Celebrating Pi Day - Studious Metsimus Style!

Happy π Day, everyone!  For those of you who do not know what that squiggly symbol is, it's the Greek letter "pi".  Math geeks such as myself know that in geometry, pi is the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter.  In numbers, the value of this constant is approximately 3.14, or 3.14159265359 if you're not into the whole brevity thing.

Since today is 3/14, that makes today Pi Day.  (Get it?  Just say you do so we can move on.)  As a lover of all things statistical and mathematical, I decided to have some fun with today's celebration of Pi Day by coming up with Mets players who have pi in their eyes - and it has nothing to do with Justin Turner sneaking up behind them.

It's always a good time for pie ... and Pi!

Three pitchers have posted a 3.14 career ERA as Mets.  Those three "pi"-tchers are:

• Sid Fernandez (1984-93): 553 earned runs in 1,584⅔ innings.
• Willie Blair (1998): 10 earned runs in 28⅔ innings.
• Mike Hampton (2000): 76 earned runs in 217⅔ innings.

No pitcher has ever had a .314 winning percentage as a Met.  But four pitchers came painfully close, as Willard Hunter (1962, 1964), Randy Jones (1981-82) and Shawn Estes (2002) finished their Met careers with a .308 winning percentage, while Ray Burris (1979-80) and Frank Tanana (1993) were slightly better at .318.

Turk Wendell once pitched in nine consecutive games for the Mets, but had he pitched 1⅓ more innings, he would have finished his Met career with exactly 314 innings pitched.  Similarly, no Met has ever pitched in exactly 314 games, but if Bobby Parnell appears in exactly 65 games in 2013, he will go into the 2013-14 offseason with 314 pitching appearances as a Met.

Speaking of the Mets' closer-in-waiting, should Parnell make those 65 appearances, while pitching exactly 57⅔ innings and striking out 79 batters, he would win the Triple Crown of Pi, as he would finish the year with 314 lifetime innings pitched and 314 strikeouts, to go with his 314 games pitched.

And what about the hitters, you ask?  Well, ask and ye shall receive.

John Olerud has the highest career batting average of any Mets player (minimum 2,000 plate appearances), collecting 524 hits in 1,662 at-bats.  But if the official scorer had changed two of his hits to errors, Olerud would have finished his career with a .314 batting average as a Met.  I'm sure no one except pi enthusiasts are complaining about his .315 average while wearing orange and blue.

Remember Larry Elliot and Bill Spiers?  No?  Well, they both finished their Met careers with a .314 on-base percentage.  Elliot achieved his relatively low OBP from 1964 to 1966, while Spiers was fortunate to have been with the Mets in 1995 and not a decade and a half later when Sandy Alderson would have chastised him for not taking more pitches.

If Bill Spiers had fought to get on base as hard as he fought this fan on the field, perhaps he would have had a higher OBP.

Rey Ordoñez (.310) and Buddy Harrelson (.287) both had notoriously low slugging percentages.  But only Billy Cowan finished his Mets career with a .314 slugging percentage.  Almost half (13) of his 28 hits as a Met went for extra bases, which usually translates to a high slugging percentage.  Of course, having a .179 overall batting average can tend to keep a slugging percentage down.  (Ordoñez and Harrelson hit like batting champions compared to Cowan.)

Kirk Nieuwenhuis and Jerry Grote have almost nothing in common.  But a quick look at their cumulative stats reveals their one commonality.  No Met hitter has ever collected exactly 314 doubles, 314 homers, 314 RBIs, 314 stolen bases, 314 walks or 314 strikeouts.  But Nieuwenhuis currently has exactly 314 plate appearances as a Met while Grote scored 314 runs for New York.  They are the only two players in Mets history to have a "314" under any of the cumulative stats.


Okay, kids.  That's it for your Pi Day lesson.  Let's recap what we learned today:

• Sid Fernandez was really good for a really long time.
• Shawn Estes couldn't win and couldn't hit Roger Clemens with a pitch.
• Bobby Parnell could be living the Life of Pi after this season.
• John Olerud didn't need Bobby Bonilla to call the official scorer to change an error to a hit.
• Larry Elliot and Bill Spiers would have made Sandy Alderson angry.
• Billy Cowan couldn't hit his weight as a Met.
• Kirk Nieuwenhuis has as many plate appearances as he has vowels in his last name.

I hope you were able to celebrate Pi Day responsibly with your friends and family.  Now if only the Mets could win 3.14 games for every game they lose this season, then we'd all have a good reason to celebrate.

Happy π Day!

D'Arnaud Hoping To Go Where No Met Has Gone Befo'

The Mets have had a number of great catchers in their half century of existence.  Jerry Grote was behind the plate for two pennant winners, nurturing a young and dominant pitching staff.  John Stearns was a four-time All-Star who was at times the best player on his team.  Ron Hodges was always No. 2 on the depth chart but in his 12 seasons in New York, but was the perfect complement to Grote and Stearns.

Gary Carter was a tremendous leader, who molded a young staff into an elite squad and ignited a memorable World Series rally.  Todd Hundley evolved from a good-field, no-hit catcher to a two-time All-Star and one of the best power-hitting catchers the Mets had ever employed to date.  Of course, the best power-hitting catcher in team history replaced Hundley, as Mike Piazza made the position his own for eight seasons.

All six of those catchers combined to crouch behind the plate for approximately forty seasons, making the catcher's position one of the most stable in team history.  But Jerry Grote wasn't a homegrown Met, playing for the Houston Colt .45s in 1963 and 1964 before being traded to the Mets in 1965.  John Stearns played in 810 games over his major league career, but 809 of them came in a Mets uniform, as he made his major league debut as a member of the Philadelphia Phillies in 1974 before being traded to New York in the Dave Schneck trade (although most of you might refer to it as the Tug McGraw trade).  Gary Carter and Mike Piazza were All-Stars in Montreal and Los Angeles, respectively, before going on to great things with the Mets.

Of the six main catchers in team history, only Ron Hodges and Todd Hundley made their major league debuts as members of the Mets.  But Hodges was mostly a backup catcher, surpassing 155 at-bats in a season only twice in his 12-year career.  That leaves Todd Hundley as the most productive catcher in franchise history who made his way onto the major league scene as a member of the New York Mets.  But even Hundley didn't become a star until half a decade into his Mets career.

Over his first five major league seasons, Hundley batted a mere .219 with 35 HR and 136 RBI, reaching base at a .271 clip.  Although Hundley was showing signs of having some pop in his bat, he was pretty much an automatic out when he wasn't hitting the ball over the wall.  But in 1995, Hundley started to show signs that he was about to break out, hitting a career-high .280 and showing a more selective eye at the plate, as evidenced by his .382 on-base percentage.  Sure enough, his next two seasons were some of the best produced by a catcher in team history.

In 1996, Hundley went where no Kingman or Strawberry had gone before, becoming the first player in club annals to reach and surpass the 40 HR plateau.  Hundley also set a franchise record for catchers by driving in 112 runs.  In 1997, Hundley became the first Met catcher to hit 30 or more home runs in consecutive seasons, despite collecting 123 fewer at-bats than he did in his historic 1996 campaign.  He also set a career high with a .394 on-base percentage, a far cry from the .271 mark he posted from 1990 to 1994.  For his efforts, Hundley was selected to play in the All-Star Game in both 1996 and 1997.

In nine years as a Met, Hundley hit .240 with 124 HR and 397 RBI to go with a .323 on-base percentage.  No other catcher in Mets history who began his major league career in New York has been able to approach those numbers.

Enter Travis d'Arnaud.

Although it took a Cy Young Award winner (and two catchers) to pry d'Arnaud and friends away from the Blue Jays, the 23-year-old has the credentials to become the most successful catcher to make his big league debut as a Met.  In 2011, his first season above A-ball, d'Arnaud had a .311/.371/.542 slash line.  He also collected 33 doubles, 21 HR and 78 RBI in 114 games.  In 2012, d'Arnaud improved his slash line to .333/.380/.595.  A knee injury limited him to 67 games, but not before he amassed 21 doubles, 16 HR and 52 RBI.  If you double his games to 134 (which is about average for a No. 1 catcher in the major leagues), his cumulative numbers would project to 42 doubles, 32 HR and 104 RBI.  And this is for a catcher who is still years away from entering his prime.

As a 23-year-old in 1992, Hundley hit .209 with 17 doubles, seven homers and 32 RBI in 123 games for the Mets.  At the same age, d'Arnaud surpassed all of those numbers while playing in only 67 games at AAA-Las Vegas.

It's true that playing in the altitude of Las Vegas helps a hitter's offensive numbers.  But if that's the case, then what's the explanation for d'Arnaud collecting 38 doubles, 13 HR and 71 RBI as a 20-year-old in 2009 for the Lakewood BlueClaws?  For those who do not know, Lakewood is in New Jersey, a state that's known more for its attitude than its altitude.

Lakewood's height might not have helped Travis d'Arnaud, but d'Arnaud helped Lakewood reach new heights.

Travis d'Arnaud will make his major league debut for the Mets at some point during the 2013 season.  Whether it be on Opening Day or midway through the season, d'Arnaud will bring his potent bat to Citi Field when he steps up to the plate for the first time.

The Mets have had some excellent catchers in their 50-plus seasons.  Some of them have been defensive stalwarts while others have been powerful producers at the plate.  But most of them played elsewhere before coming to the Mets.

Todd Hundley is the best hitting catcher who made his major league debut as a Met.  And that's with a .240 batting average over nine seasons in New York.  If Travis d'Arnaud can produce anything near what he has shown he's capable of doing, then he can potentially surpass all of Hundley's marks before he's out of his twenties.  If he does, d'Arnaud can indeed go where no Met catcher has gone before. 

Hoping The 2013 Mets Don't Turn Into The 1974 Mets

In 1973, the Mets won the National League pennant despite a mediocre 82-79 record.  They did so with a light-hitting catcher in Jerry Grote (.256, 1 HR, 32 RBI), a first baseman (John Milner) who led the team in home runs but left a lot to be desired in the batting average department (.239, 23 HR, 72 RBI) and a 29-year-old with multiple All-Star Game appearances (Rusty Staub) who led the team in doubles, RBIs and on-base percentage.  They also played musical chairs in the outfield, with only one player (Staub) collecting more than 400 at-bats.

On the pitching side of things, the Mets had that year's Cy Young Award winner on their starting staff (Tom Seaver) who led the league in strikeouts and complete games.  Unfortunately, they also had a bullpen that left a lot to be desired, as closer Tug McGraw's ERA was near 4.00 (a high number for that era) and six other relievers had ERAs north of 6.00.

The team did not do much to improve their roster that off-season, despite obvious flaws with the offense and bullpen.  As a result, the 1974 Mets faded miserably, finishing the year with a 71-91 record - their first losing mark since 1968 and their first 90-loss campaign since Tom Seaver's rookie season one year earlier.

Although the Mets recovered to post two winning seasons in 1975 and 1976, the cracks were clearly visible on a team that had won two pennants and one World Series championship over a five-year stretch.  The death of Joan Whitney Payson and the rise of M. Donald Grant to power ushered in a dark era in Mets baseball that lasted for almost a decade.

Why is this important now in 2012?  Because if the Mets aren't careful, history could repeat itself in 2013.

Like their 1973 counterparts (minus the pennant, of course), the 2012 Mets employed a light-hitting catcher (Josh Thole), a first baseman who led the team in homers but had a low batting average (Ike Davis) and a 29-year-old All-Star who paced the team in a number of the major offensive categories (David Wright).  In the outfield, only one player (Lucas Duda) reached the 400 at-bat plateau.  Similarly, the 2012 Mets also produced the Cy Young Award winner who led the league in strikeouts and complete games (R.A. Dickey) and had a bullpen that left a lot to be desired (you name him, he probably sucked).

Let's look at the 1973 and 2012 Mets, position by position, to see the eerie similarities in their production:


Catcher
Jerry Grote: .256, 1 HR, 32 RBI, .294 OBP
Josh Thole: .234, 1 HR, 21 RBI, .290 OBP

First Base
John Milner: .239, 23 HR, 72 RBI, team leader in strikeouts
Ike Davis: .227, 32 HR, 90 RBI, team leader in strikeouts

Second Base
Felix Millan: .290, 3 HR, 37 RBI, .332 OBP
Daniel Murphy: .291, 6 HR, 65 RBI, .332 OBP

Shortstop
Bud Harrelson: .258, 0 HR, 20 RBI, .348 OBP
Ruben Tejada: .289, 1 HR, 25 RBI, .333 OBP

Third Base
Wayne Garrett: .256, 16 HR, 58 RBI, team leader in stolen bases
David Wright: .306, 21 HR, 93 RBI, team leader in stolen bases

Outfield
Cleon Jones, Don Hahn, Rusty Staub, Willie Mays (combined stats): .254, 34 HR, 170 RBI
Jason Bay, Andres Torres, Lucas Duda, Scott Hairston (combined stats): .233, 46 HR, 169 RBI

Starting Pitcher (Ace)
Tom Seaver: 19-10, 2.08 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 251 Ks, Cy Young Award
R.A. Dickey: 20-6, 2.73 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 230 Ks, Cy Young Award

Starting Pitcher (Next Three)
Jerry Koosman, Jon Matlack, George Stone (combined stats): 40-34, 2.96 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, 438 Ks
Jonathon Niese, Johan Santana, Dillon Gee (combined stats): 25-25, 3.99 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, 363 Ks

Closer
Tug McGraw: 25 saves, 3.87 ERA, 1.36 WHIP
Frank Francisco: 23 saves, 5.53 ERA, 1.61 WHIP



Pretty similar in many categories, huh?  The 1973 Mets were fortunate to play in one of the weakest divisions of all time and used it to their advantage.  The 2012 Mets were not as lucky, as they were stuck in the same division as the team with the best regular season record in baseball (Washington) and the top wild card team (Atlanta).

After coming within one win of their second World Series title, the Mets went into the 1974 season with high expectations but the same players.  Almost all of them underachieved.

John Milner had fewer homers and RBIs in 1974 even though he had 57 more plate appearances.  Wayne Garrett's numbers went down across the board, except for his strikeouts, which went up by 30%.  Rusty Staub's batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage all decreased from his 1973 numbers.  No starter hit higher than Cleon Jones' .282, and Felix Millan was the only other starter who hit higher than .258.  The team finished last or next-to-last in the National League in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, runs scored, hits, doubles, triples and stolen bases.  In other words, they stunk more than the swamp Shea Stadium was built on.

Even during the 1973 World Series, John Milner could tell that things were going to stink in 1974.

Because of the lack of hitting, Tom Seaver finished with his first non-winning season, going 11-11 despite a 3.20 ERA and his standard 200-plus strikeout season.  Jon Matlack tossed seven shutouts and had a stellar 2.41 ERA.  All that got him was a 13-15 record.  The bullpen was atrocious, with Harry Parker and Tug McGraw combining to pitch 61 games in relief.  They finished with seven saves and 23 losses.

The combination of weak hitting and subpar relief pitching caused the Mets to go from the penthouse to the outhouse in the span of one season.  The 2012 Mets were nowhere near the penthouse.  However, they only won eight fewer regular season games than their 1973 counterparts with a lineup and bullpen that was eerily similar to the pennant winners.

The 2013 Mets won't begin their season for another four months, but already there are rumblings that the team will go through another losing season.  The front office has to improve the offense.  They also have to put together a relief corps that will at the very least be serviceable instead of the human land mines that trotted out to the mound in 2012.

The 1974 team was a portent of things to come.  The 2013 team can't repeat history.  It's already been a dark first four seasons at Citi Field.  The light switch has to come on sooner or later (preferably sooner).

Back To The Futile: Jason Bay

Last year, Adam Dunn had an historically bad season for the Chicago White Sox.  In 415 at-bats, Dunn batted .159 with 11 HR and 42 RBI, striking out 177 times.  It was the lowest batting average of any player in major league history with a minimum of 400 at-bats, breaking the record set by Rob Deer, who hit .179 in 1991 for the Detroit Tigers in 438 at-bats.

Over a century ago, in 1909, Bill Bergen of the Brooklyn Superbas (as the Dodgers were called back then) hit .139 in 346 at-bats.  This was nothing new for Bergen, who quite possibly was the worst hitter of any non-pitcher in history, batting .170 in 3,028 career at-bats for Cincinnati and Brooklyn from 1901 to 1911.

Why is this relevant to the Mets of today?  Because Jason Bay now has something to shoot for.

Jason Bay is looking down because that's where his batting average is.

Jason Bay came to New York after a year in which he hit 36 HR and drove in 119 runs for the Boston Red Sox.  He is now in the third year of a four-year contract.  He has yet to reach 36 HR and 119 RBI for the Mets.  I'm talking about cumulative here, as he only has 23 HR and 115 RBI in over 1,000 plate appearances for the Mets spanning 2½ seasons.

His power isn't the only attribute of his game that has faded over the years.  In his final season with the Red Sox, Bay batted .267.  That dropped to .259 in his first year with the Mets.  Last year, Bay's average fell to .245.  And this year?  Well, let's just say Bay's 2012 campaign has made Mario Mendoza look like Mr. Wade Boggs.

Although injuries and days off have kept Bay off the field for all but 41 games this season, he has still accumulated 134 at-bats, collecting 21 hits for an average of .157.  How disappointing has Bay been this season?  He's been so bad that nearly 40% of his hits came during a seven-game hitting streak from April 13-21.  Since coming off the disabled list on June 8, Bay has nine hits.  That's 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9.  And that's in 84 at-bats.

Jason Bay will probably not reach 400 at-bats, as Rob Deer did 21 years ago when he set the record for lowest batting average that was broken by Adam Dunn last year.  But he should definitely reach 200 at-bats and has an outside chance of reaching 300.  Should Bay remain under .200 at season's end, he'd be joining a club that has very few members in Mets history.

Since the Mets' inaugural season in 1962, only ten batters have hit below .200 while accumulating 200 at-bats in a season.  Those players are:

• Al Moran (1963): .193 average, 331 AB
• Choo Choo Coleman (1963): .178 average, 247 AB
• Bobby Klaus (1965): .191 average, 288 AB
• Chris Cannizzaro (1965): .183 average, 251 AB
• Jerry Grote (1967): .195 average, 344 AB
• Al Weis (1968): .172 average, 274 AB
• John Milner (1975): .191 average, 220 AB
• Doug Flynn (1977): .191 average, 282 AB
• Bud Harrelson (1977): .178 average, 269 AB
• Dave Kingman (1983): .198 average, 248 AB

Ten players.  Ten awful seasons at the plate.  But none of those ten players hit under .172.  Jason Bay is 66 at-bats away from joining this group and his batting average is only .157.  Think of it this way.  If Jason Bay hits .197 over his next 66 at-bats (which seems to be beyond him right now), his average would only climb to .170, which would still be the lowest batting average of any Met with at least 200 at-bats in a season.  He'd have to hit .288 over his next 66 at-bats just to reach an even .200.

Let's take it a bit further.  Only two players (Al Moran, Jerry Grote) failed to hit .200 in a season where they accumulated over 300 at-bats, but no one has hit under .193 with that many at-bats.  Barring injury or extensive pine time, Jason Bay has an outside chance of making it to 300 at-bats.  But he would need to hit .223 (37-for-166) just to equal Al Moran's .193 batting average for the season.

It's not your armpits, Jason.  It's you that stinks.

For nearly half a century, Al Moran has held the team record for lowest batting average in a season with a minimum of 300 at-bats.  In addition, it's been 44 years since Al Weis posted the lowest batting average for any Met with at least 200 at-bats.  Not since Dave Kingman nearly three decades ago has a Met with 200 at-bats hit under the Mendoza Line.  All that could change in 2012, courtesy of Jason Bay.

It's true that Mets fans don't dislike Bay as much as they should because he gives his best effort and hustles all the time.  But right now, his best effort is earning him a spot among the worst hitters in Mets history.  And if he doesn't turn things around soon, he's going to hustle his way to Mets infamy.  

Jason Bay used to be a good player.  Now he is the picture of futility at Citi Field.  The end of his contract can't come soon enough for this Mets fan.

To Continue This Rare Season, The Mets Must Win Now

On Saturday, the Mets lost for the seventh time in eight games since the All-Star Break.  Their 8-5 loss to the Dodgers dropped their record to 47-47.  It was the third time this year the Mets fell to .500, as they were 8-8 in April and 13-13 in May.  They have yet to fall under .500 at any point this year.

Should the Mets win today to go back above .500, they would continue to hold out hope that they can play an entire 162-game schedule without ever spending a day below the break-even point.  How rare is it for the Mets to play an entire season without ever falling below .500?  Let's put it this way.  They've had an easier time winning division titles than they've had playing an entire campaign at or above the .500 mark.

Since their inaugural season in 1962, the Mets have won five division titles (making a total of seven playoff appearances overall).  But they've only had four seasons in which they never spent a day below .500.

The 1969 Miracle Mets might have won 100 games en route to a World Series championship, but even they didn't spend every day of the season at or above .500.

From 1962-1969, the Mets lost on Opening Day every year, ending their chances of playing at or above .500 for an entire season before they had earned their first victory.  From 1970-1976, the Mets had six winning seasons, with 1974 being the sole exception to this era of winning baseball.  But in each of those seasons, the Mets couldn't get through the year without spending a day below .500.

The 1970 Mets were under .500 by the seventh game of the season en route to an 83-79 record.  In 1971, the team got off to a fantastic start.  Going into July, they were 45-29 and had yet to spend a single day below .500.  But over the next six weeks, the team played as bad as their 1962 counterparts, going 13-31.  They fell under .500 for the first time on August 14.  It was the first time a Mets team had gone past the All-Star Break without spending a day below .500.

Although the 1972 Mets became the second team in franchise history to finish a season at least ten games above .500, they spent exactly one day below the break-even point.  After three games, the Mets were 1-2, ending any chances of going an entire season with ever having a losing record.

The 1973 Mets had to believe they were going to win the pennant, but they didn't for most of the season.  In fact, from May 30 to September 20, the Mets were below .500 every single day.  They did recover to win a very mediocre National League East and shocked the Big Red Machine in the NLCS, but their late season success did not carry over into 1974, as the Mets finished 20 games under .500 that season.

1975 and 1976 brought the team back to the winning baseball they had known in the early '70s, but both teams spent time under the .500 mark before the calendar turned to May.

Should we even talk about the 1977 to 1983 Mets?  Let's just say those seasons were darker than Grant's tomb.  Needless to say, those teams spent plenty of time below .500 during that bleak era of Mets baseball.

But in 1984, things started to turn around for the franchise.  The Mets spent one day under .500 all season, and that was after their Opening Day loss to the Reds.  The team recovered from that 8-1 defeat to win their next six games, never dropping below .500 again all year, although they did fall to exactly .500 twice, at 22-22 and 23-23.

Darryl Strawberry, Keith Hernandez and Dwight Gooden played together for the first time in 1984.  By 1985, they were part of a Mets team that did something no other Mets team had accomplished before.

Then it finally happened.  In their 24th season of existence, the 1985 Mets did not spend a single day below .500, becoming the first team in franchise history to play an entire season of winning baseball.  Of course, the St. Louis Cardinals, who spent most of April and May below .500, went 77-38 after June 2 and went on to take the division title from the Mets during the last week of the season.

Although the Mets had an extended era of greatness in the mid-to-late 1980s, the team didn't play another full season at or above .500 for another 13 years.  (The 1991 team came close, not going under .500 for the first time until August 16.)  Just like the 1985 team, the 1998 Mets were in the second season of a renaissance after an extended slumber.  The 1998 squad spent three days at exactly .500 (1-1, 13-13, 14-14), but never succumbed to the dark side, although a five-game losing streak at season's end once again kept the Mets from making the postseason.

In 1999 and 2000, the Mets made the playoffs in back-to-back seasons for the first time in franchise history.  But both teams spent time below .500 at some point of their magical seasons, with the 1999 squad dropping under .500 two times (0-1, 27-28) and the 2000 team losing six of their first nine games.

The 2001 Mets finished the season with a winning record (82-80) but needed a strong finish to get there after spending most of the season below .500, just one year after their fourth World Series appearance.  That would be the last time the Mets would finish an entire season above the break-even point until 2005, when the team finished 83-79 (although they didn't go over .500 for good until September 25).

The 2006 Mets were good enough to win the World Series.  But they weren't good enough to win the pennant.  However, they were good enough to become the third team in franchise history to spend every day at or above .500.  After dropping to .500 with a loss in their second game of the season, the Mets didn't see .500 again until the 2008 season.  That's right.  In 2007, the Mets also never spent a day below .500.  In fact, they became the first team since 1985 to never even finish a day at exactly .500, as they won their first four games of the season and never dropped back to the break-even point.

The 2006 Mets began a two-year run in which the team never spent a single day below .500 during the regular season.  Unfortunately, the same could not be said about the postseason.

That brings us to the Citi Field era, an era in which the Mets have finished under .500 for three consecutive seasons (2009-2011).  The 2012 Mets have yet to spend a day under .500.  But after losing to the Dodgers on Saturday, the Mets fell back to the mark of mediocrity for only the third time this season.  The first two times they fell to .500, they recovered to win their next game.  They'll have to do the same again today.

Only four times in franchise history have the Mets played an entire season without ever falling below .500.  The 1985, 1998, 2006 and 2007 Mets are the only teams in the franchise's 50-year existence to accomplish that feat, making it a rarer accomplishment than winning a division title, which the Mets have done five times.

The 2012 squad is looking to become the fifth team to join that exclusive Mets fraternity.  But if they lose today, their dream will end.  Instead of becoming one of the lucky five, they will join the 1971 and 1991 Mets as the only teams in franchise history to spend their first day below .500 after the All-Star Break.  It's not such a bad thing to be compared to a Gil Hodges-led Mets team, but it would be much more of an accomplishment to be associated with the four teams that never spent a day below .500, as those teams were all part of an extended era of success for the franchise.

Will this year's team be the start of another extended era of success?  Spending every day at or above .500 for an entire season usually leads to that.  But the Mets have to win today to make sure 2012 can continue to be an unexpected magical season.

Mets Teammates Who Played Together The Longest

Within the next two weeks, longtime Yankees catcher Jorge Posada will announce his retirement from baseball.  The 40-year-old Posada will hang up his catchers' gear after 15 full seasons (17 overall) in Yankee pinstripes.  With Posada's retirement, that will leave Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera as the only Yankee teammates to be together since the days of Buck Showalter.  Jeter and Rivera made their major league debuts six days apart during the 1995 season and will be entering their 18th season as Yankee teammates in 2012.

Only one pair of teammates played together longer than Jeter and Rivera.  From 1977 to 1995, Lou Whitaker and Alan Trammell were double play partners in Detroit.  Their 19 seasons as teammates surpassed the previous record of 18 years set by George Brett and Frank White when they played together in Kansas City from 1973 to 1990.

It's rare for an athlete to play for a single team over his entire career, especially if his career is lengthy.  It's even rarer for teammates to stay together for an extended period of time.  Lou Whitaker and Alan Trammell played an unprecedented 19 seasons together.  No individual player, let alone a set of teammates, has ever been a Met for that long, as Ed Kranepool's 18 seasons with New York has remained the franchise record for over three decades.

This brings up an interesting question.  If no individual Met has played more than 18 seasons with the team, which pair of Mets were teammates the longest?  Surely, one of the dynamic duo had to be Kranepool, right?  We've gone through mounds of paperwork (and by paperwork, I mean baseball-reference.com) and came up with the teammates who played together the longest in orange and blue.  These pairs of Metropolitans played all or parts of twelve (or more) seasons together.  Here they are:

• Ed Kranepool and Cleon Jones (12 seasons; 1963, 1965-75)
• Bud Harrelson and Jerry Grote (12 seasons; 1966-77)
• Ed Kranepool and Jerry Grote (12 seasons; 1966-77)
• Ed Kranepool and Jerry Koosman (12 seasons; 1967-78)
• Ron Hodges and Craig Swan (12 seasons; 1973-84)
• Ed Kranepool and Bud Harrelson (13 seasons; 1965-77)

Ed Kranepool was everyone's teammate so long ago that color film hadn't been invented yet.

That was kind of boring, wasn't it?  Other than the Hodges/Swan combo that most Mets fans might have overlooked, the other pairs of teammates all played in the same era of Mets baseball.

The more interesting question might be which teammates played the longest since the '80s began?  That list is probably one you wouldn't be able to recite off the top of your head.  In fact, we uncovered only one pair of teammates that played at least ten seasons together since the Reagan administration and another nine that played a minimum of eight seasons with each other.  Time to go through those mounds of paperwork again...

• Darryl Strawberry and Ron Darling (8 seasons; 1983-90)
• Sid Fernandez and Ron Darling (8 seasons; 1984-91)
• Dwight Gooden and Ron Darling (8 seasons; 1984-91)
• John Franco and Bobby Jones (8 seasons; 1993-2000)
  
• Jose Reyes and David Wright (8 seasons; 2004-11)
• Mookie Wilson and Wally Backman (9 seasons; 1980-88)
  
• Sid Fernandez and Howard Johnson (9 seasons; 1985-93)
• Dwight Gooden and Howard Johnson (9 seasons; 1985-93)
• John Franco and Todd Hundley (9 seasons; 1990-98)
• Dwight Gooden and Sid Fernandez (10 seasons; 1984-93)

(Editor's note:  John Franco missed the 2002 season with an injury.  That eliminates a pairing of Franco and Edgardo Alfonzo as eight-year teammates, as Fonzie was with the Mets from 1995 to 2002, thereby only making him Franco's teammate for seven years.  Ya gotta believe... in semantics!) 

We know Sid Fernandez wore No. 50.  But he wore No. 10 in this photo to commemorate the number of seasons he was Dwight Gooden's teammate with the Mets.  We wouldn't lie to you about that.

With Jose Reyes now waiting for the latest fire sale in Miami, David Wright and Mike Pelfrey have become the current longest running duo on 126th and Roosevelt, having played all or parts of six seasons together.  Since neither player is guaranteed to return after the 2012 season, it may be a while before the Mets have a pair of teammates play at least eight seasons together, let alone the number of seasons that players like Ed Kranepool, Jerry Grote, Bud Harrelson and others from the early days of the franchise played together.

The business of baseball has changed quite a bit since the Mets were the little team that could.  Keeping a team intact for an extended period of time has become more difficult than spelling Mientkiewicz after downing a few Coronas.

Where have you gone, Eddie Kranepool?  The Mets don't have the same look to me...

M.U.M.'s The Word (Most Underrated Mets): John Stearns

On December 3, 1974, the Mets traded away one of their most beloved players when Tug McGraw was dealt to the Philadelphia Phillies. The boisterous reliever had coined the phrase "Ya Gotta Believe" during the 1973 season; a phrase that became the rallying cry for Mets fans as they watched their team go from last place in the NL East to the seventh game of the World Series in a span of less than two months.

The trade, which included outfielders Don Hahn and Dave Schneck, was orchestrated because the Mets thought McGraw was breaking down due to shoulder problems he experienced during the 1974 season. In return, the Mets received pitcher Mac Scarce (who faced one batter during his Mets career), outfielder Del Unser and a young catcher whose major league résumé up to that point consisted of one game. The Mets may have traded away one of the best relievers in franchise history, but in return, they received a player that ended up having a pretty good career in his own right.

Even in his younger days, John Stearns was always one bad dude.

John Hardin Stearns was 23 years old when he took over as Jerry Grote's main backup catcher in 1975. In each season from 1972-1974, Grote played in fewer than 100 games due to an assortment of injuries. It was clear that his time as the Mets' No. 1 catcher was coming to an end. But Stearns didn't exactly hit his way into the starting lineup during his rookie season, as he finished the 1975 season with a .189 batting average in 59 games.

In 1976, Stearns started off the season poorly, batting .067 (1-for-15), prompting manager Joe Frazier to use Ron Hodges whenever Jerry Grote was given the day off. As a result of his anemic start, Stearns was sent down to AAA-Tidewater, a move that ended up energizing (and perhaps saving) his career.

Now playing every day at Tidewater, John Stearns found his batting stroke and eye, hitting .310 over 102 games and reaching base at an astounding .437 clip. In 410 plate appearances, Stearns displayed a keen eye for the strike zone, as evidenced by his 71 walks. He also became an excellent contact hitter, striking out only 29 times. Stearns' breakthrough season at Tidewater earned him a September call-up to the Mets, where he continued to hit at a blistering pace. In his first nine games after being recalled to the major leagues, Stearns hit .455 and reached base in half of his plate appearances (15 hits and three walks in 36 plate appearances). The .067 hitter from earlier in the season was long gone. The new and improved John Stearns was here to stay.

In 1977, Stearns had supplanted Jerry Grote as the Mets' No. 1 catcher. The 25-year-old was now calling pitches for Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman and Jon Matlack on a regular basis, a dream job for most catchers. That dream ended abruptly, as the tumult within the organization reached its crescendo on June 15, when the so-called Midnight Massacre ended the Mets career of Tom Seaver.

By the time the 1977 season came to its conclusion, the Mets had finished with their worst record (64-98) in ten years. In addition to trading away their top pitcher (Seaver), the Mets dealt their top power hitter (Dave Kingman), as well as the man Stearns replaced in the lineup, with the trade of Jerry Grote to the Los Angeles Dodgers on August 31.

Despite the team's awful showing in 1977, John Stearns' first full season in the majors was quite a success. Although Stearns finished the year with a .251 batting average, his on-base percentage was a healthy .370. He led the team in walks (77), doubles (25) and home runs (12, tied with John Milner and Steve Henderson). For his efforts, Stearns was chosen to represent the National League in the All-Star Game, making him the Mets' sole representative in his first year as the Mets' everyday catcher.

The 1978 Mets entered the season with the lowest expectations of any team since the late '60s. After a last place finish in 1977 and the subsequent dismantling of the pitching staff (Jon Matlack had been traded to the Texas Rangers during the offseason), manager Joe Torre was given very little to work with. The Mets had hardly any offense to speak of, hitting only .245 as a team and banging out a measly 86 home runs during the 1978 season. But they did have one bright spot in the lineup.

In an otherwise miserable season, John Stearns continued to shine. He hit .264 and set career highs in runs scored (65), home runs (15), RBI (73) and stolen bases (25). With his 25 steals, Stearns set the modern National League record for stolen bases by a catcher. (Editor's note: Roger Bresnahan stole 34 bases for the New York Giants in 1903, but split his time between catcher, first base, third base and the outfield.)

Despite his excellent performance, Stearns was not chosen to play in the 1978 All-Star Game, as he was bypassed for Braves' catcher Biff Pocoroba. Yes, that's the same Biff Pocoroba who was hitting .262, with eight doubles, four home runs, 24 RBI, 16 runs scored and no stolen bases at the All-Star Break. (Stearns' line at the break was .265, 11 doubles, 7 HR, 32 RBI, 33 runs scored and 11 steals.) It would turn out to be Pocoroba's only trip to the All-Star Game.

In the late '70s, if you looked up the word "embarrassing" in the dictionary, you might have seen a photo of the 1979 Mets next to the definition. Those Mets were more than just embarrassing; they were difficult to watch. Craig Swan was a 14-game winner in 1979 and pitched ten complete games. No other Met pitcher won more than six games or completed more than one. As awful as the pitchers were, the hitters were just as bad. The Mets hit only 74 home runs in 1979, which was the fewest full-season total in franchise history (a record that stood for all of one season). The team hit .250 (10th in the 12-team National League) and was next-to-last with 593 runs scored, which was 24 fewer than the original 1962 Mets scored. Most importantly, the Mets finished dead last in the standings, as their 63-99 record was the worst record in the National League.

John Stearns was not immune to the Mets' failures in 1979, as he batted a career-low .243. Despite the fact that he recorded 61 more at-bats than he did in his stellar 1978 season, Stearns hit six fewer homers and "only" stole 15 bases (in 30 attempts). For the first time in his career, Stearns' batting eye failed him, as he registered more strikeouts (57) than walks (52). He also let out his "bad dude" persona on several occasions in 1979, most notably during his fight with Gary Carter after a home plate collision in the fourth game of the season. Naturally, he was rewarded for his efforts by being selected to his second All-Star Game, although he never got into the game.

Did John Stearns fight Gary Carter because he thought he was elbowed or was it really because he was secretly jealous of Gary Carter's hair?

In 1980, the magic was supposedly back at Shea Stadium, or at least that's what the marketing department led us to believe. John Stearns was just hoping that the magic was back in his game after his subpar 1979 season.

Eschewing power for a higher average, Stearns tore up National League pitching over the first two months of the season. In April and May, his Dudeness was among the league leaders in batting average, hitting a robust .320, with almost twice as many doubles (17) as strikeouts (9). Stearns did not have any home runs, but was still scoring and driving in runs (20 runs scored, 20 RBI in his first 41 games). His new approach at the plate did not go unnoticed, as Stearns was selected to participate in the All-Star Game for the third time in four seasons.

As Stearns was soaring, so were the Mets. On July 15, the Mets defeated the Braves in Atlanta to reach the .500 mark. With a 42-42 record, the Mets had their fans believing that the magic was indeed back, as they found themselves only 3½ games behind the first place Expos. However, just as soon as Mets fans started believing in their team, their hope was taken away from them, and it all started with an injury to their All-Star catcher.

On July 26, John Stearns was listed as the Mets' starting catcher, batting fifth in the lineup. Stearns never got a chance to hit in the game, as he suffered a broken right index finger on a foul tip by Reds' leadoff hitter Dave Collins in the first inning. The injury abruptly ended the 28-year-old Stearns' season, as he was immediately placed on the disabled list. The Mets would go on to lose that game to the Reds, which became a common theme over the final two months of the season. After their best start in years, the Mets dropped 53 of their final 78 games, finishing the year with a 67-95 record, good enough for fifth place in the National League East.

Before the 1981 season began, John Stearns suffered a freak injury, twisting his right ankle after he stepped on a baseball during a workout at Wrigley Field on the day before Opening Day. Stearns did not appear in a game until April 22, when he was used as a pinch-hitter, and did not start a game until six days later, when he played third base against the Pittsburgh Pirates. He did not become the regular catcher until mid-May and was still not hitting home runs, but his average remained near .300 for most of the year's first half, until the players' strike put the season on hold in June.

At the time of the strike, the Mets had a 17-34 record, with basically no chance of making the playoffs. However, on August 6, the owners decided to split the season into two halves, with the pre-strike division leaders meeting the post-strike division leaders in a special divisional round of the playoffs. Therefore, when regular season play resumed on August 10, the slate was wiped clean for the Mets and every other team that had played poorly in the first half.

The strike apparently gave the Mets time to think about what went wrong in the first half. Once the Mets took the field on August 10, they played like a different team. They won six of their first ten games and were competing for the second-half division title. On September 16, John Stearns gave the Mets and their fans a reason to celebrate with something he hadn't done in two years.

Steve Carlton was coming off a season in which he had won the Cy Young Award. Entering his September 16 start against the Mets, the man known as "Lefty" certainly had the credentials (12-3, 2.31 ERA) for another Cy Young. But he also had an interesting history against the Mets, including the game on September 15, 1969 when he became the first pitcher in the major leagues to strike out 19 batters in a nine-inning game. However, Carlton lost that game as he gave up a pair of two-run homers to Ron Swoboda.

Twelve years and one day later, it would be déjà vu all over again for Carlton against the Mets, as the southpaw struck out 15 batters, but lost the game when John Stearns hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning. The blast was Stearns' first in over two years and turned a 4-3 deficit into a 5-4 lead, a lead that Neil Allen protected in the ninth inning.

Why is this man smiling? He couldn't keep Ron Swoboda or John Stearns in the ballpark.

The victory also began a stretch where the Mets won five out of six games. After their 13-inning win against the Pirates on September 21, the Mets' second half record stood at 20-20, putting them within striking distance of the St. Louis Cardinals, who at 22-17, were only 2½ games ahead of the Mets in first place. But the Mets' quest for an unlikely postseason appearance ended soon after their extra-inning victory over the Pirates, as they only won four of their remaining 13 games. The Cardinals also slumped, allowing the Montreal Expos to sneak past them and win the second-half NL East title by half a game. To this day, it remains the only postseason appearance in the 42-year history of the Expos/Nationals franchise.

In 1982, John Stearns came out of the box on fire. Going into June, Stearns was among the league leaders in batting average (.327), was scoring runs (crossing the plate 27 times), stealing bases (7 SB in 12 attempts) and was back to driving the ball all over the field. His 14 extra-base hits (10 doubles, one triple, three home runs) through the end of May matched his extra-base hit total for all of 1981.

Stearns' knack for the extra-base hit was never more evident than on Father's Day (June 20). The Mets and Cardinals were deadlocked in a 2-2 game when Stearns led off the ninth inning with a double. Although Stearns did come around to score the go-ahead run, the bullpen coughed up the lead in the bottom of the ninth, when Mike Scott (yes, THAT Mike Scott) gave up a two-out game-tying home run to Keith Hernandez (yes, THAT Keith Hernandez) to send the game into extra innings.

It didn't take too long for John Stearns to come up again and play the role of extra-base hero. In the tenth inning, after Ellis Valentine had struck out with two men on base, Stearns unloaded a triple off future Hall of Fame closer Bruce Sutter, scoring both runners. This time, the Mets were able to hold the lead, winning the game 5-4. The victory raised the Mets' record to 34-30 and left them only three games behind the first-place Cards.

For the fourth time in six years, Stearns earned the title of National League All-Star, representing the Mets in the Midsummer Classic. In doing so, he became the first position player in Mets' history to be selected to four All-Star teams. But that All-Star selection would be his last, as Stearns began experiencing right elbow pain. He made his last start behind the plate on August 12, made two pinch-hitting appearances after that, and was placed on the disabled list a week later with tendinitis in his right elbow. It was an injury he never recovered from.

Stearns went on to make three pinch-running appearances in September and continued to suffer from the effects of his elbow injury for the rest of his career. As a result, Stearns was limited to four pinch-running appearances in 1983 (no official at-bats) and one pinch-running appearance in 1984 before finally getting a chance to hit on September 1, 1984. It was his first time at bat in over two years. So what did Stearns do after two years without a bat in his hands? Naturally, he hit a double as a pinch-hitter, and came around to score in a 10-6 victory over the Padres. Stearns would eventually return to catch the final two games of the season, a season that saw the Mets finish with only their second 90-win season in franchise history.

Those last two appearances behind the plate would mark the end of John Stearns' career as the Bad Dude became the Retired Dude following the 1984 season. After his retirement, Stearns remained in the Mets' family, becoming the team's bench coach in 2000 and third base coach in 2001.

John Stearns finally made it to the World Series as bench coach for the 2000 Mets.

John Stearns was the type of player who never took the passive approach on the field. If an opposing pitcher went head-hunting after a teammate, Stearns would protect him, as he did in 1980 when Expos' rookie Bill Gullickson buzzed Mike Jorgensen with a pitch and Stearns (who wasn't even in the Mets' lineup) took exception, tackling Gullickson and starting a bench-clearing incident. It wasn't the only time Stearns would exhibit his football mentality on the field, as he tackled Atlanta's Chief Noc-A-Homa during a game in 1977 and did the same to an unruly fan who ran on the field during a game in 1980.

Although Stearns never had league-leading numbers or was the best catcher in the game, he did have a hard-nosed approach that is essential to winning games. Unfortunately, the Mets didn't do much winning during his time with the team, preventing Stearns from receiving more recognition for his accomplishments.

John Stearns was never the type of player who would fill up the boxscore, but he was the man you would most want as your teammate. Stearns once said "the monster's out of the cage" in reference to Mike Piazza. However, when Stearns took the playing field as a Met, he was the monster being left out of his cage. His teammates knew it, opposing players knew it and All-Star Game voters knew it. It's time for this underrated Met to receive the recognition he deserves.

Josh Thole Hopes To Give Mets Stability Behind The Plate

Josh Thole goes into spring training as the odds-on favorite to get the bulk of the playing time at catcher. Even if manager Terry Collins goes to a lefty-righty platoon with Thole and the newly acquired Ronny Paulino, it would be the left-handed hitting Thole getting the lion's share of at-bats. If Thole can handle the Mets' pitching staff and can successfully hit major league pitching on a regular basis, he stands to do something that hasn't been seen in Flushing since the days of Mike Piazza.

The Mets have played musical chairs at a number of positions, most notably at third base (until the arrival of David Wright in 2004) and right field. One position where they've had stability over the past half-century is at catcher.

Since 1962, the Mets have used 142 third basemen and 197 rightfielders (soon to be 198 if Carlos Beltran moves over to right). But they have only penciled in 81 catchers on their lineup cards, despite it being the most grueling position to play on the field.

It was original Met manager Casey Stengel who once famously said that you have to have a catcher, or else you're going to have a lot of passed balls. From 1962-1965 (which coincides with the time Casey was the Mets' skipper), the Mets didn't have a true #1 catcher, using 14 men at the position. Chris Cannizzaro played the most games at the position over the team's first four seasons, but that only added up to 236 games.

It wasn't until 1966, when Jerry Grote was traded to the Mets from the Houston Astros, that the Mets could boast finally having an everyday catcher. And once Grote took over the job, the catcher's position became as stable as any on the Mets.

From 1966-1976, Grote caught 1,176 games, which still represents the most games caught by any player in Mets history. Except for the 1972 season, when he was sidelined by injuries, Grote was the team's #1 catcher. With the emergence of John Stearns, Grote was deemed expendable, and he was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers on August 31, 1977.

John Stearns was the Mets' regular catcher during the team's lean years from 1977-1982. In addition, he was also one of the team's best players, providing some pop (tying for the team lead with 12 HR in 1977 and hitting a career-high 15 HR in 1978) and exceptional speed for a catcher (91 stolen bases as a Met, including 25 SB in 1978).

Stearns was the first Mets position player to be selected to four All-Star teams (1977, 1979, 1980, 1982), but his career was cut short by a severe case of elbow tendinitis. Unable to throw, Stearns barely played in 1983 (4 games) and 1984 (8 games), appearing mostly as a pinch-runner.

The main backup catcher for both Grote and Stearns was Ron Hodges. He began his career in 1973 for the "Ya Gotta Believe" Mets, playing in 45 games and walking in his only postseason plate appearance in Game 1 of the World Series. From 1973-1981, Hodges backed up both Grote and Stearns, never appearing in more than 59 games in any season.

Then in 1982, he finally got his chance to be the team's #1 catcher when John Stearns succumbed to his elbow injury. Hodges became the team's everyday catcher at the end of the 1982 season and continued to hold the position in 1983, before going back to being the #2 guy in 1984 behind Mike Fitzgerald.

After Hodges retired, the top man behind the plate for the Mets became one of the most beloved figures in Mets history. Gary Carter was acquired via a trade with the Montreal Expos prior to the 1985 season and immediately became the best offensive catcher in franchise history. In five years as a Met, Carter caught in 566 games, picking up 89 HR and 349 RBI along the way. He became the first Met to drive in 100 or more runs in back-to-back seasons when he accomplished the feat in 1985 (100 RBI) and 1986 (105 RBI).

Along with first baseman Keith Hernandez, Carter was named co-captain of the Mets in 1988, even though he was already on the downside of his Hall of Fame career. Despite this, he was still named to the All-Star team in each of his five seasons in New York.

Once the '90s began, the Mets returned to the pre-Grote system of "let's send this guy out there to see how he does". Most of the time, it was Mackey Sasser who went behind the plate, but his unusual (how shall we say this politely) "throwing disability" prevented him from ever taking over the everyday job. It wasn't until 1992 when a homegrown talent took the position and made it his own.

After a few brief appearances in 1990 (36 games) and 1991 (21 games), Todd Hundley became the Mets' #1 catcher in 1992 at the tender age of 22. He went through the usual growing pains in his first full season as a Met, hitting .209, with 7 HR and 32 RBI. But as he got older, his power made its presence felt. From 1993-1995, Hundley averaged 14 HR and 49 RBI, numbers that would have been higher had the players' strike not wiped out parts of the 1994 and 1995 seasons. Then came 1996, the year Todd Hundley broke out in a major way.

In his fifth full season in the major leagues, Hundley obliterated his previous career highs in home runs and RBI. He became the first player in franchise history to surpass the 40 HR mark in 1996, and his 41 bombs set the all-time major league record for home runs by a catcher (which was surpassed by the Braves' Javy Lopez in 2003). He also recorded 112 RBI, which at the time, was the most by any catcher in Mets' history.

Hundley followed up his record-setting season with another good year, although not quite at his 1996 levels. He became the first Mets catcher to record back-to-back seasons with 30 or more homers in 1997, when he finished with 30 HR and 86 RBI. Unfortunately, that would be his last full season as a Met, as injuries limited Hundley to 53 games in 1998. However, the Mets did have a good backup plan, one that involved a certain trade with the Florida Marlins.

On May 22, 1998, the Mets traded Preston Wilson, Ed Yarnall and Geoff Goetz to the Florida Marlins for a catcher who had only been in Florida for one week. He went on to become the best hitting catcher, and perhaps the best hitter, in franchise history. That catcher was Mike Piazza.

Opposing pitchers feared him. Opposing baserunners? Not so much.

Piazza heard some boos early on from the Shea Stadium crowd. After all, he only drove in 20 runs over his first 47 games in New York, far less than the numbers he was accustomed to posting. Then Piazza caught fire, and he took the team with him. Over his final 62 games (57 starts), Piazza hit .362, had an on-base percentage of .434 and a slugging percentage of .670. He hit 19 doubles, 16 HR and drove in 56 runs over that two-month stretch. Amazingly, his power did not come along with a high strikeout total, as Piazza whiffed a mere 26 times over his final 62 games.

Piazza did not lead the Mets to the postseason in 1998, but he was able to carry them into October the following two years, including the franchise's fourth World Series appearance in 2000. In 2001, the Mets were struggling before September 11. After the season resumed on September 17, Piazza put the team on his back and almost led them back to the playoffs. Over the team's final 16 games, Piazza hit .364. He picked up 12 extra-base hits (seven doubles, five homers) and drove in 16 runs.

The 2002 season began a downward turn for Piazza, as he went from out-of-this-world numbers for a catcher to just very good numbers. Although he still had 33 HR and 98 RBI, he failed to hit .300 for the first time since in a full season, finishing the year with a .280 batting average. Piazza rejoined the human race from 2003-2005, averaging 17 HR and 50 RBI, to go with a .265 batting average. Despite his return back to Earth, Piazza still finished his Mets career with 220 HR and 655 RBI, numbers that rank him near the top of the franchise leaderboard.

For 40 seasons (1966-2005), the Mets basically used only six catchers (Grote, Stearns, Hodges, Carter, Hundley, Piazza). However, since Piazza played his last game as a Met in 2005, no Mets catcher has been the #1 guy behind the plate for more than two seasons. It's now up to Josh Thole to bring stability back to a position that was known for it throughout the majority of the team's existence.

Born during the 1986 World Series, the new "kid" hopes to reach the heights the old "Kid" (Gary Carter) reached during that magical World Championship season.

Thole has already proven he can handle a major league pitching staff. In 73 games last season, Thole's catcher's ERA (which calculates the ERA of the Mets' pitchers while Thole is catching them) was 3.58, which was lower than the overall team ERA of 3.73. He has also shown he can get on base. In 255 career plate appearances, Thole's batting average is .286 and his on-base percentage is .357. In fact, Thole's OBP would have led the Mets in 2010 had he registered enough at-bats.

For now, the future for the Mets at the catcher's position lies in the hands of Josh Thole. As long as he plays the way he is capable of playing, the 24-year-old Thole could join the exclusive list of catchers who have enjoyed great success behind the plate for the Mets. A long run at the catcher's position hasn't been seen since 2005. It's time for Thole to bring back stability behind the plate.