Everyday Outfield

The Mets have now played their first 13 games of the 2008 season with the same three starting outfielders: Pagan, Beltran and Church have started every game. The Mets have never before gone so long into a season without varying their starting outfield. Most seasons, the Mets vary their starting outfield before the 5th game of the year: in only 13 of the seasons 46 seasons in Mets history have the Mets gone past the fourth game of the year before making a change in the starting outfield. The Mets' average for the first game a change is made to the starting outfield is 3.7 and the median is 3. Before the current season, the only times the Mets have gone past their ninth game of the year without a variation in their starting outfield have been 1970, when they changed for the first time in the 10th game of the year (Jones, Agee and Swoboda finally give way when Shamsky starts instead of Swoboda in right) and last season, 2007, when Alou, Beltran and Green started the first 10 games but Endy Chavez started for Alou in left in game 11.

This Bud's For You

There have been 80 full seasons since Babe Ruth hit 60 homers in 1927. Here are the hitters with the most plate appearances over those 80 seasons among those players who never reached double digits in home runs:

Top 5 Most Career PAs, 1928-2007, Among Players With Fewer Than 10 Career Homers
1. Bud Harrelson 5,516 PAs (7 HRs)
2. Jerry Remy 4,916 PAs (7 HRs)
3. Roger Metzger 4,676 PAs (5 HRs)
4. Frank Taveras 4,399 PAs (2 HRs)
5. Greg Gross 4,355 PAs (7 HRs)

Only 27 players have had even half as many PAs as Harrelson after 1927 without hitting double figures in career homers.

Harrelson might have reached double figures in homers if he had played the bulk of his career with a home park other than Shea. Shea has been a tough park for homers throughout its existence and was no less tough on Bud Harrelson. In over 2,400 PAs at Shea (only one man, Ed Kranepool, came to the plate at Shea more times than Harrelson), Buddy hit only one homer. So at some point in this final Shea season, which begins with the home opener today, hoist a beer for Bud.

Down Side

The last time (before yesterday) the Mets finished a day's play under .500 for the season was September 23, 2005, when they were one game under. They won 7 of 9 after that day and ended up finishing up 2005 with an 83-79 record. In 2006 they started the season 1-0 and 8-1 and never fell below .500, and in 2007 they started 4-0 and 10-4 and never fell below .500.

The last time (before yesterday) a Mets starter went at least seven innings and surrendered no more than one run, yet was credited with a loss anyway, was in a 1-0 Mets defeat at the hands of St. Louis on May 17, 2006, with Mark Mulder going most of the way for the Cardinals and Steve Trachsel taking the loss for the Mets despite surrendering just one run in seven full innnings (an Albert Pujols walk and Scott Rolen double in the sixth inning led to the lone run of the game). The Mets had the bases loaded with one out in the ninth in that game, but Jason Isringhausen came in replacing Mulder and got David Wright to strike out out and Cliff Floyd to ground out to end it.

Bing-O

Most Homers in a Season by a Binghamton Met (the Mets have been playing in Binghamton since 1992):

1. Matt Raleigh (1997) 37

2/3. Robert Stratton (2001)/Tate Seefried (1997) 29

4/5/6. Bryon Gainey (1999)/Mike Jacobs (2005)/Butch Huskey (1993) 25

Matt Raleigh is currently the manager of the Carolina Mudcats, the Marlins' AA affiliate.

Him Again?!

Smoltz's first out today will make him the eighth pitcher in history to log a full 300 IP's against the Mets in his career.
Top 10 pitchers in innings pitched against the Mets (W-L record vs. Mets, and Saves vs. the Mets, in parens):
1. Steve Carlton 550.67 IP (30-36)
2. Greg Maddux 428.33 IP (35-19)
3. Phil Niekro 393 IP (25-14, 5 saves)
4. Bob Gibson 385 IP (28-14, 2 saves)
5. Juan Marichal 342.33 IP (26-8, 1 save)
6. Rick Reuschel 314.33 IP (14-25)
7. Jerry Reuss 309 IP (15-21)
8. John Smoltz 299.67 IP (17-14, 24 saves)
9. Steve Rogers 283 IP (15-13)
10. Don Sutton 278.67 IP (18-12, 1 save)

source database for this one was: baseballmusings.com's Day-by-Day Database

Mercy Rule Games

I count 5 games in Mets history, before last night's, in which the Mets gave up zero runs and scored at least 13:
July 29, 1965, a 14-0 demolition of the Cubs (Galen Cisco complete game, Johnny Lewis two homers)
July 1, 1976, a 13-0 destruction of the Cardinals (Jon Matlack complete game, Milner grand slam, Mets had only five singles and four extra-base hits, but walked 10 times)
April 19, 1998, a 14-0 massacre of the Reds (Al Leiter starting, no homers for the Mets)
September 30, 2006, a 13-0 dismantling of the Nationals (Tom Glavine starting, homers by Franco, Castro, Chavez, Green and Wright)
September 29, 2007, John Maine's near no-hitter, a 13-0 pulverizing of the Marlins (two homers by Milledge and one by Castro)

So in the first 36 years of the Mets franchise the team only had two of these games, while the Mets have now had two of these in their last five regular season games, both against the Marlins.