Best Games I Know: Bad Pitcher, Good Game

So after doing the Tom Seaver compilation, I felt like I should go in the opposite direction. Instead of looking up the best wins from the best starter in Mets history, why not look up the best WINS by the WORST starters in Mets history.

Admittedly, worsthood is in the eye of the beholder, so there's some significant subjectivity involved in this list. I made a printout of every Mets starting pitcher's linescore for games IN WHICH THEY WON and had a Game Score of 80 or better, than sifted through the names. If my initial reaction on seeing a name was "(SIGH)," he's on this list.

The 82

Mike Bruhert: 9 IP, 0 R, 4 H, 5 K, W, 2-0 at Phillies, September 17, 1978

No offense to the former pitching coach at Fordham University (he was also Gil Hodges' son-in-law for a time), but I think even Mike Bruhert would tell you that he didn't have a particularly good season in his one year in the big leagues. Consider that in 1978:

* His ERA was 4.78 in a year in which the NL ERA was 3.47

* He was 6-6, 220 pounds, yet he averaged 3.8 strikeouts per 9 innings

* He threw 10 wild pitches and made 5 errors

* He was 3-for-40 as a hitter

But that doesn't mean he wasn't capable of one moment of greatness amongst his four victories. For Bruhert, that happened to come in the thick of a pennant race. With the Phillies neck-and-neck with the Pirates, Bruhert stymied their offense completely, yielding only four harmless hits. Details on this game are somewhat scarce because of a newspaper strike, but Bruhert was so unfazed by a lineup that would make the playoffs for the second straight season that he nearly duplicated the feat six days later, losing to Philadelphia, 1-0. He should have stopped right there. In his next start, the last of his career, the Cubs mauled Bruhert for five runs in four innings.

True Metherts know...Mike Bruhert is tied for the Mets record for fewest home runs allowed in a season of 20+ starts. Bruhert allowed 6 home runs in 22 starts in 1978, tying him with Bob Ojeda, who allowed 6 home runs in 29 starts in 1988.

The other 82

Eric Hillman: 9 IP, 0 R, 5 H, 5 K, W, 4-0 at Dodgers, July 25, 1993

In a prior post, we mentioned the amazin'ness of Hillman's start/win ratio with the Mets (36 starts, 4 wins). What we failed to mention was that the starts that were wins were pretty darn good, like this one, which followed eight innings of shutout, 3-hit ball in San Diego.

This win got a little lost in the shuffle, since it came the same day of revelations that Vince Coleman was a firecracker-thrower. Hillman induced 15 groundouts and didn't walk a batter, providing a memorable moment for an otherwise extraordinarily forgettable season.

True Metsmans know...In Eric Hillman's 4 wins, he had an ERA of 1.05. In his 45 other appearances, he had an ERA of 5.51.

Yet another 82

Charlie Puleo: 9 IP, 0 R, 4 H, 4 K, W, 6-0. vs Padres, May 11, 1982

It's hard to call Charlie Puleo mediocre, when his Mets record wound up 9-9, so we'll avoid that, and we'll also salute him for this pitching performance, the best in a season in which his ERA was 4.47 and his walks-per-9 rate was 4.7.

Puleo walked only one in this game, the only career shutout for the local guy from Glen Ridge, NJ, whose claim to fame would be his inclusion in the deal that brought George Foster to the Mets that winter.

Puleo's aberrational dominance should rank high on a list like this. The Padres only got one man to second base, and he was eliminated quickly, by the third out in the second inning. The rest was smooth sailing and flawless, with Dave Kingman leading an offensive charge with a home run and 4 RBI. The Mets were 16-15 at this point, and Puleo had 4 of those wins. But it wouldn't last.

True Metleos know...Charlie Puleo's Mets career began with him not allowing an earned run in his first 14 1/3 innings of work.


The last of the 82s

Alay Soler: 9 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 2 K, W, 5-0 at Diamondbacks, June 10, 2006


Whatever happened to this guy anyway? Soler's career basically toileted after his Yankee Stadium debacle later in the season Apparently he signed with the Astros a couple weeks back, and I sense a Kris Benson-esque revenge scenario should he ever face the Mets again.


This wasn't exactly dominance at its finest (hence only an 82, for a 2-hit shutout), but it was still pretty impressive, considering that Soler outpitched then 8-0 Brandon Webb, yielding only a pair of harmless doubles. Yes, he struck out only two, but of the rest of the outs, 15 came on ground balls. Soler's future looked pretty bright, but he hasn't won in the big leagues since.


True Metlers know...Steve Trachsel and Mark Bomback are the only other Mets pitchers to throw a shutout of at least nine innings, allowing two hits or fewer, while striking out two or fewer. Bomback's is the most impressive, since he did it in 1980 against the eventual champion Phillies. Trachsel's was actually a one-hitter at the Angels.

The 83

Nino Espinosa: 9 IP, 1 R, 4 H, 7 K, W, 6-1 vs Pirates, July 15, 1977

You could have called this list "The Espinosas" in honor of Nino, who actually had four wins with Game Scores of 80 or better as a Met. Actually, we kind of cheated a little bit to include him, because Espinosa had two seasons as a regular Mets starter- one good, one decidedly mediocre- and we pulled from his good year.


It came against the Pirates, on the one-month anniversary of the Mets trading Tom Seaver to the Reds, and you could even call Espinosa's effort Seaver-esque. He went the distance, allowing only an unearned run, and his strikeout total was particularly unusual. Admittedly, this was against a lineup that included Mario Mendoza, so let's not get totally carried away.


It was a banner day for Mike Vail, who went 4-for-4 in the 90 degree heat, the last of a 9-game hit streak that would be his second-longest as a Met. For those who don't recall, his longest hit streak was 23 games, then a club-record.

True Metspinosas know...Nino Espinosa's 76 strikeouts in 1978 are the fewest of any Mets pitcher to pitch 200+ innings in a season.

The 86
Tracy Stallard, 9 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 7 K, W, 10-0 vs Braves, July 25, 1964

I wanted this to be a list primarily of pitchers I'd lived through, but I felt like I had to incorporate someone from the Mets early years. I couldn't bring myself to call Al Jackson a not-so-good pitcher, so instead, I picked Tracy Stallard, who wasn't all that bad either.

Stallard lost 20 games in 1964 but pitched reasonably well, to a 3.79 ERA in a league in which the final tally was 3.54. He's best known for allowing Roger Maris' 61st home run, which was actually good for him, because it brought a lot of publicity to a guy who finished 30-57.

This was one of those rare blowout shutouts for theose early Mets, one in which Stallard settled in and allowed next-to-nothing, as the Braves only had one at-bat all game with a runner in scoring position. It also happened to be among the best days in the careers of Tim Harkness (4 hits) and George Altman (HR, 3 RBI) who powered the Mets to an easy win.

True Metlards know...By my count, five pitchers who gave up a HR to Roger Maris in 1961, pitched for the Mets. They are Chuck Estrada, Bob Shaw, Frank Lary, Jack Fisher and Tracy Stallard.

The 89

Jeff D'Amico: 9 IP, 0 R, 2 H. 8 K, W, 2-0, at Dodgers, May 15, 2002

I guess we refer to Jeff D'Amico as "a poor man's Mike Bruhert," since the two shared the quality of being both large and not as good as we would have liked.

D'Amico's Mets career was a little frustrating. It started well enough (in 3 of his first 4 wins, he didn't allow any runs), but then when you get to the stretch where he went 1-6 with a 7.86 ERA over 12 starts, it makes your eyes bug out a bit.

May 15 was one of his good days, as D'Amico went the distance to give the Mets their second straight 2-hit shutout (Pedro Astacio pitched the first). Mo Vaughn's home run helped the Mets to a 21-19 mark through 40 games and there was temporary optimism for what turned out to be Bobby Valentine's final season in New York. But as D'Amico went, so did the Mets, and their fortunes and his tumbled not long afterwards.

True Metmicos know...Jeff D'Amico is one of 3 Mets pitchers to finish a season with a record of 6-10, the first to do so in 22 years. The other 2 were Neil Allen (1979) and Pat Zachry (1980).

The 90

Pete Schourek: 9 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 7 K, W, 9-0 vs Expos, September 10, 1991

So what is White Sox general manager Ken Williams' Mets claim to fame? No, it's not that he took Roberto Alomar off our hands, but rather, he broke up a no-hit bid in one of the finest Mets pitching performances in the last 20 years.

I'm referring to the 1-hitter by Pete Schourek, who inspired New York Times columnist Harvey Aarton to write "Hope returned to the New York Mets yesterday..." (note to Harvey: It didn't last too long).

The only hit was a Williams single with two outs in the fifth, though third baseman Gregg Jefferies and shortstop Jeff Gardner reportedly made valiant efforts for the ball (forgive me for not remembering, and relying on the newspapers).

Other than that, this game showed the flash of brilliance that Schourek could never repeat. He went 11-20 for the 1992-1993 Mets, with the misfortune of being a young talent on The Worst Team Money Could Buy. That meant he was dispatchable and the Reds were smart to grab him off waivers. Two years later, he was a playoff-pitching ace, and the Mets were still looking for the .500 mark.

True Metreks know...The only 2 pitchers to hit a home run off Curt Schilling were Mets at one point in their careers, though neither was a Met when they hit the home run: Pete Schourek and Steve Trachsel.

Feel free to add to this list in the comments section. It is far from complete...

A Penny Saved is a Penny Burned

And then there are some perfectly good pitchers whose asses the Mets have thoroughly kicked. They are the anti-Hong-Chih Kuo's of the world...

Like Brad Penny
5-12 against the Mets
88-57 against others

Like Steve Carlton
30-36 against the Mets
299-208 against others

Like Rick Reuschel
14-25 against the Mets
200-166 against others

Like Nelson Briles
5-16 against the Mets
124-96 against others

Like Ken Holtzman
5-11 against the Mets (though he beat the Mets twice in the 1973 WS)
169-139 against others

Like Roger Clemens
3-6 against the Mets (with a 4.89 ERA)
351-178 against others

Those who will truly save a penny on tickets at Citifield know... Hong Chih-Kuo has the same number of wins against the Mets as Roger Clemens.

Kuo/Koufax: Same guy, right?

All you need to know about this game

Only two pitchers in Dodgers history have thrown 3+ hitless innings, with 8 or more strikeouts against the Mets.

Hong Chih Kuo did it on Tuesday.

Sandy Koufax did it, in his no-hitter against the 1962 Mets.

Hong-Chih Kuo, 3-0 vs Mets in regular season (0-1 in playoffs)
Hong Chih Kuo, 1-11 vs all other teams

Let's move on to something else, shall we?

Score One For Selma

The highest game score recorded by a WINNING Mets pitcher not named Tom Seaver or David Cone is a 96, but it's not likely you'll be able to guess who recorded it.

It wasn't Jerry Koosman or Nolan Ryan. It wasn't Dwight Gooden or Sid Fernandez. It wasn't Tom Glavine, or Pedro Martinez. It wasn't Jon Matlack or Ron Darling.

It was by Dick Selma.

On September 12, 1965, Selma, a prized 21-year-old righthanded Mets prospect making his second major-league appearance, pitched one of the best games in Mets history, certainly the best one to that point.

"He's the best pitcher the Mets have ever put out there on the mound," Milwaukee Braves manager Bobby Bragan told the media afterward, and admittedly that wasn't saying much considering how pathetic the Mets had been, but it was still a nice compliment coming from someone whose lineup that day featured, among others, Rico Carty, Joe Torre, and Eddie Mathews. Those three, by the way, were a combined 0-for-11, outdone by (current Mets coach) Sandy Alomar, who had one of Milwaukee's four hits.

Selma had to work extra hard in rainy weather to get this win. The Braves had four hits after five innings, but didn't get another one the rest of the way. They did threaten in the eighth inning, but Selma escaped a two-on, no-out jam without issue.

This one would require an extra inning, as the Mets failed to score through the first nine against Bob Sadowski. That was no problem for Selma, who set the side down in order in the top of the 10th, striking the opposing pitcher out for his 13th whiff of the game. That set a club record for strikeouts in a game (since surpassed many times).

Westrum's team won it in the home half when Charley Smith's walk-off single plated Joe Christopher with the winning run, but that wasn't the story so much as the Mets starter of great promise.

"The only pitcher we have who may throw harder is Tug McGraw," an unusually happy Mets manager Wes Westrum told writers afterward.

There would be others who would come along who would throw just as hard and Selma was moved to the bullpen, given the occasional start. By 1968, even though Selma was 9-10 with a 2.76 ERA after being put back in the starting rotation (he was 7-1 with a 1.77 ERA after winning on June 21), he was expendable enough to be exposed in the expansion draft (some fan comments on UltimateMets.com indicate the Mets were annoyed at Selma for having shoulder surgery without permission one offseason). Selma was selected by the Padres, then traded early in the season to the Cubs, for whom he went a respectable 10-8 in 1969 and became a favorite of Wrigley Field's Bleacher Bums. It is something to wonder whether his fate would have been different had he been a '69 Met.

Instead, Selma was traded again, this time to the Phillies, who turned him into a closer. That worked for a year, but then injuries set in. By 1974, Selma's career was done. He finished 42-54, but left his mark on the Mets with one of the best pitched games they've ever seen.

True Metmas know...Dick Selma finished his career with an 0-9 record against the New York Mets. That's tied with Pete Falcone for the all-time worst record against the Mets.

Best Games I Know (Tom Seaver V 1.0)

Wanted to do a series this week on notable players and their best games as a Met. Kind of similar to the "Best Games I Know" only centered around the individual, rather than the team. And yes, similar to the "teams" series, it's going to require, at least for pitchers, that the individual chosen got the win (thus making for some notable omissions).

Tom Seaver has earned his way to doing this list in a couple of different way. I'm going to take the easy way out and use the mathematical method, rather than the emotional one.

There is a statistic devised by Bill James called "Game Score" which rates a pitchers start based on a number of criteria, such as innings pitched, runs allowed, hits allowed, strikeouts, and walks. An average start would rate around a 50, an awful score would be below 10 and a supremely great score would either approach or surpass 100. Game score is not perfect. It does not factor in quality of opponent or impact of game on pennant race. But, it will suffice for our purposes.

Baseball-Reference PI is good enough such that I was able to sort every one of Seaver's 395 Mets starts by Game Score. From those, I have extracted the 11 Seaver wins, in which he scored a 90 or better. I can tell you that his highest score of those 11 was a 97, but I'm betting you won't guess which game that was for.

* The 90s
Tom Seaver posted a game score of exactly 90 in 3 of his Mets victories.
9 IP, 0 R, 4 H, 11 K, W, 3-0, Pirates, August 1, 1973 (Game 1)

9 IP, 0 R, 5 H. 13 K, W, 5-0, Expos, May 17, 1974

9 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 10 K, W, 3-1, Pirates, September 26, 1971

Focusing briefly on the last of those, this is one of those forgotten Seaver gems, perhaps because it came so late in the season, and the game was of little significance. It did come against the eventual World Series champs though, albeit ones that didn't start Roberto Clemente that day. It figures that Clemente's sub, Vic Davalillo got the Pirates only hit, a clean single to right with no out in the seventh. Dave Cash had walked the batter prior, on a close 3-2 pitch, which may have broken Seaver's concentration, costing him a chance at history, but not a spot on this list.

True Metvers know... Roberto Clemente was hitless in the last 15 plate appearances he had against Tom Seaver. He finished a .242 hitter against Seaver with 21 strikeouts in 62 at-bats.

The 91
Tom Seaver posted a game score of 91 in one of his Mets wins
9 IP, 0 R, 4 H, 13 K, W, 3-0, at Phillies, June 29, 1971

The Phillies got their scoring chances out of the way early in this game. They put runners on the corners in the first and things looked promising with the count 3-0 on Deron Johnson. Then came 6 straight strikes- 3 to Johnson and 3 more to Willie Montanez to end the inning, the threat, and basically the game.

The Mets got their runs on three home runs, solos by Jerry Grote, Cleon Jones and Ed Kranepool, the last two coming in the eighth inning to give Seaver some breathing room. Not that he needed it. Seaver got the last 12 outs of the game without allowing anything of harm.

Poor Johnson not only stranded the two runners in the first, but left two more on the basepaths when he struck out to end the third, hit into a double play to close the sixth, and lined to center in the ninth to allow Seaver to walk off a winner.

True Metvers know...Deron Johnson was the final out of three of Seaver's Mets victories, but the last time Johnson faced Seaver the Met, he got revenge, with a 2-run, 9th-inning game-winning home run on August 2, 1972.

The 92
Tom Seaver posted a game score of 92 in one of his Mets wins
9 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 11 K, W, 2-0, Padres, July 4, 1971 (Game 1)

Yes, Seaver allowed only one hit, and it didn't come until Leron Lee lined a clean single to center with one out in the ninth inning, and I'm guessing the Metstorians of the world are mildly familiar with this game. But I bet they don't know how the Mets won it.

The two runs for the home team scored during a third-inning, two-out rally in which a Bud Harrelson single was followed by four straight walks.

The game-winning RBI in this one went to Jim Fregosi, of all people, who drew the third of four straight free passes from Padres starter, Clay Kirby.

True Metvers know...Tom Seaver was 39-0 with 10 no-decisions in starts for the Mets in which he posted a game score of 84 or better.

The 93
Tom Seaver posted a Game Score of 93 in one of his Mets wins
9 IP, 0R, 2 H, 12 K, W, 7-0 at Expos, September 6, 1971

Tom Seaver was a reasonably decent hitter during his Mets career. What distinguishes this game from some of the others we're writing about is that it's one in which Seaver showed some bat prowess. His 2-run single in the second inning was probably the most noteworthy moment of a victory that, during this season, was rather "routine" by his standards, one in which former Met Ron Hunt removed the no-hitter suspense with a leadoff single in the first inning. The Exppos would get only one hit the rest of the way, as Seaver set down the last 13 to close out an easy win.

True Metvers know...Tom Seaver posted 5 Game Scores of 90 or better in 1971. The NL Cy Young winner that season, Ferguson Jenkins, posted only 1 Game Score of 90 or better.

The 94
Tom Seaver posted a Game Score of 94 in one of his Mets wins
9 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 13 K, W, 1-0 at Pirates, September 29, 1972

Perhaps Seaver should get some bonus points for this one, considering...

- It got him his 20th win of the season.
- The game wasn't decided until a 9th-inning RBI hit by Tommie Agee.
- Seaver got Hall of Famer Willie Stargell to don the "Golden Sombrero," netting four strikeouts of Stargell in his 4 at-bats


True Metvers know...Tom Seaver's highest Game Score in his return to the Mets was an 87. That came courtesy of a 3-hit, 9 strikeout, 6-0 shutout of the Pirates in the first game of a doubleheader on April 20, 1983

The 95
Tom Seaver posted a Game Score of 95 in one of his Mets wins
9 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 14 K, W, 1-0 vs Pirates, April 16, 1971

How's this for a season line against a team:
2 starts
18 innings
1 run
4 hits
24 strikeouts
1 walk
2 Game Scores of 90 or better

That's Tom Seaver against the 1971 World Series champion Pirates. Good thing for Seaver was that he got 'em early (April 16) and late (September 29).

In the first of those, the Pirates mustered three rather blah singles and were outdone by Donn Clendenon's fourth-inning home run. Seaver got better once he had the lead. Of the last 16 batters he faced, 15 went down, seven by strikeout. It's too bad the Mets couldn't pitch him every day.

True Metvers know...Tom Seaver's lowest Game Score in a win for the Mets came in a victory of great significance. On October 1, 1973, Seaver allowed 4 runs and 11 hits, striking out only 2 in 6 innings of a 6-4 win over the Cubs in mildly disgusting weather at Wrigley Field. That was good enough to post a Game Score of 36, but more importantly, clinched the NL East for the Mets.

The 96s
Tom Seaver posted a Game Score of 96 in two of his Mets victories
9 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 11 K, W, 4-0 vs Cubs, July 9, 1969
9 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 19 K, W, 2-1 vs Padres, April 22, 1970

Jimmy Qualls.
10 straight strikeouts.

I don't know what more I can tell you about these two, other than that they are not considered, by Game Score, the best wins of Tom Seaver's career. Shocking, eh? Exposes a flaw or two in the system, yes, I agree. Game score does not have any sort of factor for amazin'ness. Sorry about that.

True Metvers know...Tom Seaver's no-hitter, for the Reds against the Cardinals, on June 16, 1978, was good enough for a Game Score of 87, likely due to Seaver recording only three strikeouts, while walking three as well.

The 97
9 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 15 K, W, 4-0 at Phillies, May 15, 1970

Before Paul Hoover, but after Jimmy Qualls there was Mike Compton. Following in the tradition that encapsules Kit Pellow, Steve Ontiveros, Chin-Hui Tsao, Luis Aguayo, and Joey Amalfitano Mike Compton was the one blemish on the greatest Mets win that Tom Seaver ever had (mathematically speaking).

As the story, told by the New York Times goes, Compton was only on the roster by a total fluke, "promoted from the minor leagues two weeks ago when both varsity catchers broke bones in their hands in the same inning." Compton hit .164 in his lone major league season, with 18 hits, none of which were of the go-ahead variety. His greatest moment in the sun was in this game, in which his third inning single to right field produced the lone Phillies hit.

Other than that, Seaver was tremendous. In six of his innings, he struck out at least two batters. The newspaper notes that he survived not only a chest cold, but two errors, and a baserunning faux pas (Ron Swoboda passed Joe Foy inadvertently) to win, 4-0, giving the Mets their third 1-hitter in a 3-week span.

You could argue that this was not Seaver's best work. Perhaps it is his best forgotten work, since I'd never heard of this game, or Mike Compton, until doing the work for this story. I'm guessing you hadn't either, which makes me feel good knowing that this exercise was worthwhile.

True Metvers know...Tom Seaver actually had two Game Scores that surpassed 97. He scored a 98 by pitching 10 shutout innings of 3-hit, 14-strikeout ball in a no-decision, a 1-0 loss to the Padres on August 11, 1971. He also scored a 106 by working 12 innings, allowing 1 run and 3 hits, with 16 strikeouts, getting a no-decision in a 2-1 loss to the Dodgers on May 1, 1974.

Those Who Forget The Post Are Condemned to Repeat It

For those who forgot the definition of a wall-off, go here

http://metswalkoffs.blogspot.com/2008/04/fools-gold.html

For those who remember, add another one to the list...

May 4- Chris Snyder triples off the very top of the left field fence. Instead of a two-run home run, and a one-run lead in the 9th inning, the Diamondbacks settle for being tied with the Mets, who score 3 times in the 9th to win.

By the way- a little justice in this world for Tom Glavine and Kenny Rogers being staked to huge leads on Sunday, but unable to come away with wins for themselves (or in Rogers case, for his team).

Not To Be Confused With Bobby Ojeda

Ranking the 29 players to get 6+ RBI in a game against the Mets (one did it twice)...from worst to best

1- Augie Ojeda, 2008
2- Dave Kingman, 1980
3- Adolfo Phillips, 1967 (7)
4- Tony Batista, 2004
5- Cody Ross, 2006 (7)
6- Tom Pagnozzi, 1991
7- Jim Morrison, 1984
8- Joe Randa, 2005
9- Bob Bailey, 1973
10- Felipe Lopez, 2008
11- Corey Patterson, 2003 (7)
12- Lee Stevens, 2001
13- Jerry Morales, 1974
14- Willie Montanez, 1976
15- Ron Gant, 1990
16- Brandon Phillips, 2007
17- Bobby Higginson, 1997 (7)
18- Von Hayes, 1985
19- Tom Herr, 1987
20- Deron Johnson, 1971
21- Tim Wallach, 1994
22- Jimmy Wynn, 1967
23- Dick Allen, 1968 (7)
24- Billy Williams, 1968
25- Albert Pujols, 2006 (7)
26- Alex Rodriguez, 2006 (7)
27- Mike Schmidt, 1980
28- Willie McCovey, 1962 (7), 1970
29- Hank Aaron, 1966

True Metjedas know... Albert Pujols had 7 RBI in a game in a Mets walk-off win, on August 22, 2006. Tom Herr had 6 RBI, including a walk-off grand slam against the Mets on April 18, 1987.

Riding The Tricycle

Ok, so on Friday's SNY broadcast, Gary Cohen told you of Harry Danning, the last player nailed trying for an inside-the-park home run with a cycle at stake...What they didn't tell you, besides Danning's status as the greatest Jewish catcher of all-time (so says his Baseball-Reference.com page), was...

* That Jose Reyes became the first player in Mets history with a single, a double, and two triples in a game.

While that had never been done by the Mets, it had been done against them. I could give you 800 guesses at the former Met who put forth that kind of game and you wouldn't get the name. Only 829 players have played for the Mets (so says Ultimate Mets Database), but I bet it would take until guess 801 to come up with this guy...

Junior Noboa.

Two great notes from that game of June 5, 1990
1) Mets broadcaster Ron Darling allowed the double, and the second triple to Noboa.
2) Despite Noboa's unbelievable effort, his team didn't win. The Mets did...in walk-off fashion when Tom O'Malley homered off Expos reliever Dale Mohorcic in the bottom of the 11th inning.

* Also of great significance in Friday's win: The Mets had a pair of tri-cycles (or maybe it's try-cycles), one from Jose Reyes and one from David Wright. A tri-cycle (or try-cycle) is when a player misses getting the cycle by one hit.

For his part, it was the 4th time in Jose Reyes' career that he was a home run shy of the cycle. This is an all-time Mets record!

Most Times Missing The Cycle By A Home Run
Mets History

Jose Reyes 4<<>> Set record in Mets win over Diamondbacks Friday
>> Total occurences: 72

For David Wright, his single, double and home run meant that it was the 9th time in his career that he was a triple shy of the cycle. He's now second all-time in Mets history in that department.

Most Times Missing The Cycle By a Triple
Mets History

Mike Piazza 12
David Wright 9
Robin Ventura 8
Darryl Strawberry 8
Ed Kranepool 8
Carlos Beltran 8
Howard Johnson 7
>> Total occurences: 250

* For the record, let's get the other two variants out there. They are a pair of very odd lists.

Most Times Missing The Cycle By A Double
Mets History

Darryl Strawberry 3
Frank Thomas 2
22 others 1
>> Total occurrences: 27

Most Times Missing The Cycle By A Single
Mets History

Gregg Jefferies 3
Ron Swoboda 1
Darryl Strawberry 1
Joe Christopher 1
>> Total occurrences: 6

There's no easy way to check my source (the great Baseball-Reference PI) for the 355 tri-cycles (or try-cycles) in Mets history to see if more than one took place in the same game, as happened Friday. Perhaps some other time.

We'll Get It Wright This Time

Let's just pretend Thursday's game didn't happen...

Things I Learned While Trying to Put David Wright's .465 batting average with the bases loaded into proper perspective

He's Positively Tablerian

Pat Tabler hit .282 in a major league career that spanned 12 seasons and more than 1,200 games. But his biggest value was what he did when the bases were loaded. He was 43-for-88, and even if you factor in his nine sacrifice flies (which batting average doesn't), his numbers are still off-the-charts good. David Wright's .465 is in the Tabler stratosphere (Tabler-Rosa?) and that's pretty impressive. Of course, Wright will never be able to match Tabler's 2-for-2 performance with the bases loaded as a 17-game Met. That's perfection.

He's Not The Best In The Majors, But He's Close Enough

So Taguchi is a .500 hitter with the bases loaded (20-for-40).

Jose Lopez is a .484 hitter with the bases-loaded (15-for-31)

Ichiro is a .473 hitter with the bases loaded (35-for-74)

Ed Kranepool never hit a grand slam

Ed Kranepool is Mr. Met to a lot of people, as he's been a part of the franchise since its first year of existence, and still can regularly be found hanging out in Shea Stadium's luxury suites. Kranepool had 118 home runs among his club record 1,418 hits, yet never, in 1,853 games and 120 bases-loaded plate appearances, hit a grand slam. Not that he was a bad hitter with the bases loaded (33-for-98 with 10 sacrifice flies). He just never hit the ball out of the ballpark in those spots. Of the Mets 120 regular season slams, none belong to Kranepool.

Robin Ventura was an Ace

Robin Ventura hit 5 grand slams for the Mets. Well, actually he hit 6, if you include balls in the postseason that cleared the fence, but didn't count as home runs. So instead, he's one shy of the Mets record for most grand slams, held by Mike Piazza (6), who was a pretty good bases-loaded hitter in his own right (.371 BA, 33-for-89, 3 sacrifice flies for the Mets).

Most Grand Slams
Mets History

Mike Piazza 6
Howard Johnson 5
Kevin McReynolds 5
Robin Ventura 5
John Milner 5

John Olerud was rightfully beloved

John Olrerud was 14-for-27 in his Mets career with the bases loaded. The only better Met in bases-loaded situations (minimum 20 plate appearances) that I could find was Eddie Murray (11-for-20, including an amazing 10-for-15 in the disaster that was 1992), but his hits were not of anywhere the significance of those of Olerud.

Let's just look at Olerud's bases-loaded hits in 1999:

May 23- Two-run walk-off single vs Phillies starter Curt Schilling with two outs in the ninth.

August 1- Two-run game-tying double vs Felix Heredia in sixth inning. Mets win over Cubs in 13 innings.

August 11- Two-run, two-out single vs Carlos Reyes turns 3-run lead into safe 5-run cushion, Mets beat Padres, 12-5

August 22- Grand slam vs Cardinals pitcher Rich Croushore cuts 6-1 eighth-inning deficit to 6-5. Mike Piazza ties game with subsequent homer. Mets win, 8-7 scoring twice in bottom ninth.

September 29- Grand slam vs Braves starter Greg Maddux in fourth-inning extends Mets lead from 4-2 to 8-2. Mets stop malaise with gargantuanly-needed 9-2 win.

That's pretty good.

Bobby Bonilla and Dave Kingman were rightfully despised

Bobby Bonilla was 8-for-40 with 2 sacrifice flies with the bases loaded as a Met.

Dave Kingman was 7-for-45 with 5 sacrifice flies with the bases loaded as a Met.

You would have been better off with Dwight Gooden at the plate (6-for-21, 3 sacrifice flies), or for that matter, with Carlton Willey or Jack Hamilton, the two Mets pitchers to hit grand slams.

Keith Hernandez and Edgardo Alfonzo weren't as good as you'd think

Keith Hernandez hit .278 (15-for-54, 5 sacrifice flies) with the bases loaded for the Mets.

Edgardo Alfonzo hit .260 (19-for-73, 4 sacrifice flies) with the bases loaded for the Mets.

The lesson: One big postseason hit with the bases loaded can trick the memory a bit.

Sacrifice flies should count in batting average

Why does a sacrifice fly not count in batting average? It should. The guy made an out. He wasn't trying to make an out. It was a legitimate at-bat and a hitter should not be rewarded just because it drove in a run.

Not counting sac flies skewers bases-loaded batting averages. For example: Major-league hitters batted .291 with the bases loaded last season. If you counted sacrifice flies at at-bats, that would drop to .261. Not counting sac flies makes hitters look a lot better than they are.

The effect, however, is minimal on David Wright. His 5 sacrifice flies drop his batting average with the bases loaded to .417. I'll still take that any day of the week.

Leaving The Bases Loaded to End a 1-Run Game Sucks

When I was doing that series of stories on Mets frustration, I actually went through Baseball Reference's play index tool, and did a year-by-year check to find how many times the last out(s) of a Mets 1-run loss came with the bases loaded. By my count, it has happened 35 times in the regular season. We'll spare you the details

Leaving The Bases Loaded To End Game 7 of a Postseason Sucks (even when you lose by 2 runs)

No further comment needed.

All Is Wright With The World

I really thought, off the swing, that David Wright had hit his first career walk-off home run.

It wouldn't have been the first walk-off home run of Wright's major league career. It wouldn't have been the first walk-off home run of Wright's professional career.

It would have been the first walk-off home run that David Wright had ever hit in his life.

I know this because, in the bizarrest of coincidences, my quest to find out whether David Wright had ever hit a walk-off home run ended about 10 hours earlier when a Mets PR person replied to a request I had made a few days before. I'm told that Wright pondered the query for a couple minutes before answering that he had never hit one. Never as in never ever.

My reply to the Mets official was: "Thank you. I look forward to his first."

So you can imagine my reaction when the ball left the bat, and of course, I'm at work and sitting in a part of our offices in which ones rooting interest should not get in the way of ones employment. So when the ball landed (though those watching on TV never quite saw where), the look on my face was of, to use a phrase previously referenced to describe another walk-off against the Pirates. Restrained jubilation.

However, I take consolation in knowing the following pieces of information, and hopefully David will too.

* Mets walk-off win #351 (by our tally) was their 3rd of the 2008 season. It was the first since the 3-2 14-inning win over the Nationals on April 17. It is the second consecutive walk-off win that Willie Randolph described as "ugly."

* It is the 40th Mets walk-off win against the Pirates, the first since Carlos Delgado homered in the 12th inning to beat the Pirates on May 3, 2006. I don't know (and don't really care) if Delgado took a curtain call for that. Coincidentally, the walk-off win of May 3, 2006 also featured Ian Snell in a starting role, a Jose Reyes triple, and a Billy Wagner blown save.

* It is the 2nd Mets walk-off win to take place on Met broadcaster Gary Cohen's birthday (kudos to Ultimate Mets Database for noting that birthday on Tuesday). Coincidentally, the other was also a 5-4 11-inning win, this one against the Cardinals, on Joe Orsulak's walk-off single.

* It is the 6th career walk-off RBI for David Wright, the first since a double to beat the Athletics on June 23, 2007. He's got 3 singles, 2 doubles, a sacrifice fly, and again, no walk-off home runs.

Most Walk-Off RBI
Mets History

Kevin McReynolds 8
Rusty Staub 7
David Wright 6
George Foster 6
Cleon Jones 6
Ed Kranepool 6
>> All but Wright have hit a walk-off home run

* It's the first time that the Mets have 3 walk-off wins in April since 1998. The third of the walk-off wins that season was April 22, 1998, and the game ended with a Jim Tatum walk-off home run.

Career Comparison

Jim Tatum
35 games for the Mets
173 career MLB games
201 career MLB at-bats
1 walk-off home run

David Wright
568 games for the Mets
2,118 career MLB at-bats
0 walk-off home runs

* Jorge Sosa has all 3 Mets walk-off wins this season.

* Mets broadcaster Keith Hernandez hit 1 career walk-off home run: August 3, 1987 against the Phillies and reliever Kent Tekulve. In an ideal situation, David Wright would be facing someone who pitches underhand, like Tekulve. Where's Mike Myers (against whom Wright is 2-for-2 with 2 HR) when you really need him?

* Mets pre/post-game analyst Darryl Strawberry hit 3 walk-off home runs for the Mets-- 2 off John Franco and one against Lee Smith.

* Jose Reyes reached base 6 times, tying a Mets record, previously done 18 times. The last Mets to do it: Jose Reyes and David Wright in a walk-off win against the Braves on May 5, 2006. Wright had the walk-off hit in that game...against Jorge Sosa!

* Among active players, your leader in most home runs without a walk-off home run is Lance Berkman with 267. The all-time leader is Norm Cash with 377. Thanks to HR guru David Vincent (find his book on the history of the HR, coming soon in paperback, here)

Most Home Runs
No Walk-Off Home Runs

Norm Cash 377
Hank Sauer 288
Lance Berkman 267
Danny Tartabull 262
Goose Goslin 248
Ken Caminiti 239
Jim Bottomley 219
Jason Thompson 208
Rico Carty 204


* David Wright is one of 2 David Wrights to play in the major leagues. Dave Wright (real first name: David) probably didn't hit any walk-off home runs in his lifetime either. Of course, he was a pitcher who appeared in 1 game in 1895 and 1 more in 1897, so I don't suspect he had too many opportunities.

* I do want to say something nice about David Wright, so...Wright is now 21-for-44 with the bases loaded, a .477 batting average. Even if you throw in his 5 sacrifice flies, his numbers would still, by my guess, make him the best bases-loaded hitter in Mets history.

Those doing truly Wright by the Mets know... Willie Randolph never hit a walk-off home run in the major leagues (no idea on whether he did elsewhere). However, Randolph can one-up Wright by pointing to his numbers against recently DL'd John Smoltz: 3-for-8 with 4 walks and NO strikeouts

For those who missed it, we wrote about Wright vs Smoltz prior to Sunday's game, here:
http://metswalkoffs.blogspot.com/2008/04/smoltzs-wright-hand-man.html

Look Who's Number Won

7 More Things I Learned While Putting Nelson Figueroa's 2 Wins As a Mets Starter Into Perspective

(A continuation of : http://metswalkoffs.blogspot.com/2008/04/were-number-won.html)

* Tom Seaver has held the Mets STARTERS wins record for a long time

On June 8, 1969, Tom Seaver struck out 14 Padres in a 3-2 victory, his 41st as a Mets starter, breaking the previous record for most wins by a Mets starting pitcher. Three weeks later, he'd win his 44th game, breaking the mark for most wins by a Mets pitcher OVERALL, both records set by Al Jackson. On July 4, 1975, Seaver officially put the starting pitcher's mark out of reach with his 158th victory, a 4-3 triumph in Philadelphia, won on Jerry Grote's 2-run home run with two outs in the ninth, off former teammate Tug McGraw. He could have stopped there and still had the mark, as the second-closest Mets starter, Dwight Gooden, finished at 157.

To put Seaver's mark of 198 wins as a Mets starter in its proper place: Nelson Figueroa (or even Johan Santana) could win 20 games in each of the next nine seasons, and he'd still trail Seaver in Mets starters wins.

* Speaking of Tug McGraw, he was better off in the bullpen

Tug McGraw won seven games as a Mets starter, and in those games, he was outstanding, posting an ERA of 1.56.

Unfortunately, McGraw LOST 21 games as a Mets starter, and in those contests, he was mediocre, posting an ERA of 6.33.

The good thing is that Tug McGraw found his niche and made the most of it.

* Rick Aguilera might have been better off a starter

Rick Aguilera also made the most of his niche, as a pretty solid closer for other teams. It should not be overlooked that he was pretty good as a Mets starter- 29-18 overall- and he got those wins in only 59 starts. Yes he got great run support in both 1986 and 1987 (better than 5 runs per game), but he kept his ERA down at a very respectable level as well.

* Terry Leach was pretty darn good too

Terry Leach made 18 starts in his Mets career and won 11 of them. That's called winning 61 percent of your starts. Tom Seaver didn't do that. Nor did Dwight Gooden. Granted, the volume was higher, but among those 18 starts were a 1-hit shutout of the 1982 Phillies, a 3-hit shutout of the 1985 Giants, and a 2-hit shutout of the 1987 Reds. That's an average of one shutout every six starts. Tom Seaver averaged 1 shutout every 9.4 starts. Just saying...

* I can argue that Tom Hausman was "better" than Warren Spahn

Yes, I know that it's foolish to make judgments on starting pitchers based on their win totals, but this topic is much more fun, and reader-friendly for me than writing about ERA+ or VORP. Besides, where else can you read about how Tom Hausman had more wins as a Mets starter (5) than Hall of Famer Warren Spahn (4).

Quick quiz: Who had more wins as a Mets starter?
* Mike Hampton or Dave Mlicki
* Pete Falcone or Orlando Hernandez
* Mike Scott or Victor Zambrano
* Frank Viola or Pat Zachry
(answers at the end)

* Anthony Young was the Eric Hillman of his time
Monday, we made mention of Eric Hillman's 4 wins in 36 Mets starts (the 2nd-fewest wins ever recorded in the career of a pitcher who made 36+ starts). Today we make mention (and do nothing more) that Anthony Young made 31 starts as a Met. He won 3.

* The line of demarcation for a Mets starter is 78 wins

If you were giving gut-instinct grades on Mets starting pitchers, the bell curve should begin to swoop downward once you hit David Cone. The top winners among Mets starters are Tom Seaver (198), Dwight Gooden (157), Jerry Koosman (138), Sid Fernandez and Ron Darling (98), Al Leiter (95), Jon Matlack (81) and David Cone (78). After that, there's a drop-off, at least by my gut-instinct grading system, to Bobby Jones (74), Steve Trachsel (66), Tom Glavine (61, but gets an F regardless), Rick Reed (59- gets a higher grade than the previous 3, and Craig Swan (55).

* They should call the song "One Shining MoMet"

Grover Powell pitched in 20 games for the 1963 Mets. The Mets won two of them. In one, on August 20, he made his first major-league start and shut out the Phillies, 4-0. The future was bright, but brief. He hurt his arm that winter and never pitched in the majors again after that, retiring with one win. Keith Olbermann, in his pre-politics book "The Big Show" (with Dan Patrick) tells how Powell died young, of leukemia at age 45, and the picture from his Mets baseball card is on his tombstone. On his Baseball-Reference page, it mentions that his uniform number (41) has since been retired, albeit for other reasons. I still think that's pretty neat.

Dick Rusteck pitched in 8 games for the 1966 Mets. The Mets won one of them. In that game, which happened to be his MLB debut, Rusteck pitched a 4-hit shutout, against a Reds lineup that included Pete Rose and Tony Perez. Rusteck also hurt his arm not long afterwards, and that win would be his one and only. He's also the one and only Mets pitcher to throw a shutout in his major-league debut.

Roy Lee Jackson lasted a little longer than that, pitching 40 games over parts of four seasons with the Mets. Of his 14 starts, he only won once, but what a win it was. Jackson had never struck out more than 6 batters in any appearance, but on July 19, he struck out 12 Reds, allowing only 3 hits in a 13-3 victory. His name may look a little odd on the list 17 Mets pitchers to have had a 12 strikeout game (Tom Seaver did it 24 times), but it's there nonetheless.
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Answers to the "Who had more wins as a Mets starter?" quiz

* Mike Hampton or Dave Mlicki (Mlicki, 17-15)
* Pete Falcone or Orlando Hernandez (Falcone, 22-18)
* Mike Scott or Victor Zambrano (Scott, 13-10)
* Frank Viola or Pat Zachry (Zachry, 39-38)