This actually happened in 1999, I just wanted to include the picture
In Part 1 of this series, we took a look at clutch moments from the year 2000. Today we look at the final seasons of manager Bobby Valentine’s career as Met manager.
After finishing 2000 with a regular season record of 94-68 and an appearance in the World Series, the Mets under Valentine failed to make the playoffs in 2001 or 2002. The team went 82-80 in 2001, then fell to last place with a record of 75-86 in 2002 and Valentine was dismissed after the season.
There were some clutch moments during this period despite their overall “un-clutchness.”
2001
With the Mets 8.5 games out of first place and 7 games under .500 at 64-71, they entered September needing to win a lot of games to make it to the post season for a third consecutive year. Making the post season in both 1999 and 2000 marked the first time in franchise history that the team had made the playoffs in 2 consecutive seasons so doing it 3 years in a row would better what was already the best stretch in the team’s history. Despite ultimately failing to do so, the 2001 Mets team did not go down without a fight.
September 1, 2001
Desperately trying to climb back into contention the Mets started September off with an extra-inning walk-off win. Kevin Appier started and allowed only 2 runs on 3 hits and 4 walks in 8 innings, striking out 7. But the offense could only manage 2 runs and Appier left with the game tied. With 1 out in the bottom of the 11th Jorge Toca singled off Florida Marlins reliever Juan Acevedo. 1 out later Jay Payton doubled in Toca to win the game for the Mets.
September 3-5, 2001
With the Mets in 3rd place they needed to win any game they could but they especially needed to win games against the 2 teams ahead of them in the NL East. One of those teams was the 2nd place Philadelphia Phillies. On September 3rd the Mets entered the top of the 9th at Veteran’s Stadium down 7-5. Facing Jose Mesa, Edgardo Alfonzo led off with a single. Mike Piazza followed with a double putting runners on 2nd & 3rd. Timo Perez came on to pinch-run for Piazza. Tsuyoshi Shinjo grounded out moving Perez to 3B and scoring Alfonzo to cut the Phillies’ lead to 7-6. Todd Zeile singled home Perez tying the score. Jay Payton then singled, forcing Mesa from the game. With Robin Ventura at the plate, Mesa’s replacement Jose Santiago made an error on a pick off throw to 2B allowing Zeile to move up to 3B, then on the same play shortstop Jimmy Rollins made an error attempting to throw out Zeile at 3B which allowed Zeile to score the go-ahead run while Payton moved up to 2B. Ventura then singled moving Payton to 3B. Desi Relaford hit a sacrifice fly making it 9-7 Mets, and pinch hitter Lenny Harris capped the scoring with an RBI single. Final Mets 10, Phils 7.
The next night Mets starter Steve Trachsel threw 7 shutout innings. He tired in the 8th, allowing 3 runs, but the Mets had already scored 5 and held on to win 5-3.
The following night the Mets completed the sweep of the 3-game series by knocking Phillies’ starter Dave Coggin out of the game in the 1st inning. Coggin walked Matt Lawton, Edgardo Alfonzo and Mike Piazza to load the bases with no one out. Tsuyoshi Shinjo singled to drive in Lawton. Robin Ventura singled to drive in Alfonzo. Jay Payton then singled to drive in Piazza and Shinjo, and drive Coggin from the game before he could retire a single batter. The Mets led 4-0, then held on for the 7-4 victory and sweep.
September 8, 2001
The Mets entered the top of the 9th inning at the Florida Marlins trailing 7-6. Antonio Alfonseca came on to close the game for the Marlins and gave up a lead off single to Todd Zeile. Jorge Toca pinch-ran for Zeile and moved up to 2B on a Jay Payton single. After a Rey Ordonez sacrifice moved both runners up, pinch-hitter Mark Johnson was intentionally walked loading the bases. Matt Lawton doubled scoring Toca for the tie and Zeile for the lead. Desi Relaford then singled home Johnson giving the Mets a 9-7 lead. Armando Benitez recorded a 1-2-3 inning getting the last two batters to strikeout swinging for the Mets 6th win in a row. They were now 1 game under .500 at 71-72 but still 7 games out of 1st place.
September 17-19, 2001
Tied at 1-1 entering the top of the 9th the night of the 17th at the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Mets scored 3 runs off Mike Fetters for the win. Tsuyoshi Shinjo was hit by a pitch leading off. Shinjo stole 2B. Two outs later, Jay Payton walked. Then Rey Ordonez singled to drive in Shinjo with the go-ahead run. Pinch-hitter Mark Johnson doubled home Payton and Shinjo for the eventual winning score of 4-1.
The next night the Mets entered the top of the 8th down 4-3. With one out Edgardo Alfonzo singled off Scott Sauerbeck knocking him from the game. Reliever Omar Olivares came on and promptly gave up a 2-run homer to Mike Piazza. One out later Todd Zeile homered giving the Mets a 6-4 lead. The Pirates (Brian Giles) and the Mets (Matt Lawton) traded solo home runs in the bottom of the 8th and top of the 9th respectively, then Armando Benitez threw a 1-2-3 9th for the save.
The Mets blew out the Pirates 9-2 the following afternoon, highlighted by 6 2/3 innings of shutout relief from Dicky Gonzalez, to sweep the series. The Mets had now won 9 of their last 10 games, had a record of 74-73, and were 5 behind the 1st place Atlanta Braves who were next on the schedule.
September 21-23, 2001
Baseball had taken a hiatus following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Since the resumption of game action, both New York teams had been on the road. September 21st marked the return of baseball to the city of New York. With 1 out in the bottom of the 8th the Mets were losing 2-1 and relief pitcher Steve Karsay was on the mound. Edgardo Alfonzo walked. Then arguably the most emotionally charged clutch moment in Met history occurred. Mike Piazza hit a 2-run homer giving the Mets a 3-2 lead. Armando Benitez held on for the save. The Mets had not only beaten the 1st place team in their division, cutting the Braves’ lead to 4.5 games, but they had won the 1st game in NYC since 9/11.
The next night Steve Trachsel threw 7 innings of 1 run, 5 hit ball and the Mets won 7-3, moving to 3.5 games out of 1st place.
The following afternoon the Mets lost and the Braves regained their 4.5 game lead. The Mets got as close as 3 games out but were officially eliminated October 2 following a 10-1 loss to the Pirates.
2002
Valentine’s last year at the helm was fairly devoid of clutch moments. The team was officially eliminated from post season contention on September 13. The Mets lost that night 11-8 to the Montreal Expos, then later that night when the San Francisco Giants beat the San Diego Padres all avenues to the playoffs for the Mets were closed. That 9/13 loss left the Mets record at 70-77 and they were 23 games out of 1st place. They wound up 75-86, 26.5 games out in last place. Valentine was replaced by Art Howe.
(Thanks to Baseball Reference for providing the box scores and game logs that make this series possible.)
22 comments
mrose
12/28/2009-9:21am at 9:21 am (UTC -4)
great job again Grave
njstuckintx
12/28/2009-9:26am at 9:26 am (UTC -4)
I know that hindsight is, as they say, 20/20, but Heaven have mercy to those who thought we were upgrading with Art over Bobby. I was in that boat. What a Titanic that turned out to be.
prismo
12/28/2009-9:30am at 9:30 am (UTC -4)
I love this series Grave, keep up the good work! That Piazza HR still gets to me every time I see it.
dirtysanchez
12/28/2009-10:49am at 10:49 am (UTC -4)
yea…i remember watching that game. Definitely one of my fav memories
darknova306
12/28/2009-11:17am at 11:17 am (UTC -4)
Man, just reading about that HR almost brings a tear to my eye. That game was something else.
Just goes to show some of the positive effects sports can have.
metsfan4decades
12/28/2009-12:03pm at 12:03 pm (UTC -4)
I was thinking the same thing. I’ll never forget that first game played at Shea after 911. From the pre game ceremonies to the dramatic Piazza HR. It remains one of my favorite memories of a game played at Shea.
Great series, Grave. Thanks for bringing it to us in these dark days of winter and the slow Hot Stove…
saltygary
12/28/2009-9:45am at 9:45 am (UTC -4)
Huge Bobby V. fan but the public outcry was so bad, and the Phillips/Valentine feud was so ridiculous it made since to clean house. To this day I am still confused on the Art Howe signing. I guess the team wanted to calm things down a little with having such a high profile and outspoken Valentine but Howe was huffing the ether. Any NY team needs a coach/manager with a little charisma or at least be able to pull off an interview with a little energy. The guy was asleep the whole time and the team was happy to have their nap time.
And these are the same qualities that I see with Manuel that drive me nuts. He has charisma but way too laid back in his actions. Here’s hoping that 2010 brings back Bobby V!
saltygary
12/28/2009-1:40pm at 1:40 pm (UTC -4)
So Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe made a statement to stoke some fires: “Seems like David Wright is no longer a great fit for the Mets (because of Citi Field), but he would be for the Red Sox (because of Fenway)”
A couple weeks ago (just for conversation) I threw out if Wright could be traded. After 4 weeks “Kingman 26″ finally removed the hit on my life, so maybe I could throw it out there again just for kicks. And keeping in with the Boston created angle, is there any possible way the Mets could trade Wright to Boston Without someone trying to fire bomb the stadium? For me he would be the last person I want traded (even though Reyes is my favorite player) but if the team is able to secure pieces that upgrade our roster and provide more payroll flexibility, I would be down. I also feel I am an outlier on this and have a hard time believing this could be accomplished.
So just to be flamed I’ll throw something out there (plus its a slow day on the boards).
I would have no problem with Wright for Lester, Bucholz
Or even Wright, Pelfrey for Lester Bucholz and Hermida.
Wright is gonna make a ton of money soon especially if he plays the way we think he will next year. Having the opportunity to add 2 young ML ready kids to the rotation one of which has WS experience is a no brainier to me. Quality 3rd is easier to add then cheap young quality pitching. Boston has a ton of Pitching depth with Beckett, Dice, Wake, Lackey so they could move the arms.
njstuckintx
12/28/2009-1:51pm at 1:51 pm (UTC -4)
It just feels so wrong to even entertain that notion. Maybe it’s the nostalgia of rooting for a homegrown talent with the hopes that he’ll always be in the lineup, a la Cal Ripken the 2nd.
I can’t decide if Wright for Lester & Bucholz is enough or too much. Too much, based on salaries or too little in return of talent. I’m sure both sides would feel they were getting the short end of the stick.
Wright, Ollie for Lester, Bucholz & Lowell?
(still feels dirty to talk about this subject, and I’m not sure why. We’ll trade away reyes in an armchair GM’s moment!)
saltygary
12/28/2009-2:14pm at 2:14 pm (UTC -4)
I get it. During the celebration of the 2000 NLCS win they showed a shot of Franco on the teams shoulders going gang busters. I immediately turned to mush and called a good friend of mine and he lost it at the same moment. Franco was just such a big part of the team and with him growing up locally I had extra love for him because I knew that he got what it meant to be a Mets fan. For me, Wright is on the same respect level.
saltygary
12/28/2009-2:17pm at 2:17 pm (UTC -4)
And I wouldn’t want to do the Ollie Lowell part because Lowell may never play again. There is at least a lot of positive news about Ollie putting in the effort in the offseason, so maybe the nutty guy can become productive.
njstuckintx
12/28/2009-2:33pm at 2:33 pm (UTC -4)
Yeah, I hear you on Lowell, I was just putting a quick fix out there that would leave us with payroll flexibility for next years FA crop. Having Lowell as a stop gap for the last year of his contract would free up 12 Million next year.
Either way, you could do that trade for Wright to Lester and Bucholz, Throw 6 years 100 mil at Holliday and sign Beltre for 3rd or a 1 year stopgap. Even Tejada would work on a 1 year deal, though I am not an advocate for him in the least. That’d be competitive for the Short and Long term, assuming you make 3B a priority the following offseason, as well as 2B and another starter possibly.
Santana, Lester, Bucholz, Pelf, Ollie/Maine, Neise would be wonderful, I have to say.
You could even switch Murph back to 3B if you want to go crazy and sign LaRoche or something.
All the above comes with the stipulation that I do not want to trade Wright nor do I think Omar would have the Cajones to do it.
mrose
12/28/2009-2:38pm at 2:38 pm (UTC -4)
i can barely come to grips with trading Wright in fantasy baseball let alone the real thing
saltygary
12/28/2009-2:53pm at 2:53 pm (UTC -4)
You can’t look at the names in Fantasy BB. These guys need to be nothing more than statistical meat-bags.
njstuckintx
12/28/2009-2:57pm at 2:57 pm (UTC -4)
I agree. Knowing that in this day and age, where players can bolt for the first side of greener ($$$) pastures they’ll split, it would be nice to have that one hometown guy that doesn’t leave. Would save on having to get new jerseys for the fans.
As to Salty’s comment on the meatbags, you’re right. To put the best team out there, that is probably how you have to look at it. I don’t want to look at it that way, but your right.
trs86
12/28/2009-4:36pm at 4:36 pm (UTC -4)
I have no desire to trade the face of the franchise, down year or not. However, if it happen it would have to be for established younger players like Lester,. Problem with getting a guy like Bucholz is that you THINK he will be great. I am not trading Wright for a THINK.
Better option for the Sox would be Reyes or Beltran.
trs86
12/28/2009-4:54pm at 4:54 pm (UTC -4)
Interesting for all the flack this off-season is getting the Mets still have 2 of the “best” signings of the off-season according to MLBTR. Escobar and Igarashi appear to be great moves and total they are about half of what we paid Putz last season.
trs86
12/28/2009-4:54pm at 4:54 pm (UTC -4)
I also still expect the Mets to throw a little money towards Delgado.
metsfan4decades
12/28/2009-8:45pm at 8:45 pm (UTC -4)
Trade David Wright? Uh, no….
So what’s with this Francesa said he will give a ‘major, major update on the Mets,’ during tomorrow’s show? (See MC’s latest post.)
I’ve looked all over and can’t find even one tweet about something on the horizon. I can’t believe MF would have the exclusive on anything to do with the Mets unless it was the relationship between WFAN and the Mets…..
GravediggerHebner
12/29/2009-12:23am at 12:23 am (UTC -4)
I agree. It’s certainly not a player transaction, there’s no way that secret could be kept.
Gotta be something like the Mets are re-upping with WFAN, or cutting ties with them. Or maybe David Wright coming in for an extended interview like the one with Jose Reyes. As you said, something to do with their relationship.
Mr North Jersey
12/28/2009-10:50pm at 10:50 pm (UTC -4)
Is the Mets museum construction done yet? Any idea if Francesa will be cutting the ribbon at the opening?
oleosmirf
12/29/2009-1:07am at 1:07 am (UTC -4)
im sorry but Wright is going nowhere. A young, good looking, marketable white kid with some serious skills who actually grew up a Mets fan.
thats the type of guy you build your team around not trade away b/c your incompetent GM and ownership cant get him a supporting cast…