The Braves ended R.A. Dickey’s streak of 14-consecutive quality starts that fell just short of Dwight Gooden’s team record set in 1985. Ironically, it was the Braves that ended Doc’s on July 4th of that season. That was the infamous 19 inning game that ended at 4:00 AM. Dickey’s streak has been over two seasons, [...]

The minor-league deal. The non-roster invite to spring training. It’s like one of those phrases you hear in passing and ignore. There are two types of non-roster invitees, as former Dodgers GM Fred Claire pointed out to me the other day. “There’s the promising young player that you would like to take a long look [...]

Craig Carton has spent the past few months mocking Mike Francesa for his oft repeated crush on Tigers’ third baseman Brandon Inge. Well at least Francesa, a diehard Yankees fan, knows who mans the hot corner in Detroit. If you were taking the SATs, and the question came up…True or False? “The Yankees are to the [...]

Hey, the fans have their say, why not former Mets? Doc Gooden chimed in on what the Mets should do via Twitter last night. He said that “if he were GM” he would sign Jose Reyes, trade Jason Bay for A.J. Burnett or another pitcher, and send 4 prospects to Seattle for Felix Hernandez. He [...]

Mark Simon of ESPN NY tells us how last night’s Mets starter R.A. Dickey is “21-for-91 since joining the Mets in 2010, good for a .231 batting average. He also has 14 sacrifices.” This article got me wondering who the best all-time hitting pitchers are. We all know the best hitting pitcher of all-time was Babe Ruth. To [...]

Earlier in the week I called Pedro Martinez the “Sandy Koufax of our generation.” This was done just by the eye test. I remember how feared and dominant Martinez was as a member of the Red Sox. Even as he declined during his days as a Met, Martinez still put together one of the better pitching performances in [...]

When D.J. Carrasco balked in the winning run last night, it was the first time for the team since Roger McDowell did it on May 28th, 1989 in Los Angeles. There are many individuals in that game (see boxscore) that are/have been involved with the organization. Willie Randolph played second for the Dodgers. Current Bisons [...]

Lenny Dykstra once promised to be the best leadoff hitter in baseball. Now, 25 years since he hit two memorable postseason homeruns for the Mets, he is a punch line as everyone is talking about his attempt to “rescue” Doc Gooden from the “Celebrity Rehab” reality show. I have chronicled Dykstra’s misfortunes since his days [...]

On the heels of my post about the 7 types of John Sterling calls, I came across this AP video from 2009 where John Sterling talks about his unique style of announcing. His now customary “it is high, it is far, it is gone” started during his Atlanta days when Dale Murphy hit a homerun [...]

Back in the 1950s through the 1970s, here in New York City, there used to be a curmudgeonly sports columnist named Dick Young He was a right-wing conservative in every way and a brilliant baseball writer. He was the best-read and best-known writer in this huge market but as he got older, he became angrier [...]

Our good friend Bob Mantz Jr. from Bob’s Blitz had a chance to hang out with former Mets and Yankees pitcher Doc Gooden. Some interesting tidbits from Doc. He talked about how Chili Davis was his toughest out, CC Sabathia is his favorite pitcher to watch today, and his favorite catcher to throw to was [...]

On Sunday MSG’s Fran Healy joined me to discuss the upcoming four part series about the 1986 Mets. It starts tonight at 10pm, and Wednesday through Friday at 10:30 PM. Here are some quotes from former Mets players: Darryl Strawberry: “We were gettin drunk, we would drink and pass out, and then we would wake [...]

We did the top positional player seasons earlier this week. Today we look at the Mets best pitching seasons. 1. Doc Gooden (1985) – No contest. His 1.53 ERA is the best for a single season.  Didn’t give up an earned run the entire month of September. Year W L W-L% ERA GS CG SHO [...]

Courtesy of John Fitzgerald of Playing for Peanuts. I love the story Wally tells about Gooden going after the Cardinals in 1985.

We do another 90 minute show to recap the trade deadline and the Mets Hall of Fame weekend at 9pm. During the first 45 minutes of the show we talk Yankees baseball. Hear NYBD contributor Jed Weisberger give his take on the acquisitions of Kerry Wood, Lance Berkman, and Austin Kearns. He also will tell [...]