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1999 Project

1999 Project: Games 110-116 (Mets Drive 55)

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

At the season’s lowest point, Bobby Valentine said he should be given 55 games to lead the Mets out of the wilderness. Game 55 arrived as the Mets returned to Shea, and found the Mets with the best record in baseball, 1.5 games up in first (the Braves shaved a half game off their lead with a win on a Mets off-day).

“When I talked about 55 games, I remember saying, ‘Who knows, maybe we can win 40 of them,’ ” Valentine told Mike Lupica. Amazingly enough, a win in the series opener against the Dodgers would mean the Mets went 40-15 over that stretch.

“Now we’ve got the chance. Now let’s see how we do over the next 55.” As Lupica pointed out, for the Mets to play another 55 games, they would have to make the playoffs.

hundley.jpgThe Dodgers series also meant a Shea return for Todd Hundley. In the Mets’ leaner years, the switch hitting catcher had been a fan favorite (particularly when he set the single-season home run record for catchers). But Mike Piazza’s arrival, repeated clashes with Valentine, and rumors of a drinking problem (among other things) made Hundley expendable. He was dealt in the previous off season, in a three-way trade that brought Armando Benitez and Roger Cedeno to Queens.

The Daily News anticipated a warm reception for Hundley, and no such thing between him and his former manager. Asked if it would be odd to be on the same field as Hundley again, Valentine simply said, “Why would I give a shit?” For his part, Hundley said he wanted “to try to meet [Valentine] in a dark alley.”

The series also meant a return to Shea for LA manager Davey Johnson, who’d led the Mets to a World Series ring. In one of those Only In NY stories, before the series, Johnson was greeted warmly in his hotel lobby by an NYPD officer who was also a September call up for the ’86 Mets. “Funny how small the world is,” Davey marveled.

Continue reading 1999 Project: Games 110-116 (Mets Drive 55) →

1999 Project

1999 Project: Games 20-22

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

April 27, 1999: Padres 6, Mets 2

With the Mets back at Shea after a six-game road trip, Masato Yoshii turned in yet another poor outing, giving up four runs and five walks in only 4 2/3 innings. Bobby Valentine said Yoshii’s rotation spot was not in jeopardy, and blamed himself for the pitcher’s woes. The skipper suggested Yoshii move from the third base side of the rubber to the first base side, and thought this suggestion was responsible for the pitcher’s troubles.

Yoshii wasn’t the only goat of the day. Recently activated Mike Piazza left seven men on base all by himself against Andy Ashby, San Diego’s less-than-intimidating starter.

April 28, 1999: Mets 4, Padres 3

This was Al Leiter’s best outing to date, as the lefty went seven innings, struck out six, and gave up only one run. The Mets took a 2-1 lead into the eighth and handed the ball to Armando Benitez, who had been nigh-perfect up to that point in the season. The righty proceeded to cough up the lead on a walk and back-to-back doubles by Tony Gwynn and Phil Nevin.

At that point, things looked pretty grim. The Mets had left a small army of men on base–as they’d been doing all season–and it seemed this would failure haunt them once more. Especially since the Padres had won the last 181 games they’d led in the eighth inning or later, thanks mostly to the work of future all-time saves leader Trevor Hoffman.

99_piazza_padres.pngBut Hoffman failed to retire a batter this evening. After John Olerud led off the bottom of the ninth with an infield single, Piazza crushed the first pitch he saw into the right field bullpen, thus earning the Mets their first walk-off win of the year.

After the game, Benitez tipped his cap to Gwynn. That’s either a gracious bit of sportsmanship, or a way of deflecting blame for crappy pitch locaiton, depending on one’s point of view.

April 29, 1999: Mets 8, Padres 5

On a cold, blustery day, Bobby Jones couldn’t get a feel for his curveball. That translated into a rough outing, and a 5-2 deficit after five innings. But the Mets’ bullpen held the Padres at bay over the last four frames; Dennis Cook, Turk Wendell, Benitez, and John Franco limited San Diego to two hits and one walk, allowing New York to rally for an 8-5 victory.

They were assisted, in large part, by the Padres’ wildness. San Diego pitching allowed nine free passes, and five of those men scored. After the game, Valentine said, “It’s a long season. You have to be able to win a lot of ways.”

Baseball, Sean from Massapequa

Sean from Massapequa, on His Way to the Citi

seanfrommassapequa.jpgSean from Massapequa just texted me, and wanted me to inform all Scratchbomb readers that he will be tweeting throughout the evening as the Mets open up their new ballpark for the regular season. Last I heard, he still didn’t have a ticket, so I don’t know what to expect from his tweets. But if you want to see what transpires, follow him.

Speaking of which, I’ve already called the Opening Night Phenomenon an abomination in the eyes of god, and I think it’s doubly so that the Mets will inaugurate their new stadium with a night game. If anything opener should be a day game, it should be your first real game in your first real stadium.

Technically, the Mets didn’t have a much of a choice due to MLB rules that state a team can’t play a day game after flying from the West to East Coast. But that begs the question, why are the Mets playing the Padres in this historic game? Why not against a division rival? Or a former division rival, like the Cubs or Pirates?

The Mets are powerful enough in MLB, I would think, to make demands of The Almight Scheduler, if they chose to do so. They didn’t, so despite the league’s weird bureaucratic rules, I gotta lay the blame squarely on the Mets.

At least they didn’t push up the start time for a Flo Rida concert.