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.

One Season Wonders: Willie Montañez

In 1977, the Mets were in the middle of dismantling the team that brought them much success in the first half of the 1970s.  They weren't just massacring the team at midnight, they were chopping the players up and spitting them out for other teams to enjoy.  The Mets traded away "The Franchise", their best power hitter (Dave Kingman) and their rock behind the plate (Jerry Grote) during the 1977 season.  But they weren't done yet.

After the season was over, the Mets were involved in a complicated four-team trade with the Atlanta Braves, Texas Rangers and Pittsburgh Pirates.  On December 8, 1977, former Rookie of the Year Jon Matlack was shipped off to Texas and slugging first baseman/leftfielder John Milner packed his bags for Pittsburgh.  In return, the Mets received outfielders Tom Grieve and Ken Henderson from the Rangers.  Neither player performed very well for the Mets.  In fact, both of them were rarely seen on the field in a Mets uniform, with Grieve's career in New York lasting 54 games (.208, 2 HR, 8 RBI) and Henderson (.227, 1 HR, 4 RBI) playing in only seven games.

The Mets received one other player in the deal that sent Matlack and Milner away.  Unfortunately, it was not future Hall of Famer Bert Blyleven, who was also involved in the trade; he went from Texas to Pittsburgh.  No, the third player sent to the Mets came via the Atlanta Braves.  It was a player who was no stranger to trades, as he had already been a part of five organizations (St. Louis Cardinals, California Angels, Philadelphia Phillies, San Francisco Giants, Atlanta Braves) before becoming a Met.  He was also no stranger to trades involving All-Stars and future Hall of Famers.

In 1970, he was the player sent to the Philadelphia Phillies from the St. Louis Cardinals when Curt Flood refused to report to his new team, paving the way for the birth of free agency.  In 1975, he was traded to San Francisco for the Secretary of Defense, Garry Maddox.  This is the same Garry Maddox who went on to win eight Gold Glove Awards and was immortalized by Ralph Kiner when the Mets' legendary broadcaster proclaimed that "two-thirds of the Earth is covered by water, the other third is covered by Garry Maddox".  In 1976, he was traded to Atlanta for Darrell Evans, who went on to hit 414 HR in his major league career.  Then came the trade in 1977 that sent him to the Mets.  Willie Montañez didn't play for very long in New York, but he did have one phenomenal season as a Met.

The Mets were entering the dark ages in 1978, but they did have a bright star in Willie Montañez.

Guillermo Montañez Naranjo was a well-traveled player before coming to the Mets.  Although he was only 29 at the time of the trade to New York, he had already completed a number of great seasons with multiple teams.  His 1971 campaign for the last-place Phillies (.255, 30 HR, 99 RBI) almost won him the National League Rookie of the Year Award, as he placed second in the voting to Atlanta's Earl Williams.  In 1975, he recorded his first 100-RBI campaign, although he split the season between the Phillies and the San Francisco Giants.  In 1976, he recorded career-highs in batting average (.317), hits (206) and games played (163).  But once again, he split the season between two teams, beginning the year in San Francisco and ending it as a member of the Atlanta Braves.

When he joined the Mets in 1978, it was Montañez's sixth professional organization.  (He was in the St. Louis Cardinals organization twice although he never played for them at the major league level, and he recorded two at-bats as a California Angel in 1966, five years before his "rookie" season for the Phillies in 1971.)  As a Brave in 1977, Montañez was a first-time All-Star, finishing the year with a .287 batting average, 31 doubles, 20 HR and 68 RBI.  The 1977 Mets, on the other hand, had no player with more than 25 doubles, 12 HR or 65 RBI.  It goes without saying that Willie Montañez was expected to carry the bulk of the offensive load for the Mets in 1978.  The team may not have produced on the field, but Willie Montañez gave the Mets solid production with his bat.

The season did not start off so well for Montañez and the Mets.  The Mets and the Braves were playing a game of musical chairs in the National League basement.  At the same time, Willie Montañez was struggling with his new team, batting .206 with two home runs and 12 RBI through the team's first 36 games.  He also had more strikeouts (29) than hits (28), which was disconcerting for a player who was only two years removed from a season in which he recorded 206 hits while striking out only 47 times.  But with one visit from his former Braves teammates at Shea Stadium, Montañez turned his season around in a big way.

On May 18, 1978, in the final game of a three-game series against Atlanta, Montañez went 3-for-3 and drove in four runs.  In the first inning, Montañez gave the Mets a short-lived 1-0 lead with a sacrifice fly, but the Braves scored four runs in the top of the second to take a three-run advantage.  In each of his next two at-bats, Montañez cut the Braves' lead to a single run.  His RBI single in the third cut the lead to 4-3, while his run-scoring double in the fifth made it a 6-5 game.  The Mets finally tied the Braves in the bottom of the seventh, with Montañez providing the game-tying RBI double, and went on to win the game in the tenth inning, when Steve Henderson drove in Lee Mazzilli from second base with a single.  The first person to greet Mazzilli at home plate was Willie Montañez, who was on deck at the time.  As great as his 3-for-3, 4 RBI effort was against the Braves, he came up even bigger the following night against the Phillies.

Following the comeback victory against the Braves, the Mets once again fell behind by three runs.  In the bottom of the eighth, the Phillies led the Mets, 3-0, when Willie Montañez came up to bat.  Although he grounded into a fielder's choice, he did drive in the Mets' first run of the game.  Three batters later, Montañez scored on Lee Mazzilli's two-run single off former Met hero Tug McGraw.  The game was tied at 3, and the Mets now had the opportunity for their second consecutive walk-off victory.  In the bottom of the ninth, the Mets loaded the bases with one out for (you guessed it) Willie Montañez, who delivered the game-winning single off McGraw.  It was Montañez's second consecutive three-hit game and gave him a total of six RBI over the two games.  It also served as the impetus for a tremendous hot streak.

Beginning with the series finale against the Braves in mid-May, Montañez went on a tear, hitting .396 through the end of the month.  In 14 games, the Mets' first baseman lashed four doubles, five home runs and drove in a whopping 21 runs.  By the All-Star Break, Montañez's numbers (.267, 12 HR, 54 RBI) made Mets fans forget his slow start.  But the team went into a free fall following the All-Star Break, losing 21 of 28 games from July 27 to August 29 to fall into last place in the NL East.  As the team slumped, so did Montañez, as he hit .238 with three home runs and 26 RBI from the break to late August.  The Mets weren't able to recover from their slump, but Montañez had one final good month in September.

Over a two-week stretch in the season's final month, Montañez returned to his pre-Midsummer Classic form.  In 12 games from September 7 to September 20, Montañez batted .298 with five extra-base hits (four doubles, one homer) and 10 RBI.  One game in particular stood out for Montañez on a personal level, as he drove in all three runs in a 3-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on September 8.  Montañez produced run-scoring singles in the first and third innings, then delivered the game-winner with an RBI double in the eighth.  All three run-scoring hits were hit off the same pitcher, Bert Blyleven, who was one of the players involved in the trade that brought Montañez to New York.  Although the Mets were just playing out the schedule by that point, they did win eight of the 12 games during Montañez's final hot streak.

For the year, Willie Montañez batted .256.  However, he did lead the team with 32 doubles, 17 HR and 96 RBI.  At the time, the only two Mets who had registered more doubles in a season than Montañez were Rusty Staub (36 doubles in 1973) and Felix Millan (37 doubles in 1975).  Montañez's RBI total was also only surpassed by two Mets - Donn Clendenon (97 RBI in 1970) and Rusty Staub (105 RBI in 1975).  The Mets finished 1978 with a 66-96 record, but they entered the 1979 campaign knowing they had a bona fide slugger in their lineup.  Unfortunately, the key word in that last sentence was "had".

The 1979 Mets had a horrendous start to their season and by the end of May, they were already 13 games out of first place.  Unlike the previous campaign, when Willie Montañez did all he could to keep the Mets fairly relevant over the first few months of the season, in 1979, he was one of the main reasons why they got off to a 16-28 start.  Through May 9, Montañez's numbers (.150, 1 HR, 4 RBI) looked more like a pitcher's offensive figures than a slugging first baseman's stats.  Although he did raise his average to a more respectable .234 by mid-August, he did it mostly with singles.  (In June and July, Montañez managed just seven extra-base hits in 213 plate appearances.)  As a result, by August 11, Montañez had only produced five home runs and 47 RBI for the season.

By then, the Mets had been all but mathematically eliminated in the NL East race, and decided to trade away their veteran first baseman to the Texas Rangers for Ed Lynch and Mike Jorgensen.  After his trade from the Mets, Montañez returned to his peripatetic ways, playing for the Rangers, Padres, Expos, Pirates and Phillies over his final three-plus seasons in the majors before retiring after the 1982 season.

Willie Montañez was known as a hot dog throughout his days in the major leagues, drawing the ire of opposing players and managers throughout his long major league career.  But despite his antics, he was still a very productive player.  For one season in New York, he was as productive a hitter as the Mets had ever seen.  Then his production fell off the table and his Mets career soon followed.  The Mets might not have had many good players or teams to root for from 1977 to 1983, but in 1978, Willie Montañez was one of the few bright spots in an otherwise dark period of Mets history.  It was only one season, but for the era in which it occurred, it was a welcome sight to have a one-season wonder like Willie Montañez take the field for 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 
January 16, 2012: George Stone
January 23, 2012: Roger Cedeño
January 30, 2012: Frank Viola
February 6, 2012: Joe Christopher 
February 13, 2012: Dave Magadan 
February 20, 2012: Pedro Martinez
February 27, 2012: Bret Saberhagen 
March 5, 2012: Robin Ventura

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.

It's A Hard Luck Life (For R.A.)

Quick! Which starting pitcher on the Mets has the lowest ERA? If you said R.A. Dickey, you'd be correct. Now if I asked you which Mets hurler of the starting five has the fewest wins, you probably wouldn't think to say Dickey's name again. But it's true, with a 5-11 record, R.A. Dickey has the fewest wins of the five pitchers in the starting rotation, one less than Mike Pelfrey's six.



R.A. Dickey is this year's hard-luck pitcher on the Mets, the man who pitches well more often than not, yet never seems to get credit for the victory. The Mets are 11-14 in Dickey's 25 starts, including Monday night's extra-inning victory over the Padres. That means the bullpen is more apt to pick up the victory in a Dickey start than Dickey himself. It's enough to make you scratch your head in disbelief.

It's okay, R.A. You may not be getting the wins on your record, but you're a winner to Mets fans.

Dickey is not the only pitcher in the majors to be having trouble earning victories despite pitching relatively well. Fellow National Leaguer Hiroki Kuroda has an 8-14 record, leading the league with his 14 losses. However, he is currently eighth in the NL with a 2.88 ERA. Kuroda has given up three earned runs or less in 19 of his 24 starts, but the Dodgers have managed to lose ten of those 19 quality starts. Incredibly, Los Angeles has scored two runs or less in exactly half of Kuroda's 24 starts, giving the 26-year-old righty little room for error.



In the American League, Doug Fister has pitched relatively well this year, splitting his time between Seattle and Detroit. After 24 starts, Fister's ERA is 3.59 and has never been higher than 3.86 at any point this year. However, Fister's won-loss record (4-13) does not seem right compared to his ERA. Like Kuroda, Fister has been highly effective in most of his starts, allowing two earned runs or less 12 times. Incredibly, his teams have lost seven of those 12 starts. Trading the Pacific Northwest for the Motown Mashers has done little to change Fister's luck, as he gave up two earned runs in his second start for Detroit on August 9, only to get a no-decision in a 3-2 loss to the Indians.



It is not uncommon for a good pitcher to suffer hard times in the won-loss column despite pitching well enough to win most of his games. It's especially not uncommon for Mets pitchers to live the hard-luck life.



In 1978, Craig Swan led the National League with a 2.43 ERA. However, Swan only managed to win nine games in 28 starts (losing six and receiving a no-decision in a whopping 13 starts). In 17 of his 28 starts, Swan left the game with the Mets in the lead (12 times) or tied (5 times). Yet, the bullpen couldn't help Swan out. Neither could his offense, as the Mets scored three runs or less in 16 of his 28 starts.



If Swan's 1978 season was enough to make you shake your head, wait till you hear about Jon Matlack's 1974 season. In that year, Matlack pitched 14 complete games (5th in the NL), threw 265.1 innings (7th), had a 2.41 ERA (3rd), recorded a 1.12 WHIP (3rd), struck out 195 batters (4th) and led the league with seven shutouts. He also made the All-Star team for the first time in his career. Sounds like a Cy Young Award candidate, doesn't it? So how many votes did Matlack receive for the National League Cy Young Award in 1974?



Zero.



Perhaps it was one little stat that caused the voters to look away from Matlack at year's end. You know which one I'm talking about. In 1974, Jon Matlack's won-loss record was 13-15.



Since Matlack threw seven complete game shutouts in '74, that means more than half of his wins came in games in which he allowed no runs in nine innings of work. He basically had to be as close to perfect as possible in order to pick up a win. Of course, with the Mets scoring three runs or less in 19 of his 34 starts, it's no wonder why Matlack finished the season with a losing record.



So that brings us to R.A. Dickey. Why is Dickey allergic to victories despite leading the team in ERA for starting pitchers? It's actually a combination of three things. Dickey is being let down by his offense, the bullpen has been a little shaky, and he's been bitten by the bad luck bug.



In 26 games (25 starts), Dickey has left the game with the lead eight times (including Monday night versus the Padres). The bullpen has blown three of those leads. Dickey has also left four games with the score tied. He received no-decisions in all four starts, as the offense failed to take the lead in the next half-inning every time, thereby denying Dickey the possibility of earning the win. The Mets have also scored three runs or less in more than half of Dickey's appearances (14 times in 26 appearances), making it increasingly difficult for R.A. to chalk up the victory.



Luck also has something to do with it. In 2010, opposing hitters' BABIP (Batting Average on Balls In Play) against Dickey was .280, well below the average number of .300. This year, Dickey's BABIP has risen to .293, which is more in line with the league average. Batters are finding more holes and placing their hits in better spots. It's all about luck with this statistic, and Dickey seems to be having nothing but the bad variety this year.



Sometimes all it takes is a clutch hit here or a solid bullpen performance there for a pitcher to rack up the victories. For R.A. Dickey in 2011, he's receiving none of that help. Baseball is a team sport. It's a shame that the team doesn't usually show up whenever R.A. Dickey is on the mound.

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.

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?