Puzzling silence from the Gray Lady
We were supposed to have enjoyed a Keith Hernandez crossword in The New York Times by now, and Roger Cormier is sick of waiting, so he just went ahead and made one to honor No. 17
Trivia question: Last night, Trevor Williams closed out the Mets’ 8-0 rout of the Cubs with three innings of three-hit ball, which due to the quirk of the scorekeeping rules, marked the first save of the 30-year-old hurler’s career.
That’s not really surprising, as Williams is mainly a starter, and it was only the 29th relief appearance he’s made in the majors – and ninth to end a game. The save rule is that a pitcher gets one when coming into the game either (a) to start the ninth inning with a lead of three or fewer runs; (b) with the tying run on deck at any time; or (c) recording at least three innings. A save can only be awarded to a pitcher who finishes the game.
When the save was instituted in 1969, this made sense, as nobody developed as a one-inning specialist. Tug McGraw had 13 saves of three-plus innings from 1969-74, Skip Lockwood racked up a dozen from 1975-79, and Jesse Orosco checked in with 11 from 1981-87, according to Stathead data. All three of those guys fell short of the team record, 24, belonging to Roger McDowell from 1985-89.
The first of those saves for McDowell was a 4-0 game against the Phillies on May 11, 1985, and the most lopsided game in which the hotfoot master locked down a save was a 9-2 affair, the second game of a doubleheader against the Cardinals on August 17, 1986. Several of McDowell’s three-inning saves would have qualified based on the score or situation, but also there were plenty of games that were a little more out of hand where what really got saved was what Williams saved on Thursday, everyone else in the bullpen.
Since Turk Wendell and Rick White each recorded their second three-inning saves as Mets, nobody has done it multiple times for the club, and they all look a lot more like Williams’ efforts than McDowell’s: Dan Wheeler (10-5 at Florida, 2003); Brian Stokes (12-0 at Washington, 2008); Bobby Parnell (9-0 vs. St. Louis, 2009); Raúl Valdés (8-0 vs. Philadelphia,); Logan Verrett (8-0 at Los Angeles, 2015); Franklyn Kilorme (11-4 at Miami, 2020); Erasmo Ramírez (18-1 vs. Toronto at Buffalo, 2020); and Williams (8-0 at Cubs, last night).
Which pitcher, not named above, had the Mets’ most recent three-inning save at Wrigley Field before Williams, and which two Mets pitchers logged four-inning saves on the North Side of Chicago, both in the same season?
Across the field of broken promises, Down on the Times
By Roger Cormier
Crossword aficionado Keith Hernandez said last month during a broadcast that The New York Times contacted him about a Keith-themed puzzle set to publish on the day of his number retirement ceremony. It made for a very sweet moment during the Mets’ game in San Diego.
For unknown reasons, the crossword puzzle never came to pass.
Is it because he is undeserving? He's a Republican who is friends with Donald Trump, but Mets fans don't seem to give a damn about that, and the Times certainly hasn’t had any issues platforming that side of the political spectrum. It says a lot about his charisma in the booth and his prowess on the diamond that cancel culture doesn’t come for Hernandez (because it doesn’t exist, but you get the point).
In any event, we here at Willets Pen made a Keith themed crossword. Does that make us better than The New York Times? Probably. Anyway, here’s…
The Keith Hernandez Puzzle!
Enjoy!
Trivia answer: On September 12, 1991, it was actually a back-and-forth game for a while, with the Mets going ahead, 4-3, on an infield hit by Gregg Jefferies in the sixth inning. In the seventh, the Mets pinch-hit for starter Anthony Young, and wound up scoring two runs on a Howard Johnson double (HoJo’s 100th and 101st RBI that season). In the bottom of the seventh, Wally Whitehurst came on and pitched a 1-2-3 inning, did so again in the eighth, and worked around an Andre Dawson single in the ninth for his only save that season and one of just three in of the 1996 World Series ring recipient’s 97 career relief appearances.
Anyway, back to members of the 1996 Yankees who had long saves for the Mets at Wrigley Field. Dwight Gooden was one of the Mets with a four-inning save, on September 19, 1989. That day’s starter was Bob Ojeda, and the Mets gave him a 5-1 lead after three innings, highlighted by homers from Gary Carter and Keith Miller. Gooden, who had been 9-2 with a 2.56 ERA to start the season, but wound up missing almost the entire second half, recorded the first save of his career and the only one he picked up as a Met. Gooden’s other two saves came with the 2000 Yankees.
Earlier in that 1989 season, on June 7, Gooden was the starter, and actually had one of his rougher outings of the season, giving up five runs in five innings, highlighted by a Lloyd McClendon home run. But Kevin McReynolds knocked Rick Sutcliffe out of the game with a three-run shot in the fifth, HoJo added a solo shot in the sixth, and Rick Aguilera held the Cubs off the board for the final four frames.