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1999 Project

1999 Project: Games 76-79

Click here for an intro/manifesto on The 1999 Project.

June 28, 1999: Mets 10, Marlins 4

Robin Ventura shined in the opener of a four-game series in Miami, clubbing two homers, driving in six runs, and leading the Mets to a rout over the Marlins. The third baseman was praised by the Daily News for removing himself late in the game so Matt Franco could get an at-bat against Braden Looper, a reliever he’d likely face in a much closer game somewhere down the road. It was a good rebound after the series in Atlanta, when Ventura struck out an astounding seven times in only 12 at-bats.

Al Leiter struggled a bit in the third inning, giving up two runs, each scoring on two-out RBI singles. But he rebounded to pitch into the seventh inning and reap the benefits of another offensive outburst.

Back in New York, Mets owner Fred Wilpon said he was “hopeful” the team could secure city permission and financing to begin construction on a new ballpark. The desired opening date: 2003. Wilpon’s vision was for “a 45,000-seat, Ebbets Field replica with a retractable roof that would allow the facility to be used ‘365 days a year,’ except for football. He still is committed to the current site at Shea.”

The same article cites the Mets’ desire to trade for a “front-line starter”. The Angels’ Chuck Finley was discussed, but the Marlins’ Livan Hernandez seemed a long shot, since, according to the article, “the Mets don’t consider Hernandez a front-line starter”.

June 29, 1999: Mets 5, Marlins 1

Orel Hershiser left the mound to a standing ovation, a reaction he attributed to large numbers of “the 40-and-over crowd” in Florida.

It was not a very big standing ovation–the paid attendance, only a little over 11,000, was the third lowest in Marlins’ history to date. Regardless of size, it was a tribute to Hershiser’s finest outing as a Met, where he went 8 1/3 innings, giving up just five hits and one run. He kept the ball on the ground, which led to an astounding 11 assists for shortstop Rey Ordonez (only three shy of the all-time single-game record).

Ventura continued his hot hitting. His two-run single in the third inning gave the Mets the lead to stay. Edgardo Alfonzo padded that lead with a two-run homer in the seventh.

On the negative side, Bobby Jones experienced discomfort in his balky right shoulder and was scratched for a scheduled BP session. The news furthered GM Steve Phillips’ search for another starter; he was rumored to be pursuing Toronto’s David Wells, though the length and size of his contract was a stumbling block (not to mention the size of Wells himself).

June 30, 1999: Marlins 4, Mets 3 (10)

Kevin Millar did all the damage against starter Rick Reed. His two-run homer in the second put the Marlins on top, and after the Mets rallied to tie in top of the sixth, Millar’s RBI single in the bottom half put the Marlins back in front and chased Reed from the game.

The Mets tied it up again in the seventh, thanks to Rickey Henderson behaving in typical Rickey-esque fashion: he worked a two-out walk, stole second, and scored on an Alfonzo single.

They had an opportunity to go ahead in the ninth, when Roger Cedeno walked. Closer Matt Mantei tried to pick Cedeno off second, but threw the ball away. That allowed Cedeno to easily move to second–so easily, in fact, that third base coach Cookie Rojas gave him the green light to advance to third. Luis Castillo fired the ball to Mike Lowell, who tagged out Cedeno and ended the threat.

“When the play developed, there were very few people that thought he wouldn’t be safe at third,” Bobby Valentine told reporters after the game. “I think we were a little more surprised than disappointed.”

Mike Piazza made a bid in the top of the tenth, giving a ride to a fastball from Antonio Alfonseca. But in cavernous Pro Player Stadium (as it was then called), it died before the warning track and settled in Mark Kotsay’s glove for a flyout.

Armando Benitez set down the Marlins in order in the ninth, and came out for the tenth as well. He retired the first two batters with ease, but fell behind Kotsay 3-1 before delivering a fastball that Kotsay deposited into the right field stands for a walk-off home run. It was the first hit any Marlin had gotten off of Benitez all year. The loss prevented the Mets from gaining ground on the Braves, whose bullpen had a late-inning meltdown of its own.

Benitez declared himself unshaken after the game, in words that sound bitterly ironic with the remove of time: “It’s nothing. It’s one game. We have a chance to win tomorrow. We have a chance to win against Atlanta. We’re going to win [against] Atlanta no matter what. You give me the ball, I’ll do the best I can. I won’t surrender. I like competition.” The reliever, who already had the rep of being moody and immature, was amazingly praised in some circles for his willingness to put the incident behind him.

July 1, 1999: Mets 12, Marlins 8

The Mets exploded for six runs off of Marlins starter Ryan Dempster in the third inning, with all of the offense coming with two outs. Octavio Dotel made his second big league start, and he chipped in with an RBI of his own when he worked a bases loaded walk that scored the fourth run of the inning and chased Dempster from the game.

They didn’t stop there, scoring two runs in the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings as well. With Piazza resting, Todd Pratt was given a start and knocked in three runs. Henderson and Ordonez each had two RBIs.

Dotel did much better than in his previous start, at least for the first three innings. (Perhaps because the paid attendance was the third-lowest in team history, supplanting the record set just two days previous.) But he gave up two runs in the fourth inning and three more in the fifth. Some of his sudden ineffectiveness was chalked up to the threat of rain; Dotel later said he might have rushed his pitches because he didn’t want weather to wash out his chance for his first big league win before the fifth inning was complete.

Or it might have been the fact that Marlins pitcher Brian Edmonson hurled a pitch near his head in the top of the fifth, after the game had gotten away from the Marlins. Dotel told reporters he never saw the pitch, but was lucky enough to spin out of the way and have it only graze the back of his batting helmet. “It’s hard to say it didn’t affect him,” Bobby Valentine said later.

Whatever the cause, Valentine swapped Dotel for long man Pat Mahomes in the sixth, who held the fort for three innings. Greg McMichael pitched the ninth and allowed three runs to score, but they were of little consequence.

Next up: The Braves again, this time at Shea. The Mets remained a mere three games back, with the chance to make up some ground.

1999 Project

1999 Project: Atlanta, Round One

Click here for an intro/manifesto on The 1999 Project.

chipper2.jpgJune 25, 1999: Mets 10, Braves 2

This late June tilt in Atlanta was, amazingly, the first time the Mets faced the Braves in 1999. The series held some importance, with the Mets only three games out of first after their three-game sweep of Florida. However, as hard as it might be to believe now, the intense rivalry between the two teams hadn’t yet been formed.

For one thing, while the Braves dominated the entire decade of the 1990s, the Mets stayed strenuously non-competitive. It’s hard to start a rivalry when one team refuses to put up a fight.

Granted, at the end of the 1998 season, Atlanta had swept the Mets as part of the five-game skid that cost them a wild card berth. No one seemed to believe that was personal, however (even if those games meant nothing to the Braves, who had already clinched yet another division title). If you read the newspaper accounts prior to this series, you see none of the vitriol and animosity that would emerge in later years–due largely to the many games between the two teams in 1999.

In the Daily News, John Harper wondered if two mainstays of the Braves’ rotation–Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine–were losing their invincibility. The pitchers’ stats to that point in the season were not up their usual lofty standards.

The culprit, so everyone thought, was a more strenuous enforcement of the strike zone. Maddux and Glavine had won Cy Youngs by getting generous strike calls a few inches off the plate. But it would soon become abundantly clear that any rumors of their demise had been greatly exagerrated.

The start of the first game was delayed 45 minutes, due to lighting issues at Turner Field. The Mets would be without Mike Piazza, who was nursing a sore neck he sustained on a Bruce Aven backswing during the Marlins series.

Despite these ill omens, things looked good in the series opener. The Mets took an early lead on a Benny Agbayani solo homer off of Odalis Perez in the top of the second, then notched three more runs against Perez in the top of the sixth with RBI singles from Todd Pratt, Roger Cedeno, and starter Rick Reed. They piled it on against the Braves’ usually strong bullpen, scoring one run in the seventh, two in the eighth, and three in the ninth, en route to a 10-2 victory–their first at Turner Field in almost two years.

Atlanta was reportedly perturbed when Rickey Henderson stole second in the top of the ninth, with the Mets already up 7-2. After the game, Bobby Valentine defended the move, telling reporters, “Rickey’s been in that situation as much as anyone in this room or that room [clubhouse].” In other words, Rickey can steal whenever Rickey feels like it.

June 26, 1999: Braves 7, Mets 2

Pitching prospect Octavio Dotel was called up to take Jason Isringhausen’s spot in the starting rotation and make his major league debut at Turner Field. The jewel of the Mets farm system, Dotel impressed at Norfolk, striking out 17 batters in one triple-A outing. “Dotel, he’s one of their bright ones, right?” Bobby Cox asked reporters before the game. He then invoked the ill-fated memory of Generation K.

It didn’t take long for Dotel to fall behind, as he gave up two walks and a three-run homer to Ryan Klesko in the bottom of the first. The young righty settled in for the next few innings, but was touched up for another three runs in the bottom of the fifth, then yanked for Pat Mahomes.

Tom Glavine was, of course, Vintage (Atlanta) Glavine, going seven innings and giving up only one run. Other than a three-hit top of the sixth that produced a run, the Mets never truly threatened.

During the game, Piazza was bothered by a fan sitting behind the Atlanta dugout who called out his position behind the plate before each pitch. Home plate ump Bob Davidson stalked over in the fan’s general direction just as he removed himself from the stands of his own volition. According to the Daily News, “Piazza was afraid that the extra information may have caused extra contact at home plate.”

June 27, 1999: Braves 1, Mets 0

Masato Yoshii turned in a very good seven innings. Unfortunately, he was opposed by eight excellent innings from Greg Maddux.

The game’s only run came in the bottom of the third, when Eddie Perez hit a one-out single. After Maddux bunted the slow-footed catcher to second, he came around to score on an Ozzie Guillen double. It was the only damage Yoshii would allow, but it was one run too many.

The Mets got a few chances late, but could not convert. In the top of the eighth, Brian McRae worked a leadoff walk, then found himself on third after a sac bunt and a groundout. Valentine sent up Matt Franco to pinch hit, and he worked a full count but flailed at a sharp curveball to strike out and end the inning.

In the top of the ninth, Edgardo Alfonzo managed a one-out single against the Braves’ newly minted closer, John Rocker. Pinch runner Melvin Mora moved to second on a groundout, but after an intentional walk to Piazza, Rocker struck out Robin Ventura to end the game.

After the offensive explosion of the first game, the Mets scored a mere two runs in the last two contests. Still, the Mets–a bit hubristically, perhaps–pronounced themselves optimistic that they could hang with Atlanta for the remainder of the season.

A typically cocky Rickey Henderson said, “From what I see, we have the better club…The one thing I’ve always said about the Atlanta Braves is they’re a lucky club. When you
have luck rolled in and balls going their way, I think they have the little edge over us right now. I think it’s going to be a good run to the end.”

Meanwhile, an atypically generous Chipper Jones said, “I don’t see them going away. They have too many good players.”

1999 Project

1999 Project: Games 70-72

Click here for an intro/manifesto on The 1999 Project.June 22, 1999: Mets 8, Marlins 2

Masato Yoshii pitched well in this outing, the first in a brief three-game homestand, giving up just two runs in 6 2/3 innings, but the Mets were baffled by the knuckleball of Florida starter Dennis Springer. Robin Ventura hit a solo shot off of him in the second, but Kevin Orie hit a two-run bomb of his own in the third, and the Mets entered the seventh inning trailing 2-1.

Yoshii got into some trouble in the top of the seventh, when he allowed a one-out double and a walk. Bobby Valentine called on reliever Greg McMichael, who retired the next two batters to keep the deficit at one run.

In the bottom half, the Mets finally got to Springer. Ventura led off the inning with a double. After a Brian McRae pop out, Roger Cedeno hit a ball that center fielder Preston Wilson (one of the chips sent to Florida the previous season in the Mike Piazza trade) tried to field on one hop. But the ball skipped past him, allowing Ventura to score and Cedeno to speed to third with a triple. Antonio Alfonseca came on to relieve Springer, but he promptly gave up RBI singles to Rey Ordonez and Edgardo Alfonzo.

After Armando Benitez pitched a 1-2-3 top of the eighth, the Mets piled on in their half. Piazza led off with a solo shot, and a double by Ventura and a single by McRae put runners on second and third with nobody out. Cedeno was walked intentionally to bring up the much less threatening Ordonez, but he delivered a two-run single. Even Benitez pitched in; in a rare at-bat for the set-up man, he drove in a run with a groundout. No worse for wear, the big righty set the Marlins down in order in the ninth to preserve the victory.

In other team news, the Mets decided to send Jason Isringhausen down to Norfolk again, with an eye toward making him a reliever. It was a move that would provide dividends–most of them for Oakland.

June 23, 1999: Mets 6, Marlins 3

Al Leiter continued his resurgence, throwing seven sharp innings, striking out seven, and giving up three runs. Since his breakthrough performance at Yankee Stadium, the lefty had an ERA of 2.25. Leiter seemed to falter a bit in the top of the seventh, when he gave up a single and a walk to the first two batters, prompting an unwelcome visit to the mound from Bobby Valentine (conferences and pitching changes were usually handled by pitching coach Dave Wallace). He induced a double play from future Met Luis Castillo, and though he allowed a run-scoring single from Alex Gonzalez, he struck out the last batter he faced to escape further damage.

Alfonzo paced the offense, hitting a solo shot and knocking in three runs. Cedeno swiped two more bases, bringing his total on the season to a league-leading 41. The bullpen made sure Leiter’s effort stuck. Despite appearing in his third game in four days, Benitez pitched a 1-2-3 eighth with two strikeouts, and John Franco set down all three batters he faced for his nineteenth save of the year.

On the negative side, Piazza suffered a mild concussion when he was hit by a Bruce Aven backswing in the top of the seventh. The catcher stayed in the game to try and extend his franchise record 24-game hitting streak, but grounded out in the bottom of the eighth and came out of the game. Afterward, his last at-bat was little more than a blur. “I think I swung at one of the balls I saw,” he told the Daily News.

June 24, 1999: Mets 3, Marlins 2

The Mets completed a three-game sweep of the Marlins, thanks to some late inning heroics. Orel Hershiser pitched six solid innings, giving up just one run. Future Met Livan Hernandez gave up two runs in the bottom of the sixth, but helped tie the score when he doubled to lead off the top of the seventh and came around to score on a sac fly.

With the score knotted at 2 in the bottom of the eighth, John Olerud hit a one-out double. Then Ventura blooped a single over the first baseman’s head to score pinch runner Luis Lopez and give the Mets the lead. Franco set down the Marlins in order in the top of the ninth to seal the victory.

Next up: The first-place Braves. The Mets had won 14 of their last 17 games and trailed Atlanta by only three games. But this would be the biggest test they faced thus far.

Somewhat prophetically, Valentine told the Daily News:

The bigness of it is that we haven’t seen them up close all season. They’re always there. They’ll always be there. They are the team we’ve been chasing since I’ve been here…I guess longer than that. So it’ll be good to see them on the field. We know they’re going to be around and what we want to do is let them know that we’re going to be around. Because the season ends playing them six
times in the last [12] games.