Schwei's Mets Notes: Collins' Lengthy Tenure, Cabrera's Big Game, More
By John Schweibacher
» More Columns
For the first time in the last three seasons, the New York Mets are not going to the postseason, and for the first time in seven years, the club will be looking to hire a new manager.
The Mets lost to the Phillies, 11-0, in the final game of the season Sunday afternoon, and Terry Collins stepped down after the game, ending the longest tenure by any manager in Mets history.
MORE: Mets Let Go Of Longtime Pitching Coach, Head Trainer
Only six other active managers had longer tenures with their current clubs than Collins, who was hired on Nov. 22, 2010:
• Mike Scioscia, L.A. Angels (Nov. 17, 1999)
• Bruce Bochy, San Francisco (Oct. 27, 2006)
• Joe Girardi, N.Y. Yankees (Oct. 30, 2007)
• Ned Yost, Kansas City (May 13, 2010)
• Buck Showalter, Baltimore (June 30, 2010)
• Clint Hurdle, Pittsburgh (Nov. 15, 2010)
No MLB managers who began the 2017 season were replaced during the season. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, there have been only two other seasons over the last 75 years in which the manager of every major league team went "wire to wire" in that position: 2000 and 2006.
MORE: Chatelain: Terry Collins Gave Us A True Underdog Story
On Saturday night, Asdrubal Cabrera's three-run homer in the 11th inning, his fourth hit of the game, propelled the Mets to a 7-4 win at Philadelphia.
The only other Mets third baseman in club history to have four hits including a home run and at least four RBIs in a game against Philadelphia was Teddy Martinez, who went 4-for-4 with a homer and four RBIs against the Phillies and Steve Carlton in the first game of a Labor Day doubleheader at Shea Stadium on Sept. 3, 1973.
Cabrera hit .371 (33-for-89) with nine doubles, four homers and 17 RBIs in 27 games in September. According to Baseball-Reference.com, the best September/October batting average in club history belongs to Moises Alou, who hit .402 (43-for-107) in September 2007.
On Friday night, the Mets lost the opener of the weekend series to the Phillies, 6-2, at Citizens Bank Park.
MORE: 7 Names To Watch In Mets Manager Search
Matt Harvey, in his final start of the season, allowed four earned runs and seven hits in four innings to fall to 5-7 with a 6.70 ERA, the highest in franchise history among pitchers who made at least 15 starts in a season. Here are the sixth highest ERAs:
• Matt Harvey, 2017, 18 starts, 6.70
• Pete Schourek, 1993, 18 starts, 5.96
• Pedro Martinez, 2008, 20 starts, 5.61
• Pete Smith, 1994, 21 starts, 5.55
• Rafael Montero, 2017, 18 starts, 5.52
• Craig Swan, 1983, 18 starts, 5.51
Dominic Smith hit his ninth home run in the loss Friday, his sixth in September. As Gary Cohen noted on SNY on Sunday, only three other Mets rookies hit at least six home runs after the end of August in club history:
• Gregg Jefferies, 1989, 8
• David Wright, 2004, 7
• Mike Jacobs, 2005, 6
On Wednesday night, the Mets closed out their home schedule with a 7-1 win over the Braves. It was the seventh straight year the Mets won their final regular season game at Citi Field. The last such loss came in 2010, a 2-1, 14-inning defeat against the Nationals.
Overall, the Mets are now 8-1 in their final games of the regular season at Citi Field since it opened in 2009.
Last Tuesday night, Travis Taijeron singled home the winning run in the bottom of the ninth as the Mets rallied from three runs down to defeat the Braves, 4-3.
According to Elias, Taijeron became the first Mets rookie since Wilmer Flores in September 2014 to have a walk-off RBI, and the fourth rookie in franchise history to do so against the Braves. The other three were:
• Bruce Boisclair, April 27, 1976, two-run double in ninth inning
• Steve Henderson, June 21, 1977, three-run homer in 11th
• Alex Trevino, June 17, 1979, RBI single in ninth
Taijeron had three RBIs for the Mets this season. Only Ross Jones (one), Esix Snead (three) and Craig Brazell (three had three or fewer RBIs in their Mets' careers, but did have a "walk-off" run batted in while with the club.
Elias also noted that the Mets, who trailed 3-0 at the end of six innings, had lost their last 37 games in which they trailed in the seventh inning or later, the longest current losing streak of its kind in the majors.
Happy Recap: Strong Finish. Jose Reyes was batting just .193 through June 27, but hit .301 the rest of the way.
Nine Miles of Rough Road: Bad Finish. After going 27-13 over their last 40 games to reach the postseason in 2016, the Mets went 16-24 over their final 40 games this season.
