The old saying goes that the baseball season is a marathon, not a sprint. But it took just one game into the 1998 season for the Mets to feel like they had already done a marathon. At least they could celebrate when it ended.
In a 1-0 victory over the Phillies that took 14 innings and more than four hours to complete, a Mets catcher supplied the necessary offense. Not Mike Piazza — he was two months from arrival. Not Todd Hundley, with 71 homers over the previous two seasons. He was still sidelined while recovering from Tommy John surgery.
The starting lineup had Tim Spehr behind the plate. He had two of the seven hits, but neither produced the run. After nobody else could, Alberto Castillo did. The pinch-hitter delivered the game-winning single and ended the seemingly endless string of goose eggs.
It might have been suspected that an unusual day was in store when the first-pitch temperature for the earliest Mets season opener to date was 82 degrees. Less surprising was the dominance of Phillies ace Curt Schilling, who struck out nine and only allowed New York to muster two hits over eight shutout innings and 121 pitches.
Philadelphia relievers followed suit, beginning with Jerry Spradlin in the ninth, then Billy Brewer and Mark Leiter (watched by brother Al in the other dugout) combining to limit the Mets to one hit over the next two innings.
Fortunately for the home team, its pitching was up to the challenge. Bobby Jones made his third Opening Day start and it was clearly his best one yet. He wasn’t as overpowering as Schilling, but he yielded just four hits and two walks over six. And most importantly, nobody scored off him. The same held true for those who came after. Greg McMichael, Dennis Cook, John Franco, Mel Rojas, and Turk Wendell successfully passed the baton for New York.
Among the Phillies being shut down was a collection of former and future Mets. One-time phenom Gregg Jefferies, now 30 years old, batted second and played left field. Ex-Met first baseman Rico Brogna was at first base and batted fifth. Bobby Abreu, who ended his solid career with the Mets by appearing in 2014, made his Phillies debut in right field. Desi Relaford, a utility man in 2001, played shortstop and batted eighth.
Mets manager Bobby Valentine used 19 players — the last of which was Castillo, who came up with two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the 14th. Facing Ricky Bottalico and a full count, Castillo laced a single the opposite way to bring this Opening Day-turned-night to a close. At the time, it was the longest opener in National League history by innings.
