The Most With The Least: Pat Mahomes (1999)

The long man in the bullpen has rarely gotten the accolades usually reserved for starting pitchers and closers.   In fact, pitchers who can pitch several innings per appearance out of the bullpen have historically been hurlers who weren't good enough to crack the starting rotation or come into high-pressure, late-inning situations.  In addition, an appearance by the long man usually means the starting pitcher got hurt early in the game or was shelled by the opposition.

In other words, no one really wants to see the long man in the game.

But one relief pitcher who got into games early and often ended up becoming a key member of a beloved Mets playoff team.  Unlike other long men before him, his presence on the mound was usually a welcome sight.  In fact, he pitched so effectively in the role that he ended up setting a franchise record that still stands to this day.

Pat Mahomes helped the Mets end an 11-year playoff drought with his arm and his bat.  (Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)

Patrick Lavon Mahomes did not start off his major league career on a high note.  Mahomes's poor start as a big league ballplayer wasn't limited to a few awful appearances or several miserable months.  Unfortunately, Mahomes was lousy for six full seasons.  After being drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the sixth round of the 1988 June amateur draft, Mahomes made his major league debut in 1992, spending time as a starter and reliever with the Twins.  The right-hander was then traded to Boston in 1996 and pitched exclusively as a reliever until the Red Sox released him in June 1997.

In six years with the Twins and Red Sox, Mahomes had an embarrassing 5.88 ERA, 1.63 WHIP and 80 ERA+.  Of all hurlers who pitched in each season from 1992 to 1997, Mahomes had the second-highest ERA, fifth-highest WHIP and fourth-worst ERA+.  As a result, Mahomes did not pitch in the major leagues for a year and a half, having to settle for a contract with the Yokohama Bay Stars in the Japan Central League.  Although a change of hemispheres failed to resuscitate Mahomes's career (he was 0-4 with a 5.98 ERA in eight starts and two relief appearances for Yokohama in 1998), the Mets took a flyer on him for the 1999 season, signing him to a minor league contract and giving him an invitation to spring training.

Mahomes was assigned to AAA-Norfolk to begin the 1999 campaign, but after an impressive start with the Tides (4-1, 3.49 ERA in 38⅔ innings), Mahomes earned a promotion to the majors in mid-May.  Mahomes was used mainly as a long reliever out of the bullpen, making his first appearance for the Mets on May 15.  He did not disappoint, pitching 2⅓ innings of scoreless relief and clubbing a double in his only at-bat, which allowed him to earn the win in a 9-7 slugfest against the Philadelphia Phillies.

Following his victorious debut, Mahomes continued to be one of the few pitchers for the Mets who pitched with any kind of success.  Because of the team's shaky starting rotation (every pitcher who made at least one start for the Mets in 1999 had an ERA north of 4.00), Mahomes was forced into pitching multiple innings of relief a dozen times in his first 26 appearances, including six outings of three innings or more.  By early September, Mahomes had lowered his ERA under 3.00 and had proven himself to be one of the most valuable commodities on the team.  He also continued to rack up victories in impressive fashion, coming through on the mound and at the plate.

One of Mahomes's most memorable appearances came in early August at Wrigley Field.  A day after the Mets lost to the Cubs by a touchdown, 17-10, the two teams with battered bullpens played a four-and-a-half hour, 13-inning marathon.  Mahomes - who didn't pitch in the previous day's shootout - came into the game in the bottom of the 12th inning to face Sammy Sosa with two outs and no one on base.  Rather than intentionally walking Sosa, who had hit his 39th and 40th home runs of the season in the 17-10 affair, Mahomes got Sosa to ground out to end the inning.

(Jonathan Daniel/Allsport)

In the top of the 13th, manager Bobby Valentine allowed Mahomes to hit for himself after Cubs manager Jim Riggleman had reliever Scott Sanders issue a two-out free pass to Benny Agbayani.  In his previous outing two days earlier, Mahomes produced an RBI double against the Cubs that was crucial in the Mets' 10-9 victory.  Just 48 hours later, Mahomes made the Cubs pay again, lacing a single that scored Roger Cedeño from second base (Cedeño had led off the inning with a double).  Now armed with a one-run lead, Mahomes went back to the mound in the bottom of the 13th and kept the Cubs off the scoreboard, ending the game on a strikeout of catcher Jeff Reed.

After the game, Mahomes discussed his game-winning hit, showing a confidence in his hitting abilities that was normally reserved for everyday players.

"I've always been able to hit pretty well," Mahomes said.  "I knew I wasn't going to strike out."

Mahomes earned his fifth victory against no losses in the 5-4, 13-inning victory over the Cubs.  He went on to finish the regular season with a perfect 8-0 record, earning his eighth win by pitching two scoreless innings in the opener of the Mets' season-ending series against the Pittsburgh Pirates - a series that began with the Mets two games out in the wild card race with three games to play.

In addition to his 8-0 mark - the most wins in a single season without a defeat by a pitcher in Mets history - Mahomes posted a 3.68 ERA, 1.27 WHIP and an impressive 121 ERA+, all of which were career-bests.  After allowing 428 hits in 389 innings from 1992 to 1997, Mahomes gave up just 44 hits in 63⅔ innings for the Mets in 1999, holding opposing hitters to a .198 batting average.  And Mahomes didn't just succeed on the mound.  He was also excellent at the plate, batting .313 with three doubles and three RBI in 16 at-bats, which allowed him to post an un-pitcher-like .500 slugging percentage, despite having never come to the plate prior to his time in New York.

With the help of Mahomes, the Mets advanced to the playoffs for the first time in 11 years.  Mahomes pitched once in the division series against the Arizona Diamondbacks and also appeared in Game One of the National League Championship Series versus the Atlanta Braves - both losses by the Mets.  With the Mets facing elimination in Game Five, Mahomes pitched a shaky, but scoreless frame, keeping the game tied in the seventh and eighth innings.  Seven innings later, the Mets forced a sixth game on the strength of Robin Ventura's walk-off Grand Slam Single.

Although the Mets lost a classic Game Six to the Braves, allowing Atlanta to win the National League pennant, the team battled into extra innings, extending their season as far as they could.  But the game might never have gone into overtime had it not been for Pat Mahomes and his incredible work in relief of an awful Al Leiter.

Leiter faced six batters and allowed all of them to reach base.  Five of them scored, giving Atlanta an early 5-0 lead.  Even though Mahomes had become used to pitching early in games by doing so often during the regular season, he had never come into a game for the Mets in the first inning.  But with Leiter clearly not at his best, Valentine called upon Mahomes to stop the bleeding.  Mahomes turned in a yeoman-like effort, holding the Braves to one hit and one walk in four scoreless innings.  The right-hander's clutch performance kept the game from becoming a blowout, and after he was removed from the contest for a pinch-hitter, the Mets began to chip away at the Braves' lead, ultimately taking the lead in the eighth inning and once again in the tenth.  But Atlanta was simply better than the Mets in Game Six, and won the pennant in the 11th inning on a bases-loaded walk to Andruw Jones issued by Kenny Rogers.

The Mets came up short in their quest to reach the World Series, but the 1999 season was still a campaign to be proud of, according to manager Bobby Valentine.

''I told my guys after the game that it might be a shorter winter or a longer winter for them but I think they played like champions," said Valentine.  "They should feel like champions.  It's very difficult to come back from five runs and have a couple of leads.  It's difficult to give it up, but we gave everything we had.''

Sadly, Mahomes could not replicate his 1999 performance the following season, as his 5.46 ERA and 1.72 WHIP in 53 appearances (5 starts) for the 2000 Mets was more in line with his numbers as an American League pitcher from 1992 to 1997.  After not pitching for the Mets in the playoffs during their run to the World Series in 2000, Mahomes became a free agent.  The 30-year-old then embarked on a Tour de Majors, as he was signed and/or released by the Rangers, Cubs, Pirates, Expos, Marlins, Dodgers, Royals and Blue Jays.  He was even property of the Mets once again in 2005, even though it was only for about 15 minutes, give or take a few days.

Thanks to baseball-reference.com for this detailed road map of the career of Pat Mahomes.

Pat Mahomes didn't have a particularly good career.  In 11 seasons as a journeyman pitcher, he had a 5.47 ERA, 1.59 WHIP and an 84 ERA+.  But he did have one outstanding season on a Mets team that is loved by its fans as if they had actually won the pennant.

Although he didn't get the attention (or money) usually reserved for starting pitchers or late-inning relievers, Mahomes earned every penny of his $310,000 salary in 1999.  Here are just some of the lesser-known facts about Mahomes, proving that not every team MVP has to be a power hitter, defensive star, or stud pitcher.

• In 23 of his 39 appearances, Mahomes came into the game with the Mets trailing the opposition.  They came back to win five of those games, with Mahomes allowing just one run in 11⅔ innings in those five comeback victories.  And on a team that needed a 163rd regular season game to decide the wild card winner, each of those five comeback wins with the tremendous Mahomes pitching performances contributed greatly in the Mets' successful quest to end their 11-year playoff drought.

• Many relievers with high win totals are said to have "vultured" their victories, meaning they only earned a win because they either happened to be on the mound as their team took the lead or they allowed the tying run to score immediately before their team re-took the lead, making them the pitchers of record on the winning side.  In 1999, Mahomes certainly did not vulture his wins, as he gave up no runs in seven of the eight games he won.  In the one game he did allow a tally, he pitched 4⅔ innings and allowed just a single run.  Mahomes had a phenomenal 0.45 ERA and 0.90 WHIP in games in which he was credited with a win, allowing opposing batters to hit just .138 against him in 20 innings pitched, and he had twice as many strikeouts in those eight games (18) as hits allowed (9).  In other words, Mahomes earned each and every one of his wins, feasting on his opponents like - for lack of a better term - a vulture.

• Mahomes was also no slouch with a bat in his hands.  Whereas most relief pitchers rarely get a turn at bat, Mahomes is one of just three pitchers in franchise history who pitched exclusively in relief in a single season (no games started) and collected five or more hits in that campaign, joining Skip Lockwood (1976) and Roger McDowell (1986).  Mahomes also joined McDowell as the only relief pitchers in franchise history to produce a trio of doubles in a single season.  (McDowell's three-double campaign came in 1988.)

Pat Mahomes made the most out of the chance given to him by the Mets in 1999.  It proved to be his only successful season in the big leagues.  His perfect 8-0 season and near-perfect relief effort in Game Six of the NLCS almost propelled the Mets to the World Series.  In the end, the Mets fell short of their goal, but without Mahomes coming out of the pen to give them as many solid efforts as he did throughout the 1999 campaign in relief of a suspect starting rotation, the Mets might never have qualified for the postseason.

Long relief is a thankless job.  Tell that to someone other than Pat Mahomes.  He knows just how important he was when he filled that role for the Mets during their unforgettable 1999 season.

(NY Daily News Archives/Getty Images)

"I worked so hard to get back, and it seems like it's all paying off.  The (perfect) record and the hitting, all that's a plus."

--Pat Mahomes, August 1999, as told to the NY Times.







Note:  The Most With The Least is a thirteen-part weekly series spotlighting those Mets players who performed at a high level without receiving the accolades or playing time their more established teammates got, due to injuries, executive decisions or other factors.  For previous installments, please click on the players' names below:

January 4, 2016: Benny Agbayani
January 11, 2016: Donn Clendenon
January 18, 2016: Tim Teufel
January 25, 2016: Hisanori Takahashi
February 1, 2016: Chris Jones
February 8, 2016: Claudell Washington
February 15, 2016: Moises Alou
February 22, 2016: Pat Zachry
February 29, 2016: Art Shamsky
March 7, 2016: Mark Carreon
March 14, 2016: Jose Valentin

The Saints and Sinners: Mets Players Named Patrick

Today is St. Patrick's Day, a day that commemorates St. Patrick on the anniversary of his death in 461 A.D.  For the uninformed who spend the entire year watching and/or thinking about the Mets (such as myself), St. Patrick was the driving force in teaching the doctrines of Christianity to the Irish people.  How this caused people to celebrate his life with drunkenness and debauchery is a mystery to me, but what is not a mystery is that the Mets have had several players who shared a first name with the patron saint of Ireland.

A total of six players in Mets history have gone by the name of Pat.  Some of these players have been saints in blue and orange uniforms, doing their best to help the team win, while others ...well... let's just call them sinners.

So let's put on our green Daniel Murphy shirts, raise the volume on our Dropkick Murphys/Flogging Molly music compilation, and enjoy our bangers and mash while we review the six Pats who have taken the field for the Mets over their 50 years of existence.

Pat Zachry (1977-1982)

The first player in Mets history to go by the name of Pat was also one Mets fans would rather not have had.  Patrick Paul Zachry was the pitcher who replaced Tom Seaver in the rotation after the infamous Midnight Massacre trade in 1977.  Zachry was traded to the Mets for "The Franchise" on June 15, along with Doug Flynn, Steve Henderson and Dan Norman, and was immediately thrust into the New York spotlight.

Although Zachry had won the National League Rookie of the Year Award as a member of the 1976 World Series champion Cincinnati Reds (sharing the award with the Padres' Butch Metzger), he began the 1977 season poorly for the Reds, going 3-7 with a 5.04 ERA in his first 12 starts.  After his trade to the Mets, Zachry performed well.  In fact, despite three consecutive last place finishes for the Mets from 1977 to 1979, Zachry finished each season with a winning record, going 7-6 in 1977, 10-6 in 1978 and 5-1 in 1979.

Zachry's combined 22-13 record from 1977 to 1979 was the best on the staff during that time period and it earned him a trip to the 1978 All-Star Game, but alas, he only made 47 starts for the Mets over those three seasons, as injuries prevented him from realizing his full potential.  From 1980 to 1982, Zachry was a shadow of his former self, going 19-33 for the Mets and leading the league in losses during the strike-shortened 1981 season.  Ironically, it was in that same 1981 campaign that Tom Seaver led the league in victories for the Reds.

Two years later, Zachry's time with the Mets came to an end, as he was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers shortly after the Reds traded Tom Seaver back to the Mets.  Seaver went 9-14 for the 1983 Mets, while Zachry went 6-1 with a 2.49 ERA out of the Dodgers' bullpen, helping Los Angeles win the National League West division title.

Pat Tabler (1990)

Patrick Sean Tabler was nicknamed Mr. Clutch by his teammates for his uncanny ability to hit with the bases loaded.  From 1981 to 1988, Tabler hit .291 for the Chicago Cubs, Cleveland Indians and Kansas City Royals.  But with the bases loaded, he became one of the most feared hitters in the league.  Over the first eight years of his career, Tabler hit an ungodly .587 (37-for-63) with the bags full, driving in 88 runs in those situations.

With the Mets in the heat of a tight race with the Pittsburgh Pirates for National League East supremacy in 1990, the team acquired Tabler on August 30, hoping he'd bring his clutch-hitting abilities to New York.  He did bring those abilities to Shea Stadium, but it was the Mets who failed to give him enough opportunities to use them.

In 17 late-season games with the Mets in 1990, Tabler came to bat a mere three times with the bases loaded.  However, he did come through every time, driving in a total of five runs in his three plate appearances with the bags full.  Tabler delivered a pair of two-run singles and drove in a run by getting plunked with a pitch, but the Mets still fell short in their failed quest to win their third division title in five years.

Pat Tabler left the Mets via free agency following his month-long stay in New York to sign with the Toronto Blue Jays, where he played the final two seasons of his career.  The Mets finished the 1991 and 1992 campaigns with losing records, while Tabler won two division titles and retired after winning a World Series ring as a member of the 1992 Blue Jays.

Pat Howell (1992)

In 1989, after Mookie Wilson and Lenny Dykstra were traded to the Toronto Blue Jays and Philadelphia Phillies, respectively, the Mets' lineup lacked a true speedster and leadoff hitter.  But at the same time, there was one player in their minor league system who was becoming a premier base-stealing threat.

Patrick O'Neal Howell stole a total of 188 bases from 1989 to 1991 as he made his way up through the Mets' minor league system.  When he was called up to the big leagues midway through the 1992 season, the Mets thought they finally had the speedster they had coveted since the days of Wilson and Dykstra.  Howell showed some early promise, stealing bases in each of his first three games as a Met.  But to steal bases, a player first has to reach base, and that's something Howell had a little problem with.

From July 21 to the end of the season, Howell played in 25 games for the Mets, batting only .185 (10-for-54).  How many walks did he draw during those 25 games?  Zero.  Zilch.  Nada.  In fact, the only other time he reached base over those 25 games was by getting in the way of a poorly pitched ball.  That hit-by-pitch did push his on-base-percentage to an even .200 over the two-and-a-half month stretch.  But when a player has difficulty reaching the Mendoza line with his on-base percentage, especially when that player is being paid to set the table for his teammates by getting on base, then that player probably doesn't have much of a chance to stick in the major leagues.

Pat Howell was back in the minors in 1993 and 1994 before playing four seasons in Mexico.  He then came back to the States to play in independent baseball leagues from 1999 to 2004 but never again played in the majors.  Perhaps it had something to do with his .297 career on-base percentage in 14 minor league seasons.  At least that was better than Mario Mendoza's OBP.

Pat Mahomes (1999-2000)

Judging by his career record with the team, Patrick Lavon Mahomes was the most successful Pat to ever play for the Mets.  Then again, he also might have been the luckiest.  In 1999, Pat Mahomes was not expected to be an important member of the New York Mets.  In fact, he didn't even break camp with the team out of spring training, beginning the season in the minor leagues at AAA-Norfolk.  But once he got called up in mid-May, he never went back to Norfolk.

With injuries and a poor start hurting the Mets in the National League East, Mahomes was called upon to be the long man in the bullpen.  As the Mets began their ascent towards the top of the wild card standings, so did Mahomes' confidence, both on the mound and at the plate.  Mahomes finished the season with a perfect 8-0 record and 3.68 ERA.  (Mahomes' eight wins are the most by a Mets pitcher who didn't suffer a loss in that season.)  He was also a pleasant surprise on offense, batting .313 (5-for-16) with three doubles and three RBI.

In the postseason, Mahomes made four appearances against the Diamondbacks and Braves, allowing two runs in eight innings of work.  Mahomes pitched a scoreless inning of relief in the epic 15-inning Game 5 against the Braves and relieved Al Leiter in the first inning of Game 6 after the Mets' starter allowed five early runs.  Mahomes then went on to pitch four scoreless innings against Atlanta to allow the Mets to come back in the game, although they eventually lost the game in extra innings.

Mahomes wasn't nearly as perfect in 2000, going 5-3 with a 5.46 ERA for the National League champion Mets, but he still finished strongly as the Mets were trying to clinch their second consecutive wild card, pitching six scoreless innings of relief during the final week of the regular season.

Pat Strange (2002-2003)

In 1998, the Mets drafted a high school pitcher from Springfield, Massachusetts in the second round, thinking he'd be part of their future.  Of course, his future didn't come until the Mets started playing like the horrible teams of the past.

Patrick Martin Strange was one of the top prospects in the Mets' minor league system at the turn of century.  Prior to the 2000 season, Baseball America ranked Strange as the No. 78 prospect in the minors.  By 2001, he had been elevated to No. 63.  And who was going to argue with Baseball America?  After all, Strange had performed exceptionally well for the Mets over his first four professional seasons, going 39-16 with a 3.67 ERA.  As a result, the Mets promoted him to the big show as a September call-up in 2002.

Strange performed well in his late-season tryout, allowing one run on six hits, while walking only one batter in eight innings of work.  The 2003 season was a totally different matter.

For as good as Strange was during his late-season outings in 2002, he was the exact opposite in his early-season outings in 2003.  Strange appeared in five games for the Mets in May 2003 and redefined the word brutal.  In five innings of work, Strange allowed 11 runs on 11 hits, four of which left the park.  He wasn't always grooving pitches to opposing batters, as he also found time to walk eight batters in his five nightmarish innings.  Strange made only one more appearance for the Mets in 2003, pitching four scoreless innings against the Milwaukee Brewers on June 5.  But even that performance only "lowered" his ERA to 11.00.  Although Strange was only 22 at the time, that appearance would be his last in the majors and by age 24, he was out of baseball.

Pat Misch (2009-2011)

From 2006 to 2009, Patrick Theodore Joseph Misch made 11 starts and 27 relief appearances for the San Francisco Giants without earning a win in any of his 38 appearances.  After losing all seven of his decisions as a Giant, he was placed on waivers by San Francisco in 2009 and claimed by the Mets in June.  Upon becoming a Met, Misch was instantly put in the bullpen, but did not record a victory in relief.

Misch made 15 appearances out of the bullpen for the Mets before getting a spot start against the Cubs in late August.  Misch pitched beautifully, allowing one run in seven innings, leaving the game with a 2-1 lead, needing only six outs for his first big league victory.  Of course, this was the 2009 Mets we were talking about and the Mets allowed four runs in the eighth to deny Misch his first win.

Six days later, Misch made his second start and finally earned his first big league victory in an 8-3 win over the Colorado Rockies.  His post-win hangover lasted three games, as Misch lost his next three starts before surprising everyone with a complete-game shutout against the Florida Marlins.  It was his first shutout and complete game in four years in the majors.

Misch won his last start in 2009 to finish the year with a 3-4 record.  Over the next two seasons, he made 18 appearances for the Mets, including six starts, but only recorded one more win.  After finishing the 2011 season with a 10.29 ERA in six relief appearances, the Mets allowed Misch to leave via free agency.  A month after the season ended, Misch was signed by the Phillies and is now currently trying to make the Phillies as a lefty specialist in the bullpen, hoping the luck of the Irish will finally get him another big league victory.