MIke Piazza
It was a day game after a night game, so Mike Piazza was not there to again single-handedly lift the Mets offense. However, to be fair, it is difficult to know how much of a difference Piazza could’ve made (sacrilegious, I know) with the Pirates having Jimmy Anderson dealing the way he did.
It really was a surprising pitchers duel between Anderson and Glendon Rusch, who was making his 2000 debut for the Mets. What is also interesting is both pitchers had beat out other former Mets pitchers to get their spot in the rotation.
With Rusch, he battled with famed Generation K pitcher Bill Pulsipher for the last spot in the rotation. Anderson, on the other hand, battled with Pete Schourek. At least for today, both pitchers proved their teams right in the decisions they made. In fact, both pitchers worked fast, and they each put up zeros for six innings.
Between the two pitchers, Rusch was arguably the better pitcher. In his complete game, he allowed just one run on four hits while walking one and striking out five. Entering the seventh, Rusch had allowed just one Pirate into scoring position. Really, the only reason he didn’t get the win was he made one mistake to Kevin Young, which turned into a two run homer which was all the difference in the 2-0 loss.
It was a shame for him as Anderson lived by the adage it is better to be lucky than good. The Mets had a few rallies fall completely short.
In the first, the Mets had runners on second and third with one out. Todd Zeile lined out, and Jay Payton would strike out. In the second, Robin Ventura would have a lead-off single, and he would ultimately be stranded at third base.
A two out rally in the fourth left runners at first and second stranded as Rey Ordonez flew out. There were runners at the corner with one out in the fifth when Edgardo Alfonzo hit into an inning ending double play. That was it for the Mets, who just couldn’t get the big hit.
What was left was a very good Mets team, or at least is supposed to be one, losing to a bad Pirates team. The one unknown here is how much Bobby Valentine‘s comments at Wharton about the Mets offseason, which including his problems with the team not re-signing John Olerud, had on this game.
Whatever the case, comments like those from Valentine aren’t going to help him or his team. The lame duck manager who was almost fired last year is going to find himself further on the hot seat for his outspokenness. Mostly, he will be on the hot seat if his team continues underachieving this way.
Game Notes: One of the players Valentine indicated he didn’t want was Derek Bell, who had a diving grab in the sixth inning. He also said he would rather play Matt Franco or Jorge Toca at first over Todd Zeile.
Editor’s Note: With there being no games to begin the season, this site will follow the 2000 season and post recaps as if those games happened in real time. If nothing else, it is better to remember this pennant winning season and revisit some of the overlooked games than it is to dwell on the complete lack of baseball.
Even with baseball being the ultimate team sport, there are times you just need your superstar to carry you. With the Mets not being nearly as fundamentally sound as they were last year, the team having some internal strife with the Rickey Henderson drama, and ultimately, the team starting the year two games under .500, they really needed Mike Piazza to go out there and right the ship against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
He did just that.
The game was tied 1-1 heading into the top of the fifth with Wil Cordero hitting a solo homer in the second and Edgardo Alfonzo hitting a sacrifice fly in the third. Piazza would deliver his first big hit of many in this game with an RBI double scoring Alfonzo, who had just tripled.
After a Henderson error in the bottom of the fifth allowed the tying run to score the game, Piazza would again deliver in the seventh with one of his patented opposite field homers. In fact, the Mets would go back-to-back with Robin Ventura following Piazza’s homer with one of his own.
At that point, the Mets were leading 4-2, and they put Al Leiter in position for the win. In his first start since dealing with an injury issue, Leiter was good. Over 7.2 innings, he allowed three runs (two earned) while walking three and striking out six. The only real mar on this start was the homers he allowed to Cordero and Kevin Young.
Leiter should have walked away with the win, but Armando Benitez would blow his first game of the season. After two quick strikeouts, Jason Kendall doubled, and then he scored on a Pat Meares RBI triple. Fortunately, he rebounded by striking out Young to get out of the inning to send the game into extras.
John Franco came into the game, and he would come up big for the Mets pitching two shut-out innings. That helped send the game into the 12th. At that point, the Mets would not be denied.
Rey Ordonez hit a lead-off single against Jose Silva, and Benny Agbayani sent him to third on a double. Melvin Mora gave the Mets the lead with a two RBI single. Unfortunately, he’d get picked off of first on a hard Derek Bell liner right at Young.
The Mets rally didn’t end there. Alfonzo drew a walk, and then Piazza would hit a two run homer to give the Mets an 8-4 lead. On the night, Piazza was 5-for-6 with a two runs, a double, two homers, and four RBI. With this performance, he raised his batting average from .265 to .350.
Mostly, Piazza looked like Piazza, and for seemingly the first time this season, the Mets offense looked like the Mets offense we expected them to be. This should stand as a reminder not just about how important a player Piazza is but just how good this Mets team can be.
Dennis Cook made it interesting in the bottom of the 12th. After issuing a walk to Young and throwing a wild pitch, he allowed a single to Warren Morris and then an RBI double to Mike Benjamin. After that, with the Pirates able to send the game tying run to the plate, Cook settled down to get the last two outs of the game.
Believe it or not, this is the first time this season the Mets have won on back-to-back days. They are not entering a soft spot in their schedule. Hopefully, with that the Mets can put a run together and start looking like the World Series contenders we hoped they could be.
Game Notes: Franco earned the win. It was his first win in 112 appearances.
Editor’s Note: With there being no games to begin the season, this site will follow the 2000 season and post recaps as if those games happened in real time. If nothing else, it is better to remember this pennant winning season and revisit some of the overlooked games than it is to dwell on the complete lack of baseball.
When it comes to the number 9, there are some fan favorites and good baseball players who have worn the number in Mets history. There was J.C. Martin who paired with Jerry Grote to backstop the 1969 World Series champions. Gregg Jefferies accomplished the rare feat of twice finishing in the top six in Rookie of the Year voting.
Todd Zeile probably came an inch and Timo Perez hustle to claim this honor himself, especially with his spearheading the Mets players wearing the caps in the wake of 9/11. Brandon Nimmo is an on-base machine who already has the Mets single-season HBP record. Ultimately, this honor may one day belong to him, but for today, the best Mets player to wear the number 9 is Todd Hundley.
The son of former Cubs catcher Randy Hundley was born to play catcher. While there were questions about his bat, Hundley was known as a good defensive catcher. After Gary Carter was released, and Mackey Sasser struggled with the yips, he was rushed to the majors as a 20 year old.
While he got his first call-up in 1990, it took him a few seasons to stick on as the Mets starting catcher. Even with him being a good backstop, it was not until the 1995 season where Hundley truly established himself as a real everyday Major League catcher. That began from the first game of the 1995 season where he hit the first ever grand slam in the first game ever at Coors Field:
In that 1995 season, Hundley would deal with some injury issues, but he would put together his first real year as a player who could catch and hold his own at the plate. That 1995 season was an important year for him, but it was the following season which would define him.
The 1996 Mets were not a very good team, but they were a team with some of the best seasons in team history. In that year, Lance Johnson set the Mets single season record for triples. Bernard Gilkey set the Mets single season mark for doubles. Finally, Hundley would set the Mets single season mark for homers. It was actually much more than that.
Hundley’s 41 homers in 1996 would not only have him break Darryl Strawberry‘s single-season record for homers by a Met. It would also break Roy Campanella‘s single-season mark for homers by a catcher. Hundley would set the record with a homer off future teammate Greg McMichael:
For a Mets team with so much losing and with so many low points since that stretch in the 1980s, it was an important moment. It was so important to the team, they had a hologram picture of Hundley breaking the record on the 1997 year book.
That was an important moment for the Mets not only because of the record, but also because it was their first real sign of hope in years. With Hundley, they had a homegrown budding star to build a team around. In that year, he would make his first All Star team.
While Hundley didn’t set any records in 1997, he did something possibly even more important. He backed up what he did in 1996 by hitting 30 home runs the following year. He would once again be an All Star. More than that, he was a key part of a Mets team who was suddenly good. In fact, that team won a surprising 88 games, and they looked like an up and coming team.
More than that, Hundley and the Mets delivered the first blow in the first ever Subway Series game when baseball introduced Interleague Play. In the first inning of that game, Hundley would actually steal home. More important than that, he would catch every pitch of Dave Mlicki‘s complete game shutout which culminating in his framing a Mlicki curve to strike out Derek Jeter to end the game.
The Mets would take another step the following season emerging as real postseason contenders. Unfortunately, Hundley was not much a part of that. He missed the beginning of the year with reconstructive elbow surgery. That team got off to a slow start without him, and in an effort to save the season, the Mets obtained the shockingly available Mike Piazza, who was moved earlier in the season to the Florida Marlins.
That meant when Hundley came back there was nowhere for him to play. He tried left field, but he struggled out there, and for the good of the team, he told Bobby Valentine the team needed to reduce his role. That request did not come with a trade demand. Still, even though he was relegated as a back-up and pinch hitter, it did not mean he would not contribute.
Hundley’s last hurrah as a member of the Mets came in Houston. The Mets were a game out in the loss column for the Wild Card, and they needed every win they could get. In the top of the 12th, Hundley would hit a go-ahead homer helping the Mets keep pace. Unfortunately, it would not be in the cards for the Mets that year, and it was time from the team to move on from their homegrown star.
The Mets re-signed Piazza necessitating they trade Hundley. They did so moving him to the Dodgers in a deal which netted them Roger Cedeno and Charles Johnson, who was flipped to the Orioles for Armando Benitez. With that, even Hundley gone, he again helped make the Mets a postseason team.
In the ensuing years, he’d be one of the players named in the Mitchell Report putting an asterisk on some of his accomplishments. He’d also be long forgotten with the rise of Piazza, and he would see his record fall to Javy Lopez. Still, when he was with the Mets, in terms of the numbers, he was the best Mets player to ever wear the number 9.
Editor’s Note: This is part of a series highlighting the best players in Mets history by highlighting the best Mets player to wear a particular uniform number. In this case, this is not saying Hundley was the ninth best player in Mets history, but rather the best Mets player to wear the number 9.
Previous
1.Mookie Wilson
2.Mackey Sasser
3. Curtis Granderson
4. Lenny Dykstra
5. David Wright
6. Wally Backman
7. Jose Reyes
8. Gary Carter
One pleasantly surprising development early in this season is Rick Reed right now looks like the best pitcher in baseball. Sure, over 162 games, that may not prove to be true. That said, looking at how he has performed, it is difficult to come to any other conclusion.
Reed’s start against the Phillies was the third time in as many starts he has had this season Reed has thrown at least seven innings while allowing one run on four hits. What made this start different than the others was Reed didn’t record a strikeout. Of course, that doesn’t matter when you are challenging hitters the way Reed does and getting softer contact and allowing your very good fielders behind you to make the plays they are capable of making.
So far, that has translated to a 0.79 ERA and 0.750 WHIP. Much like his brilliant start in Japan, Reed walked away from this one with a no decision, but he did put his team in a position to win.
Reed got the no decision partially because he could not make his own run hold up. After he struck out with the bases loaded in the second to end the inning, Reed would not be denied in the fourth hitting a sacrifice fly scoring Derek Bell. After that the struggling Mets offense went dormant again.
Bell was the one position player for the Mets who looked really good out there. In addition to going 3-for-4 with a walk, Bell made a spectacular diving grab to rob Mike Lieberthal of an extra base hit. For the first time since the trade, Bell looked comfortable out there, and he made a real impact.
With respect to Lieberthal, there was no robbing him his next time at the plate. He led off the seventh with a homer which skimmed the top of the left field wall. Just like he did last year, Lieberthal is killing the Mets, and he is really becoming an annoying Mets killer. With the Braves being full of them, Lieberthal sometimes gets overlooked in that mix.
In the eighth, the Mets had an opportunity to score because of Bell. After a lead-off single, the Mets would have a pair of groundouts leading to Bobby Valentine and Terry Francona playing musical chairs. Initially, Valentine sent Matt Franco to the plate to pinch hit for Rey Ordonez. Francona countered with Scott Aldred relieving Carlos Reyes. Valentine then went with Kurt Abbott to hit for Franco.
Even with Bell getting himself into scoring position by stealing second, and Abbott drawing a walk, Francona won the game within a game when Todd Pratt, pinch hitting for Reed, flew out to end the inning. This meant the MEts were going to a home run prone bullpen in the late innings.
It wasn’t pretty, but Turk Wendell and Dennis Cook combined to shut down the Phillies in the eighth to give the Mets the chance to take the lead in the ninth. They took advantage of that opportunity.
Jay Payton hit a one out single against Aldred, and after an Edgardo Alfonzo fly out, Francona tabbed Amaury Telemaco to face Mike Piazza. Piazza what was seemingly his first big hit of the season hitting a double to left-center. Payton flew around the bases, and he just beat Mickey Morandini‘s throw to score the go-ahead run from first base.
After a lead-off walk to Lieberthal, Morandini would sacrifice him to second. Lieberthal would stay there as Armando Benitez struck out Desi Relaford and Kevin Jordan to pick up his third save of the season in the Mets 2-1 victory.
Game Notes: With the left-hander Randy Wolf starting, Robin Ventura got the day off, and Melvin Mora hit lead-off and played third. Benny Agbayani would get the start with Rickey Henderson getting the day off after a game where he went 0-for-3 with two walks and an RBI.
Editor’s Note: With there being no games to begin the season, this site will follow the 2000 season and post recaps as if those games happened in real time. If nothing else, it is better to remember this pennant winning season and revisit some of the overlooked games than it is to dwell on the complete lack of baseball.
Well, this game all bad deja vu all over it. Once again, Mike Hampton could not control the strike zone. Once again, the Phillies jumped all over a Mets starting pitcher. Once again, Rey Ordonez made an error. Once again, the Mets big bats went cold. Once again, the Mets bullpen allowed a homer. Once again, the Mets lost a game.
Ultimately, this Mets 8-5 loss perfectly encapsulated everything which has so far gone wrong with this team as they begin the season 3-6.
In the first, Hampton issued two first inning walks to help load the bases. This led to Mike Lieberthal once again coming through with a big hit against the Mets with his bases clearing double. In the third, there were no unintentinoal walks. Rather, Hampton was just hit hard.
Scott Rolen homered to start the inning. After a Kevin Jordan two out double, Alex Arias was intentionally walked, so Hampton could get to Robert Person and get out of the inning. Instead, he allowed a two out RBI double to the opposing pitcher, who then scored on a Doug Glanville RBI single.
Hampton only lasted these three innings before Pat Mahomes had to enter the game. This was the second straight game a Mets starter failed to go at least five innings, and it was the second straight game a Mets starter allowed 5+ runs. With Bobby Jones, that wasn’t completely unexpected. For Hampton, the ace the Mets gave up so much to get, it’s a completely different story.
Really, the Mets offense didn’t do much of anything other than a Jay Payton two run homer in the sixth. It was a big hit for Payton because Jon Nunnally has so far taken advantage of the opportunities he has had with Darryl Hamilton headed to the DL.
The Mets bats were quiet until the top of the ninth when they were already down 8-2. Robin Ventura followed a Mike Piazza lead-off single with a double. Piazza scored on a Todd Zeile sacrifice fly, and Derek Bell hit an RBI single. After a Benny Agbayani two out single, Wayne Gomes relieved Scott Aldred.
Gomes did not initially have the strike zone issuing back-to-back walks to Kurt Abbott and Rickey Henderson. That forced home a run to pull the Mets to within 8-5 and bring Edgardo Alfonzo to the plate as the go-ahead run. Alfonzo hit it hard to right, but Abreu was able to easily catch the liner for the last out of the game.
So far this year, about the only thing we have seen from the Mets that is remotely reminiscent of the 1999 season is their resiliency. We saw that from another big late inning rally. However, this rally fell short just like the others did because this Mets team has not gotten any pitching (other than Rick Reed and Mahomes), and they have been sloppy. When you play like that, there is no amount of late inning magic which can save you.
Game Notes: The Mets bullpen has now allowed eight homers in nine games. Payton now leads the Mets with two homers.
Editor’s Note: With there being no games to begin the season, this site will follow the 2000 season and post recaps as if those games happened in real time. If nothing else, it is better to remember this pennant winning season and revisit some of the overlooked games than it is to dwell on the complete lack of baseball.
All the time we talk about key trades or signings which take teams over the top. While it was Keith Hernandez which helped the Mets realize their potential, it was Gary Carter which took this team from a very good team to a World Series winner, and as a result, he is the best Mets player to ever wear the number 8.
The Mets obtained Carter in a bold move to help take this team over the top. The team traded away their starting third baseman (Hubie Brooks) and starting catcher (Mike Fitzgerald) along with two well regarded prospects to get Carter. One of those prospects was Floyd Youmans, who was a high school teammate of Dwight Gooden.
In retrospect, even with Brooks having a long career, this was an absolute steal. It wasn’t even in retrospect. In fact, Carter would immediately show Mets fans the type of Hall of Fame player the team acquired:
In the Mets history, they have had Mike Piazza, and they had Todd Hundley setting home run records. Despite all of that, to this date, Carter’s 6.9 WAR during the 1985 season still stands as the best ever produced by a Mets catcher. In fact, at the time, it trailed just Cleon Jones‘ 7.0 mark in 1969 as the best a Mets position player has ever had.
It was during that season Carter began to sow the seeds of the 1986 World Series. He mentored a young staff that included Rick Aguilera, Ron Darling, Sid Fernandez, Gooden, Roger McDowell, and others. Darling would tell the Baseball Hall of Fame, “And the thing about Gary was that before computers, before Sabermetrics, he had it in his brain. The entire National League, he could pull up that knowledge at any time and direct it on a very talented, young pitching staff to heights they probably wouldn’t have reached without him.”
Those Mets had a chance late in the season. In the penultimate series of the season, the Mets took the first two games in St. Louis, and if they completed the sweep, they’d tie atop the division with one series remaining. Unfortunately, their eighth inning rally came up short, and the 98 win team would miss the postseason. As we know, that is something that would never happen in the Wild Card Era.
The 1986 Mets would not be denied, and that team established themselves as one of the great teams in Major League history. Once again, Carter was an All-Star, Silver Slugger, and he finished in the top six in MVP voting. However, when we talk about that postseason.
Looking at his stats that postseason, it is hard to conclude anything but Carter struggled. Still, when he was absolutely needed, he came through for the team. The first time we saw that happen was when he hit a walk-off single in the 12th off Charlie Kerfeld to help the Mets get a 3-2 series lead and achieve their goal of not seeing Mike Scott again in that series.
Carter’s biggest moments came in the World Series. After looking fatigued and getting beat by the Red Sox in the first two games at Shea Stadium, Lenny Dykstra ignited the Mets with a lead-off homer. Carter would take it from there hitting an RBI double in that game and then having a two home run game in the Mets Game 4 win.
While the Mets absolutely needed both of those homers, and they needed Carter’s performance in both of those games, Carter will always be remembered for just one single. In Game 6, the Mets were down 5-3 in the bottom of the 10th. After Wally Backman and Keith Hernandez flew out, Carter strode to the plate against Calvin Schiraldi. He was the last man standing between the Red Sox winning their first World Series since 1918:
As written in Jeff Pearlman’s book, The Bad Guys Won, Carter would say, “I wasn’t going to make the last out of the World Series.” Carter accomplished much more than that. He would spark the greatest rally in World Series history. In sparking that rally, he accomplished exactly what the Mets intended to do when they obtained him – win a World Series.
We didn’t realize it at that time, but 1986 was the last truly great year from Carter. Still, he was an All Star in each of the ensuing two seasons, and he would be named just the second captain in team history joining his teammate Hernandez as co-captains.
While people realize how great Carter was and how important he was to those Mets teams, they may not realize his impact on the Mets record books. By the time he left the Mets, he had the second highest single-season WAR for a position player. He had the third highest single season offensive WAR. In fact, it was the highest when he accomplished the feat in 1985.
In that 1985 season, he was just a hair behind John Stearns and Jerry Grote for the best defensive WAR from a Mets catcher. His 105 RBI in 1986 tied Rusty Staub for the Mets single-season record. He still holds the single season record for RBI. He is all over the single season record lists.
Mostly, he was the only Hall of Fame caliber player on those Mets teams. Aside from Willie Mays, he is arguably the best position player to ever wear a Mets uniform. Yes, even better than Piazza. On that note, Carter and Piazza are currently the only two position players in Mets history who were Hall of Famers who played like it on the Mets.
If not for the Hall of Fame frankly selectively enforcing a rule they did not enforce for players like Reggie Jackson, he would wear a Mets hat on his Hall of Fame plaque, and he would have had his number retired by now. Despite that decision, nothing can take away from the impact he had on the Mets and the World Series he brought to the team. No one can change his being the best Mets player who ever wore the number 8.
Editor’s Note: This is part of a series highlighting the best players in Mets history by highlighting the best Mets player to wear a particular uniform number. In this case, this is not saying Carter was the eighth best player in Mets history, but rather the best Mets player to wear the number 8.
Previous
1.Mookie Wilson
2.Mackey Sasser
3. Curtis Granderson
4. Lenny Dykstra
5. David Wright
6. Wally Backman
7. Jose Reyes
Despite the listless Mets offense finally coming to life in Veteran’s Stadium, the Mets would still be beaten and battered in their 9-7 loss against the Phillies.
After all the criticism and booing, Rickey Henderson showed signs of life with a 2-for-4 game. He ignited the Mets offense like he did all last year with a double to open the game against Phillies starter Paul Byrd. Jon Nunnally and Mike Piazza would also double giving the Mets a 2-0 lead.
Then, incredulously Piazza and Robin Ventura executed a double steal. Everyone was shocked at the audacity, including Scott Rolen, who flubbed the play leading to Piazza scoring. Todd Zeile followed with the Mets fourth double of the inning leading to the 4-0 lead.
The Mets lead would last all of one inning as the Phillies destroyed Bobby Jones. The first RBI came from Mike Lieberthal, who would be heard from later, who hit a single scoring Rolen. With the bases loaded, Zeile would later let a Byrd but go through his legs. Doug Glanville then doubled, and there was yet another error in the innings, and suddenly, the Mets 4-0 lead became a 5-4 second inning deficit.
In the fifth, the Mets bounced back to take the lead with a rally again started by Henderson. He singled and stole second, and he moved to third on a Nunnally double. This wasn’t Henderson not running, but rather his waiting to see if Glanville would catch the ball. Both he and Nunnally would score on an Edgardo Alfonzo RBI double. After a Piazza RBI single, the Mets were ahead again 7-5.
It didn’t matter. Jones who seemingly calmed down after that second inning got hit hard again in the fifth with Glanville and Ron Gant hitting doubles. This led to Bobby Valentine coming to get him.
Jones’ start to the season is as troubling a start as there is. He is coming off a season with shoulder injuries, and he was left off the 1999 postseason roster. With the Mets trading away Octavio Dotel in the offseason and Jason Isringhausen at the deadline last year, the Mets may not have the depth like they did last year to sustain his inability to pitch.
Isringhausen’s former Generation K teammates may also be non-factors. Bill Pulsipher lost the battle for the fifth starter spot to Glendon Rusch, and Paul Wilson missed all of last year due to injury. Who knows if they can be factors, but regardless of their actual ability, they may be needed to contribute.
When Jones was lifted, Valentine brought in Rich Rodriguez, who wound up taking the loss in this one. The left-handed reliever not only walked Bobby Abreu, but he threw a wild pitch during the at-bat allowing Gant to go to third. This allowed Gant to score on a Glanville sacrifice fly. After that, Lieberthal hit a two run homer giving the Phillies a 9-7 lead.
Neither team would score from there, but that doesn’t mean there weren’t any more plays at the plate. In the sixth, Kevin Sefcik hit a one out triple. Glanville would hit a fly ball to center, and Nunnally would throw the ball home. Piazza held onto the ball as Sefcik delivered a vicious hit to Piazza. Really, it was one of the most vicious hits you will ever see a catcher take.
Piazza was staggered, but he was able to get to the dugout himself, and surprisingly, he was able to stay in the game. He would strike out in the seventh in what was his last plate appearance in the game. Like Piazza, the rest of the Mets offense couldn’t do much of anything in the later innings leading to the 9-7 loss dropping the Mets to two games under .500.
If you want a bright spot, Henderson seems to have responded to early drama, and Nunnally is slowly showing he could be a real viable option in center. We also saw Alfonzo’s and Piazza’s bats come alive. However, if the Mets pitching, whether it Jones in the rotation, or the bullpen who has now blown two straight leads, don’t get things together, the Mets are going to find themselves in real trouble at some point.
Game Notes: After missing a start to end the homestand against the Dodgers, Al Leiter appears ready to go in his next scheduled start. The Mets bullpen has so far allowed seven homers through their first eight games.
Editor’s Note: With there being no games to begin the season, this site will follow the 2000 season and post recaps as if those games happened in real time. If nothing else, it is better to remember this pennant winning season and revisit some of the overlooked games than it is to dwell on the complete lack of baseball.
Aside from Tom Seaver, David Wright is quite arguably the best Mets player to ever don a Mets uniform, let alone the number five. Wright was so great during his career, John Olerud‘s named doesn’t even come into consideration.
The Mets drafted Wright with the compensation pick they received from the Colorado Rockies signing Mike Hampton. With Wright, the Mets drafted a player who grew up a Mets fan and would do everything he could do to ensure he would only wear a Mets uniform in his career.
No matter what you say about Wright isn’t enough. He was a real five tool player who was a seven time All-Star, two time Gold Glove winner, and a two-time Silver Slugger. The Gold Glove may be a misnomer as it was his hands that were pure gold.
Really, Wright did whatever he could do to improve as a player. He worked with boyhood idol Howard Johnson to put together the last 30/30 season in Mets history. On that note, he has just about every offensive record in Mets team history. That includes his putting together one of, if not THE best, ever campaign in Mets history in 2007.
While the story of the 2007 Mets was collapse, that was not Wright’s story. In September of that year, he hit .352/.432/.602. In the ensuing year, he hit .340/.416/.577. That was Wright in a nutshell. He was always there when his team needed him, and his contributions were overlooked across baseball. Still, even as a young player, he was a leader and the type of player you built your team around.
While Wright was a known commodity and superstar, many finally took notice during the 2013 World Baseball Classic that everyone seemed to take notice of what every Mets fan had known for nearly a decade. David Wright was clutch and a great baseball player who was the one of the absolute best players in the game.
During that WBC, he would become known as Captain America. It was not too long thereafter he would simply be known as Captain. Seemingly days after, he was named Mets captain joining Keith Hernandez, Gary Carter, and John Franco as the only Mets to receive that honor.
Mostly, when we look at Wright he was the player who stayed. After it was him and Jose Reyes igniting the Mets in 2006 and taking this team to the precipice of a World Series, it was just him as the Mets rebuilt around him. He would still play at a high level, and he would join Matt Harvey as starters for the 2013 All-Star Game at Citi Field.
After all the losing at Citi Field, he appeared ready to lead the Mets to their first postseason in nearly a decade. Instead, he suffered what was effectively a career ending injury. While it effectively ended his career, it would not take 2015 away from him.
Wright overcame the spinal stenosis to homer in his return to baseball in an August 24 game against the Phillies. He would slide home pumping his fist scoring a key run against the Nationals in a huge comeback victory. He was there in Cincinnati celebrating with his teammates as they won the sixth NL East title in team history.
In Game 1 of the NLDS, he had the game winning two RBI single off Pedro Baez in the seventh to help Jacob deGrom and the Mets take the first game in what would be an epic five game series. Aside from Game 3 of the NLCS, Wright’s bat mostly went silent after that game, but it would come alive again in the first ever World Series game played at Citi Field:
This side of Mike Piazza, that was about as uplifting and dramatic a home run you will ever see. Even with the Mets losing that series and with him being unable to play more than 37 games in 2016 before really shutting it down forever, even if he did desperately try to return, Wright would have one last Citi Field moment.
Mets fans came out and sold out Citi Field in a completely lost season to say good-bye to Wright. Everything he did was cheered loudly. He was so loved that Pete O’Brien will forever be scorned by Mets fans for not letting a foul pop up drop in Wright’s final plate appearance.
As Wright left the field that day, Mets fans teared up a bit and reminisced about a great career. There were the big hits including the walk-off against Mariano Rivera. There was his rise to stardom in 2006 finishing second to just Ryan Howard in the Home Run Derby. He wore that ginormous helmet after being beaned by Matt Cain. Again, he did anything to play.
Through it all, Wright had a Hall of Fame caliber playing career making him easily the best position player the Mets ever developed. He’s easily the best player to have his entire career with the Mets. He will soon have his number retired. With a little luck, he will be inducted into Cooperstown.
But for now, he is the best Mets player to ever wear the number 5.
Editor’s Note: This is part of a series highlighting the best players in Mets history by highlighting the best Mets player to wear a particular uniform number. In this case, this is not saying Wright was the fifth best player in Mets history, but rather the best Mets player to wear the number 5.
Previous
1.Mookie Wilson
2.Mackey Sasser
3. Curtis Granderson
4. Lenny Dykstra
Well, it appears Bobby Valentine isn’t messing around. After Rickey Henderson refused to run out a ball and Darryl Hamilton limped around the outfield, both players were out of the lineup. With respect to Hamilton, it is clearly a physical issue as he was placed on the disabled list, but with Henderson, it seems to be more than that.
This means Jon Nunnally and Jay Payton received the first opportunity to show they can be everyday players for a team with World Series aspirations. Nunnally first showed his mettle by drawing a lead-off walk against Darren Dreifort.
That walk sparked a rally for the Mets bats which have been quiet to start the season. After his lead-off walk, Derek Bell struck out, and Edgardo Alfonzo walked. That set the stage for Mike Piazza who hit an RBI double to give the Mets an early 1-0 lead. After Piazza, Robin Ventura hit an RBI ground out expanding that lead to 2-0.
For a moment, it seemed like Valentine’s bold decision making sparked this team, and they picked up where they left off at the end of the series against the Padres. Instead, the Mets bats once again went COMPLETELY quiet. After Piazza’s double, the Mets would have just one more hit, and they couldn’t push another run across even with Dreifort walking eight over five innings.
While the downside is the Mets offense continued to do nothing, the bright side is Rick Reed had another brilliant outing to start the season.
Over 7.2 innings, Reed allowed four hits and one walk. The Dodgers lone run to score in the game was off a Gary Sheffield fourth inning homer. There was some threat the Dodgers could build from there with Shawn Green following the homer with a double, but he’d get Eric Karros to ground out to end the jam.
The Dodgers would threaten again in the fifth with Adrian Beltre and Jose Vizcaino hitting back-to-back one out singles. Beltre would advance to third on a fly ball, and Vizcaino would steal second to set up second and third with two outs. Reed got out of the jam by striking out Todd Hollandsworth. It was one of seven strikeouts on the day for Reed.
With Piazza having made the last out of the seventh, and with Valentine always trying to find some spots to get his catcher some rest when he can, Todd Pratt entered the game with two outs in the eighth as part of a double switch which saw Armando Benitez come into the game for the four out save.
Benitez was up to the task getting four of the five Dodgers he faced out. That saved Valentine of some double guessing with his star player on the bench and out of the game in a one run game at a time when the Mets offense has not been able to do anything at the plate.
Regardless of the continued concerns you may have about this offense, a win is a win. More than that, you see the Mets are not willing to go down watching players like Henderson not doing everything he can do to help this team win. There was a clear message delivered, and the Mets answered with a win. We’ll see what happens from there.
Game Notes: With Hamilton being placed on the DL, it appears Benny Agbayani will no longer be sent down to the minors when Glendon Rusch is activated. Al Leiter is dealing with an issue leading to Pat Mahomes being slated to make an emergency start tomorrow.
Editor’s Note: With there being no games to begin the season, this site will follow the 2000 season and post recaps as if those games happened in real time. If nothing else, it is better to remember this pennant winning season and revisit some of the overlooked games than it is to dwell on the complete lack of baseball.
The New York Mets have been around since 1962, and in that time, they have two players in the Hall of Fame, three players with retired numbers, 31 people in the Mets Hall of Fame, and a whole host of other beloved players. The question is who exactly is the most beloved player?
Does Tom Seaver still have cache in 2020? Did Mike Piazza or David Wright surpass him? Does Keith Hernandez‘s work in the booth as well as his play on the field make him the one Mets player who has reached across all generations?
We really don’t know the answer to that and a whole host of other related questions. To that end, with there being no baseball, this site has set up a field of 64 akin to the NCAA Tournament. The field has been sectioned off in roughly 14 year increments to cover different eras of Mets baseball with each particular era having at least one Mets team who has won a pennant.
There were some tough choices to be made in selecting this field. The field was done using different offensive and pitching metrics, and it was done in consultation with Mets fans. On that note, special thanks are do to Joe D, Michael Mayer, Greg Prince, Tim Ryder, James Schapiro, and Bre S.
There were some tough decisions, and unfortunately, players like Ed Charles, Art Shamsky, Dave Kingman, John Stearns, Randy Myers, Pedro Martinez, Carlos Delgado, and Zack Wheeler did not make the list. It is regrettable, but the cuts had to be made somewhere to make this a more manageable field of 64.
The plan is to have polls open each day with a blurb on the match-up on this site with the ability to vote both on this site and on Twitter. The results of both will be combined, so if you are truly interested, you will be able to vote in both places. While not perfect, this is somewhat akin to the All-Star Game which to some degree is voting for fan favorites.
May your favorite player win, and Let’s Go Mets!
Ron Swoboda Rusty Staub Tug McGraw Ed Kranepool Felix Millan Bud Harrelson Nolan Ryan Jerry Grote Ron Hunt Cleon Jones Donn Clendenon Jon Matlack Tommie Agee Jerry Koosman Gary Gentry Tim Teufel Ron Darling Lenny Dykstra Mookie Wilson Sid Fernandez Gary Carter David Cone Howard Johnson Lee Mazzilli Darryl Strawberry Ray Knight Jesse Orosco Bob Ojeda Dwight Gooden Wally Backman Rico Brogna Rick Reed Bernard Gilkey Robin Ventura Todd Zeile John Olerud Lance Johnson John Franco Turk Wendell Al Leiter Bobby Jones Todd Hundley Benny Agbayani Edgardo Alfonzo Armando Benitez Jeff McNeil Michael Conforto Daniel Murphy Johan Santana Matt Harvey Jose Reyes Wilmer Flores Noah Syndergaard Brandon Nimmo Carlos Beltran Pete Alonso Curtis Granderson Yoenis Cespedes Jacob deGrom R.A. Dickey