Schwei: Mets' Carlos Beltran Joins 800 Club
By John Schweibacher
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Carlos Beltran leads the Mets in home runs and runs batted in so far in 2011, but he also leads the club in games played this season and last week, Beltran appeared in his 800th career game with New York.
Beltran is the 19th player to appear in 800 or more games for the club, but only the 7th who did not begin his major league career with the Mets:
Most career games with Mets after debut with other team:
· Jerry Grote 1,235
· Howard Johnson 1,154
· Mike Piazza 972
· Rusty Staub 942
· Keith Hernandez 880
· John Stearns 809
· Carlos Beltran 805*
· Kevin McReynolds 787
· John Franco 695
· Felix Millan 681
The Mets selected outfielder Brandon Nimmo with their first round choice in last week's 2011 First-Year Player Draft. Nimmo was taken 13th overall, the fourth time the Mets had the 13th choice in the June Amateur Draft which began in 1965.
None of the previous 13's for the Mets--Outfielders Robert Stratton (1996) and Tom Thurberg (1976) as well as catcher Richard Bengston (1972)--proved lucky enough to make it to the majors.
Here are some of the 13th picks that did reach the major leagues (including four one-time New York Mets) who played the most games among both position players and pitchers:
Position players selected 13th overall in MLB Draft
· Manny Ramirez 1991 Clv 2,302
· Garry Templeton 1974 Stl 2,079
· Paul Konerko 1994 LA 1,915*
· Brent Mayne 1989 Mil 1,252
· Bill Spiers 1987 Tor 818
Pitchers selected 13th overall in MLB Draft
· Frank Tanana 1971 Cal 638
· Gary Nolan 1966 Cin 250
· Mark Redman 1995 Min 219
· Bill Bray 2004 Mtl 198*
· Donovan Osborne 1990 Stl 163
At the 44th pick, the Mets took pitcher Michael Fullmer with their supplemental first-round choice, the compensatory pick for losing free agent Pedro Feliciano.
To date, only 17 players taken 44th in the June Draft have ever made it to the Major Leagues.
The Mets had picked 44th twice before, but neither Matt Durkin (RHP, 2004) nor Gary Myers (OF, 1967) reached the bigs. Here are the number 44 draft picks who have played the most games in the majors:
· Bob Wickman 1990 Chi (AL) 835
· Joey Votto 2002 Cin 523*
· Jeff Robinson 1983 SF 455
· Chris Brown 1979 SF 449
· Jon Lieber 1992 KC 405
Nimmo is the highest draft choice from the state of Wyoming in the history of the draft. According to Baseball-Reference.com, Wyoming, which does not have high school baseball, has produced just 13 major league players in history and none of them ever appeared in a game for the Mets.
Here are the Wyoming-born players who have appeared in the most MLB games:
· Mike Lansing 1993-2001 1,110
· Mike Devereaux 1987-1998 1,086
· John Buck 2004-present 760*
· Dan Spillner 1974-1985 559
· Dick Ellsworth 1958-1971 407
· Tom Browning 1984-1995 324
(*_totals through 6/13/11)
The Mets finish up their 10-game road trip with three games in Atlanta before heading home for an interleague match-up with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
Atlanta took two of three from the Mets in the first series match-up between the two teams at Turner Field back in April. The Mets have not taken a three-game series against the Braves in Atlanta since sweeping a three-game set there in September of 2007.
The Mets have gone just 39 and 80 (.328) all-time vs. the Braves in 15 seasons at Turner Field. The only current N.L. ballpark in which the Mets have a worse won-loss percentage is PETCO Park in San Diego, where they have gone 7 and 17 (.292).
The Angels come to Flushing for the first time since 2005 this weekend. The Mets took two of three in that series and are 5 and 4 all-time vs. the Angels.
Mets manager Terry Collins has mentioned the eerie similarities between this season's slew of Mets injuries and the ones suffered by the last team he managed; the 1999 California Angels. That season the Angels lost a number of key regulars to the disabled list:
· Gary Disarcina SS March 24th-June 22nd
· Jim Edmonds CF March 30th-August 2nd
· Mo Vaughn DH April 7th-April 22nd
· Tim Salmon RF May 4th-July 17th
· Darren Erstad 1B August 11th-August 26th
Collins was fired in early September of that year with a record of 51 and 82. Current Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon took over and went 19 and 10 as the team finished 1999 with a record of 70 and 92. Mike Scioscia became manager the following season and has remained the Angels skipper ever since.
Schwei's Runs, Hits and Errors:
Runs: Daniel Murphy. 34-for-83 since 5/20 (the game he homered at Yankee Stadium), raising his batting average from .233 to .305.
Hits: Jose Reyes. Three-hit game Sunday made him first player in Mets history with 13 multi-hit games in a span of 16 games.
Errors: .500 Failure. First six hitters in Mets lineup go a combined 0-for-20 in 3-1 loss in series finale in Pittsburgh as Mets again fall short of reaching .500 for first time since May 20th.
