A Mets Team Is Worth A Thousand Players

According to baseball-reference.com, the Mets have had 984 players appear in a game for them during their first 53 seasons.  From Aardsma to Zimmer, these players have played the field, appeared as a pitcher or had a turn at the plate at least one time in a Mets uniform.  Sixteen of these players made their Mets debuts in 2014.  Another sixteen in 2015 would give the Mets an even thousand.

To mark this soon-to-be occasion that will be probably be old news once the thousand-and-first player sets foot on the field or in the batter's box, I have come up with a few factoids, oddities and other fun bits of minutiae in this, my 1,000th Studious Metsimus post.  (So THAT'S the reasoning behind publishing this now!)  Hopefully, this blog post won't be forgotten once my 1,001st piece is published.  Enjoy!

The three most common surnames by Mets players are Hernandez, Johnson and Jones.  Each last name has been represented seven times.  I'm sure you'll remember most of these players very well and some of these players not at all:

This one's Luis.

• Keith Hernandez (1983-89)
• Manny Hernandez (1989)
• Roberto Hernandez (2005, 2006)
• Anderson Hernandez (2005-07, 2009)
• Orlando Hernandez (2006-07)
• Livan Hernandez (2009)
• Luis Hernandez (2010)

One of the Bobs.

• Bob Johnson (1967 - infielder)
• Bob Johnson (1969 - pitcher)
• Howard Johnson (1985-93)
• Lance Johnson (1996-97)
• Mark Johnson (2000-02)
• Ben Johnson (2007)
• Rob Johnson (2012)

NOT the Mets' Randy Jones.

• Sherman Jones (1962)
• Cleon Jones (1963, 1965-75)
• Randy Jones (1981-82)
• Ross Jones (1984)
• Bobby J. Jones (1993-2000)
• Chris Jones (1995-96)
• Bobby M. Jones (2000, 2002)

Of course, one of the most popular Johnsons to ever wear a Mets uniform never played a game for New York, and hence, would not appear on the list of Johnsons above.  That would be manager Davey Johnson, who is the team's all-time winningest skipper and led the club to its second World Series championship in 1986.  He is also the only manager to win two division titles (1986, 1988) during his tenure with the Mets.

Excluding the inaugural 1962 campaign - a year in which every Met player (all 45 of them) suited up for the very first time in a Mets uniform - the year that saw the most new players appearing in at least one game for the Mets was 1967.  Thirty-eight years before Carlos Beltran coined the phrase, there were 35 "new Mets" in 1967, none more famous than The Franchise himself, Tom Seaver.  Unlike Seaver, who set and still holds most of the club's pitching records, a total of 14 players from that squad never played for the Mets after 1967, including Al Schmelz, who is the owner of one team record that's still standing.  His seven-letter surname is the longest last name in franchise history with only one vowel in it.  Of course, if that's the one thing Al Schmelz is going to be known for, then his career must have really stunk.

Conversely, the year that saw the fewest new Mets was 1988, when just four players made their debuts with the team (Bob McClure, Ed Nuñez, Mackey Sasser, David West).  That was the same year New York retired Tom Seaver's number.  And lest we forget, it was also the year Al Schmelz turned 45.

Editor's note:  For those who are curious, Al Schmelz has had a wonderful post-baseball career.  He has been a successful real estate broker in Arizona, where he currently resides, so maybe he's going to be known for more than just having the longest one-vowel surname in Mets history and for turning 45 in 1988.  And I'm sure he doesn't mind that at all.

Of the 984 players who appeared in at least one game for the Mets, only eight of them never played a defensive position while on the team.  Those eight players are Lou Klimchock (1966), Greg Harts (1973), Rick Sweet (1982), Randy Milligan (1987), Brook Fordyce (1995), Terrence Long (1999), Gary Bennett (2001) and Abraham Nuñez (2008).

All eight players appeared in games solely as pinch-hitters or pinch-runners.  Of the eight, Klimchock had the most plate appearances, going 0-for-5 with three strikeouts in five pinch-hitting appearances.  Just four of the eight players (Harts, Sweet, Fordyce, Bennett) collected hits in their brief, non-defensive-playing Mets careers, with Fordyce collecting the only extra-base hit when he doubled in his final at-bat as a Met.

Brook Fordyce never had a chance with the Mets.  Not with that smile.

Greg Harts is unique among all 984 players, as he is the only player in Mets history whose entire major league career consisted of pinch-hitting and pinch-running.  Harts appeared in three late-season games for the 1973 Mets, just as the team was making its unexpected run to the NL East title.  Harts collected a pinch-hit single in his major league debut on September 15.  Two days later, he grounded out as a pinch-hitter for Ray Sadecki.  Three days after that, he pinch-ran for Duffy Dyer.  Harts never appeared in a major league game again for the Mets or any other team.  The other seven players who never played a defensive position for the Mets at least got the opportunity to play the field with other teams, a privilege that wasn't afforded to Harts.

Finally, there have been many players in Mets history who never walked up to the plate with bats in their hands.  Naturally, most of those players were relief pitchers who were usually taken out of games for pinch-hitters when their spots in the batting order came up.  But just two non-pitchers in franchise history got to play defense without getting an opportunity to step into the batter's box while wearing a Mets uniform.

In 2004, catcher Joe Hietpas appeared in his only major league game as a late-inning defensive replacement for Todd Zeile, who was playing in his 2,158th and final major league game.  The contest, which took place on October 3, was also the final game ever played by the Montreal Expos.  Hietpas never batted for the Mets - or any other team - but at least he made two putouts, both on strikeouts by Bartolome Fortunato, and can say he was on the field when future Met Endy Chavez made the final out in Expos history.

Unlike Hietpas, Shane Halter can say he played in several games for the Mets, even if he never took a bat in his hands for the team.  Five years before Hietpas became the final new player to play for the Mets in 2004 (and the 747th overall), Halter appeared in seven games for the 1999 Mets.  Halter was a pinch-runner in five of those games and played the field in the other two.  On September 18, Halter played center field in the eighth inning, then moved to shortstop in the ninth, never collecting a plate appearance.  Two weeks later, in the game against the Pirates that forced a one-game playoff with the Cincinnati Reds, Halter played the final out of the nail-biting ninth inning in right field.  He never got a chance to bat, as the Mets won the game in the bottom of the ninth.  Halter played in seven games with the Mets, but failed to pick up a plate appearance.  He also never made a putout on the field.  At least Hietpas got to do that with the Mets five years later.

"Here's to you, Mr. Hietpas.  Mets fans love you more than you will know, wo, wo, wo."

A total of 984 players have played in at least one game for the Mets.  Some of them had long and distinguished careers in the majors, while others had careers that were over before you could say Schmelz, Harts and Hietpas.

At least four new players have joined the team every year they've been in existence.  Sixteen of those players became Mets in 2014.  If that number repeats itself in 2015, the number of players to have appeared in at least one game with the team will reach one thousand.

A picture is worth a thousand words.  Pretty soon, the Mets will have reached a thousand players.  And that's a picture that's over half a century in the making.
 

August 16, 1987: Mets Score Club-Record 23 Runs

The late Harry Caray probably wishes he hadn't been taken out to the ballgame on August 16, 1987.

Note:  I originally published this piece five years ago on Mets Merized Online, but this Mets game from 1987 has always fascinated me, and I have since uncovered some more oddities about this game.  Therefore, I felt compelled to make some quick edits and share this piece once again with you.  Enjoy!


The New York Mets are currently playing a three-game set against the Chicago Cubs at Citi Field.  Twenty-seven years ago today, the Mets were also playing the Cubs, although the venue on that lazy Sunday afternoon was Wrigley Field in Chicago.  One year after winning the 1986 World Series, the Mets were battling the St. Louis Cardinals for the division title and needed to win the finale of their four-game series against the Cubs after dropping the first three games.  They were in the throes of a poor stretch that saw them lose six out of eight games after they had cut the Cardinals’ lead in the division from 10½ to 3½ games.  In that eight-game stretch, they had scored only 20 runs.  They needed to bust out of their slump quickly if they were going to continue to stay in the race with St. Louis.  Fortunately, the wind was blowing out at Wrigley Field on August 16 and the Mets’ bats were ready to take advantage.

The starting pitchers were Ron Darling for the Mets and a kid for the Cubs who had just been recalled from the minors after being sent down two weeks earlier due to a poor 6-10 start for the big club.  You may have heard of him.  He was a scrawny 21-year-old kid named Greg Maddux.

The Mets jumped out of the box quickly, scoring three runs in the first inning to take an early lead.  The lead had extended to 7-0 by the time the Cubs came up to bat in the bottom of the fourth inning.  However, Ron Darling struggled in the fourth, giving up a grand slam to catcher Jody Davis.  That was followed up by a home run from the next batter, a rookie who was pinch-hitting for Cubs reliever (and former Met) Ed Lynch.  That rookie was Rafael Palmeiro, who hit the tenth of his 569 career home runs to cut the Mets lead to 7-5.

Fortunately for Darling, manager Davey Johnson did not remove him from the game despite the poor inning.  He was allowed to put out the fire he started and pitch the minimum five innings required to qualify for the victory.  Because of that, Darling was able to stick around to reap the benefits of the additional fireworks displayed by his teammates as they continued to ride the jet stream out of Wrigley Field.

The Mets immediately responded to the Cubs’ five-run fourth by scoring three runs in the fifth inning and seven additional runs in the sixth.  They now had a commanding 17-5 lead, but the Cubbie carnage continued.  Not satisfied with a lead of a dozen runs, they scored three additional runs in both the seventh and eighth innings.  Jesse Orosco relieved Darling in the seventh and gave up four runs in his inning of work, but by then, the Mets had already put the game away.  A run by Chicago in the ninth inning off Jeff Innis produced the final tally in the Mets’ 23-10 shellacking of the Cubs.

The offense was powered by Lenny Dykstra and Darryl Strawberry.  Eights were wild for the two Met outfielders, as they combined for eight hits, eight runs scored and eight runs batted in.  Strawberry in particular smoked the Cubs’ pitchers, as all four of his hits went for extra bases (two doubles, a triple and a home run).

Dykstra and Strawberry - two smiling California kids who put lots of frowns on Cubs fans' faces on August 16, 1987.

In doing so, Strawberry became just the third Met to produce four extra-base hits in one game, joining Joe Christopher, who accomplished the feat in 1964, and Tim Teufel, who turned the trick just six weeks prior to Strawberry.  Strawberry added a stolen base in the second inning, making him the first and only Met to collect four extra-base hits and a stolen base in the same game.

Strawberry also became just the third Met to score five runs in a game, after Lenny Randle in 1978 and Lee Mazzilli in 1979.  In addition, the Straw Man drove in five runs, making him the first Mets player to have a five-run, five-RBI game in franchise history.  The only other Met to accomplish that rare feat since August 16, 1987 is Edgardo Alfonzo, who produced six runs and five RBI against the Houston Astros on August 30, 1999.

Dykstra also made Mets history in the game, becoming the first Met to collect seven at-bats in a nine-inning game.  The only Met to match Dykstra since then is Luis Hernandez, who went 3-for-7 in an 18-5 thrashing of the Cubs in 2010, which, just like Dykstra's record-setting effort 23 years earlier, took place on a lazy Sunday afternoon at Wrigley Field.

Strawberry and Dykstra victimized several Cubs pitchers that day, including starting pitcher Greg Maddux.  Maddux collected almost 10% of his 355 career wins against the Mets.  His 35 victories (against 19 losses) are the most by any pitcher against New York.  However, one of his worst pitching performances against the Mets (or any other club) took place on that Sunday afternoon in the North Side of Chicago.

Throughout his major league career, which resulted in a much-deserved call to the Baseball Hall of Fame this year, Maddux was always known as a control pitcher, as he walked fewer than 1,000 batters in over 5,000 innings.  But on August 16, 1987 against the Mets, Maddux pitched 3⅔ innings and was charged with seven earned runs allowed.  He gave up six hits and a very un-Maddux-like five bases on balls.  Let's dissect Maddux's effort to see just how much of an anomaly this game was for him.

Greg Maddux would have preferred starting at Shea Stadium on August 16, 1987.

Greg Maddux made 740 starts in his big league career.  He issued five bases on balls or more in just 20 of those starts.  But in 14 of those 20 starts, he lasted at least six innings, giving him more time to issue those free passes.  Maddux wouldn't have another game in which he lasted fewer than four innings and allowed five or more walks until 2004, a year in which he produced his first ERA above 4.00 since - you guessed it - 1987.

Maddux also allowed seven earned runs in the game, which was the first time he had ever allowed that many runs in one of his starts.  Maddux would go on to allow seven or more earned runs in a start a total of 27 times in his career, including three more times against the Mets, but he never walked more than three batters in any of his other seven-run efforts.  The game on August 16, 1987 was the only time in his 23-year career that Maddux allowed seven or more runs and walked more than three batters.  And that was from a future Hall of Famer who beat the Mets more than any other pitcher in the 53-year history of the club.

Going into their series finale against the Cubs on August 16, 1987, the Mets were in a hitting slump and got out of it in a major way at Wrigley Field.  They scored more runs in that one game than they did in their previous eight contests.  By doing so, the Mets established a new franchise record with their 23-run outburst in Chicago and were able to use that game as a stepping stone that carried them all the way until the last week of the season, when they were eliminated from playoff contention by the Cardinals.  And it all happened 27 years ago today.
 

Joey's Soapbox: Derek Jeter, Six Years Ago & If At Second You Don't Succeed

Greetings, fellow Mets fans! Winter will be officially over in a few days, which means two things.

First, I'll finally be able to finally put away my annoying poofball hat after a long, cold winter. But more importantly, it'll be time to hear the sweet sounds of Mets baseball at Citi Field, after what seemed like an interminable off-season.

Although my thoughts have turned to baseball bats, alternate caps and Shake Shack, there are still some things happening in the baseball world that I have to get off my hoodie.

I'm Joey Beartran and it's time for me to get on my soapbox.


Derek Jeter

Earlier this week, a recent poll conducted by the Siena College Research Institute named Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter the greatest New York athlete of all-time. Let me repeat that. In a town that seen Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Joe Namath and several outstanding thoroughbred race horses, Derek Jeter was the one who was named best New York athlete.

Who were the people voting in this poll, 14-year-old girls? I guess the same people who cast their votes in this poor excuse for a poll also voted for Kurt Rambis as the best Los Angeles athlete, Cliff Clavin as Boston's finest athletic star and Lazy Smurf as the top athlete of Smurf Village? Give me a break, people!




Six Years Ago

On this date in 2005, 'roids were all the rage in Washington, as Congress called for a special hearing featuring past and present baseball players to discuss the presence of steroids in baseball. It was during these hearings that Mark McGwire realized that he didn't want to dwell on the past, Sammy Sosa forgot how to speak English and Rafael Palmeiro gave the finger to Congress.

Six years later, all of these players are out of baseball and none of them has reached the Hall of Fame, as McGwire received less than 25% of the vote in each of his five eligible years for enshrinement, Palmeiro garnered the support of 11% of the voters in 2011 and Sammy Sosa has to wait until 2013 to see if he'll be able to pop the cork (no pun intended) on his Cooperstown Champagne.

So where are these players now?

Mark McGwire is now the hitting coach of the St. Louis Cardinals. That means a man who never hit 30 doubles in a single season and only finished with 265 more career hits than Ed Kranepool is now coaching Albert Pujols on how to hit. To have McGwire impart his hitting "wisdom" on Pujols is like having Kate Moss teach me how to eat chicken nachos. That's all I have to say about that.

After playing his last game as a member of the Texas Rangers in 2007, Sammy Sosa has done his best to stay out of the spotlight, disappearing from the public eye. The last time he was spotted in public, he was overheard humming Michael Jackson's "Black or White" as he was shopping for, as he called it, one of the most important works in American literature (see photo, right). His interpreter then corrected him by saying that a CD-ROM isn't technically a piece of literature.

When not complaining about his low Hall of Fame vote, Rafael Palmeiro has quietly become one of the country's premier hand models. The former Mets' eighth round draft pick's work can now be seen wherever hand sanitizers are sold.


If At Second You Don't Succeed

We've been getting conflicting reports from the Mets on who the starting second baseman will be in 2011. Terry Collins wants Luis Hernandez. Sandy Alderson wants an offensive-minded second baseman. That would probably eliminate Hernandez, who has eight extra-base hits in 265 major league at-bats, to go with a .286 OBP in the majors and a .302 OBP in the minors.

Brad Emaus and Daniel Murphy are still candidates for the position, but their defensive "skills" make former Marlins' second baseman Dan Uggla look like a Gold Glover at the position.

There is no truth to the rumor that Uggla traded in his old No. 6 uniform number with the Marlins for a No. E-4 jersey with the Braves.

Here's what I think. Wally Backman was promoted from Brooklyn to AA-Binghamton. Tim Teufel made the jump from Binghamton to AAA-Buffalo. I think they're just going to manage their respective minor league ballclubs until Labor Day weekend (the traditional end of the minor league season). Once their managerial duties are done, they will be promoted to the Mets, where they will compete for the second baseman's job. Terry Collins will be happy with the feisty Backman, while Sandy Alderson will take comfort that he has the bat of Tim Teufel. Is it a bad thing that I think a Backman/Teufel platoon would still be better than anything the Mets could throw out there right now?

I think I've worn out my welcome on the soapbox. It's time to get into mid-season form, which means I'll be sitting in front of the TV with a bunch of chicken nachos. Who knows what will happen before Opening Day? Will Carlos Beltran start the season on the disabled list? Will Oliver Perez and Luis Castillo be on the unemployment line? Will I get a tryout to play second base? Hey, if no else wants it, I'll take it (see photo below). Enjoy the last two weeks of Spring Training!

Broken News: While We Were Away In San Francisco

As some of you may or may not have known, the Studious Metsimus staff (minus roving reporter/culinary expert Joey Beartran) spent the past five days in San Francisco, visiting the plethora of tourist attractions (see photo, left) and hoping to bring back some of that championship attitude that has permeated the Bay Area now that the Giants have finally won their first championship since leaving the Polo Grounds over half a century ago.

However, we were unsuccessful in our attempts to take that winning attitude aboard the plane. You see, the baggage check people at the airport noticed that we were dressed in our Mets gear. Since we're only allowed one piece of carry-on luggage, they claimed that as Mets fans, we have too much baggage as it is.

On that note, let's see what we might have missed while we were trying to find a place on Alcatraz for Oliver Perez and Luis Castillo to play their next game of catch.

The Mets dropped the ball on one of these guys. The other guy dropped the ball for the Mets.

Carlos Beltran suffered a setback on the road to becoming the 198th rightfielder in franchise history. Beltran will not play until next week, after it was announced that he is suffering from tendinitis in his left knee. With the prognostication of time missed due to injuries not high on the Mets' accuracy list, it would not be a surprise if Beltran was not ready for Opening Day.

For years, Carlos Beltran has been 85% healthy any time he has been afflicted with aches and pains. For now, it appears as if he's 85% sure that he's 85% healthy.

Yes, we still like Carlos Beltran...85% of the time.

There is still no clear-cut favorite for the opening at second base, leaving room for plenty of competition over the final three weeks of Spring Training. As sad as the situation may seem, it might be true that the best second basemen currently employed by the Mets are AA-Binghamton manager Wally Backman and AAA-Buffalo manager Tim Teufel.

If only former first round draft pick Reese Havens were not so injury-prone, perhaps this could have been the year for the second base prospect to make the jump to the major leagues. However, perhaps Ike Davis said it best when he spoke of the man who was drafted four spots ahead of him in the 2008 draft:

"All I know is that he plays 10 games a year, and hits 10 home runs."

Havens' power potential at a position where long balls are scarce (except for division rivals Philadelphia and Atlanta, who can boast Chase Utley and Dan Uggla as their second sackers, respectively) would have provided a big boost for the Mets in 2011.

Last season, the Mets used Luis Castillo, Ruben Tejada and Luis Hernandez at second base. The trio combined for three home runs in 507 at-bats in 2010, including the September blast hit by Luis Hernandez soon after an unnamed teammate wished him luck by telling him to "break a leg", which of course, was taken literally by the 26-year-old Hernandez.

Had Luis Hernandez chosen Wheaties instead of Rice Krispies for his pre-game meal, perhaps his leg wouldn't have gone "snap, crackle, pop" as he fouled a ball off it prior to hitting this home run.

Terry Collins, Dan Warthen and Sandy Alderson have decided to move Oliver Perez to the bullpen, thereby not allowing Ollie the opportunity to invade the Top 20 on the club's all-time list for games started. (Currently, the lefty ranks 23rd all-time with 91 starts over his 4½ seasons with the Mets.)

Perhaps a better idea would be to banish him from ever appearing in a Mets uniform again. That would give Ollie the opportunity to appear in Major League 3 (although it would actually be the fourth film in the Major League franchise of films, as Major League: Back To The Minors was released in 1998 to the delight of all five people who watched it).

Since Charlie Sheen is busy promoting his "Winning Is Everything" World Tour, he would have difficulty reprising his role as Rick Vaughn. What better role for Oliver Perez to make his film debut than in the role of "Wild Thing"? His performance on the mound since 2009 (100 walks, eight hit batsmen and six wild pitches in 112⅓ innings) should save the film production company plenty of money in casting costs. He'd be a natural for the role, and he could reunite with the unemployed Carlos Delgado, who'd be a natural to fill Dennis Haysbert's shoes in the role of Pedro Cerrano. Of course, Delgado would have to pry away Jobu from the hands of Carlos Beltran, who allegedly bought the icon as a means to improve his curveball hitting skills.

Pedro Cerrano and Carlos Delgado, or is that Carlos Delgado and Pedro Cerrano? Dang doppelgangers!

That's all for this edition of Broken News, where someone else breaks the story before us, then we break it some more. Remember, if you catch wind of a Mets-related story, send that wind over to us. We have no problem breaking that as well.

Enjoy the rest of Spring Training!