Gary Carter delivered two of the most important hits of the 1986 season — both singles. One kept the Mets season alive, sparking the World Series Game 6 rally. The other brought the Mets a win closer to reaching the Fall Classic. Carter overcame a dreadful 1-for-21 slump to break a 1-1 tie give New York a 3-2 edge in the NLCS against the Houston Astros. “I kept telling myself, ‘I’m going...
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It was no surprise a Mets catcher delivered the big hit which propelled his team into the League Championship Series. As for which catcher — that was about as improbable as any in postseason history. Todd Pratt lasted four pedestrian seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies. After no major league team would sign him, he spent 1996 as an instructor at Bucky Dent’s baseball camp and managed a...
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The Mets walked a tightrope for two weeks. A seven-game losing streak in late September put them dangerously close to a second straight late-season collapse and another year narrowly missing the playoffs. Two games out of the lone Wild Card spot with three games left, those attempting to write the epitaph of the 1999 Mets were premature. New York swept the Pittsburgh Pirates at home. The...
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Shortly after he arrived in New York in May 1998, praise was hard to come by. The expectations were that Mike Piazza would be the power-hitting catcher who would carry the Mets into contention. So when that power was generated far too infrequently for their liking, fans grew impatient. But any boos directed at Piazza quickly went away. Seven-plus years later, after 220 home runs and countless...
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The best pitched game of Johan Santana’s Mets career? Most would naturally say the no-hitter on June 1, 2012 and you’d find little argument against it. But considering the circumstances, a case can be made for the penultimate day of the regular season 13 years ago — part of an emotional weekend with the playoffs at stake and Shea Stadium’s days numbered. Facing...
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