R.A. Dickey Could Set Two Records He'd Rather Not Have

On Thursday, R.A. Dickey pitched a complete game against the Miami Marlins to notch his 15th victory of the season.  Dickey is now 12 games above .500 (15-3) for a team that's five games under .500 (54-59, entering Saturday night's game).  How rare is it for a Mets pitcher to be that many games over the break-even point while pitching for a team with a losing record?  Also, how unheard of would it be for Dickey to finish with that great of a percentage of his team's wins?  To answer both questions, it would be rare and it would be unheard of.

Ten pitchers in Mets history have finished a season with at least 10 more wins than losses, accomplishing the feat a total of 14 times.  Those pitchers are:

• Tom Seaver (1969): 25-7
• Tom Seaver (1971): 20-10
• Tom Seaver (1975): 22-9
• Jerry Koosman (1976): 21-10
• Dwight Gooden (1985): 24-4
• Ron Darling (1985): 16-6
• Bob Ojeda (1986): 18-5
• Dwight Gooden (1986): 17-6
• Sid Fernandez (1986): 16-6
• Terry Leach (1987): 11-1
• David Cone (1988): 20-3
• Dwight Gooden (1990): 19-7
• Bret Saberhagen (1994): 14-4
• Al Leiter (1998): 17-6

No Mets pitcher has finished at least 10 games over .500 in the 21st century, a feat that R.A. Dickey can accomplish this season.  But let's look at one other thing regarding the pitchers listed above.

In 1969, when Tom Seaver became the first Met to win 10 more games than he lost in a single season, the Mets won 100 games and their first World Series championship.  The 1971 Mets also finished above .500, when Seaver repeated his 10-games-over-.500 feat, as did the 1975 Mets, the 1976 Mets, and so on.  It wasn't until Bret Saberhagen went 14-4 in the strike-shortened 1994 season that a Mets pitcher won 10 more games than he lost for a team that finished with a losing record.

In 1994, the Mets were 55-58 when the strike put the kibosh on the Major League Baseball season, giving Saberhagen the dubious distinction of being the only pitcher in Mets history to finish a season, albeit abbreviated, that many games above .500 while the team finished below that mark.  R.A. Dickey could soon be joining Saberhagen if his teammates don't start winning when he's not on the mound.

Yes, R.A.  That really is Bret Saberhagen's name above you.

Now let's look at Mets pitchers who won a high percentage of his team's games.  Once again, there aren't many pitchers on this list, as only five hurlers have completed a season for the Mets in which he earned at least 25% of his team's victories.  Those five pitchers have accomplished this rare feat a total of eight times.  Here is a list of the seasons in which these pitchers joined this exclusive club:

• 1962 Mets (40-120): Roger Craig goes 10-24 (25.0% of the team's victories)
• 1963 Mets (51-111): Al Jackson goes 13-17 (25.5% of the team's victories)
• 1967 Mets (61-101): Tom Seaver goes 16-13 (26.2% of the team's victories)
• 1968 Mets (73-89): Jerry Koosman goes 19-12 (26.0% of the team's victories)
• 1969 Mets (100-62): Tom Seaver goes 25-7 (25.0% of the team's victories)
• 1972 Mets (83-73): Tom Seaver goes 21-12 (25.3% of the team's victories)
• 1975 Mets (82-80): Tom Seaver goes 22-9 (26.8% of the team's victories)
• 1994 Mets (55-58): Bret Saberhagen goes 14-4 (25.5% of the team's victories)

Of the five Mets pitchers who completed a season in which he earned at least 25% of his team's victories, only Bret Saberhagen did it in the last 37 seasons, doing so during the strike-shortened 1994 campaign.

R.A. Dickey currently has a 15-3 record for a team that's 54-59, accounting for 27.8% of the team's wins this year.  Should Dickey maintain this pace, he would surpass "The Franchise" himself, Tom Seaver, to become the Mets pitcher with the greatest percentage of his team's victories in a single season.

Tom Seaver and R.A. Dickey, two masters of their craft.

The 2012 season has been full of ups and downs for the Mets.  But one aspect of their season has been way up.  R.A. Dickey has given the team one of the best seasons for a pitcher in their 50-year history.  But unfortunately, the rest of the team has had a difficult time of replicating Dickey's dominance.  In doing so, they might help Dickey accomplish two things that Tom Seaver, Dwight Gooden and Jerry Koosman never did.

If the Mets finish with a losing record and Dickey remains more than 10 games over .500, he would become the first pitcher in team history to finish that many games above .500 on a team that couldn't make it over that hump.  Similarly, no Mets pitcher can claim to have won more than 26.8% of his team's victories in a single season.  That could all change this year.

R.A. Dickey hasn't stopped making history since 2012 began.  Now he can make some more.  But oddly enough, had his teammates played better, this particular type of history-making achievement might never have been possible.  As much as Dickey would appreciate becoming the first Mets pitcher to achieve the feats detailed above, he would surely trade both of those records for more victories by the team on days he didn't pitch.  We all would.

What Will The Mets Produce Next: A No-Hitter or A 20-Game Winner?

What do the Mets have a better chance of producing?  A no-hitter or a 20-game winner?  On the surface, the question appears to have a simple answer.

Considering that the Mets have had five different pitchers produce a total of eight 20-win seasons (Tom Seaver accomplished the feat four times, while Jerry Koosman, Dwight Gooden, David Cone and Frank Viola each did it once), yet they've never pitched a no-hitter, it would seem that the 20-game winner would be the obvious choice.

But what would appear to be the clear-cut favorite of two things sometimes isn't, as I'm sure fans of the 1988 Mets (boo, Dodgers) and 2006 Mets (boo, Cardinals) can attest.

The five pitchers who won 20 games in a single season for the Mets all experienced great success in the major leagues.  Tom Seaver won 311 games in the big leagues en route to receiving the highest percentage of votes of any Hall of Fame inductee.  Fellow 1969 World Series champion Jerry Koosman finished his career with 222 victories.  Dwight Gooden, David Cone and Frank Viola also had long and successful careers in the major leagues, with Gooden and Cone both winning 194 games and Viola finishing his career with 176 victories.

In addition, four of the five 20-game winners for the Mets also won the Cy Young Award at some point in their careers, with the lone exception being Jerry Koosman, who came tantalizingly close in 1976 when he finished second in the vote to Padres' pitcher (and future Met) Randy Jones.

Here's the kicker.  Although none of the five pitchers ever pitched a no-hitter while in a Mets uniform, three of them (Seaver, Gooden, Cone) accomplished the feat after leaving the Mets, and David Cone took it one step further, pitching a perfect game against the Montreal Expos in 1999 as a member of the New York Yankees.

Tom Seaver never did it as a Met.  Neither did Jerry Koosman, Dwight Gooden, David Cone or Frank Viola.  In fact, no Mets pitcher has ever pitched a no-hitter.  But dozens of Mets hurlers have tossed one-hitters, and not all of them were pitched by All-Stars or future Hall of Famers.  In fact, many of them were pitchers who didn't even win 100 games in the major leagues.

Of course, Tom Seaver leads the list of most one-hitters fired by Mets pitchers with five.  David Cone pitched two complete-game one-hitters as a Met and combined with Jeff Innis on a third.  Dwight Gooden pitched a one-hitter for the Mets during his rookie season, but never pitched another one in a Mets uniform.  Meanwhile, Jerry Koosman and Frank Viola never pitched a one-hitter for the Mets.
 
But Jack Hamilton did.  So did Terry Leach, Pete Schourek, Bobby Jones, Aaron Heilman, Jonathon Niese and R.A. Dickey.  What do all of those pitchers have in common?  None of them won 100 games over their major league careers.  Even Shawn Estes, who won four games as a Met, was able to pitch a one-hitter for the team.  (He could pitch a one-hitter, but he couldn't hit one pitcher.  Ah, the Roger Clemens jokes never get old, do they?)

Both Aaron Shawn Estes and George Thomas Seaver were known by their middle names and they both pitched one-hitters for the Mets.  But Seaver would've hit Roger Clemens if he had the chance.

Want some more?  Gary Gentry pitched two one-hitters as a Met, but only won 46 games in the majors.  John Maine also pitched two one-hitters in New York (with one being of the rain-shortened variety), yet he only won 41 games over his career (so far).  Even the underrated and never quite appreciated Steve Trachsel authored two one-hitters during the 2003 campaign.

A total of 35 one-hitters have been pitched in club annals.  More than half of them (18) have come after 1990.  Why is that year so important?  Because that was the last time the Mets had a 20-game winner.

Since Frank Viola's 20-win season in 1990, no Met pitcher has reached that level of pitching excellence.  In fact, the closest any pitcher has come was in 1998 when Al Leiter won 17 games for the Mets.

For a pitcher to win 20 games, he has to be consistently good over the course of an entire season.  It also helps to have a good bullpen.  Johan Santana went 16-7 for the 2008 Mets, but the bullpen blew seven games in which he left with the lead, costing him a potential 20-win season.  Meanwhile, to pitch a no-hitter, a pitcher only needs to have one game in which he harnesses all of his "stuff" against opposing hitters.

It's rare for a so-so pitcher to win 20 games.  None of the five pitchers who accomplished the feat for the Mets would be considered "so-so".  In fact, Seaver, Koosman, Gooden, Cone and Viola combined to make the All-Star team a total of 19 times as members of the Mets.

But considering how guys like Terry Leach, Pete Schourek and Aaron Heilman all came within one safety of becoming the first Met to pitch a no-hitter, it goes to show that players with nondescript careers can occasionally show flashes of brilliance.

All one needs to pitch a no-hitter is a nine-inning flash of brilliance.  For a pitcher to win 20 games in a season, he'll need a couple hundred innings of brilliance (and a good bullpen).  John Maine won only 39 games in five seasons as a Met, but came within one Paul Hoover dribbler of pitching a no-hitter.  Jonathon Niese has barely cracked 20 wins over his entire major league career, yet he came within a Chris Denorfia double of pitching a perfect game.  Even Pete Schourek and Shawn Estes, who won 20 games COMBINED over their Mets careers, have one-hitters to their credit.

It's true that the Mets have gone 50 years without a no-hitter, but perhaps we'll see one before we see another 20-game winner in a Mets uniform.  It's been 22 years since Frank Viola became to last Met to record 20 wins in a season.  Since then, there have been 18 occasions in which the Mets have come within one hit of recording the team's first no-hitter.  Common sense and superstition might suggest that the Mets will have another 20-game winner before they record their first no-hitter.  But considering how close the Mets have come to pitching a no-hitter on several occasions over the past two-plus decades, while not having a pitcher even sniff a 20-win season over the same time period might suggest otherwise.

What will Mets' pitchers accomplish next?  Will it be a no-hitter?  Or will it be a 20-win season?  It wouldn't surprise me if it was the former rather than the latter.

One Season Wonders: Terry Leach

Many players have dreams of making it to the major leagues.  Some go through many years of minor league seasoning before getting their first call to the big show.  Others bounce around from team to team in the hopes of getting a small taste of big league baseball.  Those who do both rarely get to stay in the majors for very long, usually getting a cup of coffee with the parent club before being relegated to the bench or back to the minors.

One former Met fit the criteria for all of the above scenarios, as Terry Leach was originally selected by the Boston Red Sox in the seventh round of the 1976 MLB January draft.  Soon after, that pick was voided and Leach became a free agent.  In 1977, Leach signed with the Atlanta Braves, toiling in their minor league system for four years before being released midway through the 1980 season.  New Mets GM Frank Cashen, always on the lookout for fresh young talent, scooped up Leach four days after his release from the Braves.

Leach had two brief stints with the Mets in 1981 and 1982 as a spot starter and reliever.  In 1981, he went 1-1 with a 2.55 ERA in 21 games (one start).  Leach regressed in 1982, posting a 5.35 ERA over his first 20 appearances, all in relief, before finally getting a start during the last weekend of the season against the Philadelphia Phillies.  In that start, Leach gave the Mets one of the best pitching performances in franchise history.  He threw ten shutout innings while allowing only one hit, a fifth inning triple to Luis Aguayo.  The Mets, who themselves had only one hit through the first nine innings, won the game for Leach by manufacturing a run in the tenth inning.  It was Leach's first career victory as a starter.

The dominating start by Leach to close out the 1982 season didn't translate into future success with the Mets, as Leach began the 1983 season at AAA-Tidewater and fared poorly, going 5-7 with a 4.46 ERA and 1.43 WHIP in 113 innings.  He was traded to the Chicago Cubs that summer for two minor leaguers and it was believed that his once promising career with the Mets had come to a close.  However, this was not the case, as a few short years later, Leach turned in one of the most unexpected seasons in Mets' history.

It took many years and organizations for Terry Leach to become a one-season wonder for the Mets.

Terry Hester Leach had thrown his last pitch for the Mets following the 1982 season, or so he thought.  The 1982 season only turned out to be the final chapter in Act One of Terry Leach's career with the Mets.  After his trade to the Cubs in 1983, Leach was dealt back to the Atlanta Braves, the team for which he began his professional career in 1977.  A month later, Leach was released a second time by the Braves and was re-signed the next day by Frank Cashen.  Given a new lease on his baseball life by the Mets, Leach was not going to disappoint the team.

Leach, now in his 30s, began the 1985 season in the Mets' minor league system, but didn't stay there very long.  In 24 relief appearances for Tidewater, Leach was dominant, posting a 1.59 ERA and 0.90 WHIP.  His performance for the Tides got Leach a call to the majors in June, where he once again pitched in relief with an occasional spot start when needed.  Leach performed well in his first extended stay in the majors, going 3-4 with a 2.91 ERA in 55.2 innings of work.  However, it was his work as a spot starter that got the most attention.  In four starts, Leach went 3-1 with a 2.70 ERA and 1.05 WHIP.  Opposing batters were confounded by Leach's submarine delivery and when they did get on base, they didn't hit the ball very hard.  Leach held hitters to a .221 batting average in those four starts, to go with a .272 on-base percentage and a lilliputian .295 slugging percentage.

Judging by his performance in four starts during the 1985 season, Leach appeared to be on his way to becoming a successful starting pitcher in the major leagues.  But then came the 1986 season, a season in which Dwight Gooden, Ron Darling, Sid Fernandez, Bobby Ojeda and Rick Aguilera made 148 of the team's 162 starts and combined to go 76-30.  With Gooden, Darling, Fernandez and Ojeda all pitching over 200 innings each, and Roger McDowell and Jesse Orosco combining to throw over 200 more, it was difficult for Leach to pitch in any role for the 1986 Mets.  As a result, Leach pitched mostly at Tidewater, going 4-4 with a 2.49 ERA in 34 appearances (15 starts), while only making six appearances (all in relief) for the 1986 Mets.

The 1987 season appeared to be no different for Leach, as the same five starters who took over the 1986 season were scheduled to begin the '87 season in the rotation.  Then Gooden missed the first two months of the season to check himself into rehab for cocaine abuse, giving Leach a spot on the major league roster.  It was an opportunity that Leach had been looking forward to for the better part of a decade.

At the age of 33, Leach was finally part of an Opening Day roster for the first time in his professional career.  Although he began the season pitching out of the bullpen, Leach performed extremely well in that role.  Leach made 18 relief appearances in April and May, going 3-0 with a 2.37 ERA and 1.19 WHIP.  But once Rick Aguilera was placed on the disabled list in late May with a strained elbow ligament, joining the rehabbing Dwight Gooden and the injured Bobby Ojeda, another spot opened up in the starting rotation.  Leach was tabbed by manager Davey Johnson to face Fernando Valenzuela and the Los Angeles Dodgers on June 1.  It would become the most important start in Terry Leach's career.

Leach pitched well against the Dodgers, besting Valenzuela with six strong innings.  He allowed one unearned run on four hits while walking one batter in the 5-2 Mets victory.  It was the first of 12 starts Leach would make during the 1987 season and each one appeared to come after another starter got hurt.

As players continued to succumb to injuries, Leach continue to thrive with his increased workload and responsibility.  Eight days after making his first start of the season,  Leach made his second.  He pitched well again, allowing two earned runs to the Chicago Cubs in six innings of work.  But the bullpen failed that afternoon at Wrigley Field, as Randy Myers and Roger McDowell combined to give up the go-ahead runs in the eighth inning of the Mets' 6-5 loss.  With the loss, the Mets dropped to 28-28 on the season.  They were in fourth place in the NL East and hopes of repeating as World Series champions were fading fast.  It was then that Terry Leach went on an unprecedented run of success for the Mets.

Following the bullpen meltdown on June 9, the team went on a major roll, going 35-18 over the next 53 games to move into second place in the NL East and within striking distance of the first place St. Louis Cardinals.  By the time the run ended in mid-August, the Mets had added Sid Fernandez to the long list of players who spent time on the disabled list.  But by then, Terry Leach had done what no one had expected him to do and what no other Mets pitcher had ever done before him.

From mid-June to mid-August, Leach made eight more starts.  The Mets won all eight of those starts.  Over that magical two-month stretch, Leach went 6-0 with two no-decisions.  He allowed two runs or less in six of those eight starts, which included his second career shutout, a two-hit masterpiece over the Cincinnati Reds on July 2.  When his streak of excellence ended, Leach's record stood at a perfect 10-0, making him the first pitcher in Mets history to win his first ten decisions in a single season.

Leach finally suffered his first loss of the season on August 15, allowing four runs in a 7-3 loss to the Cubs.  He made one more start after that loss, receiving a no-decision in the Mets' 7-4 victory over the San Francisco Giants on August 20, then returned to the bullpen for the rest of the season once the injured starters returned to the land of the healthy.  As a reliever, Leach won his 11th game of the year on September 8, earning the victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.  That win, followed by the following night's victory, pulled the Mets to within 1½ games of the division-leading Cardinals.  It was the closest the Mets would get to first place in 1987.  However, the Mets would never have found themselves in such close proximity to the division lead had it not been for Herculean effort of Terry Leach.

With injuries no longer a problem following the 1987 season, Terry Leach went back into the Mets bullpen for good.   Leach made 52 appearances in 1988, all in relief, en route to a 7-2 record and 2.54 ERA.  In 1989, Leach made 10 relief appearances for the Mets, but saw his ERA rise to 4.22.  On June 9, the Mets traded Leach to the Kansas City Royals for minor league pitcher Aguedo Vasquez.  Vasquez never pitched for the Mets and was out of professional baseball by age 24.  Leach's trade began a flurry of activity for the Mets, as a number of mainstays from the 1986 World Series champions such as Lenny Dykstra, Roger McDowell, Mookie Wilson, Lee Mazzilli and Rick Aguilera were either waived or traded.

Once traded by the Mets, Leach's career resembled his early days in professional baseball.  He was released by the Royals in 1990 and was signed by the Minnesota Twins.  He pitched two seasons in Minnesota, appearing in 105 games (all in relief) and winning a World Series ring in 1991.  He then signed with Montreal as a free agent in 1992 before being released by the Expos prior to Opening Day.  One day after his release, he was signed by the Chicago White Sox, pitching the final two seasons of his career (1992-1993) as a member of the Pale Hose.

Terry Leach was not a typical pitcher.  He didn't overpower opposing batters with a blazing fastball or possess a standard out pitch.  But for one incredible season, he was as dominant as any pitcher in the Mets' rotation.  In 1987, Leach was 11-1 for the Mets in a season where each member of the starting rotation spent time on the disabled list.  Leach pitched in six other seasons for the Mets but only managed to win 13 games in those other half-dozen campaigns.

Terry Leach's overall numbers in New York were very good.  He was 24-9 with a 3.11 ERA in 176 career appearances.  Of those 176 appearances, all but 18 came in relief.  But what he did in those 18 starts was more crucial than anything he did in his plethora of relief appearances.  Terry Leach did everything he could to save the Mets' season in 1987, but couldn't do it all on his own.  Despite his best efforts, the Mets still finished three games behind the pennant-winning St. Louis Cardinals in the NL East.  But the season could have been over well before Terry Pendleton effectively ended it on that infamous night in September at Shea Stadium.

From his beginnings in Selma, Alabama to the bright lights of New York, Terry Leach did nothing but fight his way to get to the big leagues.  He could have given up on his dream every time he was released or traded, but instead chose to use the rejection as motivation to continue to be the best pitcher he could be, regardless of the role he was used in.  Terry Leach had a dream season for the Mets in 1987 and although it was his only year in the spotlight, it was one of the most important seasons by a pitcher in club history.  Not bad for the kid from the small town in Alabama.

Note: One Season Wonders is a thirteen-part weekly series spotlighting those Mets who had one and only one memorable season in New York.  For previous installments, please click on the players' names below:
 
January 2, 2012: Bernard Gilkey

At 27, Jose Reyes Is Now The Mets' Longest Tenured Player

With Pedro Feliciano not accepting the Mets' arbitration offer, he can now sign with another team. When he does leave the Mets, he will hand over the title of longest tenured player to Jose Reyes, who has been a Met since 2003.

Feliciano became a Met on August 15, 2002, when Cincinnati traded him to New York for Shawn Estes, the man who couldn't hit Roger Clemens with a pitch, but then hit a Roger Clemens pitch over the wall.

Since then, Feliciano has bounced back and forth, being selected by the Detroit Tigers off waivers in December 2002, then re-signing with the Mets the following April, then leaving for a year to Japan to play for the Fukuoka (watch your mouth!) Daiei Hawks, before returning to the Mets for good in 2006. However, since he never played for another major league team since becoming a Met in 2002, Feliciano kinda sorta held the title of longest tenured Met since the end of the 2006 season.

For all you stat geeks out there, here is the list of longest tenured players on the Mets, going back to the players who were on the Opening Day roster in 1962.


Jim Hickman (1962-1966): Although Ed Kranepool played three games for the Mets in 1962 and then remained with the team until 1979, he was not on the Opening Day roster. Hickman was. The man known as "Gentleman Jim" is known for two "lasts" and two "firsts". He was the last player to hit a home run at the Polo Grounds, accounting for the only run in a 5-1 loss to the Phillies on September 18, 1963. He was also the last of the original Mets, being traded to the Dodgers after the 1966 season, a year in which he became the only Met to appear on the Mets' Opening Day roster in each of their first five seasons. Hickman became the first Mets player to hit for the cycle when he accomplished the feat in 1963 against the Cardinals and was the first Met to hit three home runs in a game, which he achieved in 1965, also against St. Louis.

Ed Kranepool (1967-1979): After Hickman was traded to the Dodgers prior to the 1967 season, Ed Kranepool assumed the role of longest tenured Met, a title he did not give up until he played his last game for New York in 1979. Upon his retirement, Steady Eddie was among the franchise leaders in almost every major category and to this day, remains the Mets' all-time leader in games played (1,853), at-bats (5,436), hits (1,418), singles (1,050) and total bases (2,047).

Ron Hodges (1980-1984): Both Ron Hodges and Craig Swan played for the Mets from 1973-1984, but Hodges made his debut three months before Swannie (Hodges appeared in his first game on June 13, while Swan debuted on September 3). The hard-nosed catcher was with the Mets in good times (the "Ya Gotta Believe" Mets of 1973) and in bad times (the dark ages following the Midnight Massacre in 1977) and finished his career just as the Mets were becoming relevant again in 1984. His last appearance as a Met came as a pinch-hitter in the 1984 season finale. The next time the Mets played a regular season game, Gary Carter was their catcher.

Jesse Orosco (1985-1987): The man who perfected the art of the championship clinching glove toss made his debut with the Mets in 1979 after being traded to the Mets from Minnesota for the other man who specialized in championship clinching victories, Jerry Koosman. Although Orosco did not pitch in the major leagues in 1980, he returned for good in 1981. Once Ron Hodges retired after the 1984 season, Orosco became the only Met left who played for the team in the 1970s. He was traded to the Dodgers after the 1987 season and eventually pitched for just about everyone else on his way to becoming the major league's all-time leader in pitching appearances (1,252 games).

Wally Backman (1988) and Mookie Wilson (1988-1989): After Jesse Orosco left the team, the title of longest tenured Met fell on two players. Both Mookie Wilson and Wally Backman made their major league debuts for the Mets in the same game on September 2, 1980 in Los Angeles. Technically, Mookie Wilson appeared first, batting leadoff against the Dodgers, while Wally Backman batted eighth. The two continued to be integral parts of the Mets from their first game together in 1980 through the 1986 World Series championship and beyond. Backman remained a Met until he was traded to the Twins following the 1988 season, while Mookie Wilson was a Met until the middle of the 1989 season, when he was traded for (gasp) Jeff Musselman.

Terry Leach (1989): Bet you didn't see this one coming, although this one carries an asterisk similar to Pedro Feliciano. Leach made his debut for the Mets in 1981, pitching in 21 games. He repeated his 21-game salute in 1982, then spent the 1983 season in the minors. He was then traded to the Chicago Cubs, who later shipped him off to Atlanta in April 1984. One month later, he was released by the Braves and the following day, the Mets re-signed him. He came back up to the Mets in 1985, where he continued to pitch until the end of the 1989 season. His finest year as a Met came in 1987, when he was moved into the starting rotation because of injuries to various starters. Leach surprised everyone by going 11-1 in his spot-start duties. Short story long, after Mookie Wilson was traded to Toronto in July of 1989, Leach became the longest tenured Met for the rest of the season. Although he was traded twice between 1981 and 1989, he never pitched in the major leagues for a team other than the Mets during that time. But if you don't think Leach should be on this list, then perhaps you'd choose...

Darryl Strawberry (1990): Darryl Strawberry was once dubbed "the black Ted Williams" when he still playing high school ball. Although he never approached the Splendid Splinter's career marks, he is still the most explosive power hitter in Mets history. The franchise leader in home runs (252), RBI (733), runs scored (662), walks (580) and unfortunately, strikeouts (960), the Straw Man first played for the Mets on May 6, 1983 and became the only Met to play from the George Bamberger managerial era to the 1990s.

Ron Darling (1991): When Darryl Strawberry switched coasts to play for his hometown Dodgers, him teammate since the end of the 1983 season, Ron Darling, became the veteran of the team. The answer to the trivia question, "who was the last National League pitcher to win the Gold Glove Award before Greg Maddux started his streak of a bajillion straight Gold Gloves?", Ronnie fell one victory short of becoming only the fourth pitcher in franchise history to win 100 games when he was traded to Montreal on July 15, 1991. Sixteen days later, he was moved to Oakland, where he stayed until his last game in 1995. To this day, the former All-Star and Gold Glove winner remains a beloved Met and his 99 wins rank fourth in franchise history behind Tom Seaver (198), Dwight Gooden (157 - more on him later) and Jerry Koosman (140).

Dwight Gooden (1991-1994): He never went to med school, but the doctor performed surgeries every fifth day, operating on hitters with a blazing fastball and devastating curveball (dubbed Lord Charles). He had the best three-year stretch to start a career of any pitcher, when he went 58-19 with a 2.28 ERA from 1984-1986. He also completed 35 of his 99 starts, with 13 shutouts. And, oh yes. There were the strikeouts. Dr. K set the all-time rookie strikeout record in 1984 when he fanned 276 batters. He followed that up with 268 Ks in his Cy Young Award-winning season (1985), then "only" struck out 200 batters in the Mets' 1986 championship season. Substance abuse and injuries prevented Doc from ever regaining the dominant form he displayed in his first three seasons. However, he did have one final great year in 1990, when he finished 19-7 and registered his fourth (and first since 1986) season of 200 or more strikeouts, by finishing with 223. When he pitched his final game for the Mets in 1994, he became the last member of the 1986 World Champions to take the field as a player in blue and orange.

John Franco (1994-2004): After Ed Kranepool's 18 seasons in New York, John Franco played the most years as a Met, playing from 1990-2004 (he missed the 2002 season with an injury). Once Gooden pitched his last game for the Mets, Franco became the longest tenured Met and didn't give it up until after the 2004 season. Franco is the only Met pitcher to have played for the two winningest managers in Mets history, playing for Davey Johnson in 1990 and Bobby Valentine from 1996-2002 (Todd Hundley is the only other player who did it, having played his first game as a Met ten days before Davey Johnson was fired). He holds the franchise records for games pitched (695 - Pedro Feliciano is a distant second with 459) and saves (276 - Armando Benitez isn't even in the rearview mirror with his 160). Franco is also appearing on the Hall of Fame ballot for the first time in 2011.

Mike Piazza (2005): Mike Piazza became a Met in 1998 after his one week stay as a Florida Marlin ended. His combination of power and batting average was never seen before in a Mets uniform. The future Hall of Famer is the only player to appear twice in the top ten single season batting averages in Mets history (.348 in 1998 and .324 in 2000, good for second and tenth all-time) and also appears twice in the top ten single season home run list (40 in 1999 and 38 in 2000 - his '99 total is now the third highest total in franchise history, while the '00 total is tied for sixth all-time). No other Met appears in BOTH top ten lists. In just eight years as a Met, Piazza left his mark all over the career all-time Met offensive leaders, finishing in the top five in career batting average (4th, .296), on-base percentage (5th, .373), slugging percentage (1st, .542), doubles (5th, 193), home runs (2nd, 200), runs batted in (3rd, 655) and extra-base hits (4th, 415). He not only replaced John Franco as the longest tenured Met after Franco pitched his last game in 2004, but also replaced him as #31 on the Mets, as Franco gave switched from #31 to #45 to accommodate Piazza. Piazza will become eligible for the Hall of Fame in 2013 and might become the second player to be inducted into the Hall as a Met.

Steve Trachsel (2006): Once Piazza waved his final goodbyes as a Met at Shea Stadium, the longest tenured Met became a player who never got the respect he deserved - Steve Trachsel. Although Trachsel was sometimes referred to as the Human Rain Delay II (Mike Hargrove was the original Human Rain Delay) and The Slowest Pitcher On Earth for his deliberate approach to pitching once there were runners on base, he really did spend six years as a Met (2001-2006). It just seemed like one long season because he was so slow to get the ball to the plate. Despite never being a fan-favorite, Trachsel was the winning pitcher in the 2006 NL East division clincher against the Marlins. It might also come as a surprise that Trachsel ranks in the top ten in career wins (his 66 victories are 10th on the Mets' all-time list) and is one of only five Met hurlers to pitch two complete game one-hitters, achieving both in 2003 (the other four are Tom Seaver - who accomplished the feat an Amazin' five times, Gary Gentry, Jon Matlack and David Cone).

Pedro Feliciano (2007-2010): As mentioned before, his inclusion as one of the longest tenured Mets comes with an asterisk, as he was not exclusively the property of the Mets during his stay in New York that began in 2002. He was briefly a member of the Detroit Tigers organization in 2002, but never played for them, as he was released by the Tigers two months after they signed him and re-signed with the prior to the 2003 season. He then played for the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks in the Japanese Pacific League in 2005 before coming back to the Mets for what was arguably his best season in 2006. In that magical season, Feliciano finished with a 7-2 record and a 2.09 ERA. He was also stellar in that year's postseason, appearing in six games against the Dodgers and Cardinals, allowing only one run on two hits in 4 2/3 innings. He was credited with the victory in the NLDS clincher in Los Angeles. From 2008-2010, he earned the monicker Perpetual Pedro for breaking the franchise record for games pitched in each season. He also led the entire National League is appearances each year, pitching in 86 games in 2008, 88 games in 2009 and 92 games in 2010. Feliciano did not accept salary arbitration from the Mets after the 2010 season and is now free to sign with whoever he chooses.


That brings us to Jose Reyes. Since Doc Gooden became the longest tenured Met in 1991 at the age of 26, no Met had become the team veteran while in his 20s until now. Reyes will now assume that title, having played with the Mets since 2003. He and David Wright are the only two players left from the Art Howe era. In fact, with John Maine being non-tendered, Reyes is one of only four players left who played for the Mets in the 2006 postseason. (The others are Wright, Carlos Beltran and - shudder - Oliver Perez. Mike Pelfrey pitched for the Mets during the 2006 regular season, but did not make the postseason roster.)

Our 27-year-old shortstop has been called immature at times. He has also been accused of showing up the opposition and most recently, he has been mentioned in various trade rumors. Despite all this, one thing is certain. He may act like a spoiled child at times, but whether he likes it or not, he is now the veteran of this franchise. Younger players are going to come to him for advice and for tips on how to play the game. A more mature Jose Reyes will have to emerge on the playing field and in the clubhouse. A veteran wouldn't have it any other way.