All of these guys are winning games, backed by the business-like efficiency of the Met offense and defense these days, and saved often by a workhorse bullpen that shuts things down on a regular basis.
The rookie Dotel will remain in the rotation as long as he stays effective and shows regular improvement at the major league level. Octavio can be commanding when he's on, and simply awful when he's not. He should be given the chance to establish himself in the months ahead. He's a cocky fireballer who can perform well in the post-season if he gets some big league playing time under his belt during the stretch run.
It's nearly impossible to pick between Robin Ventura and Edgardo Alfonzo for most valuable Met this season. These two are uncanny clutch hitters that seemingly always come through when the game is on the line.
Darryl Hamilton, one of the newest Mets, has already helped win some games and will anchor the outfield, giving the Mets an even more spectacular up-the-middle defense.
Speaking of which, the Mets have turned infield defense into a weapon this year. I've now watched baseball for 36 years and have never seen it played this well -- it makes a difference in almost every single game the Mets play. It's a quietly-efficient, dependable force that will give the Mets an edge over whomever they play in the post-season.
Maybe this event looked good on paper, but in reality it was just plain stupid. And to think that lots of other major league teams have agreed to this embarrassment in the weeks ahead…(the Yankees retained their dignity by refusing to participate, as the Yankee uniform of the future will be exactly the same as the Yankee uniform of the past and present).
For anyone who thinks that Rey Ordonez is a hot dog at, just watch the slide he makes when he gets balls deep in the hole to his right. This move may look like unnecessary flash, but it's really not -- Ordonez fields the ball and slides into a set throwing position with one motion, enabling him to make some plays to first that are impossible for more conventional-fielding shortstops.
Rickey Henderson claims he can play another 7 or 8 years and that he can still at age 40 do all the things he could do when younger. Looking at his .320 average and 29 stolen bases, this seems to be true, at least thus far in 1999.
It will be interesting to see how the Mets handle their starting pitching the rest of the way. When Bobby Jones returns from the DL, they'll have to choose from seven starters. Obviously, Leiter remains the #1, but nothing is really clear after that. Reed will probably remain #2, but has been the lucky beneficiary of Met run production this year -- not pitching nearly as well as his record might indicate. With Hershiser and Yoshii being an adventure every time out, and rookie Octavio Dotel still trying to get major league innings under his belt, Kenny Rogers has a chance to establish himself as the #3. It still remains to be seen if Bobby Jones can bounce back from injury and pitch effectively in '99.
It's no joke that the Mets have de-emphasized the starting rotation this season and given the bullpen a larger role than ever before. The top three NL pitchers in game appearances are Wendell (55), Benitez (53) and Cook (50). New arrivals Billy Taylor (43) and Chuck McElroy (41) are not far behind, so the Mets now have five durable, arms in the pen. Still, Met starters must start to eat up more innings (not even one complete game between them this season!), or the dog days of August will take a bite out of this overused relief core.
If the Mets make the playoffs this year, they'll have a core of veteran players that have been to the post-season before, although none of them in a Met uniform. They have ten World Championship rings between them:
Five other Met players have made it to the playoffs but never to the Series: Robin Ventura, Mike Piazza, Shawon Dunston, Darryl Hamilton, and Armando Benitez.
Here's a summary of current Met players with post-season experience:
For a brief moment last week, the Mets actually occupied first place, sporting a 1/2 game lead over the evil Georgians for 1/2 of one day. The Braves have regained the 1/2 game lead going into this week's action, but they are hampered by injuries, didn't do much to patch up the holes as the trading deadline came and went, and are now looking in their rear-view mirror at a N.Y. Mets team that means business for the first time this decade.
Let's take a look at this Met team as it enters the dog days of August and see what impact the deals that Steve Phillips made this week will have down the stretch.
The first move Phillips made was to acquire Kenny Rogers from the A's. A smart decision in that he didn't give up much (minor league outfielder Terrence Long) and has given the Mets some options in the starting rotation. One thing is now clear -- with available starting pitching a rare commodity -- Phillips did the best he could, a lefty starter with a good sinker that will benefit from the sparkling Met infield defense, and then turned his attentions to fortifying the bullpen.
The Mets are missing John Franco. As nervous as he makes us all as he gets himself into jams in the ninth inning, Franco has a ninth-inning mentality that makes a big difference for a closer. Armando Benitez, who dominated the 8th inning for most of the first half of the season while setting up for Franco, has had his problems in the closer role. While it's Benitez's job to lose, Phillips has brought in veteran closer Billy Taylor from the A's (in exchange for Jason Isringhausen and Greg McMichael) to step in if Armando continues to falter. It's a shame to see Isringhausen go -- he is the second to leave of the Generation K trio of pitchers (with Paul Wilson and Bill Pulsipher) that once represented a bright future of Mets pitching. Izzy is still young and has a chance to become a good reliever if he can keep his head on straight. We never had any fondness for Greg McMichael, but wish him luck in the American League.
Phillips also improved the offense, defense, and bullpen with a swap of Brian McRae, Rigo Beltran and a minor leaguer for outfielder Darryl Hamilton and reliever Chuck McElroy. McRae had become so lackluster a player that we wonder why the A's would want him, In Hamilton, the Mets have an excellent centerfielder, a .300 hitter, and another "Dar-ryl" to cheer for. The only trouble is that the Mets have practically no power potential from their starting outfielders, aside from occasional homers from Agbayani and Henderson.
Finally, Phillips brought in Shawon Dunston to come off the bench, a veteran player that will come in handy for the stretch run.
When you compare all of these moves by the Mets to Atlanta's acquisitions of Terry Mulholland and Jose Hernandez, it seems like the Braves didn't do enough to keep the Mets at bay. It's still the New Yorkers that have something to prove, and the Braves still have a great offensive core in the Jones boys, Jordan, and Klesko, but it will be the relative strengths of the Braves starters vs. the Mets bullpen that will decide this race.
Random thoughts:
Rickey Henderson has become the sparkplug of this team. He's in such good shape that we wouldn't be surprised to see him play 2 or 3 more seasons.
John Olerud has shown signs of coming out of his batting slump. Mike Piazza continues to be a slumbering giant in the cleanup spot -- his numbers are still good, but he's yet to explode.
Edgardo Alfonzo is the MVP of the Met team. He is having a career season, but there are probably even better years ahead for this classy, slick-fielding, clutch-hitting, ever-dependable star.
Al Leiter struck out 15 Cubs today and is the same great pitcher he was last year. The rest of the Met starters are question marks -- Rick Reed has benefited from good run support, Yoshii and Hershiser are scary, Dotel is still unproven (despite becoming NL player of the week in just his third week as a major leaguer), Kenny Rogers is promising (but nursing a hamstring), and Bobby Jones may or may not return to the rotation soon.
Pat Mahomes is the big surprise of the bullpen and is quickly becoming a fan favorite. Dennis Cook and Turk Wendell are the iron men that make up for the team's lack of starting pitching.
Robin Ventura continues to knock in runs. Rickey Henderson continues to score them. Met starters continue to give them up.
(Boston, July 23, 1999)
The MADNESS has officially begun. Lefty Kenny Rogers (5-3, 4.30 this season, 16-8, 3.17 in 1998) joins the New York Mets. Outfielder Terrance Long and pitcher Leoner
Vasquez go to Oakland for the 34-year-old lefthander. Rogers is 109-77 lifetime with a 4.05 ERA (11 seasons) and pitched a perfect game for the Rangers in 1994 against the California Angels. His 2-year stint with the Yankees was less than spectacular, and he was traded
to the A's for Scott Brosius after the 1997 season.
"I look forward to this challenge," he said. "I'm happy it worked out this way. It's a chance to go back to New York and pitch well. I have something to prove to myself more than anyone.I know I can pitch better than I did. There were a lot of different reasons for it. A lot happened that was not in my control. I know I'm better than that. I can pitch as well as anyone when I'm healthy. The key is to get the ball every fifth day."
Are you healthy now?
"Physically, completely," he said. "Mentally, probably not ever."
Could be a good fit. Rogers is a ground ball hurler coming to a team with a world-class infield. To top it off, the Yankees are picking up half his salary. And they said Philadelphia was the city of brotherly love...
MADNESS?? The Oakland A's are only 5 games back, in the hunt for the WildCard, and like the White Sox a couple of years ago, tossing in the towel. Not a good sign... not to veddy good at all...
(Boston, August 1, 1999) The first place Mets made a flurry of trades before the deadline, after adding southpaw Kenny Rogers a week ago. They are presumably ready to make their run, the most notable aquisitions being closer/setup man Billy Taylor and veteran centerfielder Darryl Hamilton (a .292 lifetime hitter), a nice upgrade on the slumping Brian McRae. They've now shored up their starting pitching, bullpen, and their infield and outfield depth. Can't see anything bad with these deals. They may not be the Yankees, but this is a pretty darn good team...
The Mets send: to the: for: RHP Isringhausen (1-3, 1 save, 6.41) A's RHP McMichael (1-1, 4.82) A's RHP Billy Taylor (1-5, 26 saves, 3.98) CF Brian McRae (.221, 8 HRs, 36 RBIs) Rockies LHP Rigo Beltran (1-1, 3.48) Rockies CF Darryl Hamilton (.303, 4, 24) OF Thomas Johnson Rockies LHP Chuck McElroy (3-1, 6.20) IF Craig Paquette Cardinals IF Shawon Dunston (.307, 5 HRs, 25 RBIs)
-- Paul O'Neill (after watching Mike Piazza's 482-foot blast)
(Boston, July 11, 1999) There were five lead changes and two ties over nine innings. Six Yankees blasted homeruns. The Bombers had an 8-7 lead going into the bottom of the 9th with the great Mariano Rivera toeing the rubber. 124 times (since May 14, 1998) they had faced this situation, and 124 times they were victorious, Rivera's mastery playing no small part. Henderson doubled, Alfonzo sent one to the centerfield wall that Bernie Williams might-should have caught, and runners were perched on second and third for Piazza. Joe Torre wisely walked him, and pinch-hitter Matt Franco hit a hard liner to right. O'Neill charged hard and unleashed a classic throw. But when the dust finally settled, Alfonzo slid under the tag and the Mets had one of the most exciting victories in their history. This was a game to savor - as fine a high-pressure baseball game as you'll see. And now we can call this a New York rivalry...
The Yankees came out swinging, Paul O'Neill hitting the first of his two 'taters in the first for a 2-0 lead. Piazza doubled in a run in the bottom of the first, and the Mets scraped another to tie it in the 2nd. Robbie Ventura ripped a 2-run double and the Mets were up 4-2 in the 4th.
In the fifth, Ricky Ledee and Jorge Posada hit back-to-back shots to tie the game at 4. It was O'Neill (again) in the 6th and Knoblauch in the 7th with two more 'taters and a 6-4 Bomber advantage.
Then, in the bottom of the 7th, Mike Piazza hit one that we'll not soon forget, a 3-run blast that landed atop a tent beyond leftfield, 482 feet from the plate. Now it's 7-6 Mets... "That's the hardest ball I'd ever seen hit," said Jorge Posada, who sent two out himself this afternoon. "When you're on the field and see a guy hit a ball like that, you almost become a fan," commented O'Neill, echoing Mikey Stew's sentiments.
But the game was far from over. The slumping catcher Posada put the Yanks back on top 8-7 with a 2-run homer. This set the stage for Franco's 9th inning heroics, and put the Mets on the New York roadmap. One for the books...
