Rick Reed
For a brief moment when Jeff McNeil singled home Tyron Taylor, you let yourself dream one last time. Francisco Álvarez was suddenly hitting great, and then it’s Francisco Lindor. Mark Vientos would represent the tying run . . . .
Look, if there was any team that could do it, it was this New York Mets team. If anything, a six run rally with two outs would perfectly encapsulate what this team had been.
Sadly, Álvarez grounded out to end the series.
They’ll tell us the Los Angeles Dodgers were just the better team. The Mets were lucky to get this far. Us Mets fans know better.
There was so much fun with this team with Grimace and OMG. Jose Iglesias was this year’s José Valentíne. Sean Manae became an ace. Carlos Mendoza looks like he may well soon be the best manager in baseball.
Lindor was an MVP in every sense of the word. Vientos finally got his chance and would show the world he’s a star in the making. Pete Alonso reminded us why we loved him so.
This is a Mets team we will remember and cherish forever.
The reasons to adore this team are far too many to count, but in the end, this team was quintessentially a Mets team. In some ways, this run was reminiscent of the 1999 run that just fell short. Fortunately, with Steve Cohen and David Stearns, we know this is just the beginning of what can be a long, dominant stretch.
As for now, time just caught up with this team.
Brandon Nimmo was just too injured. There were just too many innings on the arms of Manae and Luis Severino. There wasn’t enough time for Kodai Senga to get where he needed to be. José Buttó and Phil Maton couldn’t carry that regular season success into the postseason.
In the moment, you’re wringing your hands saying if only the Mets got just one hit (other than Vientos’ grand slam) with the bases loaded it would be a completely different series. There are moves like J.D. Martinez in Games 3 and 4 where you’re left wondering what if . . . .
Sitting there on my couch with an upset 10 year old, all you can say is this one hurt. It’s hurts that they lost. It hurts because we all completely fell in love with this team and reminded you why you love the New York Mets with every fiber of your being.
This was the first real postseason run for my kids. For me, I was way too young in 1986, and 1988 was fleeting. But to this day, I’ll forever cherish the 1999 team.
I can tell you everything about that team, and I’ll fight anyone who doesn’t say that wasn’t the greatest defensive infield of all time.
For my sons, Lindor is their Mike Piazza. Vientos is their Edgardo Alfonzo. Manea and Severino are their Al Leiter and Rick Reed. Fortunately, no one will be their Armando Benitez.
Ultimately, this is the team you point back to and say this is why I love baseball. I love the Mets.
When they’re raising their sons to be Mets fans, they will talk about Lindor against the Braves, Alonso against the Brewers, Vientos’ NLDS, and all this season entailed.
For now, it’s pain. In the days, weeks, and months ahead, it’ll be fondly remembered.
For my dad, I don’t know how many more of these we have left. The 1999 and 2000 runs we special. It’s only cruel we had Adam Wainwright doing color in the this year’s NLDS. We left Game 3 of the 2015 World Series thinking they were going to win. We were holding onto hope after Game 5.
There’s always a certain magic when the Mets make these runs. Maybe it’s because it’s just their 11th postseason appearance, but in reality it’s more.
Because it’s always so special and magical, it hurts more. I wanted this for Lindor and what we have the fans, for Alonso in what may be his last year with the Mets, and Nimmo for staying.
Mostly, I wanted it for my family. I don’t want to be the 1994 New York Rangers fan or 2004 Boston Red Sox fan visiting a grave telling dad we finally did it. I want to be there with my boys, dad, and brother having that one moment.
Just one.
Maybe this is the springboard for 2025. Maybe that will be the year the Mets won. For now, it’s just appreciating what was while thinking about what could have been.
So, to that, thank you to the 2024 Mets for this magical season. Your team will be forever loved by Mets fans and will always have a special place in my heart.
Back in 1995, after the cancellation of the 1994 World Series, the Major League owners opted to lock out the striking players, and they began the process of using replacement players. Their plans were foiled when now Supreme Court Justice Sonya Sotomayor put a preliminary injunction in place.
The ruling fortunately put the replacement player plan to bed, but it cast many players with a black mark. One of those players was New York Mets pitcher Rick Reed.
Reed was put in a completely impossible position. At the time, Reed was a borderline player who needed an income to pay for his mother’s medical bills. He was told by the Cincinnati Reds if he did not agree to become a replacement player, he was going to be released and blackballed from the game. In many ways, he had no other option.
It was something which ate him up inside in the moment and years to come. He was no longer a part of the union, and during his brief time in the majors in 1995, he was ostracized in the Cincinnati Reds clubhouse. After the season, he was granted free agency leading to his becoming a member of the New York Mets.
By and large, it was the best thing to happen for Reed and the Mets. There may be many reasons why he didn’t face the same backlash as the other replacement players did or what he faced in Cincinnati. Part of the reason was Bobby Valentine had his back after his success in Norfolk. The Mets had a strong clubhouse, and they already had one of their own replacement players in Benny Agbayani.
Mostly, it might have just been he pitched very well for the Mets. He was an extraordinary surprise going quickly from the bullpen to the rotation. It was a career best year where he had a team best 2.89 ERA and 141 ERA+. Reed would only build and grow from there becoming a gutsy veteran presence in the Mets rotation.
He backed that season up by being an All-Star in 1998 (and would be again in 2001), and he would help the Mets win the 1999 Wild Card. He stepped up with a huge 12 strikeout performance pulling the Mets to a tie with his former Reds team for the last Wild Card spot. Reed would then win the first ever NLDS Game in Shea Stadium history.
Reed would go on to become a top 10 pitcher in Mets history. He was eventually accepted by his teammates, and he was beloved by Mets fans. However, despite all of that, he was left forever banned from MLB because he needed to pay his mother’s medical bills, and he didn’t want his MLB career to be over before it eventually began. That’s why you’ll never see him in a video game.
Right now, it does not appear MLB has any intention to repeating the use of replacement players. They seem more than content to cancel games while they wait out the players. That said, who knows how long it will be before MLB gets that idea in their head again and puts the next Rick Reed in another impossible situation. Hopefully, that day will never come.
Tom Seaver did something unique in New York Mets history. When he took the field for player introductions before Game 1 of the 1986 World Series, he became the first pitcher to stand on the field for three separate Mets postseason games.
Of course, Seaver was wearing a Boston Red Sox uniform, and he never did pitch in that series. To date, no Mets pitcher has pitched in three separate postseasons for the Mets . . . yet.
Back in 2015, Noah Syndergaard and Jeurys Familia were big pieces of a Mets pitching staff which not only led the team to the postseason but also a pennant. They’d join Addison Reed as the only members of that 2015 staff to pitch in the ensuing postseason when the Mets lost the Wild Card Game.
That trio joined a number of the 1999-2000 Mets pitchers to pitch in consecutive postseason. That list included Armando Benitez, Dennis Cook, John Franco, Al Leiter, Rick Reed, and Turk Wendell.
They are just part of a group of Mets pitchers to pitch in multiple postseasons. The other pitchers in that group are Rick Aguilera, Ron Darling, Sid Fernandez, Dwight Gooden, Jerry Koosman, Roger McDowell, Tug McGraw, and Seaver.
That’s a total of 17 pitchers who have appeared in two postseasons for the Mets. However, none have appeared in three.
If Syndergaard can return from Tommy John, and Familia can stay healthy and productive, they’re going to get that chance because this is an excellent Mets team. This is a team which should get there, and maybe this time Syndergaard and Familia can celebrate a World Series.
After that, with both being pending free agents, the question will be whether they’ll get the opportunity to get to pitch in a fourth postseason. Time will tell.
For some reason, the Miami Marlins made the decision to designate Jordan Yamamoto for assignment. That created the avenue for a New York Mets team looking to build organizational pitching depth to make a trade to acquire the promising pitcher.
Yamamoto doesn’t throw hard at all, but his topping out in the very low 90s hasn’t stopped him from racking up big strikeout numbers. In his brief MLB career, he has a 9.5 K/9, and in Double-A, he has the same number.
Statcast had Jordan Yamamoto throwing 6 different pitches last year. So that's something. pic.twitter.com/mYnq43KAch
— Jacob Resnick (@Jacob_Resnick) February 1, 2021
Yamamoto accomplishes this in a number of ways. First, he uses an array of pitches he mixes up to keep batters off balance. Next, he had good spin on his pitches. Finally, he hides the ball well.
Jordan Yamamoto is still only 24, but is coming off a year where results were bad (18.26 ERA) and velocity was down.
He was much better in 2019 with a 4.23 xERA.
Slider was a good pitch for him in 2019 (.167 SLG), and here's a nasty one with 3036 spin rate. pic.twitter.com/DZ5fblNgAy
— Michael Mayer (@mikemayer22) February 1, 2021
As noted, Yamamoto’s biggest weapon is his slider. The spin is off the charts, and he gets a swing and miss over 25% of the time.
Thats the bright side. The downside is at the Major League level, Yamamoto has had some control issues walking 4.3 per nine. That makes him a project.
Fortunately, he’s still young at 24, and he has an option remaining. That gives him development time.
If he’s ironed out the walks in the offseason, he could compete for a spot in the Opening Day rotation or bullpen. If he doesn’t, he can work down in Syracuse. That leaves him at the ready in case of injury or ineffectiveness.
If Yamamoto doesn’t figure it out, no harm, no foul. If he does, he could be a modern day Rick Reed. He certainly has the array of pitches and deception. The question is whether he can develop the control and moxy Reed had.
Time will tell. Fortunately, the Mets have the time and suddenly the depth to see what Yamamoto can be. In the end, that’s what makes him a great pick up.
For a moment, it had seemed Rick Reed turned the corner, had been past the injuries, and is now the pitcher he was early on in the season. That didn’t seem the case today as the Pirates roughed him up. Over the three innings he lasted, he allowed homers to John Vander Wal and Kevin Young.
In total, he allowed four runs in three innings, and he slogged through with 75 pitches. With the pitch count an ineffectiveness, he was lifted for a pinch hitter in the bottom of the third.
While Jason Tyner didn’t get a hit, Melvin Mora would get a rally started with a bunt single. Later that inning, Derek Bell and Edgardo Alfonzo would hit a pair of RBI doubles. Combined with Robin Ventura‘s solo homer in the second, the Mets pulled themselves to within 4-3. It was going to be one of those games.
Pat Mahomes came in for Reed, and he was just okay. Over his three innings, he allowed two runs, which came on a Bruce Aven two RBI double in the fifth. After Ventura got one of those runs back in the sixth with his second solo homer of the game, Dennis Cook came in and was as bad as he’s been all season.
Cook allowed a leadoff homer to Brian Giles to start the seventh. Aven would double off of Cook, and later in the inning, Abraham Nunez would hit a two out RBI single giving the Pirates an 8-4 lead. With the way the Mets bullpen has been pitching, that lead seemed safe enough even for the Pirates.
That was until the bottom of the seventh when Mike Piazza jolted the Mets. After a Bell lead-off single, Alfonzo drew a walk. Both would score on a Piazza RBI double. Nunez would give back the run he knocked in when his error allowed Jay Payton to reach and Piazza to score.
The Mets were now withing 8-7, and Bobby Valentine wasn’t taking any chances with his leaky bullpen anymore. With the game on the line, he only trusted John Franco and Armando Benitez the rest of the way. The two would combine to shut the Pirates out over the final two innings and allow the Mets to take the lead.
After Bell drew a one out walk, he was knocked home on a game tying Alfonzo double. After Piazza struck out, Ventura was intentionally walked. Alfonzo and Ventura would come home to score on a go-ahead Todd Zeile RBI double.
When Benitez set the Pirates down in order in the ninth, the Mets turned what could have been a very troublesome game into a good come from behind win. As we see, their bullpen still needs a lot of help, but you will take wins like these whenever they come along.
Game Notes: It may be public posturing, but Steve Phillips has indicated he’s comfortable going forward with Melvin Mora and Kurt Abbott at SS the rest of the way. Before Reed’s short start here, the Mets had quality starts in eight of the last nine games. Piazza has a 13 game hitting streak.
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.