Tag Archives: mets

1999 Project

1999 Project: Games 123-128

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

mcgwire_milk.jpgAugust 21, 1999: Mets 7, Cardinals 4

A six-game homestand for the Mets began with a rainout, which necessitated a doubleheader against the Cardinals. The inclement weather prompted Bobby Valentine to reorder his starting rotation. Orel Hershiser was set to start the series opener, but after warming up before a game that was never played, he would instead pitch in game two of the twinbill.

Meanwhile, the Braves won both of their games while the Mets were idle, meaning the two teams were once again tied for first. That made this a big homestand for the Mets, and not just because The Mark McGwire Show was in town.

Kenny Rogers started the first game of the series and did not fare well. He loaded the bases in the top of the first on two singles and a walk, then gave up a two-RBI single to future Met Fernando Tatis. Mike Piazza responded with a three-run homer in the bottom half, but Rogers couldn’t hold on to the lead, giving up three straight hits and a sac fly in the top of the third to put the Cards back on top, 4-3. Rogers was done after three innings, and was later revealed to be suffering from back spasms.

Once again, long man Pat Mahomes came to the rescue, throwing 3 1/3 scoreless, hitless innings that allowed the Mets to come back. They scratched out a run in the bottom of the third on a Shawon Dunston groundout to tie the game, then went ahead on a Rickey Henderson RBI single in the sixth. Two runs in the eighth (coming on another Dunston RBI groundout and a Benny Agbayani RBI single) padded their lead.

After Mahomes issued a one-out walk to J.D. Drew in the top of the seventh, Valentine turned to Turk Wendell to get McGwire out. No one seemed to know why, but Wendell was kryptonite for McGwire; he’d faced Big Mac six previous times and retired him in each instance. Despite a wild pitch that moved Drew to second, Wendell struck out McGwire to extend his history of inexplicable success against him.

He also worked around a one-out single to pitch a scoreless eighth inning. Armando Benitez closed out the game in style by striking out the side in order. The victory helped the Mets keep pace with Atlanta, who beat the Padres that day.

Continue reading 1999 Project: Games 123-128 →

1999 Project

1999 Project: Games 117-122 (West Coast Swing #1)

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

candlestick.jpgThis 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) →

Baseball

The Worst Is Yet to Come

I kept with yesterday’s Mets game, for reasons even I can’t understand. Perhaps I am drawn to failure, as the salmon is compelled to swim upstream, or Jeff Francoeur is compelled to swing at every pitch thrown his way.

I was in the car on the way to the mall when Ollie Perez had his gutless first inning shit show. I had no faith in Ollie to begin with; I was more interested to hear how the crowd would greet Pedro Martinez on his return. Warmly, as I expected. And early, since he got a turn at bat before even taking the mound.

And when Jerry Manuel made a terrible situation even worse by yanking Ollie mid-batter, I’d heard alls I could stand. As I parked the car, I made a point of turning to another station so I wouldn’t hear the game when I returned. No more Mets today, I said to myself. It ain’t worth the aggravation. Maybe they can mount a comeback, probably they can’t. And in either case, who effin’ cares?

My resolution lasted approximately 15 minutes. In true hopeless junkie fashion, I kept checking the game on my phone, and saw that the Mets dared to make it interesting, scoring four runs off of Pedro. It may have had something to do with the fact that I was at Queens Center, which is my most hated mall of all time, full of the rudest human beings on the planet. That place could turn Fred Rogers into Travis Bickle.

Ignoring my earlier impulses, I got home in time to see the last few innings, and as the Mets mounted a rally of sorts (aided by the Phillies’ less than capable gloves), it looked like they might be able to come back after all. First and second, nobody out, a run already in, a very shaky Brad Lidge on the mound who seemed primed for a total metldown, and Francoeur coming up, who’d been swinging the bat well (and often, as usual). It was at this point that my wife and I had this actual conversation.

WIFE: I can’t watch now.
ME: Why?
WIFE: ‘Cause it’s just too nerve wracking.
ME: But this game doesn’t mean anything. Maybe they pull off an awesome comeback, maybe they don’t. At least they made the Phillies sweat. It actually turned out to be a decent game, in a weird way. So what if they lose? What’s the worst that could happen?

tripleplay.jpgWell, that’s the worst that could happen, pretty much.

At this point, it’s easier to name the horrible ways to lose games that the Mets haven’t managed this year:

  • Sharp liner to center field lands in Angel Pagan’s pocket, winning run scores when he can’t dislodge it.
  • Omir Santos unable to tag out runner at the plate when he spontaneously combusts.
  • Something involving Angel Hernandez. That prick has not reared his ugly head in a Mets game this year, but trust me, he will before the season is over.
  • Attempting a squeeze play, Luis Castillo trips on the same ball he bunts and is therefore out. And also fractures both ankles.
  • Anderson Hernandez unable to turn a game-ending double play when he accidentally inhales a hot dog wrapper.
  • Gary Sheffield hits a walk-off homer, but is called out when he can’t run the bases because he’s been impaled by the shattered end of his broken bat.
  • Shane Victorino gets caught in a rundown and punches Daniel Murphy in the face. Umpires award him a three-run homer for some reason.
  • In his return to the lineup, David Wright fouls a pitch back, which caroms off the brick backstop and hits him in the head again. He now thinks he’s a roguish European baron.