The Most With The Least: Benny Agbayani (1999-2000)

There are some players who become folk heroes without ever being expected to produce 500 at-bats or 30 starts in a season.  Players like Johnny Podres of the 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers, Bucky Dent of the 1978 New York Yankees and Francisco Cabrera of the 1992 Atlanta Braves come to mind.  The memorable moments they produced in those seasons have lived on long after their playing careers were over.  In some cases - Buddy Biancalana's postseason for the 1985 Kansas City Royals comes to mind - their moments in the sun completely overshadowed the fact that save for the magical game or stretch of games, they did not have particularly good careers in the major leagues (Biancalana batted .205 and had a -1.5 WAR in parts of six seasons with the Royals and Houston Astros).

Some folk heroes who don't play every day actually do have good careers.  However, their careers are sometimes overlooked because they were never among the league leaders in any categories due to the lack of steady playing time.

Several Mets players have achieved folk hero status and a lifetime of adulation and respect even without the gaudy numbers put up by some of the hitters and pitchers currently in the team's Hall of Fame.  One such player became beloved for what he did during a two-year stretch, despite not being an everyday player.  His numbers were not All-Star worthy, nor will he ever be enshrined in the Mets Hall of Fame.  But his clutch performances in his limited appearances were crucial to the team's success during those two seasons and he will forever be remembered for his efforts.

Mahalo, Benny Agbayani!  You gave Mets fans plenty to cheer about.  (AP photo by Ron Frehm)

Benny Peter Agbayani was one of five Hawaiian-born players who suited up for the Mets over the years (the others were Carlos Diaz, Ron Darling, Sid Fernandez and Tyler Yates).  However, he was the only one of the five who wasn't a pitcher and the only native Hawaiian originally drafted by the Mets who played for the team.  Like many roads on the island state, Agabyani's path to the majors was long and winding.  He was drafted in the 30th round of the 1993 June amateur draft and toiled in the minor leagues for nearly six full seasons (which included a regrettable turn as a replacement player in spring training due to the 1994-95 players' strike) before being called up by the Mets for the first time in June 1998.  Agbayani had three separate stints with the Mets in 1998, but only got into 11 games.  His infrequent appearances at the plate led to an underwhelming debut, as he batted .133 with no RBI during his time at the big league level.

After his brief stays with the Mets, the team placed Agbayani on waivers, but no other club was interested in his services.  The following offseason, the Mets once again dangled Agbayani for other teams to claim in the Rule V draft.  No one took the bait.  Despite the team's best efforts to end their relationship with Agbayani, the outfielder remained property of the Mets heading into the 1999 campaign.

Agbayani began his seventh professional season in 1999 at AAA-Norfolk and before too long, he made it impossible for the Mets not to notice him.  In 28 games with the Tides, Agabyani batted .356 and posted a whopping 1.139 OPS.  He averaged an extra-base hit every six at-bats, including eight home runs in the first month of the season.  A year after Agbayani couldn't crack an outfield that included the declining Bernard Gilkey and Butch Huskey at his worst, Agabyani got a second chance at the big league level in 1999.  Both Gilkey and Huskey were no longer on the team, with Gilkey having been dealt to Arizona at the trade deadline in 1998 and Huskey being shipped off to Seattle five months later.

Manager Bobby Valentine, who was Agbayani's skipper at Norfolk in 1996, had always praised the stocky slugger in the minors, and continued to believe in him once he made it to the majors.  Injuries to Bobby Bonilla and Rickey Henderson opened up a roster spot for Agabyani in mid-May and the six-year minor leaguer took full advantage of the opportunity, homering in his first game after the call-up.  Agabyani continued to hit with power and by June 13, he had already amassed ten home runs in his first 73 at-bats of the season - a feat no Met had ever accomplished.

Fans at Shea Stadium immediately gravitated to the hard-working Agabayani, and remained supportive even after Agbayani went through the inevitable home run drought that followed his month-long power surge.  Although Agbayani started just 70 games for the Mets in 1999, the team's record was 46-24 in those starts, making Agbayani a key cog in the Mets' machine that went on to make its first trip to the postseason since 1988.

Agbayani finished his first major league season with a .286/.363/.525 slash line, contributing 18 doubles, three triples, 14 homers and 42 RBI in just 276 at-bats, earning him a spot on the Mets' playoff roster.  Although he started just four of the Mets' ten postseason games against the Diamondbacks and Braves, he still reached base eight times in 21 plate appearances for a .381 on-base percentage.  Agbayani's RBI double in the sixth inning of Game Four of the division series broke a 1-1 tie in a game the Mets eventually won in ten innings.  Facing the Braves in the sixth game of the NLCS, Agabyani reached base three times even though he didn't get into the game until the sixth inning.  In the eighth frame, Agbayani led off with a single and later scored the go-ahead run on a hit by Melvin Mora.  The Braves then rallied to tie the game and send it into extra innings.  Once again, Agbayani led off the tenth inning by reaching base, drawing a walk from John Rocker.  Three batters later, he scored on a sacrifice fly by Todd Pratt to give the Mets another one-run lead.  Unfortunately, the Braves tied it again in the bottom of the tenth and went on to win the game and the National League pennant an inning later.

Despite a fantastic rookie season that ended with valuable postseason experience, Agbayani was not guaranteed a spot on the roster as the 2000 regular season approached.  Rickey Henderson was still the team's left fielder, newcomer Derek Bell was brought in to play right field and top prospect Jay Payton was ready to play every day in the major leagues as the team's center fielder.  But Agbayani caught a break when the Mets broke camp to fly to Tokyo for their season-opening series against the Chicago Cubs.  The quirky schedule during the first week of the season meant the Mets would only need to carry ten pitchers on the roster instead of the usual eleven.  That opened up a spot for Agbayani to make the trip with the team to Japan.  And with one swing of the bat, he made sure he'd make the flight back to New York with his teammates instead of another trip back to Norfolk.

Agbayani did not play in the first game, nor did he play in the first ten innings of the second affair in the Tokyo Dome.  But with the game deadlocked in the 11th inning, the Mets loaded the bases against Cubs reliever Danny Young.  Young had retired the first two batters he faced, but then allowed a single to Todd Zeile and back-to-back walks to Rey Ordoñez and Melvin Mora.  With pitcher Dennis Cook slated to bat for the Mets, Valentine decided to use the right-handed hitting Agbayani against the southpaw Young, who was making his first appearance in the big leagues.  Young threw a first-pitch ball, then fired a low fastball to the plate that Agbayani golfed over the center field fence for a grand slam.  The blast led to a 5-1 victory and gave the Mets a split in their season-opening series.  And even though Agbayani was due to the be sent down to the minors once the team needed to use their fifth starter, he never played a single game below the major league level in 2000, due mostly to his game-winning grand slam in Japan.

Melvin Mora (left) and Todd Zeile (right) flank Benny Agbayani as he crosses the plate in Tokyo.  (MLB.com screen shot)

Although Agbayani remained with the team once they returned to the United States, he was relegated to a bench role over the first month of the season.  But Rickey Henderson, who drew the ire of the front office for playing cards with Bobby Bonilla during Game Six of the 1999 NLCS, was off to a horrendous start in 2000, struggling to stay above the Mendoza Line.  Through May 9, Henderson was batting .207 and had stolen just two bases.  It was a far cry from his fantastic 1999 campaign, when he batted .315 and had 37 steals.  The Mets were also just 13-13 in Henderson's 26 starts through early May.  Meanwhile, Agbayani was continuing to deliver for the Mets, albeit in limited action.  Agbayani started a mere five games in April and had batted just 32 times through month's end, but in that small sample size, he posted a .321/.387/.571 slash line, produced five extra-base hits and drove in nine runs.  More importantly, the Mets won all but one of the games Agbayani started in April.

When Agbayani started, he produced and the Mets won.  When Henderson started, he did not produce and the Mets were mediocre.  Henderson also whined and was generally a malcontent, while Agbayani had a positive outlook and a winning demeanor.  The writing was on the wall for Henderson, and by mid-May, he had been released by the Mets and Agbayani was given a shot to start more games.

Three days after Henderson was released, the Mets found themselves in fourth place in the N.L. East with a 20-20 record.  But with Henderson gone and Agbayani finally getting a chance to prove himself, the Mets responded by winning eight of their next ten games.  Agbayani started seven of those contests, batting .348 and reaching base at a .423 clip.  The Mets went on another hot streak from mid-June through early July, winning 12 out of 16 affairs.  Among the key contributors in that sizzling skein was Agbayani, who torched opposing pitchers with a .357/.429/.833 slash line during the two-and-a-half week period.  The left fielder started a dozen times during the 16-game stretch, reaching base on 21 occasions, smacking six home runs and racking up 14 RBI.

As the calendar flipped from July to August, the Mets were on a roll and Agbayani was putting up gaudy numbers.  By August 11, the day the Mets got to 20 games over .500 for the first time in 2000, Agbayani was the owner of a robust .315/.404/.502 slash line.  Only Mike Piazza (.349/.416/.676) and Edgardo Alfonzo (.328/.427/.519) had better slash lines on the team than Agbayani.  Agbayani remained above the .300/.400/.500 mark until mid-September, when a late slump and the loss of playing time to September call-up Timo Perez brought him under those figures.  But by then, it had become a foregone conclusion that the 2000 squad was going to crash the playoff party, unlike the 1999 campaign, when the Mets needed to play a 163rd game to qualify for the postseason.  And a big reason why they were returning to the playoffs was the decision to start Benny Agbayani with more regularity, as the Mets went 57-37 when the outfielder was in the starting lineup in 2000.

Agbayani was going to the playoffs for the second time in his two full seasons in the big leagues.  However, unlike the Mets' 1999 postseason run, when he started just four games, Agbayani was expected to be a key contributor if the Mets were going to have a deeper playoff run, especially after having just completed a season in which he finished fourth on the team in batting average (.289), third in on-base percentage (.391), third in slugging percentage (.477) and third in oWAR (2.1).  He also added 19 doubles, 15 home runs and 60 RBI in just 350 at-bats.

The Mets' division series opponent was the San Francisco Giants, who produced the best record in baseball during the 2000 campaign with a 97-65 mark.  The Mets split the first two games at Pac Bell Park, with Agbayani reaching base five times in eight plate appearances.  In Game Three, Agbayani was kept off the bases in each of his first five plate appearances.  He had been removed for a defensive replacement in each of the first two games, a practice that Agbayani was quite familiar with, as manager Bobby Valentine had removed Agbayani in 51 of the 94 games he started during the 2000 regular season.  But as the game progressed into extra innings, Valentine did not take Agbayani out of the game, allowing him to bat for a sixth time in the bottom of the 13th, even after he had failed to get a sacrifice bunt down in his previous at-bat when the Mets had two runners on and nobody out.

Valentine noticed Agabyani was disgusted with himself after his failure to move the runners over cost the Mets a chance to win the game in the 11th, saying, "He really felt like he let the team down.  He was kind of pacing in the dugout, just hoping to get another chance."

And with one mighty swing of the bat, Valentine was rewarded for his decision to stick with him.

Video courtesy of MLB.com YouTube channel

On a 1-0 pitch from Giants reliever Aaron Fultz, Agabyani ended the taut affair with a long home run into the Shea Stadium left field bleachers.  The blast gave the Mets a 3-2 victory and a 2-1 series lead.  The following night, the Mets took the series from the Giants on a one-hit shutout by Bobby Jones.  Agabyani had more hits in Game Four than the entire Giants lineup, as he went 2-for-4 in the Mets' division series-clinching victory.

Unlike the 1999 National League Championship Series, when every game was decided by one or two runs, the 2000 NLCS wasn't nearly as nerve-wracking, as the Mets defeated the St. Louis Cardinals in five games, with three of their four wins in the series coming by four or more runs.  Agbayani had a stellar series, reaching base ten times in the five games, including two doubles, four walks and three RBI, but once again he was overshadowed by the great performances of Edgardo Alfonzo and Mike Piazza (both hit over .400 in the series and combined to produce seven extra-base hits), as well as Timo Perez, who set a club record with eight runs scored in the series, and Mike Hampton, whose two wins earned him the NLCS Most Valuable Player award.

It was on to the Fall Classic for Benny and the Mets, where they would square off against their crosstown rivals, the New York Yankees, in the first Subway World Series since 1956.  Agbayani and the Mets would drop the first two games to the Bronx Bombers, with Agbayani collecting hits in each of those games.  The Mets absolutely had to win Game Three, and when the eighth inning rolled around with the score tied at 2, it was up to Agbayani to deliver.  And that's exactly what he did.

With one out and Todd Zeile at first, Agbayani stepped up to the plate to face Yankees starter Orlando Hernandez, who had struck out 12 Mets batters in seven and a third innings.  Agbayani refused to give El Duque a baker's dozen, lining a double into the left-center field gap.  Zeile motored all the way around from first base to score to go-ahead run.  The Mets added another run in the inning and held on to win the game, 4-2.

The game-winning double gave Agbayani hits in all 12 games the Mets had played up to that point in the 2000 postseason, setting a franchise record for longest hitting streak in a single postseason.  It also gave Agbayani a 13-game postseason hitting streak, dating back to the final game of the 1999 NLCS.  That tied Edgardo Alfonzo's club record and was only four short of the major league record of 17 straight games, which was set by Hank Bauer from 1956 to 1958 and matched by Derek Jeter from 1998 to 1999.

Agbayani's hitting streak came to an end in Game Four, although he did reach base on a walk.  He was back to his clutch hitting ways in Game Five, giving the Mets a temporary 2-1 lead with an RBI single off Andy Pettitte.  (Agabyani made a career out of hitting Pettitte, going 8-for-18 with two doubles, a home run and four RBI off the lefty.)  However, the Mets failed to score another run after Agbayani's hit, dropping the game and the series to the Yankees.

Benny Agbayani receives a hand (or two) from his teammates in the 2000 World Series.  (Don Emmert/Getty Images)

The following season, the Mets failed to make the playoffs for the first time since 1998.  A year after he maintained a .300/.400/.500 slash line well into September, Agbayani regressed, especially in the power department.  Although his .277 batting average and .364 on-base percentage were still among the highest on the team, he produced just 22 extra-base hits in 339 plate appearances for a .399 slugging percentage.  As a result, he lost playing time in left field to rookie Tsuyoshi Shinjo (24 games), Darryl Hamilton (20 games) and Joe McEwing (18 games).  He lost his job for good during the off-season, when he was part of a three-team trade that netted the Mets outfielder Jeromy Burnitz, starting pitcher Jeff D'Amico and four other players.

Just as the Mets crumbled in 2002, so did Agbayani's career in the majors.  He split the season between the Colorado Rockies and the Boston Red Sox in 2002, then played in the Kansas City Royals organization in 2003 after being acquired from the Cincinnati Reds.  He then moved on to the Chiba Lotte Marines in Japan's Pacific League for six seasons.  The time away from the United States led to Agbayani's renaissance in baseball, as he had a career year in 2004 (.315, 35 HR, 100 RBI) and was part of Chiba Lotte's first championship in 31 years during the 2005 campaign.  Agbayani achieved both personal and team success under the tutelage of his favorite skipper, Bobby Valentine, who took the job overseas two years after being relieved of his managerial duties in New York.  When Valentine was fired by the Marines in 2010, Agbayani walked away from the game, pledging his loyalty to his former manager and his disdain for the way he was unceremoniously let go.

Agbayani never had more than 350 at-bats in any of his four seasons with the Mets.  Nor was he ever expected to play every day for the team.  But he was a key player in two postseason runs by the Mets, producing timely hit after timely hit, making him a fan favorite during his short time in New York.  Fans loved and respected Agbayani so much, they were quick to forgive him when he suffered a defensive lapse in 2000, giving a ball that was still in play to a young fan in the stands - a gaffe that allowed two runs to score.  But it was easy to overlook the occasional lapse in judgment once his entire body of work was considered.

Benny Agbayani had 1,084 plate appearances for the Mets.  On a team that has had great hitters and power threats like Rusty Staub, Darryl Strawberry, Mike Piazza and David Wright, many people would be surprised to discover that of all players to surpass 1,000 plate appearances in franchise history, Agbayani ranks sixth in lifetime OBP (.372), tenth in career slugging percentage (.461) and eighth in OPS (.833).  He reached base more often than Edgardo Alfonzo (.367 OBP as a Met), had a higher slugging percentage than Howard Johnson and Dave Kingman (.459 and .453, respectively) and produced a higher OPS than Keith Hernandez (.816).

The Hawaiian also provided punch in the playoffs, producing seven extra-base hits in 67 postseason at-bats.  Agbayani is one of six Mets to amass 20 or more lifetime postseason hits, joining Edgardo Alfonzo (26 hits), Cleon Jones (23), Mike Piazza (22), Lenny Dykstra (21) and Keith Hernandez (20) as the only Mets to do so.  With 14 career walks in the playoffs, Agbayani reached base via hit or walk 34 times in 22 games.  Only Alfonzo (26 hits, 10 walks) reached base more often in the postseason than Agbayani.

Getty Images

"I hope Met fans always remember me as a great ballplayer, someone who gave his all, was always there in the clutch."

--Benny Agbayani, as told to Anthony McCarron/Daily News

No one will ever say that Benny Agbayani was one of the best players to ever play for the Mets.  But he certainly gave his best with the little playing time he received.  And when he did play, the team won, as evidenced by their 103-61 record in Agabyani's 164 starts between the 1999 and 2000 campaigns.  (They were 88-73 when he didn't start.)  Furthermore, no one can argue against Agbayani being one of the franchise's most clutch hitters in high pressure situations, especially in the postseason.

Bobby Valentine always believed in Agbayani's ability on the baseball field.  He believed in it when both men were at AAA-Norfolk in 1996.  He believed in it again from 1998 to 2001, when Agbayani and Valentine were together on the Mets.  And he believed in it for a third time when they were reunited in Japan at the end of Agbayani's career.

Valentine knew what he was getting in Agbayani.  He was a fine hitter who exhibited patience at the plate and was aggressive when the situation called for it.  The numbers don't lie, even if the playing time wasn't there the way it was for more experienced hitters.  Agbayani made the most out of his brief opportunity with the Mets and it led to him becoming the beloved folk hero he is today among Mets fans, nearly a generation after he played his final game with the team.


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.  Please come back next week for the next installment.
 

The Walking's Dead

When Sandy Alderson came aboard as the Mets' general manager three years ago, he was known as an executive who encouraged his players to draw more walks.  More walks mean more base runners.  More base runners mean more runs.  And more runs mean more wins.  Additionally, taking more pitches causes the opposing starting pitcher to reach a high pitch count at an earlier stage of the game, causing him to exit the game earlier even if he's pitching fairly well.

But in 2013, the Mets had many more free swingers in their everyday lineup than they had in the past.  Players like Juan Lagares (20 walks in 421 plate appearances), Marlon Byrd (25 walks in 464 PA) and even Daniel Murphy (32 walks in 697 PA) spent more time trying to get four hits than four balls.  The end result was fewer big innings and fewer opposing pitchers being removed early.

Let's put this season's lack of patience at the plate in perspective.  There were only three players on the team who drew more than 40 bases on balls.  Those players were Lucas Duda (57 walks), David Wright (55 walks) and Ike Davis (55 walks).  Omar Quintanilla finished fourth on the team with 38 free passes.

Do you know when the last time was that the Mets had as little as three players draw 40 or more walks?  You'd have to go back to 2003, when Cliff Floyd (51 walks) and Ty Wigginton (46 walks) were the only two Mets to take ball four at least 40 times.  And for those who have a short memory, the Mets finished 66-95 in 2003 - the only year in the last two decades that the team finished with fewer than 70 victories (not including the strike-shortened 1994 and 1995 seasons).

Does that mean having fewer players drawing walks on a regular basis contributes to poor seasons?  Let me put on my mad statistician's cap (which is pretty much just a Mets cap with cat hair on it) and present to you some of my research.  Below is the list of seasons in which the Mets failed to have more than three players draw as many as 40 walks in a season (excluding all strike seasons).  Keep an eye on each team's final won-loss record, which is listed at the end of each line.

Year	Players With 40+ Walks	Record
1963	Duke Snider (56), Jim Hickman (44), Ron Hunt (40)	51-111
1964	Joe Christopher (48)	53-109
1965	Johnny Lewis (59), Bobby Klaus (45)	50-112
1967	Bud Harrelson (48), Ron Swoboda (41)	61-101
1968	Ron Swoboda (52), Jerry Grote (44)	73-89
1975	Rusty Staub (77), Wayne Garrett (50)	82-80
1983	Keith Hernandez (64), Ron Hodges (49), Darryl Strawberry (47)	68-94
1993	Bobby Bonilla (72), Howard Johnson (43), Eddie Murray (40)	59-103
1996	Todd Hundley (79), Bernard Gilkey (73)	71-91
2003	Cliff Floyd (51), Ty Wigginton (46)	66-95
2013	Lucas Duda (57), David Wright (55), Ike Davis (55)	74-88

There have been eleven seasons in Mets history in which three or fewer players were able to draw at least 40 walks.  The Mets failed to win 75 games in all but one of those seasons.  Their average record in those eleven campaigns was 64-98.

In case you think other factors were involved in those teams' lack of success, let's take a look at the walk totals for players on some of the most successful teams in franchise history.

The 1969 World Series champion Mets had five players who took 40 or more free passes (Cleon Jones, Tommie Agee, Bud Harrelson, Ron Swoboda, Wayne Garrett).  Seventeen years later, the 1986 champs were also able to produce five such hitters (Keith Hernandez, Darryl Strawberry, Gary Carter, Lenny Dykstra, Ray Knight).  In addition, seven other players on the '86 team walked 30 or more times.  But wait, there's more.

Half of the starting eight in 1988 walked 40 or more times, with three of them (Howard Johnson, Darryl Strawberry, Dave Magadan) drawing 60 or more bases on balls.

The 1999 squad had seven players with 40 or more walks.  Five of the seven reached base freely 60 times.  One year later, Benny Agbayani drew 54 walks.  That total would have led the 1964, 1967, 1968 and 2003 squads.  But in 2000, that was just the sixth-highest total on the team.

Finally, in 2006, David Wright was one of four Mets to make it to 40 walks.  His 66 bases on balls would have led most Mets teams.  But in 2006, that was only good for the bronze medal in the walk-a-lympics behind Carlos Delgado (74 walks - silver medal winner) and Carlos Beltran (95 walks - gold medal winner).

What do those six teams have in common besides having lots of players with lofty walk totals?  All six of them won 94 or more games and made it to the postseason.  And for those of you asking about the 1973 National League champion Mets - well, they also drew their share of walks, with four players reaching the 40-walk mark and three of those four surpassing 60.

Benny Agbayani showed a lot of life for someone who was a walker.

So let's recap.  Eleven teams in franchise history did not have more than three players draw 40 or more walks.  Ten of those teams finished with fewer than 75 victories and all eleven teams combined to finish 365 games under .500.

Meanwhile, the seven Mets teams to reach the postseason combined to produce a total of 35 players who walked 40 or more times.  Twenty-two of those 35 players drew 60-plus free passes.

Having many players with the capability and willingness to draw walks leads to more big innings.  If a team only has two or three players who can get on base regularly via the walk, that makes it more difficult to put up crooked numbers on the scoreboard because fewer players are drawing walks in the same inning.  That's not so hard to understand, is it?

When Sandy Alderson came on board following the 2010 season, he professed patience for his hitters.  In 2013, the Mets didn't listen to their professor, as most of the players adopted a "hack now, take pitches later" approach.  For anyone familiar with Mets history (or the chart ten paragraphs above), that approach is a recipe for disaster.  And that recipe has produced some of the worst seasons the team has ever seen.

The walking is dead at Citi Field.  And until more batters learn how to take ball four, nothing - especially pennants - will rise in Flushing.
 

M.U.M.'s The Word (Most Underrated Mets): Bobby Jones

The 1990 season was a transitional one for the New York Mets. In May, long-time manager Davey Johnson was fired after a 20-22 start. Although the Mets recovered under new manager Bud Harrelson to finish with a 91-71 record, the team received a great blow during the offseason when Darryl Strawberry left the team as a free agent to sign with his hometown Los Angeles Dodgers.

With Strawberry gone, the Mets turned to Hubie Brooks to play right field. Brooks had a good 1990 season with the Dodgers (.266, 20 HR, 91 RBI), but he was already 34 years old when the Mets acquired him from Los Angeles for Bobby Ojeda and Greg Hansell. Asking a 34-year-old to replace a 28-year-old perennial All-Star was a recipe for disaster and sure enough, Brooks had one of his worst seasons in 1991, hitting .238, with 16 HR and 50 RBI.

Just like Hubie failed on the field, the Mets did the same in the standings, finishing in fifth place with their first losing record (77-84) since 1983. However, the 1991 season did have something positive come out of it.

When Darryl Strawberry left New York following the 1990 season, the Mets received a supplemental pick to be used between the first and second rounds of the 1991 amateur draft. That sandwich pick (the 36th overall draft selection) turned out to have a pretty good Mets career in his own right.

Bobby Jones was a right-handed pitcher from Fresno, California. Before the Mets drafted the All-American out of Fresno State University with the 36th pick of the 1991 amateur draft, Jones already had a Mets connection, as he attended the same high school (Fresno High School) as "The Franchise" himself, Tom Seaver.

Bobby Jones (wearing #22 in the back row) was partying like it was 1988 in this photo from his Fresno High School days. (photo courtesy of fresnohighalumni.com)

Like Tom Seaver before him, Bobby Jones' ascent to the major leagues was a quick one. After dominating minor league hitters at three different levels (27-15, 2.71 ERA, 304 Ks, 78 BB), Jones was called up to the major leagues in August of 1993, making his major league debut against the Philadelphia Phillies, the team that went on to win the National League pennant two months later.

Jones held the Phillies lineup in check, allowing one earned run in six innings of work. He gave up seven hits and walked one batter. Although the Mets defense threatened to ruin Jones' debut (their four errors led to four unearned runs), their offense (you may call him Tim Bogar) showed up to preserve his first major league win.

Tim Bogar collected two doubles and two home runs in the 9-5 Mets victory. His three-run homer in the sixth inning turned a one-run game into an 8-4 Mets lead. He then gave the Mets an insurance run in the ninth inning with an inside-the-park home run. However, just like the Mets in 1993, even when something went right, something else would go wrong. During his unnecessary head-first slide into home plate, Bogar tore a ligament in his left hand and would not play again in 1993.

The Mets went on to finish the 1993 season in last place in the NL East, with the expansion Florida Marlins finishing five games ahead of them. Their 59-103 record in 1993 would give us another Tom Seaver-Bobby Jones parallel, as Jones' initial campaign with the Mets was the team's first 100-loss season since 1967, the same year Tom Seaver made his major league debut for New York.

When the 1994 season began, Bobby Jones was firmly entrenched in the Mets' rotation, starting the third game of the season behind Doc Gooden and Pete Smith (feel free to chime in with a "who dat?"). But Jones (along with Bret Saberhagen) soon became one of the go-to guys in the rotation, as Gooden succumbed to his addictions for the final time as a Met. Pete Smith also gave in to his addictions, although his drug of choice was the gopher ball (Smith gave up a league leading 25 HR in 1994).

Despite the poor performances by Gooden (3-4, 6.31 ERA) and Smith (4-10, 5.55 ERA), the Mets flirted with the .500 mark for most of the year, finishing with a 55-58 record when the players' strike ended the 1994 season. Saberhagen's season (14-4, 2.74 ERA, a major league record 11:1 K/BB ratio) was nothing short of brilliant, but that was to be expected from a man who had already won two Cy Young Awards in his career (1985, 1989). It was Bobby Jones' performance in his first full season as a Met that kept the team from falling back to the depths they reached in 1993.

For the season, Jones went 12-7 with a 3.15 ERA, with the Mets winning 15 of his 24 starts. In 14 of those 24 starts, Jones gave up two earned runs or less. He also gave the Mets much-needed durability, especially with the bullpen being overworked due to the inefficiency of the other starters not named Saberhagen. Jones pitched at least six innings in all but four of his starts and made it through the seventh inning more than half the time (14 starts). For his efforts, Jones finished eighth in the National League Rookie of the Year voting, behind future Mets Steve Trachsel and Cliff Floyd.

After being tantalized by his excellent 1994 season, the 1995 and 1996 seasons would have to be considered a slight disappointment for Bobby Jones. Although Jones was rewarded with the Opening Day nod in each season, his performances in the other starts left a lot to be desired.

Jones followed up his 1994 season by going 10-10 in 1995 and 12-8 in 1996. The combined 22-18 record over the two seasons wasn't so bad, especially when the Mets' records during that span (69-75 in 1995, 71-91 in 1996) are taken into consideration. However, opposing batters learned how to hit Jones better during those two seasons than they did in 1994.

In 1994, the National League hit .257 against Jones, who gave up 157 hits in 160 innings. That number rose to .274 in 1995 (209 hits in 195.2 innings) and .288 in 1996 (219 hits in 195.2 innings). As a result, Jones' ERA rose from an exceptional 3.15 in 1994 to a mediocre 4.19 and 4.42 in 1995 and 1996, respectively. Fortunately for Jones, the youth movement known as Generation K (Bill Pulsipher, Paul Wilson, Jason Isringhausen) did not become the second coming of Seaver, Koosman and Matlack, thereby allowing Jones to retain his status at the top of the Mets' rotation. Jones rewarded the Mets for their patience in 1997.

After getting the ball on Opening Day in 1995 and 1996, Bobby Jones did not get that honor for the 1997 opener. Instead, new manager Bobby Valentine (who replaced Dallas Green during the latter part of the 1996 season) chose to bestow the Opening Day honor to veteran Pete Harnisch. Harnisch would pitch into the sixth inning, an inning in which the Mets allowed the San Diego Padres to score 11 runs. Soon after the Opening Day debacle, Harnisch was placed on the disabled list after feeling exhaustion and anxiety. It was later revealed that Harnisch was suffering from depression.

When Harnisch went down in April, it was up to the rest of the staff to step up, especially Bobby Jones, who hadn't lived up to expectations following his rookie season in 1994. Then something special happened. Bobby Jones became an effective pitcher again and for the first time during his tenure as a Met, the team started to win.

In the finale of the season-opening series against the Padres, Jones made his first start of the season, picking up the win by holding San Diego to one run over eight innings. It was the Mets' first victory of the season after losing their first two games. The performance by Jones in his first start would serve as a reminder that 1997 was going to be nothing like the previous two years.

From April 30 to June 9, Jones went on one of the most dominant stretches by any Met (Seaver and Gooden included) in franchise history. In eight starts, Jones allowed only ten earned runs for a 1.45 ERA. Opposing batters hit only .199 against him, and when they did get a hit, more often than not, it was a single (.271 slugging percentage over the eight starts). The most important stat during that stretch of starts was Jones' record, a perfect 8-0. For his efforts, Jones was named the National League's Player of the Month for May.

Before the first official day of summer arrived, Jones had already established himself as one of the best pitchers in the league. After Bobby Jones defeated the Pirates on June 20 by the score of 1-0, his record stood at 12-3. For his strong first half, Jones was rewarded with his first selection to the All-Star Game. He did not disappoint the fans in the Midsummer Classic, striking out sluggers Ken Griffey, Jr. and Mark McGwire (who combined to hit 114 HR in 1997) in succession during his one scoreless inning of work.

Do these guys look scary to you? Bobby Jones made mincemeat of them in the 1997 All-Star Game.

After his strong start, Jones came back to Earth, winning only three games after the All-Star Break. However, when the season ended, his overall numbers were still brilliant. For the year, Jones went 15-9, with a 3.63 ERA. After two years of allowing more base hits than innings pitched, Jones held opposing batters to a career-low .242 batting average, allowing 177 hits in 193.1 innings. Bobby Jones' breakout season coincided with the Mets' return to contention, as the team finished with an 88-74 record, their best mark since Darryl Strawberry's final year as a Met in 1990.

The Mets won 88 games again in 1998, but by then, Al Leiter and Rick Reed had already established themselves as the top two pitchers on the staff, winning 33 games between them. Despite another season giving up fewer hits than innings pitched (192 hits in 195.1 innings), Jones was the victim of the dreaded no-decision more times than he would have liked. In 30 starts, Jones was credited with 12 no-decisions. The Mets ended up winning eight of those 12 games. Therefore, despite the fact that the Mets won 17 of his starts, Bobby Jones finished the 1998 season with a career-low nine wins. It was the first time in his career that Jones failed to register double-digit victories over a full season.

The 1999 season was a memorable one for the Mets but a difficult one for Bobby Jones. For the first time in his career, the injury bug latched itself onto Jones, limiting him to 12 mostly unsuccessful starts. For the season, Jones finished with a 3-3 record and a career-worst 5.61 ERA. Because the Mets had depth in their rotation, Jones was left off the postseason roster. After experiencing hard times with the Mets early on in his career, Jones was now the odd man out when the team finally reached the playoffs. The postseason snub should have motivated Jones to have a strong 2000 season, but that was not the case during the early part of the year.

The Mets were on a mission in 2000. After losing their final five games of the 1998 season to narrowly miss out on the playoffs and falling two wins short of the World Series in 1999, the Mets were not going to settle for anything less than an appearance in the Fall Classic in 2000. For Bobby Jones, he had an additional goal on his mind. He wanted to make sure he wouldn't be an afterthought if the Mets reached the playoffs again. But after three poor starts to begin the season, Jones was placed on the disabled list with a strained right calf. After a one-month stay on the DL, Jones picked up right where he left off, giving the Mets less than they expected from a man who had been an All-Star just three years before. After a June 10 loss to the Yankees, Jones' ERA stood at 10.19. It was then that the Mets made the not-so-difficult decision to send Jones to the minor leagues.

Perhaps it was the embarrassment of being sent down to the minors for two weeks, but once Jones returned to the Mets, he was a completely different pitcher. In his first start with the Mets after being recalled from AAA-Norfolk, Jones pitched eight strong innings, holding the Pirates to one run and five hits, while striking out eight. The start against Pittsburgh was a sign of things to come.

Back in black? Bobby Jones was just happy to be back in the major leagues.

Beginning with his June 23 start against the Pirates, Jones pitched as well as he had in 1997. After his short stint in the minor leagues, Jones went 10-3 with a 3.69 ERA. He saved his best for last, winning seven of his final eight decisions, as the Mets repeated as the National League's Wild Card winner. This time around, Bobby Jones would not be on the outside looking in, as his strong finish helped him earn a spot on the postseason roster. The longest tenured starting pitcher on the Mets was finally going to get his chance to shine in the playoffs.

From 1993-2000, Bobby Jones won 74 games in the regular season. But it was his 75th win that became the most memorable victory of his career.

After losing Game 1 to the NL West champion San Francisco Giants, the Mets pulled out two hard-fought extra-inning victories in Games 2 and 3. Benny Agbayani was the man who let the dogs out at Shea Stadium in Game 3 with his game-ending 13th inning homer off Aaron Fultz. The thrilling victory gave the Mets a 2-1 series lead, meaning that the clinching could come at Shea Stadium if the Mets won Game 4. Bobby Valentine gave the ball and his trust to Bobby Jones to pitch the Mets into the NLCS. The manager would not be disappointed.

Of course the Mets are ecstatic. After all, they had finally cracked the mystery that was on everyone's minds in the year 2000, for it was Benny Agbayani who was guilty of letting the dogs out.

Bobby Jones was making his first postseason start in Game 4 of the 2000 NLDS. Whereas most pitchers admit being nervous before their first playoff start, Jones pitched with ice water in his veins. He retired the first 12 Giants to face him, taking a 2-0 lead into the fifth inning, courtesy of a first-inning two-run homer by Robin Ventura. Then he ran into trouble in the fifth inning, allowing his first baserunner of the game when former Met (and 2000 NL MVP) Jeff Kent doubled down the left field line. Kent took third base when Ellis Burks flied out to rightfielder Timo Perez. J.T. Snow then walked, putting the tying runs on base for shortstop Rich Aurilia. Bobby Valentine could have taken Jones out of the game. Instead, he stayed with his veteran pitcher, allowing him to face Aurilia. Jones induced a short fly ball to left, keeping Kent at third base and Snow at first. After walking catcher Doug Mirabelli to load the bases, Jones retired opposing pitcher Mark Gardner on a pop-up to second baseman Edgardo Alfonzo, ending the Giants' threat. It would be the only time the Giants came close to scoring.

In the bottom of the fifth inning, the Mets added two runs to their lead, with Bobby Jones starting the rally. After Mike Bordick grounded out weakly to start the inning, Jones struck out. However, the alert veteran reached first base safely when Mark Gardner's pitch could not be handled by Doug Mirabelli. Timo Perez then sent Jones to third base with a double, which was followed by a two-run double by Alfonzo. The Mets now had a 4-0 lead and Bobby Jones, fresh off an inning where he escaped a bases-loaded jam, had all the extra run support he needed.

The Giants were retired in order in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings. When Bobby Jones came out to the mound for the ninth inning, the Shea Stadium crowd gave him a rousing ovation. This was a man who was there when the Mets were the laughingstock of the National League. Now all he was hearing were cheers from the Shea faithful. The Mets were three outs away from a return trip to the NLCS, and Bobby Jones was three outs away from finishing up the best start in Mets postseason history.

Jones had already thrown 109 pitches through eight innings. The Giants may have known that Jones' pitch count was already in triple digits, but you wouldn't have known it by the way they approached the ninth inning. After retiring Marvin Benard to start the inning, Bill Mueller grounded out on Jones' first pitch. Up came Barry Bonds*, one of the most patient hitters in the National League. Bonds* had already ended Game 2 of the NLDS by looking at strike three on a pitch by John Franco. He was not going to go down with the bat on his shoulders this time. On Jones' first pitch, Bonds* took a mighty cut and lined out to centerfielder Jay Payton. The man who was left off the postseason roster in 1999 had just pitched a complete game, one-hit shutout to catapult the Mets into their second consecutive NLCS. Bobby Jones went from a minor league demotion in June to the best postseason start in franchise history in October, the ultimate rags to riches story.

Bobby Jones delivered the knockout blow to the Giants in Game 4 of the 2000 NLDS.

However, his 75th win as a Met was also his last. Jones took the mound for Game 4 of the NLCS against the St. Louis Cardinals and pitched poorly. Although the Mets staked him to an 8-3 lead, Jones couldn't get out of the fifth inning, allowing six runs in four-plus innings of work. Despite the subpar outing, the Mets won the game 10-6 and then won the pennant the following night.

Jones' final appearance for the Mets came in Game 4 of the 2000 World Series. After losing the first two games at Yankee Stadium, the Mets came back to win Game 3, putting Bobby Jones in position to tie up the Fall Classic with a victory in Game 4. The elation felt by the Mets after their Game 3 victory was short-lived, as Derek Jeter led off Game 4 with a home run. Jones didn't pitch badly in the game, allowing three runs and four hits in his five innings of work, but the Mets never recovered from Jeter's game-opening blast, losing the game 3-2.

The Mets failed to win their third World Championship in 2000, falling to the crosstown Yankees in five games. However, they did enjoy their most successful season in Bobby Jones' eight years in New York. Unfortunately for Jones, 2000 would be his last season as a Met. The Mets did not re-sign the free agent following the 2000 season, allowing him to sign with the San Diego Padres.

His first year in San Diego was terrible, to say the least. Jones allowed a league-leading 37 HR in 2001 and also led the league with his 19 losses. After finishing the 2002 season with a 7-8 record, Jones retired at the young age of 32.

Let's just say Bobby Jones didn't come close to winning one of these in his two years as a Padre.

Although he never approached the annual numbers expected of him following his rookie season, Bobby Jones still had quite a career as a Met. His 74 regular season victories are ninth on the team's all-time list and his .569 career winning percentage leaves him just shy of the top ten (Rick Aguilera is 10th with a .578 winning percentage). However, no Mets pitcher appeared on the 1990s leaderboard more than Bobby Jones.

For the decade (1990-1999), Jones finished first in starts, innings pitched and wins. He also finished in the top five in strikeouts, complete games, shutouts and winning percentage.

Sure, there were far better pitchers in Mets history. There were also pitchers who took the mound facing more pressure than Bobby Jones did. But when it comes time to consider the entire Mets résumé of Bobby Jones, no one can deny that he was truly one of the most underrated, if not forgotten, players in the history of the franchise. Anyone who remembers Bobby Jones solely for his one memorable performance in the 2000 NLDS has missed out on what was truly a solid career.

Tim Horton's Thrilled That Jason Bay Is A Met

Once Larry Walker retired from baseball, Canada needed another superstar baseball player to represent the country in the major leagues. After all, someone had to be able to sing the lyrics to "O, Canada" whenever a team played in Toronto. Enter the New York Mets' newest leftfielder, Jason Bay.

Although originally signed by Canada's first major league baseball team, the Montreal Expos, Jason Bay bounced around from team to team in the minor leagues. He exchanged his XXL Property of Montreal Expos T-shirt for a Mets shirt, which in turn became a San Diego Padres shirt, which in turn became a Pittsburgh Pirates shirt. It was in Pittsburgh that Bay became a household name in a household not run by the Bay Family.

After hitting at least 20 HR in five consecutive seasons for the Pirates, Bay had his best season for the Red Sox in 2009, when he hit 36 HR and collected 119 RBI. Now that he has re-acquired his Property of New York Mets T-shirt (Thanks, eBay for helping your cousin Jason Bay out), Madison Avenue will be knock-knock-knockin' on Jason's door.

Apparently, Canada's answer to Dunkin' Donuts (Tim Horton's) is jumping into the Bay fray, eh. In addition to making some excellent coffee, Tim Horton's is known for their delicious donuts and Timbits (see photo at the top of this blog). It has become the largest restaurant chain in Canada and has now expanded into eleven states south of the Canadian border, including New York.

Left field was where legends played at Shea Stadium. From Benny Agbayani to Tsuyoshi Shinjo, there was no shortage of talent in left field for the Mets. It's no secret that it's because of Shinjo that David Wright chose to wore #5 to honor the great Mets leftfielder.

To honor those greats who patrolled the vast left field expanse at Shea Stadium, the Mets and Dunkin' Donuts erected a large iced coffee cup to stand beyond the left field wall near the foul line.

Unfortunately, thanks to the photo below by Erik Goldstein, when Shea Stadium was torn down, the tribute to the leftfielders wasn't brought along to Citi Field. (Dang you, Wilpons for failing to notice that this was an important piece of Mets history!)

Tim Horton's is now trying to right a wrong. They are trying to bring a taste of Shea Stadium back to Citi Field. At the same time, they wanted to honor their fellow Canadian.

It is with great Canadian pride that Studious Metsimus announces that through a joint venture by the Mets and Tim Horton's, a large box of Timbits will be placed in the left field corner at Citi Field.

Since Section 133 was complaining that they were one of the few sections at Citi Field that didn't have any unobstructed views of the field, the box will be placed there so that no Mets fan will miss out on that classic Citi Field obstructed view.

Construction is set to begin once the Mets Hall of Fame and Museum is completed. Now that's what I'm talkin' aboot!