Thirty Years of Opening Days

Home sweet home.  (Photo by Ed Leyro/Studious Metsimus)

 

For the first time in over 18 months, Citi Field opened its gates today for baseball-starved fans.  And just like they did on September 29, 2019, the Mets sent their fans home happy after walking off with a win.  Back then, the celebration came on a three-run homer by Dominic Smith.  Today, it was a combination of a Jeff McNeil game-tying birthday blast followed by a bizarre hit-by-pitch of Michael Conforto with the bases loaded.  The Mets scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth to defeat the Miami Marlins in the home opener by a score of 3-2.

Today's win marked the 30th consecutive Opening Day game that I attended in which fans were allowed in the building.  And the victory came thirty years to the day of my first home opener.

I've had many memorable moments throughout those three decades of Opening Day affairs.  I've seen a franchise's first game in 1993 when the Mets defeated the Colorado Rockies, 3-0.  Two years later, I saw the Mets erase a five-run deficit when I wasn't watching fans running on the field throwing dollar bills at players in New York's first home game after the eight-month players' strike.  I've also witnessed the fielding excellence of Rey Ordoñez in a 1996 Opening Day victory and saw Alberto Castillo's sole magical moment as a Met in a 1-0, 14-inning win two years later.  Two National League pennants have been raised with me in attendance and a new ballpark opened its doors with yours truly cheering the Mets on.

But my first home opener took place on April 8, 1991, exactly 30 years ago today.  And that one was special for more than just a Mets victory.  You see, that trip to the ballpark was also my first date.  And what better place to take someone special than Shea Stadium to see Mets legends Tommy Herr, Charlie O'Brien and new shortstop Howard Johnson taking the field against Von Hayes and the Philadelphia Phillies.  In fact, that game was more than just a first date; it also began an Opening Day tradition that has continued to this day. 

 

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I love my wife.  And I met her at a Mets game.  True story.  She was a blogger, as was I, and we were both going to "Build-A-Bear Night" at Citi Field on August 1, 2009.  So we decided to meet up on the Promenade Level before the game.  Of course, we had our new bears in tow, and I had a few other bears with me.  We talked about bears and the Mets, then saw the game separately from our regular seats.

Later that month, we went to our first game together.  Naturally, the bears were our chaperones.  We met up a few more times during the season's final month.  Then I asked her what she was doing during the off-season.  Notice I didn't say "during the winter" because to a Mets fan, there are only two seasons - baseball season and the off-season.  Well, that phrasing struck a chord with her.  Needless to say, what we did during the off-season was spend more time together and fall in love.  The following May, we got married, then waited two months to go on our honeymoon in San Francisco.  Why the wait?  Because the Mets weren't due to play the Giants on the road until July.  Yup, I gave her a diamond AFTER we got married.

I never said we were a conventional couple.

Almost 20 years before I met the love of my life, I went on my first-ever date.  The day was April 8, 1991, and my date's name was K.V.  (I'm using her initials in case she's reading this and doesn't want to be associated with a bear-carrying Mets fanatic.)  Most people go to the movies or dinner or a combination of the two on a first date.  Not me.  Where did I take K.V. on our date?  Like you need to ask...

It was Opening Day.  So we went to Shea Stadium.

The temperature that day was an unseasonably hot 90º.  At the time, it was the earliest date on the calendar that New York had ever registered a 90º reading.  We were both undergraduates at St. John's University, finishing up our sophomore years.  Her mother worked in the school library, so I had already gotten that first meeting with her out of the way.  We actually went to visit K.V.'s mother prior to leaving for Shea, at which time she told us to have a good time and stay out of the sun, if at all possible.

The Mets were fielding a brand-new team in 1991 as they embarked on what the team hoped would be its eighth consecutive winning season.  But this would also be the first time since 1983 that Davey Johnson wouldn't come out of the dugout during the Opening Day introductions, as Buddy Harrelson had taken over for the former skipper during the previous season.

K.V. confessed to me that it was her first baseball game as we proceeded to sit in our Upper Deck seats on the first base side.  I confessed to her that it was my first-ever date with anyone, to which she said, "Awww, and you chose me.  I'm so honored."

As the game began, I noticed that four of the starting nine players on the Mets had not been with the team at the beginning of the previous campaign.  Charlie O'Brien was calling the game behind the plate, while former Cardinal nemeses Tommy Herr and Vince Coleman were the Mets' new second baseman and center fielder, respectively.  Right field used to be where Darryl Strawberry had his patch, but he had left for Los Angeles as a free agent.  In his stead was a player who was very special to long-time Mets fans, including myself, but had not worn a Mets uniform since 1984.  And this was how he was re-introduced.

"Playing right field, No. 7.  Welcome back, Huuuubie Brooooks."

I'd have bought one of these, but I chose to save the money for my date.

 

Hubie Brooks made a quick impression on me during his first stint in New York.  It was Brooks who hit the first home run I ever saw in person.  On June 15, 1983, I was at Shea Stadium with my Little League teammates when Brooks took future Hall of Famer Ferguson Jenkins deep in the fourth inning.  It was the only home run Brooks would ever hit off Jenkins in 18 career plate appearances, and one of only two hits he would muster off the pitching legend.

Eight years after I cheered Brooks as he touched home plate following his homer, I would cheer him again as he scored, although this time he touched the plate in a completely different way.

The Mets were leading the Phillies, 1-0, as the game headed into the bottom of the fourth.  Hubie Brooks led off the inning by roping a double to right field - his first hit as a Met in seven years.  Brooks then advanced to third on a fly ball by Howard Johnson.  Left fielder Kevin McReynolds failed to bring him home when he grounded out weakly to third base.  With two outs, Tommy Herr drew a walk to put runners on the corners.  That brought up Charlie O'Brien, whose .209 career batting average entering the game was six points lower than Mario Mendoza's .215 lifetime mark.

You read that right.  The namesake of the "Mendoza Line" was a better hitter than Charlie O'Brien.

Clearly, if the Mets were going to extend their lead, manager Buddy Harrelson was going to have to try something different.  So he did.  On an 0-1 pitch, Harrelson had Herr steal second.  When Phillies catcher Darren Daulton threw the ball to second in an attempt to nail Herr, Brooks darted for the plate, sliding home safely to give the Mets a 2-0 lead.

The unexpected play caused K.V. and I to simultaneously jump out of seats and embrace.  Yup, it was our first hug, and Hubie Brooks made it happen.  With the Mets now holding a two-run lead, we decided to get some refreshing ice cream to cool down on the sweltering day.  By the time we got to the concession stand, John Kruk had homered off Dwight Gooden to cut the Mets' lead back to a single run.

Needless to say, we went back to our seats and didn't leave our section again until the final out was recorded.

In the seventh inning, as we were singing "Take Me Out To The Ballgame", K.V. accidentally bumped into my leg.  So I bumped her back.  We ended up doing what appeared to be a strange leg-bump dance for the duration of the song.  It was then that I realized that I could do something other than calculate players' batting averages in my head.  I could also flirt.  Score one for me.

Speaking of scoring, there were no more runs scored after Kruk's fifth-inning homer.  The Mets held on for a 2-1 victory, making my first date - and my first-ever Opening Day game - a complete success.

After the game, K.V. and I walked back to Main Street in Flushing, where we had two additional ice cream cones (mint chocolate chip for both of us), then we took the bus back to her house.  I was a gentleman, and didn't ask to go in, but she insisted.  I didn't spend much time inside, but when I left, I did get a kiss goodbye.

I scored more that day than the Phillies did.

K.V. and I continued to hang out during our remaining college years, but we never went to another Mets game.  We also didn't really date much more after that hot April afternoon.  Perhaps that's a good thing.  After all, had something happened between us, I might never have met my wife on "Build-A-Bear Night" nearly two decades later.

Hubie Brooks and I go way back.  He was responsible for the first home run I ever witnessed at a ballgame, and he was responsible for the first (and to this date, only) double steal I've ever had the privilege to see in person.  He may also have helped me get that special kiss at the end of my first date.

April 8, 1991 was most certainly a good day.

 

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Just like April 8, 1991 was a memorable day at Shea Stadium that culminated with a one-run victory by the Mets, April 8, 2021 was also one to remember at Citi Field, and not just because of the Mets' 3-2 walk-off win.  Today's game was the first in which fans were allowed to attend since before the pandemic caused daily fan attendance to be zero.  It was also the 30th consecutive Opening Day I've been fortunate to attend and the eleventh I've been to with my wife.

Many things have changed in this world since 1991.  Heck, mostly everything has changed just since the start of 2020.  But the more things change, the more one thing remains the same.  I'll always be present at a Mets home opener.  And I'll always be there with my favorite date.  There's no one else I'd rather open up a season with.
 

Magic in Miami: The Marlins' Home Run Sculpture Has Disappeared

Now you see the home run sculpture, now you don't.  (GQ Magazine)

The 2018 season was a year in which the Miami Marlins celebrated their 25th anniversary.  To commemorate the occasion, the team's new CEO and co-owner - as always, we'll call him Dirk Jitters to protect the guilty - decided to field an expansion team just like their 1993 counterparts did.

Mr. Jitters' decision was a smashing success, as the 2018 squad lost 98 games, just like the original Marlins did 25 years earlier.  Of course, that 1993 team also coaxed over 3,000,000 fans to come through the turnstiles, while the 2018 version drew a franchise-record low 811,104 people to Marlins Park.  But negative numbers clearly don't seem to faze Mr. Jitters.  I mean, have you seen where he ranks all-time in the defensive runs saved statistic?

His defensive "prowess" netted him five Gold Glove Awards, a number surpassed by only four shortstops in history (Ozzie Smith, Omar Vizquel, Luis Aparicio, Mark Belanger) so why should something like negative one million defensive runs saved (give or take a few runs) tarnish his legacy as a baseball legend?  And on a similar note, why should something like wins and losses matter to a team's CEO/co-owner when there are more pressing matters at hand?

That's right.  I'm talking about the Marlins' Home Run sculpture.

It's been no secret that Mr. Jitters has hated the Miami monstrosity since he started to sign his own paychecks.  In fact, he's wanted to remove the animatronic sculpture called "Homer" - which probably got its name not from the prodigious pokes that Giancarlo Stanton was supposed to hit in its vicinity, but because its colors were reminiscent of Homer Simpson's favorite pastry - ever since his tenure with the Marlins began, right after he decided that the team didn't need the services of Stanton, Marcell Ozuna, Dee Gordon and soon-to-be N.L. MVP Christian Yelich.

Mr. Jitters had many hurdles to climb to get Homer removed from the mostly vacant stadium, but he finally got his wish.  And according to Miami sports radio host Andy Slater, the sculpture's status as the Marlins' longest tenured, um, thing has come to a sad and barely reported end.

Marlins Park HR sculpture gone.

(📷: Julian Gray https://t.co/2fb22jjYDr) pic.twitter.com/wdmmfga6gR

— Andy Slater (@AndySlater) November 4, 2018

Where the home run sculpture once stood, Mr. Jitters plans to have an area that can fit 400 people who want to pay very little to get into the ballpark and have no qualms about standing for the entire game.  In other words, people who have no access to StubHub and don't mind standing over 400 feet away from where the team's latest Quadruple-A player is striking out at the plate.

It's all part of Mr. Jitters' plan to make the Marlins relevant again.  Which also implies that the Marlins were ever relevant to begin with.  Who knows?  Maybe this is all part of his master plan to get back at the Marlins for denying him a ring in the 2003 World Series.  Or maybe he wants to further alienate Marlins Man for wearing that gaudy orange jersey and visor to sporting events and for getting more screen time than Mr. Jitters ever did making commercials or diving unnecessarily into field level seats to make an otherwise routine catch of a pop-up look more spectacular.

The motives of Mr. Jitters will remain as mysterious as the contents of his gift baskets.  But at least his machinations as Miami's new CEO allowed the Mets to stay out of last place in 2018.  And for those dozens of Marlins fans who come out to the ballpark to cheer on their favorite team, at least the only eyesore they'll have inside the stadium in 2019 will be the players in the home dugout instead of the seven-story sculpture in left-center field.

I guess Mr. Jitters really does care about his new team's fan base after all.

So glad the Studious Metsimus staff will never get the chance to take this photo ever again.

Joey's World Tour: Peaches and Creamed (Part II - Mets Put the M.I.A. in Miami)

I feel like they were expecting me, what with the blue and orange welcome signs.  (Ed Leyro/Studious Metsimus)

Hello again, everyone.  This is Studious Metsimus roving reporter/culinary expert Joey Beartran with the conclusion of my two-part road trip synopsis.  In Part One, I shared my experience at SunTrust Park in Atlanta, one that was mostly pleasant except for the fact that I had to watch the Braves and several thousand of their fans doing that silly tomahawk chop, not to mention hearing the wrong Lou Monte song at the worst possible time.

But the Mets did thankfully win the series in Atlanta, and once I had taken off from Atlanta to Miami with the rest of my colleagues, it was time for the team to do the same in South Florida.  Instead, the Mets became victims of the worst massacre in Miami since the final scene of "Scarface".

Prior to entering the ballpark, we decided to pay our respects to the late Jose Fernandez, who tragically passed away last September in a boating accident off the southern tip of Miami Beach.  A tribute to the former Marlins ace can be found near the home plate entrance, which is now covered with messages from fans to the late pitcher.

R.I.P. Jose Fernandez (EL/SM)

Soon after paying our respects, we walked around the ballpark to see if we could find statues of legendary Marlins players such as Jeff Conine and Luis Castillo, but much to our surprise, there were none to be found.  After suffering through that disappointment for about five seconds, we made the decision to go inside the fully air-conditioned stadium to escape the heat and humidity.  (I have fur and wear a long sleeve Mets hoodie all the time.  Imagine how hot it gets for me!)

Our seats for the first game of the series were located directly behind home plate, just 14 rows up from the field.  (And they were just $12 each on StubHub.  I think we found the one team whose fans want to get rid of their tickets even more than Mets fans do.)  We were so close to the Mets dugout that I probably could have conducted an in-game interview with Jose Reyes.  But of course, Terry Collins wasn't having any of that.

Come on, Terry!  I came all the way down from New York for this!  (EL/SM)

Since we were in the airport hangar known as Marlins Park, we had to get photos of the Marlins' equivalent of the Mets' Home Run Apple.  Rumor has it that soon-to-be Marlins co-owner Derek Jeter wants to get rid of the eyesore in center field, even if Miami-Dade County won't allow Jeter to DISRE2PECT the sculptor by having it removed.  So I figured I might as well pose behind it while it's still there.

The ugliness of this sculpture foreshadowed the Mets' play in this series.  (EL/SM)

The starting pitcher for the Mets in the series opener was Matt Harvey.  Harvey was never good against the Marlins BEFORE he began his descent into pitching purgatory.  Now that he's a shadow of his former Dark Knight self, a meeting with the Marlins was probably the last thing he needed.

Harvey allowed seven runs and a career-high 12 hits in four-plus innings against Miami.  It was the fifth time in his career that Harvey allowed at least ten hits in a game, but it was the third time he had done it against the Marlins.  Needless to say, Harvey's outing caused the floodgates to open, as Miami pounded out 19 hits en route to a 13-1 thrashing of the Mets.  Coupled with the meltdown of former Marlin A.J. Ramos in the second game and the 9-2 homerfest against the bullpen in the series finale, the Mets were outscored by Miami in the series, 27-7.  Even the Jets wouldn't have lost to the Dolphins by that score.  (Okay, maybe they would have...)

A photo my colleague took at the end of the first game pretty much sums up all you need to know about the series.

The Mets stink.  No hashtag required.  (EL/SM)

So rather than talk more about the games themselves, I'd rather take off my roving reporter hoodie and put on my culinary expert one.  At least that way you'll know what to eat at Marlins Park the next time you go there to see the Mets suffer another humiliating defeat in front of a handful of Marlins fans and 35,000 empty seats.

To satisfy the growing Jewish community in South Florida, the Marlins have a Kosher Korner.  The Mexican community has also grown in Miami, and to appease to those who crave Mexican food at the ballpark, there's a Miami Mex stand that specializes in tacos, nachos and churros.  But most ballparks now serve Kosher and Mexican foods.  The one thing Miami had that I had never seen at any major league venue was found at the Goya Latin Café.  Feast your eyes on this gastronomical gem.

It's... it's... what exactly is that?  (EL/SM)

In addition to serving empanadas, croquettes, yucca fries and Cuban sandwiches at the Goya Latin Café, the Marlins have a delicacy they could only call "Bacon Wrapped Plantain".  Ordinarily, I'm not a fan of bacon-wrapped anything because the bacon has to be soggy in order to wrap around the food it's supposed to cover and I prefer my bacon crispy.  But this delightful dish (minus an actual dish) was phenomenal.  It was sweet.  It was salty.  It was succulent.  It was sublime.  It was every positive "S" word you can think of.  And before long, it was in my belly.

The bacon-wrapped plantain was exactly what I needed to help me forget what was happening at Harveypalooza.  Of course, some of my colleagues decided to take the liquid approach to help them cope with the carnage on the field.

Frozen mango and strawberry Lime-A-Ritas were just what cousins Les Gomez and Ballapeño ordered.  (EL/SM)

Once I satisfied my stomach and Ballapeño and Cousin Les destroyed their livers, I had to see the one other aspect of Marlins Park that was unique among all the major league stadiums.  If you've seen as many games on TV broadcast from Marlins Park as I have, then I'm sure you've seen the Bobblehead Museum.

I was quite surprised to discover the museum was not located in its own separate room.  Rather, it's located right on the concourse behind home plate, roped off so that people can't get at the large case holding the bobbleheads.  There were dozens of bobbleheads of current and former Mets players, listed alphabetically (mostly), as well as a bobblehead of late, great Mets broadcasters Bob Murphy and Ralph Kiner.  Mr. Met and the Phillie Phanatic were also found on the display, with the Phanatic keeping a close watch on his New York counterpart.

I wouldn't trust the Phillie Phanatic with that bat in his hands and that look in his eyes.  Just sayin'.  (EL/SM)

There was also one interesting bobblehead on display in the museum.  It was one of Nolan Ryan as a member of the Texas Rangers.  Perhaps it was the Exorcist bobblehead version of Ryan.  Or maybe Robin Ventura took his revenge on the bobblehead for the atomic noogie Ryan gave him on the mound in 1993.

Why try to describe it?  Here, take a look for yourself.

Nolan Ryan was so good, he could strike you out without even looking at you.  (EL/SM)

So what's my review of Marlins Park?  To be honest with you, it was better than I expected.  (Insert your shocked reaction here.)  The food was unique and catered to the people who live in the area.  The Bobblehead Museum was one-of-a-kind and could capture your attention for several innings if you allowed it to.  The Home Run sculpture, although an obvious monstrosity in center field, has gotten Floridians to disagree with Derek Jeter on something, so that makes the sculpture worth it.

However, unlike the area around SunTrust Park in Atlanta, there isn't really much to do around Marlins Park.  It's either go to the game or go home.  Which is pretty much what the current environment around Citi Field is like.  Maybe that's why I liked Marlins Park as much as I did; because it made me feel like I was home.

Which is probably where the Mets should have stayed if they wanted to avoid being creamed by Miami after having a peach of a time in Atlanta.

For Studious Metsimus, I'm Joey Beartran.  Hope you can join me on the next leg of my baseball stadium world tour, wherever the road takes me.

If the Mets go M.I.A. the next time I see them on the road. I'll just stay in my comfortable hotel bed instead.  (EL/SM)

For previous installments of Joey's World Tour, please click on the links below, where you will be entertained by Joey's wit, photos and love of ballpark cuisine:

World Tour Stop #1: Baltimore
World Tour Stop #2: Washington, DC
World Tour Stop #3: Pittsburgh
World Tour Stop #4: Texas
World Tour Stop #5: Los Angeles
World Tour Stop #6: San Diego
World Tour Stop #7: Toronto
World Tour Stop #8: Chicago (NL)
World Tour Stop #9: Milwaukee
World Tour Stop #10: Seattle
World Tour Stop #11: Cleveland
World Tour Stop #12: Brooklyn (Ebbets Field site) and Manhattan (Polo Grounds site)
World Tour Stop #13: Baltimore (again) and Pittsburgh (part deux)
World Tour Stop #14: Cincinnati
World Tour Stop #15: Colorado
World Tour Stop #16: Cooperstown (Baseball Hall of Fame)
World Tour Stop #17: Detroit
World Tour Stop #18: Atlanta

 

Mets Shouldn't Be So Evenly Matched With the Marlins ... But They Are

The Mets and Marlins never seem to budge when they face each other.  (Photo by Andy Marlin.  Seriously, that's his name.)

When you think of the Marlins, you think of fire sales and less-than-mediocre baseball.  After all, other than their store-bought championships, the team Jeffrey Loria built (then dismantled) has only surpassed 84 victories three times since their inaugural season in 1993 and has finished in last place or next-to-last in 13 of their 23 campaigns.  The Marlins have also never won a division title - joining their '93 expansion mates in Colorado as the only MLB teams never to do so - even though they won two titles as wild card teams.

Since the Marlins came into the league nearly a quarter century ago, the Mets have secured two wild cards, two division titles and two National League pennants.  New York has also finished above .500 ten times since becoming N.L. East rivals with Florida/Miami and has finished in first or second place in the division on nine occasions.

Finally, the Mets have posted a worse record than the Marlins in just eight of their 23 seasons.  And from 1993 to 2015, New York has gone a collective 28 games under .500, while their division rivals in Florida are a combined 230 games below the break-even point.

Just by reading the three paragraphs above, it certainly appears as if the Mets should have an easy time with the Marlins when they play each other.  But they never have.  In fact, the two teams are so evenly matched when they square off against one another that a single run usually decides their contests.  And no other team in the division is even close to the Marlins when it comes to one-run affairs played against the Mets.

Since 2009, when Citi Field first opened its doors, the Mets and Marlins have played each other 67 times in Flushing.  Incredibly, the two teams have played a whopping 32 one-run games at Citi Field in those seven-plus seasons seasons - or almost half of all the games they've played against each other in New York.  In the same time period, the Mets have played a similar number of games against the other teams in the division - Atlanta, Philadelphia and Washington - and haven't had nearly as many contests decided by the slimmest of margins.  In fact, according to this tweet by a supposed Mets blogger, the disparity between Mets/Marlins one-run games and Mets/Other Division Rivals single-tally affairs was enough to make his fingers stick to the CAPS LOCK button.

One-run games vs. NL East teams at Citi Field since 2009:
Braves - 15 games
Phillies - 16 games
Nats - 19 games
Marlins - 32 GAMES!!!

— Ed Leyro (@Studi_Metsimus) April 13, 2016

In addition to the plethora of tight ballgames at Citi Field, the Mets and Marlins have also played their share of one-run games at Marlins Park, Florida/Miami's previous stadium and Hiram Bithorn Stadium in Puerto Rico.  In total, the two squads have played 26 one-run games (out of 65 total games) in the state of Florida and the commonwealth of Puerto Rico since 2009, giving the clubs an incredible 58 one-run affairs against one another in the last seven-plus seasons, which include the back-to-back single-tally decisions that closed out this week's series between the two teams at Citi Field.

And why just stop at one-run games?  Since 2009, the Mets and Marlins were tied after nine innings in 14 different contests.  One of those games, played in 2013, lasted 15 innings and resulted in a 4-3 win by Miami.  Another, played just 40 days later, took a little longer to complete, as the somewhat blurry photo below confirms.

Just like the Energizer Bunny, Mets/Marlins games just keep going and going and going...

Let's recap, shall we?  Since 2009, the Mets have played the Marlins 132 times.  In 58 of those games, the two teams were separated on the scoreboard by just one run.  (For all you kids out there, that's 43.9% of their showdowns.)  When the two teams have dueled each other at Citi Field, they've played one-run games in 32 of those 67 affairs, or an incredible 47.8% of their matchups in the Big Apple.  No other team has even come close to approaching the frequency of one-run games that the Mets and Marlins have had over the past few years.

Look at the final season records since 1993 and you'll see that the Mets have an advantage over the Marlins in won-loss record, postseason appearances and number of times finishing near the top of the division standings.  But when the two teams play each other, it seems as if no team has the advantage.  If you've come to a Mets/Marlins game with the hopes of watching a blowout, you've picked the wrong game to attend (although Steven Matz might disagree with that statement).

Here's one final note on how evenly matched the two teams are.  As mentioned before, the two teams have played 58 one-run games against each other since 2009, with 32 of those games taking place at Citi Field and the other 26 occurring at whatever named park the Marlins have been playing in at the time.  In New York, the Mets have won 21 of those 32 games.  In Florida and Puerto Rico, the Marlins have emerged victorious in 18 of the 26 contests.  Put that together and what do you get?  You guessed it.  The two teams are 29-29 in their 58 one-run games.

The Mets and Marlins have 16 games left against each other in 2016 that will probably end up with eight wins for each team and several one-run tilts and extra-inning affairs for your viewing pleasure.  Would you expect anything else from the two squads?

Joey's Soapbox: Can the Mets Trade Eric O'Flaherty For Doug Sisk?

I can't "bear" to watch the screen whenever Eric O'Flaherty takes the mound for the Mets.

Good Labor Day weekend to you all.  This is Joey Beartran, your fav'rit Studious Metsimus roving reporter/culinary expert/soapbox climber.  It's been far too long since I've gotten on my soapbox to complain about a Mets player I strongly dislike.  On the positive side, that's probably because the Mets have actually been a good team this year.  On the negative side, that means we were probably long overdue for a player who deserved my wrath.  And I've found that player in left-handed relief pitcher Eric O'Flaherty.

In Friday night's series opener in Miami, O'Flaherty came into the game in relief of Erik Goeddel, who had retired four of the five previous batters he had faced.  Why was Goeddel taken out in favor of O'Flaherty?  Because left-handed swinging Christian Yelich was up, and we all know lefties retire lefties, right?  There's only one problem with that for me.  Left-handed batters were batting .226 and had a .250 on-base percentage against Goeddel this year, while O'Flaherty had faced 23 lefty-swingers during his brief tenure as a Met and had allowed nine hits and one walk.  For all you kids out there, that's a .409 batting average and a .435 OBP.

O'Flaherty must have had his Lucky Charms before the game because he got Yelich to hit into a fielder's choice.  However, his luck ran out once Martin Prado stepped into the batter's box.  Let me set this one up for you, 'cause this one's a knee-slapper.

Prado is a right-handed batter.  He also had four hits in the game entering his confrontation against O'Flaherty.  Jeurys Familia had still not been used by the Mets because he had to be held out for a potential save situation in case the Mets took the lead, which, because it's the Marlins, might not have occurred until the 20th inning.  So let's leave O'Flaherty in the game to face a right-handed hitting Mets killer.  Makes perfect sense, right?  I mean, O'Flaherty had retired eight right-handed batters in his month with the Mets, so why couldn't he make Prado victim No. 9?  Never mind that he had also allowed eight righties reach base against him, including two doubles and one home run.  That's not important right now.

So Prado stepped in to face O'Flaherty with the speedy Christian Yelich on first, working the count full.  With two outs and a 3-2 count, Yelich would be running on the pitch.  Sure enough, Prado ripped his fifth hit of the game down the right field line, scoring Yelich easily from first base and setting off the jubilant celebration for the Marlins' third-ever World Series championship victory - or at least it seemed as if that's what they were doing.  I almost expected Marcell Ozuna to come out of the dugout and fire 2015 World Champions t-shirts into the stands with his cannon arm so that the four Marlins fans who attended the game could come to blows over them.

But I digress.  The point of this rant is to discuss Eric O'Flaherty and why he's still on this team.  And I'm going to bring up a former Met to kick everything off.

Let's hop in the DeLorean and go back to 1985.  No, we're not reenacting a scene from Back To The Future.  We're going back to Shea Stadium in the mid-'80s to pay a visit to Doug Sisk.  In 1984, the right-handed reliever was coming off his second consecutive solid season for the Mets.  Sisk had 15 saves and a career-best 2.09 ERA in 77⅔ innings, as he held opposing hitters to a .215 batting average and .260 slugging percentage.  His '84 season was fresh off his successful '83 campaign, a year in which he posted a 2.24 ERA and pitched a career-high 104⅓ innings, while recording 11 saves.  Then 1985 happened, and Sisk hit the fan.

One of the few problems experienced by Sisk in 1983 and 1984 was his lack of control.  He did walk his share of batters over those two seasons (113 in all), but always seemed to pitch his way out of trouble.  He finally learned how to throw strikes in 1985, and continued to throw balls over the plate in 1986, as he walked just 71 batters in those two seasons.  There's only one problem with that.  Hitters like balls over the plate.  And they responded by batting .286 over the two campaigns, pushing Sisk's ERA and WHIP to 4.20 and 1.63, respectively.

When a team has a plethora of good pitchers as the Mets did in 1985 and 1986, fans tend to notice the pitchers who don't do well, and Sisk got the undivided attention of all the boobirds during those two otherwise successful campaigns.  Let's put it this way.  In 1985, fans showed up to cheer Dwight Gooden, who posted a stellar 1.53 ERA.  Those same fans showed up to boo Doug Sisk, who produced a cringeworthy 1.73 WHIP in '85.  When one pitcher has a higher WHIP than his teammate's ERA, that's a problem, and Sisk was used less and less until he threw his final pitch for the Mets in 1987.

That brings us back to Eric O'Flaherty and Friday night's game against the Marlins.  The game was started by Jacob deGrom, who like Gooden thirty years earlier, was having an exceptional sophomore season after winning the Rookie of the Year Award the previous year.  DeGrom left the game with a 2.40 ERA.  When O'Flaherty's night ended after Prado's double, his WHIP stood at 2.45.  Even Doug Sisk has to be shaking his head at that.

Doug Sisk is cringing in this photo because he knew we'd someday compare him to Eric O'Flaherty.

General manager Sandy Alderson acquired O'Flaherty to face left-handed hitters.  O'Flaherty replaced southpaw Alex Torres, who had far more success against right-handed batters (.157 batting average, .298 OBP) than lefty-swingers (.268 average, .406 OBP).  In hindsight, they should have kept Torres, as O'Flaherty has allowed all hitters to bat .405 against him and slug at a .622 clip.

O'Flaherty has pitched in 13 games with the Mets.  He has allowed base runner in ten of those 13 affairs.  In two of the three games he shocked the world by retiring every batter he faced, every batter consisted of one batter.  Even Doug Sisk could get one batter out more often than not if he only had to face one batter.

There is no reason why O'Flaherty should have been in the game to face Martin Prado.  He faced his one batter in Yelich and got him to ground into a fielder's choice.  O'Flaherty is a one-and-done pitcher.  That's all he should ever be for the Mets.  Instead, he faced one too many batters and the Mets were the ones who were done.

Doug Sisk will turn 58 at the end of the month.  His fellow Washington State native Eric O'Flaherty just entered his thirties this past February.  And yet, somehow I think I'd rather take my chances with the former Met and current AARP member on the mound to face batters in a back-and-forth affair than I would with the ticking time bomb we've come to know as Eric O'Flaherty.

Then again, Sisk might prove to be useful in other ways if the Mets continue to trot out O'Flaherty in tight games.  You see, Sisk has been working in sales for a Washington-based wine company since the beginning of the year, and has been participating in wine tastings in the Pacific Northwest.  Should O'Flaherty continue to implode on the mound, Mets fans in the Atlantic Northeast might need to partake in a sample of Sisk's wines.

Right now, I'll drink anything to make me forget what it feels like to watch Eric O'Flaherty "pitch".  Keep 'em comin', Dougie.  Keep 'em comin'.

I don't remember posing for this photo with an empty beer cup on my Mets hoodie.

What Would Jose Reyes Think of the Jacoby Ellsbury Deal?

In a move that took this blogger by surprise, the Yankees and Jacoby Ellsbury agreed to a seven-year, $153 million deal, with an eighth year option that would increase the value of the contract to $169 million.  It would also take Ellsbury to his age 38 season.  That price tag seems a little high for a player who’s already in his 30s and whose main asset is his speed.  But it’s also much higher than what Jose Reyes got when he became a free agent following the 2011 season.  In fact, I wonder what Reyes is thinking right now.

When Reyes became a free agent two years ago, he was scooped up by the Miami Marlins for six years and $106 million.  If Ellsbury’s option year is picked up, he will be earning $63 million more than Reyes.  There are many reasons Reyes should be upset with this.

"How come Ellsbury got all that money and I didn't?"

One of the reasons why Reyes’ value wasn’t as high as it could have been was because he was considered injury prone.  In his final year with the Mets, he was placed on the disabled list twice and he also missed the majority of the 2003, 2004 and 2009 seasons because of various injuries.  But Ellsbury missed a total of 264 games from 2010 to 2013 – the equivalent of almost two full seasons in a four-year span.  Ellsbury spent just as much time on the disabled list as Reyes did, if not more.

Reyes was just 28 when he signed his nine-figure deal with the Marlins.  In other words, he was just entering his prime and would only be committed to Miami (and now Toronto) until he was 34.  Ellsbury has already entered his 30s and will only be halfway through his deal with the Yankees by the time he turns 34.  On the date of his 34^th birthday (September 11, 2017), Ellsbury will still be owed over $80 million, or about three-quarters of the entire amount of Reyes’ contract.

Ellsbury has played seven years in the major leagues, playing in just over 700 games.  In those seven seasons, Ellsbury has a .297 batting average and a .350 on-base percentage, numbers which were slightly higher than what Reyes produced in his first seven seasons with the Mets (.286 average, .337 OBP).  But Ellsbury doesn’t come close to Reyes in extra-base hits, runs scored and stolen bases – categories that are normally associated with speedsters and leadoff hitters.  In his first seven seasons in the big leagues, Reyes had 47 more extra-base hits, scored 75 more runs and stole 60 more bases than Ellsbury did in his first seven years.  Think about that for a moment.  Ellsbury has won three American League stolen base titles, averaging 57.3 steals in those three campaigns.  That’s still fewer stolen bases than the difference between him (241 SB in seven seasons) and Reyes (301 SB in his first seven seasons) at the start of their respective careers.

And last but not least, Reyes won a batting title in his final year before becoming a free agent.  He also scored 101 runs despite his two stints on the disabled list in 2011.  Meanwhile, Ellsbury has never won a batting title and has only scored 100 or more runs in a season once in his career.  Once.  A leadoff hitter with an explosive offense behind him has only had one season in which he crossed the plate 100 times.  And in that season (2011), he needed to drive himself in 32 times, as he hit that many home runs in what is now widely considered to be a fluke power season.  Ellsbury never managed to reach double digits in home runs in any of his other six major league seasons.  Reyes did it four times in a five-year span from 2006 to 2010.

Jacoby Ellsbury is a great major league player.  But he’s also a player who will turn 31 during the 2014 season, has only scored 100 or more runs as a leadoff hitter once in seven seasons, and has regularly suffered injuries that have caused him to miss months at a time.  If Ellsbury is worth up to $63 million more than Jose Reyes was two years ago when he was only 28 and coming off a season in which he won a batting title, then imagine what Reyes is feeling right now.

He certainly can’t be too happy about it.

Mets Games Just Kept Going... And Going... And Going

The 1980s was a decade loaded with many popular television commercials.  One such ad featured the Energizer Bunny, who seemingly never ran out of battery life because it was being powered by Energizer batteries.  As the catch phrase said, the pink critter with shades "keeps going ... and going ...  and going ...".

The '80s was also a very popular time for the Mets, who won two division titles and one World Series championship during the second half of the decade.  The 1986 squad set or tied many team records, including number of wins in a season (108).  One of the more obscure franchise records they matched was the number of extra-inning games won in a single season.  The '86 Mets played a total of 23 overtime affairs, winning 13 of them.  That matched a team record originally set in 1971, a year in which the club won 13 of 22 extra-inning games.  But the 1986 Mets fell just short of the team record for total number of extra-inning games played in one season, as the 1978 club played 25 games that went past nine innings.  Unfortunately, that squad was only able to win eight of those contests.

In playing 25 extra-inning games in 1978, the Mets needed an additional 44 innings to settle those affairs.  Meanwhile, the 1986 Mets needed to play 51 extra innings to come up with a winner in their 23 overtime games.

This year, the Mets played 20 games that required free baseball.  Four of those games went past the 14th inning stretch, including a 20-inning marathon on June 8 against the Miami Marlins.  In total, the Mets played a total of 57 extra innings in 2013, which was more than both the '78 and '86 squads needed to play 25 extra-inning games.

By now, I'm sure you're well aware of where this post is going.  Here is a list of the ten seasons in which the Mets did their best Energizer Bunny impression - as they kept going ... and going ... and going ... playing as many extra innings as needed before someone broke through with a lead that was never relinquished.

Year	Extra Innings	X-Inning Games	W-L Record	Most Innings In A Game
1979	60	21	8-12-1	18
1985	60	22	12-10	19
1968	59	15	2-13	24
1971	57	22	13-9	17
2013	57	20	8-12	20
1973	53	19	7-12	19
1974	52	20	4-16	25
1986	51	23	13-10	15
1975	48	18	8-10	18
2010	48	16	7-9	20

As many innings as the Mets played in 2013, they barely cracked the top five for most additional frames played by a Mets team in franchise history.  However, they did become the eighth squad in club annals to surpass 50 extra innings in a single season and fell just three innings short of the team record of 60, set in 1979 and tied six years later.  That's still far from the major league record of 82 extra innings, which was set in 1918 by the Washington Senators.

Long games don't always end up well for the Mets, as seven teams on the above list had losing records in extra-inning affairs, including this year's team.  Only the 1971 Mets (13-9), 1985 Mets (12-10) and 1986 Mets (13-10) had a winning record in their extra-inning games.  However, considering that the '85 and '86 teams combined to go 206-118 during those two seasons, but only managed to go 25-20 in games that went past nine innings, that's not exactly something they should be proud of.

Ten years ago, the 2003 Mets played seven extra-inning games during the entire season, needing a total of ten extra innings to settle those games.  This year, on June 8, 2013, the Mets and Marlins needed to play 11 extra innings just to settle one game.

Although there have been four seasons in which the Mets played as many (or more) extra innings as they did this year, it sure seemed as if many games this season just went on and on and on.  The Energizer Bunny seemed to thrive on the extra action.  Too bad the Mets and their fans weren't able to say the same.