Smells Like A Good Deal For Jonathon Niese!

It looks like our fav'rit homegrown lefty starter will be calling New York home for a very long time.  According to Adam Rubin, the Mets and Jonathon Niese will soon be shaking hands on a five-year deal worth approximately $28.5 million.  The deal would also call for two team options in 2017 and 2018, worth $11 million and $11.5 million, respectively.

Once the two sides have crossed their i's and dotted their t's (or is it the other way around), the deal will be made official.  It would be the first contract of more than two years signed by a Met under Sandy Alderson's watch and would also keep Niese in Flushing until he is in his 30s.

Keeping Niese into his 30s would give the Mets stability in the starting rotation.  But it would also give the team a chance to finally keep one of its homegrown players for the majority of his career.  With all the uncertainty surrounding David Wright and the possibility he will not be with the team in 2013, Niese could become the first homegrown player since Vance Wilson in 2003 to remain with the team until after his 30th birthday.

Even if Niese's club options for 2017 and 2018 aren't picked up, Niese has a good chance to establish himself as one of the top pitchers in franchise history.  That might seem like a stretch right now, but consider the following:

Jonathon Niese is currently tied for 43rd place on the Mets' all-time list with 22 victories.  Should he average only nine wins per year over the next five years, he would crack the top ten, surpassing Steve Trachsel, who is currently 10th on the Mets' all-time wins list with 66.  Despite spending time on the disabled list in 2010 and 2011, Niese reached the nine-win mark in both seasons.

With 315 strikeouts as a Met, Jonathon Niese is currently No. 39 on the team's all-time strikeout list.  Niese has averaged 143 strikeouts per season over the last two years, even with the time missed due to injuries.  If Niese were to average that amount over the duration of his contract (not including the option years), he would add 715 strikeouts to his career total, giving him 1,030 lifetime strikeouts.  Only seven pitchers in Mets history have reached that lofty total (Tom Seaver, Dwight Gooden, Jerry Koosman, Sid Fernandez, David Cone, Ron Darling, Al Leiter).

The Mets have had their share of excellent right-handed pitchers, such as the aforementioned Seaver, Gooden, Cone and Darling.  However, besides Koosman, Fernandez and Leiter, the only other left-handed pitcher in Mets' history to appear regularly on the club's all-time leaderboards is Jon Matlack.  (Johan Santana hasn't been healthy enough to appear on these lists and we're not discussing Tom Glavine here.)  By the end of his contract, we might be talking about Koosman, Fernandez, Leiter, Matlack and Niese as the top five left-handed starters in club history.  Who'da thunk it?

In giving Jonathon Niese a five-year deal, the Mets assured themselves of stability in their rotation through 2016.  But they may have also assured themselves of keeping a pitcher who could end up being mentioned in the same sentence as the team's all-time greats.

Seaver, Gooden, Koosman, Niese?  It's not as far-fetched as you think.

What Will The Mets Produce Next: A No-Hitter or A 20-Game Winner?

What do the Mets have a better chance of producing?  A no-hitter or a 20-game winner?  On the surface, the question appears to have a simple answer.

Considering that the Mets have had five different pitchers produce a total of eight 20-win seasons (Tom Seaver accomplished the feat four times, while Jerry Koosman, Dwight Gooden, David Cone and Frank Viola each did it once), yet they've never pitched a no-hitter, it would seem that the 20-game winner would be the obvious choice.

But what would appear to be the clear-cut favorite of two things sometimes isn't, as I'm sure fans of the 1988 Mets (boo, Dodgers) and 2006 Mets (boo, Cardinals) can attest.

The five pitchers who won 20 games in a single season for the Mets all experienced great success in the major leagues.  Tom Seaver won 311 games in the big leagues en route to receiving the highest percentage of votes of any Hall of Fame inductee.  Fellow 1969 World Series champion Jerry Koosman finished his career with 222 victories.  Dwight Gooden, David Cone and Frank Viola also had long and successful careers in the major leagues, with Gooden and Cone both winning 194 games and Viola finishing his career with 176 victories.

In addition, four of the five 20-game winners for the Mets also won the Cy Young Award at some point in their careers, with the lone exception being Jerry Koosman, who came tantalizingly close in 1976 when he finished second in the vote to Padres' pitcher (and future Met) Randy Jones.

Here's the kicker.  Although none of the five pitchers ever pitched a no-hitter while in a Mets uniform, three of them (Seaver, Gooden, Cone) accomplished the feat after leaving the Mets, and David Cone took it one step further, pitching a perfect game against the Montreal Expos in 1999 as a member of the New York Yankees.

Tom Seaver never did it as a Met.  Neither did Jerry Koosman, Dwight Gooden, David Cone or Frank Viola.  In fact, no Mets pitcher has ever pitched a no-hitter.  But dozens of Mets hurlers have tossed one-hitters, and not all of them were pitched by All-Stars or future Hall of Famers.  In fact, many of them were pitchers who didn't even win 100 games in the major leagues.

Of course, Tom Seaver leads the list of most one-hitters fired by Mets pitchers with five.  David Cone pitched two complete-game one-hitters as a Met and combined with Jeff Innis on a third.  Dwight Gooden pitched a one-hitter for the Mets during his rookie season, but never pitched another one in a Mets uniform.  Meanwhile, Jerry Koosman and Frank Viola never pitched a one-hitter for the Mets.
 
But Jack Hamilton did.  So did Terry Leach, Pete Schourek, Bobby Jones, Aaron Heilman, Jonathon Niese and R.A. Dickey.  What do all of those pitchers have in common?  None of them won 100 games over their major league careers.  Even Shawn Estes, who won four games as a Met, was able to pitch a one-hitter for the team.  (He could pitch a one-hitter, but he couldn't hit one pitcher.  Ah, the Roger Clemens jokes never get old, do they?)

Both Aaron Shawn Estes and George Thomas Seaver were known by their middle names and they both pitched one-hitters for the Mets.  But Seaver would've hit Roger Clemens if he had the chance.

Want some more?  Gary Gentry pitched two one-hitters as a Met, but only won 46 games in the majors.  John Maine also pitched two one-hitters in New York (with one being of the rain-shortened variety), yet he only won 41 games over his career (so far).  Even the underrated and never quite appreciated Steve Trachsel authored two one-hitters during the 2003 campaign.

A total of 35 one-hitters have been pitched in club annals.  More than half of them (18) have come after 1990.  Why is that year so important?  Because that was the last time the Mets had a 20-game winner.

Since Frank Viola's 20-win season in 1990, no Met pitcher has reached that level of pitching excellence.  In fact, the closest any pitcher has come was in 1998 when Al Leiter won 17 games for the Mets.

For a pitcher to win 20 games, he has to be consistently good over the course of an entire season.  It also helps to have a good bullpen.  Johan Santana went 16-7 for the 2008 Mets, but the bullpen blew seven games in which he left with the lead, costing him a potential 20-win season.  Meanwhile, to pitch a no-hitter, a pitcher only needs to have one game in which he harnesses all of his "stuff" against opposing hitters.

It's rare for a so-so pitcher to win 20 games.  None of the five pitchers who accomplished the feat for the Mets would be considered "so-so".  In fact, Seaver, Koosman, Gooden, Cone and Viola combined to make the All-Star team a total of 19 times as members of the Mets.

But considering how guys like Terry Leach, Pete Schourek and Aaron Heilman all came within one safety of becoming the first Met to pitch a no-hitter, it goes to show that players with nondescript careers can occasionally show flashes of brilliance.

All one needs to pitch a no-hitter is a nine-inning flash of brilliance.  For a pitcher to win 20 games in a season, he'll need a couple hundred innings of brilliance (and a good bullpen).  John Maine won only 39 games in five seasons as a Met, but came within one Paul Hoover dribbler of pitching a no-hitter.  Jonathon Niese has barely cracked 20 wins over his entire major league career, yet he came within a Chris Denorfia double of pitching a perfect game.  Even Pete Schourek and Shawn Estes, who won 20 games COMBINED over their Mets careers, have one-hitters to their credit.

It's true that the Mets have gone 50 years without a no-hitter, but perhaps we'll see one before we see another 20-game winner in a Mets uniform.  It's been 22 years since Frank Viola became to last Met to record 20 wins in a season.  Since then, there have been 18 occasions in which the Mets have come within one hit of recording the team's first no-hitter.  Common sense and superstition might suggest that the Mets will have another 20-game winner before they record their first no-hitter.  But considering how close the Mets have come to pitching a no-hitter on several occasions over the past two-plus decades, while not having a pitcher even sniff a 20-win season over the same time period might suggest otherwise.

What will Mets' pitchers accomplish next?  Will it be a no-hitter?  Or will it be a 20-win season?  It wouldn't surprise me if it was the former rather than the latter.

Never Mind Santana's Arm; The Mets Need His Bat!

Here's a bit of trivia for you.  There are six pitchers in Mets history who hit at least 10 doubles during their tenure in Flushing.  Can you name them?

Well, five of the six had long careers in New York.  The club's all-time leader in doubles by a pitcher is Ron Darling, who collected 20 two-base hits in nine seasons as a Met (but somehow, all he remembers are his home runs in back-to-back games in 1989).  Next up are Tom Seaver (17 doubles in 12 seasons), Dwight Gooden (15 doubles in 11 seasons), Sid Fernandez (14 doubles in 10 seasons) and Jerry Koosman (12 doubles in 12 seasons).  But right behind all of them with 11 two-baggers is a guy who's only been a Met for four seasons and one of them was spent entirely on the disabled list.

From 2008 to 2010, Johan Santana collected 11 doubles in 182 at-bats, am impressive feat for a player who had spent his entire career in the American League prior to joining the Mets in 2008.  That's as many doubles as Willie Randolph hit as a Met in 286 at-bats.  Even Jason Bay, who is paid to be a big-time hitter, needed 360 at-bats to reach 11 doubles in 2011.

Santana has averaged a double every 16.5 at bats as a Met.  Let's compare that to the top ten doubles leaders in Mets history:

• David Wright: 281 doubles in 4,161 at-bats (14.8 AB/double)
• Ed Kranepool: 225 doubles in 5,436 at-bats (24.2 AB/double)
• Jose Reyes: 222 doubles in 4,453 at-bats (20.1 AB/double)
• Howard Johnson: 214 doubles in 3,968 at-bats (18.5 AB/double)
• Edgardo Alfonzo: 212 doubles in 3,897 at-bats (18.4 AB/double)
• Carlos Beltran: 208 doubles in 3,133 at-bats (15.1 AB/double)
• Mike Piazza: 193 doubles in 3,478 at-bats (18.0 AB/double)
• Darryl Strawberry: 187 doubles in 3,903 at-bats (20.9 AB/double)
• Cleon Jones: 182 doubles in 4,223 at-bats (23.2 AB/double)
• Mookie Wilson : 170 doubles in 4,027 at-bats (23.7 AB/double)

As you can see, only David Wright and Carlos Beltran had a better doubles per at-bat ratio than Johan Santana, and their ratio isn't that much better than Santana's.

There are two Hall of Famers who hit fewer doubles while they were on the Mets than John Santana.  Duke Snider hit eight doubles as a Met in 354 at-bats and Richie Ashburn hit seven doubles in 389 at-bats.  Did I mention that both Snider and Ashburn were All-Stars as Mets despite their lack of two-base hits?

Mike Hampton was considered by many to be one of the best hitting pitchers of his generation.  But in his one season as a Met, he did not collect a single extra-base hit, despite his .274 batting average.

Johan Santana spent the entire 2011 season on the disabled list.  Obviously, the Mets missed him on the mound.  But looking at his career numbers, they might have missed him more at the plate.  Without question, Johan Santana not being available is double trouble for the Mets.  And I do mean double.

One Season Wonders: George Stone

The 1972 Mets began the season with the tragic loss of manager Gil Hodges to a fatal heart attack.  New manager Yogi Berra took over the team in April and led them to the best start in franchise history.  By late May, the Mets had a 6½-game lead in the NL East.  On June 3, the Mets defeated the Atlanta Braves by the final score of 5-2 to improve their record to 31-12.  But within that victory, the Mets suffered a significant loss, as Rusty Staub was hit by an errant pitch thrown by Braves' reliever George Stone.

Coming into that fateful game, Stone had been one of the worst pitchers in the National League.  He had faced 62 batters in 1972 and allowed more than half of them (32) to reach base.  Opposing batters were hitting a whopping .491 against him over the first two months of the season causing his ERA to balloon to 11.70.  Ironically, his control wasn't that much of a problem, as he had walked only five batters and had yet to hit anyone with a pitch.  Then Rusty Staub's hand got in the way and everything changed for the 1972 Mets.

Prior to the series against Atlanta, Staub was putting up MVP-caliber numbers for the Mets.  In the team's first 41 games, Staub was hitting .323 with seven home runs and 27 RBI.  He also had an excellent eye at the plate, walking 20 times while striking out on ten occasions.  As a result, his on-base percentage was among the league leaders at .403.  His power stroke also placed him near the top of the league in slugging percentage, as Staub was slugging .506 at the time.

Staub continued to play after getting hit in the hand by Stone, but his performance suffered.  On June 18, after playing six innings against the Cincinnati Reds, Staub was taken out of the game and missed a month of action.  At the time, the Mets were still in first place in the NL East, albeit by a slim half-game margin.  Staub came back one month later, played the entire game in an extra-inning affair against the Los Angeles Dodgers, then was promptly placed on the disabled list, where he missed another two months of action.  By the time he came back, the Mets had fallen to third place in the NL East and were 16½ games behind the eventual division champion Pittsburgh Pirates.  Although the Mets weren't mathematically eliminated until the day after Staub returned to the lineup, their season was lost back in June at the hands of George Stone.

The strong start by the 1972 Mets gave fans reason to believe that their team was going back to the World Series for the second time in four seasons.  They would have to wait another year for that to happen and they would have an unexpected figure play a role in that march to the pennant, a figure who they felt cost them that opportunity in 1972. 

It's Amazin' how one wonderful season can turn boos into cheers.

Soon after the completion of the 1972 season, the Mets felt they needed an upgrade at second base.  Ken Boswell had been with the Mets since 1967 and became their primary second baseman in their championship season of 1969.  But after hitting .273 for the team in 1971, Boswell became an automatic out in 1972, batting .211 in 100 games and reaching base at a .274 clip.  A change was needed at second base and the Braves were making their second sacker available.  On November 2, 1972, the Mets got their man, acquiring three-time All-Star and two-time Gold Glove Award winner Felix Millan from Atlanta for pitchers Danny Frisella and Gary Gentry.  Millan wasn't the only former Brave to come to New York in the deal, as George Stone made the trek up north to complete the deal.

George Heard Stone had had some success with the Braves early in his career.  From 1968 to 1970, Stone was used as both a starter and reliever for Atlanta, going 31-25 with three saves and a respectable 3.60 ERA.  After falling to 6-8 in 1971, Stone hit rock-bottom in 1972, going 6-11 with a 5.51 ERA.  He also didn't make many friends in New York with his season-changing hit by pitch of Rusty Staub.  But Stone was going to be a Met in 1973, and the team decided to put him in the bullpen to start the season.  That role didn't last for very long.

When the 1973 season began, Jim McAndrew was slated to be the team's fourth starter, behind Tom Seaver, Jon Matlack and Jerry Koosman.  But after his best year in the majors in 1972 (11-8, 2.80 ERA), McAndrew struggled mightily to start the 1973 campaign.  Although he was 3-3 in his first six starts, McAndrew was carrying a 4.73 ERA.  He was also not pitching deeply into games, averaging barely more than five innings per start (32⅓ IP in six starts).  McAndrew earned a save pitching in relief in a 19-inning marathon victory over the Dodgers in late May, but then pitched horribly against the same Dodgers just two days later, allowing five runs on nine hits and three walks in only four innings of work.  A change was needed in the rotation and manager Yogi Berra gave George Stone a chance to redeem himself after a poor 1972 campaign in Atlanta.  It ended up being one of the best decisions made by the team in 1973.

On June 2, 1973, George Stone made his first start for the Mets after making seven relief appearances over the first two months of the season.  Stone was pitching brilliantly out of the pen, allowing only one run in 15 innings of work.  His best performance in relief came in the 19-inning game against the Dodgers in which Jim McAndrew collected his first and only save of the season.  Stone was the winning pitcher in that game, pitching six scoreless innings against Los Angeles.  The extended relief appearance prepared Stone for his first start a week later, this time against the San Diego Padres.  Stone pitched well against the Friars, giving up three runs in six innings.  He allowed only five hits and walked no one.  Unfortunately, the Mets were shut out by the Padres, 3-0, pinning Stone with his first loss of the season.

Stone would make five more starts over the next month, going 3-2 with a 3.32 ERA, which was respectable, but not great.  However, by then Jim McAndrew had completely lost any opportunity to return to the starting rotation, losing four consecutive decisions and watching his ERA spin out of control to 5.83.  Except for one start in August (another loss), McAndrew was in the bullpen for good, leaving the fourth spot in the rotation to George Stone.  It was an opportunity Stone would take full advantage of.

On a staff that featured Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman and Jon Matlack, it was George Stone who proved to be the most unbeatable pitcher during the second half of the 1973 season.

From July 14 to August 6, Stone started four games for the Mets, pitching nearly eight innings per start and allowing exactly two earned runs in each of the four starts.  The Mets won all four games, with Stone receiving credit for three of the wins.  Stone suffered a rare poor outing on August 11, a game in which he received a no-decision after he allowed six runs (four earned) in only one-third of an inning to San Francisco.  However, that would be the sole blip in the George Stone machine.  He followed up his outing against the Giants with 8⅔ innings of one-run ball against the Big Red Machine, with the only run scoring on a ninth-inning RBI single by future Hall of Famer Johnny Bench.  Again, Stone was credited with a no-decision as the Mets went on to lose the game, 2-1, in ten innings.  That no-decision streak would stretch to four in his next start (Stone got a no-decision in the Mets' victory on August 6 to start the streak), but the Mets did manage to win that game against the Dodgers, 4-3.

By late August, the Mets were in last place, a dozen games below .500.  However, despite their ugly 58-70 record, the Mets found themselves only 6½ games behind the first place Cardinals, who at 65-64 were leading the mediocre National League East.  Even after Tug McGraw told everyone on the team that "Ya Gotta Believe", it was difficult for anyone to believe that the Mets were going to play anything but the spoiler role in the National League East.  But George Stone, despite spoiling the Mets' season in 1972, was not going to be happy with just spoiling other teams' chances in the NL East.  He was absolutely a believer in the 1973 Mets and through his performances over the final month of the regular season, he was going to make everyone a believer, too.

At 58-70, no one was taking the Mets seriously in the lackluster NL East.  But George Stone still had something to prove to Mets fans.  On the night of August 27, 1973, Stone took the Shea Stadium mound against the San Digeo Padres, the team that beat him in his first start of the season.  This time, Stone would not be denied.  He pitched seven strong innings, allowing three runs on seven hits while walking no one.  Stone also helped the Mets at the plate in that game.  With the Mets trailing 2-1 in the bottom of the fifth inning, Stone reached first on a catcher's interference call to lead off the inning.  As fate would have it, it would be Rusty Staub who drove him in on the strength of a grand slam home run later in the inning.  Stone's victory on that late August night at Shea would prove to be the game that turned the Mets' season around.

From August 27 to the end of the season, the Mets won 24 of their last 33 games, passing every team in the National League East on their way to an unlikely division title.  George Stone's victory against the Padres began a streak in which he won five consecutive starts.  After defeating San Diego in August, Stone's next four starts were among his stingiest of the season, as he allowed five runs in 27⅓ innings for a 1.65 ERA.  Those starts were only part of an historic second half of the 1973 season for Stone.  Beginning on July 14, Stone won eight consecutive decisions and gave up three runs or less in 12 of his final 13 starts.  By season's end, Stone was 12-3 with a 2.80 ERA and the Mets were National League East champions for the second time in five years.

It was on to the playoffs for the Mets, where they would face the powerhouse Cincinnati Reds in the NLCS.  After taking a two games to one lead over the Reds in the best-of-five series, George Stone was tabbed to help the Mets win the pennant in Game 4.  Stone was brilliant early on, allowing only two hits and one walk in six shutout innings.  But the Mets were also struggling at the plate, managing only one hit off Reds' starter Fred Norman and reliever Don Gullett through the first six innings.  But that one hit had produced the only run of the game, as the Mets took a 1-0 lead into the seventh inning.  However, one swing off the bat of Tony Perez changed all that, as his homer off Stone tied the game at 1.  Stone was taken out of the game and the Mets eventually lost in 12 innings.  Despite the no-decision, it was Stone's 13th game in 14 starts in which he allowed three runs or less.  The Mets did win the pennant the following night at Shea Stadium and they went on to play the defending World Series champion Oakland Athletics for the 1973 title, a series that may have been decided when Yogi Berra decided NOT to use George Stone.

Perhaps Yogi Berra wouldn't have been so stone-faced in this photo if he had let Stone face the A's.

Against the Oakland A's, manager Yogi Berra decided to go with a three-man rotation, sending Jon Matlack, Jerry Koosman and Tom Seaver to the mound in Games 1, 2 and 3, while using George Stone out of the bullpen.  The move paid off in Game 2 of the World Series, even though it looked as if Berra was never going to use Stone in the game.

The Mets dropped Game 1 of the World Series by the final score of 2-1, so they weren't going to take any chances in Game 2.  After scoring four runs in the top of the sixth inning to take a 6-3 lead, Berra brought in closer Tug McGraw to pitch in the bottom of the sixth.  McGraw got through the sixth unscathed, but gave up a run to Oakland in the seventh.  With a well-rested Stone in the bullpen, Berra left McGraw in the game to pitch the eighth inning.  After retiring the A's in order in the eighth, McGraw was allowed to pitch the ninth inning.  Unfortunately, Oakland tied the game with two runs in the ninth to send the game into extra innings.  Stone was ready to pitch in extra innings, but Berra wasn't ready to give up on his closer.

Tug McGraw had pitched two scoreless innings in Game 1 of the World Series.  One day later, he was not as fortunate, allowing three runs in four innings of work.  Despite the extra work, McGraw was summoned to start the tenth inning against the A's.  His next two innings were spectacular, as the Tugger retired all six batters to face him, with four coming via the strikeout.  The Mets finally responded in the 12th inning, scoring four times to take a 10-6 lead.  Incredibly, McGraw was allowed to start his seventh inning of work, but this time he didn't make it through the inning.  After allowing the first two batters in the 12th to reach base, George Stone was finally summoned to replace McGraw.

Pitching for the first time since Game 4 of the NLCS, Stone gave up an RBI single to his first batter, Jesus Alou, then issued a one-out walk to Mike Andrews to load the bases.  The A's had the bases loaded, veteran pinch-hitter Vic Davalillo representing the winning run at the plate and All-Star Bert Campaneris on deck.  Stone had worked his way into a jam, but reared back and retired Davalillo on a pop-up to second baseman Felix Millan.  With the bases still loaded, he then retired Campaneris on a groundout to shortstop Buddy Harrelson, earning the save and allowing the Mets to tie the series at one game apiece.

The Mets returned to Shea Stadium and won two of the three games at home, taking a 3-2 series lead back to Oakland.  Needing one win to capture their second title, the Mets decided to go with Tom Seaver on three days rest in Game 6, bypassing the opportunity to use George Stone, who had only pitched one inning over the first five games of the series.  It was a move that would forever be questioned by Mets fans everywhere, as Seaver allowed single runs in the first and third innings and the Mets lost, 3-1.

By using Seaver instead of Stone in Game 6, the Mets were left without their ace in Game 7 and were forced to use second-year starter Jon Matlack to pitch the first seventh game in Mets history.  Matlack was knocked out early, allowing four runs in 2⅔ innings.  By the time the Mets came to bat in the seventh inning, the score was 5-1 and the season was slipping away.  George Stone was finally brought into the game in the bottom of the seventh to stop the bleeding, which he did, pitching two scoreless innings.  However, he would be the last Met to take the mound in 1973, as the Mets were only able to push across one run in the ninth inning, losing the game and the World Series.

If George Stone had started Game 6, this might not have been the only ring won by the Mets in '73.

Although he had a surprisingly good regular season, Stone was barely used in the postseason.  He started one of the five games in the NLCS and was used in relief twice in the World Series, allowing a combined one run on seven hits in 9⅔ innings.  Despite the unfortunate ending to the 1973 season, the Mets expected to contend for the division title in 1974 with George Stone joining Seaver, Koosman and Matlack as part of a formidable rotation.  Instead, they formed the nucleus of one of the most disappointing teams in Mets history.

Stone started 13 games for the Mets in 1974, fighting through injuries and finishing the year with a 2-7 record and a 5.03 ERA.  After finishing one win short of a championship in 1973, the Mets finished 20 games under .500 in 1974.  They did recover to win 82 games in 1975, but Stone did not recapture his 1973 magic, going 3-3 with a 5.05 ERA in 11 starts.  Although he was only 28 years old, Stone's career as a Met was over.

Four years after breaking the hand of Rusty Staub, George Stone was traded to the Texas Rangers for (ironically) a pitcher named Hands.  Neither player involved in the trade ever pitched in the major leagues again.

George Stone was disliked by Mets fans when the team acquired him five months after effectively ending their 1972 season.  But the boos directed at Stone quickly turned to cheers as the 1973 season progressed.  Stone was one of the most unexpected success stories in 1973, helping the Mets advance to the World Series after they had been left for dead in the National League East.  His .800 winning percentage led all Mets pitchers and his 2.80 ERA was second only to Tom Seaver.

Although Stone only won five more games as a Met following the 1973 season, he left an indelible mark in the minds of Mets fans who were rooting for another miracle to occur.  When George Stone was traded to the Mets prior to the 1973 season, he was basically a throw-in in a deal meant to strengthen the middle of the infield.  But he became a key cog in helping his teammates and the fans believe that miracles can happen where you least expect them to.  He may have had only one good season in New York, but what a wonderful season it was for both George Stone and the Mets.


Note: One Season Wonders is a thirteen-part weekly series spotlighting those Mets who had one and only one memorable season in New York.  For previous installments, please click on the players' names below:
 
January 2, 2012: Bernard Gilkey
January 9, 2012: Terry Leach

A Homegrown Pitcher Who Hasn't Really Grown

Mike Pelfrey turns 28 today.  He's about to enter his prime for a pitcher in the major leagues.  But does that mean he's about to blossom the way we thought he was doing during the first few months of the 2010 season?

Since making his debut for the Mets in 2006, Pelfrey has won 50 games in six seasons.  Those 50 victories put him in 15th place on the Mets' all-time leaderboard, just one win behind former Met Bobby Ojeda.  Going by that, it would appear that Big Pelf is one of the best pitchers the Mets have ever had and certainly one of the best who came up through the team's minor league system.

But one look at the career numbers of these all-time Mets greats shows that Pelfrey might be in the same classroom as they are, but he's not learning the same lessons.

Of the 15 pitchers to win 50 or more games for the Mets, Pelfrey is the seventh player originally drafted by the Mets, joining the likes of Tom Seaver, Dwight Gooden, Jerry Koosman, Jon Matlack, Bobby Jones and Craig Swan.  Two other members of the 50-win club were originally drafted by other teams, but won their first 50 games in the majors as members of the New York Mets.

Ron Darling was drafted by the Texas Rangers in 1981 but made his major league debut in 1983 for the Mets.  Long-time teammate Sid Fernandez actually pitched in two games for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1983, but finished with an 0-1 record in Dodger blue.  He was credited with his first victory in the major leagues as a member of the Mets in 1984.

Let's take a look at the nine players who won their first 50 games in the big leagues as members of the New York Mets to see if we notice something interesting about the most recent 50-game winner.  We'll consider the player's age and number of appearances (including starts) it took for that player to reach the 50-win plateau.

• Tom Seaver: 24 yrs, 9 mos, 9 days.  Won 50th game in 100th appearance (99 starts)
• Dwight Gooden: 21 yrs, 7 mos, 13 days.  Won 50th game in 82nd appearance (82 starts)
• Jerry Koosman: 28 yrs, 4 mos, 16 days.  Won 50th game in 112th appearance (105 starts)
• Ron Darling: 26 yrs, 11 mos, 9 days.  Won 50th game in 131st appearance (130 starts)
• Sid Fernandez: 25 yrs, 10 mos, 2 days.  Won 50th game in 124th appearance (122 starts)
• Jon Matlack: 25 yrs, 4 mos, 24 days.  Won 50th game in 122nd appearance (119 starts)
• Bobby Jones: 27 yrs, 6 mos, 28 days.  Won 50th game in 121st appearance (121 starts)
• Craig Swan: 31 yrs, 6 mos, 13 days.  Won 50th game in 174th appearance (149 starts)
• Mike Pelfrey: 27 yrs, 7 mos, 10 days.  Won 50th game in 144th appearance (140 starts)

Only Jerry Koosman and Craig Swan were older than Pelfrey at the time of their 50th victories.  And only Swan had made more starts and total appearances than Pelfrey when he recorded his 50th win.  However, Koosman did not become a regular in the Mets' rotation until he was 25 and Swan pitched the majority of his career with some of the worst Mets teams since the days of their infancy.

By the time he was 25, Pelfrey had already made 49 starts in the major leagues.  Also, as bad as the Mets have been over the past three seasons, they still managed to win at least 70 games every year.  Meanwhile, in his 12 years in Flushing, Craig Swan pitched for eight different Mets teams that finished at least 20 games below .500.  That includes the strike-shortened 1981 season, when the Mets finished with a 41-62 record.

Mike Pelfrey was expected to become a mainstay in the Mets' rotation when the team promoted him to the major leagues in 2006.  That part has become true, as Pelfrey has become one of the 15 winningest pitchers in franchise history.  But if not for Craig Swan, Pelfrey would have taken longer than any Met to reach that win total, and even so, it only took Swan nine more starts on some pretty bad teams to win No. 50.

The Mets have produced many homegrown pitchers who have had tremendous success in the major leagues.  Unfortunately, Mike Pelfrey has yet to become one of them.  It'll take a lot more growth for this homegrown pitcher to move to join Seaver, Gooden and Koosman at the head of the Mets' pitching class.

Mets Teammates Who Played Together The Longest

Within the next two weeks, longtime Yankees catcher Jorge Posada will announce his retirement from baseball.  The 40-year-old Posada will hang up his catchers' gear after 15 full seasons (17 overall) in Yankee pinstripes.  With Posada's retirement, that will leave Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera as the only Yankee teammates to be together since the days of Buck Showalter.  Jeter and Rivera made their major league debuts six days apart during the 1995 season and will be entering their 18th season as Yankee teammates in 2012.

Only one pair of teammates played together longer than Jeter and Rivera.  From 1977 to 1995, Lou Whitaker and Alan Trammell were double play partners in Detroit.  Their 19 seasons as teammates surpassed the previous record of 18 years set by George Brett and Frank White when they played together in Kansas City from 1973 to 1990.

It's rare for an athlete to play for a single team over his entire career, especially if his career is lengthy.  It's even rarer for teammates to stay together for an extended period of time.  Lou Whitaker and Alan Trammell played an unprecedented 19 seasons together.  No individual player, let alone a set of teammates, has ever been a Met for that long, as Ed Kranepool's 18 seasons with New York has remained the franchise record for over three decades.

This brings up an interesting question.  If no individual Met has played more than 18 seasons with the team, which pair of Mets were teammates the longest?  Surely, one of the dynamic duo had to be Kranepool, right?  We've gone through mounds of paperwork (and by paperwork, I mean baseball-reference.com) and came up with the teammates who played together the longest in orange and blue.  These pairs of Metropolitans played all or parts of twelve (or more) seasons together.  Here they are:

• Ed Kranepool and Cleon Jones (12 seasons; 1963, 1965-75)
• Bud Harrelson and Jerry Grote (12 seasons; 1966-77)
• Ed Kranepool and Jerry Grote (12 seasons; 1966-77)
• Ed Kranepool and Jerry Koosman (12 seasons; 1967-78)
• Ron Hodges and Craig Swan (12 seasons; 1973-84)
• Ed Kranepool and Bud Harrelson (13 seasons; 1965-77)

Ed Kranepool was everyone's teammate so long ago that color film hadn't been invented yet.

That was kind of boring, wasn't it?  Other than the Hodges/Swan combo that most Mets fans might have overlooked, the other pairs of teammates all played in the same era of Mets baseball.

The more interesting question might be which teammates played the longest since the '80s began?  That list is probably one you wouldn't be able to recite off the top of your head.  In fact, we uncovered only one pair of teammates that played at least ten seasons together since the Reagan administration and another nine that played a minimum of eight seasons with each other.  Time to go through those mounds of paperwork again...

• Darryl Strawberry and Ron Darling (8 seasons; 1983-90)
• Sid Fernandez and Ron Darling (8 seasons; 1984-91)
• Dwight Gooden and Ron Darling (8 seasons; 1984-91)
• John Franco and Bobby Jones (8 seasons; 1993-2000)
  
• Jose Reyes and David Wright (8 seasons; 2004-11)
• Mookie Wilson and Wally Backman (9 seasons; 1980-88)
  
• Sid Fernandez and Howard Johnson (9 seasons; 1985-93)
• Dwight Gooden and Howard Johnson (9 seasons; 1985-93)
• John Franco and Todd Hundley (9 seasons; 1990-98)
• Dwight Gooden and Sid Fernandez (10 seasons; 1984-93)

(Editor's note:  John Franco missed the 2002 season with an injury.  That eliminates a pairing of Franco and Edgardo Alfonzo as eight-year teammates, as Fonzie was with the Mets from 1995 to 2002, thereby only making him Franco's teammate for seven years.  Ya gotta believe... in semantics!) 

We know Sid Fernandez wore No. 50.  But he wore No. 10 in this photo to commemorate the number of seasons he was Dwight Gooden's teammate with the Mets.  We wouldn't lie to you about that.

With Jose Reyes now waiting for the latest fire sale in Miami, David Wright and Mike Pelfrey have become the current longest running duo on 126th and Roosevelt, having played all or parts of six seasons together.  Since neither player is guaranteed to return after the 2012 season, it may be a while before the Mets have a pair of teammates play at least eight seasons together, let alone the number of seasons that players like Ed Kranepool, Jerry Grote, Bud Harrelson and others from the early days of the franchise played together.

The business of baseball has changed quite a bit since the Mets were the little team that could.  Keeping a team intact for an extended period of time has become more difficult than spelling Mientkiewicz after downing a few Coronas.

Where have you gone, Eddie Kranepool?  The Mets don't have the same look to me...

Seaver, Koosman, Gooden...What About Gee?

Last night, the Mets defeated the Pirates, 8-1. Dillon Gee pitched a strong eight innings, allowing one run on eight hits, walking none and striking out five. The rookie right-hander improved to 7-0 with the victory and the Mets improved to 9-0 in his nine starts. It has been well-documented that Gee is the first Mets pitcher to begin his first full season in the majors by winning his first six decisions (now seven), but should this strong start earn him a trip to Arizona for the All-Star Game?

The Mets have only sent three starting pitchers to the Midsummer Classic in their history. Tom Seaver and Jerry Koosman were bestowed that honor in 1967 and 1968, respectively, while Dwight Gooden became the last Met rookie to pitch in an All-Star Game when he pitched two scoreless innings in 1984.

As of today, Gee is leading the National League in winning percentage (1.000), is tied for sixth in wins (7), ninth in WHIP (1.097), and ranks just outside the top ten with a 3.05 ERA (Arizona's Ian Kennedy is 10th with a 3.01 ERA). Gee is also holding opposing batters to a .215 batting average, .293 on-base percentage and .309 slugging percentage.

Gee's numbers appear to make him a lock to make the final cut. However, last season Mike Pelfrey was 10-2 with a 2.71 ERA through games of June 25 and did not make the All-Star team, so Gee's inclusion on the this year's team is not guaranteed.

Whether he represents the National League in Arizona or not, Dillon Gee has pitched like an All-Star for the Mets, surpassing all expectations for a player who began the season at AAA-Buffalo. He's been their most consistent and valuable pitcher over the first two months of the season, keeping the Mets around the .500 mark longer than most "experts" predicted. As mentioned before, the Mets are 9-0 in Gee's starts. When another starter takes the mound, the Mets are 22-32.

Tom Seaver. Jerry Koosman. Dwight Gooden. They are the three winningest pitchers in franchise history. They're also the only three rookie pitchers to appear for the Mets in an All-Star Game. Dillon Gee has a chance to become the fourth member of this exclusive club. That would be quite an accomplishment for a pitcher who expected to be in Buffalo this summer, but instead might be going to Arizona.

M.U.M.'s The Word (Most Underrated Mets): Ron Taylor

In the early years of the Mets, there weren't many games for a reliever to save. From 1962-1965, the Mets never had a season in which they collected more than 15 saves as a team. In fact, over those first four campaigns, Willard Hunter's five saves in 1964 represented the highest single season save total in the young franchise's history. They would be the only five saves of his career.

In 1966, after four consecutive seasons with 100 or more losses, the Mets started to show signs that they were breaking out of their expansion team doldrums. The team won 66 games and finally had one of its own save more than five games. However, their "closer" was actually one of their starting pitchers, as Jack Hamilton saved 13 games and made 13 starts (how unlucky of him).

Hamilton was traded to the California Angels the following June, after recording only one save in 16 relief appearances during the first two months of the 1967 season. The Mets had a promising rookie on the 1967 staff by the name of Tom Seaver, so they needed a dependable reliever to protect leads in games that Seaver did not complete. After Hamilton's trade to the Angels, they purchased Hal Reniff from the Yankees and used him as their closer. Reniff started out well, saving four games in July, but failed miserably over his final 18 appearances. In those 18 games, Reniff went 0-3 with a 6.55 ERA, allowing a whopping 54 baserunners (33 hits, 21 walks) over his final 22 innings.

Meanwhile, another reliever whom the Mets acquired prior to the 1967 season was having the best season of his career. After picking up two early saves in April, an injury kept him out of service until late May. Upon returning, manager Wes Westrum put him back in the bullpen, where he proceeded to have the best stretch of any relief pitcher in the Mets' six-year history. From June 13 to the end of the season, he won four games, saved five and registered a 1.26 ERA in 38 appearances. Although the Mets regressed somewhat in 1967, finishing with a 61-101 record, they could now say that they had their first bonafide closer in Ron Taylor.

Before becoming a medical doctor, Ron Taylor operated on opposing hitters from the Shea Stadium mound.

After a successful first season with the Mets in 1967, new manager Gil Hodges used Taylor more often in ninth inning situations in 1968 (Taylor finished 44 of the 58 games he appeared in). With Jerry Koosman joining Seaver in the rotation, the Mets now had more late-inning leads to protect. Prior to the 1968 season, only one Met had compiled a 10-save season (Jack Hamilton in 1966). That all changed in 1968, when both Ron Taylor (13 saves, 2.70 ERA) and Cal Koonce (11 saves, 2.42 ERA) reached double digits. The Mets now had a two-man show in the rotation as well as in the bullpen and the team avoided 90 losses for the first time, finishing with a 73-89 record. Pitching wins championships, and the Mets were strengthening themselves in that department. All that was left was the championship.

In 1969, astronaut Neil Armstrong proclaimed that the lunar landing was "one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind". That same year, the Mets' strong arms were taking a giant leap forward in the National League, shooting for the moon and reaching the stars. The Mets shocked the baseball world by winning 100 regular season games and the first National League East division crown. Once again, Tom Seaver and Jerry Koosman led the staff, combining for 42 victories. However, the 1969 team wasn't just "Seaver and Kooz, then the others we'll lose", as they appeared to be in 1968. This time, the rotation had a third successful pitcher, as rookie Gary Gentry entered the mix, winning 13 games.

However, not every Mets pitcher had a successful season in 1969. After a brilliant year in 1968, Cal Koonce struggled in the bullpen. With a 4.99 ERA, Koonce was rarely given the ball while the Mets were making their run at the division title, appearing in only ten of the team's final 65 games. In his stead, Tug McGraw (he of the 4-19 career record and one save prior to 1969), became the new co-closer on the Mets. Over the final two months of the season, the Tugger was virtually unhittable. In 18 appearances, the lefty won four games, saved seven and held opposing hitters to a .188 batting average. His barely-there 0.50 ERA over the final two months helped the Mets cruise to the NL East title.

Despite McGraw's rise in 1969, he didn't lead the Mets in saves. Once again, it was the dependable righty, Ron Taylor, who paced the team in that category. As he did in 1968, Taylor finished 44 games (in 59 appearances) and picked up 13 saves. He also won nine games and had his third consecutive sub-3.00 ERA, finishing the year at 2.72. As in the case of Tug McGraw, Taylor also saved his best for last. Over the final two months of the regular season, the veteran right-hander won four games, saved four and registered a 1.80 ERA.

Although the lefty-righty combo of McGraw and Taylor was virtually unhittable in the latter part of the 1969 season, manager Gil Hodges chose to use the young lefty only once in the postseason. McGraw's three innings of shutout ball in Game 2 of the NLCS against the Braves would be the only time Tug would take the mound in the playoffs. Instead, Hodges chose to rely on the 31-year-old Taylor, who had valuable postseason experience from pitching in two World Series games for the 1964 World Champion St. Louis Cardinals. In that World Series, Taylor pitched 4 2/3 hitless innings, allowing only one walk. The Cardinals won both games in which Taylor appeared on their way to winning the championship.

The decision by Hodges to rely more on his playoff-tested veteran ended up being one of the most important moves of the postseason, as Taylor rewarded his manager's faith in him with four crucial performances.

Both Tom Seaver and Jerry Koosman had inauspicious postseason debuts against the Braves in the NLCS, with Seaver giving up five runs over seven innings in Game 1 and Koosman being hammered for six runs over 4 2/3 innings in Game 2. With the Braves' bats smoldering against the two aces of the staff, it was Ron Taylor who silenced Atlanta's high-powered offense.

After the Mets rallied to score five runs in the eighth inning of Game 1, Taylor pitched the final two innings, holding the Braves scoreless to preserve the Mets' first-ever playoff victory. In Game 2, the Mets were cruising through the first 4½ innings, taking a 9-1 lead into the bottom of the fifth. But after giving up a three-run homer to Hank Aaron and a two-run single to Clete Boyer, Koosman was removed from the game in favor of Ron Taylor. Once again, Taylor quelled the Braves' bats, holding them to one hit over 1 1/3 scoreless innings. The Mets went on to sweep the Braves in the NLCS, advancing to their first World Series against the heavily favored Baltimore Orioles.

Once again, Tom Seaver struggled in a playoff series opener, allowing four runs over five innings of work in Game 1 of the Fall Classic. With the Mets down by three runs in the seventh inning, Gil Hodges brought in Ron Taylor to hold the Orioles at bay in the hopes that the Mets would start a rally against Orioles' starter Mike Cuellar. Taylor did his part, pitching two hitless innings, allowing one walk and striking out three. The Mets, however, were not able to mount a rally against Cuellar over the final two innings and they dropped the Series opener. It would be the only game the Mets would lose in the postseason.

In Game 2, Jerry Koosman and Dave McNally were locked up in a pitchers' duel over the first eight innings, with each pitcher allowing one run. With two outs in the top of the ninth, the Mets finally broke through against McNally, stringing together three singles off the Orioles' lefty to take a 2-1 lead. After retiring the first two Orioles in the bottom of the ninth, Koosman started to lose his control, walking Frank Robinson and Boog Powell. With two outs and the tying and winning runs on base, the Mets could not afford to let the game get away from them. Losing the first two games to the 109-win Orioles would almost certainly spell doom for the Mets in the World Series. Therefore, manager Gil Hodges removed Koosman from the game and brought in Ron Taylor to get the final out. In what was perhaps the turning point of the World Series, Taylor induced Brooks Robinson (who had hit .500 in the ALCS against the Twins) to ground out to third baseman Ed Charles, ending the rally and the game.

Taylor's services were not needed for the final three games of the World Series, as Gary Gentry and Nolan Ryan combined to shut out the Orioles in Game 3, which was followed by back-to-back complete game victories for Tom Seaver and Jerry Koosman in Games 4 and 5, respectively.

When the Mets needed Taylor the most, he came through, stopping the bleeding on four occasions during the Amazins' October run to the championship. For the postseason, Taylor pitched 5 2/3 innings, allowing no runs on three hits, walking one and striking out seven. He was the winning pitcher in Game 2 of the NLCS and recorded a crucial save in Game 2 of the World Series.

Wait a minute! I don't see the Seattle Pilots on this trophy!

The Mets came back to Earth in 1970, finishing with a mediocre 83-79 record (although that still represented the second-best record in franchise history). Despite the team's drop-off in the win column, Ron Taylor didn't suffer a similar drop-off in the save column. For the third consecutive season, Taylor recorded 13 saves. However, most of his saves occurred during the first half of the season. Through July 18, Taylor had been as good as he had been over his first three years in New York, posting a 2.84 ERA to go with 11 saves. However, the Mets struggled for most of the second half of the season, going 27-33 over their final 60 games. As the team stopped winning, the save opportunities were not there for Taylor. That, combined with the continued emergence of Tug McGraw, led to only four save chances for Taylor, who blew two of them en route to his first season with the Mets with an ERA over 3.00 (Taylor finished at 3.93).

In 1971, the Mets went with youth over experience in the bullpen, as 25-year-old Danny Frisella (8-5, 1.99 ERA, 12 saves) and 26-year-old Tug McGraw (11-4, 1.70 ERA, eight saves) were now the co-closers, while Ron Taylor was relegated to a mop-up and middle relief role. For the season, Taylor went 2-2 and picked up only two saves. If not for the quirkiness of the save rule in 1971, Taylor would only have finished with one save, but since he pitched the ninth inning of a 20-6 Mets win over Atlanta (the first time the Mets had ever scored as many as 20 runs in a game), the save rule at the time allowed Taylor to be given credit for the save, despite the Mets having a two touchdown lead over the Braves.

Taylor's "save" against the Braves would be his last one in a Mets uniform, as he was purchased by the Montreal Expos shortly after the completion of the 1971 World Series. Taylor never played for Montreal, but did spend the final year of his career in San Diego, pitching in four games, before retiring from baseball to enroll in medical school.

From saving games to saving lives, Dr. Ron Taylor has had quite a professional career.

Dr. Ron Taylor was the Mets' first "closer" to be used exclusively in the bullpen. In five years with the Mets, Taylor appeared in 269 games, all in relief. (Although Tug McGraw was most known for being a reliever, he started 36 games in nine seasons with the Mets, including 12 starts in 1966.) The 269 appearances were the most in franchise history until he was surpassed by McGraw in 1973.

At the time of his retirement, Taylor was the club's all-time saves leader with 49. Taylor was also one of the stingiest pitchers in Mets history when it came to allowing men on base. In 361 career innings as a Met, Taylor's WHIP was 1.14. Only three pitchers in franchise history who have pitched as many innings posted a lower WHIP - Tom Seaver, Bret Saberhagen and Sid Fernandez, who combined for 325 wins in 25½ seasons as Mets.

Had Taylor pitched more innings as a Met, he would be all over the franchise leaderboard. Only four Mets have posted a career ERA lower than Taylor's 3.04 (Tom Seaver, Jesse Orosco, Johan Santana, Jon Matlack). Nine Mets have allowed an average of eight hits or less per nine innings. With enough innings, Taylor would have been the tenth (he finished at exactly 8.00 H/9IP). Only Bret Saberhagen, Rick Reed, Ed Lynch and Frank Viola walked fewer batters per nine innings than Taylor's 2.3 BB/9IP. Also, if you needed someone to keep the ball in the ballpark, Taylor was your man. He allowed a mere 24 HR over his 361 innings of work, an average of 0.598 HR/9IP. The only Mets to fare better were Dwight Gooden (0.510 HR/9IP) and Jon Matlack (0.572 HR/9IP).

Baseball was played differently in the late '60s and early '70s. Teams did not have specialists in their bullpen. Even those who pitched primarily in the late innings always found a way to sneak in a start or two. Ron Taylor was not a typical pitcher for that era of baseball. He pitched exclusively out of the bullpen and registered three consecutive seasons with double-digit saves at a time when starting pitchers were left in the game to protect their own leads rather than giving way to a closer.

On a team with young pitching stars such as Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman, Gary Gentry, Nolan Ryan and Tug McGraw, it was the established veteran who bailed them out of numerous difficult situations during the 1969 postseason. Ron Taylor may not have been the best reliever in Mets history, but he was certainly one of the most important. The Mets didn't need a closer in 1969; they needed a stopper. Ron Taylor was that stopper, and by taking care of the Braves and Orioles' potent offenses during that magical October, the Mets ended up atop the baseball world. At a time when no one expected the Mets to win, Ron Taylor was truly just what the doctor ordered.


Note: M.U.M.'s The Word is a thirteen-part weekly series spotlighting some of the best Mets players of all-time who never got the recognition they deserved because they weren't the biggest names on the teams they played for. For previous installments, please click on the players' names below:

January 3, 2011: John Olerud
January 10, 2011: Sid Fernandez
January 17, 2011: Jon Matlack
January 24, 2011: Kevin McReynolds
January 31, 2011: Bobby Jones
February 7, 2011: John Stearns
February 14, 2011: David Cone
February 21, 2011: Rusty Staub
February 28, 2011: Rick Reed

Ollie's Fair In Love And War

Oliver Perez might have been pitching to save face and his job this afternoon when he took the mound against the St. Louis Cardinals. After tossing two scoreless innings in which he allowed two hits and did not walk a batter, Ollie appears to be safe for now. Of course, he faced mostly minor league hitters dressed in Cardinals jerseys, but who are we to quibble?

Actually, we've quibbled quite a bit over the past two seasons about Oliver Perez. We've asked for his unconditional release, we've asked him to follow in the footsteps of Kevin Saucier and retire while he's still in his 20s, and we've outed him for having a child as a bodyguard. Still, there was a time when Oliver Perez wasn't so despised.

We won't go so far as to say that Ollie was beloved at Shea Stadium, but from the 2006 NLCS through the Shea Goodbye ceremony in 2008 (El Perez-idente started that final game at Shea and pitched far better than Tom Glavine did in the previous season's finale), Perez wasn't all that bad. He certainly wasn't the vilified pariah he has become since the Mets loaded up their moving van and traveled across the parking lot to Citi Field. Of course, Ollie wasn't making anywhere near $12 million between 2006 and 2008, so perhaps that has something to do with the fans' vitriol towards him.

If you're too young or choose to forget that Oliver Perez was actually a serviceable pitcher at one time, perhaps this will remind you:

Even Oliver Perez seems shocked that he was actually a good pitcher once. Once.

• In 2007 and 2008, Ollie went 25-17 for the Mets. In the team's 49-year history, only 38 pitchers have won at least 25 games over their entire Mets career. Ollie was able to reach that total in only two seasons.

• Out of all the pitchers in franchise history who have been on the mound for at least 500 innings, only 20 of them finished with a career winning percentage of .500 or better. One of them is Oliver Perez, whose 29-29 win-loss record as a Met ties him with Jesse Orosco (47-47) for 20th place. Ollie's career winning percentage in New York is higher than Gary Gentry (.494), Tug McGraw (.461) and Nolan Ryan (.433) and only slightly lower than franchise legends Jerry Koosman (.505) and Jon Matlack (.503).

• Oliver Perez might have walked a batter or twelve over his Mets career, but hitters still have a tough time against him when they put the ball in play. In 4½ seasons as a Met, Ollie has allowed 8.38 hits per nine innings. That puts him 17th on the Mets' all-time list for fewest H/9IP, ahead of notable pitchers such as Bret Saberhagen, Rick Reed, Frank Viola and the non-devastated Tom Glavine.

• In less than five seasons, Ollie is 20th on the Mets' all-time list with 494 strikeouts. That puts him ahead of Nolan Ryan (493), Pedro Martinez (464) and Bob Ojeda (459). Ollie is also third in strikeouts per nine innings (8.55), behind only David Cone (8.72) and Nolan Ryan (8.70). It's true. Ollie ranks higher than Tom Seaver or Dwight Gooden, the two pitchers who are generally considered to be the best in franchise history.

To even things out, Oliver Perez is 17th on the franchise's all-time list for home runs allowed. He also ranks 17th in most walks allowed and 10th in hit batsmen, all of which are negative categories. However, from the list above, it's clear that Ollie has done quite well for himself in a number of positive pitching categories.

So what does this say about the Mets? For a team that has prided itself on having great pitchers over the years, does this mean that the well has run dry? How can a team that featured rotations of Seaver, Koosman and Matlack in the '70s and Gooden, Darling, Ojeda and Fernandez in the '80s have Oliver Perez finding his way into the club's all-time leaderboard?

Perhaps the Mets have had lack of pitching talent over the past 20 years. Perhaps the good pitchers never stay in New York for very long. Or perhaps Oliver Perez was actually not as bad as the guy everyone wants to run out of town for just breathing near Citi Field. One thing's for sure. Oliver Perez is still a Met. He might be here all year. If he is, that all-time Mets leaderboard might have another Ollie or two the next time we check it.

An Interesting Pitching Stat, 20 Years In The Making

Throughout their nearly half-century of existence, the Mets have always prided themselves on their pitching. From stalwarts like Tom Seaver and Jerry Koosman to '80s greats Dwight Gooden and David Cone, the Mets have always had a quality starter or two in their rotation. Even the current Mets have an ace up their sleeve every time Johan Santana takes the mound.

However, since 1988, the Mets have only won one NL East championship (2006), and that division title was due more to their great hitters (Reyes, Wright, Beltran, Delgado) than their pitching (Tom Glavine and Steve Trachsel led the staff with 15 wins apiece). If "pitching wins championships", then the Mets have been without good pitching for the better part of two decades. In fact, it's actually worse than it seems.

What did Frank Viola and Dwight Gooden do that hasn't been accomplished by any Mets pitcher in over twenty years? Perhaps if you would stop reading this small print, you'd already know!

In 1990, Frank Viola became the last Met to win 20 games when he finished the season with a 20-12 record. That same season, he was almost joined by Dwight Gooden, as Doc fell one win short of the 20-win plateau when he lost his final start of the season against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Since 1990, no Met has approached 20 victories, with Al Leiter coming the closest when he won 17 games in 1998.

Twenty years have elapsed since the Mets had a pitcher win at least 18 games in a single season. When Viola and Gooden achieved their lofty win totals in 1990, the Florida Marlins, Colorado Rockies, Arizona Diamondbacks and Tampa Bay Rays weren't even major league franchises yet, with the Marlins and Rockies making their debuts in 1993, while the Diamondbacks and Rays played their first games five years later. Yet all four of those expansion teams have had at least one 18-game winner since their inaugural seasons. Let's look at each major league team, in alphabetical order by league, to see how they've fared since 1990.

American League

• Baltimore Orioles: Mike Mussina (18 wins in 1999)
• Boston Red Sox: Jon Lester (19 wins in 2010)
• Chicago White Sox: Jon Garland (18 wins in 2006)
• Cleveland Indians: Cliff Lee (22 wins in 2008)
• Detroit Tigers: Justin Verlander (18 wins in 2010)
• Kansas City Royals: Kevin Appier (18 wins in 1993)
• Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim: John Lackey (19 wins in 2007)
• Minnesota Twins: Johan Santana (19 wins in 2006)
• New York Yankees: CC Sabathia (21 wins in 2010)
• Oakland Athletics: Trevor Cahill (18 wins in 2010)
• Seattle Mariners: Felix Hernandez (19 wins in 2009)
• Tampa Bay Rays: David Price (19 wins in 2010)
• Texas Rangers: Kenny Rogers (18 wins in 2004)
• Toronto Blue Jays: Roy Halladay (20 wins in 2008)

National League

• Arizona Diamondbacks: Brandon Webb (22 wins in 2008)
• Atlanta Braves: Russ Ortiz (21 wins in 2003)
• Chicago Cubs: Carlos Zambrano (18 wins in 2007)
• Cincinnati Reds: Pete Schourek (18 wins in 1995)
• Colorado Rockies: Ubaldo Jimenez (19 wins in 2010)
• Florida Marlins: Dontrelle Willis (22 wins in 2005)
• Houston Astros: Roy Oswalt (20 wins in 2005)
• Los Angeles Dodgers: Chan Ho Park (18 wins in 2000)
• Milwaukee Brewers: Chris Capuano (18 wins in 2005)
• Philadelphia Phillies: Roy Halladay (21 wins in 2010)
• Pittsburgh Pirates: John Smiley (20 wins in 1991)
• San Diego Padres: Jake Peavy (19 wins in 2007)
• San Francisco Giants: Tim Lincecum (18 wins in 2008)
• St. Louis Cardinals: Adam Wainwright (20 wins in 2010)

Do you see any teams missing? Perhaps you noticed the Montreal Expos/Washington Nationals missing from the list. It's true that they have not had an 18-game winner in the past two decades. But in the strike-shortened 1994 season, Ken Hill of the Montreal Expos was leading the National League with 16 victories when the baseball season came to an abrupt end in mid-August. Surely, had the season been allowed to be played out until its completion, Hill would have earned the two victories needed to reach the 18-win plateau.

So what other team has been left out of the above list? You guessed it. Your friendly neighborhood New York Mets. Since 1990, no Met pitcher has reached the 18-win mark in a single season and only Al Leiter has won as many as 17 games, doing so in 1998. (Pedro Martinez is the only 17-game winner for the Expos/Nationals franchise over the past two decades, winning that many games in 1997, when he won the National League Cy Young Award.)

In 2008, Johan Santana could have won as many as 23 games for the Mets, but the bullpen blew seven of his leads and he was forced to settle for a 16-win season. Johan's bad luck has been felt by many starters recently, as the Mets have had shaky bullpens in each of the past four seasons.

One thing is for sure. Whether it be because of a less than stellar bullpen or because the Mets have not had many aces in their rotation over the past two decades, they have not been able to put a big winner on the mound since the days of Frank Viola and Dwight Gooden.

Perhaps Mike Pelfrey or R.A. Dickey will be the ones to finally crack the 18-win plateau, as Big Pelf won a career-high 15 games for the sub-.500 Mets last year and R.A. used his Dickey-pedia to attain his 11 victories despite not starting a game until May 19. But for a team that has supposedly prided itself on having great pitching over their long history, having a strike-shortened season keeping the Mets from being the only team without an 18-game winner since 1990 is not something they should ever be proud of.

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?