Click here for an intro/manifesto on The 1999 Project.
This West Coast trip would include the Mets’ last series at Candlestick Park (called 3Com Park at the time, thanks to corporate whim). The Giants were set to move to brand new Pac Bell Park the following April, a stadium whose downtown location and planned amenities already drew raves. In a bit of news I don’t think came to pass, the Daily News reported “the actor Don Novello, also known as Father Guido Sarducci on Saturday Night Live, is training dogs to jump into the South Beach bay and
retrieve baseballs”.
Trained dogs or no, Pac Bell would be a marked improvement over Candlestick, to say the least. The old ballpark would not be missed by many, least of all the athletes who had to play there. Darryl Hamilton (an ex-Giant) hated the place so much that, during his last trip there as a Rockie, according to the Daily News, “he gave the ‘Stick a parting salute” (leading the reader to believe his salute was of the one-gun variety).
Swirling wind and frigid conditions at all times of the year, combined with shoddy construction, made Candlestick one of the game’s least liked facilities. It was certainly unliked by the Mets, who traditionally struggled there and on West Coast trips in general. That didn’t bode well for the team, since this would be their first of three cross-country trips before the end of the season.
Continue reading 1999 Project: Games 117-122 (West Coast Swing #1)