June 25th, 2008 by Dirk
Starter John Maine took a no hitter into the fifth inning Wednesday as the New York Mets rebounded from two losses to beat the Seattle Mariners 8-2.
Maine no-hit the Mariners through four until Jeremy Reed led off the fifth with a single to right to advance the NoNoHitters.com count to 7,397 games without a no hitter. The accomplishment marks the 257th time a Mets pitcher has made it through four or more no-hit innings during their 46-plus years of existence.
Here are some updated numbers on Mets pitchers who have kept Hs off the board until at least the fifth inning, courtesy of Retrosheet. *
- 153 potential Mets no hitters were broken up in the fifth
- 64 potential Mets no hitters were broken up in the sixth
- 22 potential Mets no hitters were broken up in the seventh
- 15 potential Mets no hitters were broken up in the eighth
- 3 potential Mets no hitters were broken up in the ninth (all by Tom Seaver)
Maine scattered just five hits and two earned runs over six innings of work for his eighth victory of the season. Aaron Heilman, Joe Smith and Duaner Sanchez each pitched a scoreless inning in relief.
David Wright drove in three runs with two homers to left, and Jose Reyes added a three-run round-tripper to right.
*Information used here was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted by Retrosheet. Interested parties may contact Retrosheet at www.retrosheet.org.
Tags: john maine, seattle mariners
Posted in Regular season games | No Comments »
June 18th, 2008 by Dirk
After visiting family in New Jersey for a couple of days, our road trip to Shea needed a stopping point on the way back west. The National Baseball Hall of Fame would have been a perfect destination, but Cooperstown, N.Y.. was a bit far off our trip route so we switched sports gears and headed to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.
Canton was an odd setting to learn of Willie Randolph’s 3:15 a.m. firing, but with two of us wearing Mets T-shirts, we came across plenty of Mets fans who wanted to add their two cents to the managerial conversation. And much of the long return ride from Canton to South Dakota was spent listening to sports radio commentators and analysts describe the handling of the situation as “classless” and “unprofessional.”
I completely agree that the whole situation was handled like crap, but the bottom line is we’re 6 1/2 games back with plenty of time left in the season and I would like to win a pennant. Either remove “interim” from Jerry Manuel’s title or hire a permanent replacement and let’s get to work. With the way the Phillies have been playing, there’s no time to wait.
Anyway, back to Canton. The (football) Hall was well worth the trip. It features tons of helmets, balls, trophies and jerseys to peruse, and the museum has added a ton of interactive stations for the kids. The room featuring bronze busts of all of the inductees is amazing, and we spent nearly an hour in there alone.
Perhaps our next Mets trip to Citi Field will feature a side trip to Cooperstown so we can also take in some baseball history.
Tags: road trip
Posted in road trip | No Comments »
June 16th, 2008 by Dirk
For the 900th time in franchise history, a potential New York Mets no hitter has been broken up by the first at-bat.
Chone Figgins doubled to left off Mike Pelfrey Monday night to increase the NoNoHitters.com count to 7,389 New York Mets games without a single no-no. It’s the 900th time that has happened on the first at bat, and the 675th time it has occurred with a single. (Check out our No hitters killed by first at bat for more details.)
This is happening way to often this season. Over the Mets’ previous 46 seasons, there have been an average of just over 19 no hitters broken up on the first at-bat. So far in 2008 (and we’re not even close to the All Star break yet) there have been 22! And Pelfrey has had six of them:
- May 3, 2008: In Arizona, Mike Pelfrey gives up a leadoff single to the Diamondbacks’ Chris Young.
- May 10, 2008 (Game 2 of a day-night doubleheader): In New York, Mike Pelfrey gave up a leadoff double to the Cincinnati Reds’ Ryan Freel.
- May 31, 2008: In New York, Mike Pelfrey gives up a leadoff single to the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Juan Pierre
- June 5, 2008: In San Diego, Mike Pelfrey gives up a leadoff single to the Padres’ Jody Gerut
- June 12, 2008: In New York, Mike Pelfrey gives up a leadoff single to the Arizona Diamondbacks’ Chris Young
- June 16, 2008: In Anaheim, Mike Pelfrey gives up a leadoff single to the Los Angeles Angels’ Chone Figgins
Of course, Pelfrey also went the deepest this season without giving up a hit, throwing six innings of no-hit ball against the Washington Nationals on May 15.
The Mets won 9-6, but it was not enough to save the job of Manager Willie Randolph, who was let go a couple hours after the game finished.
Tags: leadoff hit, los angeles angels, mike pelfrey
Posted in Regular season games | No Comments »