The Binghamton Buzz: Wrapping Up The First Half On A High Note

Ramblings From Henry and Fayette Streets

The Week That Was: July 2nd – July 9th 

The Binghamton Mets record in the week preceeding the mid-season break sent them into their mini-vacation on a positive note.  They ended their season long losing streak on Tuesday the third with a 3-2 win over the Altoona Curve, and all told went 5-and-3 on the week.  After their win on Tuesday, the B-Mets traveled to Richmond for their only series at The Diamond this season.  The B-Mets won the series by taking two of three games from the Flying Squirrels.  Then it was off to Altoona for a three game set against the Curve and their only visit to People’s Natural Gas Field this season.  Binghamton took two of three from Altoona, and if it wasn’t for a ninth inning meltdown by Adrian Rosario on Monday the B-Mets would have swept the Curve.  The B-Mets enjoyed their largest crowd of the season on July 3rd as 6,481 fans passed through the turnstile at NYSEG Stadium to watch the B-Mets snap that losing streak (and watch some pre-Independence Day fireworks as well).  Juan Lagares had a strong week at the plate for the B-Mets, hitting safely in all but one game.  Lagares went 13-for-38, with four doubles and three RBI’s.  Eric Campbell also had hits in all but one game over the past week, going 11-for-33, including a double, home run, and six RBI’s.  Heading into the All-Star break, Campbell has a six game hitting streak.  On the mound, Cory Mazzoni pitched seven innings of shut out baseball against the Curve on Saturday night, his first donut in the run column this season, earning his second win in a Binghamton uniform.  Zack Wheeler had a strong outing against the Flying Squirrels on Thursday night after a couple of shaky starts in his two previous games.  On Thursday, Wheeler allowed only one run on six hits and struck out six in seven and a third innings of work.  Statistically for the Binghamton Mets, Eric Campbell continues to lead the team in batting average (.328), OBP (.432), and SLG (.487).  Campbell is tied for the team lead in home runs with Reese Havens and Jefry Marte, all with six round trippers at the mid-point of the 2012 season.  Marte also leads the team in RBI’s with 41.  On the pitching side, no surprise here as Zack Wheeler leads every major catagory except for one.  Wheeler is tops in ERA (2.62), WHIP (1.09), wins (8), and strikeouts (88).  The only catagory he does not lead is saves (obviously); that honor goes to Robert Carson who currently has eight saves on the season.    

Standings

Weekly Stat Snapshot

Here’s where the boys stack up against the rest of the league at the mid-season point:

Batters

Eric Campbell – 1st in average (.328), 1st in OBP (.432), 2nd in OPS (.919)

Pitchers

Zack Wheeler - 2nd in ERA (2.62), 2nd in strikeouts (88), 2nd in WHIP (1.09)

Robert Carson – T-5th in saves (8)

Did You Know?

Two players in this years Major League Baseball All-Star Game have ties to Binghamton.  The somewhat obvious first player is David Wright, a member of the 2004 Binghamton Mets.  The other tie is the Baltimore Orioles Jim Johnson, arguably the best closer in the game so far this season.  Johnson hails from Endicott, New York, part of the ‘Triple Cities’ moniker once used to describe the Binghamton-Johnson City-Endicott triad in Broome County.  A 2001 graduate of Union-Endicott High School, Johnson has played his entire career in the Orioles system.

Did You Know? Part II

The only time the Binghamton Mets hosted an all-star game came in 1994.  At that time, all three Double A leagues (Eastern, Southern, and Texas) held a combined event, a setup which has since been vacated with the leagues now each holding their own game.  The 1994 Double A All-Star Game in Binghamton, held on July 11th of that year, sold out in less than two hours.  Fans in Binghamton were certainly still rabid about their baseball, this being only the third season of its return to the city, but one other factor may have had something to do with the game selling out so quickly.  An up and coming player in the Chicago White Sox system by the name of Michael Jordan was rumored to possibly be playing in the game, a fact that may have had something to do with the brisk ticket sales.  Jordan’s appearance never materialized though, and the fans that packed Binghamton Municipal Stadium for the mid-season classic had to settle for the regular all-stars instead.

Whoops!

In the category of ‘even those that get paid to do this make mistakes every once in a while’, we offer the following pic from the Press & Sun-Bulletin, Monday, July 9, 2012: