UnforMETable, Episode 38: Mike Marshall

Welcome to UnforMETable, an Amazin’ Avenue Audio show that looks back on less heralded, more obscure Mets players from the past. The first reliever to capture a Cy Young Award after throwing over 200 innings across a stunning 106 games in 1974, Mike Marshall had an impressive major league career. After 700 appearances and 188 career saves, the coda to that career came in a New York Mets uniform, in a the second half of a season that might be the closest analog we have to this pending 2020 season—the strike-shortened 1981 season. We’ll look at how a stretch of decent baseball put a .500 Mets team only a couple of games out of playoff position in the 50ish game sprint of the 1981 second half, as well as areas off the field in which Marshall had a lasting impact—such as his study of pitching mechanics and unlikely role in the development of Tommy John surgery. As always, you can listen or subscribe to this and all of our wonderful Amazin’ Avenue Audio podcasts through Apple Podcasts, where we encourage you to leave a review if you enjoy the show. It really helps! And you can find us on the Stitcher app, or listen wherever you get your podcasts. If you’ve got an idea for a player to be featured on UnforMETable, let us know in the comments. Make sure to follow Rob on Twitter (@WolffRR), and you can now follow the show, too (@unformetable). Tune in next week for another tale from the Mets’ past. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices