Joey's Soapbox: Las Vegas Gives The Mets No Respect

Last night, I wrote a special Valentine's Day piece on why I love the Mets.  Apparently, Las Vegas oddsmakers don't feel the same love.  Allow me to explain.

This morning, as I was reading the morning paper in bed (see photo below), I was pawing my way through the sports section when I happened upon America's Line, the section where the point spreads and odds are listed.

In addition to the lines for tonight's games, the 2012 World Series odds were also listed for each team.  Now I'm a realist, so just as I don't expect Jason Bay to become the second consecutive Mets' batting champion or Mike Pelfrey to toss the team's first no-hitter, I also didn't expect the Mets to be near the top of the World Series odds list.

I saw the safe bets on top (Phillies, Yankees, Angels, Rangers) and was surprised to see that six of the top seven teams called the American League home, despite the fact that the NL has won four of the last six Fall Classics.  But the one thing I didn't see was the Mets.

I finally did find them, but not until I saw the names of the 23 teams ahead of them.

That's right.  That bold-faced name you see near the bottom of the list is our beloved team.  Now the thing that upsets me is not that at 80-1 odds, the Mets rank 24th out of 30 teams.  It's far more than that.

First, the only National League teams with longer odds than the Mets to win the World Series are the Pittsburgh Pirates, San Diego Padres and Houston Astros.  The Pirates hold the all-time record in sports for most consecutive losing seasons, with 19.  The Padres have finished higher than third place in the NL West only seven times in their 43 years of existence.  And the Astros are coming off their worst season (56-106) in franchise history.

Second, the other teams in the NL East not only have more favorable odds to win the World Series, they're far more favorable.  The Phillies (4-1 odds) are no surprise here.  The Braves (20-1 odds) came within one choke job of repeating as wild card winners in 2011.  The Marlins (also 20-1) apparently still had money left over after fattening the wallets of Jose Reyes, Heath Bell and Mark Buehrle, giving some of it to the Las Vegas oddsmakers to "earn" their high ranking.  And the Washington Nationals, a team that is still seeking its first winning season since saying au revoir to Montreal, is at 25-1.  Somewhere in the next time zone, you'll find the Mets at 80-1.  No respect.

But if you think the Washington Nationals ranking so much higher than the Mets is the ultimate lack of respect, you've got another "think" coming.

The Kansas City Royals, whose sole finish above third place over the past 22 seasons came in 1995, when they finished four games UNDER .500, rank higher the Mets.  But the one team that caught my eye is ranked even higher than the Royals.  That team is the Chicago Cubs.  The same Chicago Cubs team that hasn't won a World Series since 1908, the year Jamie Moyer was just getting the courage to ask his sweetheart to the prom.  At 35-1 odds, the oddsmakers believe the Cubs are more than twice as likely to win the World Series than the Mets.

The Mets haven't won the World Series since 1986, the same year a film called Back To School was released.  Perhaps you might remember it.  It starred an actor/comedian who knew a thing or two about not getting any respect.

 I respect a man who proudly wears the Mets' racing pinstripes.

Rodney Dangerfield made a living on not getting respect.  Now it looks as if the Mets are following in his footsteps.  In Back To School, Dangerfield's character comforted his son, who had just told him about his C average, by saying "A, B, C, you're in the top three, what's the difference?"

For the Mets, there is a difference.  They can forget about the top three.  They're not even in the top TWENTY-three, as far as World Series odds are concerned.

As everyone knows, the games are played on the field, not on paper.  It's too bad my paper felt the need to play a game with me.  I'm telling you, the Mets just get no respect.  Even Rodney Dangerfield would feel sorry for us.

One Season Wonders: Dave Magadan

In 1986, the Mets were rolling towards their first division title in 13 years.  Entering September, the Mets' lead in the NL East had increased to 20 games and the inevitable clinching was only days away.  As with any other team, the Mets called up a number of minor leaguers once the rosters expanded on September 1.  One of those players was a lanky first baseman from Tampa who was an excellent contact hitter, even if that contact produced mostly singles.

In four minor league seasons, the first baseman never hit lower than .309 and never had an on-base percentage lower than .411.  But of his 495 base hits, only 104 went for extra bases and a mere four left the ballpark.  Despite his penchant for collecting singles and drawing walks, the Mets didn't call him up to the big leagues until after he had amassed over 1,500 minor league at-bats.  But he made a name for himself quickly once he got his first start.

On September 17, 1986, the Mets were playing before a packed house at Shea Stadium, needing a win to seal the deal on the NL East crown.  However, team leader Keith Hernandez was unable to start because of the flu, so the start was given to the rookie with the singles bat.  Four plate appearances, three hits and two RBIs later, the September call-up took a seat so that Hernandez could take part in the on-field celebration.  Before September 17, no one had heard of the Mets' rookie, but after his performance in the Mets' first division clincher since 1973, everyone knew who Dave Magadan was.

Dave Magadan never met a single he didn't like.

David Joseph Magadan wasn't the only baseball player in his family.  The cousin of Lou Piniella, Magadan played the game much like his famous family member.  Just as Sweet Lou had done before him, Magadan carved out a nice résumé for himself in the minor leagues before getting an opportunity to play in the majors.  (Piniella was drafted in 1962 but did not become a regular in the big leagues until 1969.)  Also like his cousin, Magadan followed in the family tradition of lashing single after single.  (1,257 of Piniella's 1,705 hits went for one base.)  But the one difference in Magadan's game was his ability to draw a walk.  Piniella never walked more than 35 times in any of his 18 years in the big leagues, while Magadan had never walked less than 51 times in any of his four seasons in the Mets' minor league system.  And it was because of that ability that Magadan never returned to the minor leagues as a Met, even with Keith Hernandez still blocking his path to first base.

In 1987, Keith Hernandez was still the Mets' regular first baseman, but with the departure of third baseman Ray Knight, the Mets needed a backup at the hot corner now that Howard Johnson was taking over the position.  Unfortunately for Magadan, HoJo had a breakout season in 1987, so he was mostly relegated to pinch-hitting duties, appearing in only 85 games and collecting 192 at-bats.  But things began to change in 1988 when Hernandez started to show his age at first.

After a letdown in 1987, the Mets were back atop the NL East in 1988, although they were doing it without the help of their co-captains.  Gary Carter went through a prolonged power slump as he was seeking to hit his 300th career home run and Keith Hernandez injured his hamstring twice.  With the Mets needing a replacement at first base, Magadan stepped in, but for the first time in his professional career, failed to hit .300, finishing the year with a .277 batting average in 112 games.  The next year, Hernandez was hurt again and Magadan found himself playing more than he did in 1988.  But for the second straight year, Magadan was not able to maintain a lofty batting average, although it did improve slightly to .286 in 127 games. 

As the '80s turned into the '90s, Dave Magadan had been with the Mets for parts of four seasons.  However, he still had not become an everyday player, with less than 900 at-bats over those four seasons.  He mainly served a pinch-hitter or an injury replacement.  But when the Mets chose not to re-sign Keith Hernandez after the 1989 season, a full-time spot finally opened for Dave Magadan.  He responded with the best season of his career.

After four years in Keith Hernandez's shadow, Dave Magadan set his sights on a career year in 1990.

Dave Magadan appeared to finally have the everyday first baseman's job once Keith Hernandez signed a free-agent contract with the Cleveland Indians in early December 1989.  But two weeks after Hernandez was officially an ex-Met, the team swung a deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers for reliever Alejandro Peña and first baseman Mike Marshall.  Dave Magadan was back on the bench and Mike Marshall was named Keith Hernandez's replacement at first base by manager Davey Johnson.

Marshall, who hit 137 home runs in nine years as a Dodger, was a complete disaster at first base, hitting .226 with four home runs and 20 RBI through May 27.  His performance at the plate mirrored the team's performance on the field, and on that date, the Davey Johnson era came to a close with the firing of the Mets' most successful manager.  Long-time Mets player and coach Buddy Harrelson replaced Johnson as skipper, immediately making the team his own.  After only two weeks on the job, Harrelson took Mike Marshall out of the lineup, replacing him with Dave Magadan.  This time, there was no one in Magadan's way to prevent him from breaking out.  And it all started with a windy day at Wrigley Field.

On June 12, 1990, the Mets were playing the second game of a four-game series at Wrigley Field in Chicago.  At the time, Magadan was hitting .307 in 75 at-bats, with one home run and six runs batted in.  By the time the game was over, those numbers had doubled.  In what became Dave Magadan's breakout week, the first baseman went 4-for-4 with a triple, home run and six RBI.  The next day, Magadan collected four more hits in a doubleheader against the Cubs.  The Mets then traveled to Pittsburgh.  Different venue, same result, as Magadan went 4-for-4 with two doubles, a run scored and an RBI in a 7-5 victory over the first place Pittsburgh Pirates.

In his first seven days as an everyday player, Magadan collected an astounding 18 hits, but what was more amazing was that he was collecting his share of extra-base hits as well.  For the seven-game period, Magadan hit .563 (18-for-32), with three doubles, a triple and a home run.  He also scored eight runs and drove in ten, all with an un-Magadan-like .813 slugging percentage.  By the time the week was over, Magadan was hitting .383, which would have led the league had he collected enough at-bats to qualify.  But with Magadan now firmly entrenched at first base, it wouldn't be long before his name appeared among the league leaders in batting average.

Every once in a while, Dave Magadan put on a glove, but it was his bat that did the talking in 1990.

From June 24 until the end of July, Magadan continued his torrid pace.  In 35 games (33 starts), Magadan hit .336 with 15 extra-base hits (ten doubles, three triples, two home runs), 25 runs scored and 19 RBI.  He also continued to show exceptional discipline at the plate, drawing 18 walks while striking out only 12 times.  By the time July was over, Magadan was officially among the National League's leading hitters, while Mike Marshall was on his way to Boston, traded for minor leaguers Ed Perozo and Greg Hansell (the same Greg Hansell who was the losing pitcher against the Mets in the 162nd game of 1999, the game that sent the Mets to Cincinnati for the one-game playoff to determine the National League wild card berth).

As hot as Magadan was, the Mets were even hotter.  In a two-month stretch from June 4 to August 3, the Mets' record was 40-15.  They had gone from a season-high 9½-game deficit on June 7 to a one-game lead on August 3.  The Mets had become Buddy Harrelson's team, a scrappy bunch that won games in every possible way.  And this feisty attitude had brought them back into division contention, with Dave Magadan leading the way.

On August 24, Dave Magadan was second in the league in batting, hitting .337 to Lenny Dykstra's .341.  Willie McGee was right on their tails with a .336 batting average.  Five days later, a trade was made that would influence the National League batting race when Willie McGee was shipped off to the Oakland A's.  Since McGee was switching leagues, his .335 batting average at the time of the trade would stay frozen and McGee's batting average in the American League would remain separate.  Therefore, regardless of what McGee did in Oakland, his season-ending batting average in the National League was locked in at .335.  At the time of the deal, Dykstra was still leading the league with a .340 batting average, but McGee had passed Magadan into second place, as the Mets' first baseman had dropped to .333.  There was one month to go in the season to see if Magadan was going to become the Mets' first batting champion, but more importantly, the Mets were down to their final month if they wanted to take the division from the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Mets were still leading the division by a half-game on September 3, but a five-game losing streak, which included a three-game sweep at the hands of the Pirates, knocked them 3½ games back.  Magadan did his best to keep the team afloat, batting .350 with a double, two triples and a home run in the six games he played from September 4 to September 9.  But by then, his teammates had gone into a team-wide slump, and the Mets never took over first place again.  The only thing left to decide was the National League batting race, and one of the participants was also in the midst of a slump.

Lenny Dykstra, who appeared ready to win his first batting title for the Phillies, completely lost it at the plate in the month of September.  On the morning of September 8, Dykstra was still leading the league with a .343 batting average.  Eight days later, he had already fallen behind Willie McGee and his stationary .335 average.  By season's end, Magadan had also passed Dykstra.  The former Met had to settle for a .325 batting average, the result of hitting .213 over his final 20 games.  As cold as Dykstra was, it was a future Met who went on a tear of his own in September.  Eddie Murray, then a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers, hit .411 over his final 30 games to insert his name into the batting race.  Murray's blazing finish raised his average to .330 by season's end, just five percentage points behind Willie McGee.  Unfortunately, Murray's average had also surpassed Dave Magadan, who settled for a .328 average and a third-place finish in the National League batting race.

Although Dave Magadan fell short in his quest to become the Mets' first batting champion, his .328 average was still the second-highest batting average ever recorded by a Met who qualified for the batting title (Cleon Jones set the franchise record of .340 in 1969).  However, since Jones was a right-handed batter, Magadan's average was the highest recorded by a left-handed hitter in Mets' history.  (Both Jones' and Magadan's marks were erased by John Olerud in 1998, when the sweet-swinging lefty set the new team standard with a .354 batting average.)

We're not worthy!  We're not worthy!  Such was life in Dave's World.

Dave Magadan's 1990 season was by far the best year of his career.  The first baseman set career highs in batting average (.328), slugging percentage (.457), OPS (.874), hits (148), doubles (28), triples (6), home runs (6), RBI (72) and runs scored (74).  It was also the only time in his career that he received MVP votes, as Magadan earned four votes to finish 22nd in the NL MVP vote.

As quickly as Magadan rose to the top, his star faded quickly.  In 1991, his average plummeted to .258 and in 1992, he played in only 99 games, batting .283 with 12 extra-base hits.  By then, the Mets had already signed Magadan's old batting champion rival, Eddie Murray, to be the team's first baseman, and Magadan was back to splitting his time between first base and third base.  The 1992 season would turn out to be Magadan's last season in New York.

After the 1992 season, Magadan became a journeyman.  Just as Don Zimmer became the first Met to play the hot corner, Dave Magadan became the first Florida Marlins' third baseman, playing the position in the Marlins' inaugural game in 1993.  Magadan's stay in Florida didn't last very long, as he was traded to Seattle in June.  Magadan returned to the Marlins in 1994, followed by stints with the Houston Astros (1995), Chicago Cubs (1996), Oakland A's (1997-98) and San Diego Padres (1999-2001).  Although he played for nine seasons after leaving the Mets, Magadan was never able to duplicate his successful 1990 campaign.  Still, Magadan's longevity made him the only position player from the 1986 team to extend his playing career into the 21st century.  (Pitcher Jesse Orosco hung up his spikes after the 2003 season.)

Dave Magadan was never a great player, but he was still good enough to play 16 seasons for seven different teams.  He was a decent hitter, finishing his career with a .288 batting average and had a great eye at the plate (.390 lifetime on-base percentage).  As a result, Magadan is still in the major leagues, serving as the hitting coach for the San Diego Padres from 2003 to 2006, before joining the Boston Red Sox in the same role in 2007.  Magadan won a World Series ring with the Red Sox 21 years after making his major league debut for another World Series winner.  He is now entering his sixth season as the Red Sox hitting instructor and his first under former Mets manager Bobby Valentine.

After spending four seasons in the minor leagues, Dave Magadan finally got a chance to play in the big show.  He waited four more years to become an everyday player.  It was his patience at the plate that first got him noticed and it was his patience on the bench that allowed him to have one of the most unexpected seasons in Mets history.  The Mets might not have won the division title in 1990, but Dave Magadan proved to be a winner that season.  He's still winning today.


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

It Was Never Meant To Lastings

How the mighty have fallen!  According to mlbtraderumors.com, former Mets prospect Lastings Milledge will not be playing in the United States in 2012.  Instead, he will be a member of the Tokyo Yakult Swallows, earning $570,000 next year, plus performance bonuses.  Milledge also has a club option for the 2013 season.

Prior to the 2006 season, Milledge was the Mets' top minor league prospect as a 21-year old and was one of the top prospects in the country.  However, his flashiness (Milledge high-fived fans at Shea Stadium after an extra-inning game-tying home run) irked his teammates and rubbed opponents the wrong way.  In addition, Milledge was not exactly skilled at pitch selection (in 391 plate appearances as a Met, Milledge drew 25 walks while striking out 81 times).

As a result, the once highly-touted prospect was traded to Washington following the 2007 season for Ryan Church and Brian Schneider.  In 2008, Milledge appeared to be on the way to fulfilling the lofty expectations placed on him as a rookie in 2006.  In 138 games for the Nationals, he hit 14 home runs and stole 24 bases.  But that was the last time Milledge would be an everyday player in the major leagues, as injuries and poor performance derailed a once-promising career.

Since his kinda-sorta breakout season in 2008, Milledge has played for the Pirates and White Sox, but hasn't come close to replicating his one good season.  Milledge split the 2009 season with the Nationals and Pirates, combining to hit .279 with four home runs, 21 RBI and seven stolen bases in 244 at-bats.  In 2010, Milledge played the entire season in Pittsburgh, picking up 379 at-bats.  However, his production was not that far off from what he accomplished in 2009, despite the extra 135 at-bats (.277, 4 HR, 34 RBI, 5 SB).

Milledge signed as a free agent with the White Sox prior to the 2011 season but only played two games in Chicago before being sent down to AAA-Charlotte, where he returned to his 2008 form (.295, 12 HR, 27 SB).  Despite appearing to be back as the player the Mets expected him to be when they first called him up in 2006, Milledge was not re-signed by the White Sox following the 2011 season and was granted free agency.

Now in Japan for up to two years, Milledge will try to prove that he wasn't just a flash in the pan.  At age 26, he still hasn't entered his baseball prime and could potentially do well enough for the Swallows to draw the attention of a major league scout or two, but it's amazing how far his star has fallen.

After growing tired of him, the Mets turned Lastings Milledge into Ryan Church and Brian Schneider.  They then turned Church into Jeff Francoeur.  Francoeur was traded to Texas last year for Joaquin Arias, who is now in the Kansas City Royals organization.  The Mets now have nothing to show for Milledge.  Then again, Milledge had nothing to show for the Mets when he was here.

Some players have gone to Japan and returned to the United States to embark on a long, successful career (see Melvin Mora).  Perhaps this will be the case with Milledge, a player I once had such high hopes for.  Good luck, Lastings!  I've got a high-five waiting for you when you come back.

We (Finally) Believe In Comebacks

Comebacks. A nine-letter word that sometimes resembled a four-letter word to the Mets. After all, the Mets had not won a game in which they trailed by more than four runs all season. In fact, the last time the Mets rallied from a five-run deficit or greater was last September 15, when they defeated Pittsburgh at Citi Field. In that game, the Pirates held an early 5-0 lead, only to watch the Mets score seven runs in the fourth inning en route to the one-run victory. That game was started by Paul Maholm.

Fast forward to this afternoon. The Mets fell behind early to the Pirates by giving up an early touchdown. By the third inning, it was already 7-0 Pittsburgh (the Pirates, not the Steelers). Paul Maholm (that name sounds awfully familiar) was in control and it appeared as if the Mets were about to lose their third straight game to the Pirates.

Then after consecutive two-out singles by Jose Reyes and Justin Turner, Carlos Beltran smoked a three-run homer off the facade of the left field landing. The score was 7-3 and the rally was just beginning. The Mets then added four runs in the sixth inning to tie the game and took the lead with a two-run eighth. The second run in the eighth, which scored on a bases loaded walk by Carlos Beltran (his fourth RBI of the game) proved to be the game-winner, as Frankie Rodriguez gave up a run in the ninth before putting the 9-8 victory in the books.

So for the second straight year, Paul Maholm was given a seemingly comfortable lead at Citi Field and then watched it all crumble away as the Mets posted two unlikely comebacks.

Today's game marked the first time since June 30, 2000 that the Mets erased a seven-run deficit to come out on top. Only once have they come back from a larger hole to post a victory, wiping out an 8-0 deficit versus the Astros on September 2, 1972, to win 11-8.

The Mets' marketing slogan last year was "We Believe In Comebacks", something they did very little of in 2010. They might be a year late, but today the Mets finally believed enough to come back and post a victory in a game where they were left for dead. It's up to them to continue believing if they want to "come back" in the NL East standings.

Joey's Small Bites: We'll Be On The Field Tonight During Batting Practice!

Happy Memorial Day, everyone! This is Joey Beartran, along with my sister Iggy Beartran. We're here to share some great news with you! If you have tickets to tonight's Mets game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, please remember to arrive early, because we're going to be on the field (along with Studious Metsimus colleague and correspondent, Ed Leyro and Taryn Cooper, respectively) during batting practice.

We'll have our gloves ready, as we'll be shagging fly balls hit by all of your fav'rit Mets and all of your fav'rit no-names on the Pirates.

Are you ready for some baseball? We are!

Of course, we won't be allowed to run all over the field. We'll be near the left field corner in front of the Great Wall of Flushing. In fact, there are many rules and regulations we'll have to follow if we want to stay on the field during the entirety of batting practice.

For example, we can bring one sealed water bottle onto the field (20 oz. or less). However, we're not allowed to bring chicken nachos or any other type of food onto the field, even though the chicken nacho stand is literally a few feet away in the left field corner. Hello? We need food to give us the strength to run down fly balls on the warning track. Not only that, what else are we going to wash down our water with? Cotton candy? (Surprisingly enough, I'm not too fond of cotton candy.)

The no food policy is just one of many guidelines we'll have to follow when we're on the field. Below you will see us holding up the sheet of rules and regulations that was sent to us. If that's too small for you to read (after all, you may have the eyesight of umpire Angel Hernandez), then to the right, you can click on the photo to enlarge the sheet with the rules and guidelines.



Now I can understand the fact that we have to sign a waiver before entering the field (Rule #1). After all, if we get hit on the head by a fly ball, we might not remember our names, where we live or where Shake Shack is. But what about the rule where we can't steal dirt from the warning track (Rule #9)? Didn't the Marlins steal dirt from Shea Stadium after they defeated the Mets in the final game of the 2008 season (otherwise known as the "Shea Goodbye" game)? They didn't heed the fans' calls of "off the field" and they did harm to the Mets by defeating them in a game they needed to win to force a one-game playoff against the Milwaukee Brewers for the wild card berth. Why is it okay for the Marlins to steal dirt from the field but not acceptable for the paying customers to do the same?

What about the "no sliding or diving" rule (Rule #4) or the "no feet or bodies on the wall" rule (Rule #7)? Didn't we have to sign a waiver before entering the field? So if we get hurt while sliding or diving, that was our decision. Also, if we bang our heads or get our feet caught on the wall trying to make a play, again, it's our own fault. The Mets wouldn't be held responsible for any of our injuries because of that waiver. Then again, with all the injuries that have befallen the Mets since they moved into Citi Field, perhaps they're just expecting some of us to get hurt. Anyway, I don't need to slide or dive on the field. I already did that last year and didn't get caught. And Iggy is 100% healthy after hanging out (literally) at the 378 foot sign in right field earlier this year.



Um, about Rule #3, the "no spikes or heels" rule. Why would anyone be wearing heels or spikes to a ballgame anyway? Are there kids going to their senior prom after the game? Is Ty Cobb at the game? Probably not. So why would anyone wear either of those on their feet?

Of course, there's always a chance Gene Simmons might show up in full makeup. Perhaps that rule is specifically for him. But could you imagine the blood-spewing bassist for KISS showing up in his battle armor and wearing Chuck Taylor Converse All-Star sneakers? Then again, he could probably get away with wearing Chuck Taylor knee-high sneaker boots...



So that's all I have to get off my chest for today. We'll be at Citi Field at 4:00pm today to take the field for batting practice prior to the Mets game against the Pittsburgh Pirates. We'll be on the field near the left field corner for a few hours before first pitch. If you show up early, feel free to bring your camera to take pictures of us. Just please don't call our names or say "use two paws" as we're getting ready to catch a fly ball. We'd rather not hear the Mets' staff tell us "see, that's why we made you sign the waiver".

Have a great day watching the game, either at Citi Field or in the comfort of your own homes. We'll try to bring back a ball (and a victory) for you!

PNC Park: The House That Sid Bream Built

This past weekend, the Studious Metsimus / My Summer Family World Tour touched down in the Iron City, Pittsburgh, hoping to see the Mets win a series at a ballpark they've not had much success in (13-15 at PNC Park since it opened its mustard colored doors in 2001).

The trip there was long and filled with Cracker Barrel meals, but after what seemed like days, we finally made it to The House That Sid Bream Built.

Excuse me? The House That Sid Bream Built? In a city known for its steel workers and some football team that plays in Ketchup Field (which probably explains why the Pirates play in a mustard colored park), why would Sid Bream get the credit for building the stadium? Please allow us to elaborate for you.

Sidney Eugene Bream (no relation to Dwight Eugene Gooden and Darryl Eugene Strawberry) was sent to the Pirates by the Dodgers in 1985 to complete a deal in which four-time National League batting champion Bill Madlock was shipped off to Los Angeles. Bream was stuck playing first base, a position that was on lockdown due to the emergence of legendary Dodger first baseman Greg Brock, who hit all of .233 in his five Bream-repelling seasons in the City of Angels.

Once he arrived in Pittsburgh, he was part of a team that rose from the catacombs of the NL East (57-94 in 1985) to the division champions they became in 1990 (95-67). He formed a nucleus that included some of the most well-known Pirates in franchise history, like Jose Lind, Sammy Khalifa and Orlando Merced.

With Sid Bream anchoring the infield, the Pirates looked like a dynasty in the making. The supporting cast of Barry Bonds* and Bobby Bonilla served as fine complementary pieces to the team, but the glue that kept it together was Sid Bream.

However, after five and a half years in Pittsburgh, Sid Bream was due to become a free agent, and the $510,000 he was being paid by the Pirates just wasn't enough to keep the glue sticking to the team. With the Pirates deciding that the future at first base was the hitting machine known as Orlando Merced, Bream was deemed expendable.

Although the Atlanta Braves were a horrible team in 1990, Bream decided to go where the money was, and Atlanta had the green for him. Bream signed a three-year deal to play first base for the Braves and was paid far more money than he would have gotten to stay in Pittsburgh ($5.6 million over the three years).

The move appeared to benefit both Bream's former team and his new team. Orlando Merced hit .275, with 10 HR and 50 RBI in his first full season as a Pirate, finishing second in the NL Rookie of The Year balloting, robbed of his glory by some guy named Jeff Bagwell. Bream was the starting first baseman on the worst-to-first Braves and was part of a team that helped defeat the Pirates in the 1991 NLCS.

The defining moment of Bream's career came in the 1992 NLCS, also against the Pirates. After his Braves held a commanding 3-1 series lead in the NLCS, the Bucs stormed back, blowing out Atlanta in Games 5 and 6. Their convincing victories (7-1 in Game 5 and 13-4 in Game 6) gave Pittsburgh hope that they would finally make it to the World Series for the first time since 1979, after falling just short in 1990 and 1991. Everything looked set for the Pirates' first pennant in thirteen years when they took a 2-0 lead into the bottom of the ninth inning in Game 7. Then poop happened, and Sid Bream was one of the fecal, I mean, focal points of the rally.

Starting pitcher Doug Drabek had been in complete command over the first eight innings of Game 7 and manager Jim Leyland decided to keep him in the game for the ninth inning. The former Cy Young Award winner was still the ace of the staff, leading the Pirates with 15 wins and a 2.77 ERA during the 1992 season.

However, Drabek had not been particularly effective against lefties in 1992 (.261 batting average for lefties against Drabek in '92, as opposed to a .189 batting average for righties) and the Braves had two of the best left-handed hitters in the game leading off the ninth inning in Terry Pendleton and David Justice.

Pendleton led off the inning with a double, bringing up the power-hitting David Justice, who represented the tying run. Drabek got Justice to hit a ground ball to the normally sure-handed Jose Lind at second base. However, there was nothing normal about what happened next.

Feeling the weight of the world on his shoulders (or maybe it was his batting helmet), Lind booted the routine grounder, allowing Justice to reach base. After a walk to our hero (Mr. Bream) loaded the bases, the night was over for Drabek. Although the Pirates were still up 2-0, the lead was precarious at best, with the tying run in scoring position and the winning run on first base in the form of Sid Bream, who reportedly once beat former track star Bill Buckner in a race.

Stan Belinda was called upon to put out the fire started by Drabek and Lind. His first batter, Ron Gant, hit a sacrifice fly to plate the first run and cut the Pirates' lead in half. A walk to Damon Berryhill reloaded the bases for Brian Hunter, but Belinda got Hunter to pop up to the shortstop, Jay Bell, for the second out of the inning.

The Braves were down to their last out and the Pirates had visions of champagne dancing in their heads, especially when the Braves were forced to call upon seldom-used Francisco Cabrera to pinch-hit in the most crucial at-bat of the series.

Cabrera lined a base hit to left that fell in front of Barry Bonds*. The tying run had scored. Chugging around third was Sidney Eugene Bream, hoping to score around Popeye's #1 fan (the restaurant, not the cartoon), Mike LaValliere. Bonds*' throw was slightly up the first base line. Bream slid at the same time that LaValliere threw his ample body at the plate in an attempt to block it. In a bang-bang play, Bream scored the winning run, sending the Braves back to the World Series and the Pirates back to the steel mills.

So let's get back to the title of this blog, in the event that you're still awake. Why do we call PNC Park "The House That Sid Bream Built"?

Well, when the Mets defeated the Pirates on Friday night, it gave the Pirates their 82nd loss of the season. This clinched their record-setting 18th consecutive losing season. Doing the math, that means their last winning season was in that fateful 1992 season.

After the Pirates dismantled their team following their devastating loss to the Braves in the 1992 NLCS, their attendance at Three Rivers Stadium plummeted. After finishing 7th in attendance in 1992, the Pirates never finished higher than 12th in the years following '92. The team knew they had to do something to bring the fans back into the ballpark, since the product on the field wasn't doing the job.

Thus the idea of PNC Park was born. Once Sid Bream crossed the plate in 1992, he set in motion the events that would lead to the beautiful park on the banks of the Allegheny River. Had Sid Bream been thrown out at the plate in Game 7, perhaps the Pirates would have won the game in extra innings. Perhaps Barry Bonds* wouldn't have bolted for San Francisco, home of BALCO. Perhaps the fans would have continued to come to Three Rivers Stadium.

But Sid Bream scored that run. The Pirates didn't win the pennant. Barry Bonds* didn't stay in Steel Country and the fans didn't come out to the ballpark.

Without that run, perhaps PNC Park would not have been needed to bring the fans back to the ballpark. Sid Bream built that house with his mad dash for home plate, the same house that the Studious Metsimus / My Summer Family tour invaded this past weekend (see, it all comes full circle).

Although we didn't see any Sid Bream statues, we did see statues of Roberto Clemente and legendary Negro League players such as Cool Papa Bell, Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson.




We also saw a food court named after Pirate Hall-of-Famer Willie Stargell with Pops-themed eateries. (There was no "We Are Family" cookie stand there, because as we all know, the cookie stand is not part of the food court.)



The Mets and Pirates were dressed in throwback uniforms in honor of African-American Night. The Mets wore New York Cubans jerseys while the Pirates wore the uniforms of the old Pittsburgh Crawfords. Starting pitchers Jonathon Niese and James McDonald were kind enough to model the throwback jerseys for us when we watched them warm up in the bullpen prior to the game.



The game itself was a washout, and I mean that quite literally. The Mets had a slim 2-1 lead before David Wright hit a three-run homer to make it 5-1. During Wright's home run trot, the light drizzle that was falling throughout the game became heavier.

When the umpires realized that they had left their swim trunks and scuba gear in the hotel room, they decided to stop the game and put the tarp on the field.


After a one hour and six minute delay, Mr. Public Address Announcer told us that the game had been cancelled and that the Mets had come away with a rain-shortened victory. It was the first time the Mets had won a series on the road in a National League ballpark this season.

Unfortunately, the Mets were unable to sweep the Pirates, as Lastings Milledge and super-slugger Jose Tabata homered off Johan Santana in Sunday's series finale. At the same time, the Mets offense paid tribute to the late Three Rivers Stadium by imploding.


Lefty starter Zach Duke stifled the Mets' batters, allowing one run and five hits over his seven innings of work. That dang Duke boy had entered the game with a lowly 5-12 record and an ERA well over 5.00. But just like the Mets who played against those Sid Bream-led Pirates teams in the late '80s and early '90s, the Mets couldn't hit a Pirates lefty who had no success against any other teams in the National League.

Back then, it was the team of John Smiley, Zane Smith and Randy Tomlin who shut down the Mets and no one else. Now, it was the disciple of PSSST (Pitching School of Smiley, Smith and Tomlin) who handled the Mets.



The House That Sid Bream Built was a beautiful ballpark to visit, even if it was only for five innings. Pittsburgh embraces their history well, both Pirates history and Pittsburgh Crawfords history. The Wilpons should pay attention to that, noting that the city of Pittsburgh can be proud of their Pittsburgh Crawfords history without neglecting that the Pirates have history as well.

Pirates fans were far more polite than their counterparts across the state in Philadelphia. They did not insult fans and even suggested places to visit in the ballpark and around their city. They might not have a good team right now, but they're proud of their ballpark and their city and it showed in how they treated the "enemy" from New York.

Someday we'll go back to The House That Sid Bream built, but we will definitely do it by plane, even if it means sacrificing a trip or three to Cracker Barrel. Driving to Pittsburgh was a major chore, with traffic, poor weather, traffic, lack of scenery and traffic being the reasons why it almost became a good idea to hand over the car keys to Studious Metsimus blogger Joey Beartran.

That's it for our road trips this year. Next year, we'll go to new ballparks, eat new food and hopefully come back with more Mets victories, especially ones that take more than five innings to complete.

Thanks for reading about the latest Studious Metsimus / My Summer Family tour stop. We hope you enjoyed our wordy beyond belief blog. Although our road trips have come to an end for 2010, the Mets will play on for the next six weeks. Perhaps with one last run, similar to the one that ya gotta believe happened in 1973, we'll have a road trip in late October / early November. So let's keep on cheering for our boys in orange and blue. Ya (still) gotta believe! Let's Go Mets!