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The Spectacle Blog
I am spending Memorial Day Weekend in New York with my Dad.
We along with 28,743 other people are now the proud owners of a Rusty Staub Bobblehead. The New York Mets were giving them away before today’s game against the San Diego Padres. Amazingly, the Mets didn’t have Staub throw out the first pitch or have some kind of on field ceremony for him. Instead, Le Grande Orange made a cameo appearance in the stands shaking hands with a member of the Royal Canadian Navy who could not correctly identify the season Staub became the first Met to drive in 100 or more runs in season. Staub had 105 RBI for the Mets in 1975. I am amazed that it took 15 years for a Met to drive in 100 runs in a season. I am also amazed that he held the team record for 15 years until it was broken by Darryl Strawberry who knocked in 108 runs in 1990. Mike Piazza and David Wright have the Mets team record with 124 RBI in 1999 and 2008, respectively.
Speaking of Wright, he was hitting .397 going into the game. Padres starter Clayton Richard wanted no part of Wright and essentially gave him an unintentional, intentional walk in the first inning. Up came Scott Hairston. I turned to Dad and said, “His number don’t show it but this guy has pop in his bat.” A few moments later, Hairston hit a three run homerun to give the Mets a 3-0 lead. Hairston isn’t a superstar but almost every time I see him play he goes deep.
I had never heard of Vinny Rottino until today. In fact, I said to Dad, “I’d like some rottino for dinner tonight.” Well, I’m sure somebody is buying Rottino dinner tonight because he hit his first big league homerun in the first to give the Mets a 4-0 lead.
The Mets didn’t score again until the 8th when Ike Davis had a pinch hit RBI double and back up catcher Mike Nickeas belted a grandslam homerun to give the Mets a 9-0 lead. It was the light hitting Nickeas’ second big league homerun.
But the star of the show was Johan Santana who tossed a complete game four-hit shutout. It was his first shutout since 2010. Santana missed the entire 2011 season due to shoulder surgery. Today, Santana made a very strong case that he has returned to Cy Young form. Santana threw 96 pitches, 74 of them for strikes. Very, very impressive. The only question is if he can sustain this over an entire season.
CitiField is an improvement over Shea Stadium. While the new Yankee Stadium is more architecturally impressive, I’d rather watch a game in Queens than in the Bronx. It also makes for a quicker day. The game lasted 2 hours and 18 minutes. At Yankee Stadium, 2 hours and 18 minutes gets you into the fifth inning with no Rusty Staub Bobbleheads in sight.
View all comments (12) | Leave a comment
More Blog Posts by Aaron Goldstein
http://spectator.org/blog/2012/05/26/johan-santana-shines-on-rusty
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L.E. Powes| 5.26.12 @ 7:39PM
"At Yankee Stadium, 2 hours and 18 minutes gets you into the fifth inning with no Rusty Staub Bobbleheads in sight."
- I love it when the poet waxes humorous!
Enjoy the day with Dad.
Albert Constantine Jr.| 5.26.12 @ 9:21PM
I believe I heard Citifield is a little more home run friendly now that they've lowered the fences.
Aaron Goldstein| 5.27.12 @ 1:08AM
The fences were brought in prior to this season. Two of the three HRs tonight would not have gone over the fence last year.
JimH| 5.27.12 @ 7:55AM
Not only brought in, some also lowered. At least some of the HRs hit yesterday would have gone off the wall last year. Its nice Santana finally got some run support. I grew up in Queens and saw many a game at Shea, I live in Tampa Bay now. I do need to go up to NY and check out the new field.
Bob S| 5.27.12 @ 1:40AM
It's also amazing that in all the decades of Mets pitchers, none of them have thrown a no-hitter for the Mets. They even had the no-hitter machine Nolan Ryan and never got a no-hitter.
Aaron Goldstein| 5.27.12 @ 10:11PM
The Ryan Express didn't get going until after he was traded to the Angels for Jim Fregosi. That's where the no-hitters and 300 plus strikeout seasons began.
Interestingly, both the Mets and Padres have never seen one of their pitchers toss a no-no. So I knew there was a pretty good chance I wasn't going to see one. Still, Santana pitched a gem.
Albert Constantine Jr.| 5.28.12 @ 3:17PM
"Up came Scott Hairston. I turned to Dad and said, "His number don't show it but this guy has pop in his bat." A few moments later, Hairston hit a three run homerun to give the Mets a 3-0 lead. Hairston isn't a superstar but almost every time I see him play he goes deep."
Speaking of which, he just homered in the bottom of the sixth to tie the game with the Phillies for the Mets (at least until the top of the 7th).
Also curiously, the "Dodge 'Stump the Fans' Trivia Question" on the Phillies TV broadcast of the game regarding which two teams have never had a no-hitter is answered in your response above. Perhaps you should collect a royalty.
Bob K.| 5.27.12 @ 10:01AM
Shea Stadium was a tough park to hit home runs in. You needed real power to do it there. When Bobby Murcer had to play there in 1974, during the renovation years, his home run production dropped precipitously and the next year the Yankees traded him.
Yankee Stadium's short, low right field porch was made for his warning track power.
Pete| 5.27.12 @ 2:17PM
Good seeing Wright at nearly .400, but has there been any news on Konerko, who is also hitting nearly .400. As he ages, he only gets better. He is now over 400 homers for career and keeps raising that career batting average.
sweeterjan| 5.28.12 @ 2:46AM
Shea Stadium was a tough park to http://www.ceinturesfr.com/cei.....-c-19.html hit home runs in. You needed real power to do it there. When Bobby Murcer had to play there in 1974, during the renovation years, his home run production dropped precipitously and the next year the Yankees traded him.
Occam's Tool| 5.28.12 @ 7:35PM
My goodness---Tom Terrific pitched his no-hitter in a non-met uniform!
ShalomMetsJets| 5.29.12 @ 2:01PM
Missed the weekend's baseball due to Shavuos, but yes, no Met pitcher has ever pitched a no-hitter. A number of pitchers who at one time pitched for the Mets have: Cone, Gooden, Seaver, Leiter, Nomo, Ryan, and I think one or two more.
I miss Shea, my real childhood home, but Citifield does have its charms.
Oh yes. I almost forgot. Lets Go Mets!!