Friday, July 21, 2006

Mets notes

The New York Mets have been hit by pitches 1,637 times in franchise history, but their franchise leader in plunks, Ron Hunt, was only hit 41 times for the Mets. Hunt played his first 4 seasons for the Mets, but moved on to the Dodgers, Giants and Expos before he reached dizzying heights in the field of getting plunked, acheiving a 50 plunk season in 1971 for the Expos. There are only two other Mets who have more career plunks for the Mets than Craig Biggio had in his 1997 - Cleon Jones with 39 and Felix Milan with 36. Craig Biggio has been hit by a pitch more times than the top 9 players in Mets history, and the most plunks by a player who spent his entire career with the Mets is just 14 by Ed Kranepool.
Kranepool also has the Mets franchise mark for hits and doubles, with 1,418 hits (less than half of Biggio's total), and 225 doubles - 405 less than Craig Biggio. Biggio even has more home runs than the Mets franchise leader. But, it's not as though the Mets never had any good players. The Mets have had 4 players with over 100 HBPs, 3 players with over 3000 hits, 5 players with 500 doubles (soon to be 6), and 5 members of the 400 home run club play for them for parts of their careers.
The Mets also have, according to this site, 332 walk-off wins in franchise history. That's any home game won in the 9th inning or later - thus walking off and not finishing the final half-inning. Craig Biggio has hit 14 game ending, walk-off RBI's in his career, most recently on April 2, 2003 when he finished off a 5 run 9th inning comeback with a 2 RBI single against the Colorado Rockies. He was also plunked by Aaron Cook in that game, but that is his only game where he hit a walk-off RBI and also got hit by a pitch. He has never won a game on a walk-off bases-loaded plunk. Biggio hit his 3rd career walk-off homer run (and his most recent) on July 31, 2001 against the Mets, winning the game on a 10th inning solo shot off Jerrod Riggan.

Mets pitchers have hit 39 batters this season, bringing their all time franchise total to 1,609. Al Leiter holds the franchise record with 63 plunks thrown, but the Mets have employed 9 different pitchers with 100 or more career plunks for portions of their careers.
12 different pitchers have plunked Biggio 18 times for the Mets (the most of any NL east team), but 43 pitchers who pitched for the Mets sometimes during their career have plunked Biggio a total of 63 times. No other team has had as many members of the pitchers who have hit Biggio with a pitch pass through their clubhouse.

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1 Comments:

At 7/22/2006 01:10:00 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I got me my lucky T shirt on with the tarp sewn in across the back, I got me a chilled adult refreshment at my side, Mama is in the kitchen fixen up a mess of greens, the twins are off on a play date out the other side of the trailer court, and Junior is out in the yard chasing the chicken. This is one of them Norman Rockwell sorts of days and I got me a feeling that there is going to be a plunk right soon. Mark my words. I been right before.

 

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