Mets Weekly did a series this year on the best individual season by a Met in team history. The only rule, no player could have more than one season on the list.
10. Johan Santana - 2008
9. John Olerud - 1998
8. Jerry Koosman - 1969
7. Jose Reyes - 2006
6. Mike Piazza - 1999
5. Carlos Beltran - 2006
4. Darryl Strawberry - 1987
3. David Wright - 2007
2. Tom Seaver - 1971
1. Dwight Gooden - 1985 [corrected]
Number one is easy, and reviewing it, the rationale for making 1971 Seaver's year is fine with me as well. David Wright's 2007 is a little too high, as is Santana's 2008. I like some seasons by lesser lights like Robin Ventura (32 and 100 in 1999), Bernard Gilkey (30 and 117 in 1996), Lance Johnson (in 1996 he had exactly the same OPS as Reyes in 2006) and Craig Swan (led the NL in ERA in 1978). But I think the biggest omission is Howard Johnson's 1989 (36 and 101 plus 41 steals).
Agreed about Hojo, but a couple other issues. Gooden's '85 was way better than '84. A few less strikeouts, but he was 24-4, 1.5 ERA -- one of the most dominant seasons ever.
ReplyDeleteOjeda's '86 also deserved to make the list.
And come on, what about Ollie P's 2009?
Sorry. That was a typo, of course they made Gooden's 85 number 1. I just typed the wrong number and didn't notice it when I reviewed it.
ReplyDeletePaul's Poop regrets the error.
Ojeda in 86 is a great call, 18-5, 2.57 ERA, strong numbers across the board in other categories. Fourth in Cy Young voting, which is actually a good indicator of how the season stacked up at the time.
David Cone in 1988 crushes the Johan season. I also think Frank Viola in 1990 is superior as well.
ReplyDeleteGreat calls Jems. The Coney 88 season definitely got robbed.
ReplyDeleteViola in 90 was good, but pales in comparison to Coney and the other three older pitching seasons on this list.
The Mets Weekly staff definitely had a bias towards current players.