Joey's World Tour: A Twin Killing in Minnesota

Twins Territory?  Not when the Mets are in town!  (Ed Leyro/Studious Metsimus)

How's everything going, my fellow Mets fans?  This is your favorite Studious Metsimus roving reporter/culinary expert, Joey Beartran, and I just returned from a trip to the land of Juicy Lucys and Mary Tyler Moore.  Ya, for sure.  You betcha I'm talking about Minnesota.

Target Field is home to the Minnesota Twins, but you wouldn't think that after the Mets made themselves at home there for a couple of days.  I only made it to the series opener, but unlike my trip to San Diego a few months ago, my colleague didn't get tickets to the wrong game, mainly because the Mets swept the two-game set.

In addition to attending an actual Mets road victory for a change, I also toured the ballpark and sampled some local eats.  Along the way, I found out that Prince is still really huge in the Gopher State, the Mets have employed a whole bunch of Twins Hall of Famers and tour guides are very friendly with their guests.  Almost a little too friendly.

Are you ready to be taken for a ride?  Then fasten your seat belts, 'cause we're about to blast off like a Pete Alonso home run.

Malls are so huge here, they have roller coasters for people who'd rather shop for thrills instead of scented candles. (EL/SM)

Since our stay was going to be brief in Minneapolis, we decided to take the Target Field tour on the morning of the Mets' first game against the Twins.  There were several tour guides there to accommodate the dozens of mostly Mets fans who showed up expecting the usual "here are our expensive suites and here is the one tiny place in the ballpark where we acknowledge that the team has some history" spiel.  Oh wait, that's what they do at Citi Field tours.  My bad.

At Target Field, they actually appreciate and celebrate their history.  And it's not just Minnesota Twins history.  Prior to 1961, the Twins played in our nation's capital as the original Washington Senators.  Just because the Senators don't exist anymore doesn't mean they've been forgotten.  Within the ballpark are homages to the three pennant-winning Senators teams.  (Washington played in the World Series in 1924, 1925 and 1933.)  In addition to these tributes, our octogenarian tour guide, Bob - who looked like he could have been an usher for the Senators at old Griffith Park in D.C. - showed us a wing dedicated to the franchise's super slugger and gentle giant, Harmon Killebrew.  And since the first seven seasons of Killebrew's career were spent in Washington, it was pleasing to see that he was equally depicted wearing Senators and Twins jerseys.

First in war, first in peace and last in the American League.  But not last when it comes to producing superstars.  (EL/SM)

The Twins have had many great players in their fifty-plus seasons in Minnesota.  And it seems like all of them have sections devoted to them in the ballpark.  Hall of Famers such as Killebrew, Rod Carew and Kirby Puckett all have statues and gates named after their uniform numbers (Gates 3, 29 and 34, respectively.)  But native Minnesotan Kent Hrbek also has a statue and gate, as well as three-time batting champion and 15-year member of the Twins, Tony Oliva.  (Their statues are near Gates 14 and 6, naturally.)  And if that's not enough in the statue department, they even have full-size bronze effigies of two-time World Series-winning manager Tom Kelly and mascot TC Bear.

Within the park are also display cases and walls dedicated to Paul Molitor, another Minnesota-born Hall of Famer, as well as fan of flatulence Bert Blyleven and 21st century Twins legend Joe Mauer, whose number was retired by Minnesota just nine months after he played his final game for the team.  (Let's see how long the Mets wait to retire David Wright's number.  Hopefully before the team "accidentally" gives it to Kelvin Torve's son or some other no-name Met.)

There's basically no part of the park in which you can't find a tribute to a great Twins player, as illustrated by the photos below.  Even former Met Jerry Koosman got a mention because he was born in Minnesota and was a 20-game winner for the Twins in 1979.

Kirby Puckett's statue was so excited, it almost punched me in the head!  (EL/SM)

Just look at all those beautiful statues.  Meanwhile, all the Mets have is a Casey Stengel gnome tucked away near a window in the team's Hall of Fame and Museum and a not-yet-completed Tom Seaver statue that'll probably be put in the same area where the Home Run Apple was relegated to in 2009.  Because Mets.

But I digress.

Speaking of the Hall of Fame and Museum, the Twins even display their history outside the ballpark, with pennants depicting all of the members of their own Hall of Fame.  And of course, all of them fared far better for the Twins than they did for the Mets.

But at least we got a no-hitter from Johan, right?  (EL/SM collage)

 

Seeing how the Twins honor their former greats made me want to take off my roving reporter hat and put on my culinary expert cap.  So before heading out for some poutine (I was in a state that borders Canada, you know), I decided to check out what Target Field had to offer in the food department.  And I'm happy to report that I wasn't let down.

In the Champions Club, you can get everything from street corn dogs to a steak mushroom Alfredo pizza.  Had my colleague remembered to bring extra meal money, perhaps I could have sampled some of these delicacies.  Instead, I had to eat food from the concourses.  Fortunately, I did not consider this a downgrade, especially after I saw all the choices.

You can have Cuban sandwiches at Tony O's or the Italian fare at Frankie V's (named after Frank Viola, of course).  Want a 24-inch long Boomstick frankfurter or some tasty bratwurst?  They've got that.  There's even soul food at Soul Bowl and Mexican delicacies at Señor Smoke's.  (I had the last two for quality assurance purposes.)

Target Field has no shortage of food selections for hungry fans.  In addition to these stands, Target Field has an area of rotating vendors near the Kirby Puckett gate.  Clearly, they were speaking my language when they built the food stands at this ballpark.

Mac n' cheese, collard greens and smoked mushrooms to the left; chicken burrito bowl on the right.  (EL/SM)

So far I've discussed Target Field's tour and food.  Now it's time to talk about the ballpark and some interesting features that you won't see in many other stadiums.

Located in the Terrace Level behind home plate is 2 Gingers Pub.  Sure, you can get an adult beverage there.  But the main reason people go there is to chat with Twins organist Sue Nelson.  Throughout the game, Ms. Nelson plays her favorite instrument, which sounds so much better than the ear-shattering recorded music that we're normally subjected to at baseball games.

When Ms. Nelson is not playing, she's shmoozing with fans, who are allowed to go up to her throughout the game.  And who wouldn't want to say hello to her, especially with that radiant smile greeting you when you enter the pub?

I was calm when I met Sue Nelson because her bag told me to trust her.  Who am I to question a bag?  (EL/SM)

In addition to Ms. Nelson's organ playing, other features that make Target Field a little different than most other ballparks include exit velocity and launch angle on the scoreboard (for all you nerdy kids out there), the classic logo of Minnie and Paul shaking hands over the Mississippi River, the flagpole from old Metropolitan Stadium (which was the Twins' original home when they moved to Minnesota in 1961), the MLB and Twins logo made entirely of wooden bats, a plethora of purple Prince products in the Twins clubhouse shop and the only mascot in the American League that's also a bear.

As you can imagine, my colleagues had to stand in line to meet TC Bear, even if it meant missing an inning or two of the Mets game.

My colleague was way too happy to meet TC Bear, who reminds me of what I would look like on steroids.  (EL/SM)

So that's all for my trip to the North Star state, a trip that featured two Mets victories against the Minnesota Twins.  On this journey, I learned that the Washington Senators are gone, but not forgotten.  I also learned that the Twins are proud of their homegrown players and anyone who has ever contributed positively to the franchise.  They also specialize in a diverse assortment of ballpark cuisine and Irish pubs that are actually secret hiding places for smiling organists.

Oh, and remember when I mentioned Target Field's very friendly tour guides twenty paragraphs ago?  (You can scroll up; I'll wait.)  Yeah, they get very attached to their guests, especially when they consist of famous roving reporters and culinary experts.

Love you, Bob the Tour Guide.  Thanks to you and the Mets' performance in Minneapolis, my stay in your state was one I'll remember for quite some time.

Can we get some privacy, please?  (EL/SM)

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

World Tour Stop #1: Baltimore
World Tour Stop #2: Washington, DC
World Tour Stop #3: Pittsburgh
World Tour Stop #4: Texas
World Tour Stop #5: Los Angeles
World Tour Stop #6: San Diego
World Tour Stop #7: Toronto
World Tour Stop #8: Chicago (NL)
World Tour Stop #9: Milwaukee
World Tour Stop #10: Seattle
World Tour Stop #11: Cleveland
World Tour Stop #12: Brooklyn (Ebbets Field site) and Manhattan (Polo Grounds site)
World Tour Stop #13: Baltimore (again) and Pittsburgh (part deux)
World Tour Stop #14: Cincinnati
World Tour Stop #15: Colorado
World Tour Stop #16: Cooperstown (Baseball Hall of Fame)
World Tour Stop #17: Detroit
World Tour Stop #18: Atlanta
World Tour Stop #19: Miami
World Tour Stop #20: St. Louis
World Tour Stop #21: Kansas City
World Tour Stop #22: Anaheim (and San Diego revisited)

The Mets Who Came Close to Winning a Major Award

In the classic film, "A Christmas Story", Ralph Parker's Old Man became quite excited when he realized he had won a major award.  And why shouldn't he?  It's not every day that someone is recognized with a prize, even if it's just a leg lamp wrapped in vintage Old West tumbleweed.

Just like Mr. Parker was rightfully pleased with what he won, major league ballplayers are tickled pink when they are bestowed with their sport's most prestigious single-season honors.  After all, a player's performance can vary dramatically from one campaign to another, especially for a player who might be considered, shall we say, fra-jee-lay.  (Those players must be Italian.)

What I'm trying to say is that nothing is guaranteed in baseball, so winning a major award might be what separates a so-so career from one that causes a player to be remembered long after his career is over.  For example, Jon Matlack had a mediocre 82-81 won-loss record in seven seasons as a Met and never approached the lofty statuses afforded his fellow moundsmen, Tom Seaver and Jerry Koosman.  But he won the National League Rookie of the Year Award in 1972 - one of five Mets players to take home the prize for top neophyte - and even the most casual Mets fan today knows about Matlack, even though the southpaw pitched his final game for the team nearly 40 years ago. 

Some all-time Mets greats came close to taking home the hardware, such as Koosman, who finished second in the 1968 N.L. Rookie of the Year vote to future Hall of Famer Johnny Bench and second to future Met Randy Jones for the 1976 N.L. Cy Young Award.  Similarly, Seaver and Keith Hernandez were runners-up in the 1969 and 1984 National League Most Valuable Player Award race.  Koosman, Seaver and Hernandez are now all in the Mets Hall of Fame and are beloved by Mets fans to this day.

But several former Mets who were near-misses come awards time aren't Mets Hall of Famers such as Kooz, the Franchise and Mex.  Perhaps with a little more support from awards voters, they would have earned a plaque of their own at Citi Field.  Here are ten players who came oh-so close to winning the baseball version of a leg lamp.

Ron Hunt

After making their National League debut in 1962 with a slew of veteran players, the Mets decided they needed to add some fresh faces to their roster in 1963.  One of those faces belonged to 22-year-old rookie Ron Hunt.  Hunt was purchased from the Milwaukee Braves at the conclusion of the 1962 season, but did not get into a game with the Mets until the team's seventh contest in 1963.  But once he got into the lineup at second base, Hunt made it impossible for manager Casey Stengel to take him out.

In the first of his 12 big league seasons, Hunt posted career highs in several offensive categories that he would never surpass.  Among these categories were at-bats (533), hits (145), doubles (28), home runs (10) and RBI (42).  Hunt finished second in the 1963 Rookie of the Year vote to Cincinnati's Pete Rose, even though Hunt had more doubles, homers and RBI than Rose and finished the year with an identical .334 on-base percentage.  It should be noted that Hunt accomplished his numbers while compiling nearly 100 fewer at-bats than Rose and playing in a much weaker lineup that gave him far less protection than Rose enjoyed.

John Milner

The first ten years of the Mets' existence saw the team produce several good, young players.  Among these players were one Rookie of the Year Award winner (Seaver) and two runners-up (Hunt, Koosman).  But in 1972, New York had its first third-place finisher for top rookie in the league.  And as impressive as a top-three finish is for any rookie, this particular Mets neophyte wasn't even the best rookie on his own team.

Playing in just 117 games in 1972, John Milner showed Mets fans why he would become known as "The Hammer", pounding 17 home runs in his inaugural campaign.  Milner also showed a keen eye at the plate, walking 51 times in just 423 plate appearances.  As Milner showed his prowess at the plate, his teammate, Jon Matlack, topped his performance on the mound.  Matlack's first full season in the majors produced a 15-10 record, 2.32 ERA, 1.17 WHIP and 169 strikeouts, which earned him the 1972 Rookie of the Year Award.  But instead of settling for second place, Milner also finished behind Giants' catcher Dave Rader, whose .640 OPS was dwarfed by Milner's .762 mark.

Steve Henderson

In 1976, Steve Henderson was one of the Reds' top prospects, hitting for average (.312), flashing good power (17 HR) and displaying great speed (44 SB).  Henderson continued to tear it up at the Triple-A level in 1977, batting .326 with seven homers and 19 steals in just 60 games.  But Henderson was an outfielder, and with top slugger George Foster in left, perennial Gold Glove winner Cesar Geronimo in center, and batting title contender Ken Griffey in right, Henderson's chances of making the Reds was slim to none.  With no room on the roster for him, Cincinnati traded Henderson to the Mets for the team's first Rookie of the Year winner, Tom Seaver.

In his first season in New York, Henderson blossomed, posting a .297/.372/.480 slash line.  Despite not playing his first game for the Mets until June 16, Henderson led the team in RBI (65) and tied for the team lead in homers (12).  He also finished second to Lenny Randle in both runs scored (67) and triples (6).  Henderson lost the Rookie of the Year Award to Montreal's Andre Dawson, finishing just one vote behind the future Hall of Famer, despite having a higher batting average, OBP and slugging percentage than Dawson.  Henderson also scored more runs, drew more walks and tied Dawson in runs batted in despite playing in 40 fewer games than the Hawk.

Hubie Brooks

In 1980, the Mets marketing campaign tried to convince fans that the magic was back at Shea Stadium.  Sure enough, in September, three promising rookies made their debuts with the team, as Mookie Wilson, Wally Backman and Hubie Brooks all made their first appearances at the major league level during the final month of the 1980 campaign.  Although Backman spent most of the next few seasons in the minors, Wilson and Brooks were with the Mets to stay, and both took advantage of their new everyday player status.

Wilson impressed the Mets with his speed, but Brooks had a better all-around game.  Two weeks before the player's strike began in 1981, Brooks was contending for a batting title.  Once the players came back from their two-month hiatus, Brooks began to drive the ball, collecting ten extra-base hits and driving in 13 runs in his first 19 games after the strike.  For the season, Brooks batted .307 with 21 doubles, four homers and 38 RBI.  That was good enough for third place in the National League Rookie of the Year vote, behind Fernando Valenzuela and Tim Raines.  How impressive was Brooks' rookie season?  To this day, Brooks remains the only Met rookie with at least 350 at-bats to finish his first year with a batting average above .300.

Jesse Orosco

When the Mets traded Minnesota native Jerry Koosman to the Twins following the 1978 campaign, they received two minor league pitchers in return.  One of the young hurlers was Greg Field, who never played in the Mets organization, as he was dealt to the Pittsburgh Pirates the following April.  The other was a 21-year-old southpaw who spent his first professional season getting himself in and out of jams, as evidenced by his stellar 1.12 ERA and mediocre 1.23 WHIP pitching for the Elizabethton Twins.  It's no wonder he was eventually known by the moniker Messy Jesse.

Jesse Orosco will always be known for recording the final out of the 1986 World Series and for appearing in more games than any pitcher in major league history.  But as a part-time closer who spent most of his career coming into games long before the ninth inning, Orosco had little hope of ever being considered for an individual award.  At least until he put up one of the best seasons ever recorded by a reliever in 1983, posting a 13-7 won-loss record with 17 saves.  In 110 innings, Orosco posted a 1.47 ERA, becoming the only Met (starter or reliever) to post a sub-1.50 ERA in 100 or more innings.  In fact, Orosco is one of only seven pitchers since 1920 to accomplish the feat, joining players such as Hall of Famers Bob Gibson (1968) and Bruce Sutter (1977).  For his efforts, Orosco finished third in the N.L. Cy Young Award ballot, finishing behind John Denny and Mario Soto.

Kevin Mitchell

In 1986, the Mets had several players locked into their defensive positions such as Keith Hernandez, Gary Carter and Darryl Strawberry.  Manager Davey Johnson also employed several platoons, making it difficult for a rookie to find his way into the starting lineup.  But one rookie learned how to play many positions in order to make the team.  Contending for a batting title during the first half of the season and lashing extra-base hit after extra-base hit throughout the entire season forced Johnson to put him in the lineup as many times as he could, even if he couldn't promise him a regular position on the field.

After having a cup of coffee with the big club in 1984, Kevin Mitchell made it back to New York in 1986.  By July 6, Mitchell was batting .370 with 16 doubles and five homers, despite starting just 33 games.  But Mitchell had also played six defensive positions by then, playing everywhere but second base, pitcher and catcher.  By season's end, Mitchell's batting average had sunk to .277, but he still managed 22 doubles, 12 homers and 43 RBI in just 328 at-bats, which placed him third in the Rookie of the Year ballot behind Todd Worrell of the St. Louis Cardinals and Robby Thompson of the San Francisco Giants.  Mitchell became the second Met rookie (after Ron Hunt) to record 20 doubles and 10 HR and will always be remembered for his hit that continued the Mets' miraculous tenth-inning rally in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series.  Unfortunately, that hit was his last in a Mets uniform, as the versatile slugger was traded to the San Diego Padres during the off-season, which brings us to the next player on this list.

Kevin McReynolds

Following the 1986 World Series victory, general manager Frank Cashen traded Kevin Mitchell to his hometown San Diego Padres, mainly because he thought Mitchell was a problem in the clubhouse.  In return, he received an outfielder who also had World Series experience but wouldn't hurt a fly (as long as he wasn't hunting it).  Kevin McReynolds gave the Mets several solid, All-Star caliber seasons and almost led the Mets to a second pennant in three years in 1988.

McReynolds had the most complete season of his career in 1988, batting .288 with 30 doubles, 27 homers, 99 RBI and a perfect 21-for-21 in stolen bases, which at the time was a major league record for most steals in a season without being caught.  He finished in the top five in the league in home runs and RBI, while placing in the league's top ten in extra-base hits and slugging percentage.  And on the defensive side, he led all National League outfielders with 18 assists and five double plays turned.  But because his fellow outfielder and teammate Darryl Strawberry also had a spectacular season (39 HR, 101 RBI, 29 SB), McReynolds and Strawberry split the MVP vote, allowing Dodgers outfielder Kirk Gibson to limp home with the award.  McReynolds, who never made an All-Star team in a dozen seasons in the big leagues, finished third in the 1988 N.L. MVP vote.

Gregg Jefferies

Not since Darryl Strawberry in 1983 had a Met rookie been promoted to the big leagues with such potential.  But that was a different team in 1983 - a team that was on the rise and destined for greatness.  The 1988 squad had recently won a championship and appeared poised to become a dynasty.  But the team was getting older and needed an infusion of young talent.  Gregg Jefferies had destroyed minor league pitching from 1985 to 1987, recording two 100-RBI campaigns and batting .354 over the three years.  By 1988, the 21-year-old was ready to become a full-time player at the major league level.  Unfortunately, his maturity level hadn't caught up with his talent level.

Jefferies batted .321 after his late-season call-up to the Mets, and despite not playing enough to remove his rookie status for the following season, Jefferies still got enough support from the voters to finish sixth in the 1988 Rookie of the Year vote.  A year later, his production at the plate suffered, as his batting average slumped to .258, although he did record 28 doubles, 12 homers, 21 stolen bases and a clubhouse full of dissenting veteran players.  His attitude notwithstanding, he still finished third in the 1989 Rookie of the Year ballot, trailing Cubs teammates Jerome Walton and Dwight Smith.  At least Jefferies got the last laugh, making multiple All-Star teams (albeit with the St. Louis Cardinals) while Walton and Smith never played in the Midsummer Classic.

Frank Viola

After losing the pennant to the Dodgers in 1988, Frank Cashen started to part ways with several players who were instrumental in the team's rise to title contention.  By late July 1989, fan-favorite players such as Wally Backman, Roger McDowell, Lenny Dykstra and Mookie Wilson were all former Mets.  Although Cashen was trying to rebuild the team, he wasn't giving up on the 1989 campaign.  That was made clear when the general manager traded five pitchers to the Twins for 1987 World Series MVP and 1988 A.L. Cy Young winner Frank Viola.

Viola was a local kid from Long Island who became one of the most durable pitchers in the game, averaging over 250 innings pitched per season from 1984 to 1988.  And as a left-handed starter, that durability made him all the more valuable.  Although Viola couldn't help the Mets defend their 1988 N.L. East division crown, he did go on to win 20 games for the team in 1990, joining Jerry Koosman as the team's only left-handed starters to win that many games in a season.  The Mets won 91 games in 1990 but fell short of their postseason goals, finishing behind the Pittsburgh Pirates in the East.  No Mets pitcher was able to duplicate Viola's 20-win campaign for over two decades, when R.A. Dickey accomplished the rare feat.  Viola's 20-win season earned him a third-place finish in the 1990 N.L. Cy Young Award vote behind fellow 20-game winners Doug Drabek and Ramon Martinez.

Jay Payton

The Mets did not produce many five-tool players in their minor league system in the 1990s, but one player stood out among all the others.  In the mid-'90s, Jay Payton was recognized by Baseball America as one of the top prospects in the game.  He was never better than he was in 1995, when he batted .307 with 31 doubles, 18 homers and 27 stolen bases, all while playing an above-average center field.  But injuries held Payton to 71 games in 1996 and wiped out his entire 1997 campaign.  Payton split time between the majors and minors in 1998 and 1999, before finally getting his first chance to stick with the Mets in 2000.  He took full advantage of the opportunity.

Payton led all Mets outfielders in games played during their pennant-winning season, batting .291 with 23 doubles, 17 homers, 62 RBI and 63 runs scored.  He also made great contact and had a keen eye at the plate, as evidenced by his low strikeout total (Payton whiffed just 60 times in 523 plate appearances in 2000).  But the voters were more impressed by Rafael Furcal's speed (40 SB) and Rick Ankiel's arm (194 Ks in 175 IP) than Payton's complete game, dropping Payton to third in the Rookie of the Year vote behind the Braves' speedster and the Cardinals' promising young pitcher.  The Mets wouldn't have another top-three finisher in the Rookie of the Year vote for another 14 years, when Jacob deGrom took home the award.
 
 

With A Win Today, Matt Harvey Makes Mets History

Could Matt Harvey be staring down another Mets record?  (Photo by Ed Leyro/Studious Metsimus)

Matt Harvey is already considered to be one of the better pitchers in the league, despite owning just 15 major league victories in 39 starts entering this afternoon's game against the New York Yankees.  What makes Harvey so special is his ability to dominate a game.  Hitters rarely touch him, as evidenced by their .210 batting average against him and his lifetime 10.0 strikeouts per nine innings against them.  But another thing that has endeared him to Mets fans has been his ability to start each season with "W" after "W".

In 2013, his first full season in the majors, Harvey was the winning pitcher in each of his first four starts.  In doing so, he became just the 11th pitcher in Mets history to start a season so perfectly, joining team legends such as Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman and Dwight Gooden.

Earlier this week, teammate Bartolo Colon became the 12th pitcher to join this celebrated club, as he notched his fourth win in his first four starts of the season in a 6-3 decision over the Atlanta Braves.  This afternoon, Harvey makes his fourth start since returning from Tommy John surgery, seeking to earn his fourth victory.  Should he earn the win, he'd once again have four wins in his first four starts - the second consecutive active season he would have turned the trick.  Would Harvey be the first Met to accomplish this rare early-season feat twice?

Let's take a look at all the Mets - past and present - who are on this special list.  The won-loss record in the chart below represents the number of wins each pitcher had in as many starts.  Pitchers with no-decisions sandwiched between their wins are not included on the chart.

Pitcher	Year	Won-Loss Record
Frank Viola	1990	7-0
Dwight Gooden	1985	6-0
David Cone	1988	5-0
Armando Reynoso	1998	5-0
Pedro Martinez	2006	5-0
Bob Shaw	1966	4-0
Jerry Koosman	1968	4-0
Tom Seaver	1972	4-0
Jerry Koosman	1973	4-0
Bob Ojeda	1986	4-0
Mike Pelfrey	2010	4-0
Matt Harvey	2013	4-0
Bartolo Colon	2015	4-0

Note:  In 1966, Bob Shaw began the season with the San Francisco Giants before he was purchased by the Mets in June.  He went on to earn a win in each of his first four starts following his move to New York.  Similarly, Bob Ojeda and David Cone began the 1986 and 1988 seasons, respectively, in the bullpen, but once they became starting pitchers, Ojeda won his first four starts and Cone won his first five.


Out of the dozen pitchers who earned a victory in each of his first four starts of a season, just five of them were able to continue their streaks into their fifth starts.  Three of the five (Viola, Gooden, Cone) parlayed their early season success into a 20-win season and one of them (Gooden) earned a Cy Young Award for his full season effort.

However, only one of the 12 hurlers was ever able to duplicate his four-wins-in-his-first-four-starts feat.  After beginning the 1968 campaign with a 4-0 record in his first quartet of starts, Jerry Koosman repeated the feat five years later, becoming the only Met to start the season with wins in each of his first four starts in multiple seasons.

Should Matt Harvey earn a win today against the Yankees, he would join Koosman as the only pitchers in Mets history to go 4-0 in their first four starts in more than one campaign.  But Koosman went five years between his first and second such seasons.  Harvey, who didn't pitch at all in 2014, would be accomplishing the feat for a second consecutive active season - something no other Met can claim.

Matt Harvey is already one of the most beloved and respected pitchers in recent Mets history.  And barring another career-threatening injury, he could become one of the most successful pitchers to ever put on a Mets uniform.  He has already had one season in which he did nothing but win over his first four starts.  He's now looking to become the second Mets pitcher to do it twice and the first to run the table in back-to-back active campaigns.

Don't be surprised if it's not the last time Matt Harvey etches his name in the Mets history books.
 

The Mets That Got Away: Rick Aguilera & Kevin Tapani

Ask anyone who knows anything about baseball what a team needs to win a championship and you'll get the same response.  Pitching wins championships.  A strong starting pitcher can mask a team's obvious flaws (see Orel Hershiser and the 1988 Dodgers).  Similarly, a dominant bullpen can zap the electricity from a supercharged lineup (see Randy Myers and the Nasty Boys circa 1990).

Teams with dependable starters and relievers usually stand a good chance to play deep into October.  In fact, both of the Mets' championship teams won their titles on the strength of their pitching.  So clearly, it would behoove a team to keep its quality arms whenever it can.  But what if that team is struggling to remain competitive in its division and is tempted with another quality arm, especially when that appendage is attached to the body of the reigning Cy Young Award winner?

The Mets were tantalized by such an arm in 1989, so much so that they traded five young pitchers to acquire it (the rest of the body was included in the deal).  By late July, Frank Viola was coming back home to New York and the Minnesota Twins had themselves an infusion of youth in their starting rotation and bullpen.  Pitching wins championships, and within a few years, champagne corks were being popped.  But no one was feeling bubbly about it in New York.

With one ill-advised trade, the Mets let both Rick Aguilera (left) and Kevin Tapani (right) get away.

After winning their second NL East title in three seasons in 1988, the Mets were a team in transition in 1989.  Wally Backman was jettisoned to Minnesota to make room for Gregg Jefferies.  Co-captains Keith Hernandez and Gary Carter missed significant time with injuries, as did longtime ace Dwight Gooden.  General manager Frank Cashen was also very active in the trade market during the season, sending the enormously popular Lenny Dykstra and Roger McDowell to Philadelphia for the soon-to-be enormously unpopular Juan Samuel.  And since one bad trade deserves another, Cashen shipped Mookie Wilson to Toronto for Jeff Musselman.

The plethora of transactions during the summer of '89 would lead most to believe that the Mets were sellers at the trade deadline.  But that was far from the case, especially after Cashen pulled the trigger on a blockbuster deal with the Twins.

As late as July 23, the Mets were within striking distance of first place.  A six-game winning streak had moved the team into second place in the NL East, just three games behind the first place Montreal Expos.  But the Mets then proceeded to lose seven straight games, dropping the team into fourth place, seven games behind Les Expos.  With their playoff hopes fading by the second, the Mets waited until just before the trade deadline clock struck midnight, landing the pitcher they thought would push them back into the race.

Frank Viola had just come off a Cy Young-winning campaign in Minnesota, going 24-7 with a 2.64 ERA in 1988.  But Viola's sweet music wasn't prepared for an encore performance in 1989, as the lefty lost 12 of his first 20 decisions.  The Twins were also going nowhere in '89, spending most of the season below .500.  Minnesota was clearly looking to sell at the trade deadline, knowing that it was unlikely they would compete for a division crown in 1989.  If only the Mets had felt the same way.

On July 31, New York acquired the Long Island-born Viola from Minnesota, sending pitchers Rick Aguilera, Kevin Tapani, David West, Tim Drummond and a player to be named later to the Twins.  (Pitcher Jack Savage was sent to Minnesota in October to complete the deal.)  Neither team benefited much from the deal in 1989, as Viola split his ten decisions with New York while Aguilera, Tapani, West and Drummond combined for an 8-9 won-lost record in Minnesota.

One year later, Viola became the first southpaw to win 20 games for the Mets since Jerry Koosman accomplished the feat in 1976.  But Koosman followed up his 20-win season with 20 losses in 1977.  Viola wasn't quite as bad in 1991, but still managed to finish the year with a disappointing 13-15 record.  The 15 losses represented the most by a Mets' lefty since - you guessed it - Jerry Koosman, who went 3-15 for the 1978 Mets.  Naturally, both Koosman and Viola were ex-Mets following their 15-loss seasons in 1978 and 1991, respectively.  But the players sent to Minnesota for Viola were still there in 1991.  And what they were experiencing in the Land of 10,000 Lakes was enough to make any long-suffering Mets fan (since 1986) green with envy.

Richard Warren Aguilera could have been the Aaron Heilman of his day, allowing a Shea Stadium-silencing home run to Dave Henderson in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series - a game that could have ended the Mets' season.  But the Mets staged a miraculous comeback mere minutes after Boston's two-run tenth gave them the lead.  When Ray Knight hopped on home plate with the winning run following Mookie Wilson's "little roller up along first", Aguilera became the unlikely winning pitcher and Mets fans who could have made him Public Enemy No. 1 were instead celebrating a thrilling season-saving victory along with No. 38 and his teammates.

Aguilera recorded double-digit victory totals as a starting pitcher in each of his first three seasons in New York, but after an injury-riddled and otherwise lost 1988 campaign (0-4, 6.93 ERA), Aguilera began the 1989 season in the bullpen, where he thrived for the Mets (2.34 ERA, six wins, seven saves).  Once he was traded to Minnesota, he started 11 games for the Twins before becoming the team's closer in 1990.  Aguilera converted 32 saves in 39 chances and posted a 2.76 ERA in his first full season in Minnesota.  While Aguilera was thriving as a closer for the Twins, Tapani was excelling as a starting pitcher.

Kevin Ray Tapani wasn't going to be a starter for the New York Mets.  Despite good numbers in the minors after the Mets acquired him from Oakland following the 1987 season, it was going to be quite difficult for the youngster to crack a starting rotation that featured Dwight Gooden, Ron Darling, Sid Fernandez, Bobby Ojeda and David Cone.  Tapani only got into three games with the Mets in 1989, all in relief, without recording a decision.

But once Tapani became a Twin, he was inserted into the starting rotation, going 2-2 over the season's final month.  By pitching only 40 innings in 1989, Tapani maintained his rookie status in 1990, and what a rookie season it was!  Despite making only 28 starts, Tapani led the team in wins and strikeouts, going 12-8 for a Twins club that finished in last place, 14 games under .500.  His efforts did not go unnoticed, as Tapani finished 5th in the AL Rookie of the Year vote.

Aguilera and Tapani were the two best pitchers for the Twins in 1990, but the other two hurlers sent to Minnesota in the trade for Frank Viola also had solid contributions for an otherwise poor team.  David West and Tim Drummond were used as starters and in the bullpen, combining to win 10 games in 31 starts and 33 relief appearances.  Drummond never pitched in the majors again after 1990 (as did player-to-be-named-later Jack Savage), but West pitched in the big leagues until 1998.  The careers of Aguilera and Tapani lasted just a bit longer.

While Viola and the Mets were struggling in 1991, the Twins were soaring.  Minnesota finished the regular season with a 95-67 record, which allowed them to win just their second division title since 1970.  Aguilera and Tapani were both key contributors to the Twins' success.  Aguilera posted a 2.35 ERA and tied fellow former Met Jeff Reardon's single-season franchise record with 42 saves, while Tapani finished 16-8 with a 2.99 ERA and a seventh place finish in the AL Cy Young Award balloting.

Tapani didn't do very well in first postseason series, losing to Toronto in Game 2 of the ALCS and getting a no-decision in Game 5, but Rick Aguilera - who had previous playoff experience with the Mets - saved three of Minnesota's four victories, including the Game 5 clincher.  Who was the winning pitcher in the pennant-clinching game?  None other than fellow trade partner David West, who pitched three hitless innings in relief of Tapani.

West didn't enjoy the same success when he relieved Tapani in Game 5 of the World Series, allowing four runs without retiring any of the Atlanta Braves hitters he faced.  But by then, Minnesota had already won two games in the series, with Tapani getting the win in Game 2 and Aguilera saving both victories.

Game 6 provided an eerie feeling of deja vu for Aguilera.  Like 1986, his team was returning home in a 3-2 hole, needing a win to force a seventh and deciding game.  And like 1986, Game 6 went into extra innings, with Aguilera on the mound trying to keep the game tied.  But unlike 1986, Aguilera was able to keep the opposition off the scoreboard, pitching two shutout innings.

Like the Mets five years before them, the Twins forced a seventh game with a dramatic walk-off victory.  Minnesota tied the series on the strength of a game-ending homer by Kirby Puckett in the bottom of the 11th inning.  Five years and a day after Aguilera was credited with a Game 6 victory for the Mets, he earned another one, this time as a member of the Minnesota Twins.  And when Jack Morris pitched ten shutout innings the following night, the Twins were World Series champions.  Aguilera was a world champion for the second time, while Tapani and West were celebrating their first title.

Rick Aguilera has one of these.  So does Kevin Tapani.  And don't forget David West.

The 1991 season was one for the ages for Rick Aguilera and Kevin Tapani.  The evidence is all over the American League's top ten leaderboard.  Aguilera finished the regular season with the third-most saves in the league (42), held opposing hitters to a .183 batting average, made his first All-Star team and even received AL MVP votes.  Tapani finished in the league's top ten in wins (16; tied for 10th), ERA (2.99; 7th), WHIP (1.086; 4th), BB/9 IP (1.475; 3rd), K/BB (3.375; 4th), innings pitched (244; 5th), starts (34; T-7th), WAR (6.8; 7th) and placed seventh in the AL Cy Young Award vote just twelve months removed from his fifth place finish in the 1990 AL Rookie of the Year balloting.

In the postseason, Aguilera and Tapani combined for two wins and five saves.  The only wins for Minnesota that did not include a win or a save by either pitcher were Game 4 of the ALCS and Game 7 of the World Series (both won by Jack Morris).  Both Tapani and Aguilera had a hand in giving the Twins a 2-0 edge in the Fall Classic, as Aguilera saved Tapani's win in Game 2 of the World Series.  (And don't forget that Aguilera also saved former Met David West's win in Game 5 of the ALCS.)  Needless to say, by combining for 22 wins and 47 saves during the regular season and postseason, Aguilera and Tapani were two of the main reasons why the Minnesota Twins sat on top of the baseball world in 1991.

The team from the Land of 10,000 Lakes went through a dry spell following their 1991 World Series championship.  After a 90 win, second-place finish in 1992, the Twins went on to post eight consecutive losing seasons.  Despite the team's failures, Aguilera and Tapani continued to thrive.  (West was traded to Philadelphia following the 1992 season, where he was one of the team's top relievers.  He helped the Phillies reach the World Series in 1993 by posting a sparkling 2.92 ERA in a team-leading 76 games.)

Aguilera was an All-Star in 1992 and 1993, and over the next three and a half seasons, he saved 110 games for the Twins and posted a 3.06 ERA and 1.169 WHIP.  He also had a fantastic strikeout-to-walk ratio, fanning 186 batters while walking only 47 in nearly 200 appearances (3.96 K/BB).

Tapani won 39 games for the Twins from 1992 to 1994 and continued to be an innings-eater and superb control artist.  During those three seasons, Tapani averaged six and a half innings per start (93 starts, 601⅔ innings) and walked only 144 batters.  By comparison, future Hall of Famer Randy Johnson walked 144 batters in 1992 alone, while making only 31 starts.

But by the trade deadline in 1995, the Twins had gone through several years of sub-.500 ball and felt the need to part with their high-priced veterans, which meant Aguilera and Tapani were soon to become ex-Twins.  On July 6, Aguilera was traded to the Boston Red Sox for Frankie Rodriguez (no relation to the former Mets closer/pugilist).  Twenty-five days later, the Twins sent Kevin Tapani and future Met Mark Guthrie to Los Angeles for Jose Parra (another future Met), Chris Latham (a minor league Met in 2002), Greg Hansell (a former Mets farmhand who, as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1999, served up rally-starting singles to Melvin Mora and Edgardo Alfonzo in the ninth inning of Game No. 162) and Ron Coomer (who somehow was never property of the Mets).

In only half a season in Boston, Aguilera posted fantastic numbers.  Aggie saved 20 games for the Red Sox, doing so with a stellar 2.67 ERA and 1.088 WHIP.  On September 20, Aguilera recorded the final out in Boston's division clinching victory, sealing the deal on his new team's fourth division title in ten seasons.

By the end of his 11th season in the majors, Rick Aguilera had already pitched in the postseason for three teams.

Aguilera's time in Boston was short-lived, as the Red Sox declined to pick up his option for 1996.  Just five months after the Twins traded Aguilera to the eventual AL East champions, they scooped him up from the free agent pile, signing their former closer, but not in his familiar role.  For the first time since 1989, Aguilera was going to be used exclusively as a starting pitcher.

Aggie did not fare well as a starter, landing on the disabled list after his first start.  Once he returned, he had the worst outing of his career, allowing ten runs (nine earned) in just three innings versus the Seattle Mariners.  In July, Aguilera allowed seven runs in back-to-back starts.  In three of his 19 starts, the Twins lost 18-8, 19-11 and 11-10.  But somehow, Aguilera finished the year with an 8-6 record despite his inflated 5.42 ERA.  Showing that he can learn from his mistakes, manager Tom Kelly ended the one-year experiment with Aguilera and made him the team's closer in 1997.

Just like Aguilera did, Kevin Tapani also signed with a new team in 1996.  After going 4-2 in 11 starts and two relief appearances for the Dodgers in 1995, Tapani signed a one-year deal to play for the Chicago White Sox.  Tapani went 13-10 for the South Siders, helping his new team compete for the American League wild card.  One year after finishing 68-76 in the strike-shortened 1995 season, the White Sox surprised all of baseball by going 85-77 and finishing just three games behind the wild card-winning Orioles.

When the White Sox declined to offer him a contract for the 1997 season, Tapani took his talents eight miles to the north, signing a three-year, $11 million contract to pitch for the Chicago Cubs.  Injuried limited Tapani to 13 starts in 1997, but he was quite impressive in those starts, going 9-3 with a 3.39 ERA and 1.176 WHIP.  In 1998, Tapani produced a clean bill of health and his winningest season in the major leagues.

Tapani went 19-9 for the Cubs in 1998, helping them reach the postseason for the first time in nine years.  Going into the season's final day, the Cubs, Giants and Mets were all still alive for the National League wild card.  But the Mets were eliminated when they lost Game No. 162 and the Giants were sent home when the Cubs beat them in Game No. 163.  New York might have taken the wild card had they not ended the year on a five-game losing streak and had they not fallen to Kevin Tapani in each of his two starts against his former team.  Tapani beat the Mets in April and July, with his second win coming at the beginning of an impressive two-and-a-half month stretch in which he won 11 of 12 decisions.  Only a slow finish prevented Tapani from recording his first 20-win season.

In the playoffs, Tapani made only one start, but it was quite memorable.  The 19-game winner got the start in Game 2 of the NLDS, pitching four-hit ball over eight shutout innings against the Braves before allowing a game-tying solo homer to Javy Lopez in the ninth.  Tapani was removed after nine innings, getting a no-decision as the game went into extra innings.  Atlanta would go on to win the game in the tenth inning on a walk-off hit by Chipper Jones off reliever Terry Mulholland.

Tapani would never match the success he had in 1998, winning a total of 23 games with the Cubs from 1999 to 2001.  But he did get to be reunited with his former Mets and Twins teammate, as Rick Aguilera was traded from the Twins to the Cubs in May of 1999.  One of the players sent to Minnesota to complete the deal was a minor league prospect by the name of Kyle Lohse - the same Kyle Lohse who would go on to become an integral member of the 2011 World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals, 25 years after his trade partner, Rick Aguilera, celebrated a title with the Mets.

Aguilera saved eight games for the Cubs in 1999 and closed out his career on top of his game, finishing sixth in the National League with 29 saves in 2000.  Tapani pitched one more year after Aguilera called it a career, going 9-14 for the Cubs in 2001 before he decided it was time to hang up his cleats.

By the time Aguilera and Tapani threw their final pitches in the major leagues, Frank Viola had been out of baseball for five years and an ex-Met for ten.  It's true that Viola gave the Mets one exceptional season after he was traded to New York in 1989 for Rick Aguilera, Kevin Tapani, David West and two other young pitchers.  But Minnesota got the bigger value in the deal, as did the 1993 National League champion Phillies, 1995 American League East champion Red Sox and 1998 wild card-winning Cubs.

"Hey, I gave you a 20-win season.  All Aguilera and Tapani got was a World Series title in 1991.  Oh, wait.  Never mind."

Rick Aguilera and Kevin Tapani didn't have long careers with the Mets.  Aguilera was a Met from 1985 to 1989, going 37-27 with seven saves, a 3.58 ERA and 1.29 WHIP.  Tapani was a Met for exactly three games and 7⅓ innings.  Frank Viola's numbers in 2½ seasons with the Mets were eerily similar to what Aguilera produced in five years with the team (38-32, 3.31 ERA, 1.24 WHIP).  But Viola's sweet music had become sour by the end of 1991, as the southpaw threw his final pitch as a Met just one month before Aguilera and Tapani celebrated a World Series championship in Minnesota.

Aguilera and Tapani did more than just win a World Series championship for the Twins.  They also became two of the best pitchers in franchise history.  Since the team to Minnesota from Washington prior to the 1961 season, the two pitchers' names can be found all over the Twins' all-time pitching leaderboards.

Aguilera ranks among the team leaders in saves (254; 2nd in Twins history), games pitched (490; 2nd), games finished (434; 1st), WHIP (1.182; 4th), K/9 IP (7.599; 4th) and K/BB (3.274; 6th), while Tapani's name can be found among Minnesota's all-time greats in wins (75; 9th in Twins history), games started (180; 8th), innings pitched (1,171⅓; 8th), BB/9 IP (1.959; 7th) and WAR (19.1; 9th).

But Aguilera and Tapani also pitched well when they weren't in Minnesota.  Although Aguilera was only a closer in 10 of his 16 major league seasons, he finished his career with an impressive 318 saves.  Aguilera recorded 30 or more saves six times, surpassed 40 saves twice and finished in the league's top ten in saves nine times.  Tapani won 143 games after leaving the Mets, going 143-125 during his 13-year career in the majors.  But Tapani pitched for some poor teams at the end of his career, going 23-38 for a Cubs squad that averaged just under 90 losses per season from 1999 to 2001.  Prior to that, he had gone 120-87 in his first ten seasons after leaving the Mets.

Aguilera and Tapani also helped multiple teams reach the playoffs, as Aguilera played October baseball with the 1991 Twins and 1995 Red Sox, while Tapani pitched in the postseason with the 1991 Twins, 1995 Dodgers and 1998 Cubs.

How much were Aguilera and Tapani missed by the Mets?  After leaving New York in 1989, Aguilera recorded 311 saves.  That's 35 more than Mets' all-time leader John Franco recorded in 14 seasons with the team.  Kevin Tapani won all of his 143 career victories after being dealt by the Mets.  The only two players in Mets history with more wins as a Met are Tom Seaver (198) and Dwight Gooden (157).  As incredible as it may seem, that means Tapani won more games after leaving the Mets than the great Jerry Koosman won as a Met (140).

Frank Viola was a great pitcher in Minnesota.  But he was struggling for the Twins after winning the Cy Young Award in 1988.  The Mets were going through their own struggles after a 100-win season in 1988, and felt the need for an immediate upgrade in the starting rotation.  Solving a short-term problem led to long-term success for two former Mets pitchers.  Meanwhile, Frank Viola was a one-season wonder in New York who left the game long before his trade counterparts had started to decline.

Rick Aguilera and Kevin Tapani could have been great as members of the New York Mets.  Instead, they became great for a number of teams not named the New York Mets.  The Mets traded their kingdom for a one-season horse.  They're still searching for the title Minnesota earned just two years after the trade was completed.  Pitching wins championships.  And Minnesota got theirs with the pitching they received from the Mets.  It's just another sad chapter in the never-ending story of the Mets that got away.

YouTube video courtesy of Sam Teichman

 (And for the record, Rick Aguilera won the World Series game Teichman talks about in this video)

Note:  The Mets That Got Away was a thirteen-part weekly series (yup, that means this is the last one) that spotlights those Mets players who established themselves as major leaguers in New York, only to become stars after leaving town.  For previous installments, please click on the players' names below:

January 7, 2013: Nolan Ryan
January 14, 2013: Melvin Mora  
January 21, 2013: Kevin Mitchell 
January 28, 2013: Amos Otis
February 4, 2013: Jeff Reardon
February 11, 2013: Lenny Dykstra
February 18, 2013: Jeff Kent
February 25, 2013: Randy Myers
March 4, 2013: Ken Singleton 
March 11, 2013: Mike Scott
March 18, 2013: Jeromy Burnitz 
March 25, 2013: Ty Wigginton