Last Wednesday, a competition began in which you the fans vote on which Met had the best single season. The competition is arranged in a bracket style format In our first matchup, Jose Reyes’ 2011 season faced John Olerud’s 1998 season. The competition was completed last night, and Olerud beat out Reyes by a whopping 34 votes. Now, Olerud will face the winner of the battle between Mets’ former outfielder Darryl Strawberry and his 1987 season and current third baseman versus captain of the Mets David Wright and his 2007 season. This week, however, we will be focusing on the first matchup between two pitchers: Dwight Gooden in 1985 vs Jesse Orosco in 1983. Both pitchers had phenomenal single seasons, but only one can advance.
Gooden, 1985: In 1985, Gooden began the second season of his career, and his second season with the Mets. The man nicknamed “Doc” or “Dr. K” went on to go 24-4 that season, with a 1.53 ERA. Gooden struck out 268 batters that season, and had a career low 0.965 WHIP. He also had a WAR of 12.1 and a 9.8 WAA (Wins Above Average), which was by far the highest WAR and WAA he ever had in his career. Also, the term “work horse” cannot even begin to describe Gooden in 1987, because he pitched 276.2 innings, and had a 229 ERA+. But most importantly, Gooden finished the season by winning his first and only Cy Young Award, winning with 24 unanimous votes.
Orosco, 1983: From 1979-1987, Orosco played for the New York Mets. During his tenure with the ball club, Orosco went an even 47-47, with an ERA sub 3.00. In 1983, Orosco played the best baseball of his career. Orosco went 13-7 with a 1.47 ERA. He also established himself with a solid 3.8 WAR, a 2.2 WAA, 17 saves, and a 0.2 HR/9 rate. He may not have been a starter in 1983, and he may not have the career numbers that Gooden would put up with the Mets, but in the end, Orosco had an amazing 1983 season.
Loading ...
Yea… I think an unanimous blowout would probably be an understatement here.
A starter that threw over 250 innings against a reliever with 17 saves and they both had about a 1.5 ERA? LOL
I can understand Orosco against McDowell’s 15 win season but this isn’t fair.
I’m with you Gus. Not fair to compare a starter with a closer. Why didn’t you pick Seaver’s Cy Young year with the Mets? That truly would of been a far more interesting (and fair) result I would have voted on. I’ll pass on this poll Dan. Dan you’re the one setting the table here. Comparing apples and oranges. How does that make the comparison equitable? You’re skewering the fans to vote in one direction. Pretty silly don’t you think? Can you do a mulligan and do the article again so it can be a little more comprehensive?