If you want to know why the Mets fell apart so much in the second half ... Walker is a big part of the answer.

My first memory is listening to a Mets game that Walker was starting and Wayne Randazzo telling a story about how since Walker had chosen #99 as a number, Turk Wendell had sent him a "care package" that included Turk's lucky charm, a shark tooth necklace. Wayne Randazzo went on to mention that thus far, Taijuan had NOT worn the necklace because he had been pitching so well.

At that point, May 6th, he was 1-1 with with a 3.41 ERA. He got his second win in that game I was listening to, pitching 7 strong innings (8 strikeouts, 0 walks, 1 run, 0 earned) on the road vs. the Cardinals, lowering his ERA to 2.79.

My second memory is watching him pitch one inning in the 2021 All-Star Game, played in Denver. He labored on the mound to the point where I felt I was witnessing the physical, mental, and emotional deterioration of Mr. Walker before my very eyes, right there on national TV. I remember feeling that he did not belong in the all-star game. Checking his stats from the game on Baseball Almanac, I'm surprised that he didn't do as badly as I remember: 1 IP, 1 ER, 0 walks, and only one hit given up. Still, something happened that all-star week.

His numbers at the end of the first half were: 7-3 with 95 K in 94 IP, only 30 BB, a 2.66 ERA, and 6 home runs given up.

In the second half of 2021, he went 0-8 with a 7.13 ERA. In 61.4 IP, he struck out 51, walked 25 batters, and gave up TWENTY home runs. Ouch.

His Wins Above Replacement (WAR) for the 2021 season was 0.5, good for a tie with Trevor Williams for 10th on the Mets staff, which is not that impressive considering midseason acquisition Rich "Old Man River" Hill was 6th on the Mets staff in WAR for 2021.

So my question is, where is that shark tooth necklace?