M.U.M.'s The Word (Most Underrated Mets): Jon Matlack

In 1966, the Mets had the #1 draft pick in the June Amateur Draft. A certain Reginald Martinez Jackson was there for the taking as the first pick, but instead the Mets chose Steve Chilcott, a left-handed hitting high school catcher from California. Jackson was taken as the second pick by the Kansas City Athletics. 27 years and 563 home runs later, Reggie Jackson was inducted into the Hall of Fame, while the Mets were left wondering what might have been.

One year after drafting Chilcott, who never played a game in the major leagues (Chilcott and Brien Taylor are the only #1 overall picks to retire from baseball without ever making it to the major leagues), the Mets had the #4 pick in the amateur draft. At the time, Chilcott was wallowing in the minor leagues, while Reggie Jackson had already made it to the majors.

Going into the 1967 draft, the Mets' focus was on pitching. Eight of their first 12 picks in the '67 amateur draft were pitchers, including their first round pick. That year, the Mets did not waste their high draft pick on a player who fizzled out in the minor leagues, for 1967 was the year the Mets drafted Jon Matlack.


Jonathan Trumpbour Matlack, despite the high draft pick, took some time to get to the major leagues. The Mets did not feel the need to rush him, being that he was all of 17 years old on draft day.

During the Miracle Mets season of 1969, the 19-year-old Matlack was pitching at AAA-Tidewater, just one step away from the major leagues. But the Mets had a strong pitching staff, with Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman, Gary Gentry, Don Cardwell, Jim McAndrew and Nolan Ryan all spending time in the starting rotation. Because of the surplus of quality starting pitching at the major league level, Matlack spent the entire 1969 and 1970 seasons at Tidewater as well as the majority of the 1971 season.

Matlack didn't have a spectacular three-year stay in Triple-A, going 37-25, with a 4.09 ERA. However, when Jerry Koosman was placed on the disabled list on July 6, 1971, a spot in the rotation opened up. The time had finally come for the Mets' first round draft pick from 1967 to make the jump to the big leagues.

While Koosman was recuperating on the DL, Matlack made five starts. Unfortunately, his first major league victory did not come so easily, as Matlack was charged with three losses and two no-decisions during his first stint in the major leagues. Koosman returned from the disabled list on August 14 and Matlack was sent back to Tidewater. He was brought back up to the Mets in September, making one relief appearance and one start, where he gave up one run in eight innings of work. However, Matlack did not receive any run support in his final effort, settling for the no-decision in a game the Mets eventually won 2-1. Although Matlack finished with an 0-3 record for the Mets in 1971, he retained his rookie status for 1972, a season that would firmly entrench him in the starting rotation.

When Nolan Ryan was traded to the California Angels on December 10, 1971 in the infamous Jim Fregosi deal, it opened up a spot in the starting rotation. Jon Matlack was now in the big leagues for good and he took full advantage of the opportunity, going 6-0 in his first nine games (eight starts), with a 1.95 ERA. Matlack's sixth victory was a complete game three-hit shutout against the Phillies, defeating Steve Carlton, who went on to win 27 games and the Cy Young Award in 1972.

Carlton was not the only pitcher from that game who won a major award for his outstanding performance in 1972. His opponent took home an award as well, as Jon Matlack became the second Mets player to win the National League Rookie of the Year Award (Tom Seaver was the first in 1967). Matlack finished the season with a 15-10 record and a 2.32 ERA, good for fourth in the National League.

The 1972 season also ended with Matlack playing an important part in baseball history, as he gave up Roberto Clemente's 3,000th hit on September 30. It would be the last hit in Clemente's storied career, as he was tragically killed in a plane crash while delivering aid to earthquake victims in Nicaragua.

When 1973 began, Matlack was no longer the rookie in the rotation. He was now the #3 pitcher on the staff after Tom Seaver and Jerry Koosman, the leaders of the 1969 World Champion Mets. Unfortunately, the Mets had not returned to the postseason since 1969. All that changed when the Mets started to believe.

The 1973 Mets were going nowhere fast. After three consecutive third place, 83-win seasons, the Mets appeared headed towards familiar territory - last place. That's exactly where the Mets found themselves on August 30, after a 10-inning, 1-0 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals. Although the Mets were struggling to find their identity and their place in the standings, their poor record was not the fault of Jon Matlack, as the sophomore pitcher had a strong stretch of starts from May to August. Over a period of 18 starts, Matlack held hitters to a .217 batting average and a .300 slugging percentage. The end result for the 18-start stretch was a 2.73 ERA. However, the Mets could not capitalize on Matlack's extended streak of excellence, losing 11 of those 18 starts. But after August 30, everything changed for Matlack and the Mets.

Once Tug McGraw uttered his famous "Ya Gotta Believe" rallying cry, the Mets were nothing but a team that believed. They won 21 of their final 29 games, overtaking every team in the NL East before winning the division on the final day of the season. Matlack was brilliant over his last five starts, holding hitters to a .186 batting average and registering a 1.77 ERA. Despite the fact that his won-loss record was 14-16, Matlack finished the year with a 3.20 ERA and his first (and only) season with 200 or more strikeouts. The Mets were on to the playoffs for the second time in franchise history and this time, Jon Matlack was going to be a part of it.

Matlack was only in his second full season in the major leagues, but you would never know it by how he pitched in the postseason. After the Mets had lost the first game of the NLCS against the Cincinnati Reds, Matlack was called upon to even the series, a tough task for any pitcher against the vaunted hitters of the Big Red Machine, let alone a 23-year-old making his first playoff appearance. Matlack responded by pitching one of the greatest games in Mets postseason history, shutting out the Reds on two hits, while striking out nine. Matlack's performance kept the Mets from falling behind 2-0 in the best-of-five series and served as the catalyst for the Mets' eventual series win.

Seriously, didn't anyone have color TVs back in 1973?

The Mets' opponent in the 1973 World Series was the Oakland A's, led by slugger Reggie Jackson. (Hey, didn't we talk about him about a million paragraphs ago?) Matlack, who had already started 35 games (34 regular season, 1 postseason) was called upon to start Game 1. In doing so, he became only the fourth pitcher in major league history to start a World Series opener with a losing record (14-16) during the regular season. The other pitchers to accomplish this rare feat were Alvin Crowder (9-11 with the 1934 Detroit Tigers), Denny Galehouse (9-10 with the 1944 St. Louis Browns) and Don Drysdale (13-16 with the 1966 Los Angeles Dodgers). Matlack pitched well, but took the loss as the Mets' bats remained silent in the 2-1 defeat.

Matlack came back on only three days rest to start Game 4 and pitched beautifully, holding the A's to one unearned run and three hits over eight innings of work. The Mets also won Game 5 to take a 3-2 lead in the World Series. That's when the decision to start Seaver and Matlack on short rest came back to bite manager Yogi Berra and all those who believed in the 1973 Mets.

Although George Stone had an unexpectedly good season (12-3, 2.80 ERA), he was bypassed for Seaver and Matlack in the final two games. When Seaver lost a tightly contested Game 6, Matlack was tabbed as the Game 7 starter. The World Series finale would be his 38th start of the season, and the wear and tear of the long season on his young arm showed, as he gave up four third-inning runs to the A's. The Mets were never able to recover from the early deficit, losing the game and the World Series to Oakland by the final score of 5-2.

If anything, the postseason experience made Matlack a stronger pitcher. In one season, he experienced the highest of highs (his stellar playoff debut against the Reds) and the lowest of lows (losing the seventh game of the World Series). He was now battle tested and ready to move on to the 1974 season, which was one of the most perplexing seasons for any pitcher in franchise history.

If you look at Matlack's numbers from 1974, you'd think he was a top contender for the Cy Young Award. He finished the season with a 2.41 ERA, 14 complete games, 195 strikeouts, allowed only eight home runs in 265.1 innings and led the major leagues with seven shutouts. Why did Matlack not receive any Cy Young love in 1974? Perhaps it was his 13-15 record that season.

How could someone who had such a brilliant season on the mound do so poorly in the won-loss department? Simply stated, the Mets offense in 1974 was offensive. As a team, the Mets batted .235 in 1974, hitting only 96 home runs and scoring 572 runs (an average of 3.1 runs per game). If the 2010 Mets drove you crazy with their 12 walk-off losses, imagine what it was like in 1974, when the Mets set a franchise record with 14 walk-off losses (10 of them in extra innings).

Speaking of extra innings, the Mets were 4-16 in extra inning games in 1974 and 17-36 in one-run games. Is it no wonder that Matlack couldn't win more games? Either the team couldn't score when he was pitching, or the bullpen blew the game for him once he left the mound. Nowhere was this more evident than during the last two months of the season.

From August 3 to October 2, Matlack made 13 starts for the Mets. He pitched complete games in more than half of those starts (seven), had an excellent strikeout to walk ratio (79 K, 31 BB) and registered an ERA of 1.86 (22 earned runs in 13 starts). Of course, the Mets lost nine of those 13 games, scoring three runs or less in ten of them.

It's actually a wonder that Matlack won as many games as he did in 1974. In winning 13 games, he had to be nearly perfect. He pitched 11 complete games in those 13 victories, and had a stunning ERA and WHIP (0.95 ERA, 0.74 WHIP). The only reward for such a stellar season was his first All-Star Game selection, an honor bestowed upon him again in 1975 and 1976.

In those two All-Star seasons (1975 and 1976), Matlack did much better in the win column, combining to go 33-22 over the two campaigns. In 1976, Matlack won a career-high 17 games, led the National League with six complete games and had a 2.95 ERA. The Mets also recovered in the standings, finishing 86-76, which at the time, was the second-most wins in franchise history.

Uh oh. We're about to begin the paragraph about 1977, meaning the smiles in the photo above are about to turn into frowns.

Going into the 1977 season, Jon Matlack had won 75 games and sported a 2.88 career ERA. He was part of a spectacular starting rotation that featured Tom Seaver and Jerry Koosman. But everything changed in that fateful season. The Mets started the season poorly. After a Memorial Day doubleheader sweep at the hands of the Montreal Expos, the Mets' record stood at 15-30, which was good enough for last place in the NL East, 14 games behind the first place Chicago Cubs. Following the losses, the Mets fired manager Joe Frazier and replaced him with first baseman Joe Torre. It would not be the only change the Mets underwent in 1977.

Two weeks after the firing of Joe Frazier, the Mets traded away "The Franchise", as Tom Seaver was traded to the Cincinnati Reds. On the same day, slugging first baseman/outfielder Dave Kingman was traded to the San Diego Padres. From that day forward, June 15, 1977 would always be known as "The Midnight Massacre". Seaver was not the only member of the 1969 World Champions to be traded in 1977, as his batterymate Jerry Grote was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers on August 31.

Jon Matlack, already a veteran at age 27, was spared from all the in-season transactions, but his performance on the mound suffered. His 7-15 record and 4.21 ERA was easily the worst of his career. As a result, Matlack was traded to the Texas Rangers on December 8, 1977, in a four-team deal that also involved the Pittsburgh Pirates and Atlanta Braves. There was a future Hall of Famer involved in the deal (Bert Blyleven), but unfortunately, the man known to Studious Metsimus readers for his love of flatulence was sent from the Rangers to the Pirates.

This photo will never stink.

The players that became Mets in the deal were Willie Montañez, Tom Grieve and Ken Henderson. Neither player did particularly well or played much with the Mets, but Matlack rebounded from his awful 1977 season with the Mets to win 15 games for the Rangers in 1978. He also posted career-bests in 1978 with a 2.27 ERA and 18 complete games.

Matlack's 1978 season was his last good year in the major leagues, as injuries cut his once-promising career short. From 1979-1983, Matlack was able to win only 28 games for the Rangers, finishing his career as part of Texas' bullpen. Matlack was only 33 when he retired after being released by the Rangers on October 31, 1983.

Although Matlack only pitched six full seasons for the Mets, his name appears all over the franchise's all-time leaderboard. He's in the top ten all-time in wins (82, 7th), starting pitchers' ERA (3.03, 3rd), WHIP (1.19, 10th), innings pitched (1,448, 6th), strikeouts (1,023, 8th), complete games (65, 4th) and shutouts (26, tied for 2nd).

Surprisingly, despite the fact that he last played for the Mets in 1977 and his name still remains plastered all over the club's all-time pitching leaders, Matlack has not been enshrined into the Mets Hall of Fame. Surprisingly enough, for a team that has always prided itself on pitching, only four of its pitchers have been inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame, three of whom were Matlack's teammates. Tom Seaver was inducted in 1988. He was followed by Jerry Koosman the following year, Tug McGraw in 1993 and Dwight Gooden in 2010.

Thanks to Corbis Images for this sweet photo of the Mets' Big Three (Jon Matlack, Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman).

Perhaps someday Matlack will join Seaver, Koosman, McGraw and Gooden with a plaque of his own in the Mets Hall of Fame. For the short period of time that he was a Met, he established himself as one of the best pitchers in franchise history. It's been 34 years since Matlack pitched his last game in a Mets uniform. If the Mets can't agree that he belongs in their Hall of Fame, perhaps at least their fans can agree with me that Matlack is one of the most underrated Mets of all-time.

Whenever one thinks of the competitive Mets teams from the early-to-mid '70s, it should not just be the combination of Seaver and Koosman that comes to mind. Matlack was just as instrumental as "The Franchise" and "The Kooz" to the success of those teams. Who knows just how high he would have ranked on the Mets' all-time pitching leaderboards had they not given up on him (and everybody else) after his first subpar season in 1977?

If It's October 19, It Must Be Molina Time

Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson was known as Mr. October to baseball fans, primarily because of the three home runs he hit on three pitches in the deciding sixth game of the 1977 World Series.

If Mr. Candy Bar was Mr. October, then the Flying Molina Brothers (Yadier and Bengie) can both claim to be Mr. October 19.

Last night, big brother Bengie became the second Molina to hit a crushing home run against a New York team on an October 19. With the Rangers down 3-2 to the Yankees in the sixth inning, A.J. Burnett intentionally walked David Murphy to pitch to Funky Cold Molina.

Earlier in the game, Burnett harpooned the rotund Molina with a pitch. This time, Burnett decided to add a sixth inning insult to the third inning injury by choosing to pitch to Molina rather than Murphy with two outs in the inning. This time, Molina was the one who hit Burnett hard, as he whaled a pitch over the left field wall for a go-ahead three-run HR. The shot put the Rangers ahead 5-3, a lead they would never relinquish.

New York had been stung by another big home run by a member of the Flying Molina Brothers, as four years ago to the day, little brother Yadier hit a go-ahead two-run homer against former Met whipping boy, Aaron F. Heilman in Game 7 of the National League Championship Series.

Editor's note: We'd show you a photo of Yadier Molina hitting the home run off Aaron F. Heilman, but instead we'll show you the cover of the Faith and Fear in Flushing book, written by the Tom Seaver of Mets bloggers, Greg Prince. Go read the book (and the blog of the same name). It's an Amazin' read!


The third member of the Flying Molina Brothers (Jose Molina) played for the Toronto Blue Jays in 2010, but he was a member of the World Champion Yankees last year. However, he did not get a chance to play on October 19 last year (Game 3 of the ALCS), as the Yankees were taking on the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in the Western Hemisphere of the Planet Earth in the Milky Way Galaxy. His sole appearance in a major league game on October 19 came during Game 1 of the 2002 World Series, as a member of the then one-named Anaheim Angels, when he came in as a ninth inning defensive replacement for his brother, Bengie.

Perhaps Jose Molina is adopted, as he has not delivered a crushing blow to a New York team on October 19, which is the biggest national holiday in Molinaville.

Bengie Molina celebrates not being the fattest man in baseball, a title held by the man in the Yankee dugout, C(onstantly) C(hewing) Sabathia.

Regardless, Bengie Molina can now say he is a true Molina, as he joined Yadier in delivering series-changing home runs against a New York team on the 19th of October.

Reggie Jackson might have had a candy bar named after him and might have made the Hall of Fame despite holding the major league record for career strikeouts, but his legacy was cemented by his repeated post-season heroics, earning him the nickname "Mr. October".

In addition to sharing a last name, Yadier and Bengie Molina can now share the "Mr. October 19" moniker. Move over, Reggie Jackson. There's a whole family coming after you.

The Voice of God Is Silenced: R.I.P. Bob Sheppard

In lieu of our usual attempt at witty commentary on the state of the Mets, Studious Metsimus would like to step aside to talk about something that has affected not only the Yankee community, but all of baseball as well.

With sadness in our hearts, we regret to inform you that legendary public address announcer Bob Sheppard passed away this morning at the age of 99.

The man who Reggie Jackson dubbed "The Voice of God" served as public address announcer for the Yankees from April 17, 1951 (Yankees vs. Red Sox) until the end of the 2007 season, when deteriorating health forced him to move away from the microphone.

Mr. Sheppard also served as the public address announcer for the New York Giants football team from 1956 to 2006.

Mr. Sheppard was a true New Yorker, born and raised in Mets country, Queens. In 1932, he graduated as president of his class at St. John's University (which is also the alma mater of this Studious Metsimus blogger). He later went on to teach speech at St. John's, although I never had the honor to take his course.

As a person who was far more comfortable with the written word than the spoken word (hence why I'm a blogger), I eschewed speech for other courses until I was forced to take it during my senior year. Mr. Sheppard was not teaching a speech course at a time I could take it during my senior year.

Although Mr. Sheppard always claimed that his work as a professor of speech was much more important than his work as an announcer, his legacy will always be as "The Voice of God", the man behind the microphone at Yankee Stadium and Giants Stadium.

His legend is so great that the Yankees have a plaque dedicated to Mr. Sheppard in Yankee Stadium's Monument Park, an area usually reserved for the great athletes who wore the Yankee pinstripes.

Both of the stadiums that were home to Mr. Sheppard are no longer with us. Now the man whose voice reverberated through those hallowed halls has left us as well. Rest in peace, Mr. Sheppard. Although your stay on this Earth was only temporary, your voice is everlasting and will be heard and recognized throughout eternity.

Take Me To Your Leader (If You Can Find Him)

The Mets have had a number of fiery players over the years. With their performances on the field and behind the scenes in the clubhouse, these players have carried the Mets beyond the team's expectations.

From Tug McGraw's "Ya Gotta Believe" that gave hope and fired up the 1973 Mets on their way to the National League pennant to Keith Hernandez and Gary Carter's veteran presence that helped the Mets win the 1986 World Series, there have always been players who were ready to carry the team on their backs when they needed that push.

Players like Tom Seaver, Dwight Gooden, Darryl Strawberry and Mike Piazza have all carried the team for long stretches and helped the Mets win pennants and championships. The 2006 team that fell one game short of a World Series appearance had numerous players (Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran, David Wright, Carlos Delgado) carry the team for extended stretches.

However, if an alien spacecraft landed at Citi Field today and its inhabitants asked to be taken to the Mets' leader, who would they be directed to? Not only is there no clear cut leader, there are very few candidates who even appear to want the job of ambassador to the creatures from outer space.

David Wright is too busy trying to say the right things to be a true leader. Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran haven't learned how to lead from the trainer's room.

Johan Santana is the closest thing the Mets have to a true leader. On the next-to-last day of the 2008 season, he took the mound on three days rest with a later-to-be-revealed torn meniscus and pitched a complete game shutout against the Florida Marlins to keep the Mets alive in their attempt to make the playoffs. This was done after throwing a career-high 125 pitches in a victory against the Chicago Cubs. He took the struggling Mets and carried them into that final game. Without his gritty performances, the final game wouldn't have been relevant as far as postseason hopes went.

Even in the forgettable 2009 season, Johan displayed his leadership skills over the first two months. Carlos Delgado went down in early May, followed by Jose Reyes. Carlos Beltran was playing with an injury. Somehow, the Mets were in first place on May 27. How was that possible with such a depleted squad? Two words: Johan Santana.

Over the first two months of the 2009 season, Johan Santana made ten starts for the Mets. In those starts, he was 7-2 with a barely-there 1.77 ERA. He was on a Gooden-esque strikeout pace (86 Ks in 66 innings) and was practically unhittable. Opposing hitters were hitting a measly .208 against 'Han the Man and slugging .316 against the Smooth One. That slugging percentage would have been a poor on-base percentage, which, since we're on the topic, Santana held opponents to a .270 on-base percentage.

As a result, the Mets held a half-game lead over the Phillies after Santana defeated the Washington Nationals on May 27. However, since the gods above gave us The Four Rainouts to back up Santana in the rotation, not even Sir Smooth could keep the sinking ship afloat.

For as much as Johan Santana tried to lead the Mets, he can only lead them on the field once every five days. That leaves 125-130 games where he can only lead in the clubhouse. Unfortunately, pennants are won on the field and not in the clubhouse. (Only poker games are won there. Right, Mr. Bonilla and Mr. Henderson?)



In Dana Brand's book, "The Last Days of Shea", there is a chapter about Dr. Brand meeting Hall-of-Famer Reggie Jackson. The self-proclaimed "straw that stirs the drink" approached Dr. Brand and struck up a conversation on the 2007 Mets. According to Dr. Brand's book, Mr. October went on to say:

"What was it, they only needed to win one more game? You know, people used to call me egotistical , but I tell you, if I had been playing for (the Mets), I would have won that one game, even if I had to do it all by myself."

The Mets don't really have an everyday player who has the fire of a Reggie Jackson. They have players who can fill up a stat sheet, but can any of them truly carry the team? Can any of them be counted on to drive in the winning run when the team needs to win one game? Is there a pitcher on an opposing team who fears any hitter on the Mets?

The 1986 Mets had swagger. When they were down, you always expected someone, whether it was Keith Hernandez, Gary Carter or Darryl Strawberry to come through with a clutch hit. Even in 2006, David Wright seemed to come through with many a walk-off hit. (The Mets had 11 walk-off wins in 2006, but only had four such wins in 2009.)

The closest thing the Mets have to a leader is Johan Santana. But he can only lead on the field 34 or 35 times a season. Kirk Gibson won an MVP Award in 1988 by leading the Dodgers on the field and in the clubhouse. His numbers weren't typical MVP numbers (.290, 25 HR, 76 RBI) but he had the uncanny ability to come through when the game was on the line.

According to baseball-reference.com, when Gibson came to bat in a tie game situation in 1988, he hit .306 and had a .424 OBP. In 239 plate appearances in those situations, he didn't hit into a single double play, thereby not squelching potential rallies. In late and close situations (defined by baseball-reference.com as plate appearances in the seventh inning or later where the team is tied, ahead by one or with the tying run on deck), Gibson hit .321 and compiled a .423 OBP in 97 plate appearances. Since Gibson amassed 632 plate appearances in 1988, the above clutch situations made up for more than half of Gibson's appearances in the batter's box.

The Mets have never had an MVP. If they're ever going to get one, they need a team leader. He can't pad his stats by hitting home runs when the team is already up by six runs in the eighth inning. He must come through in the clutch. He must be fundamentally sound. He must be able to pick up his teammates when they fail between the white lines.

Do the Mets have someone who's willing to step up over the entire 162-game schedule? They're going to need one if they're going to reverse the trend that began when Carlos Beltran looked at Adam Wainwright's curveball. Otherwise, the fans will be doing the leading, but it'll be towards the exit gates at Citi Field.