One Mo-MET In Time: Johan Santana

Sports fans have wonderful memories, although not all of those memories are pleasant.  In fact, certain names or phrases can act as trigger words to followers of sports teams, eliciting groans and bringing back painful memories.

Mention the name "Bucky F. Dent" to any Red Sox fan and they know exactly which game you're referring to and what Dent's middle initial stands for.  Similarly, fans of the Seattle Seahawks and Tennessee Titans cringe when the words "one more yard" are uttered.

For Mets fans, the magic words are "seven games up with 17 games to play".  That was the lead the Mets had over the Philadelphia Phillies in the division going into the final 17 games of the 2007 season.  But none of the team's pitchers stepped up during the season's final two and a half weeks.  A team like the 73-89 Washington Nationals, who finished dead last in the league in home runs and runs scored, found a way to blast ten homers and cross the plate 53 times in five late-season victories over New York.  And of course, who could forget the last-place Florida Marlins hammering a seven-run nail into the Mets' coffin during the first inning of the season's final game?

Despite having two future Hall of Famers on the staff in Pedro Martinez and Tom Glavine, the Mets didn't have a stopper in the starting rotation during the final weeks of the 2007 campaign.  John Maine had the game of his life in the season's penultimate game, but allowed 11 runs to the Nationals and Marlins in the two starts prior to his Game No. 161 effort.  Oliver Perez, who matched Maine with a team-leading 15 wins in 2007, couldn't get out of the fourth inning in his final start and was outpitched by Marlins starter Byung-Hyun Kim.  It would be the final victory in the majors for Kim, who posted an 8.21 ERA in nine late-season appearances for the Marlins, just six years after he blew back-to-back save opportunities as a reliever for the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 2001 World Series.

Having lost the division to the Phillies in 2007, the Mets knew they had to upgrade their pitching, especially once they allowed Glavine to return to his former team in Atlanta.  The free agent class was bereft of ace pitchers, so the Mets were going to have to make a trade if they wanted a true No. 1 starter.  They found their man just weeks before pitchers and catchers were due to report.  And even though he never led the team to the postseason, he still produced one of the most magical moments in the team's history.

Johan Santana put his fist through 50 seasons of no-hit futility.  (Howard Simmons/NY Daily News)

Johan Alexander Santana made his major league debut with the Minnesota Twins in 2000, but didn't become a full-time starting pitcher until midway through the 2003 season.  Santana earned his first win as a regular in the Twins rotation on August 3, then wouldn't stop winning.  Over the season's final two months, Santana went 8-0 with a 2.51 ERA, striking out 70 batters in 68 innings.

Santana cemented himself as one the game's best pitchers from 2004 to 2007, when he led the majors in wins (70), strikeouts (983) and WHIP (0.99), while placing second to Roger Clemens in ERA (2.89 to Clemens's 2.68).  But Santana was due to become a free agent following the 2008 campaign and was pricing himself out of Minnesota's range with each solid performance.  Knowing they would have a tough time re-signing him without breaking all the piggy banks in the state, the Twins decided to deal Santana prior to the 2008 campaign.

Originally, it was thought that the Yankees and Red Sox would be the most likely suitors for Santana's services.  But Mets general manager Omar Minaya swooped in and pried the two-time Cy Young Award winner away from the Twins with a package that centered around top prospect and future All-Star Carlos Gomez.  The Mets also sent three pitchers - Philip Humber, Deolis Guerra and Kevin Mulvey - to Minnesota, then signed Santana to a six-year, $137.5 million contract extension to complete the deal.

Santana had a brilliant first season in New York, going 16-7 with a league-leading 2.53 ERA and 1.148 WHIP.  Santana also struck out 206 batters, breaking Jon Matlack's 35-year-old team record for strikeouts by a left-handed pitcher.  Santana could have won as many as 23 games, but the bullpen coughed up the lead in seven of his 11 no-decisions.  Santana didn't allow the bullpen to blow his final start of the season, as he pitched a complete game, three-hit shutout against the Marlins, throwing 117 pitches just four days after tossing 125 pitches against the Chicago Cubs.

Alas, Santana's performance didn't help the Mets advance to the postseason in 2008, but it was enough to help him finish third in the National League Cy Young Award vote, making him just the seventh Mets pitcher to finish in the top three, joining Tom Seaver (1969, 1971, 1973, 1975), Jerry Koosman (1976), Jesse Orosco (1983), Dwight Gooden (1984, 1985), David Cone (1988) and Frank Viola (1990).

Following Santana's Herculean effort in which he threw 242 pitches over a five-day span, it was revealed that he had been pitching with a torn meniscus in his left knee over the season's final month.  Just four days after his final start, Santana underwent arthroscopic surgery to repair his balky knee.  It was his first time under the knife as a Met.  It would not be his last.

From 2009 to 2011, Santana made just 54 starts for the Mets, with only one of those starts coming in the month of September.  When he was healthy, Santana was still quite efficient, as evidenced by his
3.05 ERA and 1.19 WHIP in those 54 starts.  But Santana just couldn't stay on the field after his inaugural campaign in New York.

Santana's 2009 season ended in August because of bone chips of his left shoulder.  A year later, his 2010 campaign was abbreviated due to a torn anterior capsule in his throwing shoulder.  The same injury caused Santana to miss the entire 2011 season, after several rehab attempts caused Santana to feel shoulder fatigue.

Entering the 2012 campaign, the Mets were a shadow of the team that contended for a division title in Santana's first year with the club.  New York won 70, 79 and 77 games during its first three seasons at Citi Field and never posed a serious threat to crashing the postseason party.  But after not pitching in a major league game in nearly 18 months, Santana was ready to help the Mets win in 2012.  Not much was expected from Santana or the Mets entering the campaign.  Those expectations changed dramatically during the season's first two months.

Behind five shutout innings from the returning Santana, the Mets claimed a 1-0 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Opening Day.  New York won its next three games as well, giving the team its fourth 4-0 start in franchise history.  The Mets continued to shock the skeptics over the first third of the season, never falling more than four games out of first place in the competitive National League East.  The team had exceeded expectations due to the emergence of two pitchers - R.A. Dickey and Johan Santana.

Johan Santana and R.A. Dickey were Amazin' during the first half of 2012. (William Perlman/The Star-Ledger)

In 1948, the term "Spahn and Sain and pray for rain" was coined after Boston Post sports editor Gerald V. Hern wrote a short poem about Warren Spahn and Johnny Sain - the two best pitchers in the Boston Braves rotation.  Sixty-four years later, the Mets were asking for "Dickey and Santana and rain for mañana" as New York's co-aces combined to go 9-3 with a 2.91 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and 121 strikeouts in 123⅔ innings over the season's first two months.  After Dickey and Santana participated in back-to-back shutouts of the San Diego Padres in their final starts of May, the Mets entered June within striking distance of first place.  They would earn a share of first during the month's first series, a four-game set with the St. Louis Cardinals.  But what happened in the first game overshadowed everything else that followed in the series.

The Mets entered the month of June reeling from a loss to the Phillies - a game in which five relievers combined to allow eight runs in the final two and a third innings.  New York desperately needed starting pitcher Johan Santana to stop the bleeding, hoping he could give the team a lengthy effort to give the bullpen a short break, similar to the complete game he gave them in his previous start.

Santana was due to face the defending World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals and their ace, Adam Wainwright.  It was Wainwright who ended the Mets' dreams of playing for a title in 2006, when the then-reliever struck out Carlos Beltran to end the NLCS - the same Carlos Beltran who was now a member of the Cardinals, and who was getting ready to face the Mets for the first time since he was traded to San Francisco the previous summer.  Those were just some of the intriguing storylines going into the game, but a new story began to write itself as the game progressed.

Through three innings, neither pitcher had given up a hit, although Santana had walked two batters and Wainwright had allowed one free pass.  Santana walked his third batter of the game to lead off the fourth inning, but retired the next three batters in order.  The game's first hit did not occur until the bottom of the fourth, when Kirk Nieuwehuis led off the inning with a single.  A double by David Wright moved Nieuwenhuis to third base.  Both runners eventually came around to score, as Lucas Duda drove in Nieuwenhuis with a sacrifice fly and Daniel Murphy plated Wright with a triple.

Santana now had a two-run cushion to work with as he stepped on the hill in the fifth, but once again, he began with the inning with a walk.  Although he retired the next three batters to face him, he needed 13 pitches to record the three outs, moving his pitch count to 79 through five innings.  Santana had yet to allow a hit, but his high pitch count was beginning to make manager Terry Collins antsy in the dugout.  In his first ten starts of the season, Santana had averaged just 92 pitches per start, never throwing more than 108 in any of them.  He was an inning away from surpassing his average and two frames away from potentially having his highest pitch count of the year.  The Mets went down quietly in their half of the fifth inning, sending Santana back to the mound quickly for the sixth.  The first batter he would face was Carlos Beltran.  And that's when third base umpire Adrian Johnson became a household name in Flushing.

After taking a first-pitch ball from Santana, Beltran smoked the southpaw's second pitch down the left field line, which was ruled foul by Johnson.  Replays later showed that the ball had kicked up white dust when it hit the ground, meaning it was a fair ball that had just grazed the foul line.  But two years before the advent of instant replay, the call was not changed, and Santana's no-hitter would live to see another pitch.  That pitch would be his 82nd of the night, and it would be another hard-hit ground ball by Beltran, although this time it settled into the glove of David Wright, who threw over to Duda on first to easily retire Beltran.

Adrian Johnson agreed with David Wright's foul call, keeping Johan Santana's no-hitter intact. (MLB.com screen shot)

Given a break by Johnson's missed call, Santana proceeded to retire the next two batters he faced, although his pitch count through six innings was up to 93.  The Mets were still clinging to a two-run lead as they came to bat in the bottom of the sixth.  It took just one swing of Lucas Duda's bat to make that a five-run cushion.

Following a leadoff single by Nieuwenhuis and a walk to David Wright, Duda launched a long three-run homer to right field, giving the Mets a comfortable 5-0 lead.  The blast also gave Duda four RBI on the night, matching his career high.

Santana returned to the hill in the seventh with his no-hitter intact and a commanding lead on the Cardinals.  He retired David Freese on a pop-up to lead off the inning, then went to a 3-1 count on catcher Yadier Molina.  It had been six years since Molina had broken the hearts of Mets fans by hitting a two-run homer in the the ninth inning of Game Seven in the 2006 NLCS.  And when he lined Santana's 102nd pitch to deep left field, the initial feeling was that he was about to break their hearts again.  But left fielder and Queens native Mike Baxter would not allow that wound to be re-opened, as he ran back to the warning track with surgical precision to make an over-the-shoulder catch before barreling into the wall at full speed.  The no-hitter was saved, but Baxter's shoulder was not, as he had to be placed on the disabled list with injuries to his collarbone and rib cage.  Baxter's all-out effort kept him out of action for nearly two months.

After Baxter was helped off the field, exiting to a rousing ovation, Santana continued to keep the Cardinals off the "H" column on the scoreboard, retiring Matt Adams on a groundout to end the seventh inning.  Santana had now matched his season high by throwing 108 pitches.  Under any other set of circumstances, Collins would have removed his ace from the game, especially with a five-run lead.  But Collins knew that Santana was chasing history, and he was not going to get in Santana's way, no matter how tempted he was to remove his injury-prone pitcher.  Even with the Mets adding three more runs in their half of the seventh on a bases loaded walk to Wright and a two-run single by Murphy, knocking out Cardinals starting pitcher Wainwright in the process, Santana was going out to the mound to start the eighth inning.

Santana got a break when Tyler Greene swung at the first pitch he saw, flying out to left fielder Nieuwenhuis, who had moved over from center field after the injury to Baxter.  Nieuwenhuis had to multitask on the play, as he had to make the catch and avoid shortstop Omar Quintanilla, who was running back into shallow left field to try to make the play himself.  Pinch-hitter Shane Robinson then looked at a called third strike before Rafael Furcal drew a five-pitch walk from Santana.  Once again, Carlos Beltran walked up to the plate.

In his previous at-bat, Beltran came within Adrian Johnson's questionable call of breaking up Santana's no-no.  This time, he was trying to prevent Santana from becoming the first Mets pitcher since Tom Seaver in 1975 to take a no-hitter into the ninth inning.  Beltran couldn't end the no-hitter in the sixth inning and he couldn't end it in the eighth, as he swung at Santana's 122nd pitch of the game, hitting a soft pop-up that was speared by a running Daniel Murphy in front of second base.

Carlos Beltran tried to burst Santana's bubble, but Johan refused to blow it. (Christian Peterson/Getty Images)

In the bottom of the eighth, Santana was due to bat third in the inning.  He was already three pitches away from matching his career high in pitches thrown, which he accomplished in his next-to-last start of the 2008 season.  On that September evening, Santana was pitching with an injured knee.  He had since been injured several times.  But once again, Collins did not lift Santana from the game, allowing him to bat for himself with a runner on first and one out.  Santana struck out on six pitches, then Andres Torres grounded out on the only pitch he saw to end the inning.

Johan Santana marched back to the mound to start the ninth inning as the 27,069 fans in attendance rose in unison to give him a standing ovation.  Santana needed 122 pitches to navigate through the first eight frames.  None of those pitches resulted in a hit by the Cardinals.  He was three outs away from baseball immortality.

Tom Seaver was the first Mets pitcher to take a no-hitter into the ninth inning, retiring the first 25 Cubs hitters he faced on July 9, 1969.  He then gave up a hit to rookie Jimmy Qualls to end his run at perfection.  Forty-three years later, Santana retired leadoff hitter Matt Holliday on a first-pitch fly ball to Torres in center field.

On July 4, 1972, nearly three years to the day after his first failed no-hit bid, Seaver held the San Diego Padres hitless through 8⅓ innings.  But outfielder Leron Lee spoiled his quest for history by lacing a one-out single in the ninth.  Forty years later, Santana coaxed outfielder Allen Craig to hit a looping fly ball that settled into the glove of Nieuwenhuis in left.

Seaver took a third no-hit bid into the ninth inning on September 24, 1975.  This time, he retired the first two batters he faced before allowing a single to Cubs outfielder Joe Wallis.  It had been 37 long seasons since a Mets pitcher had taken a no-hitter into the ninth inning.  And all that stood between Johan Santana and baseball history was David Freese.

Freese had been named World Series MVP just seven months earlier.  But he was facing the Mets' most valuable pitcher on his special night.  Freese took Santana's first three pitches for balls.  Then he took a strike.  Then he Paul Hoovered a ball gently down the third base line that eventually rolled foul.

Santana had thrown 133 pitches.  He had Mets killer Yadier Molina on deck hoping for another shot to break up his gem.  He needed to end the game now.  Radio broadcaster Howie Rose and television play-by-play man Gary Cohen were on hand to call the game from their respective booths at Citi Field.  And they were the ones who painted the picture of Santana's 134th and final pitch.

Photo by Ed Leyro

"Johan sweeps a little dirt away from the left of the pitching rubber, steps behind the rubber, tugs once at the bill of his cap, takes a deep breath and steps to the third base side of the rubber.  Santana into the windup.  The payoff pitch on the way - SWUNG ON AND MISSED!  STRIKE THREE!  HE'S DONE IT!  JOHAN SANTANA HAS PITCHED A NO-HITTER!  IN THE EIGHT-THOUSAND AND TWENTIETH GAME IN THE HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK METS, THEY FINALLY HAVE A NO-HITTER! ... PUT IT IN THE BOOKS!  IN THE HISTORY BOOKS!"

 --Howie Rose, WFAN radio call

SNY Photo

"He struck him out!  IT HAS HAPPENED!  In their 51st season, Johan Santana has thrown the first no-hitter in New York Mets history!"

--Gary Cohen, SNY TV call



After his historic pitching performance, Santana made eight starts for the Mets before being placed on the disabled list with a right ankle sprain in late July.  He returned to the team three weeks later, but was shelled for 14 runs in two starts.  Santana was once again put on the disabled list, this time with lower back inflammation, and was shut down for the season.  He never pitched again for the Mets, as his 2013 campaign was also wiped out due to injury.

Santana stayed healthy over a full season just once in six years as a Met, missing two full seasons in 2011 and 2013.  Despite missing large chunks of time during his tenure in New York, Santana still ranks as one of the most successful left-handed starting pitchers in franchise history.  Among all southpaw starters, Santana ranks in the team's all-time top ten in wins (46; 8th), ERA (3.18; 6th), WHIP (1.20; 4th) and strikeouts (607; 6th).  He also ranks first among all Mets pitchers in no-hitters with one.

Johan Santana didn't make Mets fans forget about "seven games up with 17 games left".  In fact, for most of his time in New York, he was known for not being able to pitch due to his penchant for getting injured.  But he did leave the Mets with a couple of words the team's fans never expected to hear: no-hitter.

For Mets fans who suffered through all the near-misses, whose hearts were broken by the likes of Jimmy Qualls, Leron Lee, Joe Wallis and Paul Hoover - players whose names would long be forgotten had it not been for what they accomplished in failed no-hit bids by Mets pitchers - the events of June 1, 2012 were even more meaningful for them.  The Mets had allowed at least one hit in each of their first 8,019 regular season games.  They allowed none in Game No. 8,020.

He may not have led the team to the promised land as most people expected him to do following the Mets' epic late-season collapse in 2007, but Johan Santana did lead the team's fans to a place they had never been before.  And in doing so, Mets fans will always remember exactly what they were doing as pitch No. 134 gave the team no-hitter No. 1.  Santana's moment in time is one that will never be forgotten.

YouTube video courtesy of Mark Egan

Note:  One Mo-MET In Time was a thirteen-part weekly series (that's "was" - the past tense of "is" - because you just read the final installment) spotlighting those Mets players who will forever be known for a single moment, game or event, regardless of whatever else they accomplished during their tenure with the Mets.  For previous installments, please click on the players' names below:

January 5, 2015: Mookie Wilson 
January 12, 2015: Dave Mlicki
January 19, 2015: Steve Henderson 
January 26, 2015: Ron Swoboda
February 2, 2015: Anthony Young
February 9, 2015: Tim Harkness
February 16, 2015: Kenny Rogers, Aaron Heilman, Tom Glavine
February 23, 2015: Mike Vail
March 2, 2015: Matt Franco
March 9, 2015: Shawn Estes
March 16, 2015: Dae-Sung Koo
March 23, 3015: Al Weis

WOR Inside My Head

As you may have heard, the Mets have severed ties with WFAN, the station that has carried the team's games since its birth on the radio in 1987.  Now, after a month of speculation, it appears the Mets' radio home for 2014 and beyond will be WOR (710 on your AM dial).

According to the Daily News' Bob Raissman, Clear Channel Media (which owns WOR) will select the broadcasters for Mets games, but Howie Rose is slated to return to do play-by-play.  Broadcast partner Josh Lewin is likely to return on a short contract, while Ed Coleman's fate is unclear.

I'm upset that the Mets will be leaving WFAN after calling the station home for over a quarter century.  When I was in high school, I would hide a Walkman under my pillow with the dial set to 660 so I could listen to West Coast games as my parents were fooled into thinking that I was sleeping.  Setting the dial to 710 while I try to do the same to my wife next season will just not be the same.  Never mind that my wife would be approximately six inches away from me and my Walkman.  And also never mind that I still use a Walkman.

There will be a WOR inside our heads next year.  And if everything goes as I would like, the same outstanding broadcast team from 2013 will return to appease the fans in 2014, even if they're not doing that appeasing on the FAN.

Stuck Between a Dickey and a Hard Place

I'm torn.  I've been a Mets fan since Joe Torre was the team's manager and in three-plus decades, I can't remember having a quandary such as this one.  My dilemma involves R.A. Dickey.  Do I want him to be a Met in 2013 or do I want him to be traded for a major league-ready prospect or two?  It's not a decision I would want to make.

Like he has with mostly every other Mets fan, R.A. Dickey has grown on me.  He went from a pitcher whose name was made fun of in every other tweet or blog post (I guess some habits are hard to break) to the best pitcher in the National League in just three seasons.  Needless to say, I look forward to every R.A. Dickey start.

That being said, Dickey's value is higher than anyone ever thought it would be.  One recent trade situation had the Red Sox sending their top two prospects, Xander Bogaerts and Jackie Bradley, to the Mets for the 38-year-old knuckleballer.  Dickey's name has also been connected to the Dodgers and Royals.

Just like the Mets were able to pry top pitching prospect Zack Wheeler away from the Giants in the Carlos Beltran trade, they have to get top value for Dickey in any trade.  And since we're talking about the current National League Cy Young Award winner, they should have no problem getting a top talent or two.

But who would replace Dickey in the rotation?  Johan Santana is still a question mark.  Zack Wheeler is still months away from being major league ready.  Matt Harvey has ten games of big league experience.  Dillon Gee is coming off a season-ending injury.  Mike Pelfrey was shown the front door.  And therein lies the dilemma.

If R.A. Dickey is traded, the Mets have no one to step into his spot in the rotation come April 1.  The fans would also never get to hear Howie Rose utter these words on Opening Day:

"Ladies and gentlemen, your 2012 National League Cy Young Award winner, R.A. Dickey!"

Alas, trading Dickey would allow the Mets to get younger and continue to build a team around David Wright, even if this Mets blogger would love to see Dickey play out the remaining years of his major league career in Flushing.

The Mets would have an above-average pitching staff if they decided to keep Dickey.  But they would have to find another way to acquire top young talent.  Similarly, their rotation would have a gaping hole if they decided to trade Dickey, but the team would be bolstered by the influx of major league-ready prospects.

So which one do I want?  Do I want Dickey all for my own?  Or do I want Sandy Alderson to deal our ace for a potential royal flush of young talent?  I have no idea what's in the cards for R.A. Dickey.  All I know is that as a fan, I'm stuck between a Dickey and a hard place.  And I'm not sure I'm going to be satisfied with whatever ends up happening.

Texas Two-Step (Part II): Joey Does Dallas

Howdy y'all! This is your fav'rit Studious Metsimus blogger/culinary expert Joey Beartran, reporting for duty. In today's episode, I will recap my just-completed trip to Texas to see the Mets play the Rangers, where our boys in blue and orange took two out of three from the defending American League champions.

As a respected blogger, I expected the Rangers to roll out the red carpet for me upon my arrival in Arlington. I got nothing. No red carpet. Not even a wet towel to combat the oppressive triple digit temperatures. I wasn't even allowed in the press room because they didn't believe me when I said I accidentally lost my media credentials somewhere between our trip to In-N-Out Burger and Sonic. (I must have confused it for a napkin.) The closest I got to the press room was the Media Only sign outside the ballpark.



So I had to sit in the ballpark with the fans. No big deal. I could handle not being in an air-conditioned press box. Plus, it would give me the opportunity to walk around the stadium and try out the ballpark fare at their concession stands.

My first stop was at the bacon dog stand. You read that right. It's a stand that sells hot dogs wrapped in bacon. Unfortunately, I was disappointed with what I expected to be a Texas delicacy. I mean, I like bacon and I like hot dogs. Then again, I like chicken nachos and I like cannolis, but I wouldn't eat them together. That's what the bacon dogs were like. Two fine meats in and of themselves, but one big disappointment when combined on a bun.

Such a promising concept, but I wish it had been bacon AND a hot dog instead on bacon ON a hot dog.

By the time I had donated the rest of my bacon dog to the pigeon that had that "I'm going to poop on you if you don't share your meal with me" look in its eyes, the Mets had already taken a 3-0 lead on the Rangers. Considering the Mets had only scored one run in the opener of the series, putting up a three-spot in the first inning gave me hope that this game would be different.

I was all set to watch Jon Niese take the mound in the bottom of the first inning to protect the lead his teammates had provided for him when something unexpected happened. Something grabbed my attention and wouldn't let it go, no matter how intent I was on watching the game.

It was the nacho stand.

Can you get burritos at Citi Field? I think not!

This was Tex-Mex heaven! In addition to quesadillas and fajita salads, you could also build your own burrito. The vendors handed out a piece of paper, which the patron would fill out detailing exactly what ingredients were to be added to their burrito, salad, nachos, etc.

Of course, I had to try their chicken taco salad in a crispy tortilla bowl. This was not the bacon dog. This was bliss in a bowl. My sister, Iggy, who also made the trip to Texas, shared the salad (and souvenir soda) with me. After eating it, we wished we had ordered one for each of us. It was that good!

What was in our chicken taco salad? The better question might be, what WASN'T in it? Yum!

After consuming the salad, we made our way back to our seats, at which time we noticed that the Mets now had a 6-0 lead. Jonathon Niese, who was unaccustomed to the excessive temperatures, was cruising, while his mound opponent, Alexi Ogando, (7-2, 2.66 ERA and a leading candidate for American League Rookie of the Year) wilted in the Texas heat.

The Mets failed to score in the fourth and fifth frames, so I thought it would be a good time to check out other aspects of the ballpark. We checked out the Mets' bullpen (see first photo below), the seats behind home plate (see middle photo below) and then...well...you know...



After our break with the garlic fries, we walked over to the center field area, where we noticed a giant statue of a man tipping his cap. Upon further inspection, we noticed that it was a statue dedicated to the only Texas Ranger player to have his number retired by the team, Nolan Ryan. (Former manager Johnny Oates is the only other former Ranger to have his number retired, despite the fact that Bobby Valentine is the all-time winningest manager in Ranger history. Yes, the same Bobby Valentine that managed the Mets to the World Series in 2000.)

Of course, as a Mets fan who was born at Shea Stadium, (okay, so technically I was purchased by my colleague in the Mets Team Store behind home plate at Shea in 2004, but for argument's sake, let's just say I was "born" there, ya dig?) I noticed the similarities between the Rangers and the Mets with regards to retired numbers. Both teams have retired only one player's number (Seaver's No. 41 for New York and Ryan's No. 34 for Texas), both teams have retired the number of the manager who led them to their first division title (Hodges' No. 14 for the Mets and Oates' No. 26 for the Rangers) and both have failed to bestow the same honor to Bobby Valentine.

While I was pondering those similarities, I noticed that Iggy had climbed onto Nolan Ryan's glove, so before any Rangers fans could cry sacrilege, I followed her in an effort to get her to come down. Of course, a roving photographer caught us on his glove and snapped the photo below.

Even in the middle of Texas, the paparazzi never rests.

Needless to say, we needed a place to hide before a lynch mob treated us like Frankenstein's monster for sitting on their beloved Nolan Ryan's statue. We tried to get into the Mets' bullpen, but were turned aside. We tried going back to the Tex-Mex stand, but there were too many people standing in line who might recognize us.

It got to the point where we thought everyone was after us. Every Rangers fan on their cell phone appeared to be calling the police in our minds. If I'm not mistaken, I think I overheard one of the fans talking about calling Chuck Norris so he could arrest us, before a fellow fan reminded him that Norris wasn't a real lawman. He only played one on TV.

Chuck Norris Fact: His badge will be retired alongside Nolan Ryan and Johnny Oates' number.

Running out of places to hide, we tried one last time to get into the press box. We circled the area on the second level behind home plate when we were spotted. Fortunately, it wasn't El Rangerdoro (a Lucha Libre wrestler who didn't take kindly to Mets fans on his turf) doing the spotting. A hand reached out from up above and we heard a familiar voice who offered to bring us into the Mets' radio booth, where we'd be safe from television-obsessed fans and masked wrestlers. Who was this kind soul who shielded us in our time of need?

It was none other than longtime Mets' radio play-by-play man, Howie Rose.

Thank you, Howie! You saved us from angry Rangers fans and finally got us into the broadcast booth!

Right after the save by Howie Rose, everything turned for the better. The Mets scored eight more times (finishing the game with a season-high 14 runs) and we were able to escape with a victory and our lives.

We did not attend the final game of the series the following afternoon, an 8-5 victory by the Mets. Our Studious Metsimus colleague will say it was because we had to take a flight home, but if you saw the reactions of El Rangerdoro and the other members of the Church of Nolan Ryan after we sat on their savior's statue, you'd want to get out of Dodge as soon as possible, too.

Our stay in the Dallas area was memorable for many reasons. It was memorable for the variety of food we sampled. (Bacon dogs - bleccchhh, garlic fries - acceptable, chicken taco salad - nom nom nom!) It was memorable for all the crooked numbers the Mets put up on the scoreboard in taking the series from the Rangers. And it was memorable because we went to Texas and became outlaws for a day, even though that wasn't part of the original plan.

I am glad we're back home, though. After all, I don't think Iggy and I were going to fool native Texans much longer with the disguises we put on in order to blend in with the crowd. Well, maybe we could have fooled that Chuck Norris fan...

The Worst Way For The Mets To Lose A No-Hitter

Every young boy with aspirations of being a major league pitcher dreams of tossing a no-hitter.  The thrill of recording out #27 before giving up hit #1 is one of the biggest joys in sports.   However, this thrill has never been felt by a New York Met.

The Mets are one of four teams to have never pitched a no-hitter.   Two of the other three teams are recent expansion teams (Tampa Bay Rays and Colorado Rockies).  The other team is the San Diego Padres, who came into existence in 1969.   The closest they came to a no-no was in 1972, when Steve Arlin's bid was broken up by the Phillies' Denny Doyle with two outs in the ninth inning.   That's also as close as any Mets pitcher has come.

Of the 33 one-hitters thrown by Mets pitchers (two of the 33 were of the rain-shortened variety), only three were no-hitters entering the ninth inning.  All three were thrown by The Franchise, Tom Seaver.  Jimmy Qualls of the Chicago Cubs broke up Seaver's perfect game bid with a one-out single on July 9, 1969.  The Padres' Leron Lee singled to break up Seaver's no-hitter with one out in the ninth on July 4, 1972.  And Chicago's Joe Wallis broke up Seaver's no-no with two outs in the ninth on September 24, 1975.  Since then, the longest any Mets pitcher has carried a no-hitter is 7 2/3 innings.

Both Tom Glavine and John Maine had their bids for baseball immortality dashed with two outs in the eighth inning.  Glavine's 2004 bid was broken up with a double into the right field corner by Rockies' catcher Kit Pellow and Maine's 2007 no-no ended when Marlins' catcher Paul Hoover hit a slow roller to third reminiscent of the excuse-me single hit by the Cubs' Keith Moreland to break up Dwight Gooden's no-hitter in 1984.   (Side note: This Studious Metsimus blogger was present at the Glavine and Maine games.   There is no truth to the rumor that I turned to my neighbor and said "do you think we'll finally see a no-hitter today?" in each game's eighth inning.)

As seen by the above examples, the Mets have lost no-hitters late in games by hard-hit line drives and little dribblers.  But what would be the worst way for the Mets to lose a no-hitter?  Studious Metsimus has the answer.

Say Johan Santana is mowing down the Phillies and becomes the first Mets pitcher not named Tom Seaver to take a no-hitter into the ninth inning.  (What, did you expect it to be Maine or Perez?  Neither of them is capable of pitching into the ninth inning, let alone carrying a no-hitter into the ninth.)  Santana retires Jimmy Rollins and Placido Polanco to start the ninth inning, making him the first Mets pitcher to come within one out of a no-hitter.

The next batter is Chase Utley, but he draws a walk.  The Phillies now have a baserunner, but the no-hitter is still intact as Ryan Howard steps up to the plate.  Howard hits a routine grounder towards Luis Castillo that appears to be the third out of the inning, but the ball hits Utley as he's running to second base.  The umpires immediately call Utley out for being hit by a batted ball in fair territory and the game is over.

Could it be?  Has Johan Santana become the first pitcher in Mets history to toss a no-hitter?  The players on the field seem to think so, as they're celebrating with Johan on the mound.   But let's borrow the Major League Baseball Official Rule Book from the official scorer and take a look at two rules.

• Rule 7.08 (f): Any runner is out when he is touched by a fair ball in fair territory before the ball has been touched or passed an infielder.  The ball is dead and no runner may score, nor runners advance, except runners forced to advance.


• Rule 10.05 (a) (5): The official scorer shall credit a batter with a base hit when a fair ball that has not been touched by a fielder touches a runner or an umpire, unless a runner is called out for having been touched by an Infield Fly, in which case the official scorer shall not score a hit.

While Johan Santana and his Merry Men were all celebrating his apparent no-hitter, the official scorer noticed that Utley had been called out because he was touched by a fair ball in fair territory before the ball was touched or passed Castillo (Rule 7.08 (f)). By Rule 10.05 (a) (5), the official scorer had to give Ryan Howard a base hit since there was no Infield Fly involved when the ball hit Utley.

Therefore, at the exact moment Johan Santana recorded the 27th out of the game, he also lost his no-hitter.   Imagine the shock on his face when the scoreboard flashed the "1" in the hit column.  Gary Cohen and Howie Rose would have been sick to their stomachs.  If Bob Murphy were still alive, he'd be spinning in his grave while saying "and Santana loses the damn no-hitter", Ron Darling would have analyzed how losing a no-hitter this way would affect Santana's psyche and Keith Hernandez would have said that we shouldn't have female official scorers.

The Mets will pitch a no-hitter...someday. But I wouldn't be surprised if they lost one in the way detailed above before they actually completed one.

Legendary Broadcaster Vin Scully Returns For 61st Season

Bronx-born Vin Scully will be back in the broadcast booth for the Los Angeles Dodgers for a record 61st season in 2010. No other broadcaster has spent so many consecutive years working for the same team in baseball history.

In 1950, Scully began his broadcasting career working in the Brooklyn Dodgers' radio and television booth alongside Red Barber and Connie Desmond. When the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles following the 1957 season, Scully left his roots behind but brought along his Hall-of-Fame voice with him.

In addition to baseball, Scully also called NFL games for CBS from 1972 to 1982. He left football after the 1982 season to work as a baseball broadcaster for NBC. Longtime Mets fans might remember one particular call from Scully during the 1986 World Series.

"Little roller up along first. Behind the bag! It gets through Buckner! Here comes Knight and the Mets win it!"

Vin Scully and Shea Stadium. Can't help but feel nostalgic for 1986.

That wasn't the first time Scully had mentioned Bill Buckner's name in a memorable call. Back in 1974, Hank Aaron hit his record-breaking 715th home run against Dodger pitcher Al Downing. A young Bill Buckner was the leftfielder in that game for the Dodgers so he got a perfect view of the home run while he was chasing it towards the left field fence.

Naturally, since the feat came against the Dodgers, Scully was in the ballpark calling the game. Here was his call when Aaron made history.

"It's a long drive to deep left. Buckner to the fence. It is gone!"

After a short pause (similar to his pause after Ray Knight scored the winning run on October 25, 1986), Scully offered this to baseball fans.

"What a marvelous moment for baseball. What a marvelous moment for Atlanta and the state of Georgia. What a marvelous moment for the country and the world. A black man is getting a standing ovation in the Deep South for breaking a record of an all-time baseball idol. And it is a great moment for all of us, and particularly Hank Aaron."

Vin Scully has never been about himself. He has always been about the game. For sixty seasons, he has taken out his canvas in the broadcast booth and painted a beautiful picture for baseball fans to watch and listen to.

In 2010, Hall-of-Famer Vin Scully will be entering his 61st season as a Dodger broadcaster. If you ever watch a Mets game against the Dodgers and can get the audio of Vin Scully, do yourself a favor and listen to it. I'm sure Gary Cohen or Howie Rose won't mind if you do. After all, they owe everything to a legend like Mr. Scully.