Over the course of the next month, we'll venture through the history of each of the 30 Major League Baseball franchises, discussing some of the best and worst moments, players, teams, etc. It's more of a fun snapshot for discussion purposes than a be-all, end-all declaration. We continue today with the New York Mets.
The New York Mets came into existence to begin the 1962 season and have hung around in Queens ever since. The highs and lows have been drastic, with seven playoff appearances, four pennants and two World Series championships flanked by an overall record that sits nearly 400 games below .500. Let's take a look.
Best team: 1986
The World Series champs were 108-54 in the regular season, outscoring their opponents by 205 runs. They were the best team in the NL in runs, hits, walks, average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, ERA, home runs allowed (that is, they allowed the fewest) and toward the top in most categories. They won the NL East by 21.5 games and were never seriously challenged after a 20-4 start.
The well-rounded ballclub had power in Gary Carter and Darryl Strawberry, speed in Lenny Dykstra and Mookie Wilson, some outstanding defenders in Carter and Keith Hernandez (and more), veteran leadership in Carter, George Foster and Ray Knight and a deep bench. The rotation was fronted by uber-talented Dwight Gooden with Ron Darling, Bob Ojeda and Sid Fernandez chipping in with quality seasons. The Roger McDowell and Jesse Orosco-led bullpen was great, too.
And, of course, there was Davey Johnson at the helm.
More on this group coming ...
Best/worst collection of characters: 1986
The mix of personalities made the '86 Mets an incredibly entertaining team to watch, but their off-field exploits have been well-chronicled, what with the booze- and cocaine-fueled tales of lore (such as in the book, "The Bad Guys Won"). We don't need to get into specifics or name particular names here. That's all available for those who wish to go back over it. But, man, what a historic mix of personalities on an incredible baseball team.
Best turnaround: 1969
This was a two-fold turnaround.
First of all, the Mets averaged 108 losses per season from 1962-67 and then went 73-89 the following season. In 1969, though, they won 100 games, an unreal 27-game improvement. So going from the obvious worst franchise in baseball to a triple-digit win total and World Series championship alone makes the '69 team perhaps the best turnaround team in MLB history.
The second arm here, though, is that the Amazins were in third place and trailed the Cubs by 10 games after a loss on Aug. 13. They were 62-51 at the time. The rest of the way, the Mets would go 38-11. They took over first place on Sept. 10 and ended up winning the division by eight games. So in roughly six weeks, the Mets turned a 10-game deficit into an eight-game lead before going 7-1 (3-0 NLCS; 4-1 World Series) in the postseason. Ridiculous.
Worst team: 1962
The Mets lost 111 games in 1963, 109 in 1964 and 112 in 1965. That this still wasn't even a tough decision illustrates just how awful that 1962 expansion team was.
The '62 Mets were 40-120 and are generally considered in the conversation for the worst team in MLB history. They finished 60.5 games out of first place (Note: LOL) and were actually 19 games behind the next closest team, a 103-loss Cubs team.
On the mound, the Mets were simply dreadful. They posted a league-worst 5.04 ERA and 1.50 WHIP. Not a single pitcher who logged more than 20 innings posted even a league average ERA. The four pitchers who saw at least 20 starts combined to go 27-75.
The offense wasn't much better, finishing last in the NL in average and hits while finishing ninth (of 10) in runs and slugging percentage.
Not surprisingly, they sucked with the glove, too, committing a league-worst 210 errors and grading out horribly in most range metrics.
We could go on, but this probably best sums it up: The Mets' best month was May, when they went 9-17 and lost 11 straight to close the month.
Best player: Tom Seaver
The best position player if we're going on career value to the franchise was probably either David Wright or Mike Piazza, as many of the other great position players they had were only around for short stints of greatness. There's no question the best overall player in Mets history was Tom Terrific, though.
In parts of 12 seasons for the Mets, Seaver was 198-124 with a 2.57 ERA (136 ERA+), 1.08 WHIP and 2541 strikeouts in 3045 2/3 innings. He won Rookie of the Year in 1967 and then three Cy Youngs for the club.
Keep in mind the aforementioned turnaround from a pathetic franchise into a great 1969 team. Seaver won his first Cy Young that year and was rounding into shape as the best pitcher in baseball. He started Games 1 and 4 in the World Series, grabbing a complete-game victory in Game 4 -- in 10 innings -- that pushed the Mets to a 3-1 series lead.
Best upside: Dwight Gooden
Due to an unfortunate issue with drugs, we'll never know exactly what Doc would have been, but he could have been better than Seaver. From 1984-86, his average season was 19-6 with a 2.28 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 248 strikeouts, 248 innings pitched, 12 complete games and four shutouts. He was ages 19-21 in those three years. For perspective on that, Matt Harvey didn't even debut until he was 23. Doc's talent level was as high as we've ever seen.
Worst ownership group: Wilpons
Probably don't need to elaborate, do we?
Worst timing: Jason Bay
In 2002, the Mets traded Lou Collier to the Expos for Jimmy Serrano and Jason Bay.
We now know that from 2004-09 Bay would hit .280/.375/.519 (131 OPS+) with three All-Star appearances, a Rookie of the Year award and an average of 33 homers and 109 RBI per 162 games.
Of course, none of this came with the Mets, as they traded him to San Diego as part of a package for Jason Middlebrook and Steve Reed.
The Mets did get Bay back on a four-year deal worth north of $60 following the 2009 season. In three years with the Mets, Bay would only manage 288 games, hitting .234/.318/.369 with limited power before his release.
Best trade: Keith Hernandez
In the middle of his prime, Hernandez fell out of favor in St. Louis and was dealt in the middle of 1983 season to the Mets for Neil Allen and Rick Ownbey.
After the deal, Hernandez would win five more Gold Gloves, make three more trips to the All-Star Game, finish in the top 10 of MVP voting three times and play an integral part of the 1986 championship. He's now a Mets legend.
The Mike Piazza trade is probably second here, but he was in his final season before free agency and ended up re-signing with the Mets. The trade in and of itself only actually got him to New York for about a half season.
Worst trade: Nolan Ryan
Hindsight is 20-20, as the saying goes. In 1971, a 24-year-old Nolan Ryan went 10-14 with a 3.97 ERA (86 ERA+). He struck out 137 hitters in 152 innings while walking 116 and hitting 15 batters. He was a below average pitcher with control issues to that point in his career.
The Mets traded Ryan to the Angels along with three other players for Jim Fregosi. Fregosi would hit .233 in 146 games for the Mets before the Rangers purchased him.
As for Ryan, well, he's still the all-time strikeout leader and got 98.8 percent of the vote in his first chance at entry into the Hall of Fame.
Best ballpark feature: The Home Run Apple
No contest. Citi Field has an apple, but I like the old Shea Stadium one better (nostalgia and all). It still lives out front of Citi Field. Here's a picture I took of it at the 2013 All-Star Game:
Worst moment: The strikeout
The Mets had won 97 regular-season games (compared to 83 by the Cardinals). Game 7 was tied heading into the ninth and then Yadier Molina's two-run homer gave the Cardinals the lead. Having the bases loaded with your marquee player at the plate means there's a realistic chance to win the game, of course. Beltran would be frozen on strike three, though, and the stigma stays with him to this day in Queens, despite him having had a very productive Mets career and having hit .296/.387/.667 with a double, three homers and four RBI in that series.
Worse yet, the following two seasons saw late collapses. In 2007, the Mets had a seven game lead as of Sept. 12. They'd go 5-12 the rest of the way as the Phillies went 13-4 to take the division. In 2008, the Mets had a 3.5 game lead over Philly come Sept. 10, but would go 7-10 the rest of the way while the Phillies went 13-3. Even still, the Mets were tied with the Brewers for the wild card spot heading into the last weekend, only to lose two of three to the Marlins and miss the playoffs again.
They still haven't been back.
It's not surprising that the fans still harbor such ill will toward Beltran. Let's just not revise history and claim he wasn't very productive for the ballclub over the course of his tenure.
Best moment: Game 6
Avert your eyes, Red Sox fans. We need to cheer the Mets fans up.
With the game heading to the bottom of the 10th and the Red Sox leading 5-3, the Mets were three outs away from losing the series, four games to two. After two flyouts, they were now down to their final out. From there, we'd see: Single, single, single, wild pitch (which tied the game) and then the famous Bill Buckner error that allowed the Mets to score the winning run.
The Mets would then take Game 7 and win their second World Series title.
The visuals:
Best videogame adaptation: Game 6 in RBI Baseball
Just in case you were wondering if the Internet has everything ...
Best disguise: Bobby Valentine
For more, check out our Bobblehead project entry.
Best contract, entertainment value: Bobby Bonilla
As has been well-documented in this very space for the past few years, Bonilla is being paid a touch under $1.2 million every year from 2011-35 thanks to a deferral clause. It inspired my favorite Bobblehead Project entry ever:
Worst card game: Bobby Bonilla, Rickey Henderson
In 1999, the Mets lost to the Braves in six games in the NLCS. During their Game 6 loss -- which went into extra innings, by the way, so it wasn't a blowout -- veterans Bonilla and Henderson saw fit to play some cards in the clubhouse during the game. GM (at the time) Steve Phillips spoke a few days later on the matter (nytimes.com).
''Obviously, it's not something you want players to do when you're playing any game, let alone a playoff game,'' Phillips said in his first statement on the matter. ''To the best of my knowledge, I believe it happened. It's not going to change anything for this season, so it's best to address it prior to the start of next season.''
At least they weren't drinking beer and eating chicken, right?
What should be added here? Where did I go wrong? Have at it, Mets faithful.
Up next: Friday will be the Philadelphia Phillies' turn.
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