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1999 Project

1999 Project: Game 162

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

As Greg Prince recently pointed out at Faith and Fear in Flushing, October 3 is a significant date in baseball history. There have been quite a few memorable games played that day, from the last games of the 1993 season (sometimes called The Last Great Pennant Race) to game 4 of the 2003 NLDS, to date the only playoff series to end on an out at home plate.

But the biggest, craziest, and most famous October 3 game happened in 1951. As late as August 11 of that year, the Dodgers led the Giants by 13 games. But Brooklyn stumbled, the Giants surged, and the two teams ended the year tied for first place, prompting a three-game playoff to determine the winner of the National League pennant.

After splitting the first two games, the Dodgers led the Giants in the decisive third game, 4-1, as they went to bottom of the ninth at the Polo Grounds. But Brooklyn starter Don Newcombe faltered, giving up back-to-back singles to start the inning, then a one-out RBI double to make the score 4-2. Dodgers manager Chuck Dressen (who’d already made a few curious decisions down the stretch, including ceding home field advantage in the playoff series) went to his bullpen and brought in Ralph Branca to secure the final two outs.

Branca would only get two pitches. Slugger Bobby Thompson took his 0-1 offering and deposited into the left field grandstand for a walkoff three-run homer, forever known thereafter as The Shot Heard ‘Round the World. Radio man Russ Hodges entered the canon of famous sports calls by screaming in disbelief, THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT! THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT!

branca.jpgThe Giants had just completed a monumental comeback. The Dodgers had just completed a monumental collapse. A heartbreaking photo appeared in the papers next day, showing Branca slumped forward on the clubhouse steps, paralyzed by guilt and grief, knowing he was the architect of yet another Brooklyn choke job.

Branca would have a decent career, but would never truly live down his role in the Dodgers’ slide, and would not be on the team when Brooklyn finally won a World Series in 1955. Years later, his daughter Mary married a promising prospect for the now-Los Angeles Dodgers: Bobby Valentine.

Much like Branca, Valentine’s playing career hadn’t gone the way he hoped. Nor had his managerial career; he’d captained the Rangers and the Mets for a combined 1,713 games and still not made the postseason. On October 3, 1999, Valentine hoped to lead his own team past a dismal, late-season slide. With a win, they could erase all the doubts and frustrations that had plagued them in September.

On Saturday, as Rick Reed shut down the Pirates, he attended mass and lit a candle for St. Anthony, the patron saint of miracles. On Sunday, Branca arrived at Shea in the sixth inning to cheer on Valentine and the Mets, hoping they could redeem the date in some way.

“October 3 owed one to the family,” he said.
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1999 Project

1999 Project: Game 161

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

October 2, 1999: Mets 7, Pirates 0

While the Mets prepared for the middle game of their series with the Pirates, art-lovers and curious souls lined up at the Brooklyn Museum to get their first view of “The Holy Virgin Mary”, a controversial mixed-media piece by Chris Ofili that had drawn the ire of Mayor Giuliani (Hizzoner’s main objection was that the mixed media included elephant dung). The debate over the artwork’s offensiveness (or lack thereof) had reached such a fevered pitch that it was now protected by a plexiglass shield and two guards.

Most people who actually bothered to go see the painting couldn’t fathom what the fuss was all about. Like Karen Masterson, who, despite being Catholic, didn’t find it offensive at all, and laughed at the small group of protestors handing out barf bags outside the museum. She availed herself of the free product anyway.

“We can use it later, when the Mets lose,” she said.

99_saturday_1002.pngSuch was the attitude of many Mets fans, after a string of nine games that had all but destroyed their season. But an inspiring (if slim) win on Friday night, combined with losses by Houston and Cincinnati, brought them only one game out of the playoff picture. Despite all the wounds they suffered down the stretch, the Mets were knocking on the door of the postseason.

Before the game on Friday, there seemed to be no hope whatsoever. Now, writers like Jack Curry of The New York Times wondered if everything was breaking their way after all.

How stunning would it be if the Mets wriggled into the post-season after the mess they caused by losing eight of their last nine? Almost as stunning as mishandling the four-game bulge they had in the wild-card race on Sept. 21. If the Mets win the wild card, they can laugh about the last two weeks. But those chuckles are at least 48 long hours away….

Before [Friday’s] victory, Piazza sheepishly mentioned that the Mets were not mathematically eliminated yet, and their chances improved last night. Someone reminded Piazza that the Mets could erase their pain with a memorable weekend and he mused, ”If the planets are lined up the right way, I guess that could happen.” Last night, they were perfectly aligned for the Mets. Finally.

The team’s fortunes had careened in so many directions in so little time that Rafael Hermoso of the Daily News provided a brief timeline of events of the last week, just so readers could keep track.
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1999 Project

1999 Project: Game 160

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

MetsCereal.jpgOver the final weekend of the regular season, Filip Bondy wrote in the Daily News of the sad tale of Famous Fixins. In the midst of the Mets’ hot summer, the company decided to produce 250,000 boxes of Amazin’ Mets cereal. (They also produced a Derek Jeter-themed version.) Making a quarter of a million of anything is a risky proposition, even more so if your product’s appeal hinges on the continued success of a sports team.

When the Mets cereal deal was first brokered, the team’s playoff chances seemed a sure thing. Now, as October dawned and the boxes began hitting the shelves, making the postseason was a longshot.

“Let’s just say I would have liked to be out with the stuff two weeks earlier,” said Famous Fixins spokesman Michael Simon.

The Mets must have wished they could’ve ended their season two weeks earlier, when they were still in striking distance of the NL East lead. Now, with three games to play, they were two games out of the playoff picture. Cincinnati and Houston were ahead of them, tied for first in the NL Central. Whichever team didn’t win the division would likely win the wild card, because they controlled their own destinies, and the Mets did not.

The Mets’ only remaining fight of the year might be against the league office. Following Bobby Valentine’s lead, GM Steve Phillips complained to the National League head office that umpire Phil Cuzzi (who manned home plate in the series finale against Atlanta) wouldn’t get help from the corner umps on check-swing calls.

For the moment, the Mets were still mathematically alive, hanging on to playoff hopes by the slimmest of margins. All they had to was sweep their last series of the year, and hope for some help from out of town. Standing in their way: the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Continue reading 1999 Project: Game 160 →