Memories of Mike Pelfrey

[Guest metsguyinmichigan]

So many disappointments -- like the first game at Citi Field, giving up that leadoff homer.

But he had that one half-season where we all had visions of him becoming the kind of pitcher he was expected to be.

[Guest Swan Swan H]

ERA+ for his career is 92, none higher than 113. I wish he signed with a team in the division so the Mets would get a crack at him on a regular basis.

That said, I always rooted for him, and hoped he'd turn the corner. Seemed like a hell of a nice guy, and I always felt for him when things didn't go his way. I really do wish him well, but I won't miss sitting in the ballpark watching him.

[Guest The Second Spitter]

The fugly groupie chick with the Go Big Pelf shirt at ST 09 is my most poignant memory of Mike Pelfrey.

[G-Fafif]

That stretch where he and Carlos Delgado both got it together in '08, coinciding with the last good Mets team and the last season at Shea, would be nice to remember him by. Pelf and Carlos D. both going deep, the Mets getting hot, things finally working as they were supposed to after approximately a calendar year of the team not getting out of its own way. But of course nothing lasted for anybody.

Otherwise, Pelf worked a lot of high pitch counts, fell down on the mound in creative ways and licked his hands a lot. Always stopped a few inches shy of outright can't-standing him probably because he was from Wichita -- hometown of Mrs. FAFIF -- and probably because there always seemed to be something going on up there that was a little more interesting than his pitching would indicate. If not Dickey Lite, then a few more layers of intrigue than, say, Jonathon Niese, the epitome of whatcha see is whatcha get.

Good luck, dude.

[Fman99]

Because I live 300 miles away from Flushing, I can only attend a few games per year, and those games are usually picked well in advance, for travel and time off from work considerations. So, when a game finally rolls around, we cannot cherry pick based on who might be the starting pitcher.

This is why I never did get an opportunity to see R.A. Dickey pitch in a Mets uniform in person. Which sucks.

This is also how I ended up seeing Pelf pitch a game in 2007, right before he got sent back to AAA for more seasoning. He had been sucking big time, we knew he was going to suck again, and we drove down anyway, and he got smoked by Milwaukee and the Mets lost.

Enjoy Minnesota, and try to continue to suck out there the way you sucked here in NYC.

[metirish]

A disappointment overall, one of those payers that would quickly fall from the good graces after a good stretch.....seemed like a nice guy though, inspired a great thread when his son was born.

[bmfc1]

Good: that first half when he was almost an All-Star and then when the talk got louder, he fell apart.
Bad: it seemed like almost every outing was 6 IP, 105 pitches, 4 or 5 ER, 2 homeruns, over 2 hours, licking his fingers.

[Farmer Ted]

What was the deal with that mouthpiece?

[Guest themetfairy]

I remember the hand licking. I remember him blowing off the mound during the Mets first game at Citi Field. But mostly I remember a promising arm that never quite delivered with the consistency it should have.

This is one of my favorite photos that I've taken - after Pelf came out of the final game of the 2010 season, R.A. Dickey greeted him with a heartfelt hug -



Wishing them both success on their new teams (just not against the Mets).

[metirish]

Farmer Ted wrote: What was the deal with that mouthpiece?

So he wouldn't bite his tongue off....

[MFS62]

When he pitched and saw lick, lick, nibble, nibble*, I always thought that would make a great title for a porno flick.

Later

* = at the corners of the plate

[Edgy MD]

Him being awarded the first opening day start of the Terry Collins era was a huge act of denial. Collins declared that he deserved it with the forceful optimism he's so good at, but anybody who watched 2010 knew that while Pelf's overall record would suggest that he was their top starter, his first-half/second-half splits spoke of a pitcher going in the wrong direction.

I associate him with getting ahead 0-2, and then bouncing two curveballs outside that no batter in creation would think to chase. I implored him to come up and in on occassion, but he only rarely tried. (What's a big park for if not a safer place to challenge hitters?) We were left with a big guy with high-90s heat but James Baldwin strikeout rates.

I liked him and his humanness, trying to find a persona to express with his big menacing frame beside douchebag bully, but he was a frustrating ballplayer in the ways described above. He also has been a pretty good athlete for a guy that size.

If you're treating Pelfrey as a Kansan (though he was actually born on an Air Force base in Ohio), he's the top Sunflower State Met ever.

Top Mets from Kansas

1. Mike Pelfrey
   
2. Ray Sadecki
   
3. Neil Allen
   
4. Mike Torrez
   
5. Brian Giles
   
6. Mardie Cornejo
   
7. Tony Clark
   
8. David Segui
   
9. Larry Foss
   
10. Ronn Reynolds

Larry Miller, Tom Sturdivant, and Rod Kanehl don't finish in the money, but they do get a copy of the home version of the game.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

"That's a pretty sad list, there."

-Someone checking a list of Pelf's strikeout victims

[metirish]

My first reaction to that list was " Brian Giles played for the Mets?, when?"

Hopped over to UMDB and sure enough he did, just not that Giles

http://leaptoad.com/mets/profile.php?PlayerCode=0313

[Ceetar]

Pelfrey, a solid back-end rotation guy who seemed like a bit of a kooky guy but always seemed to put the work in, despite never getting the #1 pick results many demanded of him. The home run was fun. the dominating April of 2010 was fun, especially hearing a Baltimore talk show host in May describe him as the Mets ace.

Always seemed to get a bad rap.

[G-Fafif]

Ceetar wrote: The home run was fun.

What home run?

[Guest metsguyinmichigan]

Seemed like he was doing really well with that sports psychologist, then the guy up and died and Pelf was never the same.

[Edgy MD]

I like groupie chick.

[Ceetar]

G-Fafif wrote: Ceetar wrote: The home run was fun. What home run?

I lost a sentence there. I meant I enjoyed his and Maine's little home run competition and Maine's home run probably features in both my memories of Maine AND Paul Lo Duca.

[metsmarathon]

pelf seemed like a guy uncomfortable with the advantages his size afforded him. almost that he thought it was unfair that he should be blessed with such an effective fastball due to his sheer physicality, and that he wanted to be a "real pitcher" who dazzled with offspeeds and location more than a hurler blowing the ball by batters.

i think if he played basketball, he'd rather be a 2-guard than dominate the low post.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Edgy MD wrote: I like groupie chick.

Yeah. "Fugly" is unnecessarily harsh.

[Chad ochoseis]

Took a no-hitter into the seventh inning in an early season day game in 2008. I was working in NYC that day instead of my usual Jersey office, following along on Gameday, and trying to figure out what bar I'd meet a friend to celebrate when Pelfrey got the 27th out.

Then it all went to hell. Nationals 1, Mets 0.

And, yeah. Nothing wrong with groupie chick at all.

[MFS62]

Edgy MD wrote: I associate him with getting ahead 0-2, and then bouncing two curveballs outside that no batter in creation would think to chase. I implored him to come up and in on occassion, but he only rarely tried. ... We were left with a big guy with high-90s heat but James Baldwin strikeout rates.

I wanted him to show "The Fire Next Time" too.

Later

[seawolf17]

Really wanted the best for him, but I guess sometimes it just doesn't pan out. His b-r "similar by age" comparisons show an interesting trend line.

24. John Lackey (992) -- 128-94, 4.10 career despite an awful 2012; won a World Series
25. Jason Schmidt (985) -- three-time all star, twice in the top 4 in Cy voting
26. Johnny Marcum (982) -- finished 20th in the MVP voting in 1935, out of baseball by age 29
27. Todd Stottlemyre (981) -- productive, if never excellent, major league starter
28. Luis Leal (977) -- led AL in losses in 1981, out of baseball at age 28

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Believe he signed for the biggest bonus in Mets history. Classic power-pitcher profile but couldn't strike out anyone. I'm almost certain it'll come out at some point that he was hurting for years.

Will probably be the next great Twins closer.

[Guest Mets � Willets Point]

I'm kind of at a loss for who will actually be pitching for the Mets now. Dickey is gone, Pelfrey is gone, Santana is oft-injured. That leaves Niese and .... ?

[Guest sharpie]

Dillon Gee plans to pitch the games that Jon Niese is too tired for.

[Benjamin Grimm]

The fifth starter is a big question at this point, but the first four would be Santana, Niese, Harvey, and Gee.

Terry had said a few weeks ago that Wheeler would be in the mix for the fifth slot if there was an opening in the spring. Other options would be Heffner or Mejia, I suppose.

[Fman99]

I have to believe that the willingness to let Dickey go is directly tied to the organization's belief that Wheeler is going to be ready, come April, to start the season in the rotation. He had good numbers (albeit a small sample size) in AAA last summer.

[Edgy MD]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: The fifth starter is a big question at this point, but the first four would be Santana, Niese, Harvey, and Gee. Terry had said a few weeks ago that Wheeler would be in the mix for the fifth slot if there was an opening in the spring. Other options would be Heffner or Mejia, I suppose.

Collin McFuckin'Hugh is head of the line.