The Mets Have Also Had Weird Walk-Off Losses

Photo by Elsa/GettyImages (via the NY Times)

On Saturday night, the Cardinals defeated the Red Sox in Game 3 of the World Series in bizarre fashion.  St. Louis had runners on second and third with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning and the game tied, 4-4.  Jon Jay then hit a ground ball to second baseman Dustin Pedroia, who made an outstanding diving stop before throwing home to nail Yadier Molina at the plate.  Allen Craig, who was not running at 100% because of a sprained foot, then took off slowly for third base.  Seeing Craig scrambling to reach third, Jarrod Saltamacchia attempted to throw him out.  But his throw hit Craig and caromed into foul territory, where it was picked up by left fielder Daniel Nava.  His throw back to Saltalamacchia appeared to get Craig at the plate for the third out, but umpire Jim Joyce called interference on third baseman Will Middlebrooks, allowing Craig to score the winning run.  Middlebrooks had tripped up Craig after Saltalamacchia's throw sailed down the left field line.

It was as strange an ending to a game as Game 6 of the 1986 World Series, also lost when a Red Sox corner infielder allowed the winning run to score, this time against the Mets.  Although the Mets have never lost a game on an interference call, they have lost their share of games in other weird walk-off ways.  Let's take a look at some of them.

In addition to losing hundreds of games on game-ending hits, sacrifice flies and bases loaded walks (Kenny Rogers, you will never be forgiven), the Mets have also lost three games when a runner on third scored on a balk (most recently accomplished by Collin McHugh, who balked home Miami's Donovan Solano in R.A. Dickey's last start as a Met on October 2, 2012).

Similarly, there have been three instances in Mets history in which a pitcher forced in the winning run by hitting a batter with the bases loaded.  One such hit batsman helped set in motion the firing of the team's manager.

On June 5, 2008, the Mets were opening a four-game series in San Diego after taking two of three from the Giants in San Francisco.  They entered the series against the Padres playing good baseball, having won seven of their previous nine games to go from three games under .500 (23-26) to two games over (30-28).  But in a 1-1 tie, Scott Schoeneweis walked future Met Scott Hairston to lead off the bottom of the ninth.  Schoeneweis then issued two more walks (one of which was intentional) to set up a bases loaded matchup with Paul McAnulty, who sported a Mario Mendoza-like .210 career batting average entering the game.  Schoeneweis was trying to induce an inning-ending double play from the Padres' left fielder.  But he hit McAnulty with his first pitch, forcing in the winning run.  The loss ignited a five-game losing streak for the Mets.  One week later, manager Willie Randolph was fired.

A week after Schoeneweis plunked a Padre, Willie Randolph was "schoen" the door by the Mets.

Another rare way the Mets have lost in walk-off fashion is via the groundout.  On nine occasions, a ground ball out has failed to prevent the winning run from scoring.  And once, a double play couldn't even stop a walk-off loss.  On July 21, 1973, the Mets and Pirates went to the bottom of the ninth deadlocked at one.  Mets reliever Buzz Capra loaded the bases on a single and two walks.  With no outs, Tug McGraw came into the game and induced a ground ball from Bucs first baseman Bob Robertson.  The Mets were able to get a force at home and another out at second, but Dave Cash came all the way around from second base to score the winning run while the Mets were throwing the ball all over the place.  Therefore, a 4-2-9-6 double play produced a W-A-L-K-off loss.

The Mets have lost 21 games on a walk-off error, including one by the normally sure-handed Keith Hernandez on July 2, 1983, just two and a half weeks after the Mets acquired him from St. Louis.  Doug Sisk and Francisco Rodriguez are the only two pitchers to be victimized by walk-off errors twice.  Sisk was on the mound when the Mets lost games in 1984 and 1985 on miscues by Hubie Brooks and Rafael Santana, respectively.  Similarly, K-Rod walked off the field in disgust when Daniel Murphy made an error in September 2009.  It was the second time that season that Rodriguez witnessed a walk-off error from the mound, as just three months earlier, Luis Castillo made everyone want to "Forget Lou" after he failed to use two hands on an Alex Rodriguez pop-up at Yankee Stadium.

All of the above were certainly odd ways to lose games in walk-off fashion.  But perhaps the most bizarre walk-off loss in Mets history took place on July 27, 1967, in a game the Mets lost to the Dodgers in 11 innings, 7-6.  The Mets were already shorthanded, as only 21 players suited up for the team that day.  John Sullivan started for the Mets at catcher and delivered an RBI single in the seventh inning to pull the Mets to within one run of the Dodgers.  But manager Wes Westrum then foolishly used Jerry Grote - his sole remaining catcher on the bench - as a pinch-runner for Sullivan.  When Grote came in to catch in the bottom of the seventh, he started barking at home plate umpire Bill Jackowski about his strike zone.  After the inning was over, Grote continued to voice his displeasure over balls and strikes from the dugout and was tossed from the game.  That left Westrum without a catcher on his bench.  That is, until he called upon Tommie Reynolds to put on the catcher's gear.

Tommie Reynolds

Reynolds had never played the position before in a major league game.  But he took one for the team and squatted behind the plate for what he thought would be no more than two innings.  Of course, the game went into extra innings and the inexperienced Reynolds stayed in the game as the team's catcher.  Finally, in the 11th inning, with one out and runners at the corners, Reynolds couldn't handle a Jack Fisher pitch, allowing the winning run to score for the Dodgers.  The ruling by the official scorer was a passed ball by Reynolds.  It was the only time in Mets history that the team suffered a walk-off loss on a passed ball, and it was committed by a player who never caught another game in his career.

So you see, Red Sox fans, you're not alone when it comes to weird walk-off losses.  The Mets have done it all the time, even against your team in World Series play.  After all, this is baseball, where you're always bound to see something you've never seen before, just like Tommie Reynolds never saw that Jack Fisher pitch in 1967, a year the Red Sox also played the Cardinals in the World Series.

Will Middlebrooks is now part of a weird walk-off family.  But don't worry.  He'll have new family members to keep him company before too long.
 

Some Trivia About Mets Walk-off Losses

On Friday night, the Mets dropped the opener of their four-city, 11-game road trip, losing to the Arizona Diamondbacks, 5-4.  They were defeated when MVP candidate Paul Goldschmidt hit the schmidt out of a Scott Atchison offering, leading the Diamondbacks to the walk-off win.

Walk-offs are nothing new against the Mets.  Friday night's defeat was the Mets' tenth walk-off loss of the season and the 421st against the team in franchise history, which includes three postseason walk-off losses.  (For the record, the Mets have won 387 regular season and postseason games via the walk-off, including eight such wins in 2013.)

Game-ending hits, walks, errors, wild pitchers, balks, etc. are common against the Mets, but I'm willing to wager a Scott Atchison autographed sundial (he still uses them to tell time) that you don't know everything there is to know about walk-off losses against the Mets.  So sit back, pop open a Rheingold, and enjoy a little bit of Mets trivia - Studious Metsimus-style - on those dang blasted walk-off losses.

Another day, another walk-off loss.  (Photo by Matt York/AP)

The Mets' first walk-off loss occurred on May 26, 1962, when Willie Mays took Jay Hook deep at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, turning a 6-5 Mets lead into a 7-6, ten-inning defeat.  However, by that time, the Mets had already experienced four walk-off victories, all of which came in a span of five days between May 12 and May 16.  Of course, by the next time the Mets won a game via the walk-off on July 7, 1962, the team had dropped five more games in this fashion.

The most walk-off losses registered by the Mets in a single season is 14, first accomplished by the 1974 Mets and then matched by the 1978 squad.  The fewest regular season walk-off losses in a single year is one, accomplished by the 1999 Mets (Armando Benitez allowed a game-ending homer to the Marlins' Mark Kotsay on June 30, 1999).  Unfortunately, the Mets' season ended that year on a walk-off walk by Kenny Rogers to Andruw Jones in Game 6 of the National League Championship Series.

Many players have delivered game-ending hits (or other type plays) against the Mets over the years.  Several players have been a triple threat, beating the Mets three times via the walk-off.  Those players include Hall of Famers (Andre Dawson, Tony Gwynn, Tony Perez), former All-Stars (Dusty Baker, Cesar Cedeño, Ron Cey, Jim Davenport, Jim Edmonds, Dale Murphy), several active players (Dan Uggla, Ryan Zimmerman), a journeyman slugger (Bob Bailey), a former Rookie of the Year (Jerome Walton) and two guys named Manny (Manny Mota, Manny Trillo).  But only one player has delivered four walk-off hits against the Mets in team history.  That would be one Michael Jack Schmidt, who hit walk-off homers to defeat the Mets in 1974, 1975 and 1978, then kept it in the park for a game-ending RBI single against Roger McDowell in 1987.

Of their 418 regular season and three postseason walk-off losses, the most common way the Mets have lost via the walk-off has been on a single (194 losses).  That's followed by home runs (123, including ten grand slams), doubles (23), errors (21), walks (17) and sacrifice flies (17).  The Mets have also been victims of the walk-off loss through uncommon plays.  They've lost three games on walk-off balks and have been witnesses to two game-ending triples.  But the Mets have suffered only one walk-off loss because of a passed ball.  That occurred on July 27, 1967, when Tommie Reynolds could not handle a pitch by Jack Fisher, allowing Nate Oliver to score the winning run for the Dodgers in the bottom of the 11th.  Although Reynolds played for four teams from 1963 to 1972 (including 101 games for the Mets in 1967), it was his first and last appearance behind the plate in a big league game.

What don't you see in this photo of Tommie Reynolds?  Catching equipment.  That's because he wasn't a catcher.

Including last night's affair, the Mets have now lost 123 times on a game-ending home run.  Two pitchers share the team record for most walk-off homers surrendered, as both Jesse Orosco and Randy Myers allowed six game-ending home runs during their time with the Mets.  But Myers is alone when it comes to walk-off homers allowed in a single season.  In 1989, Myers gave up four such blasts, as he watched Rey Quiñones, Von Hayes, Mark Grace and Chris James circle the bases into the arms of smiling teammates.  Although he only pitched three full seasons in New York (he had cups of coffee with the Mets in 1985 and 1986), Myers was on the mound for ten walk-off losses, making it more palatable for the Mets to trade him to the Cincinnati Reds for John Franco (more on him later).  But those ten walk-off losses are not the most in Mets history.  In fact, they were eight short of the record at the time.

Neil Allen pitched for the Mets from 1979 until he was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals for Keith Hernandez on June 15, 1983.  In his four-plus seasons with the Mets, Allen was victimized by the walk-off an incredible 18 times.  In 1980 alone, Allen walked off the mound six times while the opposing team celebrated their late victory.  Changing uniforms in 1983 did nothing to change Allen's penchant for the late-inning loss.  In the two seasons following the trade from the Mets to the Cardinals, Allen watched the Mets celebrate four walk-off victories against him, with the most memorable coming on Opening Day 1985, when Gary Carter took him deep in his first game as a Met.

Allen is no longer the team record-holder when it comes to being on the mound while the opponent is walking off with a win.  That distinction belongs to John Franco, who witnessed 25 walk-off celebrations from a distance of 60 feet, six inches.  Two players walked off against Franco twice.

Glenallen Hill hit a two-run homer off Franco on September 5, 1993 to give the Cubs a 2-1 victory over the Mets.  Hill then hit another game-ending homer off the longtime Met nearly two years later, giving the Giants a 6-5 win on September 1, 1995.

Steve Finley is the only other player to be at the plate against John Franco when Franco delivered the pitch that gave the opponent a victory.  However, one of those two walk-offs was made possible by an untimely error.  On September 7, 1993, just two days after he watched Glenallen Hill hit a game-ending two-run homer against him, Franco was on the mound for another walk-off celebration, although this one was created by poor defense.  A gaffe by Jeff Kent on a ball hit by Finley allowed the winning run to score in a 4-3, 10-inning loss to the Astros.  Nearly ten years later, Finley victimized Franco again, but this time the blame was all on Franco's shoulders.  On August 9, 2003, Finley became the first Diamondback to hit a walk-off home run against the Mets, connecting on a solo blast in the bottom of the ninth inning to give Arizona a 2-1 victory.

Steve Finley might have walked off against the Mets twice, but he couldn't prevent this walk-off from happening.

And that brings us back to last night and Paul Goldschmidt's game-ending homer.  Goldschmidt's bomb came on the ten-year anniversary of Finley's homer.  Those two homers are also the only times the Diamondbacks have defeated the Mets with a walk-off homer.  The only other time Arizona walked off with a victory against New York was on July 21, 2010, when Chris Snyder delivered an RBI single off Fernando Nieve to end a 14-inning marathon in the desert.

The Mets have lost thousands of games over their 50-plus years of existence.  But there is nothing more heartbreaking than a walk-off loss.  And the Mets have had their share of those.  Whether it be on a game-ending homer or a passed ball by a catcher who had never played the position before, it never gets easier to watch a team you don't root for celebrating a late victory against the team you do.  That's just baseball for you.

I hope you enjoyed this piece on game-ending trivia and related minutia.  By reading it, you will no longer be at a loss when you walk off to tell your friends about it.