Jun
28
2011

Jason Isringhausen: Who Says You Can’t Go Home Again?

An article by Joe D

Jason Isringhausen Jason Isringhausen #45 of the New York Mets delivers a pitch in the seventh inning against the Colorado Rockies on April 11, 2011 at Citi Field in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City.

During Spring Training, when former Mets pitching phenom Jason Isringhausen reached out to assistant general manager J.P. Ricciardi for a bullpen session tryout, many of us crossed our fingers for the sake of nostalgia and hoped for the best.

Many of us were further surprised when Izzy impressed Ricciardi so much that both he and general manager Sandy Alderson signed him to a minor league deal with an invite to compete with the rest of the Mets at their spring training complex in Port St. Lucie. It was a great story, but nobody really expected it would go beyond that…

Guess what?

It did.

Now, three months later, who could have imagined that Jason Isringhausen would be having this kind of success and impact out of the 2011 Mets bullpen?

After looking up Izzy’s stats from his first tour of duty (see my chart below) with the Mets and comparing them to what he’s done so far this season, my jaw nearly dropped to say the least.

Izzy is in the midst of his greatest season ever as a Met! His strikeout rate is higher than when he was tabbed as the leader of Generation K, and his WHIP simply blows his previous seasons as a Met out of the water.

You want to talk about a player loaded with plenty of guts and guile? Jason Isringhausen is your man.

You want a player who hearkens to the undying spirit of Tug McGraw’s “Ya Gotta Believe”? Izzy is your go-to guy.

Tip your caps to Jason Isringhausen – who has come full circle and is one reason the Mets are still in this dogfight called the 2011 season.

Who says you can’t go home again?

About the Author: Joe DeCaro

I'm a lifelong Mets fan who loves writing and talking about the Amazins' 24/7. From the Miracle in 1969 to the magic of 1986, and even the near misses in '73 and '00, I've experienced it all - the highs and the lows. I started Mets Merized Online in 2005 to feed my addiction. Follow me on Twitter @metsmerized.

6 Comments + Add Comment

alex68 June 28, 2011 at 2:11 pm

great article joe, i do feel happy for izzy, too bad it didn’t work out as a SP, but he’s had a good career, i hope we can have a run wit him as a met
Gina June 28, 2011 at 2:27 pm

Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran and Jason Isringhausen are my three best stories of this season. It’s so much fun to see how great they are all doing and I will be so mad if one of them gets traded. Lets go Mets!
- alex68 June 28, 2011 at 2:31 pm
  
  would be a bigger story if the redeem themselves and bring a championship to NY.. they are playing with chip on their shoulders it seems.. specially beltran, who’s got the quietest 50 rbi’s in ML history
Brandon Butler June 28, 2011 at 2:38 pm

Exactly Joe. Who says you can’t go home?!

Izzy has been a great pickup for the Mets, and i am glad that he is having some great success as he once did for the Mets back in the 90′s.
- alex68 June 28, 2011 at 2:57 pm
  
  once did, you mean one year brandon???
sarge June 28, 2011 at 10:51 pm

Glad that he has solidified the 8th inning spot until Parnell gets his act together.
Hope his arm holds out, cause right now this team looks to be playing with a attitude and if they make it to playoffs or at least are playing important games, then the BP will be a big part of it.
Remember Sept past how a bad BP cost us the playoffs.

NL East Standings

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB
Braves	24	18	.571	-
Nationals	23	20	.535	1.5
Phillies	20	23	.465	4.5
Mets	16	24	.400	7.0
Marlins	11	32	.256	13.5

Last updated: 05/18/2013

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