Articles by MeetTheMess

Billy Wagner

Billy Blown Games

As a Met, reliever Billy Wagner established himself as “Fear Factor” for fans when they heard Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” play over the Shea Stadium sound system. But “Fear Factor” proved to be “Rollercoaster Reliever.” Wagner finished 2006 with 40 saves and a 2.24 ERA. His performance contributed to the Mets’…


Oliver Perez

The Mets’ $36 million mistake

Oliver Perez was acquired along with reliever Roberto Hernandez on July 31, 2006 for outfielder Xavier Nady. That season, Perez was 1-3 with an 6.38 ERA in seven starts for the Mets. The lefthander had perhaps his best season in 2007 going 15-10 with a 3.56 ERA, issuing only 79…


Armando Benitez

Armando Meltdowns

Armando Benitez is more famous for his blown saves, than being one of most sucessful relievers in baseball. Benítez was signed in 1990 by the Baltimore Orioles as a free agent. Coming up through the Orioles’ farm system, he made his debut in 1994. He started to show some of…


Luis Castillo

The Luis Castillo Jinx

Some players just have a team’s number or take their game to a higher level when playing in some cities. For years, Luis Castillo had the Mets’ number and loved playing at Shea Stadium in Queens. Castillo was a pain to the Mets, slapping base hits in the spacious outfield…


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Brutal loss to the Cubs at Shea

Wednesday, September 24, 2008 New York dropped into a tie for the wild-card lead with Milwaukee and remained 1½ games behind Philadelphia in the NL East. In the type of game that could mean lights out for the season, the score alone didn’t detail the agony of the Mets’ 9-6…