The Mets Amazing Opening Day Record

The Mets are 31-17 all-time in Opening Day games.

This is pretty amazing considering they lost their first 8 opening day games in a row.

That's right, the Mets did not win an opening day game until 1970, they just skipped the 1960s altogether as far as opening wins were concerned.

After losing those first 8 games, they won their next 4 in a row, lost 1, and then went on to win an astounding 9 in a row.

Since those first 8 losses, they've gone 31-9, and the team's current opening day win streak stands at 4.

Here is how the Mets have fared on opening day by decade:

• 60s: 0-8
• 70s: 9-1
• 80s: 9-1
• 90s: 6-4
• 00s: 7-3

All told the Mets have a .646 winning percentage on Opening Day--yes, that is the best record in the game.

So good morning my friends, let's have one heck of a season!

Score	Starter
2009. Mon, Apr 6 at CIN W (2-1)	Santana
2008. Mon, Mar 31 at FLA W (7-2)	Santana
2007. Sun, Apr 1 at STL W (6-1)	Glavine
2006. Mon, Apr 3 vs WSN W (3-2)	Glavine
2005. Mon, Apr 4 at CIN L (6-7)	Martinez
2004. Tue, Apr 6 at ATL W (7-2)	Glavine
2003. Mon, Mar 31 vs CHC L (2-15)	Glavine
2002. Mon, Apr 1 vs PIT W (6-2)	Leiter
2001. Tue, Apr 3 at ATL W (6-4)	Leiter
2000. Wed, Mar 29 vs CHC L (3-5)	Hampton
1999. Mon, Apr 5 at FLA L (2-6)	Leiter
1998. Tue, Mar 31 vs PHI W (1-0)	Jones
1997. Tue, Apr 1 at SDP L (5-12)	Harnisch
1996. Mon, Apr 1 vs STL W (7-6)	Jones
1995. Wed, Apr 26 at COL L (9-11)	Jones
1994. Mon, Apr 4 at CHC W (12-8)	Gooden
1993. Mon, Apr 5 vs COL W (3-0)	Gooden
1992. Mon, Apr 6 at STL W (4-2)	Cone
1991. Mon, Apr 8 vs PHI W (2-1)	Gooden
1990. Mon, Apr 9 vs PIT L (3-12)	Gooden
1989. Mon, Apr 3 vs STL W (8-4)	Gooden
1988. Mon, Apr 4 at MON W (10-6)	Gooden
1987. Tue, Apr 7 vs PIT W (3-2)	Ojeda
1986. Tue, Apr 8 at PIT W (4-2)	Gooden
1985. Tue, Apr 9 vs STL W (6-5)	Gooden
1984. Mon, Apr 2 at CIN L (1-8)	Torrez
1983. Tue, Apr 5 vs PHI W (2-0)	Seaver
1982. Thu, Apr 8 at PHI W (7-2)	Jones
1981. Thu, Apr 9 at CHC W (2-0)	Zachry
1980. Thu, Apr 10 vs CHC W (5-2)	Swan
1979. Thu, Apr 5 at CHC W (10-6)	Swan
1978. Fri, Apr 7 vs MON W (3-1)	Koosman
1977. Thu, Apr 7 at CHC W (5-3)	Seaver
1976. Fri, Apr 9 vs MON W (3-2)	Seaver
1975. Tue, Apr 8 vs PHI W (2-1)	Seaver
1974. Sat, Apr 6 at PHI L (4-5)	Seaver
1973. Fri, Apr 6 vs PHI W (3-0)	Seaver
1972. Sat, Apr 15 vs PIT W (4-0)	Seaver
1971. Tue, Apr 6 vs MON W (4-2)	Seaver
1970. Tue, Apr 7 at PIT W (5-3)	Seaver
1969. Tue, Apr 8 vs MON L (10-11)	Seaver
1968. Wed, Apr 10 at SFG L (4-5)	Seaver
1967. Tue, Apr 11 vs PIT L (3-6)	Cardwell
1966. Fri, Apr 15 vs ATL L (2-3)	Fisher
1965. Mon, Apr 12 vs LAD L (1-6)	Jackson
1964. Tue, Apr 14 at PHI L (3-5)	Jackson
1963. Tue, Apr 9 vs STL L (0-7)	Craig
1962. Wed, Apr 11 at STL L (4-11)	Craig

Good Morning Mets Fans!

Well amigos, we are almost there.

Almost ready to head north.

Almost ready to start the season.

Almost ready for real baseball to begin.

Oh sure, there are a few questions left, foremost among them who will win the 25th spot, and will Jose Reyes be in the lineup for the opener, but we're close.

As the Daily News points out, Omar Minaya is still not ruling out Jose for Opening Day.

We're so lucky as Mets fans because of the veritable plethora of reading material on any given day.

My friend Greg Spira sent me a copy of the 2010 Maple Street Press Mets Annual, and once again, he and Matt Silverman have hit a home run.

This year's Annual features:

• Pitch-by-pitch scouting reports, with information provided by Inside Edge, that detail what to expect from Mets hitters and pitchers.
• A look at the rest of the NL and how the Mets can get back to the playoffs.
• A reason for hope: Jason Bay arrives at Citi.
• A thorough review of Citi Field's first year from its best and worst moments, to a season review from the park itself.
• There's no doubt the Mets suffered more than their fair share of injuries in 2009, but who is to blame and what can be done?
• An in-depth interview with Adam Wogan, Mets director of minor league personnel.
• The most complete review of the Mets farm system available anywhere, including the top ten pitching and position prospects, the 2009 draft, a feature on first base prospect Ike Davis, and all the minor league stats fit to print.
• A look back at Mets history, from Dwight Gooden's amazin' 1985 to the Mets Team of the Decade, position by position.

I loved the piece they did on us blogger types, and want to say a quick thank you for the shout out.  Trust me amigos, for $12.99 you will not find a better bargain or a better read.

In other reading, Patrick Flood has a long piece about his trip to Port St Lucie, and it's a gem.

Metsradamus, easily the funniest Mets blogger, has a great piece this morning clearly placing blame for everything and anything on the broad shoulders of Oliver Perez.

Finally, Toby Hyde, who does yeoman's work covering the Mets Minors, tells us about the Mets #5 prospect, Josh Thole.

Enjoy your coffee!

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• Maple Street Press Mets Annual 2010 (amazinavenue.com)
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Mets Baseball Card of the Day: 1984 Darryl Strawberry

Today's entry is the 1984 Darryl Strawberry.

1984 was Strawberry's second year in the big leagues, and it was a great one. After winning rookie of the year in 1983, Strawberry had anything but a sophomore lump, with 27 doubles, 26 homeruns, and 27 stolen bases.

His 127 OPS+ was excellent, and he led the National League in Power/Speed.

These terrific numbers for the 22-year old Strawberry led to his first All-Star game and confirmed what everyone knew--Strawberry was one of the most gifted players the Mets had ever seen.

His career with the Mets seemed destined for Hall of Fame greatness, though sadly, drugs and alcohol issues would haunt Darryl for decades.

I have never publicly told this story, and at the time I didn't believe it.

In the Fall of 1986 I was home on my first military leave after joining the Air Force.

My friend and I went to the Mets v. Cubs game in which the Mets clinched the pennant...it was pandemonium. I met a girl at the game and quickly ditched my buddy (we're still friends to this day). The girl's friend was dating one of the Cubs, and they invited me to go out with the three of them after the game. The player wasn't a star, but if I printed his name you would know it.

After the four of us had dinner, we started partying and drinking and drinking and drinking some more, and the conversation got real loose. By this time the player and I were in "buddies for life" mode and quite impressed with ourselves. He thought I was a pilot (and I did nothing to disabuse him of this notion--remember, this was when "Top Gun" was all the rage), and I was thrilled to hang out with a ballplayer and two very nice looking ladies at an upscale Manhattan drinking establishment.

I asked the player about the Mets, and he told me about Strawberry and Gooden's heavy partying--everything, including out of control cocaine use--but I was 19, very naive, they were my heroes, and I didn't believe a word of it.

It was a great night, and at the time the closest I had ever been to hanging out with baseball players. As for the girl, well, the long distance thing didn't work out since I left shortly thereafter for a few months of training in California, and then went on to Korea for a two-year assignment.

When I found out Gooden entered rehab a few months later, in early 1987, I realized every word the player had told me was true. It was devastating to all Mets fans, and most us believe to this day that the drug and alcohol problems on those teams certainly prevented them from winning another World Series title or two.

Strawberry's best years, 1987 and 1988, were just tremendous, and he absolutely should have won the MVP award in 1988--Kirk Gibson's numbers pale in comparison.

We all remember Darryl fondly, but in the backs of our minds, we also always think, "What could have been?"

Related articles by Zemanta

• Dwight Gooden, Darryl Strawberry to join New York Mets Hall of Fame (sports.espn.go.com)
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Every Mets Opening Day Starting Pitcher

1962		Roger Craig
1963		Roger Craig
1964		Al Jackson
1965		Al Jackson
1966		Jack Fisher
1967		Don Cardwell
1968		Tom Seaver
1969		Tom Seaver
1970		Tom Seaver
1971		Tom Seaver
1972		Tom Seaver
1973		Tom Seaver
1974		Tom Seaver
1975		Tom Seaver
1976		Tom Seaver
1977		Tom Seaver
1978		Jerry Koosman
1979		Craig Swan
1980		Craig Swan
1981		Pat Zachry
1982		Randy Jones
1983		Tom Seaver
1984		Mike Torrez
1985		Dwight Gooden
1986		Dwight Gooden
1987		Bobby Ojeda
1988		Dwight Gooden
1989		Dwight Gooden
1990		Dwight Gooden
1991		Dwight Gooden
1992		David Cone
1993		Dwight Gooden
1994		Dwight Gooden
1995		Bobby Jones
1996		Bobby Jones
1997		Pete Harnisch
1998		Bobby Jones
1999		Al Leiter
2000		Mike Hampton
2001		Al Leiter
2002		Al Leiter
2003		Tom Glavine
2004		Tom Glavine
2005		Pedro Martinez
2006		Tom Glavine
2007		Tom Glavine
2008		Johan Santana
2009		Johan Santana

Picking the Perfect Mets Team

If you could go back in time, and pick and choose your greatest Mets starting lineup from all the players in Mets history, who would you choose?

What years would you pick?

What would your lineup card look like?

There have been so many amazing individual seasons--it's tough to narrow down--here are my picks for the starters.

The Starting Lineup:

Jose Reyes, SS, (2008 season)
Edgardo Alfonzo, 2B, (1999 season)
Carlos Beltran, CF, (2006 season)
David Wright, 3B, (2007 season)
Darryl Strawberrry, RF (1987 season)
Mike Piazza, C, (1999 season)
John Olerud, 1B, (1998 season)
Cleon Jones, LF, (1969 season)

Tom Seaver, RHP, (1969 season)
Dwight Gooden, RHP, (1985 season)
Jerry Koosman, LHP, (1976 season)
David Cone, RHP, (1988 season)
Frank Viola, LHP, (1990 season)

Tomorrow we'll select the bench, followed by the coaches and manager.

For a look at the all-time Mets leaders, please click here.