May Day

[Edgy MD]

Mets currently have seven homers in the very merry month of May, which makes it remarkable that the month hasn't been even more of a disaster. That puts them a pace for 9.33. I don't know if the UMDB can help me here, but I'm going to go ahead and guess that would be one of the team's most power hungry Mays ever, if not one of their most power-hungry months. (They've probably had a few Decembers that have been more wanting.)

Feeding into the to-demote/not-to-demote argument with Ike Davis is that, as hard a time as he has had, he's still the only Met who has hit as many as two this month.

Davis: 2
Wright: 1
Hairston: 1
Cedeno: 1
Torres: 1
Valdespin: 1

Even there, those last four aren't exactly the guys we're supposed to be looking to clear the bases off for us.

[Ceetar]

I really thought power wouldn't be an issue for the Mets this year, and different year same story.

I expected ~50+ from Duda/Davis. 15 from Bay. 10-15 from Murphy. And right now it's looking like we'd be lucky to get half that.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Edgy DC wrote: I don't know if the UMDB can help me here, but I'm going to go ahead and guess that would be one of the team's most power hungry Mays ever, if not one of their most power-hungry months.

May home run totals, by year. Look at 1980!

1962 25
1963 20
1964 17
1965 27
1966 14
1967 17
1968 13
1969 20
1970 22
1971 21
1972 21
1973 9
1974 24
1975 15
1976 24
1977 20
1978 14
1979 16
1980 5
1981 17
1982 17
1983 19
1984 12
1985 16
1986 21
1987 30
1988 19
1989 20
1990 34
1991 22
1992 16
1993 24
1994 32
1995 26
1996 20
1997 28
1998 21
1999 39
2000 37
2001 23
2002 19
2003 24
2004 34
2005 31
2006 37
2007 28
2008 34
2009 20
2010 23
2011 14
2012 7

[Benjamin Grimm]

Months with fewer than 10 home runs, (excluding March and October)

year month hrs
1964 04 3
1980 04 3
1994 08 4
1981 06 4
1980 05 5
2003 09 6
1980 09 6
1977 09 7
2012 05 7
1976 08 7
1975 06 7
1995 04 7
1972 07 8
1981 04 8
1978 08 8
1966 04 8
1964 09 8
1967 08 8
1972 04 8
1971 04 9
1979 04 9
1973 05 9
1967 04 9
1973 04 9
1966 09 9

[Benjamin Grimm]

It turns out that the five homers hit by the Mets in May 1980 came from only two players! Mike Jorgensen had 3 and Joel Youngblood had 2.

[Edgy MD]

Sheesh, I wondered how Torre survived April 1980, but they didn't open until April 10 that year, only got 16 games in, and still managed to ride those three (THREE!) homers to a 6-10 record.

Mazzilli started real slow in 1980 but caught fire in July. One of the real Mets all-time months --- slugged .726 while hitting 11 of his 16 homers for the season.

[G-Fafif]

June '81, August '94 and April '95 should be discounted for strike purposes. And all Aprils are a little shaky considering seasons used to start a good bit later. (Plus the '72 season lost six April games to labor stoppage).

April '81 was a rainy mess as well. April '66, too, if I recall correctly. But you play when you play, I guess.

[Frayed Knot]

Now the thing to do (I'm so ambitious when I don't have to do the work) is to dig up team-wide ABs for those sub-10 HR months and get a list of the lowest HR pcts; something that would take care of the oddities GF notes and probably raise the lameness of this one up a couple notches if this drought continues for the final week.

[Edgy MD]

I'll start. April 1964, the first month with a ballpark of our own:

HR	PA	AB	HR/PA	HR/AB	Sluggers
3	444	411	0.67%	0.73%	Christopher (1), Harkness (1), Hunt (1)

Only Hunt's homer came at Big Shea.

[Ceetar]

April 1980. only homered in two games out of 16. 2 in Wrigley, 1 in Montreal. No magic at home.

[table:346zg3k0][tr:346zg3k0][td:346zg3k0]HR[/td:346zg3k0][td:346zg3k0]PA[/td:346zg3k0][td:346zg3k0]AB[/td:346zg3k0][td:346zg3k0]HR/PA[/td:346zg3k0][td:346zg3k0]HR/AB[/td:346zg3k0][td:346zg3k0]Sluggers[/td:346zg3k0][/tr:346zg3k0][tr:346zg3k0][td:346zg3k0]3[/td:346zg3k0][td:346zg3k0]617[/td:346zg3k0][td:346zg3k0]530[/td:346zg3k0][td:346zg3k0]0.49%[/td:346zg3k0][td:346zg3k0]0.57%[/td:346zg3k0][td:346zg3k0]J. Youngblood, D Norman (4/12) / J Morales (4/15)[/tr:346zg3k0][/td:346zg3k0][/table:346zg3k0]

edit: I mixed that up. all three homers at Shea. the magic was back afterall.

first road home run was June 1st that year.

Edited May 25, 2012 by Guest

[Frayed Knot]

In August 1994 the Mets chalked up only 360 team ABs on account of the strike that hit mid-month - so their piddling and tied for second-worst HR total of just four isn't going to be quite as close to the bottom when figured on a rate basis.

HR	PA	AB	HR/PA	HR/AB	Sluggers
4	391	360	1.02%	1.11%	Bobby Bonilla, Rico Brogna, Jim Lindeman (2)

OK, so I have no memory of Jim Lindeman ever being on this team yet it turns out that he hit half the HRs the Mets hit in the only ten games they played that month.
Those were the final two of the seven HRs he�d hit as a NYM and those seven turned out to be the final ones of the twenty-one he�d hit as a major leaguer.
Born a Cardinal with stops in Detroit, Philly, and Houston, James William Linderman died a New York Met.


Lameness so far:
April 1980 HR/PA = 0.49%
April 1964 HR/PA = 0.67%
Aug 1994 HR/PA = 1.11%

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

August, 1978 was a tough month as the Mets went 8-17 doing home-and-homes with the West Coast trio as well as series against the Expos and Cardinals.

Amazinly, half of the Mets' August home runs came on the first and last day of the month (2 each in those games) as the Mets confined their roundtrippers to 5 games only.

HR	PA	AB	HR/PA	HR/AB	Sluggers
8	963	836	0.83%	0.96%	Stearns (3), Mazzilli (2), Montanez (2), Youngblood (1)

[G-Fafif]

I can't seem to figure out how to do tables, but I can tell you this:

September 1980
HR: 6
PA: 1,056
AB: 933
HR/PA 0.57%
HR/AB: 0.64%
Sluggers: Youngblood (2), Mazzilli (2), Norman (2), Henderson

Although there was a Steve Henderson home run, the closest thing to "the Steve Henderson home run" was a two-run job that came flying off the bat of Joel Youngblood in the bottom of the tenth to beat the Pirates, 5-4, in front of 1,787 matinee-goers, on September 29. That attendance figure is not a typo. Blood had his blood flowing, having homered the day before at Shea as well. All told, the Mets socked four of their six at Shea, the other two in Montreal and Pittsburgh (the latter was Dan Norman's first MLB HR; he and Stevie Wonder were really making that trade look sharp).

[G-Fafif]

Regarding the partial months:

year month hrs
1994 08 4: 10 Games Played (Strike)
1981 06 4: 9 Games Played (Strike)
1995 04 7: 5 Games Played (Strike)
1981 04 8: 15 Games Played (Rain)
1966 04 8: 11 Games Played (Rain)
1972 04 8: 12 Games Played (Strike)

[G-Fafif]

May 1973
HR: 9
PA: 952
AB: 845
HR/PA 0.95%
HR/AB: 1.07%
Sluggers: Staub (3), Garrett (3), Milner (1), Boswell (1), Seaver (1)

Each of the nine home runs was the only home run hit in its respective game. Four were struck at Shea, five on the road.

Boswell's shot was a pinch-homer off Don Sutton in the eighth inning at Dodger Stadium on May 27 that wound up the winning blow (2-1) three days after the Mets and Dodgers played 19 innings and the Mets didn't homer at all.

Seaver's HR came off Jim Barr in the fifth inning of an eventual 5-2 complete game at Candelstick on May 29 in which Boswell played a curious role. Trailing 2-1 in the ninth, Yogi sent Ken up to pinch-hit for Duffy Dyer. He walked. Harrelson singled. Seaver was allowed to stay in to bunt, which he did successfully (of course) and reached first. The Mets went on to score four runs and bat around...which brought the pinch-hitting Boswell up again as something of a de facto DH not for the pitcher (as has happened a handful of times in Mets history with pinch-hitters in big innings) but for the catcher. Boswell grounded out to end the inning.

With Dyer having been taken out, Seaver had to throw to a new catcher in the ninth. Strapped by injuries, Berra sent in the newly acquired Jerry May, who caught a 1-2-3 ninth. It was May's second Met appearance in May 1973, the only Met who played in a month with the same name as his. In neither May game did May homer.

Here's hoping we see Lucas May up here before June 1.

[Frayed Knot]

Lame-o-Meter so far:

April 1980 HR/PA = 0.49%
Sept 1980 HR/PA = 0.57%
April 1964 HR/PA = 0.67%
Aug 1978 HR/PA = 0.83%
May 1973 HR/PA = 0.95%
Aug 1994 HR/PA = 1.11%

In progress: May 2012 HR/PA = 0.96% (8 HRs in 826 PAs)

Edited May 25, 2012 by Guest

[Edgy MD]

June 1981 was the beginning of a hot sticky summer, and it ended with no baseball. The Mets went 2-7, and then they went home.

HR	PA	AB	HR/PA	HR/AB	Sluggers
4	332	295	1.20%	1.35%	Mookie (First career, and first of three on the season, off of Nino Espinosa) Kong (3, his 12th, 13th and 14th out of 22 that year.)

Kingman's 22 homers were good for third in the league for the strike year. Two of those came in the eighth inning of close games The third? That came off of fellow massacre victim Tom Seaver, so you know, it was all good. He was sort of getting in gear when the strike hit. Those three homers alone added up to a WPA of .443.

[Frayed Knot]

May 1980, as noted above, was the month of five HRs by only two players.
With April of that year also on this short list, it means that the team had totalled all of NINE for the year by the end of May and puts those two months at the current top of our Noodlerometer
In fact, look at the top (bottom really) THREE months (so far anyway) in lowest HR rates!!

HR	PA	AB	HR/PA	HR/AB	Sluggers
5	988	874	0.51%	0.57%	Jogensen x 3; Youngblood x 2

April 1980 HR/PA = 0.49%
May 1980 HR/PA = 0.51%
Sept 1980 HR/PA = 0.57%
April 1964 HR/PA = 0.67%
Aug 1978 HR/PA = 0.83%
May 1973 HR/PA = 0.95%
May 2012 HR/PA = 0.96% (8 HRs in 826 PAs)
Aug 1994 HR/PA = 1.11%
June 1981 HR/PA = 1.20%


year month hrs
[crossout]1964 04 3[/crossout]
[crossout]1980 04 3[/crossout]
[crossout]1994 08 4[/crossout]
[crossout]1981 06 4[/crossout]
[crossout]1980 05 5[/crossout]
2003 09 6
[crossout]1980 09 6[/crossout]
1977 09 7
2012 05 7
1976 08 7
1975 06 7
1995 04 7
1972 07 8
1981 04 8
[crossout]1978 08 8[/crossout]
1966 04 8
1964 09 8
1967 08 8
1972 04 8
1971 04 9
1979 04 9
[crossout]1973 05 9[/crossout]
1967 04 9
1973 04 9
1966 09 9

[Frayed Knot]

Knocking off one of those from the high end of the list, September 1966 featured a whooping total of NINE HRs but that's exactly what you come to expect when your line-up is packing sluggers like Al Luplow and Ken Boyer. As such this month stays clear of the low-end of our building wimpy data-base.

HR	PA	AB	HR/PA	HR/AB	Sluggers
9	882	816	1.01%	1.10%	Jones, Kranepool; Hiller; Luplow x 3; Boyer x 2; Goossen

Meanwhile back in 2012, our torrid two HRs in two days streak has upped the current HR pace to near non-putrid levels.

April 1980 HR/PA = 0.49%
May 1980 HR/PA = 0.51%
Sept 1980 HR/PA = 0.57%
April 1964 HR/PA = 0.67%
Aug 1978 HR/PA = 0.83%
May 1973 HR/PA = 0.95%
Sept 1966 HR/PA = 1.01%
May 2012 HR/PA = 1.04% (9 HRs in 862 PAs)
Aug 1994 HR/PA = 1.11%
June 1981 HR/PA = 1.20%


year month hrs
[crossout]1964 04 3[/crossout]
[crossout]1980 04 3[/crossout]
[crossout]1994 08 4[/crossout]
[crossout]1981 06 4[/crossout]
[crossout]1980 05 5[/crossout]
2003 09 6
[crossout]1980 09 6[/crossout]
1977 09 7
2012 05 7
1976 08 7
1975 06 7
1995 04 7
1972 07 8
1981 04 8
[crossout]1978 08 8[/crossout]
1966 04 8
1964 09 8
1967 08 8
1972 04 8
1971 04 9
1979 04 9
[crossout]1973 05 9[/crossout]
1967 04 9
1973 04 9
[crossout]1966 09 9[/crossout]


Let's see if we can knock off the rest of these months by the time May ends next Thursday

[Edgy MD]

Oh what a sight!
Late September in two thousand three!
Mets were swinging O so fruitlessly!
Bell and Duncan, what a sight!

HR	PA	AB	HR/PA	HR/AB	Sluggers
6	956	848	0.63%	0.71%	Timo F. P�rez (4th of 4 on the year, 18th of 26 on career, off Russ F. Ortiz.) Ty F. Wigginton (11th of 11 on the year, 17th of 161 and counting on career, off Salomon F. Torres.) Roger F. Cede�o (7th of 7 on the year, 37th of 40 on career, off Mark Prior.) Daniel F. Garcia (1st of 2 on the year, 1st of 5 on career, off Mark F. Redman.) Daniel F. Garcia (2nd of 2 on the year, 2nd of 5 on career, off Javier F. Vazquez.) Prentice F. Redman (sole homer of career, off of Jose F. Mesa.)

The amazing thing about 2003 is that, as bad as the team was, they weren't that bad. The bottom just fell out at the end when players were flipped for future value, injured players were shut down (or shutting themselves down), and ennui settled in. It's almost silly.

• April/March: 21 HR in 27 games.
  
• May: 24 HR in 28 games.
  
• June: 28 HR in 26 games.
  
• July: 18 HR in 27 games.
  
• August: 27 HR in 27 games.
  
• Sept/Oct: 6 HR in 26 games.

Redman's lone career homer was a big one, down 5-4 and leading off the ninth. He yanked Mesa out of the park to tie the game. Art Howe's 2003 Mets, however, went meekly after that, and the Phils beat Mike F.[/bigpurple] Stanton in the ninth, Howe saving Benitez for a save situation that would never ever come.

What a disaster.

[G-Fafif]

May 2012: No longer a single-digit HR month.

[Edgy MD]

Let's be honest. This thread saved our season.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

We be dangerous with the power.

[Frayed Knot]

Yeah, the shocking 3-HR (and EIGHT RBI via HRs!!) day today knocks the possibility of this month being amongst the NYM all-time low, well, right out of the park.
Short of a HR embargo through the end of the month occurring during multiple looooong extra-inning games, this year is NOT coming back to the pack.

April 1980 HR/PA = 0.49%
May 1980 HR/PA = 0.51%
Sept 1980 HR/PA = 0.57%
Sept 2003 HR/PA = 0.63%
April 1964 HR/PA = 0.67%
Aug 1978 HR/PA = 0.83%
May 1973 HR/PA = 0.95%
Sept 1966 HR/PA = 1.01%
Aug 1994 HR/PA = 1.11%
June 1981 HR/PA = 1.20%
May 2012 HR/PA = 1.34% (12 HRs in 898 PAs)


year month hrs
[crossout]1964 04 3[/crossout]
[crossout]1980 04 3[/crossout]
[crossout]1994 08 4[/crossout]
[crossout]1981 06 4[/crossout]
[crossout]1980 05 5[/crossout]
[crossout]2003 09 6[/crossout]
[crossout]1980 09 6[/crossout]
1977 09 7
2012 05 7
1976 08 7
1975 06 7
1995 04 7
1972 07 8
1981 04 8
[crossout]1978 08 8[/crossout]
1966 04 8
1964 09 8
1967 08 8
1972 04 8
1971 04 9
1979 04 9
[crossout]1973 05 9[/crossout]
1967 04 9
1973 04 9
[crossout]1966 09 9[/crossout]