10/5/2016 San Francisco Giants 3, New York Mets 0

Citi Field, Flushing, NY

NL Wild Card Game

Seems like I'll never get my "Jay Bruce: Postseason Hero" book project off the ground.

My scoresheets, using my pitch-counting method! Read about it HERE, download the scoresheets for free HERE!

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11/1/2015 Kansas City Royals 7, New York Mets 2

Citi Field, Flushing, NY
World Series Game 5
KC wins the Series 4-1

So many #feels...the World Series ends with Game 5, when it feels like it was played all seven. I could trot out a blathering repertoire of analysis and chuck wagon here, but I'm kind of speechless. The team that came this close to winning it all last year, defeating a team that I really have no troubles with (yes, even though they swept the Cubs).

Instead of me going on and on about this, you're better off reading Sam Miller's commentary at Baseball Prospectus (don't worry, paywall cheapazoids...it's a free article, no $ required).

As for my revered Uncle Bob...sorry about the loss, but be proud of what you've taken an active part in over the past several years. 

Leave it to the guy who represents my original interest as a child in baseball to introduce a new and unusual theological dilemma into my eccentric blend of fandom. I was rooting for the Royals, but felt like I was rooting for Bobby the whole time...I'm too old to be confused anymore, but I certainly enjoyed whatever it was that stayed with me throughout the series.

My scoresheets, using my pitch-counting method! Read about it HERE, download the scoresheets for free HERE!

10/17/2015 Chicago Cubs 2, New York Mets 4

Citi Field, Flushing, NY

NLCS Game 1

AW, DAMMIT

My scoresheets, using my pitch-counting method! Read about it HERE, download the scoresheets for free HERE!

If you enjoy my work, I encourage you to spread the word via Twitter 

(I am @yoshiki89), and also please leave a comment!

Catching up on 2011 games...

I stumbled upon a handful of scoresheets for games from 2011 (3 from May, 1 from June) that I hadn't posted yet, so without further ado, here they are.  Expect light write-ups.  I think I tried to forget one of these games on purpose...ohh, Doug Davis.

5/24/11 New York Mets 1, Chicago Cubs 11

5/26/11 New York Mets 2, Chicago Cubs 9

5/27/11 Pittsburgh Pirates 4, Chicago Cubs 2

6/30/11 San Francisco Giants 2, Chicago Cubs 5

7/24/12 Buffalo Bisons 1, Louisville Bats 4

Louisville Slugger Field, Louisville, KY
Game 1 of 4

Dollar Hot Dog night is important stuff.  If I don't get 2 Tuesday night tickets in my annual bundle, I end up having to trade with other members of my season ticket partnership.  Both of my daughters enjoy Dollar Hot Dog night, and hey...I happen to enjoy a few hot dogs from time to time as well.  We were promised less than desirable weather tonight, including but not limited to gallons of rain, but when $1 hot dogs are involved,  a rain delay is just another excuse to sit inside and eat a few more.

I'm not sure how Felix Perez feels about hot dogs, or rain delays for that matter...but Chihiro and I had our share of hot dogs, plus a 1 hour 7 minute rain delay with the most violent rain and wind I've ever seen at Louisville Slugger Field, and Felix Perez went 3-for-4 with an RBI against the visiting Buffalo Bisons.  

Didi Gregorius did his part in the first inning, with a dandy of a line-drive solo HR in deep right field to give the Bats an early lead.  The Bisons responded in the 3rd, when Lucas May led off the inning with a double, was advanced to 3rd on a sacrifice bunt by starting pitcher Chris Schwinden, and eventually scored on a 2-out RBI single by Mike Baxter.

The score was locked at 1-1 and hey, even Chad Reineke was having one of his better evenings...through his 5 innings of work, he had only allowed 1 run (earned), 5 hits, one BB and 5 strikeouts (4 of them swinging).  Schwinden was holding his own well after the Gregorius opening potato, having allowed only that 1 run (earned), 6 hits, no walks, one HB and 5 strikeouts (all of them swinging).  The game was moving along at a brisk pace, when at 8:22pm (only 1:17 into the game), the bottom of the 5th, with 1 on and 2 outs, the rain hit hard, the tarp went on, and stayed on until 9:29pm.  By that time, Schwinden (as well as Reineke)  could not have been expected to continue the game...Schwinden was relieved by Jenrry Mejia, who retired Neftali Soto to end the 5th.

Mejia stayed in for another inning, while Reineke was relieved by Will Ohman, Nick Christiani, and Donnie Joseph...all 3 of whom pitched 4 scoreless innings, with 3 combined hits and 8 combined strikeouts.  Relieving Mejia for the Bisons was Dylan Owen, who opened the 7th with a leadoff single to Willie Harris.  Harris advanced to 2nd on a sacrifice bunt by Denis Phipps; the next batter was Gregorius, who was intentionally walked on the 3-0 pitch, and Harris crossed the plate on a line drive single over 2nd base by Henry Rodriguez.  Neftali Soto also walks to load the bases for Felix Perez.  Perez is already 3-for-3 tonight with a double and two singles, and would have made an RBI groundout to 1B Adam Loewen, but Loewen bobbles the ball...Loewen is charged with an error.  Perez still gets an RBI, and Rodriguez also scores (no RBI) and the Bats are quickly up 4-1, they maintain this score through the end of the game.

So, finally Felix Perez becomes the story behind the game, for the first time this season...and not because of his side-splitting walkup music.  Not to be confused with the Venezuelan Felix Perez that played in the Cubs organization in 2010-2011, this Felix Perez is the Cuban outfielder who was infamously suspended for a year by MLB in the spring of 2009, after nearly signing a $3-3.5 million deal with the Yankees that fell apart when it was discovered he had lied about his age.  Perez rebounded from this and signed a Minor League contract with the Reds in May of 2010 for just over a half-million dollars.  Following a rapid ascent through the Reds' system through 2010 and most of 2011, Perez arrived in Louisville in August of 2011, playing in 9 games with a disappointing .206/.250/.235 to finish the season.  Perez is one of the more consistent performers on this year's roster, currently rounding out at .272/.319/.362 with 48 strikeouts and 15 walks in 268 AB (by comparison, Bill Rhinehart is .241/.321/.383 with 57 strikeouts and 30 walks in 261 AB).

That being said, my kids and I know when he's up when we hear "Chacarron Mocaron" which is too hilarious not to share.  He's an international man of mystery, for sure...but without a drastic improvement in his offensive numbers, he remains blocked by others at the Major League level and can only hope for inclusion in a trade deal during the offseason to carry his career to the big leagues.

In the Mystery Rookie Card game, Chihiro made a stunning pick...this 1993 Upper Deck Johnny Damon RC, a card with questionable value but still very kool just the same.

My pick was not so exciting, a 2006 Topps 52 Dustin Nippert RC.  Dustin was a 15th round pick in the 2002 amateur draft and was a mainstay in the Diamondbacks organization for 6 seasons from 2002-2007, appearing in 41 games for the club from 2005-2007 with a combined 2-3 record and 6.43 ERA.  Dustin was traded to the Texas Rangers in the spring of 2008 for Jose Marte, and performed somewhat better for the MLB club, with a 12-13 record and 4.91 ERA in 78 games from 2008-2010.  Interesting Dustin Nippert fact is despite his lackluster career performance, he managed to make postseason appearances for both clubs; the Diamondbacks NLCS in 2007 (2 games), and the Rangers ALDS in 2010 (1 game)...with a career postseason ERA of 5.40.  Also interesting, Dustin was sidelined in a scary incident on July 19, 2010 when an Austin Jackson line drive hit him on the side of the head so hard, it ricocheted past 3rd base into left field.  He walked off the field on his own accord (and did so smiling).  Tough kid, granted free agency by the Rangers in December of 2010 and signed a contract with the KBO (Korean Baseball Organization) Doosan Bears in March of 2011, and is still on their roster as a starting pitcher.

I attempted, with no success, to trade this card with Chihiro for the Damon RC.  

Official Program #3, featuring Kristopher Negron

Official Scorecard #3, featuring Corky Miller...and autographed by Corky Miller!!

Bat Chat

7/7/12 Chicago Cubs 1, New York Mets 3

Citi Field, Flushing, NY
Game 2 of 3

Well, it finally happened!  On June 26, just over a week ago, RIZZOMANIA arrived in Chicagoland!!

Kevin Goldstein now has an extra 3 hours of his day back (only to be replaced by questions about Junior Lake, I suppose...or twice as many questions about Brett Jackson), and the Cubs have Anthony Rizzo in the lineup.  And this is pretty exciting stuff.

Sure there are lots of expectations for Rizzo in Chicago, and the pressure is certainly on.  There were also expectations for Rizzo in San Diego last year, but the shoes he was expected to fill were pretty darn big (Adrian Gonzalez) for starters, his eventual thumb injury didn't help batters...but the story is quite different now.  I don't think even the most psychotic of Cubs fans expects Rizzo to be the key to a World Series any time over the next 5 years; at best his presence at first will fill a void some fans found vacant when Derrek Lee was traded, a void that even Carlos Pena couldn't fill.  Only time will tell how that's going to work out, but for now, Rizzo is here and he's a great deal of fun to watch.  

Rizzo's debut in a Cubs uniform was, incidentally, against the Mets at home.  He was 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI and the Cubs beat the Mets 5-3.  So, this is what hope is about: Randy Wells started that game (and couldn't finish it) against Dillon Gee.  10 days later, the Cubs are in New York, Gee is on the mound again, and Wells is back at AAA (he was sent there immediately following the June 26th outing, also known as "Randy's Last Straw"), and this is the first time I am seeing Rizzo in action with the Cubs.

With Wells gone, Samardzija is here to face Gee; this time the tables are turned and Gee turns in an amazing performance, 8IP, 7H 1ER, 4K.  Samardzija seems to be rushing his delivery a bit, and gets tagged for 2 HRs, from which all 3 of the Mets runs were scored.  Still, the Shark goes 7 innings, walks 2 and strikes out 4 (3 of those were swinging).  One would like to look at this outing and think he didn't do all that poorly...well, but Gee had the upper hand, and that's that.

But, hey...who in the hell is Jordanny Valdespin??

This guy was truly shocking, could this be the dawning of the "Valdespin Era" for Mets fans?  I was surprised to see him in the lineup, as I really honestly didn't know who he was.  Found out quickly who he was when he tattooed a solo shot waayyyy over in right-center field on a 1-1 pitch in his first at-bat of the game, 2nd inning.  

Valdespin moved up rather quickly in the Mets system, so quickly over the past couple of years that between the last time I saw the Buffalo Bisons in Louisville last season, he was in Binghamton...he was called up to Buffalo in August, and barely hit the ground there to start the AAA season in April when he made his Mets debut in April 23.  Mostly making spot starts and appearing in primarily pinch-hitting roles, but the more PAs he started to get, the better his results...through May 30, he was .095/.136/.238, 1HR and 3 RBI (WPA 0.147) in 22 PA.  By comparison, in June he was .286/.302/.524, 1HR and 9 RBI (WPA 0.281) in 43 PA.  Kinda sexy stuff.

However, you may be asking yourself...how are the Mets doing with Valdespin's performance during these two distinct periods of time?  From April 23 through May 30, the Mets were 8-8 in the 16 games Valdespin played in.  From June 3 through June 23, the Mets were 7-10 in the 17 games Valdespin played in; about the same amount of games, just about twice as many PA.  I guess that's why they call it "win probability added"...sure, it's higher during his better offensive period, but his offense isn't the single most contributing factor to the team's winning games.  One month in comparison to another is also two sample sizes that are almost too small to call...even with more PA, Valdespin averaged 2.47 AB per game (2.53 PA) during June.  It will be interesting to see how he does with more playing time...and how that playing time contributes to what could be a great season for the Mets.

Go CUBS!!!

10/6/91 New York Mets 7, Philadelphia Phillies 0

Veterans Stadium, Philadelphia, PA
Game 3 of 3
(Final game of the 1991 Regular Season)

David Cone famously strikes out 19 in his complete game shut-out of the Phillies.


The Kansas City native went the distance and ties the NL strikeout record (previously tied by Tom Seaver, also as a Met, in 1970) with 18 swinging and 1 called K. How did he do it? For the most part, he got the Phillies by making them "climb the ladder"...seeing the guy who made this tactic famous was amazing; I don't think I've ever seen it executed so many times and quite so masterfully. This would be his last full season with the Mets before being traded in August of 1992 to the Toronto Blue Jays for Jeff Kent and a PTBNL (Ryan Thompson).



Both the Mets and the Phillies were waayyy out of contention for a postseason appearance, one would be hard pressed to believe that history would be made during this otherwise dismal, rainy day in Philadelphia. The fans made the most of it, even Phillies fans in attendance seemed to enjoy and appreciate the events as they unfolded…

Clever baseball fans in the 90s used “coneheads” to track Cone’s strikeouts during a game…as you can see in this screenshot from the game, they are really stacking up in later innings, along with a sign that reads “Let’s Go Mets, Let’s Go Phillies, Let’s Go Baseball, Let’s Play 2”…there must have been some unusual ‘we’re not going to the World Series this year’ unity in the grandstand…

Of course, the Phillies swung at a lot of great pitches…the Mets, on the other hand, took care of starting pitcher Andy Ashby and relievers Bruce Ruffin and Wally Ritchie; each pitcher allowed at least 1 run (Ashby allowed 5 in 5IP and threw 2 wild pitches; Phillies catcher Doug Lindsey was charged with a passed ball).

The Phillies get on base 4 times (Mickey Morandini on a single, Wes Chamberlain and Dave Hollins with doubles, Mickey Morandini on a 1st inning walk), all are left on base.

Mets CF Daryl Boston went 2-for-5 with a HR and a triple, LF Kevin McReynolds went 2-for-3, 3B Gregg Jeffries went 2-for-4 with 2 RBI, 1B Chris Donnels (yes, the Mitchell Report guy with the great eyebrows) went 1-for-4 with an RBI, and switch-hitting Howard Johnson went 1-for-5 with an RBI. However, aside from David Cone…this game belonged to Keith Miller.

Most of you know my abject devotion to the fantastic blog The Greatest 21 Days, which focuses on the ‘members’ of the 1990 CMC baseball card set. If this blog is not part of your daily reading, you’re missing out on some of the best baseball blogging ever!! I’m happy to report that this game features a whopping 10 CMC set members! With late-season roster call-ups a proliferation of minor league talent normally flows into the expanded rosters of teams; when the season is over before it’s over, it stands to reason that in the last game of the season, you can expect them to get some playing time. Starting with Keith Miller, let’s look at each CMC set member who played in the game; if they have been featured on The Greatest 21 Days, you have links to those stories as well so you can read Steve78’s excellent, excellent, excellent work! Yes, friends…that is triple excellent!

247 Keith Miller - (not yet featured)
Again, forget for just a moment David Cone’s accomplishment, if you can. During that moment, pencil this in as “the Keith Miller game,” Keith went 4-for-5 with a solo HR, two doubles, and 2 RBI. Keith looks like a member of DEVO with his goggles on:

He is DEVO! Mark Mothersbaugh's long lost twin brother…without the goggles and helmet, he looks just like Ryan Theriot!!Keith's career with the Mets ended right here, with this game. He was traded in a transaction I shall describe towards the end of this post...

367 Jeff Gardner - ”Every Day”
Jeff struck out twice, flew out and grounded out. Gardner was traded to the Padres a few months later for Steve Rosenberg and saw no full-time MLB play until the 1993 season.
SCOREKEEPER’S NOTE: Jeff’s groundout to Ricky Jordan in the 4th was actually a line drive that landed straight into Jordan’s glove, but popped out as Jordan attempted to squeeze it single-handedly…this happens often, and when the ball is picked up by the fielder for a putout or an assist, it’s always scored as a ground ball; even if the line drive pops out of the glove and into the bare hand of the fielder…

803 Kim Batiste - (not yet featured)
Kim earns a “Golden Sombrero” in this game, striking out 4 times against Cone (all swinging). He was called “the Phillies shortstop of the future” by Ralph Kiner during the broadcast; he did have a great year with the Phillies in 1993 (.282/.298/.436., OPS .734 in 79 games) but wasn’t quite their “shortstop of the future” and was released by the Phils in 1995.

240 Mickey Morandini - ”Reckless Abandon”
Mickey was 1-for-3 with a walk, the only Phillie to reach base twice, and stole a base in the 1st inning. Mickey (“Dandy Little Glove Man”) was with the Phils until 1997, when he became a Chicago Cub for two years on a trade with the Phillies for Doug Glanville. As a Cub, Mickey would play in yet another extremely famous mega-strikeout game, when Kerry Wood fanned 20 to break David Cone’s NL record established in this game!

23 Wes Chamberlain - (not yet featured)
Wes struck out three times and doubled in the 9th with 2 outs. He was an OPS beast for the Phillies (.747 through 1994), not so much for the Boston Red Sox (.548 in 70 games during 1994 and 1995, traded to Boston for Billy Hatcher and Paul Quantrill), the end of the MLB road for Chamberlain. In August of 1995 he was traded to the Royals for Chris James, then released…his minor league career ended in 1999 and he spent the next 5 years playing Independent League Baseball.

245 Ron Jones - ”Sense of Competitiveness”
Jones entered the game as a pinch-hitter for Ricky Jordan in the 7th inning and flew out to Howard Johnson. 1991 was Jones’ last year of MLB action, this was his final plate appearance for the Phillies.

776 Doug Lindsey - ”No Joke”
This was Doug Lindsey’s MLB debut; he struck out 3 times and was charged with a passed ball. He didn’t see any MLB action in 1992 and was the PTBNL in the Donn Pall trade with the Chicago White Sox.

392 Jim Lindeman - (not yet featured)
Jim entered the game in the 6th inning in the double switch with pitcher Bruce Ruffin, hitting in Andy Ashby’s spot and taking over at 1B for Ricky Jordan. Jim struck out and flew out. A native of Evanston, IL, Jim was selected by the St Louis Cardinals in the 1st round of the 1983 draft (24th overall) and appeared on MLB rosters with the Cardinals and the Detroit Tigers before joining the Phillies organization as a free agent in January 1991. Lindeman would sign with the Mets as a free agent in late 1993, appearing in 52 games with an OPS of .800 in 1994, his final MLB season.

784 Andy Ashby - ”Wasn’t Worried”
Andy pitched 5 innings, allowing 7 hits, 5 runs (all earned), walking one, striking out 4, allowing one HR and was charged with 2 wild pitches (Frank Cashen called one of them a “Wild Wild Pitch”). Andy was drafted by the Colorado Rockies as the 25th pick in the 1992 expansion draft, leaving the Phillies with a 6.77 ERA and a 1.566 WHIP in 18 games from 1991 and 1992, but would return to the Phillies for part of the 2000 season.

232 Wally Ritchie - ”Tough Situations” (12/1/11), ”Another Chance” (2/21/10)
Ah, yes…last but certainly not the least, Wally Ritchie! One of my favorite CMC set members, Wally pitched 2 innings to finish this game, allowing 2 hits, 1 run (Daryl Boston’s HR in the 9th), and struck out Jeff Gardner looking. Wally was a reliever for the Phillies through 1992, when he was granted free agency, and is probably best remembered for his one-game suspension as a result of the “Otis Nixon Incident,” where Nixon charged the mound after being hit by a pitch, instigating a brawl on the field. Ritchie never pitched in the majors after 1992, and in October of 2011 was announced as the new pitching coach for his alma mater, Brigham Young University.

The game was originally broadcast on WOR-TV and called by legendary Mets broadcaster Ralph Kiner; the WOR color analyst for the 1991 season was typically Tim McCarver (yes, the same stumblebum we endure on FOX today) but Tim was out, so Kiner’s “guest” was none other than Frank Cashen, the Mets GM who would ironically be Mets GM no more shortly after this game. Kiner lovingly calls Gregg Jeffries’ single in the 1st inning “an astro-turf base hit.” After about 10 minutes, it’s almost impossible to tell the voices of Kiner and Cashen apart.

Besides Cashen’s exit as GM, in December of 1991 two Mets appearing in this game (Kevin McReynolds and Gregg Jeffries) would be traded to the Royals for Bill Pecota and this guy:Keith Miller was also part of this trade; he was a Royal until 1995 (spending most of 1993-1995 in the minors), when he was released.

I scored this game on 12/7/11



Box Score and Play-by-play on Retrosheet


If you enjoy my work, I encourage you to spread the word via Twitter
(I am @yoshiki89), and also please leave a comment!

8/11/11 San Diego Padres 3, New York Mets 2

Citi Field, Queens, NY
Game 3 of 4


Cameron Maybin…by golly, in case you hadn’t heard he’s a PADRE now!!

I have to admit, with everything that’s been going on this season, I haven’t done my due diligence in following the Padres as I have the past few years. Of course, I continue to be challenged to only seeing games on TV if they are on FOX, TBS, or MLB Network (remember, I said “no” to ESPN a long time ago). Of course, I can listen to any games via Gameday Audio, and I’ve done that a few times in the past couple of years, but there has been some displacement with an increase in MiLB and Independent League Baseball this season.

And no, it’s not because Adrian Gonzalez is gone. I always knew he wouldn’t be around much longer. That being said, here (in August, crikey!!) is the first Padres game I’ve watched in several months. And I have to tell you, not just because of one game, but because of one guy and his impact on this young team: the future for the Padres is looking good. I believe that and so should you.

A-Gon is “Gone.” That’s it, get over it. And arguably in a much better place. Yes. The signing of Cameron Maybin was a question mark in my mind, but let’s face it: he delivers. He’s 3rd on the team for AVG, 7th in OBP, 5th in SLG, and 2nd in games played. With now-gone Ryan Ludwick leading the team in homers, Maybin is right behind him and is the current HR leader for the Padres, not having reached double-digits yet. His OPS is better since All-Star break.

So Statistically, what I’m saying about Maybin’s impact on the team doesn’t really hold a bunch water…and I never want to go on record as saying one person alone makes a difference…I am a “team” guy and always will be. This game is a small sample size, true…but in this game alone I see something I didn’t see a lot of last year when Mat Latos wasn’t pitching…and that is some residual electricity coming from a player who has the experience to galvanize the whole staff, and today, that somebody was Cameron Maybin, and I think it’s a good thing to recognize this.



Not wanting to discount the Mets…their problems are in magnitude severe compared to the Padres problems (which are in some ways similar to, but still not as bad as the Cubs’ problems but closer to the Royals’ problems). I was just as surprised to see the Mets and their candor on the field and their support of SP Jonathon Niese…even to the point of SS Ruben Tejada’s 2 errors in tight situations. The Mets aren’t laying down, and in the first 2 games of the series handed the Padres consecutive rounds of defeat.

Game 3 changed the tone of the series, and Maybin made things happen today, with a solo HR in the 5th to finally put the Padres on the board and some sexy baserunning in the 8th to help the Padres get their game-winning run in. True, Tejada’s error allowed Maybin to score from 3rd, but Maybin was there in 2 successful stolen base attempts after a lead-off single. You could feel the lineup’s confidence increase when Maybin got on base to start the inning…these guys knew the chances were good that Maybin could make it if they all did their part and eked out a run to break the 2-2 tie.

And they did. And that’s really what mattered. Padres bullpen looked good, and the Mets pitching staff did an enormous job of ‘doing their best’ to keep the Pads down. Hats off to Padres SP Cory Luebke, my first time seeing him and he was impressive.

I hate to be one of those guys that keeps saying “next year…” but then again I never hesitate to say it, and if this game is any indication…I have every right to. Here's hoping Cam stays on for a few more years and further entrenches his role on this team as an ignitor.

5/26/11 New York Mets 3, Chicago Cubs 9

Wrigley Field, Chicago, IL
Game 3 of 3

Tony Campana's first MLB start, Kosuke Fukudome's first HR of the season.  R.A. Dickey leaves the game early, injured on his way to cover 1B on a play, and Pedro Beato gives the Cubs an early lead by allowing 4 ER in 1.1 innings pitched.