OPENING DAY: The Mets are set to open their 55th season tonight…In the history of Major League Baseball, the Mets (35-19, .648) have the best winning percentage on Opening Day…Below is a list of the top records on Opening Day.
- WORLD SERIES RE-MATCH: This is the first time in major league history that the two teams that met in the previous World Series, opened the following season against each other.
- NL CHAMPS: The Mets won the National League championship for the fifth time in franchise history in 2015… The other years the Mets won the NL pennant include 1969 (Won World Series), 1973, 1986 (Won World Series) and 2000…New York went 90-72 and captured the NL East title last season…It was the sixth NL East crown in club history and first since 2006.
- OPENING DAY: After losing their first eight Opening Day contests, the Mets have won 35 of their last 46 Opening Day games…New York took nine straight openers from 1975-1983 to tie a major league record…The Mets have won eight of their last 10 openers and are 11-5 in their last 16.
- ON THE ROAD: The Mets are 15-11 when starting the season on the road…Dating back to 2001, New York has won six of its last eight games when beginning the year on the road, including winning 3-1 last year at Washington.
- VS. AL: This is also the first time in club history that the Mets begin the year vs. an American League club…New York went 9-11 in Interleague action last season…Since 1997, when Interleague play began, the Mets are 166-156 (.516)…The .516 winning percentage in Interleague play is the second-best all-time among NL clubs behind St. Louis (154-141, .522).
- WRIGHT ON: David Wright is hitting .356 (16-45) with four home runs and 11 RBI on Opening Day…Wright is set to make his 12th Opening Day start tonight, which is the most in team history, one ahead of Tom Seaver and Bud Harrelson.
- MATT HARVEY: Will make his first career Opening Day start tonight…Harvey will be the Mets’ sixth different starting pitcher in the last six years, joining Bartolo Colon, Dillon Gee, Jonathon Niese, Johan Santana and Mike Pelfrey…He will be the 24th different pitcher to start on Opening Day for the Mets…Tom Seaver holds the record with 12 Opening Day nods.
- LEADOFF HOME RUN: Kazuo Matsui is the only Met to hit a leado home run on Opening Day when he took Atlanta’s Russ Ortiz deep on April 6, 2004 at Turner Field.
- GRAND SLAMS: Collin Cowgill and Todd Hundley are the only two Mets to hit a grand slam on Opening Day…Cowgill went deep on April 1, 2013 o San Diego’s Brad Brach…Hundley’s slam came on April 26, 1995 at Colorado o Billy Swift.
- TWO HOME RUNS: Robin Ventura, Bobby Bonilla, Cleon Jones, Darryl Strawberry and Kevin McReynolds are the only five players in club history to hit two home runs in an Opening Day tilt…Ventura was the last to accomplish the feat on April 3, 2001 at Atlanta…Bonilla cracked two home runs in his first game as a Met on April 6, 1992 at St. Louis, Jones belted two home runs on April 6, 1975 vs. Philadelphia and Strawberry and McReynolds each hit two home runs on April 4, 1988 at Montreal in a 10-6 triumph.
- OPENING O: The Mets scored a franchise-best 12 runs on Opening Day on April 4, 1994 at Chicago-NL.
- OPENING DAY ZEROS: The Mets have recorded seven shutouts on Opening Day…The last time New York held an opponent scoreless on Opening Day was in 2012, when the Mets blanked the Braves, 1-0…Meanwhile, the Mets have been shut out only once (7-0, April 9, 1963 vs. St. Louis) on Opening Day.
- EXTRA, EXTRA ON OPENING DAY: The Mets have played seven extra-inning games on Opening Day…They are 5-2 in those contests…The last extra-inning affair was in 2014, a 9-7 loss to the Nationals…The last Mets Opening Day win in extras was a 6-4, 10-inning victory on April 3, 2001 at Atlanta.
- FOR THE FIRST TIME: Six Mets are taking part in their first career Opening Day…The list includes: Eric Campbell, Michael Conforto, Steven Matz, Kevin Plawecki, Hansel Robles and Noah Syndergaard.
- NUMBER CHANGE: Tim Teufel changed his uniform to #11… He wore that number with the Mets from 1986-1991 during his playing days.
- EMPIRE STATE BUILDING: The Empire State Building will celebrate MLB’s Opening Day by illuminating its world-famous tower lights in a rotating display of the 30 MLB teams’ colors tonight.
