Tom Seaver Wins His 300th Game

On this day in Baseball History August 4, 1985, Tom Seaver of the Chicago White Sox wins his 300th game by throwing a complete game against the New York Yankees in front of 54,032 fans at Old Yankees Stadium. Stealing the thunder from Phil Rizzuto on Phil Rizzuto Day at the stadium, Seaver allowed only 6 hits and one walk, while striking out 7 ending the game by getting Don Baylor to fly-out.

Seaver became just the 17th pitcher to ever reach the 300-win plateau. Here is the list of the other 16 300-game winners at the time Seaver joined the club (in the order in which they reached the plateau):

1. 1888 Pud Calvin
2. 1890 Tim Keefe
3. 1890 Mickey Welch
4. 1891 Charles Radbourne
5. 1892 John Clarkson
6. 1900 Kid Nichols
7. 1901 Cy Young
8. 1912 Christy Mathewson
9. 1915 Ed Plank
10. 1920 Walter Johnson
11. 1924 Grover Alexander
12. 1941 Lefty Grove
13. 1961 Warren Spahn
14. 1963 Early Wynne
15. 1982 Gaylord Perry
16. 1983 Steve Carlton

Here is footage of Tom Seaver retiring Don Baylor for the final out in his 300th win:

Seaver would go on to finish his career with the Boston Red Sox in 1986 compiling a 311-205 career record with a 2.86 ERA in 20-seasons. Seaver was the 1967 National League Rookie of the Year Award a 12-times All-Star with 2 National League Cy Young Awards (1969/1973) and 5-top ten MVP votes.

Seaver would be inducted in the National Baseball Hall of Fame by the BBWAA as Player in 1992 by a whopping 98.84% of the vote (425/430 ballots). Seaver holds the distinction of being the player to be inducted by the highest voting percentage in the baseball Hall of Fame history

While special that he won his 300th in New York City, it would have been even more so had it happened in Flushing while Seaver was wearing the Mets' pinstripes. Tom Seaver was truly terrific.

Until Then Keep Playing Ball,
Baseball Sisco
#baseballsisco
#baseballsiscokidstyle

For Further Reading:
- Click Here for Tom Seaver's career statistics from Baseball Reference.com
- Click Here to access the boxscore for Tom Seaver's 300th win on August 4, 1985 from Baseball Reference.com

4 Mets Have Had 7 or More All-Star Appearances

With the Subway Series looming over the horizon, I've decided to do a Mets-centric post. I originally saw this on Google+ and decided to expand on it little a bit. +New York Mets posted that Mets third baseman David Wright has 7 All-Star appearances, there are three other Mets players that have made 7 or more All-Star appearances while with the Mets. Who were they? First I'll go into Wright.

- David Wright

Currently in his 11th season with the Metropolitanos, he is the only active player on this list. Wright made his first All-Star appearance in 2006. He would make five straight All-Star appearances from 2006-2010 while missing the game in 2011. Wright has made two straight All-Star appearances since 2012. Of his 7 appearances, Wright was voted the starting third baseman in 5 of them including last year's game played at Citi Field.Wright has a .389 batting average with 7 hits in 18 at-bats including a homerun.

- Click Here to access David Wright's career statistics from Baseball Reference.com
- Click Here to access David Wright's All-Star statistics from Baseball Almanac.com

- Mike Piazza

Former Mets catcher and future Hall of Famer Mike Piazza made 7 All-Star appearances for the Mets. His first All-Star appearance for the Mets in 1998, the year that he was traded twice (Dodgers to the Marlins then Marlins to the Mets). He would make five straight appearances from 1998-2002 and then two more from 2004-2005. Piazza was voted the National League starting catcher in six of his seven appearances with the Mets. In total, Piazza made a total of 12 All-Star appearances (5 Dodgers/7 Mets). In total he would hit .240 with 6 hits in 25 at-bats with a double and a two homeruns. Piazza was the All-Star MVP of the 1996 game that was played at Veterans Stadium, Philadelphia.

- Click Here to access Mike Piazza's career statistics from Baseball Reference.com
- Click Here to access Mike Piazza's All-Star statistics from Baseball Almanac.com 

- Darryl Strawberry

Strawberry made his debut with the New York Mets on May 6, 1983 winning the National League Rookie of the Year. In 1984 he would make his first All-Star Appearance. In total Strawberry would have 7 All-Star appearances for the Mets and he would be the only player on this list to do so consecutively from 1984-1990. Strawberry was voted the starter for five consecutive games from 1984-1988. In total, Strawberry made 8 straight All-Star appearances (7 Mets/1 Dodgers). He batted .333 with 4 hits in 12 at-bats.

- Click Here to access Darryl Strawberry's career statistics from Baseball Reference.com
- Click Here to access Darryl Strawberry's career statistics from Baseball Almanac.com 

- Tom Seaver

Hall of Famer Tom Terrific made his debut for the Mets in 1967 and would make his first All-Star appearance as a rookie. This would be the first of seven straight All-Star appearances from 1967-1973. He would make another two straight appearances for the Mets from 1975-1976. Seaver was named the starter of the 1970 All-Star game that was played at Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati. He would have probably made a 10th appearance as a Met but he would be traded to the Cincinnati Reds on June 15, 1977 in a heartbreaker of a trade for Seaver and Mets fans alike. Seaver would make a total of 12 All-Star teams (9 Mets/3 Reds). Seaver went 0-0 with 4.85 ERA 14 hits (3 homers) allowed in 13.1 innings pitched with 16 strikeouts and 4 walks.

- Click Here to access Tom Seaver's career statistics from Baseball Reference.com
- Click Here to access Tom Seaver's career statistics from Baseball Almanac.com

Well there you go. Thanks to +New York Mets on Google+ for the question and inspiration for the post.

Until Then Play Ball,
Baseball Sisco

Pete Rose Played With 11 Hall of Famers

In an interview yesterday with Dan Patrick, Pete Rose spoke on a number of subjects. Once subject that piqued my interest was based in a comment that he made. Here is the quote:

“I know nobody that played with me took steroids,” he said. “I played with 11 Hall of Famers and played against 52 Hall of Famers, and I don’t know any of them linked to steroids.”

Now that got my wheels a-turning. Who are these 11 Hall of Famers that Rose played with. Consider this, Rose played from 1963-1986 (ironically the same number of years that he has been suspended).  In thinking about which teams he played with I came up with 7 definite answers. Here are the ones I got off the bat (in that order):

Johnny Bench
Joe Morgan
Tony Perez
Mike Schmidt
Steve Carlton
Tom Seaver
Frank Robinson

When I asked Pete for his input, aside from my first five answers, he gave me this one:

Barry Larkin

Now that makes 8. So I decided to think about who he played with on Montreal while with the Expos that became Hall of Famers. Andre Dawson came immediately to mind but I was unsure if Dawson signed with the Chicago Cubs before or after 1984. After checking the trusty Baseball Reference.com Dawson did in face play with Rose in Montreal as well as Gary Carter. That put us at 10.

Here is where it gets tricky. We were absolutely stumped. I went and checked every year that Rose played and looked to see who his teammates were and found a player who had a cup of coffee with the Philadelphia Phillies in the form of 6-at bats during the 1981 season. Any guesses? It was an 18-year old Ryne Sandberg. Bringing the list to 11.

Now I'm going to sound like an infomerical: Wait!!!! There's more. I'm going to add a 12th Hall of Famer. Now Pete didn't play with him but played for him: Sparky Anderson was the manager of the Big Red Machine.

So there you have the list. Maybe if I'm feeling up to it I'll try to deduce who were the 52 Hall of Famers that Pete Rose played against....Maybe ;)

Until Then, enjoy the clip of the interview Pete Rose did with Dan Patrick on July 25, 2013:

Sisco Kid

Another Ex-Mets Pitcher Throws a No-No/Perfecto

I got up from my Pre-work nap to discover that Chicago White Sox starter Phil Humber was into the 9th inning against the Seattle Mariners: throwing a Perfect game. Mind you, there have only been 20 perfectos in Baseball. Humber was on the cusp of joining an illustrious club. After Humber retired the 27th batter he faced and i stood there watching the White Sox players celebrating on the diamond at Safeco Field something else came to mind.

Aside from becoming the 21st member of the Perfect Game Club, Humber also joined another club. This club is made up of pitchers who threw either a no hitter or a perfect game after leaving the New York Mets. The irony is that the New York Mets (Along with the San Diego Padres) are the only MLB franchises to never have a no hitter or a perfect game thrown by one of their pitchers.

With Humber's performance today, the total of ex-Met pitchers to throw either a no-no or a perfect game after leaving the Metropolitans is seven.

Here is the list:
Nolan Ryan (California Angels, Houston Astros, Texas Rangers) 
Tom Seaver (Cincinnati Reds) 
Mike Scott (Houston Astros) 
Dwight Gooden (New York Yankees) 
David Cone (New York Yankees) 
Hideo Nomo (Boston Red Sox) 
Philip Humber (Chicago White Sox)

What makes this list impressive is that you have arguably four of the greatest pitchers to play for the Mets in Ryan, Seaver, Gooden and Cone reaching their no hitter/perfect game achievements elsewhere. Ryan has more no-hitters than any other pitcher in the history if the game (Sandy Koufax is next with four no-hitters). Seaver took three no hitters into the ninth inning and lost two with one out and one with two outs in the ninth in Dave Stiebian fashion (Stieb of the Toronto Blue Jays took 4 no-hitters into the ninth and lost them before he recorded a no-hitter). Humber is a former 1st round pick for the Mets in 2004 and Scott was utterly dominant in his NY Cy Young and NL League Championship Series MVP (in a losing effort) season of 1986 and to further add insult to injury, Scott was potentially the only man who could derail the locomotive that was the 1986 New York Mets. So the feats of these pitchers make each and every no hitter or perfect game thrown outside of Shea Stadium and Citi Field that much more bitter.  

Here is the breakdown of no hitters/perfect thrown by the former Mets pitchers:

Nolan Ryan
- May 15, 1973 – California Angles 3, Kansas City Royals 0 away at Kansas City
- June 15, 1973 – California Angels 6, Detroit Tigers 0 away at Detroit
- Sept. 28, 1974 – California Angels 4, Minnesota Twins 0 in Anaheim
- June 1, 1975 – California Angels 1 Baltimore Orioles 0 in Anaheim
- Sept. 26, 1981 – Houston Astros 5 Los Angeles Dodgers 0 home in Houston
- June 11, 1990 – Texas Rangers 5 Oakland A’s 0 away at Oakland
- May 1, 1991 – Texas Rangers 3 Toronto Blue Jays 0 home in Texas

Tom Seaver
- June 16, 1978 – Cincinnati Reds 4, St. Louis Cardinals 0 home in Cincinnati

Mike Scott
- September 25, 1986 – Houston Astros 2, San Francisco Giants 0 home in Houston

Dwight Gooden
- May 14, 1996 – New York Yankees 2, Seattle Mariners 0 home in the Bronx

David Cone
- July 18, 1999 – New York Yankees 6, Montreal Expos 0 in the Bronx ***Perfect Game

Hideo Nomo
- April 4, 2001 – Boston Red Sox 3, Baltimore Orioles 0 away at Baltimore

Philip Humber
- April 12, 2012 – Chicago White Sox 4, Seattle Mariners 0 away at Seattle ***Perfect Game

Combined No-Hitters with former Mets pitchers

Alejandro Peña
On Sept. 11, 1991, Peña was a part of a three-pitcher no-hitter for the Braves closing out a game that was started by Kent Mercker (6 innings) and relieved by Mark Wohlers (2 innings). The Braves beat the San Diego Padres 1-0. Pena had been traded to the Braves from the Mets earlier in the season. Oswalt was removed in the first inning due to an injury.

Octavio Dotel
On June 11, 2003, Dotel was a part of the largest combined no hitter when as a member of the Houston Astros. He joined Roy Oswalt, Pete Munro, Kirk Saarloos, Brad Lidge, Octavio Dotel and Billy Wagner in no hitting the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium. Oswalt had been removed in the first inning due to an injury.

Who knows when the Mets will get their elusive no hitter and/or perfect game. Where a perfect game seemed weird only a few years ago, there have been five thrown since 2004, so there is hope. I guess the Mets faithful will have to continue to believe that it'll happen sooner than later.

 FH