Mets Madness Series Preview: 2000 Mets vs. 2019 Mets

MMO’s partnership with Out of the Park Baseball (OOTP) continues as our 16-team Mets Madness bracket is underway. Next up on the docket, MMO and OOTP pit the 2000 National League championship Mets against the 2019 Mets. MMO and Mets Minors writer Matt Mancuso controls the 2000 team, while MMO editor and writer Allison Waxman will manage the 2019 Mets.

Each round will be a best-of-seven. We will post series previews before each matchup and a recap after the first round. As we progress in the competition, each recap and preview will go into more detail.

Additionally, we will also be giving folks access to 10% off coupons for downloading the game as well as giving away codes to download the game for free!

2000 Mets

The 2000 Mets are the third seed in the 16-team tournament and went an impressive 94-68, coming second in their division. They beat the San Francisco Giants in the Division Series and the St. Louis Cardinals in the Championship Series but ultimately lost to the crosstown rival Yankees in the World Series.

Led once more by manager Bobby Valentine, Mike Piazza and Edgardo Alfonzo led the team in batting average with a whopping .324. Along with this dynamic duo, Todd Zeile and Robin Ventura helped pave the way for a team that always found a way to get on base.

On the mound, the three lefties took center stage. Al Leiter won the Roberto Clemente Award and struck out 200, Mike Hampton allowed a career-low ten home runs over 217 innings pitched, and Glendon Rusch walked only 44 batters through 190 innings. Closer Armando Benítez saved 41 games in his second year in Flushing, and the lovable John Franco punched out 56 batters in just over 55 innings of work.

2019 Mets

The 14th seed in the Mets Madness pool, the 2019 Mets put the winning feeling back in Queens, just for the rug to be pulled out from underneath fans as things fell apart late into the season. The 2019 Mets finished third in the NL East at 86-76 and just missed out on a Wild Card berth, falling three games short of the postseason. After the All-Star break, they went 46-26, second-best in the NL behind the Dodgers.

The biggest story of the season was the debut of Pete Alonso, who would go on to break Aaron Judge‘s 52-home run record for most home runs by a rookie in MLB history. The Rookie of the Year Winner brought life back to Mets fans, as did robust performances from Jeff McNeil who led the team in batting average (.318), Amed Rosario (177 hits) and Michael Conforto (84 walks).

It was also the last we saw of one of the finest rotations in all of baseball. Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Zack Wheeler and Steven Matz were what remained of the core group of homegrown players. deGrom would earn his first Cy Young Award for the year after leading the NL with 255 strikeouts. While his first year in Queens did not go as planned, Edwin Díaz eventually made his mark, joining a bullpen constantly in flux.