Broken News: Being in the Right Place at the Right Time

Welcome to another edition of Broken News, where someone else breaks the news and then we break it again.  In today's installment, we're going to look back at Friday night's game between the Mets and Giants, otherwise known as the game in which the bottom of the third inning turned into a matchup between the Gas-House Gorillas and the Tea Totallers.  (Go watch classic Bugs Bunny clips if you don't know what I mean.)

In the third, the Mets sent 15 men to the plate and scored a dozen runs, breaking the franchise record for tallies in a single frame.  Yoenis Céspedes put the icing on the inning by giving his regards to Giants reliever Mike Broadway, lining a grand slam to score the Mets' ninth, tenth, eleventh and twelfth runs of the frame.  Earlier in the third, Céspedes had driven in two runs with another hit.  His six RBI set a club record for a player in one inning.

The Mets basically did a conga line around the bases in the third, scoring half a dozen runs off starter Jake Peavy and another half dozen against Broadway to set a team mark with 12 runs in one inning, breaking the old record of 11, which was accomplished in 2006 in an inning where the Mets clubbed two grand slams.

I attended Friday night's game and got to witness the third inning in person.  It was the 13th grand slam hit by a Mets player that I've had the pleasure of seeing at Shea Stadium and Citi Field.  I've also had the honor of being at Citi Field for eight of the 12 walk-off homers hit in the park's history, including all six game-ending blasts since 2013 and the only two walk-off grand slams ever hit there.  I've been in the right place at the right time for many of these exciting finishes, which reminds me of the first times I ever saw a grand slam and a walk-off homer.

If you're a long-time reader, then you know about the first walk-off homer I ever saw in person.  It happened in 1996, when Rico Brogna accomplished the feat against the Chicago Cubs in the same game where Mark Grace punched me in the face.  But there were also fisticuffs in the game where I witnessed my first-ever grand slam, and it involved a mighty mite and a future Hall of Famer.

On May 14, 1994, the Mets and Braves hooked up for a Saturday matinee at Shea Stadium.  I got to my seat a little late for first pitch, but realized that I had a celebrity sitting next to me in my field level seat.  It was none other than MTV personality Dan Cortese.  That's right, the bandana enthusiast from MTV Sports and Rock n' Jock fame was my next-seat neighbor for the festivities.  Because I like to rock with the cool kids.

My seat mate for the game in which I witnessed my first grand slam in person.  (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/Getty Images)

The Mets took a 3-0 lead into the fifth inning and had two outs and no one on base.  It did not appear as if the Mets would be able to extend their lead against Braves starting pitcher John Smoltz in the frame.  But then Smoltz allowed singles to Bobby Bonilla and Jeff Kent and followed that up with a wild pitch that moved Kent into scoring position behind Bonilla, who was already at third.  Smoltz then intentionally walked David Segui to load the bases for Ryan Thompson.  On a 1-2 pitch, Thompson blasted a long home run off Smoltz to give the Mets a 7-0 lead and me my first in-person grand slam hit by a Met.  That brought up Brooklyn-born John Cangelosi to the plate and he made sure to let Smoltz know that he still had a lot of Brooklyn in him.

On the first pitch following Thompson's grand slam, Smoltz nailed Cangelosi in the back.  It was the second consecutive inning Smoltz had hit Cangelosi in the John-on-John crime, as he was plunked by the Braves starter in the fourth inning as well.  Bruised, but not battered, the diminutive Brooklynite then charged at Smoltz, who had seven inches and sixty pounds on the Mets left fielder, and a bench-clearing brawl ensued.  There is no truth to the rumor that I had to hold back Dan Cortese from joining the fracas, but he was throwing air punches in his seat as if he were mentally trying to show Mets players who were 200 feet away from us how to defend themselves against the big bad boys from Atlanta.

After the dust had settled and Smoltz and Cangelosi had been tossed, the game continued without incident and the Mets went on to record an 11-4 victory.  An interesting side note that was overshadowed by the boxing match was that Mauro Gozzo recorded the win for the Mets in the game, a win that was made possible by Thompson's grand slam.  Gozzo was originally drafted by the Mets in 1984, but was traded to Kansas City in 1987 in the deal that brought David Cone to New York.  Five years later, Cone was traded to Toronto for Jeff Kent and Ryan Thompson - the same Ryan Thompson who helped Gozzo defeat the Braves.  (Gozzo had returned to the Mets as a free agent following the 1992 campaign.)

Since Citi Field opened in 2009, I've had a better than 50-50 chance to be in attendance whenever a grand slam or walk-off home run has been hit by a Mets player, including the grand slam by Yoenis Céspedes on Friday night.  It's gotten to the point where I've kind of gotten used to seeing slams and walk-offs.  But prior to 1994, I had never seen either type of blast in person.  Then Ryan Thompson ended my grand slam drought in 1994, followed by Rico Brogna's walk-off blast two years later.  Both firsts were accompanied by fists.  (Only one was accompanied by Dan Cortese.)  At least both were also accompanied by Mets victories.

If Studious Metsimus Had A 2015 Hall of Fame Vote...

On Tuesday, January 6, the National Baseball Hall of Fame will reveal its newest inductees to the public.  This year, there were 17 new candidates to consider, as well as 17 holdovers from previous years.  Notable first-timers include Randy Johnson and John Smoltz, as well as former Mets Pedro Martinez, Carlos Delgado, Gary Sheffield, Cliff Floyd and Tony Clark.

There are also two former Mets who are returning to the ballot in 2015 (Mike Piazza, Jeff Kent), making the other 15 holdovers jealous because they never got the support of Mets fans during their active days as a player.  Well, technically Kent didn't get the support of Mets fans, either, but at least he got the support of the writers of the show "Reno 911!", who clearly modeled the character of Lt. Dangle after him.

For the fifth straight year, Studious Metsimus has been denied an "official" vote for the Hall of Fame, a travesty that has been overlooked for too long.  But we ain't mad at'cha.  Instead, the staff of this site has joined heads to give you our unofficial vote, along with brief reasons why these players should be allowed to have plaques in Cooperstown.

As Mets fans, we should know quite a bit about travesties and being overlooked.  After all, of the 14 players who received fewer than 5% of the Hall of Fame votes in 2014, thereby removing them from this year's ballot, five of them were former Mets.  Moises Alou, Hideo Nomo, Armando Benitez, Paul Lo Duca and the beloved Kenny Rogers will no longer be considered by the BBWAA for Hall of Fame enshrinement.  But that doesn't mean that a former Met or two will be denied this year.

Here's the list of players I'd vote for if not for that stupid "you're just a blogger, not a ten-year writer for a respected publication" rule.

Randy Johnson

For the early part of his career, Johnson was the left-handed version of Nolan Ryan.  From 1990 to 1992 (the first three seasons in which Johnson made 30+ starts), the lanky southpaw averaged 221 strikeouts and 139 walks per season and he barely had a winning record (39-35) in those three campaigns.  Then 1993 happened, and the man who possessed a slider named Mr. Snappy exploded as a perennial All-Star.

For a ten-year period (1993-2002), Johnson was the most dominant pitcher in baseball, going 175-58 with a 2.73 ERA, 1.08 ERA and an incredible 2,928 strikeouts.  He also learned how to throw pitches a little closer to the plate, as his walked just 712 batters over the decade.

Johnson finished his career as the second-greatest strikeout pitcher of all time, behind Nolan Ryan.  The ten-time All-Star won five Cy Young Awards, finishing in the top three in three other seasons.  He also received MVP votes in nine seasons, an almost unheard of feat for a pitcher.  And of course, he shared MVP honors in the 2001 World Series (with Curt Schilling) when he won three games against the Yankees.

Mr. Snappy and the man who threw him is without question deserving of the call from the Hall.

Mr. Snappy crackled in the air and popped in the catcher's mitt.  (Photo by Elaine Thompson/AP)

Pedro Martinez

Although Martinez "only" won 219 games in his 17-year career, his Hall of Fame candidacy rests on all the No. 1s he racked up in his career.  Are you ready for this long list?

Martinez led the league in wins once, winning percentage three times, ERA five times, WHIP six times, strikeouts four times (excuse me while catch my breath ... okay, let's continue), strikeouts per nine innings five times, fewest hits per nine innings five times, strikeout-to-walk ratio four times, shutouts once and complete games once.

The former Met pitched in two World Series, winning it all as a member of the Red Sox in 2004.  He also posted an 86.0 WAR as a pitcher, which ranks him 17th all-time in that category.  Fourteen of the 16 pitchers ahead of him are already in the Hall of Fame.  A fifteenth should enter this year (Randy Johnson), while the sixteenth is Roger Clemens, who would be a shoo-in for the Hall if the specter of PEDs wasn't scaring voters away.

Pedro Martinez once threw Don Zimmer to the ground.  Now he should throw down at Cooperstown as a slam dunk first-ballot Hall of Famer.

Pedro Martinez sprinkled in some fun during a wonderful major league career.  (Photo by Frank Franklin II/AP)

John Smoltz

The Braves had two eventual 300-game winners in Hall of Famers Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine.  But the most dominant pitcher during their era of greatness in the 1990s might have been John Smoltz.

Whereas Greg Maddux would paint the corners with the precision of a surgeon and Tom Glavine would confuse umpires into calling strikes on pitches that were off the plate, John Smoltz would come right after the hitter.  He did it as a starting pitcher.  He did it even better as a relief pitcher.  But he was truly at his best as a postseason pitcher.

After a slow start to his career (78-75, 3.59 ERA, 1.24 WHIP from 1988 to 1994), Smoltz turned the corner in 1995 by going 12-7 during the strike-shortened campaign and striking out over a batter per inning for the first time in his career.  A year later, Smoltz won 24 games and the Cy Young Award.  Two years after that, Smoltz led the league in winning percentage (17-3, .850 win %) and finished fourth in the Cy Young vote.  Injuries kept him from pitching in 2000, but when he came back in 2001, he became the Braves' closer.  Smoltz saved 154 games in three-and-a-half seasons, including 55 in 2002, which is still tied for the all-time National League record.

Smoltz pitched in 41 postseason games, both as a starter and reliever, winning 15 games and saving four others.  The 15 postseason wins are the second-highest total in history.  Smoltz also posted a 2.67 lifetime ERA in October and struck out 199 batters, the most of any pitcher in postseason history.

Had he not lost four-and-a-half years to injury and closer's duties, Smoltz might have approached 300 victories (he won 213).  He should approach (and surpass) the 75% minimum needed to enter the Hall of Fame.

Mets fans should tip their caps to John Smoltz on the day he enters the Hall of Fame. (Rich Pilling/MLB Photos)

Among returnees on the ballot, I would vote for Mike Piazza (duh) and Craig Biggio (double duh, which is appropriate since doubles were his specialty, as he hit the fifth-most doubles in MLB history).

The other five votes I'd be allowed to cast (if I were allowed to cast any at all ... stupid BBWAA not letting me play in their sandbox) would go to Jeff Bagwell, Curt Schilling, Larry Walker, Edgar Martinez and Jeff Kent.

Lieutenant Dangle's doppelganger may not have been the friendliest guy in the world, but he sure put up great numbers (regardless of position) for a large chunk of his career.  And "dangle" in the fact that he did all this as a middle infielder, well, he deserves to be mentioned among the best to play the game, as do Bagwell, Schilling, Walker and Edgar Martinez.

 

Tom Glavine and the Hall of Overrated

Tom Glavine went as high as his teammates would take him.  (Photo by Rob Kim/Getty Images)

Today, Tom Glavine joins his long-time teammate Greg Maddux, as well as Frank Thomas, Bobby Cox, Joe Torre and Tony La Russa into the Hall of Fame.  Glavine's 305 wins and .600 winning percentage are certainly nothing to scoff at, but those numbers may have been more due to the teams he was on rather than his own talent.

As my Gal For All Seasons so eloquently detailed in her recent post called "The Pity Vote", the former Brave (and I guess you have to call him a former Met as well) wasn't as good as his numbers say he was.

Let's take a look at some of the points she brought up in "The Pity Vote" and add a few of my own.

• Almost half of Glavine's wins (149 out of 305) came when his teams scored six or more runs.  On 226 occasions, Glavine received that type of run support, or slightly over ten times per season.

• In 22 seasons in the big leagues, Glavine was pinned with a no-decision or loss a whopping 77 times when his teams scored at least half a dozen runs.  That's three-and-a-half times a season in which he couldn't get a win with excellent run support.

• Glavine's teams scored two runs or less in 176 of his 682 starts.  The southpaw won just 26 of those games.  By comparison, Curt Schilling won 24 games when he received two runs of support or fewer.  That's just two wins shy of Glavine's total.  However, Schilling did this despite making 246 fewer starts than Glavine.  For the record, Schilling has been eligible for the Hall of Fame for the past two seasons and has yet to receive more than 38.8% of the votes.

• Speaking of Schilling, the 20-year veteran was one of the best postseason pitchers of all time, going 11-2 with a 2.23 ERA and 0.968 WHIP in 19 career starts.  Glavine, on the other hand, went 14-16 with a 3.30 ERA and 1.273 WHIP.  It should also be noted that Glavine's 16 postseason losses are the most by any pitcher in the history of the game.

• Glavine had five 20-win seasons, going 103-40 in those campaigns.  That means he went 202-163 in his other 17 seasons, which averages to a 12-10 record over those 17 years in which he didn't win 20 games.  That's not exactly what I would call Hall of Fame-caliber for the majority of his career.

• In the year he set a career high in victories (1993), Glavine posted a 1.365 WHIP.  Glavine and fellow lefty Andy Pettitte are the only pitchers since 1980 to post a WHIP higher than 1.35 in a year they won 20+ games.  In addition, Glavine is the only pitcher since 1950 to win 22 or more games in a single season and have a 1.35 WHIP in the same year.  That's over six decades of baseball, kids.

• Finally, while we're on the topic of base runners, there are only 14 pitchers in history (since 1900) to allow 6,000 base runners over their careers.  Tom Glavine is one of them, but he pitched the fewest innings of those 14 hurlers, tossing 4413.1 frames.  In fact, the only pitcher on this list within 150 innings of Glavine is Jim Kaat, who, by the way, IS NOT IN THE HALL OF FAME!

"It's okay, Greg.  We were the best pitchers on the Braves.  Tommy just rode our coattails."  (Photo by John Bazemore/AP)

Tom Glavine's high win total was a product of the teams he was on.  They scored lots of runs when he was on the mound, making it so easy to win that even his brother, Mike, could have earned victories in those games.  In the five seasons Glavine won 20 or more games, the Braves' offense ranked in the top four in runs scored every year.  Meanwhile, when he was a Met from 2003 to 2007, the Mets' offense ranked in the top four in runs scored just twice (2006, 2007).  Not surprisingly, Glavine went 28-15 in those two seasons.  Without a good offense behind him in his first three seasons as a Met, his record was just 33-41.

Pitchers who earn enshrinement in the Hall of Fame should be the dominant pitchers of their era.  No one who allows as many base runners as Glavine did in as few innings as he pitched should get his ticket punched to Cooperstown.  Jim Kaat and his 1.259 career WHIP is still waiting for his plaque.  So is Tommy John, who allowed 6,479 base runners in 4710.1 innings for a 1.283 WHIP.  But Tom Glavine, with his 1.314 lifetime WHIP, has his Hall of Fame plaque ready to be put on display.

Likewise, Hall of Fame pitchers should have been clutch performers in the postseason.  It's true that Glavine was the winning pitcher in Atlanta's only World Series-clinching victory in 1995.  However, it's also true that no pitcher in postseason history has been saddled with an "L" more than Glavine has.  But don't tell that to the people ogling at Glavine's newly installed plaque, one of whom might be Curt Schilling, who was a far better pitcher when the games mattered the most but still needs to buy his own ticket to get into Cooperstown.

Tom Glavine was never the best pitcher on the Braves (Maddux and Smoltz outperformed him in the '90s) and quite possibly wasn't the best pitcher on the Mets when he toiled in Flushing (Steve Trachsel was 44-35 as Glavine's teammate from 2003 to 2006, while Glavine was just 48-48 during those seasons).  But none of that mattered to the baseball writers who voted him into the hallowed halls of Cooperstown.

For 22 seasons, Tom Glavine was a very good pitcher.  Now, he will forever be known as a Hall of Fame pitcher.  It's just too bad there isn't a Hall of Overrated in baseball.  Glavine would have been a first-ballot inductee there as well.
 

R.A. Dickey Ties A Mark You May Not Have Known

R.A. Dickey and record-breaking seem to go hand-in-hand these days.  From becoming the first knuckleball pitcher to win the Cy Young Award to being the first Mets pitcher credited with at least 27% of his team's victories (as reported here on Studious Metsimus), Dickey's name has been used in the same sentence as the word "first" quite a bit.

But by winning the Cy Young Award this year, Dickey accomplished another "first", becoming the first player in nearly three decades to attain an obscure mark that you may not have known about.

The 2012 season marked Dickey's tenth year in the big leagues.  The 38-year-old began his career with the Texas Rangers in 2001.  Although Dickey spent the entire season in the minor leagues in 2002, he returned to the Rangers in 2003 and pitched for them through 2006.  Once again, Dickey spent an entire season with being promoted to the majors in 2007, before finally getting a call-up from the Seattle Mariners in 2008.  Dickey then spent the 2009 season with the Minnesota Twins before finally coming to New York to play for the Mets in 2010, where he has remained for the past three seasons.

In his first nine seasons (2001, 2003-06, 2008-11), Dickey never came close to winning the Cy Young Award, combining to go 41-50 with four teams.  Not only did he not sniff the award, he failed to receive a single vote from the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA).  But in 2012, his tenth go-round in the big leagues, Dickey not only received a vote for the first time, but he picked up a total of 209 votes to claim his first Cy Young Award.

How rare is it for a pitcher to win this award without ever garnering a single vote in previous seasons?  Let's look at the past ten winners of the Cy Young Award in each league to get an idea.  (The National League winner is listed first, followed the American League winner.)


2011:
Clayton Kershaw (4th season) - had never received a CYA vote before.
Justin Verlander (7th season) - received CYA votes in four previous seasons.

2010:
Roy Halladay (13th season) - received CYA votes in six previous seasons.
Felix Hernandez (6th season) - received CYA votes in 2009.

2009:
Tim Lincecum (3rd season) - received CYA votes in 2008.
Zack Greinke (6th season) - had never received a CYA vote before.

2008:
Tim Lincecum (2nd season) - had never received a CYA vote before.
Cliff Lee (7th season) - received CYA votes in 2005.

2007:
Jake Peavy (6th season) - had never received a CYA vote before.
CC Sabathia (7th season) - had never received a CYA vote before.

2006:
Brandon Webb (4th season) - had never received a CYA vote before.
Johan Santana (7th season) - received CYA votes in three previous seasons.

2005:
Chris Carpenter (8th season) - had never received a CYA vote before.
Bartolo Colon (9th season) - received CYA votes in two previous seasons.

2004:
Roger Clemens (21st season) - received CYA votes in ten previous seasons.
Johan Santana (5th season) - received CYA votes in 2003.

2003:
Eric Gagne (5th season) - received CYA votes in 2002.
Roy Halladay (6th season) - had never received a CYA vote before.

2002:
Randy Johnson (15th season) - received CYA votes in eight previous seasons.
Barry Zito (3rd season) - had never received a CYA vote before.


Over the past ten seasons prior to 2012, nine pitchers who won the Cy Young Award had never received a single vote for the award prior to winning it.  However, none of the nine award-winning pitchers had been in the big leagues for more than eight seasons prior to taking home the trophy.  Chris Carpenter was the "veteran" of the group, winning the Cy Young Award in his eighth season after never having earned a single vote for the award in any of his previous seven seasons.

Since 1967, when each league started giving out Cy Young Awards (only one award was handed out to the majors' top pitcher from 1956-1966), four men have surpassed Carpenter's mark.  In 1996, John Smoltz of the Atlanta Braves won the Cy Young Award in his ninth major league campaign, after failing to receive a vote in any of his previous eight seasons.  Smoltz became the second ninth-year player to earn his first Cy Young Award votes in the same year he won it, joining San Diego Padres' closer Mark Davis, who accomplished the feat in 1989.  But Smoltz and Davis aren't the record-holders in this category.  That honor is shared by John Denny and Steve Stone.

In 1983, John Denny had a wonderful season for the pennant-winning Phillies, going 19-6 with a 2.37 ERA.  For his efforts, Denny was the recipient of the National League Cy Young Award, earning the hardware in his tenth major league season.  It would also mark the first and last time Denny earned a Cy Young Award vote, as he was out of baseball after the 1986 season at the age of 33.  Similarly, Steve Stone saved his best season in the majors for his tenth, going 25-7 with a 3.23 ERA for the 1980 Baltimore Orioles.  Like Denny before him, Stone was out of baseball by age 33, never receiving another Cy Young Award vote after having never received one prior to his award-winning 1980 campaign.

Editor's note:  In 1967, Mike McCormick of the San Francisco Giants won the National League Cy Young Award in his 12th major league season, after never having received a Cy Young Award vote in any of his previous 11 seasons.  However, as stated before, prior to 1967 only one Cy Young Award was given out to the major league's top pitcher, thereby limiting McCormick's chances to receive a vote.  The same can be said for 1959 Cy Young Award winner Early Wynn, who was in his 19th season the year he won the award.

That brings us back to R.A. Dickey.  In winning the Cy Young Award in his tenth big league season after never having received a single vote in any of his previous nine campaigns, Dickey has tied the mark set by Steve Stone and John Denny in 1980 and 1983, respectively.

Stone and Denny proved to be one-season wonders in their Cy Young campaigns, with both pitchers ending their careers prematurely, but Dickey appears to be in the prime of his knuckleball-twirling career.   At age 38, Dickey has already outlasted Stone and Denny by five years, and as a knuckleballer, he may have at least five more years on his right arm, especially given the longevity of his knuckleball-tossing predecessors, Phil Niekro, Charlie Hough and Tim Wakefield.

R.A. Dickey accomplished many firsts in 2012.  But he also tied a mark you may not have known about.  It took him ten years to get the respect of just one BBWAA voter.  But that one vote turned into 209 votes and earned Dickey his first Cy Young Award.  That's a whole lot of well-earned respect for a first-timer like Dickey.

Izzy Lightning In A Bottle?

Jason Isringhausen was one of three members of Generation K, the triumvirate of young pitchers who were supposed to be the '90s version of Seaver, Koosman and Matlack. Isringhausen had the most success after his initial call-up to the majors in 1995, going 9-2 with a 2.81 ERA in 14 starts.

However, injuries took their toll on Izzy and he was dealt to Oakland at the trade deadline in 1999 for reliever Billy Taylor. Taylor's career with the Mets lasted all of 18 games, as his 8.10 ERA probably had something to do with the length of his stay in New York. Meanwhile, Isringhausen went on to become an All-Star closer with the Athletics and Cardinals, saving 293 games over the course of his career.

Had Isringhusen stayed in New York as a reliever (he picked up one save for the Mets in 1999), perhaps Mets fans would never have been subjected to watching Armando Benitez, Braden Looper or Luis Ayala putting the BS in Blown Save. However, that was then and this is 2011, a year that has brought Izzy's baseball odyssey back to New York.

This has happened before, when a pitcher who made a splash with the Mets went elsewhere, made the postseason repeatedly, including a World Series championship, and then came back at the end of his career in an attempt to close out his career where it all began.

David Cone pitched for the Mets from 1987-1992 and had some of the best seasons of his career in Flushing. But after being traded to the Toronto Blue Jays for the underachieving Jeff Kent and Ryan Thompson (whose sole claim to fame was hitting a grand slam off John Smoltz in 1994 that preceded a bench-clearing brawl when Smoltz intentionally hit mighty mite John Cangelosi with his next pitch), Cone had his greatest success in the majors. He won the Cy Young Award in 1994 with Kansas City, threw a perfect game as a member of the Yankees in 1999 and won a total of five World Series rings (one with Toronto in 1992 and four with the Yankees in 1996, 1997, 1998 and 2000). He then came back to the Mets in 2003 and surprised everyone by making the team out of Spring Training. However, his comeback was short-lived, as he went 1-3 with a 6.50 in five games (four starts).

Jason Isringhausen, on the other hand, pitched for the Mets from 1995-1999 before his trade to Oakland in July of 1999. Because of the trade, he missed out on the Mets' first playoff appearance in 11 years. But beginning the following year (2000), Isringhausen would become a staple in the playoffs.

In 2000, the A's won the AL West and in 2001, Oakland made the playoffs as a 102-win wild card team. After signing with the Cardinals as a free agent, Izzy helped St. Louis win the NL Central division title in 2002. The Cardinals failed to make the playoffs in 2003, but then won three straight division titles, winning the National League pennant in 2004 and the World Series in 2006.

Injuries took their toll on Isringhausen following his last successful season as the Cardinals' closer (2007) and he required Tommy John surgery in June of 2009, while a member of the Tampa Bay Rays.

Now Isringhausen is back on the Mets, and he is impressing the coaching staff to the point where he might pull a David Cone and make the team out of Spring Training. Mets' pitching coach Dan Warthen has monitored Isringhausen closely in camp and had this to offer on his progress:

"I've seen a lot more than I expected at any time. The ball is coming out of his hand great. He still has the Izzy curveball, and he's added a nice little cutter and changeup. I couldn't be more pleased. If Izzy can come in and continue to do exactly what he's doing right now, he is a major part of this."

If Isringhausen does make the team, he may be wearing his old No. 44 (which symbolizes the fact that he was a 44th round draft pick in 1991). Right now, Jason Bay is currently wearing the number, but he has only worn it since being traded from the Pirates to the Red Sox in 2008. When Bay was making a name for himself in Pittsburgh, he wore No. 38. Although he hasn't said that he will go back to wearing his old number with the Pirates (currently new acquisition Chris Capuano is the wearer of No. 38), he has said that he would gladly give up No. 44 to Isringhausen:

“I’ve tried to hit against him and I know how good he is. I hope he makes it because he’s a great pitcher and he’ll make our team better. And if he does, I’m giving him the shirt. It’s his. I want him to have it.”

David Cone tried to recapture some of his old magic when he broke camp with the Mets in 2003 after not pitching in the major leagues in 2002. Unfortunately for him, he wasn't able to come back successfully. Jason Isringhausen didn't pitch in the majors in 2010 while recovering from Tommy John surgery. Will Izzy be able to make the team and succeed in the bullpen? If so, the Mets might have found lightning in a bottle.

There are less than five weeks to go until Opening Day. If there is something left in Izzy's tank, now is the time to prove that he is still capable of helping a big league team. With the departure of Pedro Feliciano and Hisanori Takahashi, the Mets are going to need all the help they can get in the bullpen. Jason Isringhausen might be one of those relievers, and if he is, lightning will have indeed struck twice for Izzy in New York.