A Brief History On West Coast Road Trips For The Mets

After not performing well at home all year, the Mets completed a three-game sweep of the Colorado Rockies on Thursday, taking the finale by the score of 2-1.  The Mets will hope to continue their recent stretch of good pitching out west, beginning a four-city, 11-game road trip on Friday.  Ten of the 11 games will be played in the Pacific Time Zone, with the last game of the road trip taking place in Minnesota, where the Mets were snowed out in April, necessitating this makeup game.

So how have the Mets fared over the years when they've played at least ten consecutive games three time zones from home? 

Prior to 1969, there were only two teams playing in the Pacific Time Zone.  Therefore, the Mets never played ten consecutive games out west.  It wasn't until the miraculous year of 1969, when the San Diego Padres joined the National League, that the Mets took part in their first ten-game West Coast swing.  From August 26 to September 3, the Mets played three games in San Diego, four in San Francisco and three in Los Angeles, taking six of the ten games en route to their first World Series championship.

The Mets have had several more California road trips of ten or more games over the years, but they had to wait until 1998 - when the Arizona Diamondbacks joined the Senior Circuit - to play a game in the Pacific Time Zone outside of the Golden State.  And even with Arizona in the league, they had to wait until 2010 to play the Diamondbacks as part of a West Coast road trip of ten games or more.

Here is a list of every West Coast trip of ten or more games the Mets have played in their history, along with who they played and the team's record during those long trips three time zones away from home.

• 1969 - 10 games (3 vs. SD, 4 vs. SF, 3 vs. LA):  6-4
• 1970 - 10 games (3 vs. LA, 3 vs. SF, 4 vs. SD):  5-5
• 1973 - 10 games (4 vs. LA, 3 vs. SF, 3 vs. SD):  3-7
• 1974 - 10 games (3 vs. SD, 4 vs. SF, 3 vs. LA):  5-5
• 1975 - 11 games (4 vs. SF, 3 vs. SD, 4 vs. LA):  7-4
• 1976 - 11 games (3 vs. LA, 4 vs. SD, 4 vs. SF):  6-5
• 1977 - 11 games (3 vs. SD, 4 vs. LA, 4 vs. SF):  4-7
• 1978 - 10 games (4 vs. SD, 2 vs. SF, 4 vs. LA):  5-5
• 1979 - 11 games (4 vs. SF, 4 vs. LA, 3 vs. SD):  2-9
• 1980 - 11 games (4 vs. SF, 3 vs. LA, 3 vs. SD):  1-10
• 1983 - 10 games (3 vs. SD, 3 vs. SF, 4 vs. LA):  3-7
• 1984 - 10 games (3 vs. LA, 4 vs. SF, 3 vs. SD):  5-5
• 1985 - 10 games (4 vs. SF, 3 vs. SD, 3 vs. LA):  7-3
• 1988 - 10 games (3 vs. SF, 4 vs. SD, 3 vs. LA):  7-3
• 1990 - 10 games (3 vs. SF, 3 vs. SD, 4 vs. LA):  4-6
• 1992 - 10 games (3 vs. LA, 4 vs. SD, 3 vs. SF):  5-5
• 1993 - 11 games (4 vs. SF, 3 vs. SD, 4 vs. LA):  6-5
• 1994 - 11 games (4 vs. SD, 3 vs. SF, 4 vs. LA):  7-4
• 1995 - 10 games (3 vs. LA, 4 vs. SF, 3 vs. SD):  3-7
• 1996 - 10 games (4 vs. SD, 3 vs. SF, 3 vs. LA):  4-6
• 2010 - 11 games (4 vs. SF, 3 vs. AZ, 4 vs. LA):  2-9
• 2012 - 11 games (4 vs. AZ, 4 vs. SF, 3 vs. SD):  6-5

This fan hopes the Mets can make themselves at home out west with a bunch of victories.

In all, the Mets have had 22 road trips in which they played ten or more consecutive games in the Pacific Time Zone, with only two of those trips occurring after 1996.  (The Mets will embark on their third such trip Friday night.)  New York has only been able to celebrate a winning record in eight of those 22 trips.  Their overall record in the 229 games played on these trips is 101-128 (.441 winning percentage).  Since 1977, however, their record is 69-98 (.413 winning percentage).

On Friday, the Mets will begin a stretch in which they play ten consecutive games in the Pacific Time Zone.  The first three games will be played in Arizona, followed by three games in Los Angeles and four in San Diego.  As they head west, the Mets find themselves in third place, eight games under .500 and only one game behind the second place Washington Nationals.

The left coast has rarely been a place for the Mets to recharge their batteries.  In fact, sometimes a long trip out west has killed the Mets' season (does 2010 ring a bell?) or tried its best to choke the life out of the team (we almost stopped believing in 1973).

The 2013 Mets are probably not going to qualify for the playoffs.  But they still have plenty to play for.  A .500 record is still within reach.  So is second place in the NL East.  Some teams build on strong finishes to produce memorable years the following season.  A successful road trip out west can go a long way towards producing the confidence a young team needs to build a successful franchise for the future.  Otherwise, the Mets might continue to go south when they come back east.
 

Joey's Small Bites: Dodgers & Padres & Bears, Oh My! (Part Two: Petco Park Tour)

Howdy doody, fellow Mets fans!  This is Joey Beartran, taking a break from dreaming about chicken nachos at Citi Field (a dream I have daily during the offseason) to share my experiences with you on our recent trip to the National League ballparks in Southern California.

In part one of this two-part series, I discussed our tour of Dodger Stadium (which you can read for yourself by clicking here), where there is plenty of love for the Brooklyn Dodgers and Fred Wilpon's high school sweetheart (Sandy Koufax) and hero (Jackie Robinson), in addition to all the Gil Hodges memorabilia that should be at Citi Field.

Part two of the Studious Metsimus Southern California tour took us to Petco Park in beautiful San Diego.  The ballpark is visually stunning from the outside, but it is inside where the beauty fully comes out to play.  Let's take a look!

Everything is beautiful in San Diego, which is why I fit in so well.

Our tour guide took us into the ballpark behind home plate, up the staircase that is adjacent to a cascading waterfall (which was not on at the time - water conservation is important everywhere, my friends).  He explained that Petco Park has some of the widest concourses for fans in the major leagues and has the most plants found in any major league ballpark.  The plants were carefully selected because San Diego doesn't get much rain (approximately 10-15" of precipitation falls in San Diego annually, according to our tour guide), so only plants that can withstand drought were planted in and around the ballpark.

One of the great things about watching a game at Petco Park is that you can purchase a Standing Room Only ticket behind the last row of seats in the field level behind home plate.  The price of the ticket is only $5.  Compare that to the last row of seats behind home plate, which are $69 and only two feet in front of the Standing Room Only section, and you have the best bargain in the ballpark.  Of course, you might not be able to see high fly balls from that area (see photo below of the view from the Standing Room Only section), but no Padre can hit high fly balls anyway.

Ryan Ludwick led the 2011 Padres with 11 HR, meaning that you probably have a better chance of catching a baseball in the Standing Room Only area than you do in the outfield seats at Petco Park.

From the Standing Room Only area, we moved along the right field side of the ballpark, taking note of the Padres dugout as we walked to one of the unique aspects of the park - the Western Metal Supply Co. building.

Construction of Petco Park was delayed for two seasons because of the building, which has been declared a historic landmark in San Diego.  After a court hearing, it was determined that only the exterior of the building was considered a landmark, so the Padres were able to incorporate it into the ballpark, change and add things to the inside of the building, as long as they kept the exterior intact.  The Western Metal Supply Co. building now provides a unique viewing perspective in the left field corner.  (Here are the pics to prove it.  Among them is a photo that features my sister (Iggy Beartran) and Ballapeño, who is the mascot of the Padres' AA team, the San Antonio Missions.)

Inside the Western Metal Supply Co. building, you will find all the San Diego baseball history you can digest.  We're not just talking about the San Diego Padres major league franchise, which came into existence in 1969.  We're also talking about the San Diego Padres of the Pacific Coast League, which started play in 1936.

The minor league San Diego Padres team was most known for one teenaged player who went on to become one of the best hitters in the major leagues as a member of the Boston Red Sox.  Perhaps you've heard of this native San Diegan.  His name was Ted Williams.

The Splendid Splinter got his professional start in San Diego as a member of the PCL's Padres.

The Padres are very proud of their history, even though they've never won a World Series title in two trips to the Fall Classic.  The team has retired the numbers of five of their former players (Randy Jones, Steve Garvey, Dave Winfield, Tony Gwynn and Trevor Hoffman) and isn't shy to show off their love for these players.

All over the ballpark, you will see tributes to these great players, even though Winfield and Gwynn are the only two to make it to Cooperstown.  From a Tony Gwynn statue (more on that later) to a baseball jersey made out of baseball cards to glass-enclosed "lockers" dedicated to their legendary players, coaches and front office personnel, Petco Park has no shortage of tributes to those who gave their all for the Padres.

By the way, your eyes weren't deceiving you up there.  That really was Babe Ruth in a "Bustin' Babes" jersey.  When the man who never knew a hot dog he couldn't eat was a player, he was part of a barnstorming team that played a few games in San Diego.  That made the Bambino part of San Diego baseball history and got him a spot on their wall.  See, I wasn't kidding when I said San Diego is proud of their baseball history!

Speaking of "never knowing a hot dog he couldn't eat", by this point in the tour, I was getting a little hungry (like you weren't expecting me to say that eventually), but I was disappointed that just like in the Dodger Stadium tour, the concession stands weren't open for business.  It's too bad because I really wanted to try one of their famous Friar Franks.  (Keeping the concession stands closed was not suh-WEET in my book.)  At least they have all-you-can-eat seats, so I'll definitely be making a trip back to Petco Park when there are games to be played.

After the Western Metal Supply Co. building and closed concession stand tour, we went back into the ballpark to check out the press box, suites and lounges (where were large and had great menus, but not unlike any we've ever seen before).  On the way there, we stopped at the Padres Hall of Fame Bar and Grill and noticed a couple of interesting jerseys that belonged to two former Padres.  However, the two uniforms did not have "San Diego" or "Padres" written across the front.

They were the WBC jerseys of former Met (and a Padre for one season) Mike Piazza and former Padre Adrian Gonzalez.  Piazza wore No. 31 as a coach for Team Italy in the 2009 World Baseball Classic, while Gonzalez wore No. 23 for Team Mexico.  The jerseys were there because both players suited up for the Padres at one time and because several of the WBC games were played at Petco Park.  (Ballapeño clearly has a fav'rit player, according to the photos below.)

From there, it was time to get some on-field action.  The tour guide was quite informative when telling us about the special advantages the Padres have on the field.  For example, the Padres' home dugout is 57 feet long and the bench in front of the dugout fences has a back for players and coaches to lean back on while they're sitting on it.  The visiting team's dugout is only 46 feet long and the bench in front of their dugout fence has no back for leaning purposes.  I suppose a player could lean back while sitting on that bench, but then he'd risk an injury, as the bench is a few feet above the dugout floor.  Of course, if it was a Mets player, it would cause him to miss the entire season.

In addition, the Padres have heaters and coolers in their dugout, while the visiting team has none.  Also, the Padres' bullpen is situated on grass behind the left field fence.  The road team has to warm up their pitchers on a makeshift mound in foul territory along the right field foul line, where they're subjected to the wrath (or what passes for wrath in laid-back San Diego) of the fans.  More importantly, members of the visiting team can be struck by screaming line drives that curve foul at the last moment.

I'm sure all that information is keeping you wide awake, but what you really want to see are the pictures of us on the field and in the dugout, right?  Without further ado, here they are!

Most of the time, the tour of the dugout and the field represents the end of the tour.  However, at Petco Park, there is much more to see!

Just beyond the center field fence is an area called "Park at the Park", which is open from sunrise to sunset on non-game days.  From there, you can go down a flight of steps (where the Petco Park center field bleacher seats are located) to an area that resembles a beach.  This is where kids can play during the game while their parents watch the action on the field.

Behind this seating area is a small park that contains a whiffle ball field (for kids and adults) and a statue of Mr. Padre himself, Tony Gwynn.  (See, I wasn't lying when I said "more on that later" ten paragraphs and 22 photos ago.)  We didn't take a photo of the homeless man sleeping behind the statue (or was it the San Diego chapter of "Occupy Wall Street", called "Occupy Tony Gwynn Drive"?) but we did get some great shots of the statue, beach and playing field.

Well, that about does it, Mets fans.  I hope you enjoyed our recap of the Studious Metsimus Southern California ballpark tour.  Both Dodger Stadium and Petco Park should be on your list of ballparks to visit whenever you want to make a trip to the West Coast to see the Mets play.  If you can't make it out to these cities during the baseball season, then I highly recommend taking the tours that we took.

At each park, the tour guides were informative, knew their team's history (unlike the tour guides at Citi Field - isn't that right, Mr. Prince?) and they didn't try to sell you suites (a la the Citi Field tour), making it a pleasurable experience for our entire staff.

Oh, one more thing before I sign off, since I know you were wondering.  Remember how I said none of the concession stands were open at Dodger Stadium and Petco Park?  Well, that part was true, but I did make a friend inside the Petco Park Team Store.  It wasn't edible, but the slice of Padres Pizza (see photo below) was a perfect ending to a fantastic Southern California baseball trip.

On behalf of Iggy Beartran and Ballapeño, I'm Joey Beartran, reminding you that it sometimes does rain in Southern California, but it should never dampen your feelings on the New York Mets.  Let's go Mets!

Hungry bears and a Padres pepperoni pizza pillow always go hand-in-hand!

Joey's Small Bites: Dodgers & Padres & Bears, Oh My! (Part One: Dodger Stadium Tour)

Greetings, my fellow Mets fans!  It's your fav'rit blogger/culinary expert/tour guide, Joey Beartran, here with another edition of Joey's Small Bites, although today's bites might be slightly larger than normal because I'll be discussing my recent tour to the National League ballparks in Southern California, focusing on Dodger Stadium in this post and Petco Park in a separate post.

That's right, Mets fans!  The cast and crew of Studious Metsimus was California Dreamin', and we've got the pictures to prove it.  So sit back, grab yourself a Pink's hot dog or a California roll (I'll pass on the roll, as I'm not big on sushi), and enjoy our tour recap!

 It might never rain in Southern California, but it sure gets cloudy sometimes.

The tour of Dodger Stadium began in the upper level, where they have their own parking lot and entrance.  It's the only stadium in the majors where a fan can enter through the upper deck.  My sister and tour companion, Iggy Beartran, enjoyed the view of Chavez Ravine from up here, but what we loved the most was the proximity of the entrance to the nearest Dodger Dogs stand, even if was closed for business.  (Hey, didn't they get the memo that we were coming?)

Did they close the Dodger Dogs stand because we added a little orange to the Dodger blue?

Our Dodger Stadium tour guide took us to many parts of the stadium, and asked us Dodgers trivia questions along the way, such as which players' numbers have been retired by the Dodgers.  It surprised me that my Studious Metsimus colleague correctly matched all of the retired numbers to the players who wore them.

Of course, Fred Wilpon could have named them all as well, but he would have chimed in and said that No. 32 should also be retired in perpetuity by major league baseball in addition to Jackie Robinson's No. 42.  Not only would he want No. 32 retired for BFF Sandy Koufax, but by taking that number off the table, he wouldn't have to give it to a one-and-done player like safe school-seeker Mike Hampton again.

One went to shul, the other seeked schools.  One of them also had a far better career than the other.

The Los Angeles Dodgers have plenty of tributes to their history in Brooklyn.  Although they do not have a gargantuan No. 42 inside a Jackie Robinson rotunda like Citi Field does, they do have awards and various rare photos of their time in Kings County.

On the way to those awards and photos, we passed through a hallway that has the names of all the players who played at least one game for the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers painted on the walls.  We had a tough time locating Mike Piazza (we were assured that he was up there) and had fun trying to find other former Mets on the wall.  Among the names we found were Gil Hodges, Darryl Strawberry, Eddie Murray, Pedro Astacio (yes, he was a Met), Bobby Valentine, Roger Cedeño, Bob Ojeda, Gary Carter and a certain pitcher who recorded the final out of the 1986 World Series.  It was an original tribute to the team's long history, one that I wouldn't mind having the Mets copy.

I love Jesse Orosco, but hate that he won a World Series ring with the 1988 Dodgers.

From there, we saw the tribute to the Brooklyn Dodgers, which was done quite tastefully without going over the top, the way a tribute should be done (I hope you're reading this, Mr. Wilpon).  There were photos of the Boys of Summer, including the 1953 Dodgers who won a franchise record 105 games (but lost the World Series to the Yankees for the millionth time), the actual home plate used at Ebbets Field from 1913 to 1957, and many (and I mean MANY) photos of Gil Hodges.

It's a shame that the Mets only have an entrance at Citi Field named after Gil Hodges, when he's just as instrumental in Mets history as a manager as he was to the Dodgers as a player.  Although the Dodgers have never retired his number (that honor is bestowed to players in the Hall of Fame), they have many tributes to Hodges inside the ballpark.  Among them are old photos, buttons and his No. 14 jersey.

The Dodgers show more love for Gil Hodges in L.A. than the Mets do in N.Y.

There is one piece of Brooklyn Dodger history that takes precedence over all other items and memorabilia found in Dodger Stadium.  Earlier I mentioned the Brooklyn Dodgers' loss to the New York Yankees in the 1953 World Series after they had established a franchise record with 105 regular season victories.  Two years later, the Dodgers and Yankees squared off again in the World Series, but this time the results were different.

In 1955, the Dodgers won their only World Series championship in Brooklyn, defeating the Yankees in seven games to take the title.  The Los Angeles Dodgers have an entire section devoted to that team, one that includes pennants and photos and would have included a World Series trophy had one existed at the time (World Series trophies weren't handed out until 1967).

Of course, no trip to a major league ballpark would be complete without the obligatory trip to the dugout and the field.  So let's not dilly dally with words here.  How about I just show you the pictures, including one of our tour guide's special Dodgers footwear and one of my Studious Metsimus colleague wearing his "Shea" shirt in the Dodger Stadium dugout.  Hey, if Fred Wilpon can show his love of Ebbets Field in New York, then we can show our love of Shea Stadium in Los Angeles.  Enjoy!

That'll do it for Part One of "Dodgers & Padres & Bears, Oh My!".  Please join me for Part Two, where I'll talk about our trip to Petco Park in San Diego.  The Padres don't have nearly the history of the Dodgers, but they do have a history and they're quite proud of it.

Until then, keep counting down the days to pitchers and catchers, don't buy any Brooklyn Dodgers merchandise from a vendor whose nametag says F. Wilpon, and let's go Mets!

"B" is for Beartran, that's good enough for me!

"B" is for Beartran, that's good enough for me!

"B" is for Beartran, that's good enough for me-e-e-e!

Oh, Beartran, Beartran, Beartran starts with "B"!