Joey's Soapbox: My 2019 Not-At-All Biased Division Series Picks

Minnesota hit the target (the outfield seats) a major-league record 307 times.  (Ed Leyro/Studious Metsimus)

Hey, everyone!  This is Joey Beartran, and it's time to share my picks for the American and National League Division Series.  As usual, none of these picks will be biased because I'd lose all my credibility if they were.  You know, kinda like when the Wilpons lose their credibility as big-market owners every year during free agent signing season.

All my picks will be based as endless data that I've pored over for days.  I've considered pitching matchups, weather factors, if a stadium favors one team over another, and who's playing that team from the Bronx.  All of that information has led me to pick four winners who will compete in the League Championship Series.

Who will advance?  Will Minnesota do what no Twins team has done before in October against the Yankees?  Will the Nationals finally win a playoff series?  (Don't you dare say they just did.  They won the Wild Card Game, not the Wild Card Series.)  Will Houston have a problem against Tampa Bay?  And will I watch any games in the series featuring the last two teams to eliminate the Mets in the NLCS (Braves in 1999, Cardinals in 2006)?

The time has come for me to share my Division Series picks.


National League Division Series

St. Louis Cardinals vs. Atlanta Braves

I'm only picking the winner of this series because I have to, not because I want to.  Both teams have been a thorn in the Mets' side over the years, so I'm not particularly thrilled that one of them is going to play for the right to represent the National League in the World Series.  But I'm a professional, so I'll actually pick a team to win for a reason other than a meteor striking the other team's dugout, frying every player on the roster to a crisp and causing a forfeit.

The Cardinals made the playoffs as a division champion despite having the tenth-best record in the majors.  Their team batting average was only .245 and they had the fourth-fewest homers in the National League.  Their starting rotation is Jack Flaherty and the Mediocre Men.  If you want to argue that Dakota Hudson had a 16-7 record, I'll respond by pointing at his 1.41 WHIP.  Bring up Adam Wainwright and his Death-To-Beltran curveball and I'll show you his 4.19 ERA, 1.43 WHIP and .782 OPS against him.  Plus, Yadier Molina is playing in his 20th postseason series.  I've had enough of seeing him in October.

Meanwhile, Atlanta earned their trip to the playoff party, winning 97 games and graciously allowing the Mets to sweep them at the end of the season so that New York could finish ten games above .500.  Now that's southern hospitality right there.

Up, up and away. (Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) 

The Braves have Freddie Freeman, Ronald Acuña Jr, Ozzie Albies and Josh Donaldson leading the offense, while the rotation of Mike Soroka, Dallas Keuchel, Max Fried and Julio Teheran is among the best in the league.  But those players aren't why I'm leaning towards picking Atlanta.

#VoteMarkakis.  It was cool in 2013.  It's still cool now.  And Nick Markakis - who's advanced to the League Championship Series just once in his 14-year career - is going to make the Cardinals buckle before him.  You know, kinda like what Adam Wainwright did to that future Hall of Famer in 2006.

I'm voting Braves in this series.

Prediction: Braves in 4.


Washington Nationals vs. Los Angeles Dodgers

Let me begin by bringing up something I mentioned before.  The Nationals have never won a postseason series.  Ever.  They won the Wild Card GAME, not the Wild Card SERIES.  Plus, Wikipedia told me they haven't won a playoff series, and as we all know, if Wikipedia says so, then it must be true.

That being said, the Dodgers have too many weapons for Washington to handle.

Whatever.  (David Crane/LA Daily News)

Cody Bellinger led the Dodgers in hits, walks, home runs, RBI, runs scored, stolen bases and probably put on a vendor uniform and sold some Dodger Dogs between innings when no one was looking.  He's that talented.  And even when Bellinger had a rare bad night (like going 1-for-4 with a walk), his teammates were there to pick him up.  Joc Pederson and Max Muncy combined for 71 homers.  Corey Seager ripped 44 doubles and drove in 87 runs despite missing 28 games.  And Justin Turner was magically delicious as always, batting .290 and tying a career high with 27 homers.

The Nationals may have the three-headed pitching monster of Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg and Patrick Corbin, but it was the Dodgers who led the league in ERA and WHIP.  Los Angeles also allowed just 185 home runs, which was the fewest given up by any National League staff.

If that's not enough for you to figure out who I'm picking in this series, consider this.  In using Scherzer for five innings in the Wild Card Game (still not a series) and Strasburg for three frames, neither pitcher will be available to pitch in the first two games of the Division Series, with Scherzer due to start Game Three and Strasburg toiling in Game Four.

In 2012, the Nationals famously shut down Strasburg before he got a chance to pitch in the Division Series.  He's not pitching in this series either, but this time it'll be because the Dodgers are shutting down Strasburg's team.

Prediction: Dodgers in 3.


American League Division Series

Tampa Bay Rays vs. Houston Astros

The Rays are a great story.  On a budget that would make the Wilpons proud, they've managed to lead the American League in ERA and allowed the fewest long balls in the majors in a year when baseball went homer happy.  They've continued to use an "opener" instead of a starting pitcher to great success, which allowed Tampa to limit its starters' innings to keep their arms fresh.  (Only Charlie Morton worked more than 150 innings this season.)

On the offensive side, the Rays got an incredible year from Austin Meadows, who launched 33 homers in 138 games after hitting just six in 59 games prior to the 2019 campaign.  They also got Travis d'Arnaud to come out of his shell, as he finally reached his potential with the bat just months after he played his final game with the Mets.

As I said, the Rays have been a fantastic story in 2019.  But dude, they're playing the Houston Astros.  And no one is beating a team that has Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole and Zack Greinke putting up zeroes and Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman and Yuli Gurriel blasting balls all over the field.  Oh, and let's not forget shortstop Carlos Correa, who's been injured for most of the season, but still managed to hit 21 homers and put up a .926 OPS in 75 games.  Correa is expected to be ready for Game One of the Division Series.

It was fun while it lasted, Tampa.  But the Astros are a team of destiny.

Prediction: Astros in 4.

Is Jose Altuve trying to give Cody Bellinger a run for his money as part-time All-Star, part-time hot dog vendor?

Minnesota Twins vs. New York Yankees

I'll make this one quick and painless.  The Yankees are 13-2 all-time against the Twins in the postseason.  But they've never faced a Minnesota team that can beat them at their own game.

The Yankees hit 306 home runs to shatter their major league home record, which was 267.  Except that the Twins hit 307 to erase the Yankees from the record book.

New York's starting pitchers don't miss bats, as evidenced by James Paxton's team-leading 186 strikeouts.  With Domingo German out for the postseason, no other Yankee on the postseason roster reached 150 Ks.  Pitching to contact against a team that makes powerful contact isn't a recipe for success for any team, no matter how many ringzzzzz they have.

By the time this series is over, the Yankees will have lost five postseason games to the Twins all-time.  Which will give them plenty of time to treat their necks for whiplash from watching all of Minnesota's home runs.

Prediction: Twins in 5.

Smile!  The Twins are finally going to (boom) stick it to the Yankees.  (Kim Klement/USA TODAY Sports)

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)

Joey's Soapbox: My 2017 Not-At-All Biased Wild Card Game Picks

I wonder who I'm picking to win the N.L. Wild Card game.  If only I had a sign to help me...

Hey, how's everybody doing?  I'm playoff prognosticator Joey Beartran and I'm ready for some postseason baseball.  This is the first season since 2014 that the Mets were not invited to the playoff party but many players who called Flushing home at some point in 2017 did receive - and accept - their invitations.

The Indians and Dodgers, owners of the best regular season records in their respective leagues, are bringing Jay Bruce and Curtis Granderson, respectively, to the postseason.  Addison Reed will be coming out of the bullpen for the A.L. East champion Red Sox.  Even Rene Rivera could crack the defending World Series champion Cubs' 25-man postseason roster.

Last year, the Yankees stayed home and the Mets played past their 162nd game.  This year, New York (AL) is hosting the Minnesota Twins in the wild card game and New York (NL) is busy showing off videos of Jacob deGrom's haircut.  Seriously, that's how the Mets are making news this October.  (Well, that and Terry Collins saying adios to Mets fans.)

Say it ain't so, Jake!  (Screen grab courtesy of Jose Reyes' Snapchat)

So since we don't have meaningful Mets baseball games until next March 29, we should probably focus on the wild card games set for Tuesday and Wednesday night.  Will the Yankees win their first postseason game since Zach Lutz was a Met?  Will the Twins finally end their 12-game postseason losing streak?  Will the Rockies ride Chuck Nazty to the division series?  Or will Arizona get their revenge on Colorado for the 2007 NLCS?

There's only one way to know what's going to happen before it happens.  And that's by reading my wild card picks below; picks that are not biased at all.  Trust me.  I'm an expert.


American League Wild Card Game


Minnesota Twins vs. New York Yankees

The Twins have never defeated the Yankees in a postseason series, having dropped the ALDS to the Bronx Bummers in 2003, 2004, 2009 and 2010.  More recently, New York won all three games played against Minnesota at Yankee Stadium in 2017.  And to make matters worse for the Twins, their starting pitcher for the wild card game - Ervin Santana - has an 0-5 record with a 6.43 ERA in six career starts at the new House That Juice Built.

For the Yankees, starting pitcher Luis Severino struck out 230 batters during the regular season, which was tied for the third-highest total in Yankees history.  In addition, his 153 ERA+ made him the first Yankees starting pitcher to register an ERA+ over 150 since David Cone had a 159 ERA+ in 1997.

I heart Bart.  (Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)

The Yankees go into the postseason on a roll, having won 21 of their last 30 games.  The Twins were a .500 team in September, going 14-14 in the month.  New York has ten-foot tall Aaron Judge clubbing everything out of sight.  Minnesota's top home run hitter is Brian Dozier, who's half the size of Judge and hit 18 fewer homers.  Everything seems to be coming up Yankees in this game, right?

Nah.

Santana wins his first game at the new Yankee Stadium, Miguel Sanó does his best David Ortiz impression (but from the right side of the plate) and Bartolo Colón's career lives to see another round.

Prediction: Minnesota will advance to the ALDS.


National League Wild Card Game


Colorado Rockies vs. Arizona Diamondbacks

Both Colorado and Arizona reversed their fortunes in 2017.  Literally.  The Rockies improved their record from 75-87 to 87-75, while the D-Backs went from 69-93 to 93-69.  But neither team came within striking distance of the first place Dodgers, necessitating this one-game face-off for the right to be swept by Justin Turner and Friends.

Last year, the Mets played in this game and ran into a buzzsaw on the mound in Madison Bumgarner.  This season, Jon Gray and Zack Greinke will try to be this year's Bumgarner.  It's too bad both pitchers will fail, as this game will be a Wild West shootout.

Gray will have to control the bats of Paul Goldschmidt and J.D. Martinez.  It will not go smoothly.  Greinke, on the other hand, will be staring down Nolan Arenado and batting champion Charlie Blackmon, among others.  Because of his reputation, Greinke will be left in the game a little too long.  Like five or six runs on the scoreboard too long.

Arizona may have finished ahead of Colorado in the standings, but the Rockies will finish ahead of the Diamondbacks in this game.  And if Arizona ordered a large number of churro dogs in anticipation of a lengthy postseason run, I know someone who can help them reduce their inventory.

#GIFparty + #tbt = Churro Dog! pic.twitter.com/chlMT4ezlC

— Steve Gelbs (@SteveGelbs) March 3, 2016

Prediction: Colorado will advance to the NLDS.

The Most With The Least: Tim Teufel (1987)

Sometimes a baseball player gets benched because he's not performing well.  This occasionally leads to the benched player asking how he's supposed to prove himself on the field if he's not allowed to take the field.  However, for some players, spending time on the bench helps them become more productive when they are given the opportunity to start.  Take, for example, the case of a former Mets player and current Mets coach who was an everyday player before coming to New York and then found himself as part of a platoon just as he was entering the prime years of his playing career.

For two seasons in Minnesota, he was the team's starting second baseman.  In his first full season with the Twins, he showed uncharacteristic power potential for a middle infielder, smacking 30 doubles and 14 homers in 652 plate appearances.  His efforts did not go unnoticed, as he placed fourth in that year's American League Rookie of the Year vote.

The following season saw a slight dropoff in his extra-base hit numbers (24 doubles, 10 homers), but nothing too serious to suggest that he was expendable.  However, the Twins struggled tremendously with their pitchers, finishing near the bottom of the American League in that department.  They needed to upgrade the team's pitching if they wanted to compete in their division and so they traded their young second baseman to the New York Mets for two minor league pitching prospects and a former first round draft pick.  The Mets now had a right-handed hitting platoon partner for Wally Backman at second base to take the place of Kelvin Chapman, who batted .174 in the role the year before.  Before long, it was clear that this former Twin wasn't going to be Chapman's twin in the hitting department.

Tim Teufel had many opposing pitchers on their knees in 1987.  (Barry Colla Photography)

Timothy Shawn Teufel had over 1,000 at-bats as the Twins starting second baseman in 1984 and 1985.  But as a second baseman for the Mets playing mostly against left-handed pitchers, he amassed just 279 at-bats in 1986, starting in 70 of the team's 162 games.  Despite the decreased workload, Teufel still managed 24 extra-base hits and 31 RBI for the Mets in 1986, which represented a tremendous upgrade from Kelvin Chapman's 1985 numbers against southpaws (.172 batting average, two extra-base hits, seven RBI in 128 at-bats).

In 1984 and 1985, Wally Backman was forced to hit against left-handed pitching more often than manager Davey Johnson would have liked because of Chapman's inability to produce much of anything against them.  Backman ended up averaging close to 500 at-bats in each season and batted .280 and .273 in the two years before Teufel's acquisition.  However, the switch-hitting Backman was even more futile than Chapman was against left-handed pitching, batting an anemic .122 (16-for-131) versus southpaws in 1985.  The trade for Teufel immediately allowed Backman to play exclusively against right-handed pitching and resulted in Backman's most productive season at the plate in 1986 - a year in which he batted .320 and struck out just 32 times in 440 plate appearances, an average of one strikeout every 13.8 plate appearances.  (Batting more often against left-handed pitchers in 1984 and 1985, Backman fanned 135 times in 1,073 plate appearances, averaging one whiff every 7.9 plate appearances in those seasons.)

While the two pitching prospects (Bill Latham, Joe Klink) and former first round draft pick (future Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane) struggled in Minnesota, Teufel found a home in New York.  The Connecticut native thrived in his new role as the team's part-time second baseman, and his arrival also brought out the best in his platoon partner.  Teufel's first season in New York ended with a World Series victory, one in which he was a healthy contributor at the plate, posting an impressive .444/.500/.889 slash line in the three games he started against Boston lefty Bruce Hurst.  Hurst allowed just two extra-base hits in the series, with both of them (a double and a homer) coming off the bat of Tim Teufel.

Teufel's fielding wasn't always the best, as evidenced by his costly error in Game One of the Fall Classic, but his hitting usually overshadowed his shortcomings on defense and allowed the Mets to be deeper on the bench, as seen in a game during the Mets' dominant summer run in 1986, when Teufel's pinch-hit grand slam off Philadelphia's Tom Hume gave the Mets a thrilling extra-inning victory.

The Mets followed up their historic 1986 campaign with a disappointing 1987 season.  In 1986, the quartet of Dwight Gooden, Ron Darling, Sid Fernandez and Bob Ojeda combined to start 128 games, with each starter making at least 30 starts.  A year later, the post-championship hangover affected the entire staff, with the four hurlers making just 91 starts between them and only Darling taking the ball more than 27 times.  Injuries and substance abuse curtailed the seasons of the once-dominant starting rotation, with each starter, including Darling, spending time on the disabled list in 1987.

With pitchers such as John Mitchell, Terry Leach, Don Schulze, John Candelaria and Tom Edens making unexpected starts for the Mets, it behooved the offense to carry the team even more in 1987.  Darryl Strawberry and Howard Johnson contributed greatly, becoming the first pair of teammates to produce a season with 30+ homers and 30+ stolen bases.  The newly acquired Kevin McReynolds also had a fine season, missing a 30 HR, 100 RBI campaign by just one blast and five ribbies.  But an unheralded hitting star of the 1987 season was not one of the big boppers, as Tim Teufel had one of the most productive campaigns ever produced by a part-time player in team history, shuffling his way into the hearts of Mets fans with his phenomenal performance.

YouTube video courtesy of CourtsideTweets

Once again, Teufel started in less than half of the team's games, as his name was in Davey Johnson's starting lineup just 71 times in 1987, but despite not reaching 300 at-bats for the second straight year (he had 299), Teufel managed to have the type of season he produced when he was an everyday player for the Twins.

Nine players had more at-bats than Teufel did for the Mets in 1987, including fellow second baseman Wally Backman, but Teufel still managed to finish fourth on the team in doubles (29), sixth in homers (14), sixth in RBI (61) and fifth in WAR (3.5).  He also led the team in batting average (.308), on-base percentage (.398 - tied for the team lead with Strawberry) and was runner-up to Strawberry in slugging percentage (.545), OPS (.943) and OPS+ (153).  In doing so, Teufel made team history by becoming just the third player with at least 350 plate appearances (he had 351) to produce an OPS+ higher than 150, joining Cleon Jones - who produced a 151 OPS+ in 1969 - and Strawberry.  Teufel also became the third Mets player with that many plate appearances to produce an OPS higher than .900, also joining Jones and Strawberry.

At no point of the season was Teufel hotter than he was during a two-month stretch from June to August, when the Mets went from being a fourth-place team with a .500 record to a second-place team, knocking on the door of the first-place Cardinals.  From June 9 to August 6, Teufel played in 25 games (22 starts), missing two weeks in late June with a strained right hamstring.  Teufel helped the Mets win 16 of those 25 games, reaching base 43 times and batting .348 with a lofty 1.118 OPS.  More than half of Teufel's 31 hits during his hot streak went for extra bases (10 doubles, 7 HR) and he drove in 22 runs in 89 at-bats, averaging nearly one RBI every four at-bats.

Perhaps the most incredible stat about Teufel's 1987 campaign is the following.  A total of 20 players with at least 350 plate appearances in a single season have batted higher than .308 for the Mets.  Likewise, ten Mets players have produced an OBP higher than .398 and ten players have surpassed a .545 slugging percentage.  But prior to 1987, no Mets player had ever produced a .308/.398/.545 slash line and only John Olerud (1998), Mike Piazza (1998, 2000) and David Wright (2007) have been able to match or surpass Teufel in all three categories since his spectacular 1987 campaign.

Betcha never thought you'd see Tim Teufel's name mentioned in the same sentence as these three Mets all-time greats.

Tim Teufel had 29 doubles and 61 RBI in a limited number of plate appearances in 1987.  Out of all the Mets players with fewer than 400 plate appearances in a single season through the 2015 campaign, no one has produced as many doubles as Teufel did in '87.  (Desi Relaford had 27 doubles in 340 plate appearances in 2001.)  And the only player in the franchise's first 50-plus years to surpass the 61 RBI produced by Teufel in under 400 plate appearances was Steve Henderson, who had 65 RBI in 398 plate appearances in 1977.  (Teufel still had a higher RBI/PA ratio, driving in a run every 5.75 plate appearances while Henderson had an RBI every 6.12 PA.)

Unfortunately, Teufel's amazing 1987 campaign has been mostly overlooked because that season is mostly remembered for the plethora of unexpected visits to the disabled list by the team's pitchers.  Teufel's campaign also occurred in a non-playoff year, as it took place in between the team's 1986 championship season and their 1988 division title.

Although Teufel remained on the team until 1991, his plate appearances dwindled following his breakout 1987 season.  He came up to the plate 309 times in 1988, had 254 plate appearances in 1989 and came up to bat just 192 times in 1990.  His 1990 campaign was reminiscent of his spectacular 1987 season as Teufel had 21 extra-base hits (11 doubles, 10 homers) despite not reaching 200 plate appearances.  But Teufel had just four hits in 34 at-bats through late May in 1991, and as a result, he was traded to the San Diego Padres for shortstop Garry Templeton, playing the final three seasons of his career as a part-time player with the Padres.

Teufel returned to the Mets after a few years away from the game and has served as an instructor, coach and minor league manager within the organization.  Since 2012, he has worked at the major league level, serving as the Mets' third base coach.  Just as his former manager, Buddy Harrelson, was the only man to be in uniform for the 1969 and 1986 World Series championship teams (Harrelson was the team's third base coach in 1986), Teufel is the only person to be in uniform for the 1986 and 2015 Mets teams that reached the Fall Classic.

(Getty Images)

"I'm so happy for these guys to get this feeling as a player.  Not everybody gets this chance.  I had it as a player, but as a coach I'm happy for these guys and I'm happy for the coaching staff."
 
--Tim Teufel, on reaching the 2015 World Series.




Tim Teufel's six-year tenure as a part-time second baseman with the Mets was solid, but unspectacular.  He never played 100 games in any of his half-dozen seasons in New York and only managed 35 homers and 164 RBI in nearly 1,500 plate appearances with the team.  But his acquisition solidified the second base position, providing the team with a high-average, base-stealing threat against right-handed pitchers in Wally Backman and a power-hitting presence versus left-handers in Teufel.  Whereas southpaws relished facing the Mets' second basemen whenever Backman or Kelvin Chapman came up to the plate in 1984 and 1985, they had to pitch more carefully against Teufel, who collected 83 extra-base hits in 810 at-bats against left-handers as a Met from 1986 to 1991.

Teufel reached the postseason twice in 1986 and 1988, but what he did in the year between his playoff appearances was the highlight of his career.  He turned a part-time job into a full-time nightmare for opposing pitchers.  And in doing so, he was responsible for one of the quietest career years by a Mets player and one of the most impressive full-season performances by a platoon player in franchise history.  Teufel made his way to the majors as an everyday player with the Minnesota Twins.  He stayed in the majors by accepting a role as a part-time player for the New York Mets who made the most of his sporadic playing opportunities.

And more than three decades after the trade for Teufel was consummated, he remains a part of the Mets on-field family.  Not bad for a player who spent a good chunk of his playing career on the bench.


Note:  The Most With The Least is a thirteen-part weekly series spotlighting those Mets players who performed at a high level without receiving the accolades or playing time their more established teammates got, due to injuries, executive decisions or other factors.  For previous installments, please click on the players' names below:

January 4, 2016: Benny Agbayani
January 11, 2016: Donn Clendenon

The Mets Are The Only Franchise Without A Player Having A 3-HR Game At Home

The Mets are entering their seventh season at Citi Field in 2015.  Prior to that, they called Shea Stadium home for 45 seasons.  And that came on the heels of a two-year residency at the Polo Grounds in 1962 and 1963.  That's over half a century of home games spread out over three stadiums.

Almost a thousand players have played for the Mets in that time, with just under 400 of them hitting at least one home run in a Mets uniform.  Of those 391 players who hit it "outta here", only Jim Hickman, Dave Kingman, Claudell Washington, Darryl Strawberry, Gary Carter, Edgardo Alfonzo, Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran and Ike Davis were able to hit three home runs in the same game.  Amazingly, all nine of them achieved their tater trifecta on the road.

That's right, Mets fans.  There have been over 4,000 home games in Mets history and the team still has more no-hitters than players who have hit three homers in the same game in front of the home crowd.  It's enough to make Gary Cohen say something like this every time a Mets player comes close.

"You know, Keith, no Met has ever hit three home runs in a game at home."

So now that we know that the Mets have only had nine players who have produced prodigious displays of power - all on the road - the question that has to be on everyone's minds is this.  Is there any other team in baseball that has never seen one of its own blast three homers in a single game at home?  My research yielded an interesting answer.

Below is a list of the last players to pull off home run hat tricks for each major league team while wearing their home whites.

Team	Player	Date/Opponent
Arizona Diamondbacks	Jason Kubel	7/21/12 vs. HOU
Atlanta Braves	Mark Teixeira	6/22/08 vs. SEA
Baltimore Orioles	Chris Davis	8/24/12 vs. TOR
Boston Red Sox	Kevin Millar	7/23/04 vs. NYY
Chicago Cubs	Dioner Navarro	5/29/13 vs. CWS
Chicago White Sox	Paul Konerko	7/7/09 vs. CLE
Cincinnati Reds	Joey Votto	5/13/12 vs. WAS
Cleveland Indians	Jim Thome	7/6/01 vs. STL
Colorado Rockies	Carlos Gonzalez	5/30/12 vs. HOU
Detroit Tigers	Miguel Cabrera	5/28/10 vs. OAK
Florida/Miami Marlins	Cody Ross	9/11/06 vs. NYM (*)
Houston Astros	Morgan Ensberg	5/15/05 vs. SF
Kansas City Royals	Danny Tartabull	7/6/91 vs. OAK (*)
Los Angeles Angels	Torii Hunter	6/13/09 vs. SD
Los Angeles Dodgers	Juan Uribe	9/9/13 vs. ARZ
Milwaukee Brewers	Prince Fielder	9/27/11 vs. PIT
New York Yankees	Curtis Granderson	4/19/12 vs. MIN
Oakland Athletics	Miguel Tejada	6/11/99 vs. LAD
Philadelphia Phillies	Jayson Werth	5/16/08 vs. TOR
Pittsburgh Pirates	Andrew McCutchen	8/1/09 vs. WAS
San Diego Padres	Phil Nevin	10/6/01 vs. COL (*)
San Francisco Giants	Barry Bonds	8/2/94 vs. CIN
Seattle Mariners	Edgar Martinez	5/18/99 vs. MIN
St. Louis Cardinals	Albert Pujols	9/3/06 vs. PIT
Tampa Bay Rays	Evan Longoria	10/3/12 vs. BAL
Texas Rangers	Adrian Beltre	8/22/12 vs. BAL
Toronto Blue Jays	John Buck	4/29/10 vs. OAK
Washington Nationals	Adam Dunn	7/7/10 vs. SD

Editor's note:  Barry Bonds was the last member of the San Francisco Giants to hit three home runs in a regular season home game, but the Giants' Pablo Sandoval hit three home runs in Game 1 of the 2012 World Series, which was played in San Francisco.

(*) The star indicates that this was the only time in team history that a player produced a three-homer game in his home ballpark.


Did you notice any teams missing in the chart above?  There were two - the Mets (obviously) and the Minnesota Twins.  But prior to 1961, the Minnesota Twins were playing ball as the Washington Senators.  And on August 31, 1956, Jim Lemon became the first and only member of the original Washington Senators to hit three home runs in a home game when he clobbered his triumvirate of taters at Griffith Stadium against the New York Yankees.

With the Senators/Twins franchise having a member in the "three homers at home" club, that leaves the Mets as the only team in the majors without a player who has hit three round-trippers in a single game in his home ballpark.

It's no wonder Gary Cohen continues to mention that fact ad nauseum in the same way he (and every other Mets broadcaster) used to discuss no-hitters before the events of June 1, 2012.

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!

In honor of the topic at hand, here are some other bits of "three-homer at home" minutiae for you.

• Two players have hit three homers in a home game on four separate occasions.  Both accomplished their feats for the Chicago Cubs.  Ernie Banks had his three-homer games at Wrigley Field in 1955, 1957, 1962 and 1963, while Sammy Sosa slammed his way to history at the Friendly Confines in 1996, 1998 and twice in 2001.

• Speaking of the Cubs, the Bleacher Bums at Wrigley Field have been treated to the most three-homer performances by one of their own.  Cubs players have produced three homers in a game 24 times at the Friendly Confines.  No other team has more than 17 such games.  (The Cincinnati Reds have that amount in their various home ballparks.)  Looks like the wind was blowing out at just the right time for the North Siders during those two dozen affairs.

• The Brooklyn Dodgers and the Milwaukee Brewers are the only teams to have three players accomplish the "three-homer at home" feat in the same season.  In 1950, fans at Ebbets Field saw Duke Snider, Gil Hodges and Tommy Brown go deep three times in one game.  Similarly, Miller Park season-ticket holders in 2011 witnessed Corey Hart, Casey McGehee and Prince Fielder circle the bases thrice in the same game.

• Although no Mets player has ever hit three homers in a game at home, four opposing players had three-homer games against the Mets in New York.  St. Louis' Stan Musial was the first to do so, smacking three bombs at the Polo Grounds on July 8, 1962.  Dick Allen of the Philadelphia Phillies became the first player to hit three home runs in a game at Shea Stadium on September 29, 1968.  A decade later, Cincinnati's Pete Rose became the most unlikely candidate to have a three-homer game at Shea when he circled the bases three times on April 29, 1978.  It was the only time Rose hit three home runs in a single game in his 24-year career.  Finally, former Met Dave Kingman launched three long balls at Shea Stadium as a member of the Chicago Cubs on July 28, 1979.

• No Mets player has ever hit three homers in a home game.  But seven players have hit three blasts in the same game against the Mets in their home ballparks, with one of the seven doing it twice.  Willie McCovey of the San Francisco Giants victimized the Mets at Candlestick Park in 1963 and 1966.  The next three times a player hit a trio of home runs in a home game against the Mets, those players were wearing Cubs uniforms.  Adolfo Phillips (1967), Billy Williams (1968) and Tuffy Rhodes (1994) gave a total of nine souvenirs to the Bleacher Bums at Wrigley Field, courtesy of various Mets pitchers.  The other three players to hit three homers in a home game against the Mets were Detroit's Bobby Higginson (1997 at Tiger Stadium), Arizona's Luis Gonzalez (2004 at Bank One Ballpark) and Florida's Cody Ross (2006 at Dolphins Stadium).  Ross's game remains the only time in Marlins history in which one of their own hit three homers in a game at home.

Mets fans have always hated Cody Ross.  After reading this piece, they'll hate him even more.

Since the Mets came into existence in 1962, there have been 175 instances in which a player hit three home runs in the same regular season game at his home ballpark.  In all 175 instances, the player who circled the bases was wearing a uniform that did not say "Mets" on it.

And now, for the second time in Citi Field's short history, the dimensions of the ballpark have been adjusted to supposedly make it easier for the Mets to hit home runs there.  But will those cosmetic changes help produce the first three-homer game by a Mets player in his home whites?  Or will the closer fences allow Mets fans to witness a fifth player in his road grays following in the footsteps of Stan Musial, Dick Allen, Pete Rose and Dave Kingman by taking a trio of trots around the bases in the Mets' home park?

In the 1970s, Schoolhouse Rock once taught us that "Three Is A Magic Number".  It remains to be seen if Citi Field will ever by rocked by a Mets player who believes in the power of three.