Tag Archives: 1999 project

1999 Project, Technical Nonsense

Technical Notes: The 1999 Project and Everything Else

99_si_cover.jpgAs I’ve compiled the 1999 Project, I often go back and reread earlier entries to refresh my memory. While doing this, I’ve noticed some inconsistencies and errors, not to mention some posts that just cry out to be spiffed up.

So in the coming weeks, I’m going to review each post and make a few adjustments. Some of these changes will be small, like making style consistent or repairing typos. For instance, there are several posts where I inadvertently spelled John Olerud’s first name as ‘Jon’. And I wasn’t always consistent in re: stuff like spelling out numbers (which, as a copy editor by trade, drives me nuts).

Other changes will be bigger, in the case of info that’s incorrect. I hope there’s not too many of these, although I already found a statistical error in an early post regarding Rickey Henderson getting 12 total bases in a game, which I originally wrote was a club record (it wasn’t, even at the time).

I’ll also be adding, where appropriate, links to posts that came later–something that was obviously impossible the first time ’round. And I’ll add a few pics here and there to spiff up the joint.

In summary, I’m just letting everyone know that some posts will be revised and THERE IS NO REASON FOR PANIC.

In other news, something else recently hit me. The current blog-arific incarnation of this site began in 2006. But not all of those posts have been integrated into the even newer, searchable and commentable Scratchbomb that debuted last year. All of the posts from 2006 were added, but only a mild smattering of posts from 2007 and 2008 have been given the royal treatment (usually added when I wrote a new post that brought to mind an older one).

My plan is to get all Scratchbomb material 2006 forward integrated into the ‘new’ site by the end of the year. That way, the whole world can search for and guffaw at my take on NFL playoff games from two years ago.

Incidentally, I’ve had this site longer than since 2006. A lot longer, in fact. But it was kind of a mess back then. If there’s any real clamor for that stuff (pause to see tumbleweeds pass through), I’ll go ahead and add them. If I still have them, that is.

Oh, and you’re welcome.

1999 Project

1999 Project: Games 135-140

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

99_ordonez.jpgSeptember 3, 1999: Rockies 5, Mets 2 (10)

The Mets began their homestand with an ugly incident reminiscent of their early season struggles. Rey Ordonez and backup shortstop Luis Lopez got into a fistfight while on the team bus to Shea, following their flight back from Houston. The fisticuffs were bad enough to give Ordonez a six-stitch gash over his eye.

The cause of the fight was unclear, although it was rumored that Ordonez tried to defend Jorge Toca (a fellow Cuban defector) against some rookie hazing. Both players kept the party line repeated by GM Steve Phillips, that they’d patched things up between them and there were no hard feelings. A few days later, after the dust settled, teammates would say they were surprised it took so long for someone to deck the abrasive Ordonez.

However, there were definitely hard feelings involved with a disappointing extra-inning loss to the Rockies. The Mets managed a mere two runs two runs against Colorado starter Jamey Wright, wasting two separate scoring opportunities with a man on third and only one out. Orel Hershiser pitched well enough to keep them in the game, and Pat Mahomes, Dennis Cook, and Armando Benitez combined to throw three scoreless innings.

Turk Wendell came on for the tenth and did not fare well, giving up a one-out walk to Todd Walker and a single to Dante Bichette. The righty had suffered a bit of a rough patch recently; ironically, it came after Bobby Valentine tried to give him a few days’ rest in the hopes of keeping his arm fresh down the stretch. (“The more I pitch, the better I get,” Wendell told reporters later. “Those six days off killed me”)

Valentine called on ex-Rockie Chuck McElroy to clean up Wendell’s mess. He struck out Todd Helton, but walked Vinny Castilla (who’d been 0 for 7 against McElroy previously) to load the bases. That brought up Met-for-a-minute Jeff Barry, who made his first, brief major league appearance for the team in 1995, then languished in the minors for the next four seasons.

“I felt real good for some reason before the game,” Barry said afterward. “I had a real good feeling about today.” He had reason to, since he went 3-for-3. His third hit was a bases-clearing double off of McElroy that put Colorado on top to stay. The loss dropped the Mets 4.5 games out of first in the NL East, their largest deficit since July, though a loss by the Reds maintained their four-game lead in the wild card standings.

Continue reading 1999 Project: Games 135-140 →

1999 Project

1999 Project: Games 129-134 (West Coast Swing #2)

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

dbacks_future_uni.jpgAugust 27, 1999: Mets 6, Diamondbacks 3

This marked the second of three West Coast trips the Mets would take at the end of the 1999 season. First up, the Arizona Diamondbacks. Despite being in their sophomore season, not only were the Diamondbacks in first place in the NL West, but at the start of this series they enjoyed a 7.5 game lead over the Giants and were poised to run away with the division.

In his brief career, Octavio Dotel had the uncanny habit of alternating good starts with so-so ones. In his last outing at Shea, he was less than impressive against the Cardinals. So naturally, in the series opener in Arizona, he was lights out. In eight innings of work, Dotel allowed just four hits, one run, and struck out six. D-Backs ace Randy Johnson, usually not one to dole out compliments (or say much of anything at all), predicted a “bright future” for the young righty.

The Mets took a lead two batters into the game, when Rickey Henderson led off with a double and Edgardo Alfonzo singled him home. Offensively, they were led by Rey Ordonez (of all people), who hit an run-scoring groundout in the second inning and a two-RBI single in the sixth. They tacked on two runs against the Arizona bullpen; Alfonzo scored from third when reliever Brian Anderson balked in the seventh, and later came home on a Mike Piazza double in the ninth.

That gave the Mets a comfortable 6-1 lead. Dotel had thrown 110 pitches through eight innings, and had also shouldered a considerable workload increase during his first professional season. This prompted Bobby Valentine to bring in Billy Taylor to pitch the ninth. Taylor had struggled thus far in his brief Mets tenure, and he struggled here, giving up consecutive singles to Jay Bell, Luis Gonzalez, and Matt Williams. Bell came around to score on Williams’ hit, and the Mets’ lead was down to 6-2, with runners on first and third and nobody out.

So Valentine was forced to bring in Armando Benitez to clean up Taylor’s mess. Benitez struck out Erubiel Durazo, got Steve Finley to pop up to the catcher, and, after an RBI single to ex-Met Kelly Stinnett, induced a pop up from Andy Fox to end the game.

A nervous Dotel watched the ninth inning from the bench, foregoing his postgame workout routine. That led to a curious sight in the visiting clubhouse after the game–Dotel addressed the media while pedaling away on a stationary bike. He’d made another case for staying in the starting rotation, though Rick Reed–who’d just made a less-than-encouraging rehab start for Norfolk–insisted he was ready to return to the club.

In other injury news, Bobby Bonilla started in the same game as Reed as a DH and went 1 for 4. He would rejoin the team once rosters expanded on September 1, although few people associated with the team (and even fewer fans) seemed anxious for him to come back.

Continue reading 1999 Project: Games 129-134 (West Coast Swing #2) →