If you mention the year 1999 to a Mets fan, one-of-two things comes to mind. Either you see Robin Ventura’s grand-slam-single that ended game five of the National League Championship Series or you see Kenny Rogers walking in the winning run that sealed that series for the Braves. Game five will always be Ventura’s game and despite his late game heroics, one man made sure he’d have a chance to hit that historic shot.
Bobby Valentine went to Dotel, at that moment an unproven rookie with a lot of raw talent, to try to extend an extra inning game. “What I remember about Game 5 is, I kept seeing pitchers coming out of the dugout, starting pitchers, and I was like, ‘What about me?’” Dotel told the New York Times Pat Borzi 12-years after the a series that shaped his young career. “Then they decided: ‘Let’s lose the game. Let’s put in Doti.’ And then I won the game. I showed Bobby Valentine I could do it.”
Obviously this stuck in Dotel’s craws. It stuck as early as game six when Rogers walked in the winning run in the 11th inning. “Nothing against Kenny but I think I was the right guy to come in in that situation” Dotel said after the game. Soon after that series Dotel was on his way to Houston in the trade that brought Mike Hampton to New York.
Looking back at the scouting reports for Dotel is fascinating. On the back of his Bowman rookie card, printed in 1997 reads this: “Undersized righty with big arm…throws comfortably into 90s…gets good downward and side-to-side movement…Big dropping curve…will challenge hitters inside.”
With the Astros he would continue to develop, finally settling in as a reliever despite a number of trips between the rotation and bullpen. Over five full seasons in Houston he pitched to a 3.26 ERA over 414.1 innings. He also managed 10.9 strikeouts per nine innings.
From there his tour around Major League Baseball was on. He pitched for 13 different teams, an all-time record. His career came to an end earlier this month after last pitching in April of 2013 for the Tigers. There are lessons to be learned about a young pitchers confidence when discussing Dotel. He was fragile with the Mets and despite shining moments after his short stint with the Mets, it’s clear that the team stunted his growth.
Octavio Dotel rides into the sunset having logged 951.0 innings in the majors and with a career ERA of just 3.78.
