A Not-So-Brief Discussion On No-Hitters And The Mets

When R.A. Dickey gave up a second-inning double to the Braves' Freddie Freeman during today's rubber match, it marked the 7,980th consecutive game that a Mets pitcher has failed to pitch a no-hitter.  How many games have the Mets played in their half century of existence?  7,980.

Barring any rainouts or (heaven forbid) an actual no-hitter in the next 20 games, the Mets' streak will reach 8,000 games on Friday, May 11 when the team plays the Miami Marlins in their new park for the first time.  These are the same Marlins who have only been in existence since 1993, but have registered four no-hitters of their own (tossed by Al Leiter, Kevin Brown, A.J. Burnett and Anibal Sanchez).

As of this writing, there have been 272 no-hitters in major league history, with 229 of them occurring in the modern era (since the forming of the American League in 1901).  The Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers have pitched the most no-hitters in history with 20, while the Mets and San Diego Padres have yet to pitch their first.

Of course, may of those 272 hitless games took place before the Mets came into existence in 1962.  Since the Mets played the first of their 7,980 games, there have been a total of 129 no-hitters pitched in the big leagues.  Let's look at that list to see what random goodies we can find.

Tom Seaver came oh-so-close to pitching a no-hitter for the Mets on several occasions.

When the Mets came into the league in 1962, they were one of two teams to join the National League.  The Houston Colt .45s (you know them as the Astros) were also National League neophytes in 1962, but they didn't take very long to join the no-hit parade.  On May 17, 1963, Houston's Don Nottebart pitched the first no-hitter in the team's short history, holding the Philadelphia Phillies hitless (but not scoreless) in a 4-1 victory.  If you just said "Don who?" when you read the last sentence, you're probably not alone.  It was one of only 36 wins in Nottebart's nine-year career, a career in which he was used mostly as a reliever (Nottebart appeared in 296 games in the majors, of which only 89 were starts).

Although the Mets have never pitched a no-hitter, they have had three occasions in which a no-hitter was taken into the ninth inning, with Tom Seaver being on the mound for all three.  Of course, the one everyone remembers is the "imperfect game".  On July 9, 1969, Seaver was two outs away from a perfect game when the Cubs' Jimmy Qualls broke up the bid with a single.  "The Franchise" retired the next two hitters and settled for a one-hit shutout.  Seaver's mound opponent that night, Ken Holtzman, clearly learned a thing or two from watching Tom Terrific's performance.  Less than six weeks after Seaver's near-perfecto, Holtzman pitched the first of his two career no-hitters.

Tom Seaver took two other no-hitters into the ninth inning during his tenure with the Mets.  On July 4, 1972, in the first game of an Independence Day doubleheader, Seaver once again recorded 25 outs before allowing his first hit (although this time he mixed in four walks).  But the Padres' Leron Lee broke up Seaver's no-hit bid in the ninth with a one-out single to center, just one batter before Nate Colbert ended the game by grounding into a double play.  Three years later, Seaver was once again on the precipice of baseball immortality, but this time he got a little closer.

On September 24, 1975, six years after his first date with no-hit destiny, Seaver held the Cubs hitless through eight innings.  After striking out Don Kessinger and Rick Monday to start the inning, Seaver became the first Met to come within one out of a no-hitter.  There was only one problem.  He wasn't winning the game at the time.  The Mets and Cubs were locked in a scoreless battle when Joe Wallis came up to the plate with two outs in the ninth.  If Seaver had retired Wallis, he'd have pitched nine hitless innings, but would technically not have pitched a no-hitter since the game would not have ended there.  Alas, Seaver did not retire Wallis, as the Cubs' rightfielder broke up the no-hit bid with a single.  The game went into extra innings, with Seaver allowing two more hits in the tenth, before Skip Lockwood lost the game in the 11th on a single and three walks.  No other pitcher has taken a no-hitter into the ninth inning for the Mets, with Tom Glavine and John Maine coming closest (both pitched 7⅔ hitless innings in their gems in 2004 and 2007, respectively).

Despite not having a no-hitter to their credit, the Mets have pitched 35 one-hitters, with one coming in the post-season (Bobby Jones' NLDS-clinching victory over San Francisco in 2000).  However, a number of the pitchers who participated in these one-hitters went on to pitch no-hitters elsewhere.  The first pitcher who comes to mind is Nolan Ryan, who pitched a record seven no-hitters over his career, but never threw one for the Mets.  He did pitch one of the team's 35 one-hitters, allowing only a first-inning single to the Phillies' Denny Doyle on April 18, 1970.  (Ironically, Ryan's mound opponent in the game was Jim Bunning, who pitched a perfect game against the Mets in 1964.)  Other pitchers who hurled one-hitters for the Mets and then went on to pitch a no-hitter elsewhere include Tom Seaver (June 16, 1978 for the Cincinnati Reds), Dwight Gooden (May 14, 1996 for the New York Yankees) and David Cone (July 18, 1999, also for the Yankees).

Shawn Estes (left), Tom Seaver (center) and R.A. Dickey (right) have combined to throw 20% of the Mets' 35 one-hitters.  But Estes and Dickey have a long way to go to match The Franchise in wins.

Ryan, Seaver, Gooden and Cone are the only four pitchers to throw a one-hitter for the Mets before pitching a no-hitter elsewhere.  However, they are not the only four who played for the Mets but pitched a no-hitter elsewhere.  In fact, there have been a few former Mets who pitched no-hitters after leaving New York and even more who pitched their no-hitters before joining the Mets.

Mike Scott had a lackluster career for the Mets, to say the least, going 14-27 for New York from 1979 to 1982.  But once he became a Houston Astro and learned the split-finger fastball from original Met Roger Craig, his career took off.  Four years after throwing his final pitch for the Mets, Scott threw the last pitch of the first division-clinching no-hitter in league history.  The only other former Met who threw a no-hitter after leaving New York was Hideo Nomo, who pitched for the Mets in 1998 and then pitched a no-hitter for the Boston Red Sox in 2001.  Nomo also threw a no-hitter before joining the Mets, victimizing the Colorado Rockies in 1996 while a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

In addition to Nomo, nine other pitchers threw no-hitters before coming to the Mets.  Those lucky nine include:

• Don Cardwell: no-hitter in 1960 (Chicago Cubs); was a Met from 1967-1970
• Warren Spahn: no-hitters in 1960 and 1961 (Milwaukee Braves); was a Met in 1965
• Dean Chance: no-hitter in 1967 (Minnesota Twins); was a Met in 1970
• Dock Ellis: no-hitter in 1970 while tripping on acid (Pittsburgh Pirates); was a Met in 1979
• John Candelaria: no-hitter in 1976 (Pittsburgh Pirates); was a Met in 1987
• Bret Saberhagen: no-hitter in 1991 (Kansas City Royals); was a Met from 1992-1995
• Scott Erickson: no-hitter in 1994 (Minnesota Twins); was a Met in 2004
• Kenny Rogers: perfect game in 1994 (California Angels); was a Met in 1999
• Al Leiter: no-hitter in 1996 (Florida Marlins); was a Met from 1998 to 2004

Notice that of the ten total pitchers (including Nomo), only three (Cardwell, Saberhagen, Leiter) were with the Mets for more than one season. 

A no-no before New York.  A no-no after New York.  But no no-no for Nomo in New York.  No fair.

Almost every team has pitched at least one no-hitter and several teams have pitched more than a handful.  But the Mets aren't alone when it comes to no-hit futility.  In fact, the Mets' 50-year streak without a no-hitter isn't the longest a team has gone without one.  That "honor" belongs to the Philadelphia Phillies, who went 58 years without a no-no.  After Johnny Lush kept the Brooklyn Superbas (that's what the Dodgers called themselves back then) hitless on May 1, 1906, no Phillies pitcher was able to match Lush's performance until Jim Bunning turned the trick with a perfect game on June 21, 1964 against the Mets.  Although Bunning's gem was the second of six no-hitters pitched against the Mets, it remains the only perfect game tossed against New York.

So there you have it, my friends.  You've just read my not-so-brief discussion on the Mets and their history (or lack of) with no-hitters.  By this time next month, the Mets might have played their 8,000th consecutive game without celebrating a no-no.  But the Mets have been known to surprise us in the past, and the possibility remains, however slim, that the streak will end before it reaches the magic 8,000-game mark.

Hey, if Don Nottebart could do it, than why can't a Met?  It's just one of those incredible things that makes baseball (and being a Mets fan) so amazin'.

A Texas Toast To Jeff Francoeur

Jeff Francoeur was an interesting character on the Mets. Personality-wise, he was great. He gave candid interviews and made no excuses for lousy performances.

Francoeur also didn't feel the need to speak in cliches, like a certain local baseball player who claims to have an edge. (To protect his identity, we will use an alias when referring to this edgy player. For now, let's call him "Derek Jeter" to protect the innocent player.)

Frenchy held himself accountable for his actions. If he went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts, he would man up and not blame it on a runner leading off first distracting him at the plate. If he overthrew the cutoff man, he'd be the first to say it was his fault.

Despite his low on-base percentage, he was still the type of baseball player you'd want on your team. He was aggressive (sometimes too much so at the plate) and was not afraid to play hard. He was a gamer who accepted whatever role he was given, such as when Carlos Beltran returned and Angel Pagan became the everyday rightfielder.

Although Frenchy knew his time at Citi Field was limited, he never badmouthed the team and never punched any fathers-in-law. He was classy all the way, even after he was traded by the Mets to the Texas Rangers for the ugliest man in baseball since the days of Willie McGee.



While Joaquin Arias, the man with fewer career home runs than Johan Santana, fades into Mets obscurity (we hope), Jeff Francoeur is having a Texas-sized good time in Arlington.

With last night's 6-1 victory over the New York Yankees, Frenchy and his Texas Rangers advanced to their first ever World Series. The team that was born as the expansion Washington Senators in 1961 and moved to Texas in 1972 finally won the pennant with something that had eluded them for what seemed like the entire history of the franchise - pitching.

I mean, considering that Kenny Rogers is second on the all-time Texas Rangers list for wins and only five pitchers in Washington Senators/Texas Rangers history have picked up more than 68 career wins in 50 seasons, clearly pitching has never been the focal point of this franchise.

To this day, David Clyde might be one of the best pitchers who ever put on a Rangers uniform when he went straight from high school to the big leagues. How many wins did he pick up as a Ranger? Seven.

Now with an ace like Cliff Lee anchoring the staff and a better than average rotation, featuring Colby Lewis, C.J. Wilson and Tommy Hunter, teams can no longer depend on outslugging the Rangers. They have to outpitch them as well.

Jeff Francoeur has now joined this eclectic mix of star athletes (Josh Hamilton, Vladimir Guerrero, Nelson Cruz), flashy speedsters (Julio Borbon, Elvis Andrus) and the aforementioned pitching staff. Although his role has been limited, he performed well enough at the end of the regular season to be included on the post-season roster.

Now he is moving on to his first World Series, where the Rangers will be playing either the San Francisco Giants or that other team. After playing on a less than mediocre team in New York for a year and a half, Frenchy is now heading to the biggest stage of them all, the World Series, where he hopes to be at the bottom of another celebratory pile.


For everything he had to go through in New York, for all the complaints that Mets bloggers made about him, for having to live with Oliver Perez being his teammate for over a year, we'd like to offer a toast to Jeff Francoeur.

Frenchy may not have been the best player to don a Mets uniform. He might not have even been the best player to wear #12 in Mets history (clearly that honor belongs to Alvaro Espinoza). But Jeff Francoeur played the game hard and played it with a smile. He shrugged off all the negativity that was thrown his way and still played to the best of his ability every day he took the field.

Good luck to the Jeff Francoeur in the World Series. He may have taken the long road to get there and he may not play as much as he used to, but he is now a champion. It's too bad his former teammates in Flushing (the ones who make far more bread than anyone on the Rangers do) haven't learned how to be winners themselves.

When Disaster Strikes, Who Can The Mets Call?

As any regular Studious Metsimus reader would know (I'm talking to all 2½ of you), the end of the world might be at hand. Do you see the locusts? That would be the early warning that the Yankees and the Phillies might be playing each other in this year's Fall Crassic. And yes, if they do play each other, I will refer to it as the Fall Crassic instead of the Fall Classic.

As Mets fans, we must do whatever we can to prevent the onslaught on Yankee bandwagoners and Phillie phans from ridiculing us for bleeding blue and orange (and sometimes black).

I've looked online for any possible solution to the potential disaster that awaits us. I'm sorry to say that I was misled by my supposedly trustworthy colleague when he suggested that I should check out www.preventdisastersfromhappening.com for more information. I found six possible options that might help us. Which one do you think is best?


Shaman

I understand that Native American Shamans might be of assistance, but they're mostly known for communicating with the spirit world. However, if they can bring back former Phillie World Series hero Mitch Williams from the dead, then we might be on to something. Williams can hit every Yankee with a pitch, thereby injuring every Yankee but giving them runs due to so many hit batters on base. This would cause MLB to declare a double forfeit. The Phillies can't win because they were losing and the Yankees can't win because they can't put nine healthy bodies on the field. That would actually work if anyone could understand my attempt at logic and if Mitch Williams was actually dead.

FEMA

Leave it to the Wilpons to hire FEMA to prevent the unnatural disaster of the Yankees playing the Phillies in the Fall Crassic. If they are able to hire them, then I guess this World Series is going to happen after all. FEMA wouldn't even get there until the Winter Meetings started in December. At least maybe then, they could prevent Omar Minaya from overpaying some schlub to play for the Mets. (Remember the Ollie-mo!)

Undercover Brother

He might be one bad mother [shut yo mouth], but before he would get the job done, a sexy lady would inevitably come between U.B. and the mission to prevent the Yankees and Phillies from meeting until next year's Grapefruit League games. We'll leave him for the smaller jobs. This job requires someone who can devote 100% of his attention to the task at hand, not 100% attention to who he's got on each hand. By the way, that's a nice picture, Mr. Brother...

Kenny Rogers

Seriously? Kenny Rogers? The man who broke the hearts of Mets fans everywhere when he walked Braves Nation into the 1999 World Series? He's the one you'd expect to bring Molotov cocktails to a pyromaniacs convention, not the one you'd call upon for your one-man disaster relief squad. I mean, come on, people! The photo to the left is his MUG SHOT! He can't even prevent his own disasters!

Kenny Rogers

Okay, now we're just getting silly here. This is supposed to be serious. This Kenny Rogers obviously did a little too much gambling and couldn't prevent disaster from happening to his own face. He didn't know when to hold 'em and his plastic surgeon surely didn't know when to STOP folding him. That being said, perhaps Kenny could recommend some doctors to the Phillies and Yankees. Now that I think about it, this might not be so silly after all.

Kenny

Oh, my God! Kenny killed the World Series! How brilliant would that be? South Park's most famous murder victim would be absolutely PERFECT for the Mets to call upon to stop the Yankees-Phillies Fall Crassic from happening. Just being in Kenny's presence might cause a few players to keel over. No players, no Fall Crassic, which is exactly what happened when the World Series was cancelled in 1994. Also, South Park is located in Colorado. What Colorado native wouldn't want to do harm to the Phillies after the Rockies were ousted by them in the NLDS?


There you have it, SMFs! It appears as if Kenny from South Park will be doing his best to prevent a Yankees-Phillies World Series from taking place. Good luck, Kenny. Just one little thing before you go on your mission.

PLEASE DON'T DIE BEFORE THE END OF THE ALCS AND NLCS!

If you do die, we might have to hire one of the Kenny Rogerseseses and then there would certainly be no joy in Mets-ville. Godspeed, little buddy!

Why We Can't Have A Yankees-Phillies World Series

The Yankees finished with the best record in baseball, swept the red-hot Twins in the ALDS and are now playing the Angels in the American League Championship Series. The Phillies won their third straight division title, were clutch in Colorado and are now trying to repeat as National League Champions. Both teams are currently three wins away from a World Series showdown.

I am a Mets fan. I hate the Yankees. I hate the Phillies. I hate the possibility of a Yankees-Phillies World Series, although I know it might very well happen. However, if the world is to continue spinning on its axis, we CANNOT have a Yankees-Phillies Fall Classic (or Fall Crassic, if you will). I'm Joey and here is why this matchup could be a potential disaster.


As Mets fans, how could we root for either team? Yay, Derek Jeter just struck out with the bases loaded! Oh wait, it was Cole Hamels who struck him out. Woohoo, Utley just let a ball go through his legs! Here comes A-Rod to score the go-ahead run. Ugh! See what I mean?

This potential World Series matchup would be like 1999 all over again for Mets fans. In 1999, Kenny Rogers roasted the Mets and their fans by walking every member of the Atlanta Braves in the bottom of the 11th.

Random thought: Perhaps this is where Oliver Perez learned his mantra of "walks are part of the game". If he was going to learn from a master, he should have learned from Pai Mei and not from the Gambler.










Because of Kenny's donations to the Atlanta Frequent Walker Club, we were subjected to a Yankees-Braves World Series. I was not alive then, but my colleague was. He told me that he did not watch a single pitch of that World Series because he couldn't root for the Bronx Bummers or the team that prevented the Mets from playing on.

Although the same teams faced each other in the 1996 World Series, the Braves did not have the same rivalry with the Mets in '96 as they did in '99 (the Mets were 71-91 in 1996). Therefore, that World Series wasn't as unwatchable as the '99 Series was.

If Studious Metsimus is going to cover the 2009 World Series, we would probably need to watch at least one pitch of it. I can be sure that if the Yankees play the Phillies, we'll be watching "Ghost Hunters" or the series premiere of "V" instead.

In addition to it being an unwatchable World Series for Mets fans, please recall that the Yankees and Phillies have played each other in the World Series once before. That was in 1950, when the Yankees swept the so-called "Whiz Kids", which was the stupid name the Phillies were playfully known as that season. What happened after that World Series? The USA entered the Korean War and the Yankees went on to win the next three World Series.

We do not need a repeat of that! As the movie "Team America: World Police" so succinctly stated, don't f**k with Kim Jong-il! America does not need more conflict overseas and Mets fans certainly don't need to see Alex Rodriguez finally win a ring or three, thereby becoming a "True Yankee".

Let's hope the Angels and Dodgers can pull out victories in their respective series to prevent our hated rivals from winning a pennant and playing for a World Series Championship.

I would like to watch baseball in November and not have to worry that a particular fan base will be spending the entire winter bragging about their pennant and/or championship. Besides, I'm getting the feeling those aren't real ghosts being recorded on the infrared vision and EVP recorders on "Ghost Hunters" anyway.