Mack and Company - Pulling Johan

Mack Ade - Art Scott suggested this question.

It was obvious in the Terry Collins press conference that he was both emotional and angry about Johan Santana's no-hitter pitch count. He warned that we won't know if the right thing was done until five days from the outing. Already the ace has been pushed back a turn. Knowing you would have to have gotten on the 7 train and leave town if you pulled Johan, did the Mets do the right thing?

Brian Joura - Forget the 7 train - Collins would have needed a police escort.

According to Gary Cohen, Collins checked in-game with Sandy Alderson and the owners.  He discussed it with Dan Warthen and Johan Santana, too.  I'm not sure what else he could have done.  I don't think he wanted to do it, but when every single person told him to go ahead, including those who sign his checks, what was he to do?

I think it was the right decision.  There's no one on this particular Mets staff with whom I would feel differently.  I think the only case where you pull the pitcher in this spot is if you have a very young ace.  I don't think it would have been prudent for the Rays to let Matt Moore or the Nationals to let Stephen Strasburg throw 134 pitches.

Now we just have to keep our fingers crossed.  But my fingers have been crossed for Santana the entire way, so there's no difference for me.

Anthony Carnacchio - Absolutely. Santana is a world class athlete who is in incredible shape. He rehabbed and trained all offseason for moments like this. Skipping a turn in the rotation to protect him is a great idea but I think If this was September, he would on the bump ready in four days.

Brian Berness - He was still effective. Pitch count is overblown and there is some evidence that today's pitchers are coddled. It’'s not overuse but rather teaching breaking pitches to middle school age children. Let 's average out his last two starts to 115 each and not feel guilty about it. Terry and Johan siezed the moment and good for them.

Craig Brown - Absolutely the right thing.  I've been a Mets for 25 years and there have been far too few moments like Thursday...100 pitches...200 pitches...as many as it takes.

Reese Kaplan - There are a few issues to consider:

The state of Santana's health

The horrific bullpen

The historic significance

I would discount the bullpen thinking that even the Mets couldn't manage to blow so big a lead. The gutsier move would have been to pull him but Terry Collins would then have put himself into a forever second-guessed situation.  The fan base would not crucify him if he got injured as a result of the arm strain (stupid on their part) because they felt the potential and significance of the club's first no-hitter outweighed everything else. 

Having in business been put into no-win type calls like that I likely would have done what Collins did -- ask the pitcher how he felt.  Granted, very few players are going to admit when they are tired but it shifts the onus of the decision from the manager to the player.  If it goes well, everyone forgets about the decision.  If not, then Collins could hold his head high and say, "Johan said he felt fine". 

In the end, it will matter if Santana faces any health repercussions beyond getting some extra rest (which is a smart thing to do).

Art Scott - Personally, I can't see any way someone could say this was the wrong call.  Sure Johan is pitching on a reconstructed shoulder, but it's not like he told Terry he was out of gas, or told him he was feeling some pain.  Instead Johan said "I'm finishing this one" to which Collins replied, as we all know, "you're my hero."  What did Johan eventually go out and do? He threw the first no-hitter in 51 seasons, and that night he obviously had great stuff.  The only reason the decision by Collins is even questioned is because he'd said before the game he was going to limit Johan to 115 pitches.  Before the pitch count became something to which baseball management paid any attention, this wouldn't even be an issue.  It shouldn't be an issue now either. Johan threw only 19 pitches over the 115 planned by Collins, and only 9 over his previous high of 125.  This was a magical game for Johan Santana, a magical game  for the New York Mets, and an even more magical night for Mets fans.  No matter what happens the rest of this season, it will be considered a magical one because of this no-hitter, and it might even be the event which sparks the Mets on towards, as Mr. Seagren put it, another miracle season for our NY Mets.  I think the people who even question Terry Collins on this one don't understand just how special an event this was.  Like Pearl Harbor, like the Challenger explosion, and like 9-11, we Mets fan will always remember where we were and what we were doing when we found out about the no-hitter, that is, for those who weren't watching it, and those who were watching it, will remember WHERE they watched it... and someone's actually going to argue all of this should have been sacrificed for 19 pitches? It's laughable!

David Rubin - Simple answer? Terry couldn't have done anything other then what he did. Taking him out would not only have run him out of town- he would have lost all credibility for the rest of his career.  Furthermore, it's not going to be evident right away if Johan pushed it too far- that won't be evident for probably 3-4 more starts, as it gets to the dog days of summer, and we see if throwing that many pitches has a long-term "hangover." I'm okay with making adjustments to the rotation as a "give-back" for getting the no-hitter into the record books. The magic of that game will truly sustain the team for a long time, and fans will be able to look back at it forever, changing the conversation from "can you believe how much we paid Santana" to "thank goodness we signed Santana and got the no-hitter albatross off of our shoulders." 20-20 hindsight does us no good, and we DO have the no-hitter, so there you are!