Met All-Star “Oddities,” Facts & Statistics

In light of the All-Star Break/”Lull”, I thought I would present a variety of interesting Met All-Star oddities, facts and statistics. While the numbers and facts are of little practical value and the All-Star game has evolved significantly since 1962, these points are nonetheless intriguing and fun to explore (especially because there is nothing else to do on the day following the All-Star game, the only day of summer sans Major League Baseball):

• Met hitters are now 30-102 with 14 runs, two home runs, five RBI, two doubles and one triple. That is a respectable .294 average. However, the power numbers are a little pathetic. In a full season, these numbers would amount to around 11 home runs and 28 RBI.

• Met pitchers have pitched 36.2 All-Star game innings giving up 24 hits, 11 earned runs, 11 walks and 37 strikeouts (2.70 ERA).

• Met pitchers have managed to accrue three All-Star losses: two by Doc Gooden in 1986 and 1988 and one by Al Leiter in 2000. Apparently if a Met pitcher loses the All-Star game, the team will either go to the World Series (1986 and 200o) or the NLCS (1988). I would take it (despite losing home field advantage).

• The only official save recorded by a Met in an All-Star game was by Sid Fernandez in the 1987 All-Star game. *Props to commenter MatthewA for pointing out that both Tom Seaver and Jerry Koosman technically picked up saves in the 1967 & 1968 All-Star games but that the save statistic was not recognized until 1969.

• The only two All-Star home runs in Met history belong to David Wright (2006) and Lee Mazzilli (1979).

• Only Lee Mazzilli has more than one RBI in his Met All-Star career (Wright, Piazza and Howard Johnson each have one), despite just two plate appearances. In 1979, Mazzilli made his lone career All-Star appearance at the age of 24. In his two plate appearances, Mazzilli walked in a run and hit a clutch, game-tying solo home run in the bottom of the eighth inning. Mazzilli, however, lost out to Dave Parker for game MVP.

• Between 1993 and 1995, only Bobby Bonilla represented the Mets in the All-Star game (Ah the Glory Days…).

• Met hitters have only walked six times in 108 All-Star plate appearances. In contrast, they have struck out 24 times (One K per 4.5 Plate Appearances, though this is still better than 2009 Wright’s one K per 4.3 Plate  Appearances). Guilty of a little less patience when the game means nothing?

• EERIE: Lance Johnson and Jose Reyes put up identical lines in their 1996 and 2007 appearances, respectively. Both men started the game and hit leadoff, going 3-4 with 1 run, a double and a stolen base. For both players, this was their lone All-Star appearance (Though hopefully Reyes plays in an All-Star game, and more importantly, a regular season game, sometime soon).

• Willie Mays went 0-3 with 2 strikeouts as a Met All-Star in 1972 and 1973. In those two “All-Star” seasons, Mays was a combined 96-404 (.238 average) with 14 HR and 44 RBI.

• The last time the National League won an All-Star game, Mike Piazza was Game MVP as a representative of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Piazza went 2-3 with a home run, a double and two RBI. Piazza also homered in the 1995 All-Star game. In six All-Star games as a Met, Piazza was 2-13 with one RBI and three strikeouts. The National League failed to win each of Piazza’s six appearances.  Did Piazza leaving the Dodgers prompt the National League’s “dry spell?”

• Lance Johnson and Todd Hundley represented the Mets on the Mike Piazza-led 1996 winning team. Lance Johnson hit leadoff in that game and just turned 46 last week.

• Jon Matlack is the only man to win the All-Star MVP as a Met, in 1975. This should be qualified, however, as Matlack was a Co-MVP alongside the similarly named Bill Madlock. Matlack pitched two scoreless innings, giving up two hits, striking out four and picking up the win for the National League.

• In the game Matlack was crowned Co-MVP, Tom Seaver had his worst All-Star performance pitching one less-than-impressive inning, allowing a three-run home run to Carl Yastrzemski. Yastrzremski’s home run tied the game up at 3-3. Seaver was pulled in favor of Matlack before the 7th inning.

• Mr. Met John Franco only appeared in one All-Star game for the Mets. This appearance came in 1990, Franco’s first year as an Amazin’. In the 13 years following 1990, Franco failed to appear in an All-Star game. This would not be as surprising had it not been for the fact that Franco was an All-Star for the Cincinatti Reds in 1986, 1987 AND 1989.

Here is the complete list of Mets to appear in the All-Star game:

1. Mike Piazza (1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005)
2. Darryl Strawberry (1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1990)
3. Tom Seaver (1967, 1968, 1970, 1973, 1975, 1976)
4. David Wright (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009)
5. Doc Gooden (1984, 1986, 1988)
6. Carlos Beltran (2005, 2006, 2007)
7. Gary Carter (1986, 1987, 1988)
8. Keith Hernandez (1984, 1986, 1987)
9. John Stearns (1977, 1980, 1982)
10. Willie Mays (1972, 1973)
11. Jon Matlack (1974, 1975)
12. Frank Viola (1990, 1991)
13. David Cone (1988, 1992)
14. Sid Fernandez (1986, 1987)
15. Jerry Koosman (1968, 1969)
16. Billy Wagner (2007, 2008) (20.25 ERA)
17. Howard Johnson (1989, 1991)
18. Ron Hunt (1964, 1966)
19. Bud Harrelson (1970, 1971)
20. Jerry Grote (1968, 1974)
21. Bobby Bonilla (1993, 1995)
22. Richie Ashburn (1962)
23. Jesse Orosco (1983)
24. Paul Lo Doca (2006)
25. John Franco (1990)
26. Tug McGraw (1972)
27. Al Leiter (2000)
28. Bobby Jones (1997)
29. Tom Glavine (2004)
30. Joel Youngblood (1981)
31. Edgardo Alfonzo (2000)
32. Dave Kingman (1976)
33. Duke Snider (1963)
34. Jose Reyes (2007)
35. Cleon Jones (1969)
36. Lance Johnson (1996)
37. Todd Hundley (1996)
38. Francisco Rodriguez (2009)

The 2009 All-Star Game (quick recap):

David Wright and Francisco Rodriguez did an admirable job representing the Mets in last night’s loss to the American League. Wright went 1-2 with a run (a soft hit and the inevitable strikeout) while Rodriguez pitched a perfect 9th inning while striking out game MVP Carl Crawford. Johan Santana did not pitch per Met request (on that note, the Mets probably should have made a similar request for K-Rod and Wright, given 2009 Met “luck”). Additionally, kudos to K-Rod for limiting himself to an efficient six-pitch inning (saving his arm for the remaining 75 regular season games).