Benjamin Grimm

No, I think he's sitting in a Motel 6 off of some Colorado interstate.

Did we dislike Hampton when he was still a Met? It's possible, but I don't recall that. I seem to think we wanted him back, but were miffed at the way he left.

Frayed Knot wrote: Then the Dodger series had its moments but the sweep of the Cubs very few. Doesn't mean they weren't fun, but nothing like the edge of the seat, nail-biting shit that would turn you inside-out on a nightly basis. That's certainly true. In that sense, 1986 would be very difficult to top. Game 5 of this year's NLDS was very tense. Maybe (for me, anyway) more than any other game since that 16-inning game in the Astrodome. I don't know why, but I felt that one more. (Perhaps because it was a do-or-die and, arguably, falling short of the LCS is worse than falling short of the World Series.) And that's not to say there haven't been tense exhilarating games in between 1986 and 2015, because there certainly were. The 2000 series against the Cardinals and Yankees were duds, but the series against the Giants was great. As were both 1999 series. As for 2006, I was quite invested in that team, but not as much as I am in this one. And I think that's because of the youth and the purity. (And by "purity" I mean that so many of the players have never played in the big leagues for any other team.)

I didn't hate Turner. I remember the Mets Christmas e-mail that they sent a few years ago, when they had different players singing parts of a Christmas song. When it was Lucas Duda's turn, he just stood there mute while Justin Turner did the singing for him. It was frustrating seeing how much success he was having against the Mets, but I have no ill will towards him. Utley, on the other hand...

Gwreck wrote: Two additions: The 1973 Division title was clinched at Shea. The 2000 NLCS was clinched at Shea as well. You're right about the 2000 NLCS, but the Mets clinched the NL East in 1973 at Wrigley Field.

Hopefully they'll stick around!

Wow, that would have been something! Utley would have had to break his own teammate's leg!

Yes, this really is fun. I'm having a LOT of fun following the Mets this month. I was trying to compare to other Mets postseasons, all of which I've enjoyed. (The way each postseason ended is not a factor; I'm considering how much I enjoyed the overall month of October.) 1986 is, and always will be, my favorite. I loved 1999 more than 1988 and 2000 and 2006. This is definitely more fun than 2006, I think for two reasons: This was all so unexpected as recently as three months ago; and this mostly is a homegrown group where 2006 more heavily relied on imported veterans. 1999 and 2015 have made me feel more like a kid again (and at my age that's quite a feat!) than 2000 or 2006 did. It's hard to say for sure, but I think I'm enjoying 2015 more than I did 1999. This may very well be my favorite Mets postseason. (I also experienced 1973, but I was only ten years old. I knew that 1969 was in the recent past, so I had no appreciation of how rare and special a Mets postseason actually is.)

Mets clinched the division in Cincinnati. Won the NLDS in Los Angeles. Won the NLCS in Chicago. All of these road celebrations are unprecedented for the Mets. Unless the Mets win the World Series in four or five games, 2015 will be the first postseason year in which the Mets had no home celebrations. Could it be something about Citi Field? [list:1fvvthff]In 1969, all celebrations happened at Shea. 1973: NLCS was won at Shea. 1986: NLCS won in Houston, but division and World Series at Shea. 1988: Clinched NL East at Shea. 1999: Clinched Wild Card in Cincinnati, but won NLDS at Shea. 2000: Clinched Wild Card and won NLDS at Shea. 2006: Clinched NL East at Shea, won NLDS in Los Angeles[/list:u:1fvvthff] Also, a quick look at the ugly flipside, the five postseason series that the Mets lost: [list:1fvvthff]1973 World Series: In Oakland 1988 NLCS: In Los Angeles 1999 NLCS: In Atlanta 2000 World Series: At Shea (This one still galls.) 2006 NLCS: At Shea[/list:u:1fvvthff]

Caption: Jeff Wilpon sucks the big one

As of the conclusion of the 2015 NLCS, the Mets have played 16 postseason series and have won 11 of them. They have played a total of 83 postseason games, with a record of 50-33. (That's a winning percentage of .602. Prorated to a 162-game season, that would be about 98 wins.) Overall Mets postseason leaders. Currently active Mets are in bold blue text. BATTING LEADERS Games Played 24 - Edgardo Alfonzo, Robin Ventura 22 - Benny Agbayani, Mike Piazza 20 - Gary Carter, Lenny Dykstra, Jerry Grote, Bud Harrelson, Keith Hernandez, Cleon Jones, Darryl Strawberry At Bats 100 - Edgardo Alfonzo 87 - Robin Ventura 86 - Mike Piazza Runs 15 - Edgardo Alfonzo 14 - Cleon Jones 13 - Lenny Dykstra, Darryl Strawberry Hits 26 - Edgardo Alfonzo 23 - Cleon Jones 22 - Mike Piazza Doubles 8 - Edgardo Alfonzo 7 - Cleon Jones 6 - Benny Agbayani, Mike Piazza, Todd Zeile Triples 1 - Edgardo Alfonzo, Gary Carter, Lenny Dykstra, =#0000BF]Wilmer Flores, Don Hahn, Bud Harrelson, Keith Hernandez, Felix Millan, Jose Reyes Home Runs 7 - =#0000BF]Daniel Murphy 5 - Mike Piazza 4 - Edgardo Alfonzo, Carlos Delgado, Lenny Dykstra, Rusty Staub, Darryl Strawberry Runs Batted In 17 - Edgardo Alfonzo 15 - Gary Carter 12 - Keith Hernandez, John Olerud, Mike Piazza, Darryl Strawberry Total Bases 48 - Edgardo Alfonzo 43 - Mike Piazza 39 - Lenny Dykstra, =#0000BF]Daniel Murphy Bases on Balls 17 - Robin Ventura 14 - Benny Agbayani, Keith Hernandez, =#0000BF]David Wright 10 - Edgardo Alfonzo, Bud Harrelson, John Milner, Mike Piazza Strikeouts 23 - Darryl Strawberry 20 - =#0000BF]David Wright 19 - Edgardo Alfonzo, Wayne Garrett PITCHING LEADERS Games 15 - Armando Benitez, John Franco 13 - Turk Wendell 11 - Roger McDowell Wins 4 - Jerry Koosman 3 - =#0000BF]Jacob deGrom, Jesse Orosco, Tom Seaver, Turk Wendell 2 - John Franco, Tom Glavine, Mike Hampton, =#0000BF]Matt Harvey, Jon Matlack, Randy Myers, Bob Ojeda Losses 3 - Dwight Gooden, Kenny Rogers, Tom Seaver 2 - Ron Darling, Sid Fernandez, Mike Hampton, Al Leiter, Jon Matlack, Harry Parker 1 - David Cone, Tom Glavine, Aaron Heilman, Bobby Jones, =#0000BF]Steven Matz, Roger McDowell, Rick Reed, =#0000BF]Noah Syndergaard, Steve Trachsel, Billy Wagner, Turk Wendell, Masato Yoshii Innings Pitched 53.2 - Tom Seaver 44.4 - Al Leiter 44.1 - Dwight Gooden Games Started 7 - Al Leiter, Tom Seaver 6 - Ron Darling, Dwight Gooden, Jerry Koosman 5 - Rick Reed Complete Games 2 - Jerry Koosman, Tom Seaver 1 - David Cone, Mike Hampton, Bobby Jones, Jon Matlack, Bob Ojeda Shutouts 1 - Mike Hampton, Bobby Jones, Jon Matlack Saves 5 - =#0000BF]Jeurys Familia 3 - Armando Benitez, Tug McGraw, Billy Wagner 2 - Jesse Orosco, Ron Taylor Bases on Balls 17 - Dwight Gooden 16 - Ron Darling, Al Leiter 15 - Jerry Koosman Strikeouts 46 - Tom Seaver 40 - Al Leiter 38 - Dwight Gooden Hits Allowed 45 - Tom Seaver 43 - Dwight Gooden 33 - Al Leiter Runs Allowed 20 - Al Leiter 18 - Dwight Gooden, Tom Seaver 17 - Ron Darling Earned Runs Allowed 18 - Al Leiter 17 - Tom Seaver 16 - Dwight Gooden Home Runs Allowed 5 - Tom Seaver 4 - Dwight Gooden, Jerry Koosman 3 - Ron Darling, Sid Fernandez, Bobby Jones, Al Leiter, Jon Matlack, Oliver Perez, Rick Reed

Good point. And not only did they lose Wright and d'Arnaud, they also lost Wheeler, Edgin, and Blevins. (And Mejia too, but that opened the door to Familia becoming the closer which, I think, would have happened anyway at some point during the season.)

Lefty Specialist wrote: And it's not that there's no baseball. We can root for the Jays-Royals to go seven and burn up as much starting pitching as possible. I'm definitely rooting for that series to go seven games. I rarely watch games that don't involve the Mets, but I did tune in to a few Nationals games in September when they were threatening to narrow the Mets' lead. So I do watch games that affect the Mets. I may want to get an idea of who the players on these teams are. For the Blue Jays, I know R.A. Dickey, of course, and I'm familiar with Tulowitski. I don't think I can name any other Blue Jays. (Poor Jose Reyes; stuck watching these games from a motel somewhere in Denver.) And as for the Royals, I don't think I can name a single player on that team. Do they still have Cookie Rojas and Freddie Patek?

MFS62 wrote: I heard that this will be the first World Series in history where none of the original 16 major league franchises is participating. Later Perhaps you heard it here: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=23535

Lefty Specialist wrote: The only letdown is that there's 5 days of no baseball. I can use a few days off. Five days is probably a bit too much, but I don't really mind.

I was thinking the same thing. I see that Uribe has played quite a bit of shortstop during his career, but I don't know what his current capabilities are. Uribe may bump Nieuwenhuis instead of Reynolds.

Last night I dreamed that regular season scheduling rules applied in the postseason, and that the Mets and the Cubs had to play the final three games of this series even though it had already been decided.

Well, yes. The clincher against the Dodgers was much more heart-pounding.

Definitely. I'm so sick of Mets fans who seem to want to be unhappy.

Very tired and very happy. The Mets don't have to win the World Series for this to have been a fantastic season and an extraordinarily fun month.

The Mets are about to play in their fifth World Series. They previously won in 1969 over the Orioles and 1986 over the Red Sox and lost in 1973 to the Athletics and in 2000 to the Yankees. Active Mets players would appear in bold on this list if there were any active players on this list, but of course there are not, at least not yet. BATTING LEADERS Games Played 12 - Jerry Grote, Bud Harrelson, Cleon Jones 9 - Wayne Garrett 7 - Gary Carter, Lenny Dykstra, Don Hahn, Keith Hernandez, Felix Millan, John Milner, Rafael Santana, Rusty Staub, Darryl Strawberry, Mookie Wilson At Bats 49 - Jerry Grote 47 - Cleon Jones 41 - Bud Harrelson Runs 7 - Cleon Jones 4 - Wally Backman, Gary Carter, Donn Clendenon, Lenny Dykstra, Wayne Garrett, Ray Knight, Darryl Strawberry 3 - Jerry Grote, Bud Harrelson, Felix Millan, Jay Payton, Mike Piazza, Rafael Santana, Mookie Wilson Hits 12 - Jerry Grote 11 - Cleon Jones, Rusty Staub 9 - Bud Harrelson, Ray Knight Doubles 3 - Cleon Jones 2 - Benny Agabyani, Gary Carter, Jerry Grote, Mike Piazza, Rusty Staub, Todd Zeile 1 - Kurt Abbott, Ed Charles, Donn Clendenon, Gary Gentry, Don Hahn, Bud Harrelson, Ray Knight, Jerry Koosman, Felix Millan, Darryl Strawberry, Ron Swoboda, Tim Teufel, Robin Ventura, Mookie Wilson Triples 1 - Don Hahn, Felix Millan Home Runs 3 - Donn Clendenon 2 - Gary Carter, Lenny Dykstra, Wayne Garrett, Mike Piazza 1 - Tommie Agee, Cleon Jones, Ray Knight, Ed Kranepool, Jay Payton, Rusty Staub, Darryl Strawberry, Tim Teufel, Robin Ventura, Al Weis, Runs Batted In 9 - Gary Carter 6 - Rusty Staub 5 - Ray Knight Total Bases 17 - Cleon Jones 16 - Gary Carter, Rusty Staub 15 - Donn Clendenon Bases on Balls 8 - Bud Harrelson 7 - Wayne Garrett 5 - Keith Hernandez, John Milner Strikeouts 12 - Wayne Garrett 7 - Lenny Dykstra, Bud Harrelson, Jerry Koosman 6 - Benny Agbayani, Donn Clendenon, Don Hahn, Darryl Strawberry, Mookie Wilson PITCHING LEADERS Games 5 - Roger McDowell, Tug McGraw 4 - John Franco, Jerry Koosman, Jesse Orosco, Ray Sadecki, Tom Seaver 3 - Armando Benitez, Dennis Cook, Ron Darling, Sid Fernandez, Jon Matlack, Harry Parker, Glendon Rusch, Wins 3 - Jerry Koosman 1 - Rick Aguilera, Ron Darling, John Franco, Gary Gentry, Jon Matlack, Roger McDowell, Tug McGraw, Bob Ojeda, Tom Seaver, Losses 2 - Dwight Gooden, Jon Matlack, Tom Seaver 1 - Ron Darling, Mike Hampton, Bobby Jones, Al Leiter, Harry Parker, Turk Wendell Innings Pitched 30.0 - Tom Seaver 26.1 - Jerry Koosman 17.2 - Ron Darling Games Started 4 - Jerry Koosman, Tom Seaver 3 - Ron Darling, Jon Matlack 2 - Dwight Gooden, Al Leiter, Bob Ojeda Complete Games 1 - Jerry Koosman, Tom Seaver Shutouts None. Saves 2 - Jesse Orosco 1 - Armando Benitez, Tug McGraw, Nolan Ryan, Ray Sadecki, George Stone, Ron Taylor Bases on Balls 11 - Jerry Koosman 10 - Ron Darling 9 - Tug McGraw Strikeouts 27 - Tom Seaver 17 - Jerry Koosman 16 - Al Leiter Hits Allowed 25 - Tom Seaver 17 - Dwight Gooden 16 - Jerry Koosman Runs Allowed 10 - Dwight Gooden 9 - Tom Seaver 7 - Jerry Koosman, Jon Matlack Earned Runs Allowed 9 - Tom Seaver 8 - Dwight Gooden 7 - Jerry Koosman Home Runs Allowed 2 - Ron Darling, Dwight Gooden, Jerry Koosman, Al Leiter, Jon Matlack 1 - Rick Aguilera, Mike Hampton, Bobby Jones, Tom Seaver

Sorry. I guess I'm delirious with fatigue.

Mets Guy in Michigan wrote: Mom needs to play with Derek Jeter. He makes everyone around him better. Or so I hear. Would you want your mother playing with Derek Jeter? (Well, at least she'd get a fruit basket...)

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: I just got a pretty fantastic, pretty f�cking classy congratulations gift from an unexpected source. That's really nice! I'm so happy that David Wright is going to get to play in a World Series. I'm glad he's being rewarded for that leap of faith that he took in resigning with the Mets. I have to admit, I had my doubts it would happen during his remaining time with the Mets.

soupcan wrote: No wins for deGrom? Oops. Fixed. Thanks. soupcan wrote: How many RBI did Murph have? Six.