How many of you are sitting at home tonight, wondering and asking yourselves how long it will be until we finally see Zack Wheeler wearing that uniform and hurling 98 mph fastballs from the mound at Citi Field? The question is not an easy one to answer and in fact it’s a perfect paradox by virtue of the logical arguments one can make for either side. It’s a conundrum, that much is true, but it’s [...]

A member of the SABR once said, “There are 499 ballplayers. And then there’s Willie Mays.” It was way back in the summer of 1973. Camera Day. I was a few months shy of turning 8 years old. My dad nudged me closer to the railing along the third base line so no grown-ups would block my view. Mets players walked around the warning track, stopping every few feet to smile for the cameras. My [...]

It had been a sweltering hot summer in NY, so hot that my dad and I had taken to sitting out in the backyard to listen to the games.  It was July 13, 1977, and the Mets were playing the Cubs. They were losing 2-1 in the bottom of the sixth in spite of  an 11-strikeout effort by Jerry Koosman. We were eating watermelon and cheese. I remember spitting watermelon seeds out towards the tomato plants occasionally bouncing a [...]

Anyone out there remember Ray Sadecki? He was a starter/reliever for the Mets from 1970-1974 and was the kind of pitcher the Mets could actually use right now because of his effectiveness in that role. They could have also used Sadecki in 2007 or 2008, which is when I chose his name on the LoHud blog when John Delcos was running the site before Howard Megdal. Those two seasons will always be remembered for how [...]

Several times this season John Buck’s fast start fueled speculation that with Travis d’Arnaud’s promotion the Mets might deal him at the trade deadline. After all, who doesn’t want a hot-hitting catcher who calls a crisp game behind the plate? Most every team would and that includes the Mets, who, along with Buck exceeded early expectations. It’s not as if Buck has gone from trade bait to indispensable, but he isn’t going anywhere any time soon. [...]

Winning was Jerry Grote’s bliss. In fact, his most joyous moment on the diamond was captured on film when teammate Jerry Koosman leapt into his arms after the final out of the 1969 World Series. In 1976, Bob Myrick found out the hard way how Grote felt about losing when the Mets rookie pitcher beat his catcher in a game of Backgammon, causing Grote to explode, sending the board and its pieces across the room [...]

Since being promoted to the big leagues on July 26, 2012, Matt Harvey has lived up to, and at times, exceeded expectations.  The former first round draft pick has become one of the toughest pitchers to hit in the National League since his debut and his confidence is on par with that of a veteran pitcher – a pitcher such as Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman and Dwight Gooden, to name a few. With that in [...]

In the course of the many years I have been a Mets devotee, I have witnessed countless contests between the Amazin’s and their various opponents where the end result was either a victory or loss for the Flushing crew, but nothing much beyond that unless something truly remarkable occurred to mark the game in my memory. Those games, where something truly out of the ordinary happened, have popped up from time to time and by [...]

I was recently doing research for another piece when I came across the career numbers of three pitchers – Bert Blyleven, Randy Jones and Don Wilson.  In particular, I focused on what Blyleven achieved during his 11 seasons in Minnesota, as well as what Jones did in eight years with the Padres and what Wilson accomplished in his nine years with the Astros. As many of you know, Bert Blyleven is a member of the [...]

A pair of Chicago Cubs centerfielders, Jimmy Qualls (1969) and Joe Wallis (1975), stole two of Tom Seaver’s early bids for a no-hitter. One year after being traded from New York to Cincinnati, Seaver threw a no-hitter for the Reds. Nolan Ryan never pitched a no-hitter – as a New York Met – but after being traded to the California Angels in 1971 he nudged Mets fans every couple years, throwing seven no-hitters. “Every time [...]

There’s a twinge of anticipation this morning as Matt Harvey gets the ball today against the Miami Marlins.Stephen Strasburg is an exceptional talent in Washington, but in Harvey the Mets also have a young arm this franchise can build around. If there’s one thing the Mets are noted for it is the development of young pitchers. Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman, Nolan Ryan, Dwight Gooden and now Harvey. How long, or now successful he will become is one of baseball’s delightful mysteries because this [...]