SABR Digital Library: Met-rospectives: A Collection of the Greatest Games in New York Mets History

Met-rospectives: A Collection of the Greatest Games in New York Mets History
Edited by Brian Wright and Bill Nowlin

Associate Editors: Len Levin and Carl Riechers

Publication Date: September 13, 2018
ISBN (paperback): 978-1-943816-87-3, $14.95

ISBN (e-book): 978-1-943816-86-6, $9.99

8.5″ x 11″, 139 pages

The Mets are a team known for warming hearts one day and breaking them the next. Nothing has ever come easy for the National League’s third franchise in New York. Even the miraculous championship year of 1969 didn’t occur without seven preceding years of futility. And in the dominant 1986 regular season, the road to an expected World Series title didn’t happen without gut-wrenching, precipice-of-defeat dramatics in the playoffs.

There have been fair measures of wondrous and woeful in the franchise’s history, but this book’s 57 game summaries — coinciding with the number of Mets years through 2018 — are strictly for the eternal optimist. All, with the exception of one valiant defeat, end in triumph for the orange and blue. The selection process for these games involved various criteria including the time in the season, the dramatic level, and the impact in shaping franchise history.

The games are recounted here thanks to the combined efforts of 32 SABR members. They run the gamut of the team’s lifespan, beginning with its very first victory in April 1962 at Forbes Field, running through Tom Seaver’s “Imperfect Game” in July ’69 and the unforgettable Game Sixes in October ’86, the “Grand Slam Single” in the 1999 NLCS, then concluding with extra-inning heroics in September 2016 at Citi Field that helped ensure a wild-card berth.

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Below: Find game stories from Met-rospectives: A Collection of the Greatest Games in New York Mets History

Game Recaps

April 22, 1970: Mets’ Tom Seaver strikes out 19 Padres batters

April 23, 1962: Jay Hook leads Mets to franchise’s first victory

April 5, 1983: Tom Seaver makes his long-awaited return to Mets

April 9, 1985: Gary Carter homers in debut for Mets

August 11, 1988: Kevin McReynolds’ grand slam in ninth helps Mets beat Cubs

August 22, 2006: Beltran’s walk-off eclipses Delgado’s 400th career homer

July 10, 1999: Matt Franco singles off Mariano Rivera for Mets’ walk-off win

July 22, 1986: Mets win extra-inning slugfest with brawl and home run

July 25, 1990: Mets survive exciting 6-run ninth-inning rally by Phillies

July 28, 1993: Anthony Young’s 27-game losing streak ends with Mets’ walk-off win

July 31, 2015: For Mets’ Wilmer Flores, there’s (life after) crying in baseball — and a walk-off homer

July 4, 1985: Fireworks and rain: Mets, Braves engage in a holiday epic

July 9, 1969: Tom Seaver’s near-perfect game

June 1, 2012: Johan Santana delivers Mets’ first no-hitter

June 14, 1980: The Steve Henderson Game

June 16, 1997: Mets win their first regular-season game against Yankees

June 26, 1963: Tim Harkness hits game-winning grand slam for Mets

June 30, 2000: Mets score 10 runs in 8th inning to beat Braves

May 14, 1972: Willie Mays homers in New York Mets debut

May 17, 2007: Delgado’s walk-off lifts Mets in a fatigued comeback

May 19, 2006: David Wright’s walk-off hit powers Mets to comeback win

May 31, 1964: Baseball’s longest doubleheader

October 1, 1985: Strawberry’s 11th-inning wallop keeps Mets’ hopes alive

October 10, 1973: ‘Ya Gotta Believe!’ Mets win National League pennant

October 11, 1986: Lenny Dykstra’s homer wins Game 3 for Mets

October 14, 1973: Willie Mays helps Mets prevail over A’s in 12 innings in Game Two

October 14, 1986: Gary Carter’s 12th-inning single wins Game 5 of NLCS

October 15, 1969: Seaver’s pitching, Swoboda’s defense help Mets win Game 4

October 15, 1986: Mets win NLCS thriller in 16 innings

October 15, 2015: Mets edge Dodgers to advance to NLCS

October 16, 1969: Miracle Mets become first expansion team to win a World Series

October 16, 2000: Mets punch their ticket to a Subway Series

October 17, 1999: Robin Ventura’s ‘grand slam single’ sends Mets to win in Game 5

October 18, 1973: Koosman, McGraw combine for shutout as Mets take 3-2 lead in World Series

October 19, 1999: Braves win NL pennant as Mets’ Rogers walks in winning run

October 21, 2015: Daniel Murphy’s homer in sixth straight game sends Mets back to World Series

October 24, 2000: Mets end Yankees’ 14-game World Series winning streak in Game 3

October 25, 1986: ‘A little roller up along first’: Mets win wild Game Six on Buckner error

October 27, 1986: Mets rally late to beat Red Sox in Game Seven

October 3, 1999: Win or go home: Mets stay alive for NL wild card

October 4, 1988: Mets rally for three in ninth, steal Game 1 of NLCS

October 5, 1999: Back from the brink, resourceful Mets win Game 1 of NLDS

October 5, 2000: John Franco saves the day, Mets even Division Series vs. Giants

October 7, 2000: Benny Agbayani’s blast ends playoff drama in 13th inning

October 8, 1988: Mets beat Dodgers, weather in Game 3 to regain control of NLCS

October 8, 2000: Bobby Jones pitches ‘game of his life’ to send Mets to NLCS

October 9, 1999: Journeyman Todd Pratt slams Mets into NLCS

September 12, 1985: Keith Hernandez’s walk-off single helps Mets edge Cardinals

September 13, 1997: Mets not quite dead and buried after Gilkey’s walk-off home run

September 15, 1969: Cardinals’ Steve Carlton sets record with 19 strikeouts, but Mets, Swoboda prove to be Achilles’ heel

September 16, 1998: Mets keep pace with Cubs as Piazza, Hundley homer

September 2, 1972: Mets’ Ken Boswell has ‘the kind of a night you dream about’

September 20, 1973: Mets get ‘all the good bounces’ and move closer to first place

September 21, 2001: Piazza homer leads Mets in New York City’s first baseball game after 9/11

September 22, 2016: Asdrubal Cabera’s extra-inning walk-off lifts Mets to comeback win

September 7, 1984: Dwight Gooden one-hits the Cubs

September 8, 2015: Nieuwenhuis home run caps Mets’ comeback win


Contributors include: Thomas J. Brown Jr., Frederick C. “Rick” Bush, Alan Cohen, Rory Costello, Tom Cuggino, Richard A. Cuicchi, Brian M. Frank, Irv Goldfarb, Paul Hofmann, Michael Huber, Tara Krieger, Kevin Larkin, Seth Moland-Kovash, Alan Raylesberg, David Rickard, Joel Rippel, Joe Schuster, Matthew Silverman, Bruce Slutsky, Mark S. Sternman, Tony Valley, Cosme Vivanco, Joseph Wancho, Bob Webster, Steven C. Weiner, Brian Wright, Mike Wuest, and Jack Zerby.

 

 

 

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