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 he pitched you expected a no-hitter – or 15 strikeouts,” said Jay Horwitz, Mets VP/Public Relations, referring to Dwight Gooden.

In May 1996, Gooden tossed the only no-hitter of his career – as a member of the New York Yankees. Even Duffy Dyer had to leave the New York Mets to catch his first no-hitter (John Candelaria, Pittsburgh, 1975), 11 years before Josh Thole was born.

Four years later, in 2000, amidst a slow start and turmoil over comments Mets manager Bobby Valentine made during a speech at Penn’s Wharton School of Business, Mets ace Al Leiter attempted to lighten the mood. “I think I’m going to have to throw a no-hitter today to get the back page in New York with all the stuff going on,” he said. Starting against the Pittsburgh Pirates on the road, Leiter surrendered a second-inning lead-off home run to Wil Cordero, crushing the hopes and promise of the first-ever Mets no-hitter.

John Maine was on the brink, again, in 2007, until Florida Marlins catcher light-hitting catcher Paul Hoover reached on an infield single with two outs in the eighth inning. Maine settled for a one-hit, complete game shutout but, again, hopes of a no-hitter were dashed.

There were other close calls before, after and in between those chronicled here, but you get the idea. The New York Mets avoided no-hitters for a half-century. It was baffling at times. How could the pitching-rich Mets not have a no-hitter?

Seaver, Ryan, Gooden, Leiter, Jerry Koosman, Jon Matlack, Craig Swan, Ron Darling, Sid Fernandez, David Cone, Mike Hampton, Bret Saberhagen, Frank Viola, Bob Ojeda, Pedro Martinez, Tom Glavine; over 50 years of baseball the stars never aligned, not for a single summer’s night, for Steve Trachsel, George Stone, Rick Reed, Bobby Jones, Orlando Hernandez, Dave Mlicki, Pete Harnisch, Pete Falcone or Pat Zachry? No, no and no. Game after game, season after season the Mets were denied.

To blunt the pain and frustration, Mets fans turned the no-hit quest into a punchline. On any given night during the season a Mets fan could grab their smartphone, tap the Twitter icon and wait for [insert pitcher’s name here] to give up the first hit of the game which, inevitably, led to a tweet along the lines of:

Well, not tonight #Mets fans. That’s 7,952 games without a no-hitter.

So, on June 1, 2012, when Johan Santana became the first pitcher in Mets team history to throw a no-hitter, fans celebrated. I celebrated. In fact, the New York Daily News and New York Post back pages hang on my office wall. It was a big deal. But that’s where the road forks for me and many Mets fans.

Last week, amidst controversy over Santana’s health, Mets blogger Ted Berg tweeted:

Johan Santana returned from career-threatening surgery and pitched the first Mets no-hitter. He could show up 300 lbs. and he’d still be my hero.

Thirty-five people re-tweeted the post. I am not sure if the reaction was a symbol of support or fans just wanted to share his message with the baseball world. Either way, I disagree. Yes, I was amazed by Santana’s drive to come back and perform like the two-time Cy Young Award winner he once was with the Minnesota Twins. No, Santana should not be labeled a hero for one game.

SNY’s Chris Carlin dished out a portion of these stats on Twitter, to which another Mets fan replied:

Fair, for first no-hitter in Mets history.

Fair? Really? This is a sad – and misguided – statement.

When the Mets traded six players for Santana in 2008 they also agreed to sign him to a six-year, $101.5 million contract. Since then, he’s made 109 regular season starts, winning 46 games. He’s earned over $900,000/start in New York, or, $2.2 million per win. He missed all of the 2011 season and one-half of the 2012 season (because of the wear and tear he put on his arm pitching the no-hitter).

Remember the day you heard the news that the Mets had finally acquired Santana from the Twins? I do. Expectations were high. After the crushing collapse at the end of the 2007 season, Santana symbolized a renewed hope that 2008 would be different. Of course, it wasn’t. The point is: Santana was going to help the Mets win; a division, a league championship, maybe a World Series. You did believe that, then, right?

Hypothetically, would you give back the no-hitter if the Mets could have had a healthy Johan Santana in July, August and September? I would. I am of the mindset that winning baseball games, not pitching no-hitters or breaking records, is the goal. I am most happy when the Mets are winning. It doesn’t matter how, but if the Mets win.

Let’s face it, Santana’s not coming back after the 2013 season (if he’s not traded earlier). Over five seasons in New York he’s been closer to a disappointment than hero. Call me naive, but I expected more than one no-hitter from Santana, but thanks for the memory (singular).

Read more of my thoughts on baseball at JohnStrubel.com.

What pitcher won the most games for the Mets without ever winning a game for any other major league team in his entire career?

I posed this question to several Mets’ fans and only one came up with the correct answer without researching it. Can you?

One of the better guesses was Mike Pelfrey who won 50 games with the Mets and has yet to appear with another major league team. But Mike is now a member of the Twins and unless he somehow winds up back with the Mets before winning a game elsewhere, won’t have a chance at the record.

Another pretty good guess was Sid Fernandez, but El Sid managed to get in a few wins for Baltimore after his tenure as a Met was over.

No, the answer is…

Husky righthander Craig Swan who was the ace of the Mets’ staff during the down years of 1978 and 1979.  Although he pitched for the Mets for all or part of 12 seasons, various injuries and ailments had him in and out of the rotation most years. Originally drafted in the third round of the 1972 amateur draft out of Arizona State, he had a few shots with the Mets before staying up for good in 1976. Although Swan never became the star pitcher Mets’ fans were hoping for, there were several notable highlights in his career.

In 1978, he led the National League with a 2.43 ERA while going 9-6 for the last-place Mets. The following year, he pitched 251 innings, winning 14 games for the Mets who again finished last. He also came back from a torn rotator cuff injury in 1982 to post an 11-7 record before injuries sidelined him again. Yet, possibly his most unique achievement is that he still holds the record for most career wins by a Mets pitcher who never won a game for any other major league team with 59. He did have a very brief late-career stint with the Angels, but didn’t win a game with them.

An interesting anecdote about Swan involves his potential trade to the Angels in 1979. The Mets were discussing dealing Swan and Elliott Maddox for veteran first baseman Willie Mays Aikens and a young minor league infielder named Dickie Thon.

After Mrs. Payson’s death, her daughter Lorinda De Roulet became principal owner and Chairman of the Board. Mrs. De Roulet, hardly a baseball expert, reportedly vetoed the deal when she remarked “We can’t do that. Thon is just a baby”. Thon of course wound up in Houston where he became the regular shortstop for several years.

Swan who was always seemingly receiving treatment for one ailment or another had his career shortened by arm trouble. One of the many treatments he underwent in hopes of resurrecting his career was Rolfing or Structural Integration. Swan was so impressed by the technique that he went to school to learn it and today is a highly successful licensed Rolfing practitioner in Connecticut.

“We- players, writers, fans- talk about the importance of the little things and getting the breaks and clutch pitching and hitting, but sometimes I wonder whether the truth isn’t more simple. The main difference between the winners and losers? Winning.” Keith Hernandez from his novel If At First…

The wisdom of Keith Hernandez whether on the field or today in the broadcast booth, has always been the gift that the Mex keeps on giving. His first novel, If At First, written in 1986 with writer Mike Bryan of Golf Magazine, gave us an in depth look at the 1985 Mets season and an overview of the 1986 World Series.

It seems almost unseemly and too easy to pile up on Oliver Perez at this point. I’ve tried to make an internal pact with myself not to over-analyze every loss. I also have a personal credo of not giving up on a pitcher without giving him every opportunity to make his mark, as I hope the team would too.

The bottom line and I have a gut feeling if Keith were still playing, he would say Perez simply doesn’t deserve to be in the majors at this point in his career. It’s not a calculation of Perez the man, but simply the fact that whatever worked for Ollie early in his career, is lost.

On Sunday Perez barely lasted over 3 innings throwing a mind blowing 98 pitches and walking seven. To watch Oliver Perez pitch is comparable to watching the California Highway Patrol chasing a suspect on the 405. It’s long, boring, yet at the same time very frustrating and both predictably seem to culminate with the same result.

At some point the Mets have to decide when to cut bait with Perez, or better yet, when to stop chasing the “potential” in Perez, even in spite of his ridiculous 12 million dollar salary. Omar Minaya’s Ponch to Jerry Manuel’s Jon, perhaps it’s time to throw down the spike strips?

Back in 1985, the Mets had another lefty with “potential”, but unlike Perez, he lived up to the potential and had a very solid Major League career. Keith saw it and predicted his ascension to the show. That man was “El” Sid Fernandez. In his book, If At First, Keith had this to say,

“May 11th, New York City. I’m looking like managerial material. Sid Fernandez is back as a starting pitcher…in a matter of one month at Tidewater, Sid has developed two new pitches, a change-up and a slider…he seems to have more pep in him, a little more intensity. The month in the minors may have accomplished more than improving his mechanics; it may have made him mad and mean. A pitcher has to be mean. It looks like Sid accepted the challenge when he was sent down.”

The date is ironic isn’t it? Not to mention Sid and Ollie are lefties. The only thing missing is this episode of CHiPs, Ponch and Jon haven’t apprehended Perez and sent him on a one way ticket to Buffalo.

Why? Is it better to have him embarrass himself and the team in the majors this way? Do we have absolutely no one else that can pitch his innings? Are the Mets biting their nose off to spite their face?

There’s no guarantee that shipping Perez to Buffalo will do anything for him. One thing is very certain. It will spare the fans any more undue agida.

I would give anything to hear what the Mex would REALLY love to say about this.

Take a look at one of the newest additions to the Mets Fan Walk for the 2010 season…

Looks fantastic huh?

Over a dozen of these brand new Fan Bricks honoring some of the greatest and most memorable moments in Mets history have been added to the newly expanded Fanwalk at Citi Field.

Finally the Mets are showing some much needed love to… well the Mets…

One problem though, and it’s a big one…

This particular fan brick which recognizes the Mets Game 7 win in the 1986 World Series has Sid Fernandez as the winning pitcher, when it was actually Roger McDowell who was the winning pitcher in that unforgettable game.

I know it’s been a long time since the Mets last won a World Series, but has it been so long that the front office actually forgot something as significant as the game seven wining pitcher?

Poor Roger McDowell… the Mets’ all-time biggest prankster finally got one pulled on him…

Seriously though, what a terrible job… Doesn’t anybody proofread these things before they are given the okay to create them?

Shame on you guys….

Incidentally, for a look at many of the other new features at Citi Field, check out this link to johnql’s photobucket stream.

But inside Ollie there has always been a caged lion waiting to bust out of that cage.  The dude usually hovers around the 1 strikeout per inning mark, and even last season had 62 K’s in 66 innings.  His problem, along with those noted above, is the fact that he walks a small army.  Perez led the NL in 2008 with 105 walks, which is almost 5 per game.  You can’t do that and hope to have any consistency in the big leagues, period.

Well now that Ollie is past his knee injury and ready to face a new season with a clean slate, I ask you all: does Ollie have the potential to reach his potential this year?  Or is he going to be a consistent under-achiever?  Hey, remember Nolan Ryan was so wild that the Mets wound up trading him and then got burned and reminded of that for more than 20 years.  Ollie, of course, is more like a cross between Sid Fernandez and Steve Trachsel, but you have to believe Minaya is hoping and praying that Ollie will earn some of that scratch this year.

As for me, I am not holding out a ton of hope, but I feel like Ollie just might surprise us in 2010.  I’m not sure why, but maybe because I’ve seen him at his best, and I know he’s got it in him if he can control his own wild demons.  And if he’s actually decent, it will go a long way toward the Mets being a respectable club, or at least having a respectable rotation.