Justin Turner "Un-Vail-ed"

It seems like a lot of people have sent the Justin Turner bandwagon into overdrive. From #JustinTurnerFacts on Twitter (tip of the blue Mets cap to The Daily Stache for creating what has become a trending topic on Twitter) to this guy who's written too many blogs on him recently, Justin Turner seems to be on everyone's mind. Even a certain renowned writer who has an equal amount of "faith" and "fear" in his team has weighed in on Turner's recent accomplishments.

Needless to say, I noticed a connection between Justin Turner and Rusty Staub that has nothing to do with their hair color. Unfortunately, it's not one most Mets fans would want to make.

Let's hop into the DeLorean and set the time coordinates to 1975. At the time, the Mets were in a transitional phase. Yogi Berra was fired in August, replaced by Roy McMillan. 1969 World Series hero Cleon Jones was released outright. However, the Mets did produce their highest team batting average to date (.256), saw Dave Kingman belt a franchise-record 36 home runs and watched Rusty Staub become the first player to drive in 100 runs in a single season.

That team also produced a young outfielder named Mike Vail.

Mike Vail was a hitting machine at AAA-Tidewater in 1975, hitting .342 in 115 games. He was also a clutch hitter, driving in 79 runs despite hitting only seven home runs for the Tides. On August 18, he made his major league debut as a pinch-hitter. He singled in his first at-bat. Two days later, he made his first start and went 0-for-5. He wasn't held hitless again until September 16, when ironically, he did not collect a hit in an 18-inning victory over the St. Louis Cardinals, going 0-for-7 in the extra-inning affair.

Vail's 23-game hitting streak set the franchise record, unsurpassed until 1984 when Hubie Brooks hit in 24 consecutive games. After hitting .302 in 38 games in 1975, Vail made Rusty Staub expendable in the minds of the front office, who traded Le Grand Orange to the Detroit Tigers for the rotund and past-his-prime Mickey Lolich.

The Mets did well in 1976, finishing with the second-most wins in franchise history at the time (86), but that proved to be the final respectable season for the team until 1984. Rusty Staub went on to average 106 RBI per season for the Tigers from 1976-1978 (no Met drove in as many as 106 runs in a season until Darryl Strawberry collected 108 RBI in 1990). Mike Vail went kaplooie after being anointed as the "player of the future" following the 1975 season.

A basketball injury sustained during the off-season kept Vail on the disabled list for most of the 1976 season. Upon his return, Vail struggled, hitting only .217, scoring eight runs and driving in nine in 53 games. He performed slightly better in 1977, but still only produced a .262 batting average with eight home runs and 35 RBI in 108 games.

The so-called "player of the future" helped send the Mets back to their losing past. After being an excellent contact hitter in the minors, Vail struck out 114 times in 584 career at-bats for the Mets. He attempted eight stolen bases as a Met and was thrown out all eight times. Vail also made Jeff Francoeur look like a walking machine. From 1975-1977, Vail drew only 34 bases on balls, never walking more than 19 times in a single season for the Mets. This continued throughout his major league career, as Vail walked a mere 81 times in 10 big league seasons.

Now let's get back into the DeLorean, fire up the flux capacitor (anyone have a spare piece of plutonium lying around?) and return to 2011. Justin Turner just set the Mets' rookie record by driving in at least one run in his seventh consecutive game. Prior to his streak, Turner had only driven in six runs in his major league career. But like Vail, Turner was also an outstanding contact hitter in the minor leagues, hitting .309 and striking out only 279 times in 2,202 plate appearances.

Justin Turner is also playing third base, filling in admirably for the injured David Wright, who drove in over 100 runs last season. With just about every Met having the "untradeable" tag removed from them, could it be that history is about to repeat itself?

Let's hope not. Justin Turner is on quite a bit of a roll, but he will never be David Wright, even when the longtime third baseman reverts to his David K. Wright persona. At best, Turner will platoon with Daniel Murphy at second base until Terry Collins decides that one of them has won the job outright.

Justin Turner is a nice player whose 15 minutes of fame have stretched into a second week. He's not David Wright just like Mike Vail was not Rusty Staub. Let's enjoy his hot streak while it lasts, but let's not make the mistake the front office made in 1975 by anointing him "the player of the future". For now, Justin Turner is a player of the present. We'll let the future take care of itself.

First Quarter Recap: Things We Observed By Watching

Okay, so technically the first quarter of the season ended in the middle of the fifth inning on Monday, when the Mets had played 40½ games. But blogging isn't an exact science and my watch wasn't working, so let's just say the first quarter of the season just ended today. After their second consecutive shutout victory over the Washington Nationals, the Mets' record stands at 21-22. For a team that started the season by losing 13 of their first 18 games, they've made quite a turnaround.

So as we look back on those first 43 games and look ahead to the next 118 (because I'm still convinced that the Mets will have a game rained out that doesn't get made up), let's see what we observed during the first quarter and what we can look forward to over the next three-quarters of the season.

There are two things we noticed about Jason Bay. Neither one of them is very positive. Let's ignore that he banged out three hits today. Instead, let's focus on home runs and runs batted in, or the lack of them.

We still think Jason Bay is a nice guy who tries his best. Too bad his best produces strikeouts and pop-ups.

These are the career batting statistics of two former Mets, followed by Jason Bay's numbers as a Met (through games of May 18, 2011):

• Player A: 17 doubles, 5 triples, 6 HR, 60 RBI, 70 runs scored.
• Player B: 15 doubles, 5 triples, 7 HR, 65 RBI, 59 runs scored.
• Jason Bay: 23 doubles, 6 triples, 8 HR, 54 RBI, 60 runs scored.

As you can see, Player A and Player B both have career numbers comparable to Jason Bay. Who are these players? Player A is Tom Seaver and Player B is Dwight Gooden. At least Bay can say that he has numbers that compare to two of the best players ever to put on a Mets uniform. Of course, those weren't exactly the Mets players fans had in mind when they envisioned the batting marks Jason Bay would approach.

So do you know which hitter Jason Bay resembles the most? How about Chico Walker? The man who made the final out AGAINST the Mets in the game that clinched the 1986 NL East division title and the final out FOR the Mets the last time they were no-hit, put up numbers stunningly similar to the Mets' current $66 million man:

• Chico Walker: .268 AVG/.322 OBP/.382 SLG, 9 HR, 55 RBI, 21 SB in 440 at-bats.
• Jason Bay: .250 AVG/.340 OBP/.388 SLG, 8 HR, 54 RBI, 12 SB in 428 at-bats.

Perhaps with a little surge in the second quarter of the season, Bay might approach Richie Hebner's career stats for the Mets (.268, 25 doubles, 10 HR, 79 RBI in 473 at-bats).

Richie Hebner hated New York and Mets fans. I wonder if he can claim John Rocker as a dependent.

What was the other thing we noticed about Jason Bay this season? In 23 games, the Mets' leftfielder has driven in seven runs. In the last four games alone, second baseman/third baseman Justin Turner has knocked in nine.

Here are a few other things we observed over the first quarter of the season that have nothing to do with Jason Bay.

One of the newest members of the Buffalo Bisons, Chin-Lung Hu didn't do very well in his time with the Mets. In fact, he finished the first quarter of the season with more body parts in his name (two - Chin and Lung) than base hits collected (Hu notched one safety in 20 at-bats).

Jose Reyes is back to leading the National League in stolen bases, a feat he accomplished three times from 2005 to 2007. His 16 stolen bases are two more than Astros' speedster Michael Bourn. What's amazing about Reyes' stolen base total is that he also has 20 extra-base hits on the year. For those who aren't aware, it's a little difficult for Jose to steal second base when he's already standing on it or past it because he keeps churning out extra-base hit after extra-base hit. Can you say contract year, kids?

What about Reyes' partner in grime, David Wright? The recently-DL'ed third baseman has struck out 43 times in 146 at-bats this season (an average of one strikeout every 3.4 at-bats). The Mets' starting rotation (Mike Pelfrey, Jonathon Niese, R.A. Dickey, Chris Capuano, Dillon Gee) has struck out 25 times in 65 at-bats. But Chris Capuano has struck out nine times in 12 at-bats. Therefore, the other four starters have gone down on strikes only 16 times in 53 at-bats, or once every 3.3 at-bats. Perhaps his time on the DL will remind David Wright that he should stop running away from good pitches and start making contact with them.

You can run, but you can't hide (from strike three).

Over the past two seasons, the Mets finished a combined 61-101 away from Citi Field (compared to an 88-74 record at home). This year, the opposite is true, as the Mets are 11-10 on the road and 10-12 at home. Their improvement on the road will come in handy during the second quarter of the season, as the Mets will play 33 of 49 games in their road grays (and blacks) from June 7 through July 31.

Upcoming Milestones Within Reach

David Wright is tied with Darryl Strawberry for first place on the all-time runs scored list (662). But with Wright on the disabled list, Jose Reyes should become the club's all-time leader in runs scored sometime this weekend. Reyes is currently third with 660.

Similarly, Wright and Reyes are both close to passing Cleon Jones for second place on the franchise's all-time hits list. Jones is currently in second place with 1,188 hits. Wright has 1,182 safeties and Reyes has 1,178.

Carlos Beltran is 12 home runs away from cracking the top five in home runs. Dave Kingman is currently fifth with 154 home runs as a Met, while Beltran has 142. With 22 RBIs, Beltran will surpass Cleon Jones (521, 7th all-time) and Edgardo Alfonzo (538, 6th all-time) in runs batted in. Of course, with each home run and RBI, Beltran becomes more attractive to teams looking to make a trade for the rightfielder.

Francisco Rodriguez picked up his 74th save as a Met today, good for seventh on the team's all-time list. However, with 13 more saves he will pass Roger McDowell (84) and Tug McGraw (86) to enter the top five. Of course, if he finishes 38 more games this season, he will get plenty of opportunities to go even higher on the all-time saves list, as he will reach the 55-game plateau needed for his 2012 contract to vest.

Joey's Small Bites: Everything's Bigger In Texas, Like Mets' Comebacks

So last night I was settling in with some cupcakes and the remote control (and my sister Iggy), hoping to see the Mets try to continue their winning streak against the Houston Astros. The Astros, who own of the worst record in the National League, had somehow taken two out of three games from the Mets in April at Citi Field, something that this Mets fan had not forgotten. Dillon Gee was starting for New York against Bud Norris, and I was expecting the Mets to do well against Norris. Well, they didn't. But that doesn't mean the end result wasn't good.

For the first six innings, the Mets' bats were silent against Norris, as the Astros' starter faced two batters above the minimum. But Gee was matching Norris pitch for pitch, and the score was only 1-0 in favor of the Astros as they came to bat in the bottom of the sixth.

Then I had an "Oh, $#!+" moment. No, I didn't do anything wrong. I just had to go to the bathroom. (Those cupcakes were doing the loop-de-loop in my tummy.) Of course, once I returned from the loo, the Astros had taken it to Gee, scoring three runs off the rookie. That's when I had another "Oh, $#!+" moment, but this was directed more at the Mets. It could have been a lot worse (the game, not my bowel movements), but Pat Misch induced an inning-ending double play to keep the score at 4-0.

In the seventh inning, Norris continued to roll, striking out David K. Wright and Carlos Beltran to start the frame. As I watching this, all I could think of was that we were allowing a guy named Bud to toy with us. I mean, when I think of Bud, this is what I think of...

Bud Harrelson and his "bud" Pete Rose, Bud (a.k.a. Kenny) from the Cosby Show, Bud from the Budweiser ads.

This was Bud Norris, who had won all of 17 games in his three-year career and "boasted" a career 4.55 ERA and 1.44 WHIP, numbers that were eerily similar to what Victor Zambrano posted during his three-year stint with the Mets (10 wins, 4.42 ERA, 1.49 WHIP). In other words, WE SHOULD BE HITTING THIS GUY!!!

Well, they must have noticed that I was using caps because with one swing of the bat, the Mets were no longer bound by Bud, as Jason Bay hit his eighth career home run as a Met, cutting the Mets' deficit to 4-1. That set things in motion for what was to follow.

Pat Misch pitched a one-two-three inning in the bottom of the seventh. Then the Mets' bats woke up from their lumber slumber in the top of the eighth, as Fernando Martinez hit a two-run homer into the second deck in right field to make it a one-run game. Jose Reyes followed F-Mart's blast by getting Norris to walk him. That was enough for Astros' manager Brad Mills, as he closed his tab, having his fill of Bud for the night. In came Jeff Fulchino, a 31-year-old with only 160 innings pitched in the majors. That should say it all.

David K. Wright legally changed his middle initial to H.R., taking Fulchino deep into the Crawford seats, completing the Mets' comeback and giving them a 5-4 lead. The Mets then scored an insurance run in the ninth inning and K-Rod held on to the lead to record his 11th consecutive save.

The Mets had rallied from a four-run seventh inning deficit to defeat the Astros 6-4, causing my sister to celebrate with her special Mets pom poms.

With the victory, the Mets improved to 10-9 on the road this season, which is Amazin' considering that for the past two seasons, the road was where winning streaks went to die. (The Mets were 61-101 away from Citi Field over the past two seasons.)

Later this afternoon, the Mets will try to extend their winning streak to four when R.A. Dickey takes the mound against J.A. Happ in an all-initial affair. Should the Mets win, they will have taken their fourth series on the road, matching last season's total before Memorial Day.

They say everything's bigger in Texas. I can see why. Last night, the Mets proved that comebacks are bigger in Texas. Hopefully, by this evening, the Mets' winning streak can also get bigger. I'll eat to that!

It's Not Just The Failure To Hit With The Bases Loaded

Much has been said about the Mets' failure to produce with the bases loaded this season. After all, the team is hitting .182 (6-for-33) with the bags full. By contrast, the rest of the National League is hitting .294 in those situations. But this is not the only favorable hitting situation that the Mets have failed in repeatedly this season. In fact, the Mets have become quite adept at being inept.

David K. Wright doing what he does best.

Anytime a team has a runner on third base and less than two outs, the odds of scoring that run are obviously very good, as it can score without the benefit of a base hit. However, the Mets seem to have not received that memo. With a runner on third and less than two outs, the Mets are hitting a paltry .196 (11-for-56) with 34 RBI (10 sacrifice flies). They have struck out 17 times in these situations and have yet to hit a home run.

Even scarier is that the Mets have not hit a home run all season with a runner on third base. Of their 28 home runs, 15 have been of the solo variety, five have come with a man on first, five have been hit with a man on second, and the other three (all three-run homers) were blasted with men on first and second. Mets players have come to bat 150 times this season with a man on third base and have yet to hit a ball out of the ballpark. How many hits have they gotten in those 150 plate appearances? A measly 21, with only eight extra-base hits. They have struck out 31 times against only 18 walks in those situations. But wait, there's more.

In the late innings, when good teams are able to put together rallies to prevail in tight games, the Mets' bats go to sleep. Over the first six innings this season, the Mets have actually been quite respectable, hitting .265. They also have a .335 on-base percentage and a .419 slugging percentage from innings 1 through 6. However, over the final three innings, it's a completely different story (.201/.300/.325). Why is this so shocking? Because a starting pitcher usually contributes to lowering the batting avg./OBP/slugging pct. of his team during the first six innings of a ballgame. His spot is often taken by a pinch-hitter over the final three innings, a pinch-hitter who can usually be counted on to be a more productive hitter than the pitcher he's replacing in the batting order.

Of course, pinch-hitting has not been the Mets' forté this season, as substitutes have combined to hit .172 (16-for-93), have reached base at a .235 clip, and are slugging .258. Players such as Willie Harris, Scott Hairston and Chin-Lung Hu have yet the put the word "hitting" in pinch-hitting, as they have come off the bench to strike out 31 times while drawing only six walks.

This has become too familiar a sight at Citi Field this season.

So what does a first place team do with the bases loaded and some of the other situations discussed here? The Philadelphia Phillies have hit .300 (12-for-40) with the bags full this season. With runners on third base and less than two outs, they're hitting .299 with 50 RBI. They have 35 hits with runners on third base, including three home runs. And for all those who say "all they do is hit home runs", let it be known that as of today, both the Phillies and the Mets have hit exactly 28 home runs.

Yeah. That's what a first place team does at the plate when presented with favorable hitting situations. They don't strand runners on base. They move guys around. They make productive outs. They draw walks. They don't strike out, pop out or hit into inning-ending double plays. Last place teams do that. That's where the Mets are right now, and that's where they're going to stay if they don't start recognizing what needs to be done at the plate.