Category: Sports News

Who doesn’t love a summer rental? Few strings attached, could result in lifelong memories. Perhaps the Mets should look into one to add to their outfield mix. 

Cedric Mullins is a nifty power-speed combo who would give the Mets a lefty-hitting option for center field, a position where they could use an offensive uptick. Mullins is a free agent after this season, so he’d likely be in Flushing just for the rest of this season, which, of course, likely tempers what level of talent the Baltimore Orioles can ask for in return. 

So is Mullins, who has a 30-homer, 30-steal season on his resume, a Met match?

Let’s look at the Pros and Cons of David Stearns potentially trading for the outfielder who has nicknames ranging from "Parking Lot Ced" – for his ability to crush homers completely out of minor league ballparks – to "The Entertainer." 

PROS

At the beginning of this season, Mullins, who turns 31 in October, gave Orioles fans a reminder of his broad skill set. In his first 23 games, he had a slash line of .295/.433/.590 with six homers and five stolen bases. On April 24, his OPS sat at 1.023 and it looked like he was primed for his best season since 2021, when he went 30-30, had an .878 OPS, made the AL All-Star team and finished ninth in AL MVP voting.

Since then? Um, we’ll get into that in the "Cons" section of this piece. 

For now, we move on to how Mullins is a proven source of pop, having hit double-digits in homers in all five seasons as a regular, including 13 so far this year. He’s on pace for his first 20-plus homer season since ‘21. His next home run will be the 100th of his career.

He’s got plenty of derring-do on the bases, too. Mullins has stolen 13 bases in 16 tries this year (81.3 percent) and sits just a shade under 80 percent for his career. In 2022, he became just the fifth Orioles player to record back-to-back seasons of 30-plus steals. His running game would fit nicely on a Mets team that is very efficient at stealing bases – they are 74-for-84 (88 percent).

Mullins, once a switch-hitter who gave it up before his big ‘21 season, could give the Mets a left-handed hitter to pair with Tyrone Taylor, who’s a superior defensive player, in a platoon in center. Mets center fielders ended the first half 24th in average (.223), 25th in on-base percentage (.282), 23rd in slugging (.332) and 24th in OPS (.614). 

Only two teams have fewer home runs than the four the Mets have gotten from their center fielders.

CONS

Mullins has fizzled after his hot start, batting .188 with a .243 on-base percentage and .340 slugging in 56 games. That means he’s at .218/.302/.411 for a .713 OPS at the All-Star break. Still, his OPS is 99 points higher than the MLB average. The MLB average slash line is .245/.315/.400. 

In fairness to Mullins, his first-half numbers in 2024 were not spectacular (.629 OPS), but he roared after the All-Star break, notching an .831 OPS, including a .374 on-base percentage.

Since his big 2021, he’s never had a full-season OPS over .721. If he’s going to offer a platoon option, he’s got to be better against right-handed pitchers (.197 average so far this year).

He’s walking more than ever – he’s got a 10.3 percent walk rate, which would be the first in double-digits in his career – but his 23.4 percent strikeout rate would be the second-highest of his career. 

Some of his defensive metrics have backslid, so he might not be the defender he once was.

VERDICT

Because Mullins is going to be a free agent after the season, his price tag -- should the Orioles move him -- will be more palatable than it would be for a player with years of remaining club control. That’s why Mullins makes more sense for the Mets than, say, a player such as Jarren Duran, the Red Sox outfielder who won’t be a free agent until after the 2028 season.

The Mets, you may have heard, are intent on developing their farm system. Still, true contenders can’t let prospect hoarding stand in the way of improving the big league club in a go-for-it season. Acquiring Mullins, who should not command a strafing of the top end of their prospect list, fits with that boost-the-system mandate while also pumping some power and speed into the major league squad. 

And retaining their best prospects would give the Mets the flexibility to make a bigger deal for pitching, another need. Jeff McNeil could ditch his part-time center field work and concentrate on raking as the second baseman.  

In his career, Mullins has thrived at Citi Field, a noted pitcher’s park, recording a 1.026 OPS. Maybe the Mets should put his Queens comfort to work for them in the second half. 

Considering the Yankees’ lofty baseball accomplishments and stirring history, it figures that they have authored significant moments in Major League Baseball’s annual All-Star Game.

From the very first edition of the Midsummer Classic in 1933, when at least one milestone unfolded as if it were ordained by the baseball gods, to the last time the All-Star Game was played in 2019, Yankee talent has made an impact in the battle between the leagues.

Here’s a look at some of the best moments and performances by Yankees. Any complaints about the order they’re in? Maybe next year we’ll consider fan balloting, like the game itself.

Ruth goes yard 

First is best, right? Or something like that. In the very first All-Star Game in 1933 -- why the heck did it take so long? -- Babe Ruth blasted the first home run in Midsummer Classic history in the American League’s 4-2 victory over the National League at Comiskey Park. What, you thought Joe Cronin was going to do it? With a runner on in the third inning, Ruth connected off Bill Hallahan of the Cardinals, adding another line to his remarkable baseball biography. Ruth also made a terrific catch in right field in the game and teammate Lefty Gomez twirled three scoreless innings. 

Trivia time: Who hit the first All-Star homer in NL history? 

...

Answer:Frankie Frisch of the Cardinals in the sixth inning. That’s not as good a story as Ruth.

Jeter’s first step to history

In the 2000 game at Turner Field in Atlanta, Derek Jeter got to start because of an injury to Alex Rodriguez, and he made the most of the chance. Jeter was 3-for-3 with two RBI and a run scored. He doubled off Randy Johnson in the first inning, singled off Kevin Brown in the third and hit a two-run single off Al Leiter in the fifth. His performance earned him the game’s MVP award -- he was the first Yankee to claim that hardware. It also set the stage for Jeter becoming the first player in MLB history to be named MVP of the All-Star Game and the World Series in the same season. To date, he’s the only one. It was also the first of two 3-for-3 performances in All-Star Games for Jeter. He also did it in 2004.

Recency bias? No 

There was no All-Star Game in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, so this one in Cleveland is the most recent one and Shane Bieber of the Indians was the MVP after a blazing fifth inning in which he struck out the side. But pinstriped fingerprints were all over this Midsummer Classic. CC Sabathia, who was retiring at the end of the season, was there as an honorary member. The Yankee lefty, who started his wonderful career in Cleveland, received multiple ovations, including when he threw out the ceremonial first pitch. He even surprised Aroldis Chapman with a mound visit in the ninth. Masahiro Tanaka threw a scoreless inning and was the winning pitcher and Chapman struck out the side in the ninth for the save.

Derek’s last Midsummer stand 

In 2014, Jeter played in his final Midsummer Classic and went 2-for-2 with a run scored. Did Adam Wainwright of the Cardinals groove one for him in the first inning, helping Jeter rip a double? Who cares? It made for a nice capper to 14 All-Star Games for the Yankee captain, who finished with a .481 average (13-for-27) -- third-best all-time.

Gehrig goes off

They didn’t invent the All-Star Game MVP Award until 1962, but Lou Gehrig probably would’ve won the trophy if it had existed in 1937. He went 2-for-4 with a two-run homer off Dizzy Dean and four total RBI in the AL’s 8-3 victory. It was his second straight Midsummer Classic with a home run after a slow start to his All-Star career. Entering the ‘36 game, he had been 0-for-9 against the NL’s best.

Who needs the DH?

Vic Raschi threw three scoreless innings of relief to earn the win in the AL’s 5-2 victory in 1948, including a key strikeout of Richie Ashburn with the bases loaded. And, in the days before the designated hitter, he proved adept at the plate, too. Raschi smacked a tie-breaking, two-run single in the fourth inning to give the AL the lead for good. Not bad for someone who was a .184 hitter in his career.

Lefty goes long

This wouldn’t happen today, considering that starters often don’t pitch six innings during regular season games. But Gomez threw six innings of one-run ball in the 1935 All-Star Game, holding the NL to three measly hits. It was part of a remarkable run for Gomez, who still has the ASG record with three wins.

One Mo moment

In 2013, Mariano Rivera made his final All-Star appearance, throwing a scoreless inning at Citi Field to much applause. Maybe his MVP award was partly sentimental, but he certainly deserved as much recognition as possible. After all, he was selected to 13 All-Star teams, had a 0.00 ERA and a record four saves. He also had missed most of 2012 with a knee injury and is the greatest relief pitcher in the history of baseball.

Joe D, super sub

Joe DiMaggio had only played 12 games before the Midsummer Classic because of injury, but was added to the team as a reserve and then got into the starting lineup when Tommy Henrich was hurt. DiMaggio, seizing the moment, went 2-for-4 with three RBI in an 11-7 AL win.

Second billing

The 1983 game was all about Fred Lynn’s grand slam, the first one in Midsummer Classic history. But Dave Winfield starred, too, going 3-for-3 with two runs and an RBI.

Honorable mentions

All four Yankee home run derby champs: Tino Martinez (1997), Jason Giambi (2002), Robinson Canó (2011) and Aaron Judge (2017)... DiMaggio homered in 1939, the first ASG at Yankee Stadium... Not a performance, but a ballpark: The 2008 game, the last ASG at Yankee Stadium, matched the record for innings (15) and set the record for time (four hours, 50 minutes). Jeter was quoted afterward saying it was like the Stadium itself didn’t want the game to end.

The Mets don’t have a particularly notable history of big hits or meaningful plays in All-Star Games, but they’ve had their share of compelling moments in the Midsummer Classic, mostly built around pitching performances, which fits with what they’ve been as an organization all these years.

Here, then, is my list of the 10 most memorable moments/performances, which are dominated, not surprisingly, by Tom Seaver:

10) 1970: Seaver makes first All-Star start

Coming off the Miracle Mets’ 1969 championship, manager Gil Hodges gave Seaver the start in Cincinnati’s brand-new Riverfront Stadium, and had him go three scoreless innings, as he racked up four strikeouts.

It was a different time, obviously, in the way pitchers were handled, but this tidbit still seems remarkable: Hodges used Seaver in relief the Sunday before the All-Star Game, bringing him into the ninth inning even after the Expos had broken a 3-3 tie and taken a 5-3 lead, and then allowed him to pitch those three innings two days later in a game the NL eventually won 5-4. Seaver went on to pitch in eight All-Star games (he made the team 12 times), posting a 4.85 ERA mostly because he allowed three runs in one inning in 1975.

9) 2006: David Wright goes deep in his first appearance

In the first of his nine All-Star Games, in Pittsburgh, Wright took lefty Kenny Rogers deep in the second inning -- his first at-bat. It was only the second All-Star home run by a Met, 27 years after Mazzilli hit his in Seattle, and no Met has hit one since.

It was Wright’s only extra-base hit as an All-Star, but he did hit .389 in his nine appearances, going 7-for-18.

8) 1990: Darryl Strawberry shows off his Howitzer

Strawberry didn’t have many memorable moments during his eight All-Star Games, but in 1990 at Wrigley Field, he drew oohs and aahs for a spectacular throw he made from right field in the seventh inning.

With one out and Julio Franco on third base, Jose Canseco lofted a fly to medium-range right field. Strawberry caught the ball with momentum going toward the plate and threw a strike on the fly to Mike Scioscia to get Franco and end the inning. The throw kept the NL close at 2-0, but that turned out to be the final score as the AL won.

7) 1968: Seaver strikes out Mickey Mantle

Nobody knew yet what an immortal Seaver would become, but in hindsight, this was quite an historic moment, as the Mets’ future Hall-of-Famer struck out Mantle in his final All-Star at-bat.

By then, Mantle was a shell of his former self but he was picked for sentimental reasons, and named honorary captain of the AL team as he appeared in his 20^th All-Star Game (MLB played two All-Star games from 1959-62). Pinch-hitting in the eighth inning in the Astrodome, Mantle was overpowered by Seaver on four pitches, going down swinging on a high fastball. For Seaver, it was one of five strikeouts as he pitched the seventh and eighth innings in a 1-0 win for the NL.

6) 2019 and 2021: Pete Alonso wins Home Run Derby; 2025: Alonso goes deep

Let’s face it, for years now the Derby has generated more interest than the game itself, and in this case, it raised Alonso’s rookie profile. He was already the talk of New York, with 30 home runs at the All-Star break, and made no secret of how much he wanted to win the derby. So when he did it, out-homering Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the finals, Alonso was an instant star on the national stage.

In the game the next night, held in Cleveland, Alonso went 1-for-2, driving home two runs in the eighth inning with a bases-loaded single as the NL rallied but wound up losing 4-3.

Alonso won the Derby a second time in 2021 at Coors Field in Colorado, which made it back-to-back wins since the event wasn't held in 2020 due to the pandemic.

In the 2025 game, after Alonso passed on participating in the Derby, he blasted a three-run homer to become the third Mets player to ever homer in an All-Star Game. His heroics came a few innings before the NL won the game on the first-ever swing-off, which was decided with Alonso in the on-deck circle.

5) 1967: Rookie Tom Seaver closes out longest All-Star Game

Seaver wasn’t in the plans to pitch until the game, held in Anaheim, Calif., went to the 15^th inning and the National League was running out of pitchers. Then, Tony Perez hit a home run in the top of the 15^th to put the NL ahead and the Mets’ young star came on to get the final three outs of the 2-1 win.

Seaver earned a relatively easy save, getting Tony Conigliaro to fly out, and then, after walking Carl Yastrzemski, getting Bill Freehan to fly out before finishing with a flourish, striking out Ken Berry to end the longest All-Star Game ever by innings -- a distinction that game now shares with the 2008 game.

4) 1979: Lee Mazzilli hits homer, draws game-winning walk

People who are old enough to have seen it remember the switch-hitting Mazzilli’s opposite-field home run as a left-handed hitter, down the left field line in the old Seattle Kingdome. It was the first home run ever by a Met in an All-Star Game and it tied the game 6-6 in the eighth inning for the NL, but perhaps not as many recall he drew a bases-loaded walk in the top of the ninth to drive in what turned out to be the winning run in a 7-6 victory.

For that matter until I looked it up, I sure didn’t remember that the walk came off Ron Guidry, the Yankees’ reigning AL Cy Young Winner. Quite a night for the local kid from Brooklyn in what turned out to be Mazzilli’s only All-Star appearance.

3) 2015: Jacob deGrom strikes out the side on 10 pitches

At this point, deGrom was the reigning Rookie of the Year but still widely considered Harvey’s sidekick, with Harvey back from Tommy John surgery and seemingly rounding into ace form again. Then, deGrom went out and had an inning in the All-Star Game so dazzling, striking out the side -- Steven Vogt, Jason Kipnis, and Jose Iglesias -- on 10 pitches, that the buzz around him changed instantly.

“I knew he was good but I didn’t know he could do that,” I remember a scout telling me a couple of days later. “Dotting the corners at 98 with his fastball, it was eye-popping.” Just a preview of what was to come, as it turned out.

2) 1984: Rookie Dwight Gooden strikes out the side

This was in an era before social media, the internet, and interleague play, when nationally televised games were few and far between. So when Gooden arrived in San Francisco’s Candlestick Park for the All-Star Game as a 19-year-old rookie, he was leading the National League in strikeouts yet he was still largely an unknown to most of the baseball nation, not to mention American League hitters.

Then, he went out and lit up TV screens across the country, striking out the side after entering the game in the fifth inning, mowing down Larry Parrish, Chet Lemon, and Alvin Davis. Gooden pitched another scoreless inning in the sixth, allowing only a bloop double to Eddie Murray, and that quickly made a name for himself nationally.

1) 2013: Matt Harvey starts game at Citi Field

Anyone who was there will never forget just how electric the atmosphere was as Harvey took the mound at his home ballpark that night, perhaps the best pitcher in the sport at that very moment, just 24 years old.

Harvey was up to the occasion, striking out Miguel Cabrera and Jose Bautista in the first inning to escape a mini-jam, allowing just a Mike Trout opposite-field double in two scoreless innings. Anyone who was there also never would have believed it would be Harvey’s only All-Star appearance.

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