Tom Seaver Fan Club

Mets superstar 3B David Wright has been released from the hospital but is still dealing with post concussion symptons such as headaches. He has exchanged text messages with Manager Jerry Manuel and Giants pitcher Matt Cain, who hit him in the helmet, left him a voice mail. Wright has seen a neurologist twice in the past 24 hours and will undergo more tests in the coming days. Do not look for him at the ball park in coming days. His manager is taking a guarded approach, “We will have to be cautious with this,” he said. “There’s no question.”

The Mets solidified their bullpen earlier this week when they inked Guillermo Mota to a two year deal for $5 million.  That is, they solidified their bullpen for sometime after May because Mota will miss the first 50 games due to a performance enhancing drug suspension.

Mota was lights out for the Mets when they got him from the Indians part way through 2006.  He walks more people then I’d like but he’s oddly more effective against left handers then he is against right handers.  And $2.5 million, even for 2/3 thirds of a season, is a bargain these days.

1986 World Series – Game Four
October 22, 1986 at Fenway Park
Mets 6, Red Sox 2  Best of Seven Series Tied 2-2

Just yesterday, the Mets were playing for their lives.  Now after a solid outing by Ron Darling and a big fourth inning, the Mets now find themselves tied at two game a piece in the World Series.

Neither team did much in the first three innings but the Mets jumped all over Al Nipper in the fourth.  Wally Backman led off with a single and then he moved to second on Keith Hernandez’s ground out.  Then Gary Carter hit a huge two run shot to make it 2-0.  Darryl Strawberry followed that up with a double and then Ray Knight singled him home to give the Mets and Darling a nice comfortable 3-0 lead.

The Mets padded that lead in the seventh when Lenny Dykstra hit a two run shot to make it 5-0.  In the meantime, Ron Darling was shutting down the Red Sox.  When Roger McDowell replaced him in the eighth, Darling had given up only five hits through seven shutout innings.

In the top of the eighth, the Mets added one more on a solo shot by Carter. It was his second homerun of the game and that made it 6-0.  The Red Sox did tag McDowell for two runs in the bottom of the eighth but the Red Sox never got closer then 6-2.

1986 World Series – Game Three
October 21, 1986 at Fenway Park
Mets 7, Red Sox 1  Red Sox Lead Best of Seven Series 2-1

The Mets gave their fans some hope tonight as their lineup jumped all over Oil Can Boyd and Bob Ojeda gave them a nice performance on the mound.  They still had a long road to win this one, but they took the first step with this win.

This one was effectively over after the first inning.  Lenny Dykstra led off the game with a solo shot and then Wally Backman and Keith Hernandez hit back to back singles.  Gary Carter then drove home Backman with a double and Danny Heep drove both Carter and Hernandez home with a single to make it 4-0.

The Red Sox scored their one run in the third inning when Marty Barrett singled home Dave Henderson.  The Red Sox would have their only run and two of their five hits in that inning.

Boyd actually settled down and didn’t up another run until the seventh inning.  Gary Carter’s two run single in that game blew the game open.  The Mets did add another run in the eighth on an RBI double by Ray Knight, but this one was pretty much in hand by then.

Ojeda gave up only one run on five hits and three walks with six strikeouts in seven innings of work.  Roger McDowell closed out the game with two perfect innings.

John Maine could never get going in this one and while the Mets great bullpen did an admirable job, two guys, Guillermo Mota and Billy Wagner, were subpar and gave up runs that cost the game.

The Mets had leads of 3-0, 4-2 and 6-4 before the Cardinals tied it up in the seventh.  Then in the ninth, Billy Wagner got shelled for three runs including a solo homerun by the slap hitting So Taguchi to bust the game open.

This was pretty much a two man show on offense.  Jose Reyes went three for four with an RBI and two runs while Carlos Delgado went two for five with four RBIs and two homeruns.  The rest of the team had only four hits and one RBI.

Tonight will be in St. Louis and Steve Trachsel has to get the job done against Jeff Suppan.  I have a feeling this one is coming back to New York and it’d be nice to come back with a 3-2 lead.

National League Championship Series Game Four
October 12, 1986 at Shea Stadium
Astros 3, Mets 1  Best of Seven Series Tied 2-2

Probably the only surprising thing about this game was that the Mets actually scored on Mike Scott.  In the eight inning, Mookie Wilson singled, moved to third in a heads up play on Ray Knight’s ground out and then scored on Heep’s sac. fly.  Outside of that, the Mets produced only two hits and they didn’t draw a single walk.

Sid Fernandez threw a nice game but he was outmatched in this one.  He gave up a two run shot to Alan Ashby in the second inning and then a solo shot to Dickie Thon in the fifth.  In all he gave up only three hits and a walk but those two homeruns were all Scott needed to win his second game of the series.

July 10, 1986 at Shea Stadium

Mets 5, Braves 1  (56-25)

The Mets got back on track as they won their 56th game at the midpoint of the regular season.  The Mets put up five runs before the Braves finally got to Bob Ojeda, who was fantastic in his tenth win of the season.  He went the distance and gave up one run (unearned) on seven hits and he struck out six.

George Foster led the hit attack with a bases clearing double in the fifth inning.  Gary Carter hit his 14th homer of the season and he scored two runs.

July 5, 1986 at Shea Stadium

Astros 2, Mets 1  (54-22)

This time the Mets were on the receiving end of a one run loss.  In the bottom of the first, they scored a single run on Keith Hernandez’s solo shot but they were held scoreless (and to three hits) the rest of the game.

The Astros finally got to Bob Ojeda, who really threw well.  In eight innings of work, he gave up a run on only six hits and seven strikeouts.  In the top of the ninth, the Astros tagged Roger McDowell for a run that ended up being the difference, and he lost his first game of the season.

The Mets play two of the heavy hitters in the American League next week.  The Mets get tomorrow off, then they travel to play the Boston Red Sox at Fenway.  Then we hop over for a weekend series against the Yankees.  It should be a good week to test our mettle.  It really shouldn’t matter though.  The Phillies keep losing as does the rest of the NL West, and the Mets now have a 11 1/2 game lead in the division.

Most of our winning of late has been because of the impressive play from Jose Reyes.  Reyes is now riding a thirteen game hitting streak and he’s been doing it all.  On Friday, it was David Wright and Tom Glavine who came through for the Mets though.  Wright hit a three run homerun in the top of the third to give the Mets a nice 4-0 lead and then Tom Glavine rode that to his 11th win of the season.

Yesterday was the loss.  In a bit of snafu, Willie Randolph was forced to take Orlando Hernandez out of the game because he visited the mound twice after El Duque gave up six runs in the second inning.  He took the loss and he’s now 4-7 on the season.  Jose Reyes had four hits and two runs in the 7-4 loss.

Today’s score was the same as yesterdays with the teams flipped.  The Mets jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the third and never looked back.  Jose Reyes had a monster game and he went four for five with a homerun, a stolen base, two RBIs and two runs.  Steve Trachsel wasn’t great but he did enough to win.  He’s now 6-4 and Wagner walked two in the ninth but picked up his fifteenth save of the season.

Coasting time folks.  If the Mets played .500 ball the rest of the way, they’d win 90 games.  For the Phillies to tie them, the Phillies would have to go 55-33, and I don’t see either of those things happening.

I thought the Mets might do a little better then this against the Reds, but it looks the Reds might actually be for real.  Not like the Mets, but they definitely should contend for the Wild Card.

On Monday, Bronson Arroyo outdueled Orlando Hernandez.  Hernandez was actually sharp through seven innings and left the game down by a run, but the major damage was done in the eighth when Pedro Feliciano gave up two runs.  Final was 4-2 so those two last runs were the clinchers.

Carlos Beltran hit his 19th homerun of the season and he drove in both runs.  Jose Reyes had two hits and he scored on Carlos Beltran’s ground out.

Steve Trachsel got the Mets back on track on Tuesday.  He got a nice lead early when Carlos Delgado hit a two run homer to cap off a three run first inning.  Trachsel went six innings and gave up two runs on six hits.  Xavier Nady had a huge day and went two for four with two homeruns and three RBIs in the 9-2 win.

It’s bad when everyone in your pen does great except your best reliever.  The Mets came back from a 4-2 deficit and scored three runs in the seventh to take 5-4 lead.  Then Billy Wagner came in and gave up two runs on two hits and two walks in the ninth and he earned his first loss (and fourth blown save) of the season.  Jose Reyes had a montster game and he hit for the cycle.  He drove in one and scored twice.  Javier Valentin went three for four with a homerun, two RBIs and a run.

Leave it to Pedro to swing things in a positive direction.  He gave up two runs on two hits and five walks with eight strikeouts in six innings.  David Wright had a monster game and he went two for three with two homeruns, four RBIs and two runs.  Jose Reyes went two for four and stole two bases and he now has a ten game hitting streak.

The Phillies dropped two of three to the Yankees so we’re now a nice cushy ten games ahead in the NL East.  The Mets head to Toronto for a three game series beginning today.  The Blue Jays are better then years past, but the Mets are the cream of the crop so I’m expecting two wins in the series.

June 3, 1986 at Shea Stadium 

Padres 5, Mets 4  (32-14)

The Mets were edged by the Padres despite getting twice as many hits.  With the Padres up 2-1 in the fifth, the Mets rallied for three runs on four hits and three errors.  The Padres answered in the top of the sixth with three runs of their own as they took the lead for good.

Kevin Mitchell was three for five with a run and Mookie Wilson, Gary Carter, and George Foster all had three hits.

May 14, 1986 at Astrodome

Astros 6, Mets 2  (21-7)

For the first time in almost a month, the Mets lost back to back games.  Bob Ojeda lost his first game of the season and ave up four runs (two earned) on seven hits and three walks, and reliever Terry Leach was also hit hard.

The Mets scattered two runs on five hits.  Gary Carter had a solo homer in the seventh and Kevin Mitchell drove home Rafael Santana with a double to account for the Mets’ two runs.

May 3, 1986  at Riverfront Stadium

Mets 4, Reds 1  (15-4)

The Mets won for the thirteenth time in their last fourteen games behind another strong outing by Bob Ojeda.  The Mets got on the board in the second inning with two runs and that was basically all they needed.  They added two more in the seventh on a two run homerun by Keith Hernandez to give Ojeda a little insurance, but it wasn’t neccesary.

Hernandez was three for four with the homerun and Ray Knight finished three for four with a run.  Ojeda improved to 4-0 by going seven innings.  He gave up one unearned run on six hits and four walks while striking out two.  Jesse Orosco threw the final two frames and didn’t yield a hit as he earned his fifth save.