Schwei: Will David Wright Break Mets' Hits Record This Week?

By John Schweibacher
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David Wright begins the week eight hits shy of breaking Ed Kranepool's all-time Mets record.

Here's the Amazin's' career hits leader board:

· Ed Kranepool 1418
· David Wright 1411*
· Jose Reyes 1300
· Cleon Jones 1188
· Edgardo Alfonzo 1136
· Mookie Wilson 1112
· Bud Harrelson 1029
· Mike Piazza 1028
· Darryl Strawberry 1025
· Howard Johnson 997

Like Kranepool, all of Wright's career hits have come as a member of the Mets.

Here is the all-time top ten list of career hits by players who have played their entire career in blue and orange:

· Ed Kranepool 1418
· David Wright 1411*
· Daniel Murphy 452*
· Ron Hodges 342
· Ike Davis 282*
· Ruben Tejada 253*
· Bruce Boisclair 241
· Josh Thole 236*
· Lucas Duda 194*
· Rod Kanehl 192

(*-through games of 9/16)

Kranepool's final career hit came on September 30, 1979, against the Cardinals at Busch Stadium. Kranepool, pinch-hitting for Mets pitcher John Pacella, doubled off of Bob Forsch in the top of the 7th inning.

Wright reached the 40-double mark for the fifth time in his career Friday night in Milwaukee. The Mets' third baseman is five two-base hits away from setting a new single-season club record. Here is the list of Mets who had 40-or-more doubles in a season:

· 1996 Bernard Gilkey 44
· 2007 David Wright 42
· 2008 David Wright 42
· 2005 David Wright 42
· 1989 Howard Johnson 41
· 1999 Edgardo Alfonzo 41
· 2012 David Wright 40*
· 1990 Gregg Jefferies 40
· 2006 David Wright 40
· 2008 Carlos Beltran 40
· 2000 Edgardo Alfonzo 40

(*-through games of 9/16).

The Mets return to Citi Field for their final home stand of 2012, where they will host the Philadelphia Phillies, Miami Marlins and Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Mets and Phillies have split their six games played at Citi Field so far in 2012. The Mets won the season series 7-2 overall against the Phils in Philadelphia this season.

The Mets have won eight of their 12 meetings against Miami so far in 2012, including a 4-2 mark against the Marlins at Citi Field.

The poor home performance of the Mets at Citi Field since the all-star break has become one of the worst in baseball history. Thanks to Stats, LLC. for this chart of the lowest post all-star break home winning percentages since the mid-summer classic began in 1933 (through the games of 9/16):

· 1979 New York Mets 6-32 .158
· 2012 New York Mets 4-21 .160
· 1942 Philadelphia A's 7-28 .200
· 1977 Toronto Blue Jays 7-28 .200
· 1939 St. Louis Browns 9-33 .214
· 1974 Chicago Cubs 9-27 .250
· 1971 Cleveland Indians 9-26 .257
· 1975 Detroit Tigers 9-26 .257
· 1953 Pittsburgh Pirates 8-23 .258

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, over the Mets' last 54 games since July 20, the team is 4-21 in 25 games at home, averaging 2.3 runs per game and batting .223 with 16 home runs. In 29 road games during that same stretch, they have a 15-14 record, averaging 3.9 runs per game and batting .243 with 26 home runs.

Derek Jeter moved past Willie Mays into 10th place on the all-time hit list this past Friday. Mays, who finished his Hall-of-Fame career with the Mets, had 3,283 hits, 96 of which came with the Mets. Here is a list of the players with the most lifetime hits who spent at least part of their careers with the Mets:

Mays' final regular season base hit came on August 29th, 1973 at Shea Stadium against the San Diego Padres. Mays singled against Padres lefty Rich Troedson, driving in Bud Harrelson in the bottom of the 5th inning in a 3-0 Mets win.

Schwei's Runs, Hits and Errors:

Runs: No Errors. David Wright begins the week without having made an error in a career-best 40 games dating back to August 1 in San Francisco.

Hits: Ike Davis. Hit his 20th road home run of the season Saturday night in Milwaukee, tying him for the 10th-most in one year in Mets history.

Errors: No Runs. Mets set dubious club mark by failing to score more than three runs in their 13th consecutive home game.

Will Wright break the record this week? Make your prediction in the comments below...

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