Pat Burrell Retires: Who Will Be The New Met Killer?

There have been many players in history who have had good careers but turned it up a notch whenever they played the Mets.  For example, former Giants pitcher Mike Krukow had a decent career in the major leagues, going 124-117 in 14 seasons.  However, against the Mets, he pitched like Cy Young, going 22-7.  Krukow did not defeat any other team in the National League more than 13 times.  And who can forget the quiet dominance of PSSST (otherwise known as the Pitching School of Smiley, Smith and Tomlin)?

In the early '90s, the Pirates' trio of John Smiley, Zane Smith and Randy Tomlin were mediocre to poor against all other teams that didn't have blue and orange in their color scheme, but they morphed into Greg Maddux (the all-time leader in wins against the Mets) whenever New York came to town.

Smiley, Smith and Tomlin combined to go 223-237 over their major league careers against teams that didn't have Mr. Met as their mascot.  Of course, against the Mets, they were 33-19.  Tomlin was the big surprise of the trio.  Against the Mets, he was a perfect 9-0 in five years in the majors.  He won a grand total of 21 games against everyone else (against 31 losses).

As far as hitters go, all I have to say is "La-a-a-a-rry" and you know which Met nemesis I'm referring to.

That brings us to Pat Burrell.  In 12 years in the major leagues, Burrell was a decent power hitter, slugging 292 career home runs.  However, against the Mets, Burrell was Babe Ruth.  The former Phillie played exactly one full season's worth of games against the Mets, batting against them in 162 games.  In those games, Burrell socked 42 HR.  His second-favorite team to homer against was the Florida Marlins, but he only took them deep 26 times.

Earlier this week, Pat Burrell retired from baseball at the age of 35.  Although there is now one less Met killer to worry about, that doesn't mean there aren't any others waiting in the wings to take over for Burrell.  Here are the candidates that the Mets and their fans should worry about:

Corey Hart

The Bernie Brewer lookalike has never been more than a decent hitter in the major leagues, batting .277 in eight seasons.  However, against the Mets, Hart is a .317 career hitter.  Although he has only started 28 games versus the Mets, Hart has scored and driven in nearly a run per game (24 runs, 23 RBI), while launching six home runs.  Hart suffered from various nagging injuries in 2011, but in 2010, he torched the Mets for four homers and 12 RBI in only seven games, which included a walk-off homer and a six-RBI game.

Troy Tulowitzki

The Mets should count their stars that Tulowitzki plays in the NL West.  In 30 games, Tulo has bludgeoned Mets' pitching for a .328 average, six doubles, two triples and seven home runs.  His slugging percentage against the Mets (.595) is nearly 100 points higher than his career mark (.505).  And of course, despite playing half his games in the Mile High City, it was at spacious Citi Field that Tulowitzki hit four home runs in four games in 2011.  He supplied the bat while his teammates brought their brooms, sweeping the four-game series in New York.

Josh Johnson

It's a good thing Johnson is an annual candidate for the disabled list, or else his record against the Mets would be far scarier than it is.  In 14 starts versus New York, Johnson is 8-1 with a 2.68 ERA.  As hard as it is for the Mets to score against Johnson, they find it even harder to take him deep.  In 87⅓ innings against New York, Johnson has allowed a mere three home runs.  Therefore, it should come as no surprise that no other team in the National League has lost to Johnson more than the Mets have.  Just imagine how bad it could be if Johnson had more than 48 career victories.

Cole Hamels

Wait, what?  Hamels is 3-10 against the Mets in his major league career.  How could he possibly be a Met killer?  It's simple, really.  He's due.  And if he's not, he'll find other ways to kill us.  In 2010, when he realized he couldn't beat the Mets with his arm, he decided to break our hearts with his bat.  His sixth-inning single against R.A. Dickey prevented the knuckleballer from recording the first no-hitter in franchise history.  Dickey had to settle for a complete game one-hit shutout.  One year later, another Hamels-Dickey matchup took place.  This time, Dickey took a no-hitter into the seventh inning before Shane Victorino broke it up with a one-out double.  Of course, Dickey received no credit for his yeoman-like effort in the 2-1 Mets victory because Hamels matched zeroes with him.  Hamels might be an ass, but he always finds a way to kill the Mets, even in games where he takes the loss.

Jason Bay

As an opponent, he was a Met killer, banging out 16 extra-base hits, including 8 HR, in 32 games.  He also averaged nearly an RBI per game, driving in 29 runs against the Mets.  Now that he's on the team, he's finding new ways to be a Met killer.  It took Bay 32 games to hit 8 HR AGAINST the Mets.  It took him 113 games to hit 8 HR FOR the Mets.  Let's put it this way.  In two seasons, Jason Bay is still three home runs short of Richard Hidalgo's career total as a Met, and Hidalgo only played 86 games in New York.  Bay killed the Mets as an opponent.  He's doing the same thing as a Met.

Fred Wilpon

Duh.  He's the biggest Met killer of them all.  He won't sell the team.  He won't break his souvenir Sandy Koufax piggy bank to improve the team.  Basically, he's like Rachel Phelps, only worse.  For those who are not into classic cinema, Phelps was the fictional owner of the Cleveland Indians in the film Major League.  Wanting to move the team from Cleveland to Miami, she decided to put the worst players on the field so that fans wouldn't come out to see them.  Why is Wilpon worse than Rachel Phelps?  Because he's making the team worse but instead of moving to Miami, he just allowed his shortstop to relocate there.  Of course, if he could move the team to 55 Sullivan Place in Brooklyn, that would be a different story.


Pat Burrell will no longer be terrorizing the Mets and their fans, choosing to retire rather than continuing to feast on Mets' pitching.  But that doesn't mean the Mets won't have new people to fear.

The new Met killer might come from another division or might come from within the National League East.  He might be a player who finds interesting ways to break our hearts or he might be a player breaking our hearts from within.  He might even be president of the Sandy Koufax fan club.

Regardless, as long as the Mets take the field, there will always be someone out there who will not do much against other teams, but will use the Mets as his own personal chew toy.  That's the nature of the beast.  It's a shame that beast can't suit up for the Mets every once in a while to feast on another team for a change.

Mets Stroke Johnson To Continue Opening Day Dominance

On a gorgeous day for baseball, the Mets played their home opener hoping to erase their bitter memories of the 2009 season. They provided the fans with quite a show, as they defeated the Marlins and their nemesis, Josh Johnson, by the score of 7-1.

That 7-1 score matches Johnson's new career record against the Mets, as the Mets had not been able to defeat the Marlins' hurler until today. Johnson had always been a master at baiting the Mets into swinging prematurely. Prior to today, the Mets and their bats appeared to shrivel and hide against Johnson, who was undefeated against the Mets in nine career starts. It took ten attempts, but the Mets finally exploded against Johnson, climaxing with a four-run sixth inning.

The Mets didn't take long to bring the Flushing Faithful to its feet. After a 1-2-3 inning by Johan Santana in the top of the first, David Wright took a juicy Johnson offering and deposited it over the right field fence, barely staying on the fair side of the not-so-foul pole. It left Wright only nine home runs short of last year's total, but more importantly, it gave the Mets the early 2-0 lead.

After Santana and Johnson put up zeroes over the next four innings, the Marlins finally got to 'Han the Man in the top of the sixth.

With Chris Coghlan on base, Jorge Cantu lined a shot down the left field line. There was no question that the ball was fair, but the call at second left a little to be desired. As shown by the photo below, second base umpire Jeff Nelson was so enthralled by Luis Castillo's orange wristbands that he missed Castillo's tag of Cantu for what should have been the third out of the inning.

Studious Metsimus tried to get an interview with the vision-impaired umpire but was turned away. However, our gossip reporters found a way inside the umpires' dressing room and overheard this conversation.

"I hadn't seen wristbands like that since Tsuyoshi Shinjo played here. How could I not be fascinated by them?"

We tend to believe our outstanding gossip reporters, so lay off Luis Castillo for not selling the play to the umpire. Also, stop bringing up the fact that he didn't use two hands to tag Cantu. That bit is getting as old as Jamie Moyer.

The Mets went into the bottom of the sixth inning with the slimmest of leads, but a 2-1 game quickly turned into a 6-1 lead, thanks to some first base follies by the Marlins.

On a day in which four military members sang the National Anthem, the Mets paid tribute in their own way. First, Sgt. Bay of The Yukon tripled to lead off the inning, followed by a walk to Pvt. Matthews. The walk to Gary Matthews Jr. was the last issued by Josh Johnson, as he was replaced by Clay Hensley.

After a Jeff Francoeur sacrifice fly plated the Poutine Patriot, Hensley tried to pick off Pvt. Matthews at first base, but threw wildly to first baseman Gaby Sanchez, allowing Matthews to scamper to second base. He later scored on a double by Rod Barajas, making the score 4-1. A single by pinch-hitter Angel Pagan brought Barajas home and led to a quick shower for Hensley.

On came Dan Meyer to put out the fire. Of course, he decided to put it out with gasoline and got burned. It looked as if Angel Pagan had run himself into another baserunning blunder when he was caught running towards second base by Meyer. However, error #2 at base #1 pushed Pagan over to third base. Alex Cora then drove in Pagan with a groundout to short.

Since bad news always comes in threes, Luis Castillo reached first base safely when Gaby Sanchez committed the third Marlin error of the inning. The third error did not result in more scoring, as David Wright flied out to left field to end the inning.

Here's a quick recap of the final three innings. One tack-on run by the Mets, two solid innings of relief by Fernando Nieve and everyone's fav'rit Reservoir Dog, Mr. Pink(eye), coming out of the bullpen to put the game in the books.

As seen in the photo above, the post-game celebration led to an interesting discovery. Apparently, Mets' first base coach Razor Shines is a fan of the robot. When Mr. Pink(eye) tried to do his usual jump n' bump with Shines, he was surprised to see the coach in the middle of doing a celebratory robot dance. If this becomes a new tradition at Citi Field, similar to the pogoing at the plate done by players after a walkoff home run, you can thank the Razor for it.

With today's win, the Mets continue their Opening Day mastery. They have now won 32 out of their last 41 Opening Day games. More importantly, they were finally able to defeat Josh Johnson for the first time. Juan Marichal can now rest easily. His 19-0 record against the Mets to start his career will not be surpassed by Josh Johnson.

Johan Santana was on the mound and back to his winning ways. David Wright re-discovered his power stroke. The new additions (Sgt. Bay of The Yukon, Pvt. Matthews and Draft Dodger Rod Barajas) were at attention and served Mets Nation well. Baseball is back at Citi Field and we can't be any happier.

Notes and anecdotes: The Mets premiered their new cream-colored home uniforms today. They are now 1-0 in those jerseys, putting that uniform one game ahead of the Mercury Mets in the all-time jersey standings.

As is customary on Opening Day, each member of the team (including coaches and other on-field personnel) was introduced in a pre-game ceremony. Almost every person introduced was greeted with cheers. Who were the loudest boos reserved for? All of the trainers and physical therapists.

Darryl Strawberry threw out the ceremonial first pitch before a rousing ovation. Had Dwight Gooden not gotten into trouble with New Jersey's Finest, perhaps he would have been tabbed to throw out the season's first pitch.

Opening Day Is Upon Us! Something's Gotta Give!

The Mets have completed their Spring Training schedule and are now en route to New York. They will make an appearance at Citi Field tomorrow for their annual pre-season workout (Studious Metsimus will be attending) before taking the field on Monday for Opening Day against the Florida Marlins.

Johan Santana will be making his third consecutive Opening Day start for the Mets, but his first at Citi Field, as the Mets opened on the road in 2008 and 2009. He will be opposed by Marlins' ace, Josh Johnson, who has fared well since selling his soul to Satan for the right to make the Mets his personal b*tch*s.

Since Johnson signed his pact with Beelzebub, he has gone 7-0 against the Mets in nine career starts. This includes a 3-0 record against New York in 2009 over four starts. In addition to the perfect record, his ERA against the Mets is 2.30 and his WHIP is 1.09. His career numbers against other teams is slightly more pedestrian (27-16 won-loss record, 3.56 ERA, 1.32 WHIP).

The Mets, on the other hand, have the best Opening Day record in baseball. Since making their debut in 1962, the Mets have gone 31-17 on Opening Day, despite the fact that they lost first eight season openers. Since winning the World Series in 1969, the Mets are an astounding 31-9 in Game 1 of the season. They've been more Amazin' at home in that time period, winning 17 of their last 19 Opening Day home games. (I still haven't forgiven you, Tom Glavine, for that 15-2 shellacking at the hands of the Chicago Cubs on Opening Day 2003. You started your Mets career similarly to the way you ended it!)

Something has to give on Monday. Will Josh Johnson continue his dominance against the Mets? Will Johan Santana be able to extend the Mets' mastery of Opening Day games?



Last year, we got a delicious taste of what a Santana-Johnson pitching duel was like. On April 12, Johan Santana was brilliant against the Marlins, striking out 13 batters in seven innings of work. He allowed only three hits and walked one, but that walk came around to score when Daniel Murphy dropped a routine fly ball in left field. Murphy's fielding gaffe was followed by Ronny Paulino's run-scoring single, giving the Marlins the only two runs they scored on the day.

Unfortunately, Santana was tagged with the loss in that game, as Josh Johnson pitched a complete game against the Mets. Johnson allowed one run on five hits, also walking only one batter.

But that game was last year. 2010 is all about new beginnings. For the Mets, it's time to shake off the ghosts that haunted them throughout the 2009 season. They can't continue to hide under the skirt of injuries when they need an excuse for their latest poor performance. They must come out strong and show the "experts" that predictions of another fourth-place finish were grossly miscalculated.

It all begins with Santana vs. Johnson on Opening Day. Giving Josh Johnson his first career loss against the Mets could be the first of many positive things the Mets could do this year. Start at the beginning and finish on top. Is that formula so difficult to follow? PLAY BALL!