15
2013
5,000 Days Ago Today: Animal Crackers and Duck Soup
An article by 
Chris Jaffe over at The Hardball Times, emailed me a link to his latest post marking several notable anniversaries today including this one:
5,000 days ago, one of the greatest stunts any manager ever pulled occurred. It was Fake Mustache Night in the Mets dugout—at least it was for manager Bobby Valentine.
It was June 9, 1999 and Valentine’s Mets hosted the Toronto Blue Jays in an interleague game. It was a close game—in fact it went into extra innings, tied 3-3.
In the 12th the fun began. With one out and a runner on first, home plate umpire Randy Marsh awarded Toronto infielder Craig Grebeck first base via catcher’s interference on star Mets backstop Mike Piazza. Well, of course an odd call like catcher’s interference will get a manager’s attention, and when it comes in a tied game in extra innings, it really gets the juices flowing.
Valentine came out and protested, and Marsh gave Valentine the heave-ho. Normally the story would end there. But of course this would not be a normal night.
Read the entire article here… It’s a fun read on this slow Friday morning.
About the Author: Joe DeCaro
I'm a lifelong Mets fan who loves writing and talking about the Amazins' 24/7. From the Miracle in 1969 to the magic of 1986, and even the near misses in '73 and '00, I've experienced it all - the highs and the lows. I started Mets Merized Online in 2005 to feed my addiction. Follow me on Twitter @metsmerized.
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Al all time Mets classic to say the least. This hearkens back to running the bases backwards and will always be a part of Mets lore.
One of the funniest moments in Mets lore.
Saw an interview a couple of years ago where Bobby V. talked about that game. Pretty funny interview.
I’m sure those umps in that crew that day were not amused that they failed to notice his disguise, even thought the media picked right up on it.
Hahahaha I like the choice of background music used in the video. Very fitting.
You can say a lot of things about Valentine both good and bad….
But there is no denying he is a guy who keeps stirring the pot and sometime you just need a little stirring to get the results you want.
If he had replaced Willie I bet 2008 goes very differently. Maybe 2009 too!
That team needed a bit of stirring….
But that said he was the wrong guy to take over in 2011. Not the right mix for him…And in his case it is always better when he has managed a farm team before taking over to get some kids that are his own for when he comes up.