Most Memorable Mets Games of the Noughties

[Guest Swan Swan H]

FWIW, Newsday picked the Piazza post-9/11 homer as the "Best New York Sports Moment of the Decade."

[G-Fafif]

Bookends:

4/29/00: Ken Griffey's first game at Shea Stadium. During the offseason it appeared his first game might be the Home Opener, but he vetoed a half-assed trade proposal between the Mets and M's and famously went to Cincinnati where it never really worked out for him. Hence, he was the newest villain in town, booed all night -- which was 1969 throwback night, per a promotional tie-in with the release of the movie "Frequency". Griffey came up as the potential go-ahead run in the ninth. Armando, in veritable retro pajamas, struck him out on 3-2 to preserve the Mets' ninth win in a row (a streak that had begun with the Sunday game in Pittsburgh mentioned upthread). Very cold night, but all was well.

5/11/08: Ken Griffey's final game at Shea Stadium. Animus had been put aside long before. Griffey was one of the few veteran sluggers not suspect for substances. He is warmly received on a windy Shea day. Mets leave him three homers shy of 600 in a Mets' 8-3 win notable for the following: Oliver Perez steals a base; Mets use pink bats and some where pink spikes for Mother's Day; and the Reds bat out of order in the ninth, delaying the game's end interminably.

[metirish]

1) -Bobby Jones - 10/08/00-NLDS - Game 4 versus the Giants , Jones one hits the Giants.

2) - Endy Chavez - "The Catch" - Game 7, 2006 NLCS - 10/19/06

3) - Benny Agbayani's game-winning homer in the 2000 NLDS.- 10/07/2000

4) - Another game from the 2000 NLDS: J.T. Snow hits a demoralizing homer off Armando Benitez, but the Mets come back and win on a Darryl Hamilton RBI, with the game ending on John Franco's top moment as a Met, his strikeout of Barry Bonds. - 10/05/2000

5) - Piazza in the first baseball game played in New York after September 11. - 09/21/2001

6) - Clemens beans Piazza, split Shea-Yankee Stadium doubleheader. - 07/08/2000

7) - Clemens tries to kill Piazza in public again, - 10/22/2000?

8) - Game One of the 2006 NLDS was October 4, 2006.

9) - Estes vs. Clemens - 06/15/2002

10) - Glavine shits the bed in 40 degree weather on opening day - 03/31/2003

11) - The Victor Diaz Game : 9/25/04

12) - 8/8/06 - Mike Piazza's return to Shea as a member of the Padres.

13) - June 17, 2001 (Father's Day). Sunday night baseball, Subway Series. The Mets come back to beat the MFYs with a dramatic 6-run 8th inning rally, capped by a Mike Piazza home run.

14) - Welcome Abordick - 07/29/2000

15) - Tom Glavine gives up seven earned runs in a third of an inning, thereby ending his Mets career - 10/30/2007 - now this was a memorable game.

16) - The 16-inning win over the Phillies - 05/23/2006

17) - The John Maine one-hitter on September 29 that got them there was also pretty memorable - 10/29/2007

18) - Omir Santos hits a disputed go-ahead homer at Fenway in the top of the ninth, and an angry Jonathan Papelbon leaps out of the dugout. Plus, a save by J.J. Putz - 05/23/2009

19) - The Mr. Koo game. - 5/21/05

20) - two HRs from The Moustache(J Valentin) - Mets 4 - Marlins 0 - 09/18/2006

21) - The four-game sweep at the Phils that kicked off the collapse in earnest, including the Marlon Anderson baseline call and the 11-10 fall-back/comeback/Wagner choke job to end it. - 08/27/2007

22) - Pujols hits two home runs and knocks in seven runs. Delgado hits two home runs and knocks in five. Beltran wins it with a walk-off off Isringhausen. Michael Tucker (!) starts in left for the Amazin's, goes 1-2 with a walk and a HBP. It's the first game that popped into my head outside of those mentioned above. - 08/22/2006

23) - Miserable final game of the 2007 collapse - 09/30/2007

24) - Mets win NLCS - 10/16/2000

25) - Mets score 10 runs in the 8th to beat Atlanta 11-8 - 06/30/2000

26) - ast game ever played by Montreal Expos - 10/03/2004

27) - Santana's gem from 2008 that temporarily saved the season (actually put off the inevitable) - 09/27/2008

28) - Mets clinch NL East - Various Mets parade around with booze and cigars - 09/18/2006

29) - NLDS Game 1, two runners cut down at home on one play - 10/04/2006

30) - Marlon Anderson's inside-the-park homer - as remembered on the UMDB.....lets not forget Floyd

1 out in the bottom of the 9th at Shea and the Angels have electric Francisco Rodriguez closing. Anderson, pinch hitting, drives one just shy of the track in right center, with RF Vladimir Guerrero running towards center and CF Steve Finley sliding while running toward RF to make the catch; he can't and it bounces off his leg and rolls into a vacant RF; he gets up and tracks the ball down, all the while Anderson is busting it around the basepaths, and despite a perfect relay throw, Anderson just beats the throw home to tie the game at 2. His face slammed into the catcher; he's there laying in pain, but when he gets up, oh what an ovation. And the capper: Cliff Floyd hit a 3-run walkoff homer in the 10th. - 06/11/2005

31) - Geremi Gonzalez gives up 4 in the 1st to the Yanx, Mets come back with 3 in their half off Sour Unit ... Wright wins it w/a walk-off double off Mariano in the 9th following a 3-K top of the 9th from Wagner - 05/19/2006

32) - 2004 also gave us the "I Love Todd Zeile" game: -
Todd Zeile hit a 3 Run Home Run to tie the game and hit a go ahead Home Run in the 10th to account for all 5 of the Mets runs in this 5-3 win over the Phillies. UMDB - 06/02/2004

33) - Jorge Sosa's finest hour, staving off the doom that would eventually catch them anyhow.
Well who would have thought that Mike Pelfrey would have been the stopper? It's the future of the Mets that saves them in the present. Coupled with Phillies loss (thanks to last years NLCS villian Yadier Molina) Mets shave 2 more games off of their Magic number. We are still a long ways away from a division title but there is no doubt the Mets needed this one. Credit Sosa for coming in and putting out a fire in the 6th and credit Alou for playing hurt and producing at the same time. Mets are off to Florida for 4 and then back home to end the season against the Nats, Cards, and Marlins. Hopefully things go well and we can capture a second straight division crown. - UMDB - 09/19/2007

34) - The best game of 2005 was probably August 30, 2005. Late 3-run come-from-behind homer by Ramon Castro over the Phillies. - 08/30/2005

35) - NLCS Game 6 in 2006 (Reyes lead-off homer, Maine betters Chris Carpenter in an elimination game) as pretty memorable. - 10/18/2006

36) - Benny Agbayani hands a kid in the stands a live ball. That the Mets won in spite of Benny's boner makes it charming - 08/12/2000

37) - After the first Brian Jordan Game and before the second Brian Jordan Game the Mets sucked it up one final time and swept the eternally pesky Expos after trailing 6-2. There was no margin for error post-9/11 and the Mets just kept fighting back in this one. The five in the ninth that put it away took, I swear, about half an hour. The inning started as I was leaving work and continued throughout an uptown subway ride and a block's walk to Penn Station to finding a seat on the train. Let out many whoops along the way. - 09/27/2001

38) - A pounding of the crosstown rivals that I can truly say I needed, for reasons that had little to do with the standings or anti-MFY self-esteem. We lost our cat Casey the night before and took him to Bide-a-Wee to arrange his cremation. Sadly and absently, we turned the game on not particularly concerned with the outcome. Felt uncommonly lifted by the proceedings that followed, including Roger Cedeno's straight steal of home, a spectacular misplay by Enrique Wilson and a homer to the heavens by Mo Vaughn. It's a long story, but Mo hitting one for Casey (and maybe to Casey) couldn't have been more appropriate. - 06/29/2002

39) - Worst Met year of the decade, so sure it's a loss. It was a loss of more than a game, though. Murph announces his retirement in the sixth inning. Me, like a schmuck, left after five in an effort to execute a Mets-Cyclones doubleheader. A comedy of errors ensued, so I never got to Brooklyn and missed the announcement and ensuing ovation. I learned about it on the train home and went into shock. No more Bob Murphy? I think I'm still in shock. - 07/23/2003

40) - The greatest game I'm certain nobody remembers. Bonds and Wright both explosive. Glavine comes back from cab ride. Looper pitches bravely. Howe even manages pretty well. Game is won on a fly ball lost by the other guys in the San Francisco sun. - 08/21/2004

41) - Pedro vs. Leiter, true beginning of the new era. New era didn't necessarily last as long as it should have, but everything felt different that sold out Saturday. Chris Woodward made a sensational catch in the outfield. Castro drives home Diaz in the ninth. As I'm leaving Shea amid a jubilant throng, a 7 train rolls west and everybody, without provocation, shouts and points at them. I don't know why we did it, but it felt great. - 04/16/2005

42) - By my calibration, the high point of the decade. Mets 35 games over .500, 16-1/2 in first place. Jose Jose!s his way around the bases for an inside-the-parker. Slides home, calls himself safe. Damn, I think, there's no way we're not winning the World Series. - 09/07/2006

43) - This was the five-run ninth. Shea could not have been deader for this pre-Subway Series day game. First eight innings had almost no regulars in action. Then the Cubs' pen sprung a leak, Willie -- in his finest hour -- juggled star pinch-hitters and Delgado snuck one to right field for the win. High-fiving strangers, screaming Let's Go Mets all the way to subway, the whole bit. And I was by myself. - 05/17/2007

44) - David's first and only walkoff homer, off Heath Bell. Went with my three best friends from high school, two of whom came to town special for the occasion of our final game at Shea together. In a season notoriously lacking happy endings, this was the real deal. - 08/07/2008

45) - In a year best appreciated for the pleasures one could glean from it personally, this Nelson Figueroa shutout tied a bow on a strange phenomenon. The Mets won a lot when I went and were otherwise pathetic. Home record with me in attendance, 26-10; without me, 15-30; on the road, 29-52. A lovely day to end an unlovely year in a memorable if ultimately unrewarding Met decade. - 10/04/2009

46) - Mets win Game 3 of the 2000 WS - Benitez gets the Save

47) - Eric Valent hits for the cycle in Montreal , and the UMDB reminds in the memory section about the guy in the stands that was riding Cameron and made the bet with him that if he(Cam) hit a HR he would leave his seat....Cameron obliged but the fan didn't....07/29/2004


48) - Game 4 of the 2000 NLCS - Mets are down 2 and rally big for the win
Perez 2B
Alfonzo 2B
Piazza 2B
Ventura 2B
Zeile groundout
Agbayani 2B and the Mets are up 4-2.

49) - Hampton 3-hit shutout and the Mets clinch their only pennant of the '00s - NLCS - Game 5 - 10/11/2000

50) - Tom Glavine "wasn't good" -A. Pujols but still managed 7 IP, 0 H, 2 BB to start the series off right. - NLCS Game 1 - 10/12/2006

51) - Cameron hits walk-off HR vs. Tigers; the night Piazza was honored for setting a new HR record for catchers - 06/18/2004

52) - Day after the Mets clinch; all-scrub lineup still defeats Marlins - 09/19/2006(good one)

53) - Mets 2, Rockies 1. Easley hits tying HR with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th; Endy's walk-off drag bunt wins it. - 04/24/2007

54) - Mets 2, MFYs 0. Final time that Clemens faces Mets; Reyes parks one and shows him up well. 7 1/3 shutout innings from Perez. - 06/15/2007

55) - Reyes dances off third and scores a 12th-inning game-tying run on an Armando Benitez balk. Moments later, the Mets win 5-4 on Carlos Delgado's second homerun of the game. - versus Giants - 06/29/2007

56) - The only time the Mets ever faced Dwight Gooden - 07/08/2000 - Grim the game memories have the wrong memories ....

57) - Opening day 2005 brought out every emotion in the book. Pedro coughs up three in the first, and his debut is looking for all the world like the recent opening day trainwrecks of Mike Hampton and Tom Glavine --- that the Mets had again gone for the wrong ace at the wrong time to start another joyless chilly opening day in the noughts. And then something crazy happens. Pedro recovers. He more than recovers, he becomes PEDRO MARTINEZ. He strikes out 12 hapless Reds in six innings with dancing changeups that has us (me, anyhow) thinking, "Wait a minute, we really got this guy? There's not going to be a recall or anything?"

Kaz Matsui opens his second of three consecutive seasons with a homer, and Pedro's fellow NewMet Carlos Beltran goes deep for three runs later, giving the Mets, old and new, a 6-4 lead in the ninth.

It's almost perfect when Looper blows it in the ninth, as it leaves Met fans to suddenly absorb the reality that scapegoating Benitez can't make it all go away. But even as the notion of scapegoating is shattered, the notion of redemptors is not, as that start by Pedro is so inspiring that the very thought of it keeps Met fans modestly warm through what should have been a soul-crushing 0-5 start for the season and for Willie's career - 04/04/2005

58) - August 23, 2009. The Mets spot the pennant winning Phillies six first inning runs in Pedro Martinez's first start against his ex-teammates, but battle back. Comeback highlights include an Angel Pagan inside the park Home Run gimme when Phils centerfielder Shane Victorino stops chasing the line drive, incorrectly assuming that the umps would call a ground rule double. Pagan's drive ends up wedged in the outfield wall padding but the umps rule that the ball is nevertheless playable. In the bottom of the ninth, down 9-7, the Mets first two batters reach base. Jeff Francouer steps up to the plate, representing the winning run with nobody out. You know the rest. - 08/23/2009

59) -the 2 HR game by Piazza as a member of the Padres 08/09/06

60) - Pedro takes a no-hitter into the seventh inning against the Astros....I remember someone here linked a thread from the SOSH , they had a thread going on it....I guess they missed Petey ...he went 9 innings , gave up 2 hits ,1 run , 1 walk and SO 12
06/07/2005


61) - Benny's pinch slam in the Tokyo Dome - 03/30/2000

62) - Pedro flirts with a no-hitter in LA.......Pedro coughs up two in the eighth as Williams can't catch up with the drive, and they get only one run in support of Martinez, despite four doubles...Penny went 9. - 08/14/2005

63) - Trachsel vs. the Rox, broken up opposing pitcher Chin-Hui Tsao in the sixth (one-hitter) - 08/18/2003

64) - Glavine vs. the Rox, broken up by Kit Pellow in the eighth (one-hitter) - 05/23/2004

65) - Seo, Weathers, Benitez pitch to the minimum 27 batters vs. the Marlins, 6/17/03

66) - Trachsel vs. Angels, notable for just-called-up rookie SS Jose Reyes' first HR, a grand slam -06/15/2003

67) - Final game at Shea, 9/28/08

68) - First game at Citi Field, 4/13/09

69)- Carlos Delgado, who was batting .235 at the time and sucking so badly that there was serious talk of cutting him and trading for Richie Sexson (?!?), sets a Met record with 9 RBIs to help beat the Yankees 15-6 at MFYSII. He then goes on to have possibly the best three month stretch of any position player in Met history, and had a real shot at being named MVP if the Mets had managed to win the division. - 06/27/2008

70) - Speaking of Matt Franco, the middle game of the first Subway Series sweep was a 10-9 thriller won a dribbler by Shane Spencer. 07/03/2004

71) - The next day in which Ty Wigginton dominated, was pretty great, too - 07/04/2004

72) - The first game after that losing streak is the game I remember the second-most from that year (the game I mention below is my favorite). This time our two new studs Pedro and Beltran won the game and the Mets held on. Pedro and Smoltz were dueling, Braves led 1-0 in the top of the eighth. The 0-5 start combined with some general pessimism had me thinking this was another 1 run game against the Braves that we couldn't win. Then Beltran hit a two run home run in the eighth with one out to get Smoltz out of there, and Floyd and Wright opened it up on the bullpen with home runs of their own in the inning. Got us going to win 7 in a row after the disappointing start from the new free agents and manager.

I still like to think that that game, and specifically that Beltran homer, got the franchise turned around. - 04/10/2005

73) - I also attended Piazza's last game as Met and am convinced he was blowing all those kisses directly at me. Not sure if anyone else brought that one up. - 11/02/2005

74) - A come-from-behind victory by the B-team Mets caps a three-game sweep in a 126-degree day-camp special afternoon, in which at least 50% of the attendees at the game are picnickers from the Mets Online Forum.

Bobby Valentine, appreciating the MOFo support, treats us all to three seperate leftfielders (one of whom, Mike Marshall, executes a pull-back) and ice cream.

The sweep is the first peep of hope that what seemed like a lost season may include a helluva run after all. - 08/08/2001

75 & 76) - On the downer side of memorable, 9/23/01 and 9/29/01, the two Brian Jordan games. Super sigh

77) - Pedro pitched eight good innings at MFYII , they get 1 in the first and we get 3 in the second and tack on three more through the game, they get 1 in the third and make it squeaky bum time in the ninth with two but Looper nails down the save for a 6-4 win , as remembered at the UMDB.....Beltran hit a blast and made a great game saving catch in the ninth. - 06/24/2005

78) - Opening day 2006...as remembered on the UMDB
There is nothing better than being out there for Opening Day. The Home Opener is nice, but it doesn't quite have the same feeling as the real Opening Day. Last season, for the Home Opener, it seemed like the game happened, but nobody was really prepared for it. Not this year. Everything was in place. The crowd was ready, the Bunting was in place, and the Mets took the field, and it seemed everything was right with the world.
Tom Glavine's first pitch of the season was a ball outside, prompting my friend to turn to me and say, "That's it, the season's a disaster! Break up the team!"
The first car fire of the season took place behind the bleachers in Left Field during the bottom of the 1st. Took about half an inning before firemen got to the car.
The new guys stood out, especially Nady, who ripped 4 hits, 2 of which led to runs, and LoDuca, who blooped a clutch 2-out hit in the 3rd to drive home the first run of the season.
And, of course, David "The Truth" Wright nailed his first HR of the year in the 6th, a Piazza-esque blast to Right, prompting chants of MVP! MVP! MVP!
Heilman was shaky, but a great relay throw from Floyd to Reyes to LoDuca cut down Soriano at home with the potential tying run in the 8th. Beltran also supplied a key assist from the OF as he cut down Vidro trying to stretch a single to a double in the 9th for the last out of the game, and Yes! A victory on Opening Day! - 04/03/2006

79) - Game 1 of the 2006 NLDS against LA - UMDB
Lee

A great victory for the Mets. With everyone reeling from finding out that El Duque wasn't pitching in the Division Series, and might join Pedro in not playing at all in the playoffs, there was a lot of anxiety brewing in New York that day. But we were all able to forget about all that for a few hours. John Maine pitched a solid 4.1 innings, and an incredible play at the plate saved two runs. For some reason that I still don't understand, the Dodgers third base coach decided to send Jeff Kent and J.D. Drew around third, even though the throw was coming in from Shawn Green to Jose Valentin. Valentin threw it down to Lo Duca, who tagged Kent, looked over at the umpire, suddenly realized Drew was coming, and he tagged him too. Possibly one of the craziest moments in Mets history. Delgado had a great game, driving in a few runs and hitting a bomb, and Floyd hit a bomb that we all knew right off the bat was gone. Nomar tied it up, but Delgado got the lead right back, and Wagner made it interesting, as he always does, but we came out with the victory and that's all that matters. 1 down, 10 to go. - 10/04/2006

80) -Steve Traschel's last game as a Met....Game 3 of the 06 NLCS in St.Louis...Trach was going through personnel stuff and it was showing in the playoffs...his previous start in LA he got pulled after 3....this game caused controversy for him because there was some question as to weather he pulled himself out...faking injury or something.....St.Louis wins 5-0 and take a 2-1 lead in the series. - 10/14/2006

81) - Bob Murphy Night meshes with Piazza's first appearance at first base...in relief of Mike Glavine. A sad and weird evening at Shea. - 09/25/2003

82) - Mets forge unlikely as hell comeback versus Phillies, from down 8-4 after blowing 4-0 lead. David wins it 10-9 on two-out homer in top of ninth at CBP. Nice antidote to unassisted triple play game, 8/23/09 (whoops, I just mentioned another one). - 09/12/2009

83) - Tom Glavine wins #300 on Sunday Night Baseball against the Cubs in Chicago - Tom goes 6.1 , gives up 6 hits with 2 runs 1 walk and 1 SO - Glavine had an RBI single to help himself. - Amit over the UMDB gets carried away with his memory.
Glavine Gets # 300!!! Glavine was awesome as usual and the offense and bullpen backed him up this time. As a Mets fan I am glad I was able to watch the game from beginning to end. No doubt Glavine is a first ballot hall of famer. BRING ON THE BRAVES
Heady times indeed - 08/05/2007

84) - Mike breaks catcher longball record, 5/5/04.

85) - Not a milestone, but plenty dramatic: Mike comes off DL after three months with a resounding blast, 8/13/03 (next day the lights went out in NYC). Same pitcher -- Jerome Williams of the Giants -- gave up both. - 08/13/2003

86) - And no discussion of the decade's homers could be complete without acknowledging Mo Vaughn's 505-foot detonation off the Budweiser sign, 6/26/02.

87) - Plus latter day horror show of note: Phillies 11 Mets 10, 8/30/07 after we had a 5-0 lead, trailed 8-5 and led 10-8. Yet we were still stunned one month later - 08/30/2007

88) - Another milestone: Lenny Harris breaks all-time career pinch-hit record, 10/6/01. I swear they treated it like it was Cal Ripken Night (which was going on some 200 miles to the south). - 10/06/2001

89) - Lastings high-fives the fans following first ML home run (such a contretemps). - 06/04/2006

90) -Pratt slam beats L.A. in ninth (longest ninth-inning game in N.L. history to that point, 4:09 - 05/30/2000

91) - Mets clinch playoff berth for second consecutive year for first time ever. - 09/27/2000

92) The Chip Ambres Game. Every decade needs one of these. - 07/22/2007

93) Joe McEwing takes ownership of Randy Johnson (Mike takes him very deep, too) - 5/21/00

94) -(N): Ryan Church second concussion, beginning of end - 5/20/08

95) - Water main break delays start, Pirates wallop Ollie 13-1, Billy rags on Ollie thereafter - 4/30/08

96) - 9/25/08: Shea's last walkoff win: Beltran gets one past the lethal Micah Hoffpauir in the rain, scoring Reyes. Featured big hits by Robinson Cancel and Ramon Martinez, plus Pedro's farewell.

97) - : Delgado goes 5-for-5, his fifth hit one Omar Infante falls down on, scoring Wright in the bottom on the ninth to beat the Braves 5-4. - 08/21/2008

98) - : Delgado goes the other way, to left, scoring Cancel and Wright (David captured inadvertently posing like Captain Morgan after crossing home plate, one knee in the air), beats Phillies 3-1 to take series in which the two rivals came in tied for first...first time since September 1985 Mets entered a three-game series tied for first to play the team with whom they were tied. - 7/24/08

99) - : Damion Easley's inside-the-park home run breaks tie, keys Brian Lawrence (!) to victory over the Brewers, 12-4. - 08/02/2007

100) - Mets win longest game of the decade, 17 innings, 5-3 over the Astros. Marked by Beltran's diving catch onto Tal's Hill in the sixteenth; he drives in winning run in the seventeenth. - 07/07/2007

101) - Shawn Green's singular moment of triumph, walkoff eleventh-inning blast off Russ Springer to beat the Cards 2-1. - 06/25/2007

102) - : What had been El Duque-Joe Blanton 0-0 duel heads to ninth. Ramon Castro, the slowest man alive, doubles. The only way to get him home without a homer, it appears, is to hit a ball where the worst fielder alive can't quite catch up with it...which is what David Wright does when he dunks a double out of the reach of Jack Cust. Mets beat A's 1-0. - 06/23/2007

103) -: Strike 'em out, throw 'em out double play ends long overdue sweep of Braves at Turner Field, 10-6. - 07/30/2006

104) -: Floyd grand slam...Beltran grand slam...Wright two-run homer...all in the same inning. Mets put up an 11-run sixth, a team record, beat Cubs at Wrigley 13-7. - 7/16/06

105) - : The moment of Alay Soler: Two-hit shutout that cements his place in the Met rotation (until he completely disappears by July, not only never winning another game, but never pitching in another win). - 6/10/06

106) - : Weird home run incidence: Julio Franco becomes oldest man to hit a home run AND Kaz Matsui hits a home run in his first plate appearance of the year for the third consecutive year in a row. Mets beats Pads at Petco, 7-2. - 4/20/06

107) - : The Mike Jacobs rookie rampage crests with a 4-for-5 night, two homers, four RBI. Mets establish residence in Arizona, sweeping four from the Diamondbacks, 18-1. - 8/24/05

108) - : At virtually the same moment Randy Johnson is finishing off his perfect game in Atlanta, Cliff Floyd caps ninth-inning rally with two-out single to beat Jason Isringhausen and Cards 5-4. Mets move to within one game of .500 and, for what it's worth, shake me out of my default "I don't really care if they win or lose" funk I'd been in ever since they'd fired Bobby V and let Fonzie walk. (I did care, just not as much as I had before Art Howe...I was so pissed for so long.) - 5/18/04

109) - : Mets somehow up 6-5 at Turner Field. Bottom of the ninth. Armando gets two outs. Then a walk. Then a balk. Then a walk. Two on. Julio Franco, then a bad guy, singles to center. Here comes Chipper Jones with the tying run and...HE'S OUT! Tsuyoshi Shinjo, in his otherwise hollow second go-round as a Met, throws him out at the plate to end the game. It wasn't much, but it was 2003. - 5/23/03

110) - : Brady Clark reaches on an Andres Galarraga error to tie Expos 3-3 in the bottom of the ninth. In the eleventh, Esix Snead launches a three-run blast to win it, 6-3. Brady Clark? Esix Snead? The 2002 Mets winning in dramatic fashion in September? Lost in the shuffle: a Met killer is born, as Endy Chavez goes 4-for-5 for Montreal. - 9/21/02

111: - These are supposed to be memorable, yet one might have to call this the forgotten gem of the 25-6 tear that catapulted the Mets back into contention in this star-crossed season. Mets trail Philies, one of their two competitors for first place, 7-5 entering the ninth at the Vet and score five runs on six hits and two Philadelphia errors. Mets pull to within a not altogether improbable 8-1/2 of first with 24 games to go. Two remain with the Phillies, six are left with the Braves. - 9/3/01

112 ) -: Mike Piazza beats Rheal Cormier in the bottom of the ninth with a home run, 6-5, which in itself was great, but was that much greater because... - 7/29/01

113) - : Robin Ventura beats the returning Turk Wendell in the bottom of the ninth with a home run, 4-3, 24 hours earlier. Two Mets walk off bombs against the Phillies in two days. - 7/28/01

114) - : Bobby Valentine outargues Marlin skipper Tony Perez and umpire Kerwin Danley into a favorable call at third (something about "abandoning the base") and it's eventually all for the good as Shinjo singles home the winning run in the eleventh, keeping the Mets' faint midsummer pulse ticking. - 7/18/01

115) - : Shinjo introduces himself with two orange wristbands and one home run. Mike reintroduces himself with a pair of dingers. The Mets raise their 2000 pennant and bop the Braves at the Home Opener, 9-4. - 4/9/01

116) - : Mets open league title defense at Turner Field. Instead of folding per usual at the Dread, Robin Ventura takes John Rocker deep in the eighth, Kerry Ligtenberg the same in the tenth. Two two-run Robin eggs laid on Atlanta win it 6-4. - 4/3/01

117) - : Slumping Mets down 1-0 (Jeff D'Amico outdueling Mike Hampton) with two out in the bottom of the ninth when Robin Ventura drives home Jay Payton with a double. With two out in bottom of the tenth, Payton ends it with three-run bomb off Juan Acevedo. Snaps the Mets out of their morass and points them toward October. - 9/13/00

118) - : Emergency starter Grant Roberts buries Mets early. They're down 4-0 after a half inning, 7-2 after an inning and a half. Yet a slow, steady comeback commences, climaxing in the bottom of the eighth with a tie-breaking single from Matt Franco. Mets win first game of makeup matinee doubleheader 9-8 (and go on to sweep the twinbill). - 7/27/00

119 ) - Friday night, - Leiter takes 4-2 lead to eighth. Kevin Young homers with nobody on. Al departs with two out. Turk gets out of it. Armando comes on in the ninth. Gets two quick outs. Then surrenders double to Jason Kendall, triple to Pat Meares. Brian Giles is intentionally walked; Young strikes out. Top of tenth: Ordonez thrown out trying to score go-ahead run. Bottom of tenth: Mike Benjamin gets aboard on infield single with two out off Franco. Steals second. Takes third on Piazza's throw. Stranded. Top of eleventh: Piazza, Ventura, Zeile single to load bases with one out (slow men). Payton, indicating bases-loaded problem that would plague him all year, hits into DP. Bottom of eleventh: Trouble keeps finding Franco. One out, then Kendall reaches on Ventura error. Kendall picked off for second out. Then Johnny hits Meares with pitch, but gets out of it on force of pitcher Jose Silva, allowed to hit, as Gene Lamont has burned through his bench. Mets break through in top of twelfth: Ordonez singles, Agbayni doubles, Mora singles them home. Bell lines to first, doubling off Mora. Fonzie walks...Mike homers. Mets take 8-4 lead...but Pirates make life difficult for Dennis Cook. A walk, a wild pitch, an infield single and a Mike Benjamin double make it 8-5. With two on and two out, Adrian Brown hits a frighteningly long fly to center that Payton tracks down to end it. - 04/01/2000

120) - Saturday afternoon - Heretofore unknown quantity Glendon Rusch is masterful in his first Met start: complete game, allowing only a walk and four hits. Alas, two of them are a leadoff single to Giles and a home run to Young to open the bottom of the seventh. Mets can't touch lefty Jimmy Anderson (en route to a 5-11, 5.25 ERA season). They collect just five singles and are blanked 2-0 in 1:57. - 04/15/2000

121) - Sunday afternoon,
Top of the first features a HBP of Rickey Henderson by Kris Benson, an Aramis Ramirez throwing error that keeps the inning going and a three-run homer by Robin Ventura. Great, right? Bobby Jones hits Jason Kendall and gives up a single to Pat Meares. Jones leaves with a calf strain. Pat Mahomes comes on and, in a blink, it's 4-3 Pirates. Jon Nunnally homers to put the Mets ahead 5-4 in the second. Zeile adds an RBI double in the third to make it 6-4, chasing Benson. Mahomes gives it all back in the bottom of the third with Kendall and Giles driving home runs and making it Pirates 7 Mets 6. Mets come back in fourth with RBIs from Bell, Alfonzo and Ventura off Chris Peters, to make it Mets 9 Pirates 7. Ventura sac fly and Payton double off Marc Wilins make it 11-7 in the top of the sixth. But here come the Bucs again in the bottom of the inning, with solo HRs from Giles and Wil Cordero off Turk. It's 11-9 Mets. Robin adds an insurance run off Scott Sauerbeck in the eighth, doubling home Piazza. Final is Mets 12 Bucs 9. Mets commit three errors. Mahomes goes four innings for the win. Ventura has 6 RBI. Fonzie and Mike score three runs apiece. Bell goes 3 for 6. Mike and Robin go 3 for 4. There are six unearned runs altogether between the two teams. This is a day after the Mets can't do anything offensively, which was a day after the Mets posted 20 hits (and three other errors).

And for not so good measure, the final out of the final game was a pop fly by the Pirate third baseman, a fellow often associated with the Mets of 2000, but not for this game: Luis Sojo.

An incredible series. Now completely forgotten. That's baseball for ya. - 04/16/2000

122) - Ken Griffey's first game at Shea Stadium. During the offseason it appeared his first game might be the Home Opener, but he vetoed a half-assed trade proposal between the Mets and M's and famously went to Cincinnati where it never really worked out for him. Hence, he was the newest villain in town, booed all night -- which was 1969 throwback night, per a promotional tie-in with the release of the movie "Frequency". Griffey came up as the potential go-ahead run in the ninth. Armando, in veritable retro pajamas, struck him out on 3-2 to preserve the Mets' ninth win in a row (a streak that had begun with the Sunday game in Pittsburgh mentioned upthread). Very cold night, but all was well. - 04/29/2000

123) - Ken Griffey's final game at Shea Stadium. Animus had been put aside long before. Griffey was one of the few veteran sluggers not suspect for substances. He is warmly received on a windy Shea day. Mets leave him three homers shy of 600 in a Mets' 8-3 win notable for the following: Oliver Perez steals a base; Mets use pink bats and some where pink spikes for Mother's Day; and the Reds bat out of order in the ninth, delaying the game's end interminably. - 05/11/2008

124) - File under curiosity or milestone: the Mets short-circuit the Phillies' Wild Card chances with a four-run top of the eighth, coming back to win 6-5. Which was fine. But here's what makes me remember this game.

Jae Seo (Kwanju, South Korea) started. He was followed to the mound by Danny Graves (Saigon, South Vietnam), Kaz Ishii (Chiba, Japan) and winning pitcher Shingo Takatsu (Hiroshima, Japan). Four consecutive Asian-born pitchers in a Major League Baseball game. Had to be a first. Maybe an only.

And none of them was the most celebrated of Asian-born 2005 Mets, Dae-Sung Koo, whose last appearance came in August. Then again, he was known more for his bat. - 09/26/2005......AWESOME

125) - Met fans furious about the 2001 offense get everything they hope for in an expensive offensive makeover going into 2002. Everybody disappoints, but fans are so grumblyfrustrated with big shots Roberto Alomar and Mo Vaughn that it's only just dawning on them by the end of the year that Jeromy Burnitz is pulling down $7 million (and due $12 milion the next season!) while putting up the OPS of a reserve infielder.

Just as the boos start swinging his way, he clubs a titanic late-season walkoff jobbie off of Juan Cruz of the Cubs. It's his last clout of the year, but somehow I get the (correct) impression that Burnitz (if only Burnitz) will turn it around the next season. - 09/17/2002

Edited December 13, 2009 by Guest

[G-Fafif]

File under curiosity or milestone: September 26, 2005, the Mets short-circuit the Phillies' Wild Card chances with a four-run top of the eighth, coming back to win 6-5. Which was fine. But here's what makes me remember this game.

Jae Seo (Kwanju, South Korea) started. He was followed to the mound by Danny Graves (Saigon, South Vietnam), Kaz Ishii (Chiba, Japan) and winning pitcher Shingo Takatsu (Hiroshima, Japan). Four consecutive Asian-born pitchers in a Major League Baseball game. Had to be a first. Maybe an only.

And none of them was the most celebrated of Asian-born 2005 Mets, Dae-Sung Koo, whose last appearance came in August. Then again, he was known more for his bat.

[Guest Edgy DC]

September 17, 2002: Met fans furious about the 2001 offense get everything they hope for in an expensive offensive makeover going into 2002. Everybody disappoints, but fans are so grumblyfrustrated with big shots Roberto Alomar and Mo Vaughn that it's only just dawning on them by the end of the year that Jeromy Burnitz is pulling down $7 million (and due $12 milion the next season!) while putting up the OPS of a reserve infielder.

Just as the boos start swinging his way, he clubs a titanic late-season walkoff jobbie off of Juan Cruz of the Cubs. It's his last clout of the year, but somehow I get the (correct) impression that Burnitz (if only Burnitz) will turn it around the next season.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYN/NYN200209170.shtml

I think I have a soft spot for games featuring late season walk-off homers against the Cubs in otherwise lost seasons.

The lost IGT: http://thecranepoolforum.yuku.com/topic/8619/t/IGT-9-17-02-Alois-vs-Sosa.html?page=1

[G-Fafif]

STRICTLY FOR THE HELL OF IT (no need to poll these)...

APRIL 15, 2005 The Marlins will be sending ace Josh Beckett to the hill, so let's just throw our sacrificial lamb/temporary starter Aaron Heilman out there to absorb his pounding. Instead, the Mets handle Beckett just fine and Heilman, an afterthought heading into the season, comes within one lousy infield hit of immortality (curse you, early and often, Luis Castillo). Aaron's line: 9 IP, 0 R, 1 H. For his trouble, he's eventually a reliever.

AUGUST 21, 2001 & MAY 11, 2002 Will Mike Hampton ever learn? His first two returns to Shea are an education in the short memory of fans (who boo the 2000 NLCS MVP relentlessly) and a math lesson, which is to say, subtract the Rockies' totals and the Mets' totals and you'll see we beat our onetime ace twice. The Mets jumped on Hampton in August '01, with four in the first and a Piazza solo job in the second (they never liked each other, it was said) as the Mets got their footing for the run they would make at the division. The encore featured a three-run homer by SUPER Joe McEwing, erasing a Rockies' 3-1 lead. Al Leiter was the beneficiary both times; one assumes he didn't care for not being considered the ace here in 2000. The May 11, 2002 game's other noteworthy returns: Todd Zeile, Rick White and, to little reaction, Benny Agbayani, each purged from the ultimately 2001 club (as if their removal really helped matters).

[Guest Edgy DC]

One of the great head-scratchers of post-game quotes was Heilman saying something to the effect of "I just have to figure out a way to come out and beat them again in five days."

Like most folks, I thought, "Hey, Aaron, you just made stooges of a major league ballcub. Make them adjust to you. Until then, don't change a thing."

I don't know if he heard and listened to my thoughts or not, but the next time out against those same Fishies, seven runs in four innings.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

APRIL 15, 2005

If I recall, a cold, damp, uncomfortable night to hit. Not to take away anything from Heilman, but a few of them happen every year.

[G-Fafif]

JUNE 2, 2005 Two episodes that would be highlight film staples had they made a highlight film of 2005 and had the 2005 Mets rated a highlight film in the latter-day sense of having to earn one. From the AP account:

1) In the first inning, Martinez was pitching to Luis Gonzalez when the Shea Stadium infield sprinkler system went off, shooting water everywhere. Some pitchers might have been annoyed. Martinez was amused. "I just got wet," he said, laughing it off. "Water is a blessing." On a chilly June night, Martinez reacted like a kid playing in a pool in the middle of summer. "I made it fun," he said. "It was fun."

2) New York RF Mike Cameron fell down chasing Jose Cruz Jr.'s fly ball in the sixth inning but made the catch while flat on the ground.

The Cameron catch was Amazin' as any play a Met not named Endy Chavez made in this decade, including the D-Wright barehanded grab in San Diego two months later. The sprinkler romp...well, that was just vintage Pedro while there was vintage Pedro.

And, oh yes, the Mets beat Arizona, 6-1.

[Guest Rockin' Doc]

I voted in each of the most memorable games polls. I only voted for those games that I truly remembered, so I generally voted for fewer than 10 games. I hope that isn't a problem, but I didn't want to vote for games based on the description provided if I have no actual recall of the game.

[G-Fafif]

APRIL 26 & 27, 2002 Back-to-back no-hit bids, by Shawn Estes on Friday night and Pedro Astacio on Saturday afternoon, each against the Brewers, each carried to the seventh. Estes makes Jay Payton's second-inning home run off Glendon Rusch hold up for a 1-0 complete game one-hitter. Astacio, while a car fire rages in the Shea lot that will someday be Citi Field, combines with Armando Benitez on a three-hitter for the 2-1 victory. Things look good for those crisp 2002 Mets.

[Guest Edgy DC]

I was searching for those. I was at the car-fire game with KC. Great atmosphere.

Yeah, I said it. A great atmosphere at Shea. In 2002.

[G-Fafif]

I was searching for those. I was at the car-fire game with KC. Great atmosphere.

Yeah, I said it. A great atmosphere at Shea. In 2002.

[Guest Edgy DC]

We're so close. We really should pump this up to 162 games --- turn it into a decade of memorability compressed into a single 120-win super-memorable season.