Schwei: Where Jose Reyes Ranks In Mets History
By John Schweibacher
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Jose Reyes will make his return to Citi Field as the Mets host the Miami Marlins this week.
Reyes won the National League batting title last season, hitting .337, trailing only John Olerud (.354 in 1998) and Cleon Jones (.340 in 1969) for the best in Mets history among players with 400 or more at-bats in a single season.
Reyes' .337 average was also the second-best in club history posted by a player who finished a season with the Mets but did not return the next season.
Here is the list of best Mets batting averages (Minimum 100 at-bats) by players who did not return to Queens:
| 1967 | Bob Johnson | .348 |
| 2011 | Jose Reyes | .337 |
| 1999 | Roger Cedeno | .313 |
| 2005 | Mike Jacobs | .310 |
| 2002 | Edgardo Alfonzo | .308 |
| 1962 | Richie Ashburn | .306 |
| 1988 | Wally Backman | .303 |
| 1967 | Tommy Davis | .302 |
| 2001 | Desi Relaford | .302 |
| 1986 | Ray Knight | .298 |
| 1999 | John Olerud | .298 |
Reyes appeared in 999 games at shortstop for the Mets, second only to Bud Harrelson (1,280) for the most in club history. Most of the other leaders in games played as Mets shortstops appeared in very few games as opponents.
Here is the list of players with the most games at short for the Mets, and how many games they played against them:
| Shortstop | Games vs. Mets |
| Bud Harrelson | 10 (PHI) .125 2-for-16 |
| Jose Reyes | 0 (MIA) Has not faced Mets |
| Rey Ordonez | 0 Never faced Mets |
| Kevin Elster | 8 (PHI, LA) .286 1 HR 1 RBI |
| Rafael Santana | 6 (STL) .000 0-for-2 |
| Frank Taveras | 81 (PIT, MTL) .240 0 HR 18 RBI 9 SB |
| Roy McMillan | 30 (MIL) .286 3 HR 10 RBI |
| Howard Johnson | 9 (COL, CHI) .250 0 HR 6 RBI |
| Jose Vizcaino | 86 (CHI, SF, LA, NYY, HOU, STL).252 4 HR 17 RBI |
| Ron Gardenhire | 0 Never faced Mets |
Assuming the current scheduling in Major League Baseball remains, Reyes will need to play in all the Marlins-Mets games (18 per year) over the next five years of his six-year deal with Miami to top both Frank Taveras and Jose Vizcaino on this list.
Unless he plays another 15 or so seasons, Reyes will not catch Larry Bowa, who appeared in nine games for the Mets at shortstop in 1985. Bowa played 258 games against the Mets while with the Phillies and Cubs from 1970 to 1985, the most by any former New York shortstop.
Overall, Reyes appeared in 1,040 games for the Mets, the 10th most in club history. Of the nine players ahead of Reyes on that list, Darryl Strawberry's 18 games played against the Mets while with Dodgers, Giants and Yankees rank as the most.
The White Sox's Philip Humber threw the 21st perfect game in major league history, 4-0, over the Mariners in Seattle this past Saturday.
Back in 2004, the Mets selected Humber with their first-round draft pick. Eight years and three organizations later, Humber is now the seventh pitcher to throw a perfect game or no-hitter after leaving the Mets.
It was just the 30th career start and 12th career win for Humber, who started just once for the Mets, a no-decision in a 9-6 Mets loss to Washington on September 26th, 2007.
Humber's lone start gives him the fewest among any of the now seven former Mets to throw a no-hitter after leaving the club. Here are the seven Mets pitchers, listed in order of throwing their first no-hitter or perfect game after leaving the Mets:
Mets Pitcher Games Started with Mets
•Nolan Ryan 74
•Tom Seaver 395
•Mike Scott 60
•Dwight Gooden 303
•David Cone 169
•Hideo Nomo 16
•Philip Humber 1
The Mets' 5-4 win in the bottom of the 9th inning this past Saturday was just the second "walk-off" win for the Mets against the Giants that ended on an error.
Back on May 30th, 1986, the Mets defeated San Francisco, 8-7, in 10 innings. After falling behind by a run in the top of the 10th, the Mets tied the game on a sacfrifice fly by Ray Knight and won it when Kevin Mitchell scored as Giants infielders Robby Thompson and Jose Uribe bumped into one another on Rafael Santana's infield pop-up.
Saturday's win was the Mets fourth "walk-off" win against the Giants at Citi Field, the most against any opponent since leaving Shea Stadium.
The Mets face the Rockies in Colorado this weekend. The Mets took two of three at Coors Field in their lone series visit in 2011. The Rockies swept the four-game series between the two clubs in the series played at Citi Field.
Schwei's Runs, Hits and Errors:
Runs: Some Relief. Mets relievers combine for 7 2/3 scoreless innings in doubleheader vs. Giants.
Hits: Josh Thole. Has hit safely in all 14 games played, the longest ever to begin a season by a Mets catcher.
Errors: Johan Santana. Knocked out in the second inning in start vs. Atlanta. It was the shortest start of Santana's major-league career (266 major-league starts).
Forget Miami — will Jose go down as one of your all-time favorite Mets? Sound off below...
