THE METSIAN PODCAST: Spreading Pennant Fever with Metstradamus

From the desk: HEAD-BUTTING MR. MET

GUEST

John Coppinger

aka 

METSTRADAMUS

TheSportsDaily.com

BRING ON THE BRAVES!

N.L. East Division

SHOWDOWN

@THEMetsianPod

The Metsian Podcast: First in the N.L. East and Hit by Pitches

From the desk: HEAD-BUTTING MR. MET

@THE_SamMaxwell   @MetFanRich   @BTB_MikeII

You can't win them all, but the Mets are surely winning a lot, and they keep getting hit by pitches!  Despite losing Wednesday's finale at St. Louis, they've won their first six series to start the season and return home with a 14-6 record, good enough for first place in the National League East.  In that order, pitching, fielding, and timely hitting have led the way, with Buck Showalter spearheading the charge towards the most wins in the majors to date.  Please join Sam, Rich, and me as we deliberate over one of the finest starts to a season in franchise history.

sixty-nine minutes

#LGM

Talking NYC's National League Legacy on the Bedford & Sullivan Podcast

From the desk: BEDFORD & SULLIVAN

BEDFORD and SULLIVAN 

PODCAST

Talking New York City's National League Legacy with

ONCE UPON A TIME IN QUEENS PRODUCER 

Nick Davis

FAITH AND FEAR IN FLUSHING's 

Greg Prince

The CONVERTED METS FAN 

Sam Maxwell 

and me.

Play Ball!

THE METSIAN PODCAST: "Once Upon A Time In Queens" Director, Nick Davis

From the desk: HEAD-BUTTING MR. MET

@THE_SamMaxwell       @MetFanRich       BTB_MikeII

GUEST

ESPN 30 FOR 30

Director of 

"ONCE UPON A TIME IN QUEENS"

NICK DAVIS

sixty-three minutes

#LGM

THE METSIAN PODFEST: featuring Subway To Shea Podcast & MetsMusings Podcast

From the desk: HEAD-BUTTING MR. MET

This week The Metsian Podcast welcomes Anthony Rivera, proprietor of the Subway To Shea Podcast, to the show.  On the docket: a seven-game win streak, injuries, stock up/stock down, RatCoon, The Dark Knight returns, and a Mets 1977 regular season rewind assist from Gary Mac of MetsMusings Podcast.

 

eighty-two minutes

Calling all fans!  Be on the lookout for players involved with elevating the Mets into first place.  Several of the conspirators are known members of the notorious Bench Mob.  The rest of the team is armed with effective pitching and an increasingly dangerous lineup.  They are reported to have come away with series victories against the Diamondbacks and Orioles at Citi Field and are now thought to be in transit towards the Tampa/St. Pete area disguised in surfer shorts, sandals, sunglasses, and sunscreen.

#LGM 

The Metsian Podcast: Putting April Through the Translator with The Record/NorthJersey Mets Columnist Justin Tuscano

From the desk: HEAD-BUTTING MR. MET

GUEST

From The Record and NorthJersey.com

New York Mets Columnist 

JUSTIN C. TUSCANO

104 minutes

APRIL WRAP-UP

Early Assessments ~ Hitting Woes ~ Mother Nature

Zack Scott ~ Luis Rojas ~ Chili Davis ~ Sandy Alderson

Jacob deGrom ~ Michael Conforto ~ Pete Alonso ~ Francisco Lindor

Tom Seaver ~ Doc Gooden ~ Brandon Nimmo

and so much more!

#LGM

N.Y. Mets: On Jacob's Escalating deGromination

From the desk: HEAD-BUTTING MR. MET

GREAT HURLERS OF METROPOLIS

This has everything to do with Jacob deGrom's performance last Friday, Apr. 23, against the Washington Nationals and the respectful fan debate that broke out on Twitter insofar as comparing and contrasting Tom Seaver, Dwight Gooden, and Jacob deGrom.

First, as someone who witnessed all three, I think I speak for like Mets fans in saying we've been blessed with a tradition steeped in such great starting pitching.

The following Tweets served as our impetus for conversation:

#Mets fans, I want to hear from YOU! Specifically those of you who watched Seaver in his prime...just how good IS Jacob deGrom? Is it history repeating itself? Better?Paging: @greg_prince @Metfanrich @Metstradamus @BTB_MikeII @MarkCHealey Anyone else with insight?

— The Coop (@Coopz22) April 24, 2021

For those old enough...Doc 1985 or Jake 2021?

— CTMetsfan (@Metfanrich) April 24, 2021

I was manning @THEMetsianPod the night of deGrom's masterpiece when thousands of thought bubbles exploded over my head.  I couldn't help but respond in several differing ways.  If you didn't know, @MetFanRich is one of my partners on the podcast, and @Coopz22 is similarly a friend of ours and the podcast.

First, my response to CTMetsFan:

• "This team and pandemic crowds vs. 1980s crowds and that raucous team complicate the answer."

Then, in reply to both, I said:

• "Doc was never better than 1984-1986, whereas deGrom is getting better by the season."

Somewhere along the way, I said:

• "Seaver, like Jacob, also had to fend for himself at the plate.  Ironically, the 1980s Mets took excellent care of Doc."

Speak for myself - I try my best to not compare eras. Different conditions, ballparks, mindsets, batters today care less of Ks.
We went bonkers if Seaver K'd nine; did same if Doc struck out 11; as we're doing now when deGrom (for a third straight start) fans 14 batters.

— B'klynTrolleyBlogger (@BTB_MikeII) April 24, 2021

• I also added that Jacob deGrom underwent Tommy John surgery as a minor league, and so I think time will be on his side.  

• In response to another comment, I said RA Dickey was a bright light during dim times and that he was a great craftsman but shouldn't be included in this exclusive company.

Then I dropped this ...

Suggest folks look again at Seaver's baseball card (Baseball Ref) and behold how his career record is populated with numbers in bold/italic, and/or both. It speaks to his greatness above and beyond his HOF contemporaries. He retired (keyword) 3rd on the all-time K list.

— B'klynTrolleyBlogger (@BTB_MikeII) April 24, 2021

And this ...

Seaver had nine straight seasons 200+ strikeouts; deGrom is in his eighth year with the Mets.

— B'klynTrolleyBlogger (@BTB_MikeII) April 24, 2021

⚾

My Mets fandom comes from my Mom's side of the family, whereas my father was a huge Yankees fan, but he also loved watching Tom Seaver.  I attended just one game in 1973 at the original Yankee Stadium.  During the summers of 1974 and 1975, he and I practically lived at Shea Stadium as the ballpark in the Bronx was undergoing renovations.  When 1976 rolled around, the monumental effort it took my pop to ensure we'd keep following both teams was revealed to me.  Bless his soul, for it afforded this young boy a fine view during numerous Tom Seaver starts.

I remember being at several of his games in 1974, particularly his Sept. 13, eleven strikeout, shutout performance against the Cubs.  Yes, I was young, but my father spoke glowingly of it.  I attended Opening Day in 1975, in which Seaver allowed just one earned run with nine strikeouts for the win.  In September, I watched Seaver shut out the Pirates on four hits and ten strikeouts for his 20th win of the season.  It was a day game with a huge crowd, and the place went nuts.  By this time, I had learned how to keep score.  Unbeknownst to me at that moment, I had just spent the summer witnessing Seaver's third Cy Young award-winning campaign.  

The following season of 1976 is when Pop and I attended our most Tom Seaver starts.  I watched The Franchise strike out eight Montreal Expos on Opening Day and was in attendance later that month when he fanned nine in a complete-game shutout performance against the Braves.  In July, I attended his ten strikeouts in ten scoreless innings loss against the Pirates.  Another loss against Dave Winfield and the San Diego Padres comes to mind.  So, yes, I sat through several defeats as well.  Later in September, I saw him strike out eight in a victory over the Cubs.

As we know, Tom Seaver was traded away the following summer ... *(sigh)*

⚾

In 2014, Jacob deGrom, like Tom Seaver and Doc Gooden before him, wins the Rookie of the Year award.

A year later, Jacob deGrom's winning effort over the Dodgers in Game One of the 2015 NLDS goes down as one of the organization's finest all-time playoff performances. He faces 27 batters over 7 innings, allowing no runs on just five hits, walking one, and striking out 13 batters for the victory.  He ties Tom Seaver for most strikeouts in a post-season game by a Met.  In the opening game of the 1973 NLCS against the Reds, Seaver strikes out 13 batters over 8.1 innings yet takes the loss.  Jacob deGrom also becomes only the third Mets pitcher to achieve double-digit strikeouts in a post-season game.  Seaver strikes out twelve batters against the Oakland A's in the '73 World Series but earns a no-decision, and Dwight Gooden fans ten Los Angeles Dodgers through 7 innings to open the 1988 NLCS but likewise walks off to a no-decision.

In 2018, a 30-year old Jacob deGrom crafts the finest campaign of his career to date, and perhaps one of the most dominant in Mets history.  Jacob leads the major leagues in ERA, ERA+, HR/9, and WAR for pitchers.  He leads the National League in fewest walks per nine innings, OBP against, SLG against, OPS against, and FIP.  He trails only Max Scherzer by mere fractions in WHiP, H/9, and strikeout/walk ratio.

• 32 Regular Season Starts
• 217 innings pitched
• 10-9 record
• 1.70 ERA
• 0.912 WHiP
• 269 strikeouts
• 6.3 H/9
• 1.9 W/9
• 11.15 K/9
• 5.84 K/W ratio
• 1.98 FIP
• 219 ERA+
• .196 average against/.244 OBP/.277 SLG/.521 OPS
• 0.4 HR/9
• 9.8 WAR

On April 16, he throws the first of his MLB record-setting 29 consecutive starts allowing three runs or less.  Jacob first breaks Doc Gooden's Mets record of 24 straight, then breaks the MLB record of 25 established back in 1910 by Chicago Cub King Cole.  The streak also tied the overall mark set over two seasons by Jake Arrieta.  Only four times throughout the streak did Jacob actually allow three runs.  He otherwise limited the opponent to two runs or less in 23 of 28 previous starts.  Moreover, Jacob deGrom allows one run or less in 21 (65%) of his 32 starts en route to his first Cy Young.  After May 2, Jacob deGrom's ERA never once climbs above two.  That's what you call Denton True deGromination.  

In 2019, Jacob deGrom opened the season by extending the record to 30 straight starts allowing three runs or less.

National League Cy Young Award

• 1969: Tom Seaver
• 1973: Tom Seaver
• 1975: Tom Seaver
• 1985: Dwight Gooden
• 2012: R.A. Dickey
• 2018: JACOB deGROM
• 2019: JACOB deGROM

PITCHERS TO WIN CONSECUTIVE CY YOUNG AWARDS: Sandy Koufax; Denny McLain; Jim Palmer; Greg Maddux; Roger Clemens; Pedro Martinez; Randy Johnson; Tim Lincecum; Clayton Kershaw; Max Scherzer. 

In only his sixth season in the major leagues Jacob deGrom adds his name to the list becoming just the eleventh pitcher in major league history to win back-to-back Cy Young awards.

Jacob deGrom joins Tom Seaver as the only Mets pitchers to win multiple awards.  In 2019 he won his first ERA title and led major league baseball in strikeouts.  He exceeds 200 strikeouts for the fourth time in his career and pitches at least seven innings in 19 of his 32 starts.  Over the course of his two Cy Young seasons, deGrom limits the opposition to just two runs or less in 51 of 64 starts and compiles 524 strikeouts. 

Last season, albeit compromised by COVID, he leads the National League for a second straight season in strikeouts while posting a career-best 13.8 K/9 average.  He also registers a career-low 6.2 H/9 average, while his 2.38 ERA is his second-lowest.  In fact, last year marked the third straight season he posted a BABIP below three, an ERA below 2.50, and a WHiP below one.  

Jacob deGrom turns 33-years old this coming June and is showing no signs of slowing down.  

Like any savvy veteran, he's been going about his craft a little differently.

• 2014 - fastball 61.5%; slider 16.5%; curveball 9.9%; change-up 12.1%.
• 2020 - fastball 44.9%; slider 35.6%; curveball 2.6%; change-up 16.9%.

Is he adjusting for age and lost velocity?

Hardly ...

Jacob deGrom's velocity is still on the rise, as has been throughout his career.  According to Fangraphs, he enters the league in 2014 with a 94.5mph fastball then effectively gains velocity in each of the next six seasons to close out 2020 with a career-high 99.0mph fastball - an increase of 1.8mph over 2019, a 2.2mph increase over his first Cy Young season, and a 4.5mph increase over his rookie season.  Last season batters were swinging at the most offerings in deGrom's career but making contact at an all-time low.

But just when we thought we had him figured out, now he's in the midst of bucking all sorts of trends.

Through four starts, he is averaging a career-high 98.8 mph fastball.  Moreover, he's offering it at a rate of 63.2%, a new career-high.  He's throwing his change-up at a career-low rate, use of his slider is down 9%, and he is yet to throw a curveball.

• 2021 - fastball 63.2%; slider 26.6%; curveball 0.0%; change-up 9.7%.

 

Entering Wednesday's start against the Red Sox, Jacob deGrom is averaging 7.1 innings per start.  He presently owns an MLB best 0.31 ERA through 29.0 innings pitched, with a career-low 4.9 H/9 average, and a career-high 15.5 K/9 average.  He has faced 101 batters so far, yielding just 13 hits and three walks, with a major league-leading 50 strikeouts.

Jacob has fanned no fewer than 14 batters in each of his last three starts, and of course, there was Friday's masterpiece: a complete game two-hit shutout with no walks and a career-high 15 strikeouts against the Washington Nationals.  He struck out nine in a row at one point, coming withing one more consecutive strikeout of tying Tom Seaver's major league record of ten consecutive batters recorded back in 1971 against the San Diego Padres.

I'm content to judge Jacob deGrom based against his contemporaries, just as I am with Tom Seaver against his own contemporaries.  But I refuse to compare and contrast one with the other.  I will say of all the great pitchers to ever don a Mets uniform, Jacob deGrom's craftmanship and skill most rivals Tom Terrific.

UPDATE: Wednesday vs. Boston Red Sox

• Jacob deGrom yields just one earned run on three hits and one walk with nine strikeouts over six innings pitched.  He throws 93 pitches with 66 (70.9%) going for strikes but leaves on the losing side of a 1-0 contest.

Of course, he does ...

The Metsian Podcast: Feeling That Rocky Mountain High w/ FAFIF's Greg Prince

From the desk: HEAD-BUTTING MR. MET

GUEST

Author and Co-Proprietor 

FAITH AND FEAR IN FLUSHING

Greg Prince

seventy-eight minutes

Jacob deGrom's Gem ~ Marcus Stroman's Craftsmanship

James McCann's Arm ~ Luis Rojas Decisions ~ Francisco Lindor's Presence

The Rest of the Week That Was & The 1976 New York Mets!  

#LGM

The Metsian Podcast Opening Day Special with Guest Noelle Gold

From the desk: HEAD-BUTTING MR. MET

SPECIAL GUEST

Great Niece of Gil Hodges & Mets Fan Extraordinaire

NOELLE GOLD

120 minutes

OPENING DAY at CITI FIELD

Review of Series at Philadelphia

Gil Hodges, Umpires, and so much more!

#LGM

The Metsian Podcast Begins the Countdown to Opening Day with Mets Rewind's John Strubel

From the desk: HEAD-BUTTING MR. MET

with SAM, RICH & MIKE

GUEST

METS REWIND

JOHN STRUBEL

120 minutes

Spring Training ~ Starting Pitching ~ Contract Negotiations

MLB Rules ~ Mets Board of Directors ~ The 1975 Mets

and much more!

#LGM

A Metsian Podcast: Grapefruit League Recaps & 1974 Retrospective with FAFIF's Greg Prince

From the desk: HEAD-BUTTING MR. MET

GUEST

FAITH AND FEAR IN FLUSHING

GREG PRINCE

115 minutes

Edwin Diaz ~ Brandon Nimmo ~ Dellin Betances ~ Sean Reid-Foley ~ Pete Alonso

? Albert Almora Jr. ? Scott Hairston ? Marlon Byrd ? Eric Young Jr. ? Kevin Pillar ?

Fred Wilpon at Spring Training ~ the 1974 New York Mets

and so much more!

#LGM

A Metsian Podcast: Men, Manners, Mets and Other Life's Minutiae with Anna Brice

From the desk: HEAD-BUTTING MR. MET

With SAM, RICH & MIKE

We Welcome Back New York Native/Jersey Girl, 

Current Arizona Resident, and Life-Long Mets Fan

Anna Brice

110-minutes

We were intent on having Anna Brice join us to provide a woman's perspective with regards to the Jared Porter incident.  Otherwise, where do we go from here ... no George Springer, but Mets trade for Joey Lucchesi, and what about Trevor Bauer ... we discuss it all.  We also talk Mets baseball circa 1971, Nolan Ryan, Tom Seaver, and a Gil Hodges/HOF rant, and more on this episode of A Metsian Podcast.

#LGM

Howard Kellman, Broadcaster of the (AAA) Indianapolis Indians Joins A Metsian Podcast

From the desk: HEAD-BUTTING, MR. MET

With SAM, RICH & MIKE

GUEST

Play by Play Broadcaster 

(AAA) INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS

est. 1902

HOWARD KELLMAN

seventy-six minutes

Howard Kellman was born and raised in Brooklyn.  He helped pioneer radio broadcasting of St. John's University basketball games and for the last forty-six years has been the play-by-play broadcaster of the famous (AAA)-Indianapolis Indians.  Established in 1902, the Indianapolis club is the second oldest minor league baseball team in America after the Rochester Red Wings.  Howard is friends with Brooklyn Dodgers great Carl Erskine with whom he worked alongside in the booth, and with Howie Rose, for whom he filled in many times as recently as 2014 on Mets broadcasts.  He takes us through his own near fifty-year experience in the game.  The Indians have variously served as an affiliate of the Reds, Expos, Brewers, and Pirates, thus Mr. Kellman has witnessed the rise of many burgeoning stars.  He recalls the wildly successful Montreal Expos affiliation with particular fondness.  A clear baseball insider, he adds clarity to the ongoing reorganization of minor and independent league baseball.  After which, Mr. Kellman transports us back to 1968 and his recollections of the New York Mets.  To hear more about Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman, Gil Hodges, Hank Aaron, Larry Walker, Jeff McNeil, Pee Wee Reese, the Indianapolis Clowns and the ABC's, the Brooklyn Dodgers, and the city of Indianapolis itself as told to by a native Brooklynite, then please give a listen.  Great conversation with Howard and partners Sam and Rich; you won't be sorry.

#LGM 

In Memory of Tom Seaver with FAFIF's Greg Prince on Another Metsian Podcast

From the desk of: HEAD-BUTTING MR. MET

with SAM, RICH and MIKE

GUEST

FAITH and FEAR in FLUSHING

GREG PRINCE

a/o 9/7/2020

A Metsian Podcast commiserates the life and career of George Thomas Seaver, also known as The Franchise, who passed away one week ago today.  Sam, Rich and Mike, reconvene this holiday afternoon in what is sure to be an emotionally solemn fan mourning of Tom Terrific.  Faith and Fear in Flushing's Greg Prince joins the podcast as witness and testament to Seaver's brilliance on the mound.  Please join them as they reminisce over the Hall of Fame career of not only the greatest player in Mets history, but one of the all-time titans in all New York City sport.  

Stickball, Seaver and the 70's: Rest in Peace Tom Terrific

From the desk of: HEAD-BUTTING MR. MET

My Brick at Citi Field Reads:

1977 STILL HURTS!

... along the third base side, check it out one day. 

The year 2020 knows no limits.

I'm devastated like all Mets fans are to learn of Wednesday's passing away of Tom Seaver.  I wish his family peace and calm through this very sad and difficult time, and offer my humblest prayers and sincerest condolences to all he loved and held dear.

Time has no mercy.  We know this well.  We're just never ready for news like this.  It needs a moment to sink in, then in rushes the heartbreaking sense of loss.  As I look back on my own life and contemplate some of the genuine influences in my life, Tom Seaver is in the conversation.  Rarely, if ever, would I include sports figures.  But Tom Seaver was different.  There was no one on my childhood television set representing themselves quite the way Tom did during post-game visits to Kiner's Korner.  I wasn't getting that from Looney Tunes, or Wonderama, Kaptain Kangaroo, Spider Man, or Happy Days, the Merv Griffin Show, Abbott and Costello or the Bowery Boys, certainly not from Archie Bunker or Mary Tyler Moore, not Godzilla, Evel Knievel, Planet of the Apes, or Richard Nixon, but maybe Morgan Freeman when he appeared on the Electric Company.  Seaver constantly preached accountability and championed camaraderie.  He always said something worth listening to, unlike, say, Don Rickles.  Alas, no one was demonstrating to me the level of comportment being put forth by Tom Seaver.

I pretended to be Tom Seaver when playing stickball against my cousin when we were kids.  Growing up watching The Franchise was like having a childhood coach by your side.  I tried imitating his motion the best I could.

Funny thing is my Pop and my uncle were Yankees fans, and my cousin and me were Mets fans (from our Moms' side of the family)!  We all spent equal time watching and going to see both teams.  However, my Pop was a particularly huge Tom Seaver fan and made it his business to ensure we took in as many Seaver starts as possible.  The Yankees fan that he was, we connected through Seaver.  I speak of the seasons spanning 1973-1977, until he was traded to the Reds.  I was coming up on my eleventh birthday, my cousin a year younger.  Tom Seaver's seasons pitching in that classic New York Mets uniform are ingrained in my mind forever.  Tom Seaver and company are the ones who gave this pinstriped blue/orange color scheme its pride and prestige.  That's why I hate when the Mets deviate from their traditional uniform.

In the lead-up to his Opening Day start in 1983, being there to witness him appear from the Mets bullpen and his ensuing walk down the right field line towards the dugout is one of the happiest moments I ever spent at Shea Stadium.  Tom Seaver in an interview once said in order to be successful there are three outs in any given game that you absolutely must execute.  Those words never rang more true for me than when I coached little league baseball for ten seasons.

As a baseball fan, I know this: Tom Seaver is one of the greatest craftsmen to ever toe a major league rubber.  Physically durable, powerful and pure genius on the mound, there are few pitchers who before or since have matched his absolute mastery with a baseball from sixty-feet six inches away.

He is also one of New York City's premiere titans of sport.

I'm otherwise a little short for words.  Another prominent figure of my childhood has moved on. 

The first pitch of his forever game is delivered ... the perfect game that never ends, begins.

Rest in Peace.

Love,
Mike

1944  ~  2020

Another Metsian Podcast Quarantine Special: Fending Off Spring Fever with John Pielli

From the desk of:  HEAD-BUTTING MR. MET

MORE SOCIAL DISTRACTION

A METSIAN PODCAST

with SAM, RICH, and MIKE

GUEST

John Pielli 

Host of the Passed Ball Show

sixty-five minutes

#coronavirus

MLB

The 2020 Season 

Ron Darling ~ Kevin Kobel ~ Tom Seaver ~ Walt Terrell

and so much more!

A Metsian Podcast Quarantine Book Review Party: The New York Mets All-Time All-Stars by Brian Wright

From the desk of:  HEAD-BUTTING MR. MET

A METSIAN PODCAST

with SAM, RICH, and MIKE

GUEST

Brian Wright 

author

THE NEW YORK METS ALL-TIME ALL STARS 

The Best Players At Each Position For The Amazin's

100 minutes

Thirty Players

58 Years of Memories

A Romp Through Mets History

Jacob deGrom and Pete Alonso Add to Mets Trophy Case

From the desk of: HEAD-BUTTING MR. MET

WE'LL BE TALKING ABOUT THIS SEASON FOR A LONG TIME

National League Cy Young Award

• 1969: Tom Seaver
• 1973: Tom Seaver
• 1975: Tom Seaver
• 1985: Dwight Gooden
• 2012: R.A. Dickey
• 2018: JACOB deGROM
• 2019: JACOB deGROM

PITCHERS TO WIN CONSECUTIVE CY YOUNG AWARDS: Sandy Koufax; Denny McLain; Jim Palmer; Greg Maddux; Roger Clemens; Pedro Martinez; Randy Johnson; Tim Lincecum; Clayton Kershaw; Max Scherzer. 

In only his sixth season in the major leagues Jacob deGrom adds his name to the list becoming just the eleventh pitcher in major league history to win back-to-back Cy Young awards.

Jacob joins Tom Seaver as the only Mets pitchers to win multiple awards.  He was also named 2014 ROY, and is a three-time all-star.  Last season he won his first ERA title, and this season was baseball's strikeout king.  He has now exceeded 200 strikeouts four times in his career and has 524 in the last two seasons alone.  He owns a career 2.62 ERA and 1.053 WHiP with 1,255 strikeouts through 1,101 innings pitched and set a major league record with 30 consecutive starts allowing three runs or less.  Although win/loss records mean less in today's age of analytics, one can't help but feel bad for deGrom.  A full third (32.7%) of his 171 career starts have ended in a no-decision.  Otherwise, deGrom owns a 66-49 (.574) career record while a member of the New York Mets.

Over his last two Cy Young campaigns, he has limited the opposition to just two runs or less in 51 of 64 starts.  Nine times last season he struck out double-digit batters, with a season-high 14 coming in just his second start at Miami.  In five July starts he fanned double-digits three times, and on Aug. 23 struck out 13 Atlanta Braves at Citi Field.  Jacob pitched at least seven innings in 19 of his 32 starts.

At 31-years of age, deGrom is cementing himself as the organization's second greatest ever pitcher behind only Hall of Fame inductee, the Franchise, Tom Seaver.  He has given us every reason to believe there is still yet more greatness to come.  While Jerry Koosman is a hero to me, and he and Dwight Gooden have rings, it is Jacob deGrom's craftsmanship that presently most rivals that of Tom Terrific's.

National League Rookie of the Year

• 1967: Tom Seaver
• 1972: Jon Matlack
• 1983: Darryl Strawberry
• 1984: Dwight Gooden
• 2014: Jacob deGrom
• 2019: Pete Alonso

Exactly 100 years after Babe Ruth first opened the doors to the 50 Home Run club, Pete Alonso becomes the 30th ever player to join its ranks.  The Flushing Polar Bear also becomes only the Mets second position player to ever win Rookie of the Year.  And what a year it was, leading all of baseball with an all-time MLB record 53 home runs by a rookie.

Once upon a time Dave Kingman was my all-time measure of Mets dingers.  They called him Sky King.  No one else ever measured up until a young right fielder named Darryl Strawberry received his call up to the Mets early in the 1983 season.  He went on to hit 26 home runs and win Rookie of the Year honors.  In 1987-88 he posted back-to-back seasons of 39 home runs.  But no Met had ever hit 40 home runs in one season until crowd favorite Todd Hundley set the Mets all-time mark in 1996 with 41 home runs.  In 2006 Carlos Beltran tied the Mets home run record.  This past season Pete Alonso demolished it, becoming the first Mets player ever to achieve 50 home runs in a single season.

Amazin' Date 10/15/1969: Tom Seaver Goes Ten In Game Four Victory

From the desk of: HEAD-BUTTING MR. MET

AMAZIN'

THE MIRACLE METS

50th ANNIVERSARY

1969

WORLD SERIES

GAME FOUR

Orioles   1

Mets       2

10 INNINGS

SHEA STADIUM

TOM SEAVER TEN INNING GEM LIFTS METS TO 3-1 SERIES LEAD OVER BIRDS

The unflappable Gil Hodges and his amazin' Mets are one victory away from clinching baseball's world championship.

• GAME FOUR: Wednesday, October 15, 1969 - BR

In a rematch of game one, Tom Seaver toes the rubber at Shea Stadium opposed by Baltimore's Mike Cuellar.  If you recall it was Seaver making an early exit from the series opener at Baltimore, and Cuellar going the distance for the win.  This time it is Cuellar making an untimely exit while Seaver pitches triumphantly through the tenth.

Also getting his second look at Cuellar is Donn Clendenon who goes 2 for 4 with a double in game one.  On Wednesday leading off the second Donn hits his second home run in his last three games.  Cuellar exits after seven innings having yielded the lone run on seven hits and no walks with five strikeouts in a no-decision effort.  Meanwhile the score remains unchanged through eight.  With one out in the top half of the ninth Tom Seaver yields consecutive singles to Frank Robinson and Boog Powell.  Then with runners on the corners Brooks Robinson strokes a low sinking liner to right field.  Ron Swoboda racing furiously to his right makes a full extension backhanded diving catch for the out.  Frank Robinson tags and scores the tying run from third.  But anything less than Swoboda's amazing catch means that ball bounces all the way to the wall.  Seaver then fans Elrod Henricks ending the threat.

Into extra-innings they go ...

Manager Hodges sends his ace back out for the tenth inning.  Tom Seaver obliges with another scoreless frame.  Leading off the bottom half of the inning against Orioles reliever Dick Hall, Jerry Grote flares an excuse me double up along the left field line.  Al Weis is intentionally walked, and the Orioles then summon reliever Pete Richert.  Pinch-hitting for Seaver, J.C. Martin pushes a bunt up along the first base side.  Richert fields it, but his attempted throw to first hits Martin.  Pinch-runner Rod Gaspar rounds third and when the ball gets away he hustles home scoring the winning run.

Tom Seaver puts forth New York's third straight dominant performance against a seemingly over matched Baltimore lineup.  He faces 38 batters, allowing just one earned run on six hit and two walks with six strikeouts through ten full innings pitched.  The Mets have now limited Baltimore to just a pair of runs and twelves hits over their last three games.  New York's defense also should not go under spoken.  Superlative glove work from Tommie Agee, Bud Harrelson, Cleon Jones, and Ron Swoboda, no doubt have had a deflating effect upon Orioles hitters.

Amazin' Date 10/11/1969: Mets Bow to Mike Cuellar and the Birds in Game One at Baltimore

From the desk of: HEAD-BUTTING MR. MET

AMAZIN'

THE MIRACLE METS

50th ANNIVERSARY

1969

WORLD SERIES

GAME ONE

NEW YORK METS           1

BALTIMORE ORIOLES    4

FINAL

MEMORIAL STADIUM

Just as pundits anticipated, the Mets bow to the mighty Baltimore Orioles in game one of the 1969 Fall Classic at Memorial Stadium.

• GAME ONE: Saturday, October 11, 1969 - BR

Baltimore southpaw and 23-game winner Mike Cuellar stays true to form, limiting the visiting Mets to just one earned run on six hits and four walks with eight strikeouts through nine complete innings pitched.  Cuellar also helps his own cause at the plate with a hit and a run batted in.  Otherwise left fielder Don Buford leads the Birds with a double, home run, and two runs batted in.  Shortstop Mark Belanger accounts for the Orioles fourth run batted in.  Baltimore makes the most of their opportunities going 3 for 4 with runners in scoring position.  The Mets on the other hand leave eight runners on base and bat just 1 for 5 with runners in scoring position.  They score their lone run in the seventh on a sac fly from Al Weis plating Donn Clendenon.  Suffice it to say the afternoon does not go well for Tom Seaver.  He yields four earned runs on six hits and one walk with three strikeouts through five innings pitched.  Don Cardwell and Ron Taylor quiet down the Orioles over the final three frames.