Congratulations go out to David Wright for extending his two-season hitting streak to 25 games and Met opponents for extending their 46-season hitting streak to 7,163 games
Both are Mets records.
There are, however, figurative asterisks attached to both marks. Wright, who has hit safely in the first 13 games of 2007, has 12 games to go to break the more widely acknowledged single-season Met hitting streak record, which still belongs jointly to Hubie Brooks and Mike Piazza. The opponents' streak, meanwhile, is even longer if its definition is stretched to encompass 74 postseason contests along with eight regular-season affairs that ended in ties.
That's 7,245 official games in which the Mets have competed and somebody has gotten a hit against them. Somebody. Anybody.
For the Marlins Wednesday night, that was Miguel Cabrera, whose leadoff single in the seventh inning — after a check-swing on a one-and-two pitch that was ruled a ball by first base umpire Laz “Angel” Diaz — kept the streak alive for another game.
Or another week of games.
Or month of games.
Or lifetime of games.
Oh for fuck's sake, I give up. We're never getting a goddamn no-hitter, are we?
9-2 romp over Dontrelle Willis and the Miami chapter of the Phillies is a heckuva consolation prize. Wright's single in the first was mostly a footnote by the time it was over, but so were Jose's four hits, Other Jose's three hits and the first Carlos's three ribbies. The lead was secure enough to get greedy, if indeed one can be greedy to have one, just one, of those shiny objects in the window, the one we can never, ever, ever fucking have.
Can we?
I was willing to settle for a big ol' win and feel pretty, pretty good about John Maine on eight cold nights' rest. He walked some guys, but he had the high heat cooking and the Fish flailing and even with two hits surrendered in the seventh, a performance that bodes well for the back end of the rotation (if, in fact, he's not already at the front end).
But then Mark Buehrle no-hits the Rangers. It was the White Sox' 16th no-hitter.
Some teams have 16 no-hitters. The Mets have none.
What do I have to do to get one of these? Not want one? I tried that! That was my on-the-fly strategy. By the fourth inning when it appeared history was within the grasp of a few dozen fastballs, I drowned out the voices in my head with one prevailing thought.
C'mon Marlins. Get a hit.
What the hell? Hoping the other way hadn't worked. So let's try this. Stephanie happened to enter the living room as the bottom of the seventh was commencing. She heard the word “no-hitter” and asked if she should go back on the computer which, after all, is where she was for the first six innings. I appreciated her assessment of the situation, but no, I told her. Don't worry about it. I don't want a no-hitter anyway.
Maybe, just maybe, if I could convince myself and the gods that what I wanted was a blemish under the H, then maybe, just maybe, they'd work against me in this matter as they always do. I thought articulating that desire would help the cause.
My mind is more useless than I suspected.
I've heard a Mets fan or two claim — without a game in front of them that would test their stance — that they sort of don't want a no-hitter. They seem to be serious. With a no-hitter, they argue, we're like everybody else (save for the Padres, the Rockies and the Devil Rays). Right now we're special. We get to ride a small bus and everything.
I'm not buying it, but I see it. Just this afternoon, I found myself responding to an e-mail from a guy I haven't known a week. He had written me about Leron Lee. Leron Lee is code for Mets fans, just like Jimmy Qualls and Joe Wallis and everybody from Antonio Perez on back.
Not long after Miguel Cabrera had his club membership stamped, I thought about that exchange. Me and Rich met last Thursday and in no time we're speaking the language. Other people say hi and ask how do you do? Mets fans say Leron Lee and ask one out in the ninth off Seaver in '72?
This is how we communicate. This is our native tongue. We are fluent in no no-hitters. Such is the language of yuck.
Being 9-4, winning 9-2…what a crappy night.
 
Faith and Fear in Flushing made its debut on Feb. 16, 2005, the brainchild of two longtime friends and lifelong Met fans. Greg Prince discovered the Mets when he was 6, during the magical summer of 1969. He is a Long Island-based writer, editor and communications consultant. Contact him here. Jason Fry is a Brooklyn writer whose first memories include his mom leaping up and down cheering for Rusty Staub. Check out his other writing here. Got something to say? Leave a comment, or email us at faithandfear@gmail.com. (Sorry, but we have no interest in ads, sponsored content or guest posts.) Need our RSS feed? It's here. Visit our Facebook page, or drop by the personal pages for Greg and Jason. Or follow us on Twitter: Here's Greg, and here's Jason. |
The Hits Just Keep On Coming28 comments to The Hits Just Keep On Coming |
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my, aren't WE crabby.
the last time i thought might be the night was…you'll laugh…perez's last start. man, he had great stuff through four batters.
I'm not laughing because I thought the EXACT same thing.
Except it was after three batters.
Don't forget Wade F**king Boggs.
But walks aside, I was most pleased with what I saw from Johnny Maine tonight. He kicked some major Fish butt.
How could we? The Boggses and Cabreras have no business breaking up no-hitters. That should remain the province of inane drones like Qualls, Lee and Wallis.
Or, better yet, nobody.
he got the first out in the second, i think. first pitch a called strike, and everything.
No, I mean after three batters I was convinced a no-hitter was coming. The fourth batter merely confirmed the obvious.
I've always held the theory that the Gods have something better in mind.
Packed house against the Yankees, maybe?
World Series game, maybe?
Against the Braves to clinch the division, maybe?
At this point, it matters not “who” but “when”…
Like I said below, inasmuch as I've resigned myself to the fact that it will NEVER happen, God help me every time I see a 0 in the hit column after 3, my mind begins to dream.
Reading some of the history linked in these posts, the names and games ring familiar to me, save two (neither was in the Clubhouse of Curses, either): Luis Castillo and Chin-Hui Tsao. Anyone care to share?
Tsao was the opposing pitcher for Colordo who hit a fly ball over Timo Perez' head for a double to break up a could-be/would-be Traschel no-no. (He wound up with a CG 1-hitter, I believe the hit was in the 6th inning). A better centerfielder could have made the play, I believe Timo broke the wrong way.
F'ing Timo.
With the usual due apologies to Mr. Metstradamus, these last two posts by you two crazy baseball hooligans demonstrate exactly why this is the most entertaining Mets blog on the planet.
Eh. I'm in the “so what” and “it gives us cachet” camps both. When Doc finally got his after his defection to the Evil Empire he walked what, six guys? I mean, how special is that really?
We were born at the same time as the Houston Astros and they have, without looking it up, I believe 175 no-hitters to date. Would you swap '86 for a no-hitter? '69? I bet they would.
By and large, they're glorifed complete game shutouts.
I care only in the sense that I'd like to be there if / when it happens..
Full house, anticipation, tension building.
“PEDRO! PEDRO! PEDRO!”
I think that would be cool.
Crazy Baseball Hooligans oughta be a blog (he remarked, being too lazy himself to actually start one).
Thanks mbtn. Upon further research, Tsao broke up a Trachsel perfecto with two out in the sixth, and Castillo was the lone hit in a Heilman April 2005 gem. The reason they're not in the clubhouse is their hits were too early to be considered “breaking up a no-no.” Obviously it's a subjective thing, but as far as I'm concerned, infamy is reached when the out countdown to history is in single digits. Of course, with a perfect game on the line, AND the opposing pitcher the perpetrator, AND a CG one-hitter being the result, I suppose an exception could be made in this 10-outs-to-go scenario.
Wouldn't ya love to give Shea one of these (or even a lesser complete game shutout with zero hits) as a going-away present? I had hoped the same for Bob Murphy. We'll see.
I'm checkin' the rule book…win a World Series…pitch a no-hitter…
Nope. Nothing says you have to choose one or the other. Just ask the White Sox.
Anybody else think Billy Wagner is not going to have anything good when he eventually is allowed a save opportunity? Granted I love me some blow-out goodness but he's gotta get some innings.
Not to change the subject or anything…
Billy Wagner once pitched a fraction of a no-hitter (along with Oswalt, Munro, Saarloos, Lidge and Dotel).
That was about as great as a combined no-hitter could be.
As for the save opportunity, we'll see.
I was way more excited about scoring 4 times in the 1st off Dontrelle than I was in Maine's quest for a no-hitter. Way, WAY, way.
Oh, me too!! I was weak-kneed with joy throughout that entire inning. Of course I was waiting for Dontrelle to come back and hit a retaliatory grand slam, but I pushed that to the back of my mind and just enjoyed the show, It was heavenly!!
The no-no… well, woulda been nice, but I've kind of resigned myself at this point. I'm not sure I'll even be particularly excited when/if it happens… more relieved.
You just know our first no-hitter will be a combined effort. Because combined no-hitters are beyond lame.
Oh, and it'll come in 2074.
The 67-year part sounds like cake. With advances in science, I might find the wherewithal to hang on 'til I'm 111.
Combined…lame maybe, but at this point, I'd take Strat-o-Matic. Anything that leaves a zero under the other H would be a victory.
I feel the same way, I was just happy they were able to hit Dontrelle for a change. I think they're saving the no-no for Petey. I mean, if anyone should be in the record books with one, it's him.
Not that one is forced to choose between their team winning a World Series or throwing a no-hitter, but as far as being kvetch-worthy, a lack of no-no's pales compared to never winning a World Series (Houston) and enduring a drought that dates back to the Taft administration (White Sox).
One other point, the Qualls game is poignant because it occurred in the context of the '69 miracle. If the Mets failed to catch the Cubs, or lost to the Braves, etc. Jimmy Qualls is as obscure as Leron Lee.
Qualls I only know from the history book. I'm fuzzy on Leron Lee. But I remember most every near-miss no-hitter of the past 37 years. And they're all poignant or frustrating or a little kvetchworthy. If we were one of those teams with four no-hitters and just as many world championships as we already have (like, say, the Marlins), it might be different.
It's just one of those things. It transcends our never having had a 12-game winning streak or a 27-game hitting streak or a four-homer game or an MVP or whatever. We're the Mets. We're pitching. We should really, really, really have it. And though I will never gripe about a 9-2 win for any other reason, I really, really, really want a no-hitter. Not more than a third World Series, but maybe almost as much.
See, to me hitting streaks are analgous to no-hitters in that they're such quirky type achievements and they have this enormous, disproportionate hold on the baseball fan's imagination. Personally, 45 years without a single MVP award is as glaring an ommision as the lack of no-hitters, sans cachet.
And I feel pretty good about the 27 game hitting streak dragon being slain, maybe soon.
Better than a 27-game losing streak over two years.
Who was the guy who broke up Gooden's 1984 no-no bid? I seem to remember it being a roller down the third base line that Ray Knight charged but couldn't come up with. Anybody?
Keith F. Moreland.