Tag Archives: mets

"Classic" Scratchbomb

“Classic” Scratchbomb: Any Given Birthday

Last night at PNC Park, the Mets blew a 5-0 lead to the Pittsburgh Pirates, eventually losing by the final score of 8-5. The damage was mostly done by an eighth inning specialist who could only find the plate when he was serving up meatballs.

If all of that sounds familiar, perhaps you recall a game at PNC Park on August 16, 2007, in which the Mets blew a 5-0 lead and most of the damage was done by an eighth inning specialist who served up the game to the Pirates on a platter.

That was my first flashback (and one of Faith and Fear in Flushing’s too, as they recalled some horrific tilts in Pittsburgh over the last few years). I remember that hideous game because it happened on my birthday and inspired me to trawl through the depths and look up the results of every Mets game played on my birthday in my lifetime.

After the jump, the results of my inquiry of two years past (original post here). Let’s take a trip down memory lane, shall we?

Continue reading “Classic” Scratchbomb: Any Given Birthday →

1999 Project

1999 Project: Games 38-41

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

May 17, 1999: Brewers 7, Mets 6

Bobby Jones had yet another poor outing and was charged with all seven Brewer runs. But Bobby Valentine saved his harshest words for home plate ump Bill Hohn, who (in his opinion) called an inconsistent strike zone: “This was a [strike] zone where balls off the plate were called strikes sometimes. [The Brewers] were getting ’em. What did we have, five called third strikes?”

The Mets bench barked at Hohn throughout the game, which might have cost them at its conclusion.They pulled within one run after scoring three in the eighth, then got the tying run on base in the ninth when Roger Cedeno walked. A steal and a groundout put Cedeno on third with two out, so Milwaukee opted to intentionally walk Mike Piazza and face Jermaine Allensworth, who took a questionable called third strike to end the game.

May 18, 1999: Brewers 4, Mets 2

With the Mets up 2-1 going into the eighth inning, thanks mostly to seven solid innings from starter Rick Reed, Valentine brought in Dennis Cook. The lefty gave up two singles, immediately putting the lead in jeopardy.

Valentine yanked Cook and called on Armando Benitez, who struck out the first two batters he faced, but then gave up a three-run homer to Marquis Grissom. Two years earlier, when Benitez was with the Orioles, he gave up a game-winning homer to then-Indian Grissom in game 2 of the ALCS. That shot propelled Cleveland to the World Series. This one just dealt the Mets their third straight loss.

Reed’s quality start looked suspicious to Brewers manager Phil Garner, who demanded the umps examine his glove in the fifth inning. Nothing funny was found, but the request rankled Reed:

If the guy’s thinking I’m cheating, then he’s getting the wrong stats because I had a 7-and-a-fucking-half ERA coming in. If he wants to come out early tomorrow, I’ll teach him how to throw it.

Valentine was no happier. In the bottom of the eighth, Allensworth was tagged out in a rundown between first and second. The manager thought the Brewers had committed obstruction, but the umps both refused to reverse the call or lodge Valentine’s protest with the league office. Still bristling from the glove-check earlier, Valentine went ballistic and was ejected. His team left much quieter, with three straight groundouts to finish out the ninth.

May 20, 1999: Mets 11, Brewers 10 (Game 1); Mets 10, Brewers 1 (Game 2)

99_ventura_gs_1.pngThis rain-necessitated twin-bill allowed Robin Ventura to achieve a curious baseball first. The third baseman became the first man in major league history to club a grand slam in both halves of a doubleheader. Other than this historic anomaly, neither game was pretty to watch.

In the first game, the Mets roughed up starter Jim Abbott for seven runs, including Ventura’s first grand slam of the day in the first inning. But Al Leiter barely fared better, struggling with his control and turning in an excruciating effort. He left after five innings trailing 6-5, but the Mets were able to get to Abbott and the Milwaukee bullpen to retake the lead and stretch it to 11-6.

Benny Agbayani, getting a chance to start in the Mets’ hobbled outfield, clubbed two
homers of the non-grand-slam-variety and drove in five runs. Allen Watson pitched two good innings of relief but also allowed a 3-run homer to Jeff Cirillo in the eighth, which left the Mets with a slim 11-9 margin going into the ninth.

John Franco came on to save the game and turned in a typically weird/nerve-wracking inning. Grissom doubled to lead off the inning, and after a strike out, ex-Met Alex Ochoa walked to put the tying runs on base. After a flyout, Sean Berry hit a pop fly that just eluded Edgardo Alfonzo’s glove.

99_ventura_gs_2.pngGrissom scored, and Ochoa would have also, if he’d been running hard. For some curious reason, he took his sweet time around the bases, and by the time he rounded third, Mike Piazza was waiting for him, ball in
glove. Not in the mood for any Pete Rose-esque heroics, Ochoa ran into Piazza’s mitt, and the game was finally over. Despite struggling mightily, Leiter got credit for the win, his first in almost a month.

The nightcap featured another offensive outburst by the Mets, with no counter-offensive by Milwaukee. Masato Yoshii held the Brewers to one run in seven innings of work. Ventura put the game away with his second grand slam of the day in the bottom of the fourth.

1999 Project

1999 Project: Games 35-37

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

vetstadiumseat.jpgMay 14, 1999: Mets 7, Phillies 3

The Phillies, losers of 97 games in 1998, got off to a surprisingly competitive start in 1999: 19-14, third place in the NL East, just behind the Mets. This was especially surprising because the team cut payroll before the season ($26 million, down $2 million from the previous year) and were already rumored to be shopping ace starter Curt Schilling and/or young superstar third baseman Scott Rolen.

Yet, amid all this belt-tightening, the team also raised ticket prices by an average of 21 percent, a move that predictably caused many no-shows at the thoroughly unattractive Veteran’s Stadium. This also lead to the Phils’ openly enticing Mets fans to take the trip down the Turnpike and fill some of those empty seats.

With many of their partisans in attendance, the Mets jumped on Phillies starter Chad Ogea for four first inning runs and cruised the rest of the way. Jon Olerud’s two-run shot in that frame was only the 14th ever to reach the right field upper deck at Veteran’s Stadium. Two batters later, following a walk to Mike Piazza, Robin Ventura hit a two-run homer of his own. Edgardo Alfonzo contributed a solo shot in the third.

Roger Cedeno opened some eyes by stealing a career-high four bases. Manager Bobby Valentine seemed to think Cedeno was coming into his own. “He should go every time he gets on,” he told the Daily News. “Roger is in a groove. I don’t think they can throw him out on a pitchout.”

Masato Yoshii gave up three solo homers in his six innings of work, but little else. After coming out of spring training as a prime candidate for demotion or release, Yoshii was rounding out into the team’s most consistent starter.

May 15, 1999: Mets 9, Phillies 7

Their ace had his shortest start as a Met. Their best hitter hit into a triple play. And they begin today within striking distance of first
place.

For once, Al Leiter saved his blow-up for early in the game, ceding four runs in the first inning. The Phils tallied one more in the second and third and put the Mets in a 6-0 hole before they could blink. But Pat Mahomes, just recalled from triple-A Norfolk, pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings, which gave his team just enough daylight to get back into the
game.

The Mets scored five runs in the top of the fourth inning, all of them plated with two outs, then tied the game on a Brian McRae solo homer in the fifth and an Alfonzo RBI single in the sixth. Shortly thereafter, Piazza killed a rally by lining into a triple play, but two more runs in the top of the ninth put the Mets ahead.

John Franco gave up a run in the bottom half but recorded the final out and his eleventh save of the season in as many chances. A Braves loss to the Cubs put the Mets a mere half game behind Atlanta for first place in the NL East.

May 16, 1999: Phillies 5, Mets 2

After being skipped for his last start, Orel Hershiser got an eye exam, hoping that his vision (and not his 40-year-old arm) was responsible for his pitching woes. He got an adjustment on his contact lens prescription, and it seemed to work through the first five innings of his start in Philly.

But the Phillies got to him for four runs in the sixth and held on for a 5-2 win to spoil the Mets’ hope for a sweep. Hershiser could comfort himself with the fact that most of the hits he gave up were of the soft variety, and three of those runs scored as a direct result of a hit that Matt Franco–playing left field for only the third time in his career–misplayed into a triple. Hershiser was also pleased that he pitched six innings for the first time that year. “You look under every rock when you’re slumping,” Hershiser told the Daily News.

The Braves’ victory put the Mets back to 1 1/2 games behind Atlanta. A Yankees win also prevented them from having the best record in the city, for however much that was
worth.