New York Mets pitcher Matt Harvey Reuters


Thirty-one prior teams in history have had the All-Star Game starting pitcher and cleanup hitter, and nearly all of those teams were terrific (the average winning percentage for this group at the break was .607). At 41-50, Matt Harvey and David Wright are part of the worst team to pull off this All-Star feat. Besides this year's Mets duo, only one other team was below .500: The 1995 Dodgers saw Hideo Nomo start and Mike Piazza bat cleanup in the All-Star Game despite being 34-35.

Still, Mets fans can bask in a rare accomplishment when they watch the Midsummer Classic on their home field. It's been a decade since any other team had the starter and 4-hitter: The San Francisco Giants were the last to do it in 2003 with Jason Schmidt and Barry Bonds. The New York Yankees (who else?) have accomplished this a record 11 times, including three times each by Lefty Gomez and Lou Gehrig and Whitey Ford and Mickey Mantle.

This is also not uncharted water for the Mets. The 1986 Mets (Dwight Gooden and Gary Carter) and 1988 Mets (Dwight Gooden and Daryl Strawberry) also did it. But to be fair, fans of those Mets teams had a little more to look forward to in the second half of the season.

—Geoff Foster