Here is the 2018 Mets’ record by month:
| Month by Month | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Split | W | L | RS | RA | W-L% |
| March | 2 | 0 | 15 | 6 | 1.000 |
| April | 15 | 9 | 112 | 107 | .625 |
| May | 10 | 18 | 98 | 132 | .357 |
| June | 5 | 21 | 89 | 130 | .192 |
| July | 12 | 12 | 97 | 119 | .500 |
| August | 15 | 15 | 145 | 116 | .500 |
| September | 18 | 10 | 120 | 97 | .643 |
From May 1 to June 30, they were 15-39 with a 4.63 ERA
From Aug 8 to Sept 30, they were 31-20 with a 3.36 ERA
In May and June we got walloped by injuries to our lineup that were hard to overcome. Cespedes, Bruce, Frazier all hurt at the same time, plus the usual d’Aranud and Lagares. That left us with Conforto and Rosario who both got off to slow starts (lack of lineup protection surely didn’t help) and Nimmo and Cabrera who did their best to carry us but two bats don’t make a lineup.
Yes the front office made some mistakes and some players deserve blame, but coming into the season with 5 outfielders and talk of trading one, who could have foreseen 3 of them getting injured and having Jose Bautista and Austin Jackson combining for 100+ starts.
Maybe the Wilpons will surprise us and make a smart business and baseball decision to expand the payroll. They’re down over half-a-million customers in attendance in the past two years, which translates into a lot of bucks lost. I think not showing up for games (even if it’s a fewer number), watching less on TV, and buying less merchandise can have a great impact. Let’s see.
I’m hoping that there will be change, because watching their pathetic lineup score so few runs—even with Conforto, Nimmo, and McNeil hitting well—is quite boring, not to mention stressful on the starting pitchers.
Here’s hoping they get a righty batter to catch (Ramos), and, most of all, finally get some great relievers (Kimbrel, Ottavino, Familia, and Britton are all possibilities).
I’d love for them to get Machado.
Extending deGrom and Wheeler would be good, too.
Now that the season is over…
1) Just picked up a recently published book (May 2018) titled, “I’m Keith Hernandez”. It’s interesting, and certainly a different format (as noted by the author). While the book jumps back and forth between his early years with the Cardinals, and more recent times in the Mets’ booth, the narrative ends abruptly in 1980; big disappointment.
2) Speaking of KH, I desperately need some help verifying what I thought was a strong memory. The setting, I thought, was in 1985 because of what follows.
It was late in the year, last week of September, the Mets were in close second place and time was running out. They were down by one run, and KH came up with a runner on base and hit a 2-run walk-off HR off of Todd Worrell. What made this stick out in my mind is in the postgame, KH talked about how he was guessing change-up on 3 and 2, and he guessed right.
Now I went back looking over boxscores, and I couldn’t find anything that came close to matching this description. I also looked over boxscores from 84, 87 and 89 (the only other years this could have happened, considering KH’s presence and the final standings), and I could find nothing close.
Does anyone have a memory of such a game? Please help this old Mets fan who feels the rapid approach of dementia. (OK, I’m not that old.)
It does not appear that Hernandez hit a HR off of Worrell
https://www.baseball-reference.com/play-index/batter_vs_pitcher.cgi?request=1&submitter=1&batter=hernake01&min_year_game=1983&max_year_game=1990&post=1&throws=R&c1criteria=HR&c1gtlt=gt&c1val=1&c2gtlt=gt&orderby=PA&orderby_dir=desc&orderby_second=Name&orderby_dir_second=asc
Lifetime against Worrell, he was 2-6 with a double and 1 RBI.
I am almost certain that the HR was hit by Howard Johnson. But it was April of 86.
http://www.nysportsday.com/news/combined/1143663080.html
I remember HoJo turning a Worrell fastball around, but was it 1986, or 1987? HoJo didn’t play much in 1986.
HoJo was right. April 24, 1986.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SLN/SLN198604240.shtml
Nice article above by the way. Thanks!
162 games is a long season. Winning requires consistency. The Mets are not consistent.
We are all starting with the “what ifs” for next year. Yes, the stars have to line up for a team to have a great year. Who would have predicted the Oakland A’s having the year that they did.
We have a lot of holes. You have to address the team needs by acquiring players via free agency, trade or having a prospect develop. Look at the Yankees, every player in their lineup had over 20 home runs. That is incredible.
If you find a player in a garbage dumpster, you have to expect that they will be garbage.
If the Mets truly want to win, they have to spend money. I am not saying spending foolish money with gigantic contracts to players over 30, but you have to sign players who have excellent potential.
There is nothing that we could do about Cespedes. But, it really hurt to not have him in the lineup. I hope for his own sake and yes, his quality of life, that the surgery works out well for him.
We need a catcher, good relief pitchers and another big bat. I like Machado, yes it is a big contract, but he is 26 years old.
Getting back to the foolish contracts and foolish players. Frazier, Bruce, Vargas, Reyes, Bautista, Gonzalez, Jackson. Need I say more.
Now, it really is time to sign up and keep our big three. They really proved themselves this year. If we want to win, we all three of them for at least another four years.
But, the biggest decision will be who will be chosen as the new GM and how much money and authority will they really have.
Most Met fans hate the Yankees, but you have to give credit. The Steinbrenner’s want to win. Always have, always will. For God sakes, we are a New York team, this payroll poverty crap is for the birds.
I do love how the team finished the season and I loved ending it on a 1-0 shutout. But, like I said earlier, go out and sign and get some good players. You cant ask fans to take out their checkbooks and buy tickets if all that you do is out a mediocre product on the field. It really reminds me of the early 70’s when the Mets had Seaver, Matlack and Koosman and a weak hitting team.
So, all that we can do is enjoy the playoffs and hope that we see some good moves made in the off season.
Lets go Mets.
And again, thank you for all of the great articles and comments that all of you write.
Perfect Michael.
A major positive is the GM switch. The book closes on the Sandy era now with eight years in the books, six of them not even .500 seasons. When I look back at his tenure my number one memory will be the brief but wonderful run in 2015, concluding with a World Series appearance. Great stuff. Unfortunately for me it came with sitting in an empty Citi Field fifty or sixty times over this era watching awful baseball after annual fire sales that produced little to nothing. Not to mention SNY becoming “must miss” TV most years from August 1st on.
Although the prospect of these owners getting a GM hire correct is daunting we now have a punchers chance for success. Hope is a good thing, especially during the offseason and it is nice to be able to look forward with that again.
Let’s Go Mets!
Mets just need to play more games that count in March.
Well,things get mixed up in peoples minds .Here Keith had a game winning hit against Ken Daley though…
https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYN/NYN198509120.shtml
Steevy – thanks, good catch; that must be it since it fits the parameters very well. I was so sure about the details. Memory is a strange thing, isn’t i?
I wonder if it would be possible to determine if KH got that hit on a 3-2 count. Because the point that made it most memorable was his guessing change-up and getting it.
“Up came Hernandez, who had been groping at the plate, hitless in 11 previous times at-bat against the team that traded him two years ago. The count went to no balls and a strike and Hernandez slapped a fastball over the middle of the plate between Smith and the third baseman, Terry Pendleton. Vince Coleman raced in for the ball in a hope to cut down Wilson at the plate, but the speedy left fielder overran the ball and Wilson scored standing up.”
Will there be chatter for the post season Brian?
As long as 6 people request it!
How many different log in names can I use??????
😉
Sorry to have missed the final games, David’s last game, and the end of the season.
I’m #2.
I’m #3. Especially when there is breaking news that day. Expand the catch-all thread to Wednesday also for the off-season.
https://www.sny.tv/mets/news/icymi-david-wright-visits-the-booth-on-his-special-night/296828044
Great guy, great tv moment
Latest podcast has been posted
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