I loved you at the Star (yearly victory prediction)and still enjoy your upbeat joyful style. Thanks for reminding me that the Royals are still worth watching. Go Tyler! 😁
With Verlander’s announced retirement Joe, I’m curious to see if you think MLB should change the rules for when a starter gets the W given the entirely different way starters are used than when the 5 inning rule was officially established in 1950. Perhaps drop it to three or four innings with the same rule regarding the team not relinquishing the lead after he exits?
Unmentioned: Just the day before this game, the Royals squared off against the Phillies Christopher Sanchez, who came in the NL CY favorite with a 10-3 record and 2.00 ERA. They scored 15 runs, including becoming only the 21st team in MLB history to have a run in each inning. They scored 16 in the game that Joe talks about. That is 31 runs in two games from a team averaging 4.1 per game with a previous high of 14 in a game this year.
Also, in addition to Tolbert tying the consecutive hit mark, he became only the third player in history to have back to back 5 hit games - but is the ONLY player in history to do it without one of the games going to extras.
It hasn't been a fun year to be a Royals fan. They were expected by many nationally to compete for the playoffs, but before this 3 game winning streak had the worst record in baseball and are already completely out of the playoff picture. But this is why you still watch. The game is still magic, and you never know when the magic will strike.
It was a crazy fun night of baseball. Yanks struck out 17 times for the second game in a row. AND Ryan O'Hearn! 3 homers, 10 RBI! He actually came up earlier with two runners on and grounded out - a 4th homer there (a lot to ask for, I know) would've put him past Bottomley and Whiten. (He came up again in the 8th with a runner on and could've tied the single-game HR & RBI records, and 'merely' singled. But it was against a position player, and, much like Shohei getting 10 RBI a couple years back, with the last batch coming off a position player, that waters it down for me. I'm glad he didn't homer there.)
Can I nominate another Ken Harvey gem? This play, where Matt Stairs absolutely drills him in the back on a throw home and Harvey's reaction is truly amazing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDrznyn3B0k
While watching that, I followed the related videos to see Ken Harvey dive for a foul ball and get stuck behind the tarp ... an incredible CV of videos! --> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vp1Wce22p9o
Harvey was a AAA power hitting first baseman/DH, and the calls to call up Harvey (and the star predictions from fans that went with that) had been going on for quite some time when they finally called him up.
But Harvey had an 86 career wRC+, -0.4 WAR, and is mostly remembered for his blooper reel now. I think of him every time a AAA guy is tearing it up (often in a short sample manner or in their 2nd or 3rd AAA year) and fans are clamoring to see him called up. In most cases, 5 years later, you can see that the guy was a replacement level guy just having a good month or year at a lower level.
On behalf of former Twins third baseman Jose Miranda, now out of baseball and forever most famous for being Lin-Manuel Miranda's cousin, I'd like to note that Miranda also got hits in 12 straight at-bats, in July 2024.
I think the reason he was not mentioned is that the record was for hit in consecutive PAs, and since Miranda had an HBP in there, it wasn't counted as the same even though it was 12 consecutive at bats.
Still impressive, and reaching base 13 times in a row! (I believe the record for that is 16) Thanks for the share.
I started following the Mets this year as part of my detox program for recovering Yankees fans. This entire season has been excruciating but also, in its own way, kind of thrilling. After consecutive nail-biters where they almost pulled defeat from the jaws of victory against the Braves, there was... whatever that was last night. In addition to the Benge and Tolbert show, the Mets had a 9-4 lead in the 4th inning, but the Royals immediately had a 5-run inning to tie it up, and later on a SEVEN run inning against a 31 year old Mets pitcher making his major league debut (to his credit, he did strike out two!). But the Mets weren't done yet, plating a few to make it 16-12... and that's where the rally died. But my gosh, it was more fun than I've had watching the Yankees in years. LGM!
My favorite part of this random Mets-Royals game was hearing Ron Darling become spiritually defeated by the parade of ineffective relievers. After Matt Strahm missed badly with a breaking ball, he just sighed and said "Jesus. My lord."
I really love Keith and Ron's unvarnished comments when they're exasperated, which this year is often. I do like the Yankees' broadcast team but they'll often respond to displays of ineptitude with rote platitudes. I guess they're a lot less familiar with ineptitude than the Mets' broadcasters.
Yeah, it's a silver lining/hidden joy of following an underperforming team during a long season. I'm not even a Mets fan, but I tune in fairly regularly just because I like their booth.
There was so much going on. The 31-year old is from Long Island. I refuse to call him "kid" like so many on X are doing because he's 31. By 31 I was starting my 9th year of teaching. No one was calling me "kid" His wife, who he met in HS, teaches here on Long Island. A dream come true until he had a nightmare of a MLB debut. But to his credit, and because the Mets bullpen was so depleted and they had no other choice, he did pitch a 2nd inning which went well, thereby cutting his career ERA from 63.00 to 31.50. Through 8 innings, the Mets had seen 170 pitches, drawing 5 walks. So what do they do in the bottom of the 9th? Go down 1-2-3 on 5 pitches with both the 1st and 3rd batters being retired on 1 pitch. Back in the day, swinging at the 1st pitch down in the 9th inning would've gotten you fined by your ball club or clubhouse kangaroo court, but I guess the "Take til you get a strike" mentality in the 9th inning has gone the way of sac bunts and pitchers hitting.
I missed his second inning on the mound! (I was cooking dinner, what can I say.) Good for him! And yeah, that 9th inning was all kinds of anticlimactic for both KC and the Mets.
Tolbert took his batting average from .200 to .396. It was over .400 before the flyout. From Mendoza to Ted Williams in three glorious days. Heck, he took his career average from about .240 to .337 in three glorious days. I had the Royals broadcast on for my commute home yesterday, and it was a proper relegation scrap, as the Brits would say.
Love the walk down memory lane, thank you!
Here's the Ambres/Long play, if you're interested: https://youtu.be/q75xk4hxvlk?si=m2-4veqsb_SjvH22&t=610
10:10 of the highlights (SVP!)
Thanks Joe,
I loved you at the Star (yearly victory prediction)and still enjoy your upbeat joyful style. Thanks for reminding me that the Royals are still worth watching. Go Tyler! 😁
With Verlander’s announced retirement Joe, I’m curious to see if you think MLB should change the rules for when a starter gets the W given the entirely different way starters are used than when the 5 inning rule was officially established in 1950. Perhaps drop it to three or four innings with the same rule regarding the team not relinquishing the lead after he exits?
Having recently finished Big Fan (thanks!) I thought you might like to know that Mookie Betts hosted a celebrity pickleball tournament on June 18.
Betts through June 18, while the distraction of a celebrity pickleball tournament was hanging over his head: .203/.266/.367/.633
Betts since the tournament: .313/.361/.567/.928
These things are what make baseball special. You never know what you will see on a given day.
Unmentioned: Just the day before this game, the Royals squared off against the Phillies Christopher Sanchez, who came in the NL CY favorite with a 10-3 record and 2.00 ERA. They scored 15 runs, including becoming only the 21st team in MLB history to have a run in each inning. They scored 16 in the game that Joe talks about. That is 31 runs in two games from a team averaging 4.1 per game with a previous high of 14 in a game this year.
Also, in addition to Tolbert tying the consecutive hit mark, he became only the third player in history to have back to back 5 hit games - but is the ONLY player in history to do it without one of the games going to extras.
It hasn't been a fun year to be a Royals fan. They were expected by many nationally to compete for the playoffs, but before this 3 game winning streak had the worst record in baseball and are already completely out of the playoff picture. But this is why you still watch. The game is still magic, and you never know when the magic will strike.
It was a crazy fun night of baseball. Yanks struck out 17 times for the second game in a row. AND Ryan O'Hearn! 3 homers, 10 RBI! He actually came up earlier with two runners on and grounded out - a 4th homer there (a lot to ask for, I know) would've put him past Bottomley and Whiten. (He came up again in the 8th with a runner on and could've tied the single-game HR & RBI records, and 'merely' singled. But it was against a position player, and, much like Shohei getting 10 RBI a couple years back, with the last batch coming off a position player, that waters it down for me. I'm glad he didn't homer there.)
Can I nominate another Ken Harvey gem? This play, where Matt Stairs absolutely drills him in the back on a throw home and Harvey's reaction is truly amazing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDrznyn3B0k
I came here to share the same clip. Ken Harvey was so fun to watch.... And not in a good way for Royals fans.
There’s a reason why Matt Stairs was a DH.
While watching that, I followed the related videos to see Ken Harvey dive for a foul ball and get stuck behind the tarp ... an incredible CV of videos! --> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vp1Wce22p9o
Harvey was a AAA power hitting first baseman/DH, and the calls to call up Harvey (and the star predictions from fans that went with that) had been going on for quite some time when they finally called him up.
But Harvey had an 86 career wRC+, -0.4 WAR, and is mostly remembered for his blooper reel now. I think of him every time a AAA guy is tearing it up (often in a short sample manner or in their 2nd or 3rd AAA year) and fans are clamoring to see him called up. In most cases, 5 years later, you can see that the guy was a replacement level guy just having a good month or year at a lower level.
Joe omitted the money line: The Mets went on to lose 16-12.
Not sure Jets-Chiefs reaches that score.
On behalf of former Twins third baseman Jose Miranda, now out of baseball and forever most famous for being Lin-Manuel Miranda's cousin, I'd like to note that Miranda also got hits in 12 straight at-bats, in July 2024.
I think the reason he was not mentioned is that the record was for hit in consecutive PAs, and since Miranda had an HBP in there, it wasn't counted as the same even though it was 12 consecutive at bats.
Still impressive, and reaching base 13 times in a row! (I believe the record for that is 16) Thanks for the share.
That was even more unlikely considering Miranda was one of the slowest players in the game and so not beating out many infield grounders.
Good point. By my count (from Joe's article), 6 of Tyson's 12 hits never left the infield.
It was a crazy game! But did you see Ryan O'Hearn's 10 RBI's? Crazy! Records broken
Willie Wilson was pretty fast too, and a good player. Dyson could also field and had an arm.
I started following the Mets this year as part of my detox program for recovering Yankees fans. This entire season has been excruciating but also, in its own way, kind of thrilling. After consecutive nail-biters where they almost pulled defeat from the jaws of victory against the Braves, there was... whatever that was last night. In addition to the Benge and Tolbert show, the Mets had a 9-4 lead in the 4th inning, but the Royals immediately had a 5-run inning to tie it up, and later on a SEVEN run inning against a 31 year old Mets pitcher making his major league debut (to his credit, he did strike out two!). But the Mets weren't done yet, plating a few to make it 16-12... and that's where the rally died. But my gosh, it was more fun than I've had watching the Yankees in years. LGM!
My favorite part of this random Mets-Royals game was hearing Ron Darling become spiritually defeated by the parade of ineffective relievers. After Matt Strahm missed badly with a breaking ball, he just sighed and said "Jesus. My lord."
I really love Keith and Ron's unvarnished comments when they're exasperated, which this year is often. I do like the Yankees' broadcast team but they'll often respond to displays of ineptitude with rote platitudes. I guess they're a lot less familiar with ineptitude than the Mets' broadcasters.
Yeah, it's a silver lining/hidden joy of following an underperforming team during a long season. I'm not even a Mets fan, but I tune in fairly regularly just because I like their booth.
There was so much going on. The 31-year old is from Long Island. I refuse to call him "kid" like so many on X are doing because he's 31. By 31 I was starting my 9th year of teaching. No one was calling me "kid" His wife, who he met in HS, teaches here on Long Island. A dream come true until he had a nightmare of a MLB debut. But to his credit, and because the Mets bullpen was so depleted and they had no other choice, he did pitch a 2nd inning which went well, thereby cutting his career ERA from 63.00 to 31.50. Through 8 innings, the Mets had seen 170 pitches, drawing 5 walks. So what do they do in the bottom of the 9th? Go down 1-2-3 on 5 pitches with both the 1st and 3rd batters being retired on 1 pitch. Back in the day, swinging at the 1st pitch down in the 9th inning would've gotten you fined by your ball club or clubhouse kangaroo court, but I guess the "Take til you get a strike" mentality in the 9th inning has gone the way of sac bunts and pitchers hitting.
I missed his second inning on the mound! (I was cooking dinner, what can I say.) Good for him! And yeah, that 9th inning was all kinds of anticlimactic for both KC and the Mets.
I was only following along on Gamecast as I was playing softball. I couldn't believe he got sent back out to pitch a 2nd inning.
I was astonished that Seelinger was sent out for a second inning, and even more astonished that it worked.
Just goes to show you the state of the Mets bullpen. Seelinger was just DFA'd, not unexpected, and replaced by a guy named Xzavion.
Tolbert took his batting average from .200 to .396. It was over .400 before the flyout. From Mendoza to Ted Williams in three glorious days. Heck, he took his career average from about .240 to .337 in three glorious days. I had the Royals broadcast on for my commute home yesterday, and it was a proper relegation scrap, as the Brits would say.
Still waiting for that "Joy of Baseball" podcast with Molly Knight. I imagine all this absurdity will be Exhibit A. Thanks, Joe!
Tyler Tolbert sounds like the real life version of Willie Mays Hayes.
He absolutely needs to do pushups at the plate if he pops it up.
❤️