I only was in the car long enough to hear his opening monologue, but you know what? He was dead on.

Look, Valdespin is a jerk – he’s an immature bench player who constantly finds himself on the wrong side of the headlines. But he’s our immature bench player.

It’s not about race, it’s not about having it out for a kid who doesn’t deserve it – it’s about the entire team being an utter disaster. If somebody wants to inject race into this issue, they are missing the point and doing a disservice to anybody who has ever dealt with real race issues.

You know, everybody wants to pin the failure on Sandy. That’s fine, everybody who hates him will always hate him. But the truth is, Sandy Alderson cannot magically turn Ike Davis, Jon Niese and Lucas Duda into the players we all thought they’d be. He cannot turn Ruben Tejada into a kid who can handle big league pitching when pre-Jose Reyes, Tejada was pegged as the future 2B. So you cannot even use the Reyes dismissal as an excuse. The players have to perform.

I’m sorry but guys like them mean more to the failure of the Mets than guys like Collin Cowgill or Anthony Recker.

The “plan” was that next year could be a big turning point, but that can’t be true when the guys you are counting on are playing in various level of mediocrity. Ike Davis is an embarrassment. He’s not a star 1B, he’s barely a big league 1B and that changes everything. Spare me this idea that come June he’s going to show up again. Too little too late.

Jon Niese is proving he’s a #2 on a bad team, #3 on a good one – and Duda is proving he truly is one dimensional.

You pair that with the fact Terry Collins who I do like mind you, is more of a minor league instructor than a big league manager. His handling of Valdespin was a “teaching moment.” At this level, the education should be complete. The best example of this is – when David Wright would have gotten beaned last year, Collins wouldn’t let him go out there. He said he knew he’d get hit and so he took him out. He did the reverse with Valdespin. Not because Valdespin is Dominican – because he thinks its his job in the major leagues to educate Valdespin and he forgot that this is a big league club and not a collection of kids.

I think Valdespin is an over hyped bench player, but it’s my job as a fan to think that and shake my head at his antics. It’s not the Manager’s or his teammates job.

Who is the most liked Met player in the clubhouse? I truly don’t know – but lets just say it’s Justin Turner. What if the Pirates decided rather than plunk Valdespin, they were going to hit Turner? What would the Mets players have done? Turn and wag a finger at Valdespin or react to the Pirates? In the major leagues when you want to get your point across to a player, you bench him and talk to him. You don’t air your dirty laundry and you certainly don’t send him out to get beaned.

The screams are becoming louder than Wally Backman needs to be the Manager. I love Wally Backman – he’s my favorite all time player because he was my first favorite player. But he is not the guy for this team. The Mets need an outsider. They need somebody who hasn’t been here, who hasn’t been a part of this dark cloud that has hung over the franchise for the last 7 years. I do not know who that is yet. Part of me is hoping that Mike Scioscia is the guy, and the other has me imagining what would happen if Don Mattingly became available.

Usually, it isn’t until after the All Star break, when we need to combine series to come up with 3 Ups and 3 Downs. This week was an exception with the Mets winning 2 out of 6 games against the Chicago White Sox & the Pittsburgh Pirates. Unless the Met offense wakes up real soon, we’re going to be in for a long season. Sorry to say, a first baseman batting .190 in the middle of May does not belong on the big club. Anyway here are this week’s 3 & 3.

Harvey Winless Twice: On Tuesday night Matt Harvey pitched a gem. It’s pretty safe to say we will probably never again see another nine inning, one-hit shutout, with the starter leaving the game getting a no decision. It was a darn shame the Met offense couldn’t squeeze out a run for Matt on Tuesday. On Sunday, Matt was once again very masterful. At this point it appears that young Mr. Harvey may be lone Met to make the All Star Game at Citi Field.

Robin Returned: One of my all time favorite Mets, Robin Ventura returned to Flushing. It was great to see Robin, who was one of the great Met leaders from 1999-2000. All the best to Ventura and the White Sox.

Baxter’s Big Hit: Mike Baxter is starting to remind me of Rusty Staub, with his pitch-hitting skills. It was Baxter who had the game-winning hit in Tuesday night’s game, driving in Marlon Byrd in the bottom of the tenth inning, and not totally wasting Harvey’s one hitter.

Offense Is AWOL: Where was the Mets offense this week? 28 strikeouts in the last two games alone? Outscored 21-7 in their last three losses to the Bucs? This team is in huge trouble here. Other than Wright, who are the established hitters? Buck and Murphy are in horrendous slumps, Ike Davis should be in Area 51, and not Flushing… I could give a rat’s behind what he did last season, he’s done squat this year and his team is losing. I don’t even want to get into the “who will replace him argument.”

Niese Not Nice: For the second start in a row Jon Niese looked horrible. Niese’s role this season is to be a front of the rotation pitcher and the Mets were banking on that. It hasn’t been happening so far in May. Niese needs to get his act together. They tell me the Met’s farm is ripe with good, young arms (I’ve heard this before). If the hype is to be believed, Niese may find himself as a back end guy.

Talk Of Change: Naturally, as the team struggles, people want to see Terry Collins replaced. In my 40 years of watching baseball, other than a handful of player-managers, I’ve never seen a manger, swing the bat in a game. I like Terry Collins, but this disaster isn’t on Terry. Does the GM even go to the games? Does he see the garbage he’s assembled? First base is a black hole. The outfield is a disaster, the bullpen has been better, but still stinks. I’ve said it before, Sandy needs to get some bats in here. He needs to stop the skid, and stop it now. Firing Terry isn’t the answer, whoever the new guy is will still be stuck with the same awful hand.

Old NL East rivals, the St. Louis Cardinals, will be hosting the Mets for a four game set beginning tonight. The Cardinals are a true example of how an MLB franchise should be run. Sandy and the Wilpons should take notes. As usual, Lets Go Mets!!

Starting Lineup

1. Ruben Tejada – SS
2. Daniel Murphy – 2B
3. David Wright – 3B
4. John Buck – C
5. Lucas Duda – LF
6. Andrew Brown – RF
7. Ike Davis – 1B
8. Juan Lagares – CF
9. Matt Harvey – RHP

Game Notes

• The Mets went 2-3 on their recent road trip. The club begins a six-game homestand tonight. New York is 7-8 at home this season. Saturday’s rain out in Atlanta is now scheduled for Tuesday, June 18 at 1:10 p.m. as part of a split doubleheader. That series is now a five-game series.
• New York is 2-0 this year in Interleague play after beating the Twins twice in Minnesota. The Mets were 8-7 vs. the AL last season. The Mets are 137-127 all time in Interleague play. The 137 wins are the fourth-most among NL clubs. Since 2010, the Mets are 11-3 vs. the AL Central.
• The Chicago White Sox make their first trip ever to Flushing. The Mets have hosted every other American League team at least once. New York has played the White Sox just once: the Mets lost two of three to the Sox in Chicago in 2002.
• David Wright has 94 career Interleague RBI, the most in team history. The 94 Interleague RBI are tied for the fourth-most among any major leaguer since 2005, the first season Wright played an Interleague game. Wright has hit a home run in three straight games. It’s the fifth time he’s hit a home run in exactly three consecutive games, his career-best is a home run in four straight games, June 7-10, 2007.
• Matt Harvey has allowed one run or less in 10 of his first 16 major league starts and has not allowed more than one run in seven of his last eight starts. Since July 26, 2012 (his ML debut), he ranks fourth in the majors with a 2.26 ERA (25 ER/99.2 IP). Minimum of 70 innings.
• Harvey also has 116 strikeouts in his first 16 major league starts, the 11th-most since 1921 by a pitcher making his first 16 career starts. Kerry Wood is first with 148 strikeouts in 1998. Harvey is third in Mets history, behind Dwight Gooden, who had 125 strikeouts in his first 16 starts and Nolan Ryan, who had 117 strikeouts.
• Frank Francisco pitched 1.0 scoreless inning last night for St. Lucie of the Florida State League vs. Daytona. He allowed a single. He’s tossed 4.0 scoreless innings in four rehab outings.
• Edgardo Alfonzo, SNY’s Kevin Burkhardt and 92.3 NOW’s Ty Bentli will serve as judges for Banner Day on Saturday, May 11 at Citi Field. The judges will select three finalists to join the online Banner Day winner then fans at the ballpark and at home will vote for the winner through texting, Twitter and Facebook.

Game Preview

The White Sox finally visit Citi Field as the Mets will meet up with an old friend in Robin Ventura tonight. The Mets are coming off of a 9-4 loss where just about everyone on the field was experiencing a collective off day. Since then the Mets have had an off day and for the first time on 7 days rest, the Mets will enjoy another Harvey day as Matt takes on Hector Santiago.

Sandy Alderson told the Daily News that the Mets still have confidence in Ike Davis even though he is batting .172 to start the season. “I don’t think he’s happy with what has happened to date,” Alderson said. “We would have hoped for a better performance to this point, but the evidence is he can do it, and he could do that again this season, we’ll see what transpires.” Last year was batting .173 last year at this time, but he was dealing with a case of valley fever, a one-year layoff, and recovering from a serious ankle injury.

Matt Harvey is 4-0 on the season with a 1.56 ERA over 40.1 innings of work. He bounced back from his worst start of the season (3 ER over 6 innings, quality for everybody else) to pitch 5.1 innings allowing 1 ER in Miami, a game he really had to labor through. He allowed 7 hits in that game, a season high, but paired that with 7 strikeouts. Not really all that surprisingly, Matt has not faced the White Sox in his career and has not faced any batters on the roster.

Hector Santiago gets the nod for the White Sox. On the young season he is 1-1 over 8 games, 1 start with a 2.29 ERA over 19.2 innings. His last outing was the first start of the season where he allowed 1 ER over 5.1 innings of work while striking out 6 batters. Last season, he was in 42 games including 4 starts with a 3.33 ERA. In his four starts, he pitched 19.2 innings allowing only 4 ER. Also not really surprising, but he has not faced anyone on the Mets roster in his career.

Let’s Go Mets!

I enjoyed stopping by his locker to shoot the breeze for a minute or two, talking about things other than baseball. Very smart, clever and possessing an insight on numerous issues. When there was the inevitable blow up or moment of absurdity, Ventura was always there to put it into perspective with a quip as short and hard-hitting as his swing.

Once I asked him about his fight with Nolan Ryan, and his response was he knew he had made a mistake halfway out to the mound, but couldn’t turn around. You’ll even notice in the video he slowed down.

Was it an embarrassing moment? Yes, but years later he handled it with humor. He even joined with Ryan to autograph photos of the brawl.

When I covered the Orioles and he was with the White Sox, I’d make time to go over to his clubhouse for a few moments. He was accessible to anybody who would take the time to ask a question.

I am sure there will be a lot of questions for Ventura pre-game tonight when he brings his White Sox into town. There will be rehashing about his time with the Mets and Yankees, about being in New York during September 11 and what he remembers about Mike Piazza’s homer the first game back in the city.

He’ll also get a question or four about his grand-slam single against the Braves in the 1999 playoffs.

That night is one of the greatest team displays of enthusiasm outside of winning a championship I have ever seen. That, and I suppose, the Piazza post 9-11 homer. Both were amazing to watch.

Ventura wasn’t a five-tool player, but was consistent and clutch. With a runner in scoring position you wanted him at the plate because he’d usually make contact.

Ventura was a .267 lifetime hitter and only once hit over .300, that being .301 in 1999, his first season with the Mets. Considering his 66-game hitting streak in college, I always wondered if he thought he should have hit for a higher average. He also hit 32 homers with a career-high 120 RBI in his first year with the Mets.

What the Mets wouldn’t give for a player with that production now.

Ventura had three solid years with the Mets, who, during that span had arguably one of the best defensive infields in history. Few balls got by Ventura, Rey Ordonez, Edgardo Alfonzo and John Olerud.

Both Olerud and Ventura would later play for the Yankees. When they left the Yankees, I believed I’d see both again managing in a major league dugout. I’m still waiting on Olerud.

The Chicago Tribune discussed Tuesday’s homecoming of sorts for Chicago White Sox manager Robin Ventura and his coach Joe McEwing. Both were teammates for two seasons with the Mets including the 2000 team that won the National League, but lost to Yankees in the World Series.

“It was a great time,” said Ventura, who played for the Mets from 1999-2001. “We enjoyed it as a family just being there. The Mets were very good to me. There’s part of it going back, seeing a lot of faces that you’re friends with and happy to see.”

Who can ever forget Ventura’s most signature moment as a Met – The Grand Slam Single…

What a great memory and one that still gives me goosebumps.

The article also mentions that McEwing will be honored while he’s in town and will be inducted into the Irish American Baseball Hall of Fame at Foley’s NY Pub and Restaurant in New York on Tuesday.

“You’re so proud of your background and heritage, and to be inducted into the Irish American Baseball Hall of Fame is an honor I’m humbled by.”

This game had a definite carnival atmosphere feel to it as the Atlanta Braves beat the Mets by the score of 9-4 to split the rain-shortened two-game series at Turner Field.

What a comedy of errors for the Mets even though the box score would suggest a clean game. I hate sad stories and bad endings so this will be short and sweet bitter.

What was up with Duda on that fly ball? Dude, check out the brunette in Row 3.

Jon Niese struggled from the word go and while it looks like he took a real pounding, it was more like a spanking as the Atlanta Official Scorer was handing out free base-hits today instead of some well deserved errors. In the end, Niese lasted just 4.0 innings and was charged with seven earned runs on seven hits and an appalling six walks! Get that kid outta there…

The Mets southpaw was betrayed by some of the most horrendous defense I’ve ever seen. The most egregious miscue came in the third inning when Lucas Duda misjudged a routine fly ball off the bat of Freddie Freeman that sailed over his head and allowed two Braves runs to score to put them up 3-0. That would open the floodgates as Niese then uncorked a wild pitch with Dan Uggla at the plate to send Freeman scampering home with another run. That pitch could have easily been blocked by the stocky John Buck. With the Braves now up 4-0, Reed Johnson drives home Uggla with an RBI single and suddenly the Braves are up 5-0 lead after three innings.

David Wright tried to get the Mets back in the game in the top of the fourth inning when he rocketed his fifth homer of the season – a two-run shot that got the Mets on the board.

Jeurys Familia replaced Niese in the bottom of the fifth, after Niese loaded the bases with a single by Gattis and back to back walks to Uggla and B.J. Upton. Familia was warmly greeted by a two-run single by Reed Johnson and suddenly the Braves were up by five runs again. Freddie Freeman tagged Familia with a solo home run and left the game with the Braves up 8-2.

The Mets scored another pair of runs in the eighth on an RBI-single by Duda and then Justin Turner drove in a run when he walked with the bases loaded. But the Braves responded with one more to make the score 9-4 and earn the split.

The Mets are off on Monday, as Robin Ventura and his White Sox head to Citi Field for short two-game series beginning on Tuesday. Matt Harvey will take the hill for the Mets.

Edgardo Alfonzo

As a batsman, Fonzie developed in almost textbook fashion before the delighted eyes of fans. Coming up, he had a reputation for a good eye at the plate, some evidence of moderate power, and the ability to make contact. Following his major league debut in 1995, the young Venezuelan worked diligently to refine his game both in the field and at the plate. By 1999, he had blossomed into one of the league’s premier middle infielders, hitting over .300 and slugging over .500 for the first time in his career. His peak game, and likely the peak offensive game by any Met, came in late August of that year as the Mets were heading toward a post-season berth under the guidance of Bobby Valentine.

The team was in Houston for a series against the Astros during their last go-round in the vast dimensions of the Astrodome. The following year, the team would move to the bandbox originally known as Enron Field (or “Ten Run Field” to fans for its propensity to produce high scoring games) and now dubbed Minute Maid Park. In stark contrast to the home run haven the Astros now inhabit, the ‘Dome was a pitcher’s dream and a slugger’s graveyard. Not only was the field characterized by expansive proportions, the roof insured that the very atmosphere itself was endowed with what batters swore was a deadening effect. But it was in this most unlikely of settings that the Mets’ version of the Fonz chose to put on perhaps the greatest display of slugging in team history.

1999 was a bumper year for runs scored by the Mets as they pushed 853 across the plate, good for 5^th in the league and still the club record for a single season. Even 40 year-old leadoff batter Rickey Henderson was having a renaissance year, batting over .300 for the first time since in four campaigns. On the night of August 30 of that year, the team would rack up a run tally that was impressive even by the standards of that era, blasting the Houston squad by a score of 17-1.

The key figure in the onslaught was Edgardo Alfonzo who began his evening by rocketing a solo home run his first time up to give the Mets an early lead. After the Astros were retired in order in the bottom of the first, the New Yorkers erupted for six additional runs in the next inning with Alfonzo contributing a single and a run scored in the process. He then homered in his next two at-bats registering a two-run shot in the fourth and another solo round-tripper in the sixth. After collecting his second single of the game in the eight amidst another rally, he came up for a final time in the ninth. Urged by his teammates to shoot for the elusive 4-homer mark, he banged a shot off the right field wall for a run-scoring double, missing another 4-bagger by a matter of a few feet.

All told, Fonzie had recorded 6 hits in as many at-bats including 3 HR’s and a double. In the process he set Mets club records for hits, runs, and total bases in a game as well as collecting 5 RBI. Naturally, his performance set off the stat freaks at Elias who determined that the only other player to accomplish a comparable feat was none other than Ty Cobb some 74 years prior when he also recorded a 3 homer, 1 double, 2 single game against the St. Louis Browns.

Fonzie and Cobb, Cobb and Fonzie. A rather exclusive club with one member a Met.

It was the year 2000.  The Y2K scare had come and gone, with people barely noticing what all the fuss was about.  Music fans were wondering who let the dogs out.  Mets fans were still cursing out Kenny Rogers for ball four and the nemesis of the day wore a tomahawk on his chest.

The Braves were the Mets’ chief rivals in 1999 and 2000.  The Mets’ mojo was rising in 1999 and it took them all the way to the sixth game of the National League Championship Series where the Braves ultimately came out on top, denying the Mets their first trip to the World Series in thirteen years.  Throughout the course of that classic series, a new villain had surfaced for Mets fans to hate.  That villain was John Rocker.

If Rocker’s macho attitude and overinflated ego hadn’t already caused Mets fans to want to run his pickup truck off the dirt road and into the creek, his incendiary comments about New Yorkers he encountered on the 7 train surely did.  Rocker soon became Public Enemy #1 at Shea Stadium.  When the Braves made their first trip to New York in late June of 2000, Rocker was with them and the Mets were prepared to do battle.

It appeared as if Mets fans were prepared to do battle with John Rocker as well.  The police presence inside the stadium was unprecedented in that pre-9/11 era.  The extra security had to be called in for fear that unruly fans who wanted a piece of Rocker would pelt him with more than just words.  In the first game of the series, Rocker was called upon in the eighth inning by Braves manager Bobby Cox to protect a two-run lead.  When he sprinted in from the bullpen, as was his wont to do at the time,  he entered to a chorus of boos with a side order of plastic bottles.  Despite all the negative energy being directed at him by the fans, he pitched a 1-2-3 inning and appeared unfazed by the derogatory epithets being hurled venomously at him by the raucous crowd.  The Braves went on to defeat the Mets by the final score of 6-4, setting the stage for one of the greatest and improbable comebacks in Mets history the following night.

Friday, June 30, 2000.  It was Fireworks Night at Shea Stadium.  The crowd of 52,831 had settled into their seats for a blood match.  I was among the throng of Mets fans who had bought a ticket for that game, hoping to see fireworks in more ways than one.  I had to wait a few hours but I was not disappointed.

Before I go any further, allow me to inform you that I was a regular at Shea Stadium on Fireworks Night.  I never missed one until they stopped doing them after the 2006 season in order to build Citi Field.  I was at the 13-1 loss to the Padres in 1996.  After the game had ended, a band called The Fool played a short set to entertain the fans while the pyrotechnicians put the finishing touches on the fireworks.  The band was booed off the stage before they could sing a note.  I was also at the 16-0 loss to the Braves in 1999.  That game was significant because Mets closer John Franco got hurt with two outs in the ninth inning.  Since the game was already a blowout and Bobby Valentine had already used six pitchers, he called upon infielder Matt Franco to relieve John Franco.  Of course, he gave up a long 3-run HR to Gerald Williams to put the finishing touches on that 16-0 final score.  John Franco’s injury caused Armando Benitez to have to step in as closer, a job he unfortunately never gave up.  Needless to say, the fans were not very patriotic during the fireworks show that night either.  Now back to our original story, already in progress…

The Braves had jumped out to a 5-0 lead.  When the Mets finally put a run on the board in the seventh inning to cut the lead to 5-1, Mets fans were hoping for a dramatic victory.  That was quickly stomped on by the bat of Brian Jordan when he hit a 3-run HR off Eric Cammack in the eighth inning to give the Braves what appeared to be an insurmountable 8-1 lead.  It appeared as if Fireworks Night would fizzle out as it had in previous years.  But then the sparklers made an appearance.

The Mets had put runners on second and third with one out.  Robin Ventura was the next batter and the fans in my section (Upper Deck Section 47, the dictionary definition of nosebleed seats) were pleading for him to hit a home run to make the score respectable.  Perhaps he could stir up the ghosts of Game 5 of the 1999 NLCS with another bomb off a Braves reliever.  But alas, he grounded out weakly for the second out.  A run scored on the play making it 8-2, but the Mets were now one out away from ending the inning.  It was up to Todd Zeile to continue the rally.  Little did I know that the real fireworks were about to begin.

Desperately trying not to make the final out of the inning, Zeile lined an RBI single to left to make the score 8-3.  A single by Jay Payton brought Bobby Cox out of the dugout to make a pitching change.  In came Kerry Ligtenberg.  He fared no better.  Benny Agbayani walked to load the bases, followed by walks to pinch-hitter Mark Johnson and Melvin Mora.  That made the score 8-5 and the tying runs were on base.  Out popped Bobby Cox from his hole in the dugout to remove Ligtenberg from the game.  Perhaps not trying to rile up an already excited crowd, Cox did not go to John Rocker.  Rocker had told Cox before the game that he would have difficulty pitching because of a callus on his left thumb.  Instead, he brought in fellow lefty Terry Mulholland to face Derek Bell.  This would be the biggest mistake made by Bobby Cox on the night.

Mulholland continued the merry-go-round by walking Bell to force in another run.  It was now 8-6 and Section 47 was on its feet, cheering as loudly as we could, hoping the Mets wouldn’t strand these runners on base.  Edgardo Alfonzo was next.  If Mike Piazza and Robin Ventura were the heart of those teams, Fonzie was the soul.  I was 100% confident he was going to come through and sure enough, he rewarded my faith in him by hitting a sharp single to left scoring the tying runs.  My sandwich had fallen on the floor in front of my friend’s seat and he almost slipped on it while jumping up and down, but he wasn’t mad at me.  The Mets had just erased a seven-run deficit to tie the game.  Nothing was going to bother us now.  It was so loud in Section 47 that we couldn’t even hear the airplanes flying above us.

The score was now 8-8.  Mike Piazza was the next batter.  I knew this game was ours.  There was no way Mulholland was going to get Piazza out.  Shea Stadium was ready to explode even more than it already was.  Then came the pitch to Piazza and with one mighty swing, Piazza yanked a screaming line drive down the left field line.  From our seats in the right field corner, we couldn’t tell if the ball was going to hook foul.  It seemed like the longest three seconds of our lives…

…and then…sheer euphoria!

The ball hit the padding above the left field wall, just barely fair.  The crowd erupted!  Strangers were hugging strangers.  People were stepping on my dropped sandwich and didn’t care that their shoes were going to have a turkey and cheese smell.

The upper deck was shaking as if it was going to collapse and we didn’t care.  I had completely lost my voice and it was the best feeling in the world!  The Mets had just scored ten runs in the eighth inning against the hated Atlanta Braves, nine of which came after two men were out.  The fireworks were out at Shea before the game had ended, courtesy of Mike Piazza’s bat.  Then we realized something.  The game wasn’t over yet.  There was still one inning left before the Mets could claim their dramatic victory.  Our closer was Armando Benitez.  It was only a three-run lead.  The bullpen gates opened and the fate of the game was in his hands.

Benitez always had trouble pitching 1-2-3 innings and this was no exception.   Two of the first four batters he faced reached base.  The Braves had the tying run at the plate in the form of Wally Joyner.  My fingernails were no longer with me by this time so I needed the out recorded now!  Somehow, Benitez must have heard me because he got Joyner to fly out to Jay Payton in center to secure the 11-8 victory for the Mets.  Soon after the final out was recorded, the fireworks show began, giving the fans a double dose of fireworks for the night.

Ten years ago today on June 30, 2000, I attended the most exciting comeback I had ever seen in person.  The tension was palpable during that miraculous eighth inning at Shea.  It’s a game I will never forget.  To this day, I still can’t believe the boxscore to that game.  Ten runs in the eighth inning, capped by a Mike Piazza line drive home run against the Mets’ most hated rivals.  It might be a cliche, but I have to say it.  It absolutely did not get any better than that.

                               1  2  3   4  5  6   7  8  9    R  H  E
                               -  -  -   -  -  -   -  -  -    -  -  -
               Braves          1  0  3   0  0  0   1  3  0    8 11  1
               Mets            0  0  0   0  0  0   1 10  X   11 12  2

October 17, 1999. Ten years ago last Saturday. Robin Ventura gave Mets fans one of the more unusual defining moments in team history. A “grand slam single” in the bottom of the 15^th inning to break a tied game and send the Mets to Game 6 to face the Atlanta Braves one more time.

As fate would have it, the Mets would fall short in Game 6, and the hated division rival Atlanta Braves would go on to play the hated geographical rival New York Yankees.

If things hold up the way they are looking, we could have a doomsday scenario for Mets fans. Both the hated division rival Philadelphia Phillies and the hated geographical rival Yankees are up 3-1 on Los Angeles, and seem headed for an inevitable World Series.

Forgive me if I go astray, back to 1999.

The Mets were playing for their lives to fight back from a 3-1 hole and took Game 5 deep into extras. The packed crowd at Shea saw a 2-2 game broken up in the top of the 15^th when rookie Met reliever Octavio Dotel gave up a run-scoring single to Keith Lockhart. The Mets headed into the bottom of the 15^th with the real possibility that the playoff bubble had burst. Shawon Dunston battled through a long 12-pitch at-bat to single to center off of Braves reliever Kevin McGlinchy. McGlinchy then walked pinch-hitter Matt Franco (remember him). Edgardo Alfonso successfully bunted Dunston and Franco to 3^rd and 2^nd respectively. An intentional walk was surrendered to John Olerud to load the bases. McGlinchy gave up the lead when he failed to find the strike zone against Todd Pratt, who entered the game in the 13^th when Mike Piazza injured his arm on a play at the plate. Ventura stepped to bat and drove the 482^nd pitch over the right field wall for an apparent grand slam. As Ventura rounded the bases, a joyous Pratt ambushed him between first and second where the rest of the team flooded out to form a circle around him and pat his helmet into his head.

This game and featured 5 hours and 46 minutes of gametime.  It was originally a day-game but finished into the night. When the game ended, the Red Sox-Yankees night game was well into the 4^th inning. The Mets used 9 pitchers, including Dennis Cook for only two pitches. Game 4 starter Rick Reed would have been the 10^th guy if necessary.

How old do I feel remembering that this was 10 years ago? Anyway…

Today, the joy is gone and instead there are only angry fans who want a refund on the season and message board GM’s posting their ideal dream lineups. In a few days, worst case scenario will be here.

Although if you want to reach for a good omen, the following season, the Mets made it to the World Series. So maybe…

Never mind, I was dreaming when I wrote that.

Authors Note: I had intended to post this on Saturday, the true 10 year anniversary, but I decided to wait until I had an idea of what the WS matchup was shaping out to be.

Here’s the clip: http://newyork.mets.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?mid=200806202968145&c_id=nym

After a quick jaunt to the Mets page, I found quite a nice list of memorable single season stats, some positions deeper than others. The second thing that I noticed is that an individual player can only have one nomination. For example, Mike Piazza’s 2000 season was nominated as one of the finalists for Met catcher, but one can make the argument that his 1999 season was better, you’ll see what I mean if you check out the website. Today we’ll take a look at the field.

First Base:

These seasons were the best statistical seasons that these players had in their Met tenures, as well as better than any other seasons put up by Met first-basemen. The highest HR total is Delgado’s 38 in 06 and 08, though he finished with better numbers in 08. I have a bit of hesitation voting for Delgado after watching him struggle badly in the first half of 08, before Willie was fired. John Olerud had the highest batting avg. by far. Keith has the 2^nd highest batting avg., but is beaten in every counting stat. BTW. Stolen bases are kind of irrelevant for 1B, so I’m not looking at it.

My verdict:  Delgado’s HR, RBI, and Runs are the best on this list, even though his Avg. is the lowest and his 1st half was miserable.

Second Base:

Edgardo Alfonso has the edge here in HR’s, RBI, and R. Castillo’s not-yet-completed season leads the field in SB’s. Wally Bachman leads Avg by 10 points over Castillo. Alfonso is simply strong in every category while leading three of them.

My verdict: Edgardo Alfonso.

Third Base:

Since players can only have one of their seasons nominated, Wright’s 2007 and HoJo’s 1989 got in. I mention this because Wright’s 06 and 08, as well as HoJo’s 91 are better than Knight and Randle. Ventura had the most RBI’s on this list, but Wright and HoJo lead everything else. Wright and HoJo are the only 30-30 seasons here, but HoJo leads HR by 6 and SB by 7, while Wright has a 38 point advantage in avg. while leading RBI by 6 and Runs by 9. Wright also had the better OBP and OPS, while HoJo had the better SLG. Sidenote: HoJo’s 104 Runs in 1989 led the National League.

My Verdict: This was a fairly tough decision, but I’m giving it to Wright. Feel free to argue this one.

Shortstop:

There isn’t much choice here. No Met SS has had any season to compare to Reyes’s 06. Jose’s 05, 07, and 08 are better than anything put together by Kaz-Mat, Tavares, Ordonez, Santana, or Harrelson (among players who manned SS for years) as well. Though Reyes had 78 SB’s in 07, 06 was his best all-around year to date.

My Verdict: Jose Reyes by a mile.

Catcher:

Here is where I have my first real issue with a snub. Any way you look at, this list comes down to Piazza and Hundley, but Piazza’s 1999 was better than his 2000. As it stands right now, Piazza would beat Hundley in every category except HR, and Piazza takes a huge 65 point advantage in Avg. Now compare Piazza’s 2000 to his 1999 totals of .303/40/124/100/2. Piazza’s 1999 edges 2000 in everything relevant except Avg.

My Verdict: Mike Piazza, though I believe his 1999 was better.

Outfield (Pick 3):

Okay, so let’s make sense of this. Carlos Beltran has the most HR’s edging out Darryl Strawberry by 2. Cleon Jones has the highest Avg. by 7 points over Lance Johnson. Bernard Gilkey has 1 more RBI than Carlos Beltran. Gilkey, Beltran, Strawberry, and Staub are the only ones with 100+ RBI. Carlos Beltran has 10 more Runs than Lance Johnson. Beltran, Johnson, Gilkey, and Strawberry are the only ones with 100+ Runs. Roger Cedeno’s 66 SB’s beat Johnson by 16; Cedeno, Johnson, Henderson, Dykstra, and Strawberry are the only ones with 30+ SB’s. Strawberry and Beltran have the two greatest all-around performances. Next pick depends on what categories you consider important and break it down from there. Cedeno’s 66 steals are a big number, but he doesn’t have the strength in other categories, though his R and Avg. are nice. Lance Johnson is 2^nd in Avg., Runs, and SB. Bernard Gilkey is strong all-around, though he doesn’t lead any categories.

My Verdict: Carlos Beltran, Darryl Strawberry, and Bernard Gilkey. To take that a step further, Beltran’s 2006 was the best season by any Met outfielder.

All in All: 1B Carlos Delgado 2008; 2B Edguardo Alfonso 1999; 3B David Wright 2007; SS Jose Reyes 2006; C Mike Piazza 2000; OF’ers Carlos Beltran 2006, Darryl Strawberry 1987, and Bernard Gilkey 1996.

Final Thoughts: I tried to focus only one position at a time when making judgments, and it appears that I picked a lot recent players, including players from the last four seasons. In fact, I didn’t realize it at the time, but all of my picks were in the last 22 years.

You can find the list of choices here. Now, the point with any list like these is to get you to think and to compare across the years and argue about it. Questions or disagreements, let me know.

Till Next Time

The Braves were the Mets’ chief rivals in 1999 and 2000.  The Mets’ mojo was rising in 1999 and it took them all the way to the sixth game of the National League Championship Series where the Braves ultimately came out on top, denying the Mets their first trip to the World Series in thirteen years.  Throughout the course of that classic series, a new villain had surfaced for Mets fans to hate.  That villain was John Rocker.

If Rocker’s macho attitude and overinflated ego hadn’t already caused Mets fans to want to run his pickup truck off the dirt road and into the creek, his incendiary comments about New Yorkers he encountered on the 7 train surely did.  Rocker soon became Public Enemy #1 at Shea Stadium.  When the Braves made their first trip to New York in late June of 2000, Rocker was with them and the Mets were prepared to do battle.

It appeared as if Mets fans were prepared to do battle with John Rocker as well.  The police presence inside the stadium was unprecedented in that pre-9/11 era.  The extra security had to be called in for fear that unruly fans who wanted a piece of Rocker would pelt him with more than just words.  In the first game of the series, Rocker was called upon in the eighth inning by Braves manager Bobby Cox to protect a two-run lead.  When he sprinted in from the bullpen, as was his wont to do at the time,  he entered to a chorus of boos with a side order of plastic bottles.  Despite all the negative energy being directed at him by the fans, he pitched a 1-2-3 inning and appeared unfazed by the derogatory epithets being hurled venomously at him by the raucous crowd.  The Braves went on to defeat the Mets by the final score of 6-4, setting the stage for one of the greatest and improbable comebacks in Mets history the following night.

Friday, June 30, 2000.  It was Fireworks Night at Shea Stadium.  The crowd of 52,831 had settled into their seats for a blood match.  I was among the throng of Mets fans who had bought a ticket for that game, hoping to see fireworks in more ways than one.  I had to wait a few hours but I was not disappointed.

Before I go any further, allow me to inform you that I was a regular at Shea Stadium on Fireworks Night.  I never missed one until they stopped doing them after the 2006 season in order to build Citi Field.  I was at the 13-1 loss to the Padres in 1996.  After the game had ended, a band called The Fool played a short set to entertain the fans while the pyrotechnicians put the finishing touches on the fireworks.  The band was booed off the stage before they could sing a note.  I was also at the 16-0 loss to the Braves in 1999.  That game was significant because Mets closer John Franco got hurt with two outs in the ninth inning.  Since the game was already a blowout and Bobby Valentine had already used six pitchers, he called upon infielder Matt Franco to relieve John Franco.  Of course, he gave up a long 3-run HR to Gerald Williams to put the finishing touches on that 16-0 final score.  John Franco’s injury caused Armando Benitez to have to step in as closer, a job he unfortunately never gave up.  Needless to say, the fans were not very patriotic during the fireworks show that night either.  Now back to our original story, already in progress…

The Braves had jumped out to a 5-0 lead.  When the Mets finally put a run on the board in the seventh inning to cut the lead to 5-1, Mets fans were hoping for a dramatic victory.  That was quickly stomped on by the bat of Brian Jordan when he hit a 3-run HR off Eric Cammack in the eighth inning to give the Braves what appeared to be an insurmountable 8-1 lead.  It appeared as if Fireworks Night would fizzle out as it had in previous years.  But then the sparklers made an appearance.

The Mets had put runners on second and third with one out.  Robin Ventura was the next batter and the fans in my section (Upper Deck Section 47, the dictionary definition of nosebleed seats) were pleading for him to hit a home run to make the score respectable.  Perhaps he could stir up the ghosts of Game 5 of the 1999 NLCS with another bomb off a Braves reliever.  But alas, he grounded out weakly for the second out.  A run scored on the play making it 8-2, but the Mets were now one out away from ending the inning.  It was now up to Todd Zeile to continue the rally.  Little did I know that the real fireworks were about to begin.

Desperately trying not to make the final out of the inning, Zeile lined an RBI single to left to make the score 8-3.  A single by Jay Payton brought Bobby Cox out of the dugout to make a pitching change.  In came Kerry Ligtenberg.  He fared no better.  Benny Agbayani walked to load the bases, followed by walks to pinch-hitter Mark Johnson and Melvin Mora.  That made the score 8-5 and the tying runs were on base.  Out popped Bobby Cox from his hole in the dugout to remove Ligtenberg from the game.  Perhaps not trying to rile up an already excited crowd, Cox did not go to John Rocker.  Rocker had told Cox before the game that he would have difficulty pitching because of a callus on his left thumb.  Instead, he brought in fellow lefty Terry Mulholland to face Derek Bell.  This would be the biggest mistake made by Bobby Cox on the night.  Mulholland continued the merry-go-round by walking Bell to force in another run.  It was now 8-6 and Section 47 was on its feet, cheering as loudly as we could, hoping the Mets wouldn’t strand these runners on base.  Edgardo Alfonzo was next.  If Mike Piazza and Robin Ventura were the heart of those teams, Fonzie was the soul.  I was 100% confident he was going to come through and sure enough, he rewarded my faith in him by hitting a sharp single to left scoring the tying runs.  My sandwich had fallen on the floor in front of my friend’s seat and he almost slipped on it while jumping up and down, but he wasn’t mad at me.  The Mets had just erased a seven-run deficit to tie the game.  Nothing was going to bother us now.  It was so loud in Section 47 that we couldn’t even hear the airplanes flying above us.

The score was now 8-8.  Mike Piazza was the next batter.  I knew this game was ours.  There was no way Mulholland was going to get Piazza out.  Shea Stadium was ready to explode even more than it already was.  Then came the pitch to Piazza and with one mighty swing, Piazza yanked a screaming line drive down the left field line.  From our seats in the right field corner, we couldn’t tell if the ball was going to hook foul.  Then came the moment of sheer euphoria.  The ball hit the padding above the left field wall, just barely fair.  The crowd erupted.  Strangers were hugging strangers.  People were stepping on my dropped sandwich and didn’t care that their shoes were going to have a turkey and cheese smell.  The upper deck was shaking as if it was going to collapse and we didn’t care.  I had completely lost my voice and it was the best feeling in the world!  The Mets had just scored ten runs in the eighth inning against the hated Atlanta Braves, nine of which came after two men were out.  The fireworks were out at Shea before the game had ended, courtesy of Mike Piazza’s bat.  Then we realized something.  The game wasn’t over yet.  There was still one inning left in the game.  Our closer was Armando Benitez.  It was only a three-run lead.  The bullpen gates opened and the fate of the game was in his hands.

Benitez always had trouble pitching 1-2-3 innings and this was no exception.   Two of the first four batters he faced reached base.  The Braves had the tying run at the plate in the form of Wally Joyner.  My fingernails were no longer with me by this time so I needed the out recorded now!  Somehow, Benitez must have heard me because he got Joyner to fly out to Jay Payton in center to secure the 11-8 victory for the Mets.  Soon after the final out was recorded, the fireworks show began, giving the fans a double dose of fireworks for the night.

Nine years ago today on June 30, 2000, I attended the most exciting comeback I had ever seen in person.  The tension was palpable during that miraculous eighth inning at Shea.  It’s a game I will never forget.  To this day, I still can’t believe the boxscore to that game.  Ten runs in the eighth inning, capped by a Mike Piazza line drive home run against the Mets’ most hated rivals.  It might be a cliche, but I have to say it.  It absolutely did not get any better than that.

                1  2  3   4  5  6   7  8  9    R  H  E
                -  -  -   -  -  -   -  -  -    -  -  -
Braves          1  0  3   0  0  0   1  3  0    8 11  1
Mets            0  0  0   0  0  0   1 10  X   11 12  2