 18 runs in last 14 games
When Jose Reyes is hot, there is no more exciting player in baseball to watch.
Last night Reyes had his 2nd straight game with 3 hits and scoring 3 runs. Only 4 other players in Mets history have accomplished that feat.
3+ Runs, 3+ hits in consecutive games – Mets History
Jose Reyes June 22-23, 2010
Edgardo Alfonzo September 10-11, 1997
Kelly Stinnett June 6-7, 1994
Gary Carter September 3-4, 1985
Ron Hunt May 14-15, 1966
SOURCE: Elias/ESPN
Gary Carter is one of 5 Mets to collect 3+ hits and score 3+ runs in consecutive games.
Back to Dickey
R. A. Dickey won his 6th straight start last night, becoming the first Mets since Mike Pelfrey in 2008 to win six straight starts. Including his no-decision in his first start with the Mets, Dickey has gone at least 6 innings in all of his starts. Since starting his six game win streak, no pitcher in the majors has more wins the Dickey.
Most Wins – Starters Since May 25th
R. A. Dickey 6
Freddy Garcia 5
Phil Hughes 5
Mets love interleague play
With their win last night, the Mets improved to 11-3 in interleague play and 8-0 against teams other than the Yankees. The Mets 11 wins this season are the 2nd most in a single season against the American League since interleague play started in 1997. In 1999 the Mets won 12 games vs the AL, but that year the Mets played 18 games vs the AL, not the 15 that they have played every year since 2001.
Most Wins vs AL teams – Single season
1999 12
2010 11>>
2008 9
2000 9
1998 9
>>have 4 more games remaining
The Mets 11 wins this season vs AL opponents is their 2nd most since interleague play began in 1997.
Takahashi takes on Mr. Should-Be-Perfect game tonight
Hisanori Takahashi will get a chance to extend the Mets winning streak to 3 games tonight and sweep the Tigers when he faces off against Armando Galarraga. Since throwing his perfect game (that didn’t count), Galarraga has had 3 straight no-decisions while posting a 4.24 ERA. Galarraga is 4-3 with a 4.99 ERA in 11 career starts vs NL teams.
Armando Galarraga covers first base as Jason Donald hits the bag and first base umpire Jim Joyce looks on. Joyce called Donald safe robbing Galarraga of his perfect game.
Since getting knocked around by San Diego and Florida, Takahashi has responded well in his last 2 starts, winning both of them while allowing 1 run on 10 hits in 13 innings. In his 3 starts vs AL opponents this season, Takahashi is 2-0 with a 0.47 ERA.
Hisanori Takahashi vs AL opponents
Starts 3
W-L 2-0
ERA 0.47
Opp. BA .221
K per 9 4.3
Takahashi has been outstanding in his 3 starts vs AL opponents.
Top 10 regular season moments in Mets history (to see moments 10-4 look at previous dates of Hopeisthebestofthings)
3. Ball on Wall Miracle Keys Mets win vs Pirates – the date was September 20, 1973. The Mets entered the game trailing the 1st place Pirates by 1-and-a-half games. Trailing 3-2 in the bottom of the 9th the Mets were down to their final out with the tying run on 2nd and only backup catcher Duffy Dyer to pinch hit for pitcher Harry Parker. Dyer doubled off Ramon Hernandez to tie the game at 3. In the top of the 13th Dave Augustine of the Pirates was at the plate with 2 outs and Richie Zisk on first base. Augustine hit a drive that appeared to be going for a home run. Instead, it hit the point at the very top of the wall, going directly on a fly into Cleon Jones’ hands. Jones whirled and threw to Wayne Garrett, who had been moved to shortstop, who then threw to Ron Hodges at the plate for the out. In the bottom of the inning, Ron Hodges singled in John Milner to give the Mets a 4-3 win and move them within a half-game of first place. The next night the Mets beat the Pirates bad, 10-2, to take over first place where they would remain for the rest of the season.
Mets catcher Ron Hodges not only tagged out Zisk, but got the game-winning hit in the bottom of the inning.
Help Fund for Cancer Survivors
I might as well use this blog to educate people that cancer survivors out there need your help. Many of us (myself included) have suffered awful side effects from the chemotherapy and radiation. As a result of my treatment, I now suffer from Hemochromotosis, Crohn’s Disease and Lymphedema. I had to retire in April 2008 after being diagnosed with Hemochromotosis. Disability payments are not NEARLY enough to live on and many of us in situations like mine need help. PLEASE help me by donating to a fund to start a foundation for cancer survivors. If you want more information or are looking for something like this and want to become involved, check out our facebook page or email me.
About last night
The Mets had perhaps their most impressive win of the season last night with their 14-6 dismantling of the Tigers and Justin Verlander. Verlander entered the game 11-1 in 15 career starts vs NL opponents. From the first batter of the game, the Mets came out very aggressive and took the game right to Verlander. Angel Pagan continued his terrific play with 4 hits and 4 RBI and 3 runs scored.
4 hits, 4 RBI and 3 runs in a single game – Mets since 2001
Angel Pagan June 22, 2010 vs DET
Mike Jacobs August 24, 2005 at ARI
David Wright August 10, 2005 at SD
Mo Vaughn September 13, 2002 at MTL
Angel Pagan continued his recent stellar play with 4 hits, 4 RBI and 3 runs scored.
Rain delay affects Niese
Thanks to an hour rain delay and an 8-run inning by the Mets, Jonathon Niese quest for his 4th straight win fell short last night despite being handed a 10-0 lead when he took the mound in the 4th inning. Niese allowed 5 runs and departed with the bases loaded and 2 outs in the top of the 5th, falling 1 out short of picking up the win.
Perhaps the biggest hit in last night’s game came via Jose Reyes in the third inning. With the Mets up 5-0 and Niese having just failed to move the runners along via a bunt, Reyes singled with 2 outs to drive in Jeff Francoeur and keep the inning going. RBI hits by Angel Pagan and Ike Davis followed as a 5-0 lead quickly became a 10-0 lead thanks to Reyes. Driving in runs with 2 outs and RISP has been a real issue for Reyes over the last 3 seasons.
Reyes hit with 2 outs and RISP in the third inning last night was just the 5th hit in 26 AB with 2 outs and RISP this season. When the Mets won the NL East in 2006, Reyes was outstanding in that spot. However since then he has really struggled.
Jose Reyes, 2 outs RISP
May 24, 2006 to end of season H-AB 23-43 BA .535 RBI 36
2007 to current H-AB 42-187 BA .224 RBI 55>>
>> .159 BA (10-63) since July 30, 2008
Jose Reyes recent solid play has kick-started the Mets 2010 season, however, he still has struggled with 2 outs and RISP.
Beltran to start minor league rehab on Thursday
In a press conference yesterday, GM Omar Minaya laid out a time table for the return of Carlos Beltran to the Mets. He will begin a minor league rehab regimen on Thursday in St. Lucie. From there the Mets have 20 days to move him from the DL to the 25-man roster.
The main talk yesterday was who sits once Beltran comes back? If I was Jerry Manuel I would end that speculation right now. Manuel should announce that unless Jason Bay starts to produce like he has throughout his major league career, that his playing time will be the most effective. Bay went 1-2 with 2 RBI last night to improve his massive RBI total to 29. If this doesn’t strike a chord in Bay to get going then nothing will. Whether Manuel means that or not isn’t the issue. The issue is if Bay was faced with a perform or sit situation, perhaps this would finally snap him out of his slump.
Carlos Beltran – Season averages with NYM
BA .281
OBP .368
Slug. .505
HR 25
RBI 93
Runs 94
Tonight the Mets face another hard throwing RH in Jeremy Bonderman. On the season Bonderman is 3-4 with a 4.06 ERA in 13 games (12 starts). He is 1-1 in his career vs the Mets, losing to them at Shea in 2004 and defeating them at Comerica Park in 2007. Bonderman’s loss against the Mets is his only one in 7 career starts vs NL East teams as he is 5-1 vs them. Overall, Bonderman is 8-7 in 23 starts vs NL opponents.
Jeremy Bonderman – Career vs NL opponents
Starts 23
W-L 8-7>>
ERA 5.05
Opp. BA .271
>>5-1, 4.62 ERA in 7 career starts vs NL East teams
Jeremy Bonderman is 8-7 in 23 career starts vs NL opponents.
Top 10 regular season moments in Mets history (to see moments 10-6 look at previous dates of Hopeisthebestofthings)
5. Beltran beats STL, tops off comeback - the date was August 22, 2006 and the Mets were taking on Albert Pujols and the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2nd game of a 3-game series at Shea Stadium. In the previous 2 seasons the Cardinals had proven they were the team to beat in the NL, and they were on track to win the NL Central again. This night the Mets wanted to prove that they were now the best club in the NL. Pujols got the Cards quickly ahead with a 3-run HR in the 4th and a grand slam in the 5th both off Mets starter John Maine. Trailing 7-1 entering the bottom of the 5th the Mets started to chip away. Carlos Delgado connected on his 400th career HR off Jeff Weaver, a grand slam, to cut the lead to 7-5. Jose Reyes ground out in the 6th cut the lead to one. Meanwhile the Mets bullpen held the Cardinals scoreless for the last 4 innings. Trailing 7-6 entering the bottom of the 9th the Cardinals brought in their closer Jason Isringhausen. Izzy got Reyes to ground out to lead off the 9th, but Paul LoDuca followed with a single. Izzy’s next pitch was slammed by Beltran deep over the RF fence to give the Mets an exciting 8-7 win. The Mets went on to sweep the series and prove that there was now a new leader in the NL.
Beltran's HR was the final blow in the Mets rallying from 6 runs down to defeat the Cardinals.
Help Fund for Cancer Survivors
I might as well use this blog to educate people that cancer survivors out there need your help. Many of us (myself included) have suffered awful side effects from the chemotherapy and radiation. As a result of my treatment, I now suffer from Hemochromotosis, Crohn’s Disease and Lymphedema. I had to retire in April 2008 after being diagnosed with Hemochromotosis. Disability payments are not NEARLY enough to live on and many of us in situations like mine need help. PLEASE help me by donating to a fund to start a foundation for cancer survivors. If you want more information or are looking for something like this and want to become involved, check out our facebook page or email me.
Why the Rants?
In my prior blog I was perhaps a bit to negative. I didn’t mean to belittle the Mets accomplishments over the last month. They have played much better and with a different attitude that they showed much of the last 3 years. However, when you root for a team like I have interest in the Mets, you want to see them take the NEXT step. Beating the Yankees on Friday night was a great step. Then watching them lose the next 2 days without any fight or passion or attitude just made me realize that this team still has a long way to go before they are ready to compete with the elite teams in this league.
I addressed some of the areas of concern (lack of SP depth, bullpen, bench, Jason Bay), so it would be nice to see Omar Minaya do something to help this team and fire up the fan base. Cliff Lee would be nice, but not for a rental. If the Mets get him they need to know he would re-sign with them. We can’t be giving away our best prospects for a guy who will bolt come November. We aren’t the Brewers.
Every now and then I will get after this team, but only because I want them to achieve greatness. I’m sick of seeing them settle for 2nd rate. I’m sick of them bowing to the Yankees. I’m sick of them losing out of the best players because they don’t have the same aggressiveness of the Yankees or Red Sox. When I say “Hope is the best of things” I mean it, and with this team it starts with hope. From there we need the 25 players in uniform and the front office to move from “hope” to reality.
Fans can hope and pray, but management and the players are the ones who need to make it a reality
Mets host AL Central opponents
Tonight the Mets come home to Citifield to take on the Tigers. Jonathon Niese gets the start against Justin Verlander. Niese has won his last 3 starts since coming off the DL and gone at least 7 innings in all 3 starts (he is the first Met rookie to win 3 straight starts while throwing at least 7 innings since Jae Seo in 2003).
Jonathon Niese 2010 Averages per start; before and after DL stint
Before W-L: 1-2 ERA: 4.79 IP: 5.1 WHIP: 1.79 Opp. BA: .322
After: W-L: 3-0 ERA: 1.57 IP: 7.2 WHIP: 0.78 Opp. BA: .188
Jerry Manuel has not had to take the ball from Niese since coming off the DL.
Verlander has also won his last 3 starts and gone at least 7 innings in those starts. On the season, Verlander is 8-4 with a 3.54 ERA. In his career, Verlander has been excellent against National League opponents. In his 15 career starts vs NL teams, he is 11-1.
Jason Verlander career vs NL opponents
Starts 15
W-L 11-1
ERA 3.10
Opp. BA .216
K per 9 10.1
>>Threw a no-hitter vs the Brewers on June 12, 2007
Verlander has been excellent vs NL opponents, going 11-1 in his 15 career starts.
The Mets are 10-5 all-time vs AL Central opponents at home. All of those games were played at Shea Stadium. The Mets are 3-0 vs the Tigers at home, having swept them at Shea in 2004. However, that was a Tigers team that was coming off a 119-loss season, not one that is currently 8 games over .500 with one of the best pitchers in the game taking the mound.
The Mets have struggled against RH starters this season. Despite their 26-22 record in those games, the Mets offense has struggled when facing a RH starter.
Mets W-L all-time vs AL Central opponents at home
Detroit 3-0
Cleveland 2-1
Kansas City 2-1
Minnesota 3-3
Top 10 Mets regular season moments (to see moments 10-6 look at previous dates of Hopeisthebestofthings)
5. Matt Franco beats Rivera and the Yankees – the date was July 10, 1999. The Mets were hosting the Yankees in the 2nd of a three-game series at Shea Stadium. In a back and forth game that saw 5 lead changes, the Yankees took a one-run lead into the bottom of the 9th. With 2 outs and the bases loaded, Matt Franco was sent to the plate to hit for Melvin Mora. Mariano quickly got ahead in the count 0-2 and threw what looked to be a game-ending strike three, but home plate umpire Jeff Kellogg called it either low or inside. On the next pitch, Franco lined a single past Chuck Knoblauch into RF. Rickey Henderson scored the tying run and Edgardo Alfonzo raced home with the winning run. Mets won 9-8.
Matt Franco provided Mets fans a moment to remember when he beat Mariano Rivera and the Yankees on July 10, 1999.
Help Fund for Cancer Survivors
I might as well use this blog to educate people that cancer survivors out there need your help. Many of us (myself included) have suffered awful side effects from the chemotherapy and radiation. As a result of my treatment, I now suffer from Hemochromotosis, Crohn’s Disease and Lymphedema. I had to retire in April 2008 after being diagnosed with Hemochromotosis. Disability payments are not NEARLY enough to live on and many of us in situations like mine need help. PLEASE help me by donating to a fund to start a foundation for cancer survivors. If you want more information or are looking for something like this and want to become involved, check out our facebook page or email me.
2010 Mets return back to form
After Friday night’s win, the most negative Mets fan figured that the Mets would get at least 1 of the next 2 games with their 2 aces on the mound. However, in typical Mets form, they failed once again to put their foot on the throat of a better opponent.
Much like the 2007 and 2008 season, the Mets will bring you to a point where it looks impossible for them to fail, and then they pull a performance out of the blue that makes you want to rip all your hair out. What we are left with is yet another embarrassing episode in our long history of bowing to the team from the Bronx in losing 5-3 yesterday and 4-0 today.
Let’s face facts. The Mets are nothing near the Yankees. Even with injuries all over the place and facing our so-called “aces” and with the Yankees getting just 2 hits with RISP this entire series, they still stomped all over the Mets. An offense that obviously only feeds on the bottom feeders of the league was shut down on three straight days. On Friday, Takahashi was up to the task. However, Pelfrey and Santana, yet again, Santana let the Mets down.
After putting together a very impressive 19-5 run, after losing 2 straight the Mets find themselves still 2-and-a-half games back of the Braves. Here are some of the Mets biggest concerns this season.
Jason Bay has been a DISASTER
Slumps happen to the best hitters. Three month long power outages and toothpick hitting OF with RISP only happen to Jeremy Burnitz and Jason Bay. I love it how Yankees fans whine about the struggles of A-Rod or Teixeira and you look up and both of them have over 8 HR and 40 RBI. If you want to know what “struggles” are, then look at the abortion of a season that the Mets starting LF is having.
Jason Bay power numbers through 67 games
2010 4 HR 27 RBI
2009 18 HR 65 RBI
2008 14 HR 36 RBI
2007 11 HR 46 RBI
2006 19 HR 52 RBI
2005 12 HR 33 RBI
2004 14 HR 46 RBI
Compared to last season through the same amount of games, Bay has 14 less HR and 38 less RBI. Any Mets fan would take the DIFFERENCE in the power numbers from last season to this season. It makes you think that why would the Red Sox let go of a player in his prime that drove in 119 runs and hit 36 HR for them last season for Mike Cameron and Jeremy Hermida? Did they know something the Mets didn’t know??? Obviously, because Jason Bay is making the decision VERY easy for Mets management if and when Carlos Beltran comes back. Forget about Francoeur and Pagan going to the bench, Bay should be escorted to his favorite spot and not move until someone needs a day off.
The Rod Barajas obsession is OVER
He was a nice story through the first 2 months of the season, belting HR every few games, and coming up with his share of clutch hits. Somewhere in the last month, however, his career caught up with him. Since Barajas hit his last HR on May 31, he has just 2 XBH with no HR and no RBI while seeing his BA drop over 25 points. He has worked very well with the pitching staff, which I guess is his main reason for being on this team, but the offensive threat he was earlier this season is gone.
Rod Barajas – Since June 1
H-AB 8-44
HR 0
RBI 0
XBH 2
Whaddya Bench?
The next area of concern is the Mets bench. While fans are infatuated with Chris Carter, a career-minor leaguer does not a good bench player make. After hitting his 2nd 3-run HR of the road trip last Sunday, Carter went 3-22 with 0 HR and 0 RBI for the rest of the trip. Overall he is hitting .231.
With his 0-3 today, Fernando Tatis now has gone almost a calendar month without a hit, going 0-14 since his single in the 8th inning on May 23. His BA on the year is a robust .179 with 2 HR and 6 RBI.
Alex Cora and Henry Blanco have been excellent defensive players for the Mets, but no one will ever brag about their offense. Cora by far this season has been the Mets most productive offensive player, driving in 14 runs in just over 100 AB.
Overall their pitching has been very solid. However, the inability of their aces to step up in first the Phillies series and now the Yankees series is a BIG cause for concern. Perhaps the Mets biggest problem over these last 3 seasons has been their lack of killer instinct. In 2007 and 2008 they took leads of at least 2 games into the final week of the season which were played at home. In both cases they failed. They had multiple chances earlier in each season to bury their opponents but failed to do so (lost final 8 games vs Phillies in 2007).
Fast forward to 2010. Early in the season they were riding a 9-game win streak after defeating the Phillies in the first of a 3-game series at Philadelphia. They then lost the next 2 games by a combined score of 21-5 with their 2 aces on the mound. That sent them into a funk where they lost 14 of their next 20 games.
After taking the first game of this series, the Mets had an 8-game winning streak. Again, with their 2 aces on the mound, on the road against a rival they get embarrassed, losing the final 2 games of the series by a combined score of 9-3 and not scoring for the final 15 innings.
I mentioned in a previous blog that the aura of this team had changed. That the loser, quitting mentality and overall victim, woe is me, status of this team had changed. Perhaps I spoke to soon, or perhaps I was blinded by hope. Whatever it was, this team now has the next few weeks to show us what it’s true colors are.
In order to keep the fans feeling good about this team and for their own self-psyche, the Mets need to end the losing streak right here and take at least 4 of 6 in this next home stand. However, if they continue to have problems scoring runs and their pitching reverts back to mid-May, then we will have seen the best of the 2010 Mets and their season will be over.
Top 10 Regular Season moments in Mets history
6. Piazza tops 2-out rally with blast off Mulholland - the date was June 30, 2000 and the Mets were playing their hated rivals the Atlanta Braves at Shea Stadium. Trailing 8-1 in the bottom of the 8th, Robin Ventura grounded out to drive in Derek Bell and move Mike Piazza to third base, however there were now 2 outs. Todd Zeile then singled to drive in Piazza and make the score 8-3. Jay Payton then followed with another single to put runners on 1st and 2nd which prompted Braves manager Bobby Cox to go to his bullpen and bring in Kerry Ligtenberg. Ligtenberg walked Benny Agbayani to load the bases, then walked PH Mark Johnson and Melvin Mora to cut the Braves lead to 8-5. Cox again went to his bullpen, this time bringing in lefty Terry Mulholland. Mulholland then walked Bell to cut the lead to 8-6 and make it 4 straight bases on balls for Braves pitchers. So…situation is bases STILL loaded, STILL 2 outs and the score now 8-6 with Edgardo Alfonzo coming to the plate. Fonzie quickly fell behind in the count 1-2. Fonzie then ripped the next pitch into the 3b-SS hole and into left field. Joe McEwing (who had PR for Mark Johnson) scored and Mora raced home with the tying run. Shea Stadium was now in a frenzy. Up stepped Mike Piazza with the chance to give the Mets the lead. Piazza hammered Mulholland’s first pitch like a bullet down the left field line. Never getting any higher than 10-12 feet off the ground, the ball caromed off the padding in between the auxilary LF scoreboard and the fence to give the Mets a 10-8 lead. Shea Stadium had now reached a noise level where the stadium was shaking. Piazza was greeted by high-fives and a curtain call. Ventura grounded out to second to finally end the inning, but the damage was more than done. Armando Benitez then closed out the Braves in the top of the 9th to give the Mets an improbable 10-8 victory.
Before I begin
Writing for 8 people to read a blog is very disheartening, especially since two days earlier I had over 100 people visit (thanks to Mark Simon’s article on ESPN.com). What that tells me is the people who did visit, didn’t think to much of this and didn’t come back. To go from 104, 48 to 8 is absolutely humiliating and makes me feel like I’m wasting my time. Hopefully people will come back, but for those few of you who do read this, please let me know what you like or don’t like about this blog. To lose 96 viewers in 2 days is almost impossible, even for a moron like me. For those who do read, I appreciate you very much.
Mets win streak now at eight
Now that I got my whining and crying out of the way, the Mets won their 8th straight last night with a glorious 4-0 win over the Yankees. Hisanori Takahashi was outstanding throwing 6 scoreless innings and Pedro Feliciano followed with 2 scoreless innings of his own. Angel Pagan had a huge 2-run single in the 8th to give the Mets some breathing room. K-Rod survived a scare in the 9th to retire Derek Jeter and Nick Swisher with the bases loaded.
Ike Davis' 2-out single and David Wright's terrific slide, gave the Mets an early 1-0 lead.
With his second straight outing of 6 innings and no runs allowed, Hisanori Takahashi joined 3 other pitchers since 1920 to allow zero runs to the Yankees in their first 2 starts vs them while throwing at least 6 innings in each start.
1st 2 Career Starts vs NYY, 6+ IP, 0 R – Since 1920
Hisanori Takahashi NYM 2010
Sidney Ponson BAL 1998
Scott Sanderson OAK 1990
Ray Culp BOS 1968
Takahashi joined rare company with his 2nd outing of 6 innings of shutout baseball vs the Yankees.
The Mets win last night was only the second shutout by a visiting team at the new Yankee Stadium. The first one was also by a National League team, exactly one year earlier: Craig Stammen and four Washington relievers blanked the Yankees, 3-0, on June 18, 2009. (SOURCE: ELIAS SPORTS BUREAU/ESPN)
The Mets record now stands at 39-28 which is tied for the 2nd best record in the NL with the Padres. Considering where this team was just a month ago, this is remarkable. After a 2-1 loss to the Yankees on May 21st the Mets were 3 games under .500 at 20-23 and 7 games out of first place. Since then they are 19-5 and have moved to within a half-game of first place. If the Braves weren’t playing as well as they have been, the Mets would easily be in first right now.
Mets since May 22th
W-L 19-5 (best in majors)
BA .287
Runs PG 5.1
Starters W-L 17-2
ERA 3.32
WHIP 1.30
Sv-Sv Op. 11-12
The Mets have now won 8 straight games overall and 7 straight games on the road. This is the 4th time the Mets have had as many as two win streaks of 8 games or longer in a single season. The Mets 7 game road win streak is their longest since winning 9 straight in 2006.
Mets seasons with at least two separate win streaks of 8 or more games
1969 3 streaks (11, 10 and 9 game streaks)
2010 2 streaks (two 8 game streaks – one current)
1986 2 streaks (11 games and 8 games)
1985 2 streaks (both 9 games)
Longest road win streaks, team history
2006 9 games June 7-23
2001 8 games August 18-September 8
1988 8 games May 16-June 6
2010 7 games June 11-Current>>
>>Mets have won 7 straight road games 5 other times in their history
Jose Reyes recent play is a big reason the Mets have their longest road win streak since 2006.
Mets win streak vs Yankees
The Mets have now won 3 straight games vs the Yankees. Since interleague play began in 1997, the Mets have never won 4 straight games vs them. This is their 4th time winning 3 straight games vs them. The other times occurred in 1999, 2004 and 2008.
Big Pelf looks to win 10th game
This afternoon Mike Pelfrey will look to extend the Mets win streak to 9 games and his record to 10-1. Pelfrey will look to become the first Mets pitcher since Al Leiter in 2000 to start a season 10-1. Only Terry Leach started a season better than both Pelfrey and Leiter when he started 10-0 in 1987. Leiter and Leach are the only pitchers to start a season 10-1 or better for the Mets.
Al Leiter is one of two Mets pitchers to start the season 10-1 or better.
Top 10 New York Mets regular season moments – to see moments 8-10 visit Hopeisthebestofthings from June 16-18.
7. Mlicki shutouts the Yankees – In their first ever regular season meeting, the Mets traveled to the Bronx on June 16, 1997. Dave Mlicki wasn’t much of a Mets pitcher. Despite possessing tremendous stuff, Mlicki finished his career 24-30 with a 4.15 ERA with the Mets. However, this one night in the Bronx he was great. Mlicki (who entered the game with a 2-5 record) allowed 9 hits and 2 BB, but pitched out of trouble all night. When the final out was recorded via a Derek Jeter strikeout (Mlicki had 8 that night), Mets fans everywhere got to celebrate a win over the Yankees…and not JUST a win, but a shutout! No matter where he is or what he does with the rest of his life (Mlicki retired after the 2002 season with a career record of 66-80) he will always be remembered for that single moment in Mets history.
Todd Hundley congratulates Dave Mlicki after his 9-hit shutout of the Yankees.
Help Fund for Cancer Survivors
I might as well use this blog to educate people that cancer survivors out there need your help. Many of us (myself included) have suffered awful side effects from the chemotherapy and radiation. As a result of my treatment, I now suffer from Hemochromotosis, Crohn’s Disease and Lymphedema. I had to retire in April 2008 after being diagnosed with Hemochromotosis. Disability payments are not NEARLY enough to live on and many of us in situations like mine need help. PLEASE help me by donating to a fund to start a foundation for cancer survivors. If you want more information or are looking for something like this and want to become involved, check out our facebook page or email me.
Lakers win NBA title
Before I start on the Mets, I want to send out my congratulations to the Lakers for winning their 16th NBA title. They overcame a 13-point 2nd half deficit to rally for the win, outscoring the Celtics 47-30 in the final 20:23. Kobe Bryant was named MVP of the NBA Finals. Bryant now joins Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Michael Jordan as the only players in NBA history to win multiple Finals MVP awards, regular season MVP awards, and NBA titles.
Most Championships NBA History
Celtics 17 last won in 2008
Lakers 16 2010
Bulls 6 last won in 1998
Spurs 4 last won in 2007
Kobe helped the Lakers franchise finally defeat the Celtics in a Game 7. The Lakers now have won 16 NBA titles, one less than Boston.
Dickey improves to 5-0, sets new Mets record
R.A. Dickey worked 6 innings last night allowing 7 hits and 2 ER in the Mets 6-4 win last night. Dickey became the first Mets starter in team history to start a career with the Mets 5-0. Pedro Feliciano and Elmer Dessens worked the 7th and 8th innings, while K-Rod came on the earn his 15th save of the season by striking out the side in the 9th.
R.A. Dickey improved to 5-0 on the season, becoming the first starter in Mets history to win his first 5 decisions.
Elmer Dessens pitched a perfect 8th inning for the Mets, and has literally come from nowhere to become the Mets dependable 8th inning man. In his last 8 appearances, Dessens has thrown 9 innings, allowing zero runs and just 3 hits, walking 2 and striking out 4.
Elmer Dessens last 9 appearances
W-L 1-0
ERA 0.00
IP 9
Opp. BA .120
K-BB 4-2
Holds 4
Elmer Dessens has become a reliable reliever for Jerry Manuel and the Mets this season.
Wright sets new career-high for consecutive games with RBI
David Wright went 1-5 last night with an RBI. He has now driven in a run in each of his last 7 games. That is the longest RBI streak for a Mets player since both Carlos Beltran had a streak of 8 straight games in 2006. Wright is hitting .413 with 20 RBI since May 30th.
Longest Mets RBI streaks, Since 2001
Edgardo Alfonzo July 2002 9 games
Carlos Beltran June 2006 8 games
Carlos Delgado June 2006 8 games
David Wright June 2010 7 games
Jeromy Burnitz July 2003 7 games
>>Mike Piazza holds the Mets record with 15 consecutive games with an RBI
David Wright's current RBI streak is the longest one for the Mets since Carlos Beltran and Delgado each put together 8-game streaks in June of 2006.
Mets explosive offense in last 4 games
The Mets offense has been outstanding the last 4 games of this road trip, as they have scored 32 total runs over that span. The Mets have posted a .365 BA while collecting 58 hits and hit 5 HR. The Mets have at least 12 hits in each of their last 4 games. That is one game shy of the all-time Mets record for consecutive games with at least 12 hits.
Most consecutive games with 12+ hits – team history
June 11-15, 1990 5 games
April 17-21, 1976 5 games
June 13-17, 2010 4 games>>
>>7 other times Mets have collected at least 12 hits in 4 straight games. The most recent streak before this current one was from May 13-16, 2009.
Mets offensive totals, last 4 games
BA .365
Hits 58
Runs 32
HR 5
RBI 31
Slug Pct. .541
OBP .380
The Mets offense, led by David Wright and Jose Reyes, have put up great numbers recently.
Mets get ready to take on Yankees in Subway Series 2010 Part II
Tonight the Mets travel to the Bronx to take on their fellow NYC occupant. The Mets took 2 of 3 from the Yankees at Citifield in May and both teams are playing extremely well right now. The Yankees had won 4 straight overall and 9 straight at home before losing the last 2 nights vs the Phillies. The Mets are on a 7-game winning streak, having won 6 of them on the road. The Yankees, like the Mets, have enjoyed much success at home this season.
Best home winning percentage – 2010 season
Braves .750 21-7
Yankees .719 23-9
Mets .706 24-10
Tigers .697 23-10
Rangers .676 23-11
The Yankees have played excellent baseball at home this season losing just 9 of 32 games there.
The Mets will look to do something that they haven’t done much, and that’s win a season series from the Yankees. Going back to their first meeting in 1997, the Mets have only taken the season series from the Yankees twice, in 2008 and 2004.
Mets season series record vs Yankees
Series wins 2
Series losses 6
Series ties 5
>>Mets are 14-22 all-time at Yankee Stadium (new and old). They have only won 2 series at the Yankees (swept them in 2008 and won 2 of 3 in 2005).
Mets take on familiar foe in Vazquez
Tonight the Yankees will throw Javier Vazquez who won the Yankees only game at Citifield earlier this season when he went 6 innings and allowed just one run. In his career Vazquez is 10-8 vs the Mets with a 3.24 ERA.
Javier Vazquez career vs NYM
Starts 24
W-L 10-8
ERA 3.24
Opp. BA .234
K/BB 145/35
Vazquez will also be looking to expand upon a very impressive streak. He has struck out at least one batter in 333 consecutive games.
Most Consecutive Games With Strikeout – Expansion Era (Since 1961)
Nolan Ryan 382
Randy Johnson 351
Dwight Gooden 349
Javier Vazquez 333<<
Curt Schilling 331
<<Active streak
New York Mets top 10 moments in regular season history
8. Hojo takes Worrell Deep; leads to sweep of STL - the date was April 24, 1986 and the Mets were in St. Louis for the first of a 4-game series. The prior season the Mets had lost the NL East to the Cardinals, and in their first meeting of 1986, the Cards had won in extra-innings in the only game of a series at Shea thanks to rainouts. The Cardinals took a 4-2 lead into the 9th inning and put their closer Todd Worrell on the mound. With 1 out and George Foster on third, Howard Johnson crushed a Worrell fastball over the right field wall to tie the game. The Mets wound up winning the game in the 10th inning on a Foster RBI single. From there on the Mets swept the remaining 3 games of the series and set the tone for the 1986 season.
For his career Howard Johnson was 6-13 with 4 HR vs Todd Worrell.
Help Fund for Cancer Survivors
I might as well use this blog to educate people that cancer survivors out there need your help. Many of us (myself included) have suffered awful side effects from the chemotherapy and radiation. As a result of my treatment, I now suffer from Hemochromotosis, Crohn’s Disease and Lymphedema. I had to retire in April 2008 after being diagnosed with Hemochromotosis. Disability payments are not NEARLY enough to live on an many of us in situations like mine need help. PLEASE help me by donating to a fund to start a foundation for cancer survivors. If you want more information or are looking want to become involved, check out our facebook page or email me.
I AM ISSUING A REQUEST TO ALL: PLEASE SHARE WITH ME YOUR TOP 10 REGULAR SEASON AND POSTSEASON MOMENTS IN METS HISTORY. I WILL POST THE RESULTS OF ALL THE ENTRIES AND PUT TOGETHER THE FINAL LIST AS A RESULT OF ALL METS FANS. PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO DO SO. EMAIL ME YOUR LISTS AT CKMAGIC3205@YAHOO.COM. FOR MY 9th OF THE TOP 10 MOMENTS IN METS HISTORY SEE THE 2nd TO LAST ARTICLE ON THIS PAGE – LET’S GO METS!!!!
Mets stay on roll with 6th straight win
Behind consistent pitching by Jonathon Niese and a potent offense that has seemed to find its way, the Mets defeated the Indians 8-4 last night. Niese has now won 3 straight starts since coming off the DL and has 4 wins on the season overall. Niese has now pitched at least 7 innings in all of his starts since coming off the DL and in all 4 of his wins this season. Niese is the first Mets rookie to win three consecutive starts while pitching at least seven innings in each game since Jae Seo in 2003 (May 31–June 11).
Jonathon Niese 2010 Averages per start; before and after DL stint
Before W-L: 1-2 ERA: 4.79 IP: 5.1 WHIP: 1.79 Opp. BA: .322
After: W-L: 3-0 ERA: 1.57 IP: 7.2 WHIP: 0.78 Opp. BA: .188
Jonathon Niese has been a revelation since coming off the DL as his numbers have improved drastically.
Angel Pagan went 3-5 with 3 RBI last night. Pagan is now batting .370 with RISP which is first on the Mets and one of the highest in the NL. Pagan now has 29 RBI on the season which is 3 shy of a career-high 32 that he drove in last season. Pagan has now hit in 5 straight games and scored a run in his last 3 games.
Highest BA with RISP; 2010 NL leaders
Adam LaRoche ARI .373
Angel Pagan NYM .370
Jorge Cantu FLA .370
Albert Pujols STL .362
Ian Desmond WSH .358
>>Minimum 54 AB
Pagan has given Mets fans a dependable substitute for Carlos Beltran this season.
Mets continue streak of 5 runs in an inning
The Mets scored 5 runs in the third inning last night, marking the third straight game that they have put together a 5-run inning. This was the 7th time that they had accomplished this in team history, and the first time since August 2004.
Most consecutive games; 5 or more runs in an inning – team history
June 14-17, 2010 3
August 3-5, 2004 3
August 2-5, 2003 3
April 22-23, 2000 3
May 24-27, 1998 3
June 12-13, 1990 3
September 7-9, 1988 3
Wright continues RBI streak
David Wright smoked a 2-run double in the third inning to extend his consecutive games with an RBI to six games. This is the 5th time Wright has driven in a run in 6 straight games, and the first time since 2007. Wright has never driven in a run in 7 straight games in his career.
David Wright – Most consecutive games with RBI
June 10-16, 2010 6 (13 total RBI)
July 18-24, 2007 6 (10 total RBI)
August 28-September 2, 2006 6 (15 total RBI)
June 9-15, 2006 6 (10 total RBI)
April 3-11, 2006 6 (10 total RBI)
David Wright has tied a career-high with RBI in 6 consecutive games.
No MINOR thing
Last night, the three Mets affiliates in action won their games by a combined score of 29-2. Binghamton won 11-2, St. Lucie won 6-0 and Savannah won 12-0. Perhaps most impressive of these wins was Savannah pitcher Mark Cohoon. The 22-year old LHP out of Burleson, TX is now 7-1 on the season with a 1.30 ERA.
Mark Cohoon last 3 starts
W-L 3-0
ERA 0.00
IP 27
Opp. BA .118
K/BB 22/4
Mark Cohoon threw his third straight SHO last night for the Mets Single-A affiliate Savannah Sand Gnats.
R.A. Dickey takes on Cleveland tonight
R.A. Dickey will take the mound for the Mets tonight hoping to improve to 5-0 on the season. So far Dickey has been a revelation for the Mets this season, posting a 2.78 ERA and able to consistently pitch around trouble. Dickey is one of 4 Mets starters in team history to go 4-0 in their first 5 starts with the Mets. Dickey will hope to join Terry Leach as the only Mets starter to go 5-0 in his first 6 starts with the team. The Mets will be looking for their first 6 game road win streak since August 2008.
R. A. Dickey – 2010 Season
Starts 5
W-L 4-0
ERA 2.78
K/BB 24/10
IP per Start 6.2
Mets starters to go 4-0 in first 5 starts – team history
R. A. Dickey 2010 2.78 ERA
Terry Leach 1981-85 0.76 ERA>>
Harry Parker 1973 2.41 ERA
Ray Sadecki 1970 3.11 ERA
>>Terry Leach started his career 6-0 in first 7 starts.
Dickey is 1-0 in 8 career appearances (2 starts) against the Indians.
Top 10 Mets regular-season moments
9. Strawberry hits the clock at midnight – the date was October 1, 1985 and most of NY was in the dark because of Hurricane Gloria. My family had lost power for a week and I was forced to listen to the game on my transistor radio. With six games remaining the Mets trailed the 1st place Cardinals by 3 games. This was game 1 of a three game series the Mets needed to sweep. Ron Darling matched John Tudor pitch for pitch for 9 innings, allowing just 4 hits and no runs in perhaps his best performance as a Met. Tudor went one better, throwing 10 scoreless innings. Jesse Orosco relieved Darling in the 10th and struck out Jack Clark with the winning run on 2nd to end the inning. Ken Dayley then took over for Tudor and promptly struck out Hernandez and Carter to start the 11th. Upped stepped Darryl Strawberry who proceeded to crush a Dayley fastball about 500 ft to right center field that wound up hitting a clock. Orosco then worked around a Mookie Wilson error in the bottom of the inning to nail the win down for the Mets. The next night Gooden won 4-2, but the Cardinals then took game 3 of the series to end the Mets chances of a division title in 1985.
Help Fund for Cancer Survivors
I might as well use this blog to educate people that cancer survivors out there need your help. Many of us (myself included) have suffered awful side effects from the chemotherapy and radiation. As a result of my treatment, I now suffer from Hemochromotosis, Crohn’s Disease and Lymphedema. I had to retire in April 2008 after being diagnosed with Hemochromotosis. Disability payments are not NEARLY enough to live on an many of us in situations like mine need help. PLEASE help me by donating to a fund to start a foundation for cancer survivors. If you want more information or are looking want to become involved, check out our facebook page or email me.
Mets win 4th straight on road
The Mets set a new team high for a single-season with their 4th straight road win vs an American League opponent. After struggling through the first 4 innings, Johan Santana was reprieved of a 4-1 deficit thanks to a 5-run 5th inning for the Mets. After being given the lead, Santana retired 9 of his final 10 batters, handing a 7-4 lead to the bullpen. K-Rod survived a 2-run HR by Shelly Duncan in the 9th, but held on to record his 14th save in 17 chances.
Jose Reyes continued his hot play, going 1-4 and scoring 2 runs, including scoring from 2nd base in the 5th inning on a David Wright ground out. Reyes has been hot again over the last 7 games hitting .448 with 6 runs scored.
The Mets rallied from down 4-1 in this game marking the 4th time (all since May 11th) that the Mets have rallied from at least 3 runs down to win a game this season.
Mets largest deficits overcome to win game – 2010 season
June 6 vs FLA Down 5-0 heading into bottom 6th Won 7-6
May 11 vs WSH Down 6-1 heading into bottom 8th Won 8-6
June 15 at CLE Down 4-1 after 4 innings Won 7-6
June 4 vs FLA Down 3-0 heading into bottom 3rd Won 4-3
Thanks to Santana's grit and Reyes aggressive base running, the Mets won their 5th straight game.
Longest single-season road win streaks; vs American League opponents
2010 4 (June 11-Current)
2008 3 (May 17-June 16)
2003 3 (June 11-13)
2001 3 (June 10-13)
1999 3 (June 6-July 16)
Wright continues on hot streak
David Wright went 3-5 last night with 3 RBI. Since May 30th (span of 14 games) Wright has been on a roll. Over that span he is hitting .453 with 17 RBI. Perhaps the most impressive thing for Wright is that he is averaging a strikeout every 5 AB over this stretch, compared to striking out every 2.7 AB from the start of season through May 29th. Another striking number during this streak is Wright is hitting .545 with RISP over that span.
David Wright Since May 30th
Games 14
BA .453 (24-53)
HR 4
RBI 17
BA with RISP .545 (6-11)
K per AB 1 every 5
David Wright deserves all the high-fives he can get for the way he has played in the last 2 weeks.
Wright has also now driven in a run in 5 straight games. This marks the 10th time in his career that Wright has done this, and the first time since September 21-25, 2008. He can tie his career-high for most consecutive games with an RBI tonight if he does so for the 6th straight game.
David Wright – Streaks of at least 5 consecutive games w/RBI; by seasons
2010 - 1 (5-game streak)
2009 - 0
2008 - 2 (both 5 game-streaks)
2007 - 3 (two 5-game streaks and a 6-game streak)
2006 - 4 (three 6-game streaks and one 5-game streak)
2005 - 0
2004 - 0
David Wright recorded 3 hits and drove in 3 runs for the 2nd straight game yesterday. This was the 2nd time he has done that, as he also did that in 2009. Only two other players in Mets history have accomplished this feat.
3 hits/3 RBI consecutive games Mets history
2010 David Wright June 14-16
2009 David Wright May 15-16
2008 Carlos Delgado September 7-9
1985 Gary Carter September 3-4
Source: Elias/ESPN
The Mets have now won 16 of their last 21 games and are 10-2 in the month of June. The 10-2 record is the best in the majors for June. Recently, Mets teams have struggled during this month as the Mets have just one season above .500 since 2000.
The Mets have been celebrating wins at a much greater pace recently.
Best W-L in June – MLB
NY Mets 10-2 .833
NY Yankees 10-3 .769
Texas Rangers 10-4 .714
LA Angels 10-5 .667
Tonight, Jonathon Niese goes for his 3rd straight win as he takes on Mitch Talbot of the Indians. Both are making their first appearance against either team. The Mets are now 8 games above .500 for the first time since the end of the 2008 season.
Jon Niese will look to build off his dominating performance of a week ago tonight against the Indians.
In yesterday’s blog, I listed the Top 10 (+2) worst moments in Mets history, at least my perspective of them. Today I will start on the Top 10 greatest moments in Mets history. However, this list will be a little different as I will break it up into regular season and postseason. Each day for the next 20 days I will add another. So…here is number 10 starting with the regular season.
10 Greatest Moment in Mets Regular Season History
10. – Mets pitchers SHO, drive in runs in DH (9/12/69) - Entering their doubleheader vs the Pirates on September 12, 1969, the Mets held a 2.5 game lead over the Chicago Cubs. In game one Mets starter Jerry Koosman threw a 3-hit SHO in the Mets 1-0 win. Koosman also drove in the Mets only run of the game with a 5th inning single to score Bobby Pfeil. In game 2, Don Cardwell threw 8 scoreless innings, allowing just 4 hits, while Tug McGraw came on in the 9th to retire the side as the Mets won again 1-0. Like Koosman in game 1, Cardwell also drove in the Mets only run when he singled in Bud Harrelson in the 2nd inning. The Mets won both games 1-0 with the pitcher driving in the only run in both games. Amazing. The Mets lead grew to 3.5 games and 13 days later they clinched the NL East.
Help Fund for Cancer Survivors
I might as well use this blog to educate people that cancer survivors out there need your help. Many of us (myself included) have suffered awful side effects from the chemotherapy and radiation. As a result of my treatment, I now suffer from Hemochromotosis, Crohn’s Disease and Lymphedema. I had to retire in April 2008 after being diagnosed with Hemochromotosis. Disability payments are not NEARLY enough to live on and many of us in situations like mine need help. PLEASE help me by donating to a fund to start a foundation for cancer survivors. If you want more information or are looking for something like this and want to become involved, check out our facebook page or email me.
June 15- the “old” trading deadline date and the Midnight Massacre.
Perhaps one of the worst moments in Mets history occurred at the “old” trading deadline in 1977. However, first, lets examine the trading deadline history. Prior to 1986 the deadline to make NON-WAIVER trades was June 15. After the 1985 season, MLB decided to extend the date to July 31st, with the reasons being that too many teams aren’t ready to throw in the towel with over 3-and-a-half months left in the season and a month before the All-Star break.
The title of the Daily News that day broke many a Mets fans heart.
Now, back to June 15, 1977. Tom Seaver and M. Donald Grant did not get along. Seaver was unsatisfied with the direction the Mets were going in and blamed Grant. Grant was the Mets Chairman of the board since the Mets inception in 1962. He was very close with Joan Payson, who owned the Mets from the beginning until her death on October 4, 1975. Payson and Grant were members of the New York Giants board of directors and the only ones who voted against their move to San Francisco.
Upon Payson’s death in 1975 her daughter, Lorinda de Roulet, assumed ownership of the team and delegated a great deal of authority to Grant. The mid-70s were a time of great change in baseball with free agency now being throw into the mix. Grant hated free agency and thought it would eventually be the destruction of baseball.
M. Donald Grant will always be hated for his treatment of the Mets "Franchise".
Flashback to the summer of 1977 in New York. You had the Bronx Zoo with Reggie Jackson and Billy Martin almost fighting each other in the dugout, you had the Son of Sam killer on the loose, and you had the bickering between Grant and Daily News columnist Dick Young on one side, and Tom Seaver on the other.
Seaver was very critical of Grant for not improving the Mets or having any plan to. Seaver’s happiest days with the Mets was when Gil Hodges was managing (who was brought to the Mets by Grant). Hodges was a sound baseball man who everyone loved and respected. No one questioned his knowledge of the game or decisions. However, Gil passed away suddenly from a heart-attack on the cusp of the 1972 season. Some say the Mets never really got over that tragedy.
Mets players, especially Seaver (with Koosman and Ryan here), loved and respected Gil Hodges knowledge of the game.
Grant was not considered a sound baseball man. Whitey Herzog, who was the Mets director of player development from the late 60′s until 1972, once told Grant the “he didn’t know beans about baseball”. On June 12, 1976 a new collective bargaining agreement was brokered between the players union and the owners. Seaver, who had signed a three-year deal worth $675K ($225K per year) four months earlier to temporarily become baseball’s highest paid pitcher, was happy that the players finally got some power, although he would not get a chance to reap the rewards right away.
During that offseason which was the first one in which free agents could be signed and go to the highest bidder, 11 pitchers (including the Yankees Don Gullett) signed multi-year contracts of $1 million or more. Seaver’s former teammate and good friend Nolan Ryan, who was not eligible for free agency until 1979, was given a raise to $300K a year by notoriously generous Angels owner Gene Autry.
Seaver, Koosman and Ryan were all young and good friends and helped the Mets win the 1969 World Series. Ryan was traded after the 1971 season, Koosman after the 1978 season.
After the offseason concluded, Seaver was furious with the Mets front office who were not allowed to pursue any free agents. Seaver, frustrated by years of a lack of offense on the Mets, desperately wanted them to sign some players considering the Mets considerate financial advantage over many teams. When this didn’t happen and when Grant didn’t even try for players (most notably Seaver wanted Gary Matthews to play CF – whom the Braves signed for 5-years at $1.2 million), Seaver was very distraught and questioned Grants desire to see this team improve. He also realized he was now very underpaid.
As for his own contract, which had been finally settled after a lot of public acrimony with Grant (the one for $225K per year, which was now chump change to a pitcher of Seaver’s ability), Seaver said: “I was made an example of. I was pictured as the ingrate after nine years with the club. I was to be punished…I still resent the way they did it.” Now that he was grossly underpaid, Grant would not even listen to any of Seaver’s suggestions or willing to work with him. Young also vilified Seaver in the papers comparing him to perhaps the most hated man in New York NL sports history, Walter O’Malley, calling him “greedy”.
Jack Lang, who was the Mets beat writer with the Daily News, liked Seaver and desperately wanted him to stay a Met, didn’t agree with fellow columnist Young. Lang suggested to Seaver that he go above Grant and talk directly to owner de Roulet, which he did. On June 14, Seaver and de Roulet worked out a deal that instead of getting a salary increase, his deal would be extended by three years, at $300K the first year and $400K the next two years. Seaver then called Mets GM Joe McDonald, who was in trade talks with the Reds, and told him not to proceed any further. He was staying a Met.
The next day Seaver was sitting in an Atlanta coffee shop when he heard that Young had attacked him again in the papers. The last line of the battle page segment on Seaver read this “….Nolan Ryan is getting more now than Seaver,” wrote Young, “and that galls Tom because Nancy Seaver and Ruth Ryan are very friendly and Tom Seaver long has treated Nolan Ryan like a little brother.” Seaver was sent into a rage.
After reading Dick Young's article, Seaver wanted out of NY and was traded to Cincinnati.
Bolting from his chair in the coffee shop, Seaver stormed back to his room and rang up Mets public relations director Arthur Richman. “Get me out of here, do you hear me?” he bellowed. “Get me out of here!” He then told Richman to call Mrs. deRoulet’s daughter, Whitney, and inform her that the contract deal was off. “And tell Joe McDonald everything I said last night is forgotten.”
Seaver and Ryan remain good friends to this day.
McDonald again dialed up his Reds counterpart, Dick Wagner, and in short order the two completed negotiations on the deal they’d had in place – Seaver alone would go to Cincinnati and in return the Mets would get four young players: pitcher Pat Zachry, second baseman Doug Flynn and outfielders Steve Henderson and Dan Norman.
To this day, Seaver still looks upon Grant, who died in 1998, with contempt. ”There are two things Grant said to me that I’ll never forget, but illustrate the kind of person he was and the total ‘plantation’ mentality he had,” Seaver says. “During the labor negotiations, he came up to me in the clubhouse once and said: ‘What are you, some sort of Communist?’ Another time, and I’ve never told anyone this, he said to me: ‘Who do you think you are, joining the Greenwich Country Club?’ It was incomprehensible to him if you didn’t understand his feelings about your station in life.”
NOTE: Many thanks to an article written by Bill Madden in the Daily News on June 17, 2007 for most of this info.
Top Ten Worst Moments in Mets History
After going through the painful ordeal of the Midnight Massacre, I now offer to the room the 10 (+2) worst moments in NY Mets history.
Before I get to my top 10, I must include an Armando Benitez two-fer, as exhibits 10a and 10b. For more of Benitez’s career as a Mets see this link. http://a.espncdn.com/mlb/s/2003/0717/1581988.html
10 B. – Benitez 9th inning of September 23, 2001 – In a post 9/11 moment the Mets had come from no where (13.5 GB on August 18) to win 22 out of 27 and move within 3.5 games of Atlanta. Up 4-1 in the 9th inning, the Mets were about to cut that lead to 2.5. However, with 2 outs and a runner on, Benitez allowed a HR to Brian Jordan to cut the lead to 4-3. Still no sweat…2 outs, no one on…However…three straight singles tied the game and finally prompted Bobby Valentine to remove Benitez. In the 11th inning, Jordan struck again, homering off of Jerrod Riggan to give the Braves the win.
10 A – Benitez walk of Paul O’Neill in Game 1 of 2000 WS – With the Mets holding a 4-3 lead and one out in the bottom of the 9th, Mets fans were on the edge of their seat crossing their fingers hoping to take a 1-0 lead in the series. Up to the plate stepped a cripple – Paul O’Neill – who was playing on mere guts and pride. After getting ahead of him 1-2, Benitez just couldn’t put O’Neill away as he fouled off pitch after pitch after pitch before finally working a walk. The Yankees went on to tie the game later that inning and win it in the 12th.
If Todd Zeile's drive would have gone 2 inches higher, and if Timo Perez WASN'T celebrating instead of hustling, perhaps Benitez walk of Paul O'Neill would have been easier to take.
10. Willie Randolph’s HR off Don Aase – Many Mets fans don’t remember this moment, but it’s the first thing I thought off when Randolph took over as manager in 2005. I still hated him for hitting that HR. The Mets led the Dodgers 3-1 with 2 outs and nobody on base in the top of the 9th. After back-to-back singles to offensive stalwarts Lenny Harris and Alfredo Griffin, Willie Randolph then hit Aase’s first pitch over the RIGHT-CENTER FIELD fence…WHO KNEW RANDOLPH HAD THAT POWER!!!. I don’t exactly remember why Davy Johnson let Aase stay in or why he didn’t bring in closer Randy Myers, all I remember is the shock…the Dodgers then added another run off of Jeff Innis, which made the defeat all the more painful as the Mets scored on consecutive hits to lead off the bottom of the 9th. The tying run (Keith Miller running for Mackey Sasser) was on third with one out for Keith Hernandez who popped out to short. Gregg Jefferies then made the final out against Jay Howell. That win would have put the Mets 1.5 GB of the Cubs in the NL East and would have given the Mets their 16th win in 20 games. However, after this game the Mets went on to lose 16 of their next 26 games and fall out of contention.
Very few remember Willie Randolph's career with the Dodgers, but psychotic Mets fans do.
9. The 1988 offseason and 1989 season – After being shocked by the Dodgers in the NLCS, the Mets then made a bunch of stupid decisions that lost them key players. Gone via free-agency was Wally Backman – a gritty gamer who LOVED being a Met. Gone during the season were Lenny Dykstra, Roger McDowell, Rick Aguilera, Terry Leach, Mookie Wilson, Lee Mazzilli, Kevin Tapani and most of the Mets depth.
The trade of Dykstra was one of many bad moves the Mets made during the 1989 season.
8. Not drafting Reggie Jackson – The Mets had the number one draft pick in the 1966 amateur draft and used it on high school catcher Steve Chilcott. Chilcott bounced around the minors posting a .248 career BA. The 2nd pick went to the A’s who selected Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson.
The Mets failed to pick Reggie with the first pick in the 1966 draft.
7. – The hype and downfall of Generation K - For more info on this see Hopeisthebestofthings blog on June 10…final article.
6. – Terry Pendleton’s HR off of Roger McDowell – I remember the moment as clear as day. I was getting ready to celebrate the Mets moving to a half-game of the first place Cardinals. Ron Darling had pitched 5.1 innings of no-hit ball, but his first hit cost him the rest of the season as he tore ligaments in his thumb trying to scoop and throw a Vince Coleman bunt with 1 out in the 6th. Ronnie finished the inning, but was taken out after one batter in the 7th. Roger McDowell was handed the ball with a 4-1 Mets lead to get them the win. After a leadoff walk to Ozzie Smith in the 9th, McDowell then retired Tom Herr and Dan Driessen. With the Shea crowd pumping, McGee singled to center to cut the lead to 4-2. Up came Pendleton who the crushed a HR over the 410 sign in CF to tie the game. The Mets had their chances in the bottom of the inning as Wilson, Teufel and Hernandez each batted with the winning run on 2nd, but couldn’t get him in. Jesse Orosco then came in for the 10th inning and allowed 2 runs giving the Cardinals a 6-4 win. The Mets never got that close to first again.
Terry Pendleton ruined the 1987 season for a certain 13-year old on Long Island, NY.
5. The Trade of Nolan Ryan – Who knew that Ryan would become the greatest strikeout pitcher in the history of baseball and throw 7 no-hitters? He was a Met from 1966-71, but was 11 games under .500 in his 105 games with them. Nonetheless, the no-hit curse followed, as he threw 7 and the Mets still have not thrown one.
Who knows if Nolan Ryan would have ever thrown a no-hitter while pitching for the Mets?
4. The Downfall of Doc and Darryl – Perhaps the two most promising prospects to enter the Mets system since Tom Seaver, were hurt by drugs and bad decisions. This led to the Mets bad feelings with Darryl and his departure via free-agency after 1990, and in the countless chances they gave Doc before he ran out of them for the Mets. I still love these two athletes dearly, and beyond their careers I pray for them and that they are granted strength to walk away and deal with the demons that ruined their baseball careers.
3. Mike Scioscia’s HR - Up 2-1 in the best-of-seven NLCS against the Dodgers, the Mets took a 4-2 lead into the 9th inning of Game 4. After walking John Shelby to lead off the inning (Doc had him 0-2), Gooden then allowed a first pitch HR to Mike Scioscia that tied the game at 4. The Dodgers eventually won the game in 12 innings thanks to a Kirk Gibson HR and Orel Hershiser getting Kevin McReynolds to pop out to CF with the bases loaded to end the game. The Dodgers won the NLCS in 7 games and the Mets didn’t recover until the late ’90s.
The sky was the limit for both of these players who debuted with the Mets within 11 months of each other.
2. Midnight Massacre – the trades of “the franchise” Tom Seaver and Dave Kingman on the same night, June 15, 1977.
1. Death of Gil Hodges – Hodges passed away suddenly on April 2, 1972. Not only did they lose Hodges, but because of bad decisions by management they lost director of player development Whitey Herzog. Although they made the World Series in 1973 and should have won it, this set the team back at least 5-7 years.
Gil Hodges' number 14 is one of three numbers retired by the Mets.
Help Fund for Cancer Survivors
I might as well use this blog to educate people that cancer survivors out there need your help. Many of us (myself included) have suffered awful side effects from the chemotherapy and radiation. As a result of my treatment, I now suffer from Hemochromotosis, Crohn’s Disease and Lymphedema. I had to retire in April 2008 after being diagnosed with Hemochromotosis. Disability payments are not NEARLY enough to live on and many of us in situations like mine need help. PLEASE help me by donating to a fund to start a foundation for cancer survivors. If you want more information or are looking for something like this and want to become involved, check out our facebook page or email me.
So far it’s been the kind of day that makes one START their blog at 5:29 PM…YIKES…
Mets travel to Cleveland after sweep at Baltimore
Thanks to 5 first-inning runs and 6 determined innings by Mike Pelfrey, the Mets swept their first road series since September 2008. David Wright hit two two-run HR, Chris Carter hit a three-run HR and (wait…HOLD IT!!!) JASON BAY hit his first road HR since September 2009.
Thanks to David Wright's 2 HR and 4 RBI, the Mets completed a 3-game sweep of the Orioles.
Jason Bay BREAKS THROUGH!
Jason Bay’s long awaited first HR of the season occurred during Sunday’s 11-4 win over the Orioles. Bay homered in the 5th inning off of Kevin Millwood and it was his first road HR since September 21, 2009. Overall, Bay had one of his best days as a Met, going 4-4 with a BB and scoring 4 runs.
Mets players to reach base 5 times and score 4 runs on road; Since 2003
Jason Bay June 13, 2010 at BAL
Fernando Tatis July 2, 2009 at PIT
Luis Castillo June 27, 2008 at NYY
Mike Jacobs August 24, 2005 at ARI
David Wright August 24, 2005 at ARI
Jason Bay collected 4 hits, including his first road HR of the season in the Mets win.
Sweeping an American League team on the road is rare enough (only happened once previously – vs NYY in 2008 – and that was separated by six weeks thanks to a rain out). On Tuesday the Mets will try to do something they have never done before on the road against the American League and that is win 4 straight games.
Longest single-season road win streaks; vs American League opponents
2008 3 (May 17-June 16)
2003 3 (June 11-13)
2001 3 (June 10-13)
1999 3 (June 6-July 16)
Big Pelf joins rare company
Mike Pelfrey improved to 9-1 yesterday with his win over the Orioles. Pelfrey is the first Met pitcher to win at least 9 of his first 10 decisions since Al Leiter did it back in 2000. Terry Leach had the best win pct for any Mets pitcher through 10 decisions when he started 10-0 in 1987. Of the Mets starters who won at least 9 of their first 10 decisions, only David Cone went on to win 20 games.
Mike Pelfrey became one of just 5 Mets pitchers to start the season with 9 wins in their first 10 decisions.
Best W-L through first 10 decisions; Single-season Mets pitchers
Terry Leach 1987 10-0
Mike Pelfrey 2010 9-1
Al Leiter 2000 9-1
David Cone 1988 9-1
Doc Gooden 1988 9-1
Johan Santana will take the mound tomorrow night against Justin Masterson of the Indians. Though Santana is the undeniable number one starter on the Mets, the Mets have not performed in his recent starts, while they have for the other 4 starters in the rotation.
Mets in Santana starts vs rest of rotation – Since May 18th
When Santana starts: 1-4
Rest of rotation starts: 15-4
>>Santana: 1-1 over span; rest of rotation: 11-2
Despite Johan's best efforts, the Mets just have 1 win in his last 5 starts.
In total, the Mets have as many losses in their last 19 games started by their other starters, compared to 4 losses in 5 games when their ace starts. If the Mets figure out how to hit in Santana starts, who knows how good this team can be?
OFFENSIVE numbers – Johan Santana’s last 5 starts (team averages)
BA .196
HR 1.0
Runs 2.1
BB 2.0
K 9.2
Rest of staff
BA .289
HR 1.1
Runs 5.4
BB 3.1
K 5.7
Help Fund for Cancer Survivors
I might as well use this blog to educate people that cancer survivors out there need your help. Many of us (myself included) have suffered awful side effects from the chemotherapy and radiation. As a result of my treatment, I now suffer from Hemochromotosis, Crohn’s Disease and Lymphedema. I had to retire in April 2008 after being diagnosed with Hemochromotosis. Disability payments are not NEARLY enough to live on and many of us in situations like mine need help. PLEASE help me by donating to a fund to start a foundation for cancer survivors. If you want more information or are looking for something like this and want to become involved, check out our facebook page or email me.
Beltran working hard to return soon
According to a Mike Vaccaro article in the New York Post, Carlos Beltran is “working hard” to return as soon as possible. After reading the article there is nothing in there that tells us anymore than his return is still at least 4-6 weeks away.
From the article: “This week he plans on refining the work more. After that? ”After that,” he said, “I hope.” Hope is a good thing, especially now that the knee — “Thank God,” he says — is pain-free. He will rest today, play again tomorrow, maybe start running in fourth gear soon, then fifth. He watches the Mets on his computer and on his cell phone, likes what he sees. And doing that can try his patience. ”Soon,” he says. “I’ll be there soon. You can believe that, because I believe that.”
For the complete article go here: http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/mets/answering_the_bel_RtSha5za8mXpEfhiE22vyN
Even the most optimistic outlook will have Beltran out until after the All-Star break.
THE STREAK IS OVER!!!
Last night the Mets snapped a 56 game streak of not winning consecutive road games. Hisanori Takahashi completed 7 strong innings allowing just 6 hits and 1 run, while Pedro Feliciano allowed 1 hit in the 8th and K-Rod pitched the 9th to earn his 13th save. On offense, Jose Reyes continued his hot hitting of late, going 2-3, while leading off a game with a HR for the 15th time in his career (9th time on the road).
Most road games without winning consecutive games – team history
1963-64 64 games
1962-63 60 games
2009-10 56 games>>
>>Streak ended with yesterdays 3-1 win over the Orioles
Jose Reyes and Hisanori Takahashi both played big parts in the Mets ending their streak of not winning consecutive road games.
Most Leadoff HR – NY Mets History
Jose Reyes 15
Lenny Dykstra 8
Tommie Agee 8
Mookie Wilson 6
Kaz Matsui 5
The daily Jason Bay update
Jason Bay continued his recent struggles and his season struggle on the road going 0-4 last night. Bay is now hitless in his last 16 AB and has 1 hit in his last 26 AB. On the road, Bay has just 1 RBI in his last 13 games and 5 RBI total on the season. Despite the effect Mets fans feared Citifield would have on his power numbers, it’s been on the road where he has lost his power stroke.
Jason Bay – 2010 Home/Road Stats
Home – .311 BA .516 Slug Pct. 3 HR 19 RBI
Road - .226 BA .283 Slug Pct. 0 HR> 5 RBI
>Has not homered in his last 128 AB (September 21 at KC)
Although Bay has 3 HR at home, it is still far below his average HR total for this time of the season. So far in 2010 Bay has homered on ONE day in each month with the exception of June (April 27th – HR vs LAD and May 23rd – 2 HR vs NYY).
When the Mets signed Jason Bay, they didn't realize that on June 13th the Rangers would have more April wins (4) than Bay HR (3).
Jason Bay HR by Month
April 1 (Career average is four)
May 2 (Career average is eight)
June 0 (Career average is four)
Jose Reyes has righted himself after a brief 1-20 slump, and is 10-20 (.500) with 2 HR and 4 runs scored in his last 5 games. Reyes’ .262 BA is the highest it’s been since April 13th (.308). With his HR last night, Jeff Francoeur has now hit in 14 of his last 15 games. He is hitting .423 over that span with 2 HR and 10 RBI. Despite hitting .124 over a 29-game stretch from April 17-May 17, Francoeur still has solid numbers this season, hitting .267 with 7 HR and 35 RBI. Here is a breakdown of his season before and after his slump.
Jeff Francoeur – 2010 season Before and After and During Slump
Before and After Slump (April 5-16/May 18-Present)
Games 33
BA .398
HR 6
RBI 23
Multi-hit gms 14
During Slump (April 17-May 17)
Games 29
BA .124
HR 1
RBI 12
Multi-hit gms 0
Jeff Francoeur has rebounded from his month long slump to become a key member of the Mets.
Pelfrey looking for 9th win today
Mike Pelfrey goes the for the Mets today and will be looking to build on his terrific start to the season. Pelfrey is 8-1 with a 2.23 ERA. Pelfrey’s 8-1 start is one of the best for Mets starters through their first 9 decisions in team history.
Other Mets with 8 wins in first 9 decisions – Starters only
Mike Pelfrey 2010
Al Leiter 2000
David Cone 1988
Doc Gooden 1988
John Matlack 1976
Mike Pelfrey will look to join David Price and Ubaldo Jimenez as the only 9-game winners in the majors this season.
Mets looking for road sweep
Since interleague play began in 1997, the Mets have only swept a road series once. In 2008, the Mets defeated the Yankees in the first 2 games of their series at Yankee Stadium. The third game was rained out, so the two teams played a day-night DH on June 27th with the day game being played at Yankee Stadium. The Mets won that game 15-6 to complete the three game sweep.
Overall, the last time the Mets swept a series of 3-games or more on the road, was September 1-3, 2008 vs the Brewers. That was one of 3 road sweeps during the 2008 season.
Mets road sweeps by season – Since 2006
2010 – None
2009 – None
2008 – 3
2007 – 4
2006 – 5
Help Fund for Cancer Survivors
I might as well use this blog to educate people that cancer survivors out there need your help. Many of us (myself included) have suffered awful side effects from the chemotherapy and radiation. As a result of my treatment, I now suffer from Hemochromotosis, Crohn’s Disease and Lymphedema. I had to retire in April 2008 after being diagnosed with Hemochromotosis. Disability payments are not NEARLY enough to live on an many of us in situations like mine need help. PLEASE help me by donating to a fund to start a foundation for cancer survivors. If you want more information or are looking want to become involved, check out our facebook page or email me.
Mets stay hot with solid win over Orioles
R. A. Dickey continued his excellent performance this season as a Mets improving to 4-0 in his 5 starts as the Mets won 5-1. Dickey went 7 innings allowing 7 hits, striking out a career-high 8 batters and stranding runners all over the place. Most impressive for Dickey was escaping a bases loaded no out situation in the 4th inning on just 7 pitches! Chris Carter helped the game get put out of reach when he hit his first career HR, a 3-run shot in the 4th.
R. A. Dickey – 2010 Season
Starts 5
W-L 4-0
ERA 2.78
K/BB 24/10
IP per Start 6.2
R. A. Dickey struck out a career-high 8 batters in the Mets 5-1 win over the Orioles.
Dickey has gone 4-0 his first five starts with the Mets. In doing so he has become the first Met to do that since Terry Leach did so. Leach, however, did this over a 4-year span as he was mostly used as a reliever in his career with the Mets (he also didn’t pitch in 1983-84). The others to do so are Harry Parker (1973) and Ray Sadecki (1970).
Mets starters to go 4-0 in first 5 starts – team history
R. A. Dickey 2010 2.78 ERA
Terry Leach 1981-85 0.76 ERA
Harry Parker 1973 2.41 ERA
Ray Sadecki 1970 3.11 ERA
Source: Elias Sports Bureau
Terry Leach was terrific in his first 5 career starts for the Mets going 4-0 with a 0.76 ERA.
I remember thinking earlier this season that many Mets fans just had a bad feeling about this roster. So many fans were still angry over the collapses of 2007 and 2008 and the injury plagued 2009 that I didn’t think much could be done with this group of players. However, recently fans are seeing a different aura around this team. One of the biggest differences is that this team doesn’t seem to quit anymore like it appeared they had done in recent seasons. In watching last night’s game, the camera showed the players coming into the locker room area and the players (Jose Reyes especially) were exciting and looking determined.
The aura and attitude of the Mets seems to have changed in the last few weeks.
The win last night moved the Mets to a season-high five games over .500 just as they were after defeating the Phillies on April 30th at 14-9. I’m not sure how this season will play out, but I do as most Mets fans now have a good feeling about the future for this team. When you add in the inevitable though seemingly improbable return of Carlos Beltran, and Mets fans could just be seeing the beginning of a special season.
Mets W-L by month – 2010 Season
April 14-9
May 12-17
June 7-2
Today the Mets will try to do something they haven’t done in their last 56 road games and that’s win consecutive games. The last time the Mets won 2 straight on the road was July 25th and 26th at Houston.
Most road games without winning consecutive games – team history
1963-64 64 games
1962-63 60 games
2009-10 56 games>>
>>Current streak
The daily Jason Bay breakdown
Travelling to a stadium where he has had success didn’t do much last night for Jason Bay, who went 0-3 last night. Bay is now hitless in his last 12 AB and has just one hit in his last 22 AB. On the road, Bay still has not homered this season and has now gone 124 consecutive road AB without hitting a HR.
Jason Bay gets high-fives from his teammates after scoring on Chris Carter's 3-run HR in the 4th inning.
Jason Bay on road – 2010
Games 27
H-AB 24-102
BA .235
Slug Pct. .294
HR 0>>
RBI 5
>>Has gone 124 AB since his last HR (September 21 at KC)
Tonight the Mets will throw LH Hisanori Takahashi and the Orioles will counter with Brian Matusz. The Orioles have lost 6 straight starts vs LHP and are 5-16 overall vs them this season. The Orioles won Matusz last start against Boston, snapping an 8-game losing streak in his starts. Overall the Orioles have lost 13 of their last 15 games and have lost 3 straight and 4 of last 5 vs NL opponents.
Help Fund for Cancer Survivors
I might as well use this blog to educate people that cancer survivors out there need your help. Many of us (myself included) have suffered awful side effects from the chemotherapy and radiation. As a result of my treatment, I now suffer from Hemochromotosis, Crohn’s Disease and Lymphedema. I had to retire in April 2008 after being diagnosed with Hemochromotosis. Disability payments are not NEARLY enough to live on an many of us in situations like mine need help. PLEASE help me by donating to a fund to start a foundation for cancer survivors. If you want more information or are looking want to become involved, check out our facebook page or email me.
Mets split DH with Padres
Yesterday was a rare occasion where each team dominated in a very similar fashion. In the first game, Mat Latos handcuffed the Mets, as did Luke Gregerson, Mike Adams and Heath Bell, as they retired the final 22 Mets to come to bat. Those are the types of games where most fans cry about their team not trying. This was not the case yesterday. As much as I asked myself “Who are these guys” that seem to grow on the Padres bullpen tree, I quickly found out after looking up their numbers.
As shocked as I was the see the names and the ERAs of the pitchers on the Padres, these guys can throw. Latos has NASTY stuff, and who really knows where Gregerson or Adams came from, but combined they have allowed just 13 ER in 60.2 IP this season (1.92 ERA) while holding opponents to a .133 BA. They also have not allowed a run in their last combined 22.2 IP.
Pitchers like Luke Gregerson are the reason the Padres are 9 games over .500 this season.
Luke Gregerson and Mike Adams – Combined Stats in 2010
Games 57
W-L 2-2
ERA 1.92
Opp. BA .133
K/BB 71/11
After Henry Blanco went deep in the second inning to give the Mets a 2-0 lead, the Mets didn’t have another player reach base. Sometimes you have to tip your cap to the other team, and these pitchers on the Padres deserved it in Game 1.
Game 2 was a very different story. Jon Niese took the mound for the Mets looking for his second straight victory. What he gave the Mets almost mirrored the output of the Padres from the 2nd inning on in Game 1. Niese allowed just one runner to reach base (Chris Denorfia) who led off the 3rd inning with a opposite-field double. From there on out, Niese faced 21 batters and retired them all.
Niese joined Tom Seaver and Steve Trachsel as the only Mets to throw CG shutouts allowing just one baserunner.
Overall it was probably the most effective Mets performance I have ever seen from a Mets starter. The start was just Niese’s 18th in his career. Thanks to good friend and ESPN researcher Mark Simon, he helped put Niese’s accomplishment in perspective.
Niese became just the just the 8th pitcher in baseball history to throw a shutout where only ONE player reached base. Niese became just the 2nd Met pitcher to throw a SHO where 1 player reached base (joining Tom Seaver in 1969). Amazingly, Game 1 starter Mat Latos accomplished this same feat less than a month ago. Overall, it was the 23rd time during the regular season a Mets pitcher has thrown a complete game one-hitter of nine innings or more (Bobby Jones threw a one-hitter in the 2000 NLDS).
Pitchers to throw CG of 9+ IP – First 18 games
Allowed 0 or 1 base runner – MLB history
2010 Jon Niese NYM-18th start
2010 Mat Latos SD -17th start
2008 Hiroki Kuroda LAD -16th start
1986 Jimmy Jones SD -1st start
1970 Vida Blue OAK -16th start>
1966 Woody Fryman PIT -17th start
1958 Von McDaniel STL -9th start
1922 Charlie Robertson CHW -5th start>>
> No-hitter
>> Perfect game
(Special thanks to Mark Simon and Baseball-Reference for their help on this. For a deeper perspective on Niese’s accomplishment, see Mark’s article on ESPN.com http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/mets/post/_/id/4574/10-things-to-know-nieses-one-hitter)
Vida Blue threw a no-hitter in just his 16th major league start.
For the series with the Padres the Mets hit a combined .196 with 7 runs scored. I kept wondering how the Padres could be 10 games over .500. Now I know that they are because they have great pitchers who no one knows. Jason Bay had by far the worst series for Mets hitters, going 0-9 with ZERO RBI and ZERO runs scored. In his last 9 games Bay is hitting just .189 with 1 RBI and 1 run scored.
Jason Bay – Last 9 games
H-AB 7-37
BA .189
HR 0>
Runs 1
RBI 1
BA RISP .100 (1-10)
>Has not homered in his last 58 AB (3rd longest streak this season)
Jason Bay acknowledged to the press yesterday that he has really struggled this season.
Mets travel to Baltimore to take on the Orioles
Tonight, the Mets travel to Camden Yards to face the team with the majors worst record in the Baltimore Orioles. This will be the Mets 2nd straight season playing at Camden and the 6th time since interleague play started in 1997. Overall the Mets are 8-6 in 14 games played there.
Mets W-L at Camden Yards
2009 1-2
2001 2-1
1999 2-1
1998 1-1
1997 1-2
Overall this will be the 7th time that they have faced the Orioles as the Mets have won 13 of the 22 all-time regular season matchups between these two teams (don’t forget the Mets won the 1969 World Series vs the Orioles in 5 games). Hopefully Jason Bay will be able to regain some of his offensive touch as he has historically done well at Camden Yards.
Jason Bay – Career at Camden Yards
Games 13
H-AB 16-51
BA .314
HR 5
RBI 10
Runs 13
R.A. Dickey takes his perfect 3-0 record as Met out there against Jeremy Guthrie whom the Mets beat last season in there only win against the Orioles. This will be the Mets first visit to an AL park this season. They also travel to Cleveland and the Bronx to face the Yankees. Historically, the Mets have not done well playing on the road against the AL, as they have had just 2 seasons of winning records since inter-league play began in 1997. Overall they are 44-63 (.411) on the road in inter-league play.
R.A. Dickey will look to improve to 4-0 tonight as the Mets take on the Orioles.
Mets W-L on road vs American League opponents
2009 4-5
2008 5-1
2007 2-4
2006 3-6
2005 3-6
2004 2-7
2003 4-5
2002 3-6
2001 4-5
2000 4-5
1999 5-4
1998 4-4
1997 1-5
Blackhawks win first Stanley Cup since 1961
Before we get to the Mets, I want to first congratulate the Chicago Blackhawks who last night defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 4-3 in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals to win the cup for the first time in 49 years. Patrick Kane became the 16th player to clinch the cup on an OT goal.
The only team that had a longer historic cup drought than the Blackhawks, was the Rangers who had gone 54 years without winning the cup from 1940-1994. Jonathon Toews takes home the Conn-Smythe Trophy as the playoffs MVP. At 22 years and 41 days, Toews is the 2nd youngest player to win the trophy, trailing only Patrick Roy in 1986.
Most Seasons Without Winning Stanley Cup – Active Streaks
Maple Leafs 42 last won in 1966-67
Blues 42 never won
Kings 42 never won
The Blackhawks finally ended the Stanley Cup drought with their win last night.
Mets to play day-night doubleheader today
Since last night’s game was rained out, the Mets will host a separate admission doubleheader today with the Padres. This is the second doubleheader the Mets will play this season, as earlier this season the swept the Dodgers at Citifield, but that was an old-fashioned Twi-Night Doubleheader.
This will be the Mets 33rd doubleheader since 2000. This will be their 22nd DH played at home. The Mets have not lost a DH at home since June 8, 2003 when they lost both games to the Seattle Mariners by a combined score of 20-1.
From August 3, 2002 to June 27, 2004 the Mets played in nine DH, six of which were at home, two were on the road and one was a split venue DH. During that span the Mets went 0-7-2 in DH, including 0-5-1 at home. Since then, they are 4-2-12 in DH.
Mets in doubleheaders since 2000
Played in 32 (21 at home, 8 on road)>>
Won 7 (5 at home, 2 on road)
Lost 10 (5 at home, 3 on road)
Split 15 (11 at home, 3 on road)
>>Played 3 multi-venue DH since 2000 going 0-2-1 in them (all vs NYY)
Johan Santana will go for the Mets in Game 1, while Jon Niese will take the mound in Game 2. For Santana, he has been absolutely brilliant in his last 5 starts, going 1-0 with a 0.74 ERA, but the Mets have lost 4 of those 5 starts because they have only totaled 10 runs in those 5 games. For his career, Santana is 2-2 with a 1.99 ERA in 6 starts vs San Diego.
Despite posting a 0.74 ERA in his last 5 starts, Santana has only one win as the Mets have only scored 10 total runs in those starts.
Johan Santana – Last 5 starts
W-L 1-0
ERA 0.74
K/BB 22/13
WHIP 1.04
>>Mets have lost 4 of 5 starts
For the Padres, Mat Latos will start against Santana. Latos has been excellent as well lately, going 4-2 with a 1.96 ERA in his last 7 starts. Latos won his only previous start vs the Mets on August 8, 2009 at San Diego. Jon Garland will go for the Padres in Game 2.
Mat Latos takes on Johan Santana in Game 1 today. Latos won his only previous start vs the Mets.
David Wright has been right on lately
David Wright is enjoying his best stretch of the season. After going 2-4 in the Mets win on Monday night, Wright now has six multi-hit games in his last 8 games. Overall Wright is batting .517 over the stretch with 8 runs scored and 6 RBI. Perhaps what is the most impressive thing about Wright’s recent stretch is that he has cut down on his strikeouts drastically. Over this 8-game stretch, Wright has struck out just 4 times in 29 AB. His current streak of 14 AB without a strikeout is easily his longest streak of the season.
David Wright – Last 8 games
H-AB 15-29
BA .517
Runs 8
RBI 6
Multi-hit Games 6
Strikeouts 4>
>Has not struck out in a season-high 14 straight AB
Mets fans are smiling along with David Wright with his outstanding recent play.
Generation K – Revisited
With the much hyped debut of Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg, it got me thinking the last time the Mets faithful were really excited about a young prospect coming up to the majors. Mike Pelfrey, Octavio Dotel, Alay Soler, Grant Roberts, Tyler Yates, Brian Bannister and Phil Humber all come to mind, but none of them really got people excited. In 1996 the Mets had not one, not two, but THREE big-time pitchers who were supposed to be the Glavine, Smoltz and Maddux of the next 15 years.
The trio of Wilson, Pulsipher and Isringhausen had Mets fans thinking of a dynasty.
First to arrive on the scene was Pulsipher who made his MLB debut on June 17, 2005. Pulse finished the rest of the season with the Mets, going 5-7 with a 3.98 ERA in his 17 starts. Next to arrive was Jason Isringhausen on July 17, 2005. Izzy also finished the season with the Mets, going 9-2 in 14 starts with a 2.81 ERA. The Mets themselves went from buried in last place with a 25-44 record at the All-Star break, to finishing with the majors second best record in the second half, going 44-31 and rallying the team to a second place finish. Beyond the strong finish, you could see the raw potential in both Pulse and Izzy. Pulse was very confident, challenging batters with his fastball and not afraid to come inside. Izzy had a devastating knuckle-curve along with a blazing fastball.
Perhaps the most exciting thing Mets fans looked forward to was that Paul Wilson, who was the first overall pick in the 1994 draft, was ready to take his spot in the rotation for the 1996 season. Wilson dominated the minors in 1995, going 11-6 with a 2.41 ERA in 26 starts with 194 K in 186 IP.
Paul Wilson making one of his 12 career starts at Shea Stadium, a place where he was supposed to be the next great Mets starter.
The hype surrounding these three entering the 1996 season was unreal. ”Generation K” as they were dubbed, were being thrown on magazine covers and TV spots. I had a joke I told that offseason to my friends that went “Name 2 reasons why Paul Wilson won’t win the Cy Young Award this season”. People would not know what to say, so I would chime in “Jason Isringhausen or Bill Pulsipher will win it instead.”
I remember reading an article early in spring training that year where one of the writers said he heard what sounded like gunshots coming from the Mets bullpen. When he got there he realized it was the sound of Paul Wilson’s fastball hitting the catcher’s mitt. WOW!!! I was pumped!
However, as usual with things that are too good to be true, the first sign of bad things to come was the lefty in the crew, Bill Pulsipher, injured his elbow in spring training. The Mets were never crazy about Pulse’s wild delivery and were trying to get him to become more fluid. Who knows what that did to his head or his body, all I know is that he was out for the season with a torn ligament that required Tommy John surgery.
Pulse spent the next few seasons bouncing around the minors as he was unable to get command back of his pitches. His walks totals were very high and he had lost velocity on his fastball. Pulse was so distraught he began suffering from major depression and wound up on Prozac. He made it back to the Mets in 1998, but Bobby Valentine had lost all confidence him and he posted a 6.91 ERA in his 15 appearances. He was traded to the Brewers at the trading deadline in 1998.
Pulse made it back to the Mets in 2000 when the Brewers traded him back, but he was awful allowing 12 hits and 9 ER in his 2 starts. He then wandered around the Independent Leagues before making a brief return to the majors with the Cardinals in 2005, but pitched poorly and was released in September of that season.
After suffering a torn ligament in his elbow in the spring of 1996, Pulse was never the same.
Things still were looking up for the Mets as they still had Isringhausen and Wilson to carry them into the season. Opening Day 1996 started great for the Mets as they rallied from down 6-0 to defeat the Cardinals, 7-6.
Two days later, Izzy made his first start of the season and gave little reason for concern as he held the Cardinals to 3 runs on 5 hits in 6 innings and got a ND in a game the Mets lost. The next day on April 4, Paul Wilson made his debut for the Mets and threw 6 innings allowing 3 runs on 6 hits. Wilson departed with a 8-3 lead and was on track for his first major league win.
However, the Mets bullpen (1996 would be one of the WORST in team history) of Doug Henry, Blas Minor, Bob Macdonald and John Franco allowed 6 total runs in the 8th and 9th innings to give the Cardinals the lead and cost Wilson his win. However, the Mets rallied with 2 outs in the 9th to beat Dennis Eckersley and post their 2nd come-from-behind win in 1996.
Wilson and Izzy had their good moments in 1996, but overall they were a huge disappointment. For the season Wilson posted a 5-12 rec0rd with a woeful 5.38 ERA in 26 starts, while Izzy went 6-14 with a 4.77 ERA in 27 starts. The 1996 season was the last season these two got to pitch together. Surgery to repair a torn labrum in his right (pitching) shoulder cost Wilson most of 1997 and ’98.
After joining the Mets and pitching well in spring training in 1999, Wilson learned he had torn a ligament in his right elbow. When he returned to the Mets minors in 2000, Wilson was barely reaching 90 on the radar gone. Gone was the explosion in his fastball and slider. The Mets traded him to the Rays at the trading deadline in 2000.
The Mets traded Paul Wilson to the Rays at the deadline in 2000 along with Jason Tyner for Bubba Trammell and Rick White.
For Izzy, he had arthroscopic surgery on his elbow and shoulder at the end of the 1996 season. Not sensing he was fully recovered yet, the Mets demoted him to the minors to start the 1997 season. After a poor first inning in his first minor league start, Izzy took it out on a trash can, and fractured his wrist, putting him out 6-8 weeks.
Later that season, Izzy was diagnosed with tuberculosis. He finally made his debut in late August, but posted a 7.58 ERA in 6 starts to finish the season. While pitching in winter ball in the offseason, Izzy tore a ligament in his right elbow, causing him to miss the entire 1998 season.
When he returned to the Mets in 1999, Izzy was used mostly out of the bullpen as he made just 5 starts in 13 appearances going 1-3 with a 6.41 ERA. He was then traded to the A’s for Billy Taylor, where he went on to be a top-notch closer for the rest of his career. As for Billy Taylor, he finished the 1999 season with a 8.10 ERA in 18 appearances with the Mets.
Jason Isringhausen went on to be a top closer with the A's and Cardinals before his career ended in 2009.
So, that’s the sad story of Generation K. So much promise, so little return (at least with the Mets). Together the three appeared in 120 games for the Mets, making 98 starts. They finished with a combined record of 28-42 with a 4.82 ERA and 1.51 WHIP in 630.1 innings pitched.
Generation K totals with Mets
Games 120
Starts 98
W-L 28-42
ERA 4.82
WHIP 1.51
IP 630.1
K/BB 435/275
Help Fund for Cancer Survivors
I might as well use this blog to educate people that cancer survivors out there need your help. Many of us (myself included) have suffered awful side effects from the chemotherapy and radiation. As a result of my treatment, I now suffer from Hemochromotosis, Crohn’s Disease and Lymphedema. I had to retire in April 2008 after being diagnosed with Hemochromotosis. Disability payments are not NEARLY enough to live on an many of us in situations like mine need help. PLEASE help me by donating to a fund to start a foundation for cancer survivors. If you want more information or are looking want to become involved, check out our facebook page or email me.
Before we get to the Mets…Amazing debut for Strasburg
In his much anticipated first major league start (shown nationally on the Baseball Network) Stephen Strasburg was everything the Nationals and their fans could have hoped he would be. He threw 7 innings allowing 4 hits, 2 runs, ZERO walks and 14 Ks. What a debut! Is it wrong to wish that he suffer a career-changing rotator cuff injury (like Paul Wilson) or suffer other arm troubles (like Bill Pulsipher). Since he is SURE to be an awful thorn in the side of the NY Mets for many years to come, I can’t help but hope (the sinful side of me hopes this…the same one that hopes Tom Brady gets injures himself skiing in the offseason and must end his football career) that Strasburg suffers some sort of setback that will slow his progression, because the way he looked last night it looks like the Nationals have a franchise-type starter to help them for the next 10-15 years.
Rookie Pitchers to not allow a walk a strikeout at least 14 batters – since 1969
Stephen Strasburg 6/8/2010 vs PIT 14 K
Kerry Wood 5/6/1998 vs HOU 20 K
Doc Gooden 9/17/1984 at PHI 16 K
Doc Gooden 9/12/1984 vs PIT 16 K
Roger Clemens 8/21/1984 vs KC 15 K
>>Elias Sports Bureau
Stephen Strasburg was everything Nationals fans hoped he would be in winning his first MLB start.
John Starks – Redeemed?!?!?!
All Knicks fans will never forget two MAJOR individual games/moments/players during their what now was (thanks to ONE playoff appearance in the last 9 seasons) the glory days of the 1990s. Game 1 is STILL the most exciting sporting event I have ever been to, and that is Game 5 of the 1993 Eastern Conference Finals. The name is Charles Smith and the moment was him missing multiple chances to put the ball in the basket underneath the basket. The other occurred in Game 7 of the 1994 NBA Finals when John Starks went 2-18 from the field in the Knicks loss (including 0-11 from 3-point range). This coming after Starks single-handedly almost won the Knicks the NBA title in Game 6 with a 27-point effort (9-18, 5-9).
Well, last night Ray Allen stepped into John Starks territory. After scoring 32 points in their Game 2 win of the NBA Finals on Sunday and making a NBA Finals record 8 three-point shots, Allen went 0-13 from the field (0-8 from behind the arc) and scored just 2 points in the Celtics loss. It wasn’t quite the same as doing it in Game 7, but maybe John Starks can rest a little easier knowing that he wasn’t the only player to self-destruct in the NBA Finals.
Knicks fans will never forget Starks dismal Game 7 performance in the 1994 NBA Finals.
More notes on Ray Allen
- His 0-8 from behind the arc was the 2nd most 3-Pt FGA without a make in NBA Finals history (you guessed it, Starks is first with his 0-11)
- His 0-13 from the field was the 3rd most FGA without a make in NBA Finals history (Dennis Johnson went 0-14 for the Sonics in 1978 and Chick Reiser of the Baltimore Bullets went 0-14 in 1948 – source: ESPN)
- His 2 points in Game 3 tied for the fewest in NBA Finals history for a player the game after posting a 30-pt effort (Dave DeBusschere also did this in the 1973 Finals – source – ESPN).
Ray Allen could only wish his shots were falling like he was in an historic evening for dismal performances.
…And Now on to the METS
The Mets won their 9th straight home game last night, marking the 2nd time this season that they have won 9 straight home games.
Two win streaks of 9 or more games at home in one season – team history
2010 – 9-game streak and 9-game streak (current>>)
1990 – 11-game streak and 10-game streak
>> started on May 22nd
Mike Pelfrey had his Johan Santana moment last night for 7 innings as he only allowed 1 run, but the Mets could not get to Clayton Richard despite having a few chances with RISP (paging Jason Bay…Jason Bay…). Jose Reyes HR in the 7th prevented Pelfrey from being on the losing side, but after 9 brilliant innings Big Pelf left with a ND. If I was Jason Bay I would have stayed away from Pelfrey through the entire game. Bay came up with a Angel Pagan on third and one out in the first of a 1-0 game and left Pagan there by striking out LOOKING (nothing makes me more annoyed than watching a player go down LOOKING with a runner on third and less than 2 outs). Bay then came up with Reyes on third and Pagan on first in the 5th with 2 outs and – you guessed it – struck out AGAIN.
Mike Pelfrey was outstanding again yesterday, throwing 9 innings and allowing just one run in a no-decision.
To be fair to Bay, Jeff Francouer also had multiple chances to drive in a run in the first 9 innings but failed to deliver. After singling in the 2nd, Francouer had 2 separate chances in his next 2 AB to drive in David Wright but struck out in the 4th and flew out in the 6th.
Pelfrey left after 9 BRILLIANT innings that saw his ERA drop from 2.39 to 2.23. K-Rod threw a perfect 10th and Pedro Feliciano and Elmer Dessens worked around a David Eckstein single in the 11th. However in the 10th, Angel Pagan JUST missed a game-winning HR (sometimes I really HATE this field’s dimensions – and WHERE is Jeffrey Meier when you need him?!?!?!) with 2 outs that set the stage for – guess who – Jason Bay AGAIN to be the hero…the 10th ended when Bay failed for the 3rd straight time to drive in a run from 3rd base when he weakly grounded out to Chase Headley (by the way HOW GOOD IS THIS KID VS THE METS?!?! – he is batting .529 (9-17) vs the Mets in 2010 and has a .423 BA (23-52) vs them overall in his career).
Chase Headley loves seeing the Mets on the schedule as his career .423 career BA vs them proves.
Highest career BA vs Mets – Active Players with at least 50 AB
Chase Headley SD .423
Derek Jeter NYY .381
Ivan Rodriguez WSH .373
Garret Anderson LAD .360
Ike Davis then led off the 11th and hit a ball that almost went to where I was sitting when I went to “bark at the park”. I mean this ball was CRUSHED!!! I think it even went farther than his first ML homer which I also saw in person vs the Braves at Citifield that went over the Shea Bridge in right CF). The more I see of Davis, the more I like him. He seems to be patient and hasn’t let any miniature slumps get in his head so far. He also seems to be able to adjust pretty quickly to how the pitchers are pitching him. Ike Davis’ walk-off HR was the 2nd fewest career games that a Met has hit a walk-off HR (this was his 45th career game). Do you know who had played in the fewest games before hitting a walk-off HR? For those of you who remember Craig Brazell, you WIN!! Brazell’s walk-off HR on September 25, 2004, came 2 innings after Victor Diaz hit a game-tying 3-run HR off of Cubs closer LaTroy Hawkins. Cubs fans remember that game as the game that cost them the postseason as they were a game-and-a-half up in the wild card heading into that game and proceeded to win just 2 of the final 9 games to miss the playoffs.
Mets fans everywhere jumped up when Ike Davis hit one into Nassau County in the 11th inning of the Mets walk-off win last night.
What else can be said about the inability of Jason Bay to drive in runs? Overall, Bay has been solid. He’s a very good base runner, a much better fielder than I thought he would be, and he hustles and tries hard all the time. Saying that, 24 RBI in 250 PA is NOT what the Mets gave him that big contract for.
Jason Bay – Fewest RBI through first 250 PA of season
2010 24 – 3 HR
2005 27 – 11 HR
2008 29 – 13 HR
2007 43 – 10 HR
Jose Reyes snapped a 1-20 streak with a single in the 3rd inning. Reyes HR in the 7th snapped a streak of 5 straight games without scoring a run. It was also just the third extra-base hit Reyes has this season coming in the 7th inning or later.
More to come later on my thoughts of Generation K…
Help Fund for Cancer Survivors
I might as well use this blog to educate people that cancer survivors out there need your help. Many of us (myself included) have suffered awful side effects from the chemotherapy and radiation. As a result of my treatment, I now suffer from Hemochromotosis, Crohn’s Disease and Lymphedema. I had to retire in April 2008 after being diagnosed with Hemochromotosis. Disability payments are not NEARLY enough to live on an many of us in situations like mine need help. PLEASE help me by donating to a fund to start a foundation for cancer survivors. If you want more information or are looking want to become involved, check out our facebook page or email me.
Mets try for 9th straight win at home tonight
The Mets take on the Padres tonight at Citifield and hope to extend their home winning streak to nine games. This is the Mets 2nd win streak of at least 8 games at home this season, as they won 9 straight games from April 22 – May 8.
Two win streaks of 8 or more games at home in one season – team history
2010 – 9-game streak and 8-game streak (current)
1990 – 11-game streak and 10-game streak
1969 – 9-game streak and 8-game streak
Mets will be looking for their second 9-game win streak at home this season with a win tonight.
Mets look to reverse recent trend against Padres
The Mets have not enjoyed much success in their season series vs the Padres. Last week the Padres took 2 of 3 in San Diego. Since 1989 the Mets are 4-15-2 in season series vs the Padres, winning the season series only in 1990, 1999, 2005 and 2006. Last season the Padres played the first ever game at Citifield which they won 6-5. Since winning 7 straight vs the Padres at home from 2005-07 (including sweeps in 2005 and 2006), they are just 3-5 vs them at home including losing 2 of 3 last season.
Fewest season series wins vs opponents – Since 1989
Padres 4
Cardinals 8
Cubs 8
Dodgers 8
David Wright and the Mets will look to reverse a trend of losing vs the Padres.
Mike Pelfrey goes the for the Mets tonight and will be looking to build on his terrific start to the season. Pelfrey is 8-1 with a 2.39 ERA. Pelfrey’s 8-1 start is one of the best for Mets starters through their first 9 decisions in team history.
Other Mets with 8 wins in first 9 decisions – Starters only
Mike Pelfrey 2010
Al Leiter 2000
David Cone 1988
Doc Gooden 1988
John Matlack 1976
In 1988 David Cone started 8-1 on his way to a 20-3 season.
Help Fund for Cancer Survivors
I might as well use this blog to educate people that cancer survivors out there need your help. Many of us (myself included) have suffered awful side effects from the chemotherapy and radiation. As a result of my treatment, I now suffer from Hemochromotosis, Crohn’s Disease and Lymphedema. I had to retire in April 2008 after being diagnosed with Hemochromotosis. Disability payments are not NEARLY enough to live on an many of us in situations like mine need help. PLEASE help me by donating to a fund to start a foundation for cancer survivors. If you want more information or are looking want to become involved, check out our facebook page or email me.
Mets rally from down 5-0 to complete 3-game sweep of Marlins
Jeff Francouer continued his hot hitting as he went 2-4 with a HR and 3 RBI as he extended his hit streak to 10 games and his RBI streak to four games. The Mets have now won 8 straight home games (this is the Mets second win streak of at least 8 straight games at home this season). The last time the Mets had 2 separate winning streaks of at least 8 games at home was in 1990). The Mets completed their first 3-game sweep of the Florida Marlins at home since June 26-28, 2000.
New York Mets Series Sweeps at least 3 games vs Marlins in team history
June 4-6, 2010
June 26-28, 2000
June 22-24, 1999
Thanks to Jeff Francouer, the Mets swept the Marlins at home for just the third time in team history.
Jose Reyes seems to be falling back into his slump again as he has just one hit in his last 19 AB. Reyes has also not scored a run in his last 5 games. With Reyes not having scored during the Mets 3-game win streak, this marks just the 7th time in his career with the Mets that the Mets have won 3 straight games WITHOUT Reyes scoring a run (keep in mind these are only games that Reyes plays in). If the Mets win on Tuesday and Reyes does not score it will tie the record for longest Mets win streak without Reyes scoring a run.
Mets longest win streaks without Reyes scoring a run
August 17-20 2006 4 games
June 4-6 2010 3 games*
September 1-3 2008 3 games
August 7-9 2008 3 games
July 8-10 2008 3 games
July 20-22 2006 3 games
Sept/Oct 29-1 2005 3 games
>Spans Jose Reyes’ entire career (2003-Present)
*Active streak
Jose Reyes' recent play has very few people jumping for joy.
David Wright went 3-5 and is blistering hot over his last 7 games in which he has hit safely in all 7 games. Wright has already equaled his HR total for all of last season when he hit his 10th HR on Saturday. Wright’s strikeouts are also way down over the last 7 games, having not struck out in 5 of those 7 games. His current streak of 10 AB without a strikeout ties a season-high for most AB without a K. His current 3-game stretch without a K is the longest streak of consecutive games in which he has not struck out this season.
David Wright – Numbers during current 7-game hit streak
H-AB 13-25
BA .520
HR 2
RBI 6
Runs 8
Strikeouts 4>>
>>Has not struck out in 10 straight AB (tied for season-high)
David Wright has found his stroke recently hitting over .500 with 8 runs scored in his last 7 games, while cutting down on the strikeouts.
Ryota Igarashi came on to pitch the 7th inning yesterday and continued his HORRID pitching since coming off the DL. Igarashi threw 32 pitches in the 7th inning allowing 1 run while giving up a hit and 2 walks. After a promising beginning to the season in which Jerry Manuel even handed him the 8th inning role, Igarashi has been beyond terrible since coming off the DL.
Ryota Igarashi – Before and since return from DL
Games 7 6
IP 6.2 4.0
H 3 11
ER 1 12
ERA 1.35 27.00
K/BB 3/4 1/5
WHIP 1.13 4.00
The Mets won't keep standing around if Igarashi continues to implode like he has since coming off the DL.
Sunday’s game marked the 4th time this season that the Mets have rallied from down by at least 4 runs and tie or take the lead. They are 2-2 in those games. In all of those game the Mets have rallied in the 6th inning or later in each of them.
Mets rallying to tie/go ahead when down by 4+ runs at home in 2010
vs Marlins June 6 trailed 5-0 in 6th W, 7-6
vs Nationals May 11 trailed 6-2 in 8th W, 8-6
vs Giants May 9 trailed 4-0 in 6th L, 6-5
vs Marlins April 7 trailed 6-1 in 7th L, 7-6
Around the majors
- Ubaldo Jimenez improved to 11-1 despite his consecutive scoreless inning streak ending at 33. He has a 0.93 ERA through 12 starts this season which is fourth-best in major league history. The Rockies snapped a 3-game losing streak with their 3-2 win over the Diamondbacks.
Best ERA Through 12 Starts – MLB History
Dutch Leonard 0.83 1914
Al Benton 0.89 1945
Walter Johnson 0.93 1918
Ubaldo Jimenez 0.93 2010
Walter Johnson 0.95 1914
Ubaldo Jimenez continued his dominance yesterday to improve to 11-1 on the season with a 0.93 ERA.
- The Brewers defeated the Cardinals 4-3 in 10 innings despite another strong performance by Cardinals rookie starter Jaime Garcia. Garcia allowed 2 ER in 6 IP and has not allowed more than 2 ER in any of his 11 starts this season.
Most Consecutive Starts; 2 or Fewer ER – To Start Season Last 10 Years
2008 Edinson Volquez CIN 12
2010 Ubaldo Jimenez COL 12<<
2010 Jaime Garcia STL 11<<
2009 Zack Greinke KC 10
2004 Jake Peavy SD 10
<<Active streaks
Jaime Garcia has been dominant so far in his rookie season.
- The Padres defeated the Phillies in extra-innings 6-5 thanks to 8.1 scoreless innings from their bullpen. The Phillies threatened in the bottom of the 10th but Tony Gwynn threw out Placido Polanco trying to go to third with one out on a single by Chase Utley. After giving up what would have been a game-tying single to Ryan Howard, Heath Bell struck out Jason Werth to end the game.
- Matt Capps blew his 4th save in his last 6 save opportunities as the Nationals lost to the Reds 5-4. The Nationals rallied to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth after a Scott Rolen HR had put the Reds up, but allowed a run in the 10th to lose for the 5th time in their last 6 games.
Matt Capps waits for the ball back from the umpire after allowing a HR to Scott Rolen blowing his 4th save in his last 6 opportunities.
- The Dodgers defeated the Braves 5-4 in 11 innings giving the Braves their 3rd walk-off win in their last 5 games. Martin Prado extended his hit streak to 11 games going 3-6 on the day. Prado also scored a run in the game which extended his run scoring streak to 11 games (longest in majors this season).
Most Hits – National League 2010
Martin Prado ATL 80
Ryan Braun MIL 71
Chase Headley SD 66
Albert Pujols STL 66
Andrew A. McCutchen PIT 66
Around the majors
- Rays defeat the Rangers to avoid the sweep and improve to a MLB best 22-8 on the road this season.
- Angles win their 5th straight with a 9-4 win over the Mariners. The Angels are now just a 1/2 game back of the AL West leading Texas Rangers. The Mariners have lost 3 straight and are a MLB-worst 5-16 in day games this season.
- The A’s improve to a MLB-best 11-4 in one-run games and avoid a sweep with a 5-4 win over the Twins.
The A's improved to a MLB-best 11-4 in one-run games with their 5-4 victory over the Twins yesterday.
- The Orioles defeat the Red Sox in 11 innings, snapping their 10-game losing streak and reward Juan Samuel with his first victory as a manager. The Red Sox are now a MLB-worst 1-7 in extra-innings this season.
Worst W-L this season – Extra Inning Games
Red Sox 1-7<<
Mariners 1-6
Nationals 1-5
<<0-4 vs Orioles
The Orioles defeated the Red Sox in 11 innings to improve to 4-0 vs them in extra-innings this season.
- The Yankees score 4 runs in the 8th inning to overcome a 2-0 deficit and avoid the sweep from the Blue Jays. Javier Vazquez won for the 4th time in his last 5 starts.
Help Fund for Cancer Survivors
I might as well use this blog to educate people that cancer survivors out there need your help. Many of us (myself included) have suffered awful side effects from the chemotherapy and radiation. As a result of my treatment, I now suffer from Hemochromotosis, Crohn’s Disease and Lymphedema. I had to retire in April 2008 after being diagnosed with Hemochromotosis. Disability payments are not NEARLY enough to live on an many of us in situations like mine need help. PLEASE help me by donating to a fund to start a foundation for cancer survivors. If you want more information or are looking want to become involved, check out our facebook page or email me.
Amazing Game 1s kick off Diamondmind postseason
National League Division Series
Cincinnati Reds (NL West Wild Card Winner, 84-77) at New York Mets (NL East Division Winner, 115-45)
Game 1 – Shea Stadium
Doc Gooden (31-3) faced off against Danny Jackson (17-9) in game one at Shea Stadium. Gooden pitched wonderfully and behind solo HRs from Greg Jefferies and Keith Hernandez the Mets took a 3-1 lead into the 9th inning. Randy Myers was ready in the bullpen, but Gooden looked strong retiring first Chris Sabo and then Bo Diaz on groundouts. Nick Esasky homered to cut the lead to 3-2, but it was just the 7th hit of the game for the Reds and Gooden still looked strong. Lloyd McClendon then hit a 1-2 pitch off the end of the bat and blooped the ball just over the reach of Kevin Elster. Still reluctant to go to the bullpen, Gooden stayed in the game. Herm Winningham pinch-ran for McClendon and promptly took advantage of Gooden’s high leck kick by stealing 2nd base. After getting ahead of Barry Larkin 1-2, Larkin worked the count full. Larkin then connected and hit the ball over the centerfield fence to give the Reds a 4-3 lead.
Barry Larkin gave the Reds the lead in the 9th with a HR off Doc Gooden. The Reds were down by 2 runs with 2 outs and nobody on before they rallied.
Gooden still remained in the game since he was due up in the bottom of the 9th and not wanting to use Myers for just one out, I kept him in. However, after a Julio Franco single, Gooden clearly had nothing left. Gooden was pulled for Randy Myers who then struck out Kal Daniels on three pitches. In my desire to see Gooden get a complete game win, I selfishly kept him in and now felt like I did after Mike Scoscia hit that 2-run HR off him in the 1988 NLCS with Myers warming up in the pen.
Despite my conscious telling me to take him out, I stayed with Doc who had suffered a meltdown similar to Game 4 of the 1988 NLCS.
As the Mets took their turn AB in the bottom of the 9th, I had very little hope of a comeback. John Franco came on to save the game for the Reds and quickly struck out Gary Carter for the first out. Tempted to pinch-hit for Kevin Elster I allowed him to hit and he singled through the left side. Wally Backman pinch-ran for Elster, who had collected three hits on the day. On Franco’s first pitch to pinch-hitter Mark Carreon (remember Franco is a lefty and the Mets had very few RH bats to come off the bench) Backman took off. Bo Diaz threw a bullet and Barry Larkin, still smarting from his 2-run homer in the top of the inning, was waiting with the ball to tag out Backman. Down to their final out, Carreon fell behind 0-2. After 2 straight balls he proceeded to foul off 4 straight pitches to stay alive. Franco then missed with his next 2 pitches to walk Carreon. Mookie Wilson strode to the plate as the winning run. Franco had not allowed a HR in 32.2 IP on the road this season. Wilson had not hit a walk-off HR in his career and only had 9 on the season. Wilson connected on a 2-1 pitch and drove the ball to left. Daniels ran back…back…back and watched the ball travel into the leftfield bullpen. The Mets take Game 1 in miraculous fashion and I am redeemed for my stupid managing.
Mookie came through big-time with a walk-off 2-run HR in the bottom of the 9th off John Franco.
American League Division Series
Toronto Blue Jays (AL East Wild Card Winner, 91-71) at Minnesota Twins (AL West Division Winner, 96-66)
Game 1 – Metrodome
The Blue Jays Mike Scott (7-2 with TOR, 14-10 overall) took on Frank Viola (21-8) in the Metrodome for Game 1 of the Blue Jays-Twins series. Gary Gaetti’s HR in the 2nd started things for the Twins as they scored 2 more runs in the third thanks to RBI hits by Kirby Puckett and Kent Hrbek. Viola was masterful as he allowed just 4 hits and only one run in his 8 innings while striking out 8 and walking none. For the Jays, Mike Scott settled in well after allowing 3 runs in the first 3 innings and threw a complete game allowing 6 hits while striking out 11. Jeff Reardon came on to get the save in the top of the 9th as the Twins took Game 1, 3-1.
Frank Viola threw 8 innings allowing just 4 hits and 1 run in the Twins 3-1 Game 1 win.
American League Division Series
Kansas City Royals (AL West Wild Card Winner, 88-73) at Milwaukee Brewers (AL East Division Winner, 103-59)
Game 1 – Milwaukee County Stadium
In Milwaukee 20-game winner Teddy Higuera (21-3) took on Mark Gubicza (19-11) in the Royals-Brewers Game 1. Higuera was masterful throwing a 7-hit shutout as the Brewers won 3-0. Gubicza went the distance as well, but allowed 11 hits and single runs in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th innings. Rob Deer was the only Brewer not to collect a hit, as Dale Sveum had 3 to lead the Brewers, while Ed Hearn collected 3 hits for the Royals in the loss. Darryl Hamilton, Robin Yount and B.J. Surhoff drove in runs for the Brewers.
Teddy Higuera was masterful as he dominated the Royals throwing a 7-hit shutout in Game 1 of the ALDS at Milwaukee.
National League Division Series
Chicago Cubs (NL East Wild Card Winner, 86-76) at San Francisco Giants (NL West Division Winner, 96-66)
Game 1 – Candlestick Park
In San Francisco Rick Reuschel (11-7) took on John Tudor (7-3 with CHC, 16-6 overall). Tudor was masterful throwing shutout baseball for the first 8 innings allowing just 4 hits. For the Giants, Rick Reuschel pitched well also going 8 innings before being removed for a PH in the bottom of the 8th. His replacement, Randy Bockus struck out 2 batters between a walk and the Cubs found themselves with 2 outs and a runner on 2nd after a passed ball with John Tudor coming to the plate. Inexplicably, Bockus walked Tudor while Bob Melvin allowed another passed ball on ball four, putting runners on first and third. Mitch Webster then hit a slow grounder that Kevin Mitchell couldn’t get to in time as a run scored and walking Tudor had come back to cost the Giants and Bockus. Ryan Sandberg then also walked and on his 4th ball, Bockus unloaded a wild pitch that allowed Tudor to score all the way from 2nd base, as Webster moved the 3rd and Sandberg to 2nd. Still staying with Bockus, Roger Craig saw Mark Grace single up the middle to score 2 more runs, all of this as a result of walking the pitcher with 2 outs.
Randy Bockus had a meltdown in the 9th inning after striking out 2 of the first 3 hitters. He then walked a pitcher, threw 3 wild pitches and gave up 4 runs.
After Terry Mulholland relieved Bockus the Cubs had a 7-0 lead and with Tudor on the mound, the game was over…Right?? Well, maybe not. Mulholland
got Andre Dawson to fly to left to finally end the inning. In the bottom of the 9th, Brett Butler worked a leadoff walk (Tudor’s first of the day). Robby Thompson then hit a 2-run HR to snap the shutout and put the “What if” game on Roger Craig’s mind that would have cut the lead to 3-2 if Bockus hadn’t of walked Tudor or been taken out right after he had. Tudor struck out Will Clark, then walked PH Chris Speier as he was clearly tiring. Don Zimmer lifted Tudor for Mike Bielecki as the Cubs still had a 7-2 lead with one out and a runner on first. PH Ernest Riles then singled to left. Zimmer again walking to the mound decided to bring in his closer despite it still not being a save situation.
Despite having a 7-2 lead and not yet in a save situation, Don Zimmer chose to bring in his closer in Game 1.
Sensing a bit of panic on the face of Zimmer and the Cubs, the crowd at Candlestick was on it’s feet. Candy Maldanado then worked the Giants third walk of the inning to load the bases. Bob Melvin, who had entered the game in the top of the inning for Kurt Manwaring and allowed 2 passed balls and a wild pitch, strode to the plate hoping to keep the rally going. Melvin quickly fell behind 0-2 but ripped a 2-2 pitch into center for a single that scored Speier and Riles and now amazingly brought the tying run to the plate. Now Randy Bockus and Roger Craig really felt small, as that hit would have won the game if those two hadn’t ruined things in the top of the 9th. Jose Uribe now represented the tying run as the Giants had cut the lead to 7-4 with 2 runners on. I thought about interrupting the game and PH Matt Williams for Uribe, but I made a promise not to interfere in these other games. I am only the manager for the Mets in this postseason…It’s good thing I didn’t interfere for the Giants part, as Uribe ripped a 2-0 pitch down the right field line scoring Maldanado and Melvin while Uribe hustled to third.
Jose Uribe tripled with one out to drive in two runs as the Giants had rallied from down 7-0 to put the tying run ninety feet away.
Amazingly the Giants now had the TYING run on third. As upset as they were that they SHOULD have already won this game, they now could have a chance to redeem everyone. Once again I thought of interfering with the pitchers spot coming up, but I let the Roger Craig decide whom to send up. Joel Youngblood was the PH for Terry Mulholland. I would have gone with Williams, but maybe Youngblood was a better choice because Williams is prone to the K. Youngblood failed to produce though as he flew out to shallow CF, keeping Uribe on third.
Just as it looked he was going to fail, Gossage got Brett Butler to fly out to left and give the Cubs a 7-6 win.
The Cubs celebrated a Game one win (yes I know that Carlos Zambrano and the 2008 Cubs, but pictures of the 1988 Cubs are scarce).
Mets look for sweep today after yesterday’s win over Marlins
Behind brilliant pitching from Jon Niese, the Mets won their 2nd straight game and improved on their major league leading 21 home wins. Niese went 7 innings and looked dominant at times. This was Niese’s 2nd win of the season, the other coming at Philadelphia on April 30. When Niese looks like he did yesterday, the Mets present and future look very bright as their rotation suddenly goes from worrisome to dependable. With Pelfrey and Santana being as dominant as they have been this season, Niese’s role on this pitching staff is critical. Let’s hope that yesterday’s start was the beginning of a consistent trend that will carry him through the rest of the season.
David Wright snapped a streak of 96 AB without a HR at Citifield. That marked the 3rd longest of his career at ANY stadium. He went 122 at-bats at Dolphin Stadium without a home run (2004–2008) and 102 ABs at Shea Stadium (2006).
David Wright – Longest HR droughts at MLB Parks
’04-08 Dolphin Stadium 122 AB
2006 Shea Stadium 102 AB
2010 Citifield 96 AB>>
>>Snapped streak with 2-run HR off Nate Robertson yesterday
David Wright hit his first HR at Citifield since Opening Day in the Mets win yesterday.
Jeff Francouer continued his hot hitting by going 2-4 with an RBI. He now has RBI in 3 consecutive games and has a 9-game hitting streak. Here is a breakdown of Francouer’s incredibly streaky season.
Games 10 29 17
BA .457 .124 .379
RBI 7 12 11
Multi-hit games 6 0 7
First Column: April 5-16, 2nd Column: April 17-May 18, 3rd Column: May 19-Present.
Jeff Francouer can lift his head up with his solid play of late.
With a win today the Mets will have their first 3-game win streak vs the Marlins since September 21-23, 2007 when the Mets were attempting to hold on to the NL East lead. For those of you who remember, in the first game of that four-game set, the Mets trailed 4-3 entering the 9th inning when they rallied for 4 runs thanks in part to a PH 3-run double by Marlon Anderson and a big 2-out hit by Carlos Beltran. Taking a 7-4 into the bottom of the ninth, Billy Wagner was unavailable due to back pain. Jorge Sosa and Pedro Feliciano were unable to hold on to the lead as the Marlins rallied for 3 runs to tie the game. The Marlins won it in the bottom of the 10th on a Dan Uggla double.
I remember seeing the Phillies reaction to this loss on SportsCenter and they were jumping all around and celebrating. That ONE game cost the Mets a postseason berth.
The Marlins celebrate as Hanley Ramirez scores the winning run in a game that cost the Mets the 2007 NL East title.
Ike Davis breaks into rare territory
Ike Davis collected his first career 4-hit game yesterday while scoring 3 runs in the Mets 6-1 win. Davis became just the 5th first baseman in Mets history to go 4-4 or better with 3 runs scored.
Mets First Baseman to Go 4-4 or Better With 3 Runs Scored
2010 Ike Davis vs FLA W, 6-1
2002 Mo Vaughn vs MTL L, 11-8
1998 John Olerud vs MT L W, 8-4
1985 Keith Hernandez vs SD W, 12-4
1965 Jim Hickman vs STL W, 6-3
Around the majors
- The Braves rallied to score 7 runs in the 7th inning and overcome a 2-0 deficit to win their 10th game in last 11.
- The Phillies snapped a 12-game streak of scoring 3 runs or less with a 6-2 win over the Padres. In that game Jamie Moyer became just the 3rd pitcher in MLB history to win 100 games after turning 40 years old. Moyer threw his 2nd complete game of the season last night, and at age 47 he is the 2nd oldest pitcher in MLB history to throw a complete game (Phil Niekro was the oldest).
Most Wins after turning 40 – Major League History
Phil Niekro 121
Jack Quinn 104
Jamie Moyer 100>>
>> Includes win Saturday
Digger Phelps son-in-law became the 3rd pitcher in MLB history to win 100 games after his 40th birthday.
- The Reds defeated the Nationals behind Mike Leake who is now 5-0 in his rookie season. Leake joined Johnny Couch in 1922, Herm Wehmeier in 1948 and Santo Alcala in 1976 as the only other Reds pitchers to win their first five decisions in their rookie season.
- Dontrelle Willis made his first start as a Diamondback and threw 6 shutout innings in Arizona’s 4-3 win over the Rockies.
Dontrelle Willis was all smiles in winning his first start with the Diamondbacks.
- The Blue Jays defeated the Yankees 3-2 in 14 innings to thwart Andy Pettitte’s chance of becoming the 3rd player to win 200 career games with the Yankees (Whitey Ford and Red Ruffing are the others). Mark Teixeira struck out 5 times in the Yankees loss.
Yankees to strike out 5 times in a game – team history
Mark Teixeira 2010 vs TOR
Melky Cabrera 2007 vs LAA
Andy Phillips 2005 vs TB
Bernie Williams 1991 vs KC
Stan Bahnsen 1968 vs CAL
Mark Teixiera joined a rare list of Yankees with his 5 K performance in yesterday's 3-2 loss to the Blue Jays.
- Tommy Hunter’s complete game helped the Rangers defeat the Rays to send the Rays to their 8th loss in last 12 games. Josh Hamilton homered for the Rangers and now is 10-22 in June.
- Jon Lester improved to 11-0 vs the Orioles in his career. After going 0-2 with a 8.44 ERA in his first 3 starts, Lester in now 7-0 with a 1.29 ERA in his last 9 starts.
Farwell to a legend
John Wooden passed away last night in a hospital in Los Angeles. The former UCLA head coach was 99. Wooden was the greatest college basketball coach of all-time, appearing in 12 Final Fours and winning 10 championships. He appeared in 10 consecutive Final Fours from 1967-76, during which he won 7 straight championships from 1967-73. He also coached UCLA during it’s record 88-game win streak for Division I schools. He will be very dearly missed.
Most Final Four Wins – Head Coaches
John Wooden, UCLA 21 <
Mike Krzyzewski, Duke 12
Adolph Rupp, Kentucky 9
Dean Smith, North Carolina 8
< 21-3, .875 win pct
The "Wizard of Westwood" won 10 NCAA Championships at UCLA
Mets defeat Marlins 4-3 behind R.A. Dickey
The Mets snapped their 6-game losing streak vs the Marlins last night with a 4-3 win. The Mets rallied from down 3-0 to win their MLB best 20th game at home. R.A. Dickey improved to 3-0 as a starter this season and K-Rod notched his 11th save despite making it interesting again in the 9th. Jeff Francouer continues his Dr. Jekyll season as he is now hit in 8 straight games going 14-28 over that span. This after coming off a 18-105 (.171) span from April 21 to May 26.
Jeff Francouer continued his hot hitting of late (14-28 during current 8-game hit streak) as the Mets won their MLB best 20th home game.
Jose Reyes in the clutch – What once was to what now is
During the Mets 2006 season Jose Reyes drove in 81 runs for the Mets despite hitting in the leadoff spot. A major reason why he drove in that many runs was because he collected a large number of hits with 2 outs and RISP (runners in scoring position). Reyes had an uncanny knack to always seemingly come through in those spots. However since that 2006 season, Reyes has completely done a *180 as far as coming through in the clutch. Here are some numbers for Reyes with 2 outs and RISP.
Jose Reyes; RISP with 2 outs
5/24/06 to end of season 2007-Current
H-AB 23-43 41-183>
BA .535 .224
RBI 36 54
> .153 (9-59) since 7/30/08
Jose Reyes needs to look to the heavens to help him get back his 2 out stroke
Jose Reyes – The next Gary Templeton?
For those of you who thought they at one time remember Reyes being very clutch, these numbers back up your memory. Why has Reyes performed so poorly in the clutch the last few years? Will he ever revert back to what he was in 2006? That brings up another interesting trend that I think about with Reyes. He was so good and had such a promising future after the 2006 season and through much of the 2007 season, people thought of him as one day being a possible MVP candidate. After seeing him perform in the last couple seasons and noticing the trend his career is taking, I’m reminded of another SS who at one time was considered the next greatest thing. Here is how Reyes compares with that player through his first 3,569 AB.
Jose Reyes vs Gary Templeton; Through 3,569 AB
Reyes Templeton
BA .284 .296
OBP .335 .318
Slug .429 .408
Hits 1,014 1,055
Runs 581 523
RBI 346 349
3B 77 77
All-Star App. 2 2
Silver Sluggers 1 1
The numbers are eerily similar. The unfortunate thing about Templeton was that after a great start to his career (he was one of two switch-hitters in MLB history – Willie Wilson in 1980 was the other) to collect 100 hits from each side of the plate when he had 111 batting left-handed and 100 batting right-handed during the 1979 season. Templeton had speed (has the same number of triples as Reyes) hit for average (currently 12 points higher than Reyes) and was an excellent fielder (no gold gloves, mostly thanks to the player he was later traded for – Ozzie Smith). No one really ever explained why Templeton dropped off so much after the 1981 season.
Much like Jose Reyes, Gary Templeton was considered "Mr. Do it All" by major sports publications.
Gary Templeton – Per Season Averages
1976-81 1982-1991
BA .305 .250
OBP .325 .291
Slug Pct. .418 .338
Hits 152 119
Runs 74 45
3B 12 4
That is a HUGE drop-off. Looking at Reyes numbers the last 2 seasons I’m starting to worry that he might be headed in the same direction. The first time I noticed that Reyes was beginning to struggle was in September of 2007. Not only did the Mets suffer a historic collapse, but Reyes seemed to popup to SS every other AB (a trend he has continued this season) . Starting with September 1, 2007 until last night is a span of 273 games. I have compared his last 273 games with his previous 273 games going backwards from August 31, 2007. Here’s how the numbers line up.
Jose Reyes Last 273 games compared to previous 273 games
Last 273 Games Previous 273 Games
BA .277 .300
H 323 346
Runs 179 210
HR 21 28
RBI 112 122
SB 86 132
Reyes numbers have slipped enough in the last 3 seasons to warrant a concern.
A key stat there is stolen bases, as Reyes has stolen 46 less bases over that span. These numbers don’t SCREAM out, but there is a bit of cause for concern. Hopefully this will be the last time that Reyes and Templeton are mentioned by me. That would mean that Jose has returned to 2006-07 form.
Honorable Mention
Florida International shortstop Garrett Wittels doubled yesterday to extend his hit streak to 55 games. It’s the 2nd-longest streak in Division I history. Wittels is one of 9 players in NCAA or Professional baseball history to have a hit streak of 50 games or more. Wittels is just 3 games shy of tying Robin Ventura for the longest hitting streak in NCAA Division I baseball history.
Garrett Wittels extended his hit streak to 55 games last night. He is just 3 shy of tying Robin Ventura for the NCAA Division I record for hits in consecutive games.
Players with Hits in 50 Consecutive Games – Professional and NCAA Baseball History
1919 Joe Wilhoit Wichita Jobbers (Independent) 69
1933 Joe DiMaggio San Francisco Seals (AA) 61
2001-03 Damian Costantino Salve Regina (D-III, Rhode Island) 60
1987 Robin Ventura Oklahoma State (D-I) 58
1941 Joe DiMaggio New York Yankees 56
2010 Garrett Wittels Florida International (D-I) 55
1954 Roman Mejias Waco Pirates (Class B Minors) 55
For Those Geeks Who Love Computer Baseball
For those of you who are interested in Diamond-Mind Baseball, I replayed the 1988 season with the Mets, since that was my favorite Mets team of all-time. Strawberry SHOULD have won MVP (hit 39 HR and drove in 101 runs), McMeaningless hit 27 HR with 99 RBI. Doc has his last good season with the Mets winning 18 games and Craig Jefferies hit .321 after a late August call up.
The 1988 Mets easily won the NL East in the Diamondmind season replay
Here are some season stats for my Diamond-Mind team. By the way, the Mets won the NL East with a 115-45 record. Four players drove in over 100 runs (Strawberry 152, McReynolds 128, Carter 112 and Hojo 101.) In addition to hitting 54 HR and driving in 152 runs, Strawberry also stole 53 bases to become the majors first 50-50 player. McReynolds and Hojo also had 30-30 seasons.
Doc led the Mets in all pitching categories going 31-3 with a 1.82 ERA while finishing with 28 CG and 4 shutouts.
Mets pitchers dominate
On the mound Doc (31-3), Ojeda (20-6) and Cone (21-3) all won 20 games while Ron Darling won 18 and Sid Fernandez won 17. The Mets led the league with 66 complete games as Gooden had 28 of them. Gooden led the team with a 1.82 ERA and 4 shutouts, while Fernandez and Darling each had 3 shutouts. Randy Myers led the bullpen with 26 saves and also led the team with 42 appearances as I very rarely would use the bullpen.
The Mets will get the NL West Wild Card winner (I put 4 teams in each league in the playoffs) in the Cincinnati Reds who took off after trading for Julio Franco in late July, in the first round of the playoffs. The San Francisco Giants won the West, thanks to trading for Bryan Harvey in late July to sure up their bullpen. The Chicago Cubs, thanks to picking up John Tudor midway through the season, who the NL East Wild Card and will play the Giants in the first round.
NL First Round Playoff Matchups (Best-of-five)
New York Mets vs Cincinnati Reds (Mets have home field)
San Francisco Giants vs Chicago Cubs (Giants have home field)
Other key stats: Wally Backman led the Mets with a .338 BA. The Mets led the majors with 257 stolen bases as 6 players finished with at least 30 SB (Strawberry 53, Backman 40, McReynolds 33, Wilson/Johnson 32 and Dykstra 30). The Mets finished 7 runs shy of scoring 1,000 runs as 3 Mets scored over 100 runs (Strawberry 140, McReynolds 119 and Johnson 106) while the Mets also led the majors with 246 HR.
Darryl Strawberry led the majors in HR, RBI and runs scored while becoming the first 50-50 player in MLB history.
Leaders Around the Majors
Overall Mark Grace of the Cubs led the majors with a .378 BA while Kirby Puckett led the majors with 241 hits. Strawberry led the majors in runs (140), HR (54) and RBI (152) and tied for the majors lead with Andres Galarraga for most extra-base hits (91).
Mark Grace led the majors with a .378 BA while the Cubs won the NL East Wild Card.
On the mound, Teddy Higuera (21-3) and Frank Viola (21-7) each finished with 20 wins along with Gooden, Cone and Ojeda. Roger Clemens led the majors with 265 Ks. Dennis Eckersley led the majors converting 35 of 38 save opportunities.
In the American League, the Milwaukee Brewers thanks to a mid-June blockbuster trade with California that saw Johnny Ray, Wally Joyner and Chili Davis join the team (the Angels received Gary Sheffield, Bill Schroeder, Jim Ganter, Glenn Braggs and Greg Brock) won the AL East with a 103-59 record. In the West, the Twins behind Frank Viola and Kirby Puckett, easily won the division finishing with 96 wins.
Robin Yount and Paul Molitor along with new additions Wally Joyner, Johnny Ray and Chili Davis, helped the Brewers win the AL East.
American League Wild Card Drama
The AL Wild Cards in the East and West came down to the final day of the season. In the East, the Blue Jays led by Mike Flanagan shut out the Orioles, 4-0 to clinch the Wild Card over the Red Sox who had won behind a brilliant pitching performance by Bruce Hurst.
In the West, the Oakland A’s entered the final day 1-and-a-half games behind the Kansas City Royals. The A’s needed to win their game, while the Royals had to lose which would set up a make-up game in the Kingdome between the Royals and the Mariners. If the Royals lost that game as well then the Royals and A’s would play in Kansas City in a one-game playoff. In Oakland, Bob Welch won his 16th game with a 4-1 complete game victory. In Kansas City, Nolan Ryan (who was acquired at the trade deadline) took on the White Sox and Bill Long. Behind 8 strong innings of 7-hit pitching, the Royals defeated the White Sox 5-3 to clinch the AL West Wild Card. The Royals were 7 and-a-half games back on September 3rd, but finished the season 22-5 including taking 6 of 7 games from the A’s. Along with obtaining Ryan, the Royals also acquired Fred Lynn and Eddie Murray from the Orioles on the final day of July. Lynn hit 14 HR and drove in 35 runs while manning the lead-off spot for the Royals in his 45 games with the team.
Trading deadline acquisition Fred Lynn's 14 HR and 35 RBI in 45 games for the Royals helped them rally from 7.5 games back on September 3 to win the Wild Card in the AL West.
AL First Round Playoff Matchups (best-of-five)
Milwaukee Brewers vs Kansas City Royals (Brewers have HF)
Minnesota Twins vs Toronto Blue Jays (Twins have HF)
Inside the numbers
Two players who were both traded this season were the only players to have multiple walk-off hits. Glenn Braggs defeated Jerry Reed and the Seattle Mariners on August 8th on a walk-off single as a member of the California Angels. Then on June 20th when he was a member of the Milwaukee Brewers, Braggs defeated Eric Plunk and the Oakland A’s on a walk-off HR. Mitch Webster did the same thing as a member of both the Montreal Expos (hit a walk-off HR against Todd Worrell on August 10) and the Chicago Cubs (hit a walk-off HR against Atlee Hammaker on July 18).
Mitch Webster collected walk-off HR with 2 different teams
Four pitchers threw no-hitters. Frank Viola defeated the Rangers 3-0 on June 1. Floyd Bannister of the Royals defeated the Athletics 4-0 on September 18. Jim Deshaies of the Astros defeated the Braves 4-0 on September 27, and Jose Guzman of the Texas Rangers defeated the Mariners 6-0 on September 29.
Frank Viola was one of four pitchers to toss a no-hitter
Barry Bonds of the Pirates hit 4 homers in a game on September 18 vs the Phillies (this was the pre-steroid Bonds mind you). Dave Martinez of the Cubs and Rickey Henderson of the Yankees were the only players to collect 6 hits in a game. Keith Hernandez drove in 10 runs in a game for the Mets on June 5. David Cone and Roger Clemens each struck out a season-high 14 batters in a game.
Barry Bonds (pre-steroid) tied a major league record when he hit 4 homers in a game on September 18.
I will keep you updated on what happens in the playoffs. I just though some of you real baseball geeks out there (you know who you are!) would appreciate this thread.
Twenty-two years ago today I attended a Cubs-Mets game at Shea Stadium that saw the Mets blow the lead in the top of the ninth, tie it in the bottom of the 9th, lose the lead in the 11th, tie it again, and then win it on a Kevin McReynolds HR in the bottom of the 13th. Twenty-two years later and I still haven’t forgotten that game.
One of my LEAST favorite Mets provided joy for Mets fans on this day 22 years ago
Wooden in Grave Condition
Reports from ESPN say that former UCLA Head Coach John Wooden is in grave condition in an LA hospital. Coach Wooden was one of my idols when I coached high school basketball in the 1990s. I have a letter that he mailed to me after I had contacted him. That was back in 1999. I looked at that letter this morning. It is one of the most treasured things I own. If you really want a good book to read, purchase “Wooden: A lifetime of observations and and reflections on and off the court”. It’s a great book and will help people to prioritize things in their life.
Lakers grab 1-0 lead of Celtics in NBA Finals
Kobe Bryant and Phil Jackson passed Scottie Pippen and Phil Jackson last night for the most combined playoff wins for a player and coach by winning their 111th game. Kobe scored 30 points and Pau Gasol had 23 in the win for the Lakers. Game 2 is on Sunday at LA.
Most Postseason Wins By Player-Coach Combination NBA History
Kobe Bryant & Phil Jackson 111
Scottie Pippen and Phil Jackson 110
Derek Fisher and Phil Jackson 105
Michael Jordan and Phil Jackson 105
Tim Duncan and Gregg Popovich 105
Kobe and Phil now have the most wins for a player-coach combo in NBA playoff history
Braves win again and other notes around MLB
The Braves won their ninth straight game last night, defeating the Dodgers 4-3 and are now a MLB best 23-8 since May 1. During their 9-game streak the Braves have tied a franchise-high by not allowing more than 3 runs in any of those games.
Manny Ramirez and the Dodgers "fell" short of stopping the Braves winning streak last night
Josh Johnson’s streak of scoreless innings ends at 31, but the Marlins defeat the Brewers, 3-2 taking 3 of 4 from them. The Marlins now travel to Citifield where they have taken 6 of 7 games from the Mets this season (they are 2-1 at Citifield).
Most Consecutive IP This Season Allowing 0 ER
Josh Johnson FLA 31
Mike Pelfrey NYM 27.1
Ubaldo Jimenez COL 26<
Ubaldo Jimenez COL 25.1
<Active Streak
Ubaldo Jimenez has 2 streaks of at least 25 consecutive scoreless innings this season
The Boston Red Sox lost to the Oakland A’s last night, 9-8 despite collecting 18 hits and 10 extra-base hits. It was only the second time in Red Sox history that they lost a nine-inning game in which they had 18 or more hits and 10-plus extra-base hits.
In Kansas City, Zack Greinke fell to 1-7 overall this season as the Royals lost to the Angels 5-4. Greinke’s 1-7 start is the worst in MLB history for a previous years Cy Young Award winner.
Mets start 3-game series with Marlins tonight
The Marlins take their 6-1 mark vs the Mets to Citifield tonight. The Marlins have now won 5 straight games vs the Mets. Dating back to last year the Mets are 1-5 in their last 6 home games vs the Fish. At least the Mets won’t have to face Josh Johnson, who pitched last night in the Marlins 3-2 win over the Brewers. Since losing on Opening Day to the Mets, the Marlins have won 6 straight vs them, averaging 6 runs per game in those wins.
Oh, how the Marlins, especially Jorge Cantu and Hanley Ramirez, love to hit at Citifield
Most RBI for visiting players - Jorge Cantu: 13
Highest BA for visiting players – Hanley Ramirez: .389 (min 35 PA)
Most HR for visiting players – Jorge Cantu: 4 (tied)
Most hits for visiting players - Hanley Ramirez, Jorge Cantu: 14
Hanley Ramirez and Jorge Cantu love hitting at Citifield
Another disturbing trend for Mets fans is how badly outplayed Jose Reyes is whenever Hanley Ramirez is in town. While Ramirez LOVES to beat up on the Mets, Reyes seems to disappear.
Reyes vs Marlins; Ramirez vs Mets
Last 2 Seasons
Reyes Ramirez
Games 10 23
BA .130> .356
Runs 4 13
RBI 4 14
>6-46
After much thought, I finally have decided to try my hand at blogging.
So in the hope of keeping people coming back to read, I thought it necessary to delve out a few facts about the author of this blog.
My official blog site is called hopeisthebestofthings.wordpress.com. Why that?? Well, overall it speaks to how I view many of life’s situations, and I loved when Andy Dufresne used that line in “The Shawshank Redemption”.
I am 36 years old and retired. I worked as a researcher at ESPN for 10 years before I had to retire due to health issues. Not to get into too much detail, I am a cancer survivor who was diagnosed with a rare-skeletal muscle disease in December of 1990. The treatments nearly killed me since that was back in the day when the treatment for cancer was still barbaric. Because of the side effects of the chemotherapy and radiation treatments, I suffer today from three other diseases which is why I had to retire from ESPN in April of 2008.
I am currently working to start a foundation that helps cancer survivors who suffer from the side effects of this horrible disease. If you are interested in learning more or helping out, please send me along a note.
While I was at ESPN I was published a few times. I will post the links at the bottom of this blog.
By January of 1992 I was done with treatments and considered cancer-free. In April of 1992 I was sent by Make-A-Wish to the Final Four. There I got to meet Dick Vitale who has been a wonderful friend to me ever since. While I was there I also met Jim Valvano, who just then was starting to notice that his back was bothering him (he would eventually die of cancer in 1993).
Dick and I at the 1992 Final Four in Minneapolis.
Dick has been a great friend to me over the years and we still keep in touch. I saw him two weeks ago at a fund raiser for cancer research for the V Foundation. While working for ESPN I had the chance to work with many great athletes and anchors. Many of them are still good friends of mine.
I am an avid sports fan who has been trained well by my research back round to always look deeper into the games and to why teams win or lose.
I will cover a variety of topics here. Everything from of course sports, to movies to TV shows to Charles Dickens. I hope that those of you who start reading, will continue.
That’s just a small back round on me which I thought was necessary to properly introduce myself.
Now on to the topics…
Why can’t the Mets win on the road?
Staggering…After 3 straight shutouts of the Phillies at home, the Mets lost 4 of 6 games to the Brewers and Padres. Johan Santana gives up ZERO runs in 15 innings on the trip and the Mets LOSE both games. Jason Bay and Jose Reyes, after breaking out a bit on the previous homestand, once again disappear. The Mets have not won consecutive road games since last July 25–26 in Houston, a span of 55 games. They’re the only major-league team that hasn’t won consecutive road games this season. The Mets’ streak of 55 road games without consecutive wins is the third-longest in team history. The only longer streaks spanned the 1963–64 seasons (64 games) and the 1962–63 seasons (60 games).
David Eckstein was his typical self pest by knocking in the tying run of Francisco Rodriguez with 2 outs on a 0-2 pitch in the bottom of the 9th. Adrian Gonzalez grand slam off Raul Valdez in the 11th won the game for the Padres.
K-Rod shaky again?
The loss yesterday was especially troubling since K-Rod blew the save. He threw 46 pitches yesterday, this combined with throwing 30 in Tuesday night’s win. I decided to look closer at his outings this season just to see if this is becoming a real problem. The last 2 outings (last night and Tuesday) were the first this season in which K-Rod threw more than 30 pitches in any appearance. The 46 he threw yesterday was the most he threw in any outing since July 2, 2009 vs the Pirates in a game where he blew the save in the bottom of the 9th, but after the Mets took the lead in the top of the 10th he was able to close things down in the bottom of the inning. Yesterday also marked just the 2nd time in his short career with the Mets that K-Rod has allowed runs in consecutive appearances. The other time occurred with the previously mentioned game vs the Pirates last season followed by a game on July 8th where he allowed a home run to Manny Ramirez. The last time that K-Rod had allowed runs in consecutive GAMES was April 4-5, 2007 with the Angels. This was only the third time in his career which he had allowed runs in consecutive games.
K-Rod allowing runs in consecutive games
August 18-19, 2004
April 4-5, 2007
June 1-2, 2010
He appeared in 143 games between August 19, 2004 and April 5, 2007. He then appeared in 231 games between April 5, 2007 and June 2, 2010.
Overall this season K-Rod has been good as before the last 2 games he had allowed a run in just 4 of his previous 23 appearances, so let’s hope the high pitch counts and allowing runs in consecutive games things isn’t something that is going to continue.
K-Rod allowed runs in consecutive games for just the 3rd time in his career.
What is going on with Jason Bay?
The struggles on the road of Bay are quite puzzling. So far in 2010 Bay has appeared in 54 games. Here are his numbers this season through 54 games compared to his first 6 seasons in the majors.
Overall
2010: HR: 3 RBI: 23 Slug Pct. .445
2009: HR: 16 RBI: 52 Slug Pct. .618
2008: HR: 13 RBI: 28 Slug Pct. .555
2007: HR: 9 RBI: 41 Slug Pct. .536
2006: HR: 17 RBI: 45 Slug Pct. .592
2005: HR: 11 RBI: 26 Slug Pct. .550
2004: HR: 13 RBI: 40 Slug Pct. .618
The Mets road uniform has not treated Jason Bay well this season.
Road Numbers through first 54 games
2010: HR: 0 RBI: 5
2009: HR: 10 RBI: 27
2008: HR: 4 RBI: 9
2007: HR: 6 RBI: 21
2006: HR: 10 RBI: 17
2005: HR: 9 RBI: 17
2004: HR: 6 RBI: 21
It’s quite amazing when looking at those numbers how off his power numbers have been this season. You would like to be able to blame the dimensions of CitiField a little bit, but that argument doesn’t hold any water since Bay has all of his 3 HR at home, while driving in 18 runs and posting a slugging pct. of .584.
Jason Bay of 2010 reminds me a lot of Jeremy Burnitz of 2002. Burnitz was coming off of 4 straight seasons of 30 HR and at least 98 RBI while playing in Milwaukee. After hitting 7 HR through his first 29 games, Burnitz hit just 5 in his next 100 games and finished the season with just 19 HR and 54 RBI, while playing in 154 games!
To be fair to Jason Bay, his overall game this season has been very good. He is a much better fielder and base runner than I remember him being. His average is what it has usually been for his entire career so far. So why has his power numbers dropped so drastically?
One could argue that Bay hit his 36 HR and drove in his 119 RBI in the American League last season which overall is a much better league for hitters because of smaller stadiums and the DH. However, when Bay played for the Pirates from 2004-07, Bay averaged 29 HR and 94 RBI playing in basically the same parks he has played in this season. Most baseball people like to point out that Bay is streaky, which he is, but after 2 full months of baseball, I think it’s fair to say that the “being streaky” argument is starting to lose weight.
The Return of Carlos Beltran?
I will be very interested to see just how much Bay’s numbers improve once the Mets get back Carlos Beltran, which they actually might very soon. Reports on Beltran have been very positive lately and he might be playing in extended spring training games very soon.
I have no idea what kind of performance Beltran will give the Mets when he comes back. Everything I have read of him says he feels stronger now than he has ever felt, and those that have watched him hit batting practice say the ball is jumping off his bat. While the baseball world would love to see the return of the old Carlos Beltran who was one of the best players in the game, people should allow him a little time to get his groove back.
The return of Carlos Beltran will bring a smile to many Mets fans.
It’ll be very interesting to see the affect Beltran has on the rest of this lineup as well. If he is anything like he has been throughout his career, the Mets go from an average offensive team to a very good offensive team with very few weak spots in their order. Just his presence alone should help David Wright and Jose Reyes who have both struggled much more without Beltran in the lineup.
Media Matters
For those of you who enjoy watching a good miniseries on TV, I have recently been enjoying many titles produced by BBC. One of my favorites is a trilogy called the “House of Cards” starring the late Ian Richardson as Francis Urquhart. Gripping and suspenseful it gives one a look into the dirty world of politics. His character is a very unique one, as you can’t help but like him despite all of the things he does.
For the females or even the males as I myself liked this miniseries very much, search NetFlix or Blockbuster or your local library for “Cranford“. Starring Judi Dench, this takes place in the English countryside around the mid-to late 1800s. The characters are very good and it plays on both your heart and humorous sides.
For those of you who enjoy the classics, I would suggest picking up a copy of Charles Dickens “The Pickwick Papers” which was one of the few comedies that Dickens wrote. The humor isn’t like that of Monty Python or Mr. Bean, but much like that humor it is for the quick minded. Others of you who like Dickens more serious side, I would suggest picking up “Bleak House“, as the words Jarndyce and Jarndyce will forever remain in your minds.
Other articles by me published on the internet
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=research/080128
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/playoffs2003/news/story?id=1629053
http://a.espncdn.com/mlb/s/2003/0717/1581988.html
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=3114212
The author can be reached by email at ckmagic3205@yahoo.com
