He reached 30-homer plateau twice, and the 20-homer plateau seven other times, with a high of 32 in 1985, all of them from the cleanup spot. His 298 homers as a catcher (out of 324 total) ranks seventh behind Mike Piazza (396), Carlton Fisk (351),...

After I learned that Carter had died — a blow no less painful for the fact that we had all braced for it — I picked up Joshua at school and walked him home in the clammy dark. He vaguely remembers Carter from highlight films, and had him somewhat...

Carter caught 38.5% of base thieves, while facing an enormous volume of opposing stolen base attempts. And while carrying that heavy defensive load, Carter averaged .274/.347/.474 with 26 HR and 92 RBI. I'd rank Carter behind Josh Gibson, Johnny Bench,...

3 rd RBI 823 3 rd Hits 1,427 4 th Runs 707 4 th Walks 582 2 nd Total Bases 2,409 3 rd Most Career HR Hit As A Catcher MLB History Mike Piazza 396 Carlton Fisk 351 Johnny Bench 327 Yogi Berra 306 Ivan Rodriguez 304 Lance Parrish 299 Gary Carter 298 Most...

It's not even the fragility that frightens me most about Murphy up the middle. It's that thinking of him trying to reinvent himself in Flushing reminds me of the Mets moving Mike Piazza or Todd Hundley out of their comfort zones to try and extract a...

Diehards inquire here! The 2013 class brings in an all-time class of talent violently overshadowed by allegations of performance-enhancing drugs. Joining McGwire and Palmeiro are Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Sammy Sosa, Mike Piazza and Craig Biggio. ...

Mex! From when the world’s most fun analyst was the world’s clutchest player, and the Mets were the 1980s’ best show, Sunday, June 17, 1:10 PM, versus the Reds. Edgardo Alfonzo: FONZIE! Yeah, I used all upper-case. Didn’t you from 1995 to 2002? ...

The ex-Mets included: Tom Seaver on April 22 vs. San Francisco, Rusty Staub on May 26 vs. San Diego, Hernandez on June 17 vs. Cincinnati, Edgardo Alfonzo on July 21 vs. Los Angeles and Mike Piazza on Aug. 25 vs. Houston. David Lennon of Newsday tweeted...

Alfonzo enjoyed the single greatest game in team history, going 6-6 with three home runs and five RBI on August 30, 1999 at Houston. Mike Piazza Bobblehead – Saturday, August 25 at 1:10 p.m. vs. Astros Mike Piazza will be featured as the final...

Sheffield put up monster numbers. He was traded before the 1998 season to the Los Angeles Dodgers in a blockbuster deal. On May 14, 1998, Sheffield was traded along with Manuel Barrios, Charles Johnson, Bobby Bonilla, and Jim Eisenreich to the Los...

Napoli had filed for $11.5MM, while the Rangers countered with $8.3MM, as MLBTR's Arbitration Tracker shows. Napoli, 30, earned $5.8MM in 2011 and obtains the second-highest raise any third or fourth-time eligible position player has obtained (trailing...

The Home Run Apple was so much a fixture of Shea that it had to be saved and placed on display at the new stadium. Jim Cooper/Getty Images In May of 1980, the Mets decided on a new marketing campaign. The slogan was "the magic is back". As part of this...

With Todd Hundley smacking 41 homers the previous season and another 30 in ’97, there was virtually no chance Pratt would ever crack the starting lineup. When Hundley got injured in 1998, the Mets opted to use Tim Spehr and Alberto Castillo behind the...

And it will be a lightning rod of a ballot that also includes Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Mike Piazza and Craig Biggio. Schilling already knows what the theme of the 2013 ballot, results of which will be announced in January, will be. "The...

I’ll admit what bugs me most about the man is that when it came out that illegal stuff was delivered to his house, it blamed it on his wife. Only a scum of the highest magnitude do that. Aren’t you supposed to be protecting your wife above all else? I...

Cone’s last hurrah in pinstripes came on October 25th, in Game Four of the World Series. Denny Neagle — who was acquired at the deadline because Cone’s performance had left the team short a starter — started the game. Mike Piazza had taken him deep in...

Jon Weisman’s Dodger Thoughts has moved from ESPN. Here is his inaugural post on the new site. Enter your email below to join our community. Enter your email below to get daily email updates. Who do you want to See buy the Dodgers? Enjoy a day game at...

Yarnall was the real prize in the trade, or at least he was supposed to be. The Mets drafted him in the third round of the 1996 draft, then traded him to the Marlins in May of 1998 as part of the package for Mike Piazza. Baseball America had rated him...

Mike Hampton and Armando Benitez strike out eleven Yankees in a 2-0 shutout (and Steve Philips orders a couple of Yankee players the hell out of the Shea weight room). Only so much face was saved that Sunday given Saturday’s criminal beaning of Mike...