In this series about relievers both bad and good, there are quite a few who deserve honorable mentions of sorts for what they accomplished as members of the Mets.
In an era before relief pitching became the super
specialized skill set into which it has now evolved, the unassuming Taylor
served as both a closer and setup guy during the late 1960s and early 1970s for
the NY Mets. He pitched in World Series
for both the Cardinals and the Mets, doing quite well, earning a save for Jerry
Koosman in Game 2. After seeing wounded
soldiers in Vietnam, the Canadian-born Taylor decided he wanted to become a
doctor and became a team physician for the Toronto Blue Jays after his playing
days and medical school were over.
Long remembered for his “You Gotta Believe” rally cry during
the 1973 season when the Mets inexplicably found themselves in their second
World Series when finishing the year with just an 82-79 record (actually worse
than they finished this past 86-win season), McGraw was a true character who
the media loved to interview because he had no filter. Once when asked if he preferred real grass or
Astroturf, he replied, “I don’t know.
I’ve never smoked Astroturf.” For
his career he went 96-92 with a 3.14 ERA and 180 saves. He was lost far too young to cancer, but his
memory lives on in the minds of Mets fans and country music fans whenever his
son Tim performs.
He was not a long time Met but he was sure impactful when he
was there. His first year in the orange
and blue he put together a whale of a season as a setup guy in the pen. He was in 49 games, went 5-1 and had a
terrific 2.60 ERA when he decided to head out for a late night meal in
Miami. The taxi he took was struck by a
drunk driver and Sanchez suffered a separated shoulder which ended his season
and kept him out of baseball the following year as well. He made a full season comeback to the Mets in
2008, again going 5-1 but this time with a much worse 4.32 ERA. In one more year he was out of baseball,
finishing with an ineffective 12-game stint for the Padres.
Perhaps the most iconic photo from the NY Mets 1986 World
Series victory was Orosco throwing his glove up into the air in celebration of
his save and the team’s victory against the Red Sox. It was his second save of the Series and the
brightest spot of his long baseball career.
When he finally retired at age 46 Orosco had played for 9 teams,
accumulating an 87-80 record with a 3.16 ERA for his career to go along with
144 saves. For the Mets he was even
better, with a 2.73 ERA over 8 seasons.
Known as much for his pitching skill as his penchant for
giving hot-foots in the dugout, Roger McDowell is fondly remembered by Mets
fans as an integral part of the 1986 World Series team. For the Mets he would pitch for five years,
going 33-29 with a 3.13 ERA and notching 84 saves as the right handed half of a
shared closer duty.
Punching out your father-in-law in the clubhouse is not a
way to endear yourself to your employer and Rodriguez was traded away from the
Mets for the proverbial bag of balls (in the form of pitcher Danny
Herrera). Herrera appeared in 16 games
for the Mets at age 26, pitching to just a 1.16 ERA but injuries curtailed his
career. In the meantime, Rodriguez is 4th
all-time on the saves list. While he was
a Met, Rodriguez notched 83 of those saves, so he was good if not a good
person.
The hard throwing lefty was a Mets closer for a short period
of time, derailed by injuries. He
pitched parts of 4 years, accumulated 101 saves and pitched to a miniscule 2.37
ERA. For his career he’s 6th
on the all-time list just behind one-time teammate John Franco. For some reason the fans never really took to
him.
He was also a character, but later we learned that it was
fueled by alcohol. His habits were
mostly hidden by the media, but when it got to be too much, the Mets decided to
trade their problem child for one on the St. Louis Cardinals – Keith
Hernandez. I think they’d make that
trade every day and twice on Sunday.
The long-time setup man was a mostly effective pitcher for
the Mets and the Braves. He was part of
the package that landed them George Stone for the improbable run of excellence
he had in 1973 which resulted in a World Series appearance. In 1971 and 1972 both Frisella and Tug McGraw
formed a stellar righty/lefty duo to close out games. When he and Gary Gentry went to Atlanta for
Felix Millan and George Stone, it was a bit of a tough pill to swallow, but
Frisella tragically died in a dune buggy accident on New Year’s Day in 1977 at
age 30 and Gentry was out of baseball long before 30, appearing in only 26 games
over a three-year period for Atlanta due to nagging injuries.
5 comments:
Koosman for Orosco trade - probably the longest combined careers of two guys ever traded for one another. His glove flip in 1986 is an enduring memory.
Roger MacDowell - I remember him most for his extended outing in game 6 in 1986 against Houston.
Loved Tug McGraw - and the fact that as an early 20s starter, he was the first Met to slay the great Sandy Koufax.
Loved his co-closer Ron Taylor too - effective sinkerballer.
And, contrary to other fans, I loved Billy Wagner. My most memorable moment with him was as an opponent - in 1998 when Mike Piazza took a 100 mile per hour high outside Wagner fastball over the fence in right center in a turning point of the game, turning a late 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 lead. Check out the video here: https://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/mets/mike-piazza-10-biggest-mets-home-runs-video-article-1.2721505
Reese, superb 7 article reliever series - a must-read for any true Mets fan. Could almost be expanded into a book.
FWIW...
Sanchez is a follower of Mack's Mets
Thanks, Tom. One more piece on relievers on Friday then it's time to offer up some thoughts on the current state of the Mets.
I just remembered another one I'd rather forget...do you recall when the Mets closer was Braden Looper?
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