Miami, FL (WFAN) -- The
Mets may very well hate to see the calendar turn as they wrap up the month of July with three games against the Marlins in Florida and then begin August with three games in Houston vs. the Astros.
Four months ago, the Mets began the 2008 season in Florida by winning two of the three games. New York has gone 10 and 2 against the Marlins in the last two seasons and has also won 12 of the last 14 games vs. Florida at Dolphin Stadium dating back to September of 2006. The Mets are 62 and 54 all-time against the Marlins in Florida in the stadium which has been called Joe Robbie, Pro Player, Dolphins and now Dolphin (non plural) since the expansion club began playing its home games there in 1993. Next season, once the Mets have moved to CitiField, Dolphin Stadium will become the third "oldest" ballpark in the National League, trailing only Wrigley Field (1916) and Dodger Stadium (1962).
Carlos Delgado hit his 450th career home run last week. Delgado has hit the third most homers of any player who played for the Mets at some point of their career. Here is a list of the top 15 all-time home run leaders who at one time played for the Mets, ranked in order of career homers and the number of home runs hit while with the Mets:
| Player |
Career HR |
HR w/Mets |
| Willie Mays |
660 |
14 |
| Eddie Murray |
504 |
43 |
| Carlos Delgado |
453 |
84 |
| Dave Kingman |
442 |
154 |
| Mike Piazza |
427 |
220 |
| Duke Snider |
407 |
14 |
| Jeff Kent |
375 |
67 |
| Gil Hodges |
370 |
9 |
| Yogi Berra |
358 |
0 |
| George Foster |
348 |
99 |
| Darryl Strawberry |
335 |
252 |
| Moises Alou |
332 |
13 |
| Shawn Green |
328 |
14 |
| Mo Vaughn |
328 |
29 |
| Gary Carter |
324 |
89 |
Jose Reyes recently set the Mets club record for career triples. However, 20 one-time New York Mets still rank ahead of Reyes on the all-time triples leaderboard. Here is a list of the top 21 all-time triples leaders who at one time played for the Mets, ranked in order of career three base hits and including their career triples total while with the Mets:
| Player |
Career 3B |
3B w/Mets |
| Willie Mays |
140 |
1 |
| Brett Butler |
131 |
7 |
| Lance Johnson |
117 |
27 |
| Richie Ashburn |
109 |
3 |
| Garry Templeton |
106 |
1 |
| Juan Samuel |
102 |
1 |
| Larry Bowa |
99 |
0 |
| Tony Fernandez |
92 |
2 |
| Vince Coleman |
89 |
14 |
| Duke Snider |
85 |
3 |
| Roberto Alomar |
80 |
5 |
| Jim Fregosi |
78 |
5 |
| Mookie Wilson |
71 |
62 |
| Claudell Washington |
69 |
4 |
| Ken Boyer |
68 |
4 |
| Jay Bell |
67 |
0 |
| Gus Bell |
66 |
0 |
| Rickey Henderson |
66 |
0 |
| Amos Otis |
66 |
1 |
| Willie Randolph |
65 |
1 |
| Jose Reyes |
64 |
64 |
The Mets meet the Astros for the first time in 2008 when they visit Houston this weekend. The Astros are the only team left on the Mets schedule that they have not played at least one series against so far this season. The Mets have gone 10 and 11 vs. N.L. Central clubs in 2008 while going 20 and 17 vs the N.L. East, 18 and 14 vs. the N.L. West and 9-6 against A.L. clubs. The Mets split their four game series against the Astros in Houston last season and are 14 and 13 all-time at Minute Maid Park, the Astros home stadium since 2000. The Mets went a combined 88 and 153 vs. Houston at their previous two homes; Colt Stadium (5-21) and the Astrodome (83-132).
Former Met Kaz Matsui has been hitting leadoff for the Astros. As a Met, Matsui batted .256 with 11 homers and 75 rbi's in 239 career games. Since being dealt away from New York in June 2006 for the Rockies' Eli Marrero, Matsui has hit .305 with 8 homers and 77 rbi's in 206 games for Colorado and Houston.
