One Mo-MET In Time: Johan Santana

Sports fans have wonderful memories, although not all of those memories are pleasant.  In fact, certain names or phrases can act as trigger words to followers of sports teams, eliciting groans and bringing back painful memories.

Mention the name "Bucky F. Dent" to any Red Sox fan and they know exactly which game you're referring to and what Dent's middle initial stands for.  Similarly, fans of the Seattle Seahawks and Tennessee Titans cringe when the words "one more yard" are uttered.

For Mets fans, the magic words are "seven games up with 17 games to play".  That was the lead the Mets had over the Philadelphia Phillies in the division going into the final 17 games of the 2007 season.  But none of the team's pitchers stepped up during the season's final two and a half weeks.  A team like the 73-89 Washington Nationals, who finished dead last in the league in home runs and runs scored, found a way to blast ten homers and cross the plate 53 times in five late-season victories over New York.  And of course, who could forget the last-place Florida Marlins hammering a seven-run nail into the Mets' coffin during the first inning of the season's final game?

Despite having two future Hall of Famers on the staff in Pedro Martinez and Tom Glavine, the Mets didn't have a stopper in the starting rotation during the final weeks of the 2007 campaign.  John Maine had the game of his life in the season's penultimate game, but allowed 11 runs to the Nationals and Marlins in the two starts prior to his Game No. 161 effort.  Oliver Perez, who matched Maine with a team-leading 15 wins in 2007, couldn't get out of the fourth inning in his final start and was outpitched by Marlins starter Byung-Hyun Kim.  It would be the final victory in the majors for Kim, who posted an 8.21 ERA in nine late-season appearances for the Marlins, just six years after he blew back-to-back save opportunities as a reliever for the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 2001 World Series.

Having lost the division to the Phillies in 2007, the Mets knew they had to upgrade their pitching, especially once they allowed Glavine to return to his former team in Atlanta.  The free agent class was bereft of ace pitchers, so the Mets were going to have to make a trade if they wanted a true No. 1 starter.  They found their man just weeks before pitchers and catchers were due to report.  And even though he never led the team to the postseason, he still produced one of the most magical moments in the team's history.

Johan Santana put his fist through 50 seasons of no-hit futility.  (Howard Simmons/NY Daily News)

Johan Alexander Santana made his major league debut with the Minnesota Twins in 2000, but didn't become a full-time starting pitcher until midway through the 2003 season.  Santana earned his first win as a regular in the Twins rotation on August 3, then wouldn't stop winning.  Over the season's final two months, Santana went 8-0 with a 2.51 ERA, striking out 70 batters in 68 innings.

Santana cemented himself as one the game's best pitchers from 2004 to 2007, when he led the majors in wins (70), strikeouts (983) and WHIP (0.99), while placing second to Roger Clemens in ERA (2.89 to Clemens's 2.68).  But Santana was due to become a free agent following the 2008 campaign and was pricing himself out of Minnesota's range with each solid performance.  Knowing they would have a tough time re-signing him without breaking all the piggy banks in the state, the Twins decided to deal Santana prior to the 2008 campaign.

Originally, it was thought that the Yankees and Red Sox would be the most likely suitors for Santana's services.  But Mets general manager Omar Minaya swooped in and pried the two-time Cy Young Award winner away from the Twins with a package that centered around top prospect and future All-Star Carlos Gomez.  The Mets also sent three pitchers - Philip Humber, Deolis Guerra and Kevin Mulvey - to Minnesota, then signed Santana to a six-year, $137.5 million contract extension to complete the deal.

Santana had a brilliant first season in New York, going 16-7 with a league-leading 2.53 ERA and 1.148 WHIP.  Santana also struck out 206 batters, breaking Jon Matlack's 35-year-old team record for strikeouts by a left-handed pitcher.  Santana could have won as many as 23 games, but the bullpen coughed up the lead in seven of his 11 no-decisions.  Santana didn't allow the bullpen to blow his final start of the season, as he pitched a complete game, three-hit shutout against the Marlins, throwing 117 pitches just four days after tossing 125 pitches against the Chicago Cubs.

Alas, Santana's performance didn't help the Mets advance to the postseason in 2008, but it was enough to help him finish third in the National League Cy Young Award vote, making him just the seventh Mets pitcher to finish in the top three, joining Tom Seaver (1969, 1971, 1973, 1975), Jerry Koosman (1976), Jesse Orosco (1983), Dwight Gooden (1984, 1985), David Cone (1988) and Frank Viola (1990).

Following Santana's Herculean effort in which he threw 242 pitches over a five-day span, it was revealed that he had been pitching with a torn meniscus in his left knee over the season's final month.  Just four days after his final start, Santana underwent arthroscopic surgery to repair his balky knee.  It was his first time under the knife as a Met.  It would not be his last.

From 2009 to 2011, Santana made just 54 starts for the Mets, with only one of those starts coming in the month of September.  When he was healthy, Santana was still quite efficient, as evidenced by his
3.05 ERA and 1.19 WHIP in those 54 starts.  But Santana just couldn't stay on the field after his inaugural campaign in New York.

Santana's 2009 season ended in August because of bone chips of his left shoulder.  A year later, his 2010 campaign was abbreviated due to a torn anterior capsule in his throwing shoulder.  The same injury caused Santana to miss the entire 2011 season, after several rehab attempts caused Santana to feel shoulder fatigue.

Entering the 2012 campaign, the Mets were a shadow of the team that contended for a division title in Santana's first year with the club.  New York won 70, 79 and 77 games during its first three seasons at Citi Field and never posed a serious threat to crashing the postseason party.  But after not pitching in a major league game in nearly 18 months, Santana was ready to help the Mets win in 2012.  Not much was expected from Santana or the Mets entering the campaign.  Those expectations changed dramatically during the season's first two months.

Behind five shutout innings from the returning Santana, the Mets claimed a 1-0 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Opening Day.  New York won its next three games as well, giving the team its fourth 4-0 start in franchise history.  The Mets continued to shock the skeptics over the first third of the season, never falling more than four games out of first place in the competitive National League East.  The team had exceeded expectations due to the emergence of two pitchers - R.A. Dickey and Johan Santana.

Johan Santana and R.A. Dickey were Amazin' during the first half of 2012. (William Perlman/The Star-Ledger)

In 1948, the term "Spahn and Sain and pray for rain" was coined after Boston Post sports editor Gerald V. Hern wrote a short poem about Warren Spahn and Johnny Sain - the two best pitchers in the Boston Braves rotation.  Sixty-four years later, the Mets were asking for "Dickey and Santana and rain for mañana" as New York's co-aces combined to go 9-3 with a 2.91 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and 121 strikeouts in 123⅔ innings over the season's first two months.  After Dickey and Santana participated in back-to-back shutouts of the San Diego Padres in their final starts of May, the Mets entered June within striking distance of first place.  They would earn a share of first during the month's first series, a four-game set with the St. Louis Cardinals.  But what happened in the first game overshadowed everything else that followed in the series.

The Mets entered the month of June reeling from a loss to the Phillies - a game in which five relievers combined to allow eight runs in the final two and a third innings.  New York desperately needed starting pitcher Johan Santana to stop the bleeding, hoping he could give the team a lengthy effort to give the bullpen a short break, similar to the complete game he gave them in his previous start.

Santana was due to face the defending World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals and their ace, Adam Wainwright.  It was Wainwright who ended the Mets' dreams of playing for a title in 2006, when the then-reliever struck out Carlos Beltran to end the NLCS - the same Carlos Beltran who was now a member of the Cardinals, and who was getting ready to face the Mets for the first time since he was traded to San Francisco the previous summer.  Those were just some of the intriguing storylines going into the game, but a new story began to write itself as the game progressed.

Through three innings, neither pitcher had given up a hit, although Santana had walked two batters and Wainwright had allowed one free pass.  Santana walked his third batter of the game to lead off the fourth inning, but retired the next three batters in order.  The game's first hit did not occur until the bottom of the fourth, when Kirk Nieuwehuis led off the inning with a single.  A double by David Wright moved Nieuwenhuis to third base.  Both runners eventually came around to score, as Lucas Duda drove in Nieuwenhuis with a sacrifice fly and Daniel Murphy plated Wright with a triple.

Santana now had a two-run cushion to work with as he stepped on the hill in the fifth, but once again, he began with the inning with a walk.  Although he retired the next three batters to face him, he needed 13 pitches to record the three outs, moving his pitch count to 79 through five innings.  Santana had yet to allow a hit, but his high pitch count was beginning to make manager Terry Collins antsy in the dugout.  In his first ten starts of the season, Santana had averaged just 92 pitches per start, never throwing more than 108 in any of them.  He was an inning away from surpassing his average and two frames away from potentially having his highest pitch count of the year.  The Mets went down quietly in their half of the fifth inning, sending Santana back to the mound quickly for the sixth.  The first batter he would face was Carlos Beltran.  And that's when third base umpire Adrian Johnson became a household name in Flushing.

After taking a first-pitch ball from Santana, Beltran smoked the southpaw's second pitch down the left field line, which was ruled foul by Johnson.  Replays later showed that the ball had kicked up white dust when it hit the ground, meaning it was a fair ball that had just grazed the foul line.  But two years before the advent of instant replay, the call was not changed, and Santana's no-hitter would live to see another pitch.  That pitch would be his 82nd of the night, and it would be another hard-hit ground ball by Beltran, although this time it settled into the glove of David Wright, who threw over to Duda on first to easily retire Beltran.

Adrian Johnson agreed with David Wright's foul call, keeping Johan Santana's no-hitter intact. (MLB.com screen shot)

Given a break by Johnson's missed call, Santana proceeded to retire the next two batters he faced, although his pitch count through six innings was up to 93.  The Mets were still clinging to a two-run lead as they came to bat in the bottom of the sixth.  It took just one swing of Lucas Duda's bat to make that a five-run cushion.

Following a leadoff single by Nieuwenhuis and a walk to David Wright, Duda launched a long three-run homer to right field, giving the Mets a comfortable 5-0 lead.  The blast also gave Duda four RBI on the night, matching his career high.

Santana returned to the hill in the seventh with his no-hitter intact and a commanding lead on the Cardinals.  He retired David Freese on a pop-up to lead off the inning, then went to a 3-1 count on catcher Yadier Molina.  It had been six years since Molina had broken the hearts of Mets fans by hitting a two-run homer in the the ninth inning of Game Seven in the 2006 NLCS.  And when he lined Santana's 102nd pitch to deep left field, the initial feeling was that he was about to break their hearts again.  But left fielder and Queens native Mike Baxter would not allow that wound to be re-opened, as he ran back to the warning track with surgical precision to make an over-the-shoulder catch before barreling into the wall at full speed.  The no-hitter was saved, but Baxter's shoulder was not, as he had to be placed on the disabled list with injuries to his collarbone and rib cage.  Baxter's all-out effort kept him out of action for nearly two months.

After Baxter was helped off the field, exiting to a rousing ovation, Santana continued to keep the Cardinals off the "H" column on the scoreboard, retiring Matt Adams on a groundout to end the seventh inning.  Santana had now matched his season high by throwing 108 pitches.  Under any other set of circumstances, Collins would have removed his ace from the game, especially with a five-run lead.  But Collins knew that Santana was chasing history, and he was not going to get in Santana's way, no matter how tempted he was to remove his injury-prone pitcher.  Even with the Mets adding three more runs in their half of the seventh on a bases loaded walk to Wright and a two-run single by Murphy, knocking out Cardinals starting pitcher Wainwright in the process, Santana was going out to the mound to start the eighth inning.

Santana got a break when Tyler Greene swung at the first pitch he saw, flying out to left fielder Nieuwenhuis, who had moved over from center field after the injury to Baxter.  Nieuwenhuis had to multitask on the play, as he had to make the catch and avoid shortstop Omar Quintanilla, who was running back into shallow left field to try to make the play himself.  Pinch-hitter Shane Robinson then looked at a called third strike before Rafael Furcal drew a five-pitch walk from Santana.  Once again, Carlos Beltran walked up to the plate.

In his previous at-bat, Beltran came within Adrian Johnson's questionable call of breaking up Santana's no-no.  This time, he was trying to prevent Santana from becoming the first Mets pitcher since Tom Seaver in 1975 to take a no-hitter into the ninth inning.  Beltran couldn't end the no-hitter in the sixth inning and he couldn't end it in the eighth, as he swung at Santana's 122nd pitch of the game, hitting a soft pop-up that was speared by a running Daniel Murphy in front of second base.

Carlos Beltran tried to burst Santana's bubble, but Johan refused to blow it. (Christian Peterson/Getty Images)

In the bottom of the eighth, Santana was due to bat third in the inning.  He was already three pitches away from matching his career high in pitches thrown, which he accomplished in his next-to-last start of the 2008 season.  On that September evening, Santana was pitching with an injured knee.  He had since been injured several times.  But once again, Collins did not lift Santana from the game, allowing him to bat for himself with a runner on first and one out.  Santana struck out on six pitches, then Andres Torres grounded out on the only pitch he saw to end the inning.

Johan Santana marched back to the mound to start the ninth inning as the 27,069 fans in attendance rose in unison to give him a standing ovation.  Santana needed 122 pitches to navigate through the first eight frames.  None of those pitches resulted in a hit by the Cardinals.  He was three outs away from baseball immortality.

Tom Seaver was the first Mets pitcher to take a no-hitter into the ninth inning, retiring the first 25 Cubs hitters he faced on July 9, 1969.  He then gave up a hit to rookie Jimmy Qualls to end his run at perfection.  Forty-three years later, Santana retired leadoff hitter Matt Holliday on a first-pitch fly ball to Torres in center field.

On July 4, 1972, nearly three years to the day after his first failed no-hit bid, Seaver held the San Diego Padres hitless through 8⅓ innings.  But outfielder Leron Lee spoiled his quest for history by lacing a one-out single in the ninth.  Forty years later, Santana coaxed outfielder Allen Craig to hit a looping fly ball that settled into the glove of Nieuwenhuis in left.

Seaver took a third no-hit bid into the ninth inning on September 24, 1975.  This time, he retired the first two batters he faced before allowing a single to Cubs outfielder Joe Wallis.  It had been 37 long seasons since a Mets pitcher had taken a no-hitter into the ninth inning.  And all that stood between Johan Santana and baseball history was David Freese.

Freese had been named World Series MVP just seven months earlier.  But he was facing the Mets' most valuable pitcher on his special night.  Freese took Santana's first three pitches for balls.  Then he took a strike.  Then he Paul Hoovered a ball gently down the third base line that eventually rolled foul.

Santana had thrown 133 pitches.  He had Mets killer Yadier Molina on deck hoping for another shot to break up his gem.  He needed to end the game now.  Radio broadcaster Howie Rose and television play-by-play man Gary Cohen were on hand to call the game from their respective booths at Citi Field.  And they were the ones who painted the picture of Santana's 134th and final pitch.

Photo by Ed Leyro

"Johan sweeps a little dirt away from the left of the pitching rubber, steps behind the rubber, tugs once at the bill of his cap, takes a deep breath and steps to the third base side of the rubber.  Santana into the windup.  The payoff pitch on the way - SWUNG ON AND MISSED!  STRIKE THREE!  HE'S DONE IT!  JOHAN SANTANA HAS PITCHED A NO-HITTER!  IN THE EIGHT-THOUSAND AND TWENTIETH GAME IN THE HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK METS, THEY FINALLY HAVE A NO-HITTER! ... PUT IT IN THE BOOKS!  IN THE HISTORY BOOKS!"

 --Howie Rose, WFAN radio call

SNY Photo

"He struck him out!  IT HAS HAPPENED!  In their 51st season, Johan Santana has thrown the first no-hitter in New York Mets history!"

--Gary Cohen, SNY TV call



After his historic pitching performance, Santana made eight starts for the Mets before being placed on the disabled list with a right ankle sprain in late July.  He returned to the team three weeks later, but was shelled for 14 runs in two starts.  Santana was once again put on the disabled list, this time with lower back inflammation, and was shut down for the season.  He never pitched again for the Mets, as his 2013 campaign was also wiped out due to injury.

Santana stayed healthy over a full season just once in six years as a Met, missing two full seasons in 2011 and 2013.  Despite missing large chunks of time during his tenure in New York, Santana still ranks as one of the most successful left-handed starting pitchers in franchise history.  Among all southpaw starters, Santana ranks in the team's all-time top ten in wins (46; 8th), ERA (3.18; 6th), WHIP (1.20; 4th) and strikeouts (607; 6th).  He also ranks first among all Mets pitchers in no-hitters with one.

Johan Santana didn't make Mets fans forget about "seven games up with 17 games left".  In fact, for most of his time in New York, he was known for not being able to pitch due to his penchant for getting injured.  But he did leave the Mets with a couple of words the team's fans never expected to hear: no-hitter.

For Mets fans who suffered through all the near-misses, whose hearts were broken by the likes of Jimmy Qualls, Leron Lee, Joe Wallis and Paul Hoover - players whose names would long be forgotten had it not been for what they accomplished in failed no-hit bids by Mets pitchers - the events of June 1, 2012 were even more meaningful for them.  The Mets had allowed at least one hit in each of their first 8,019 regular season games.  They allowed none in Game No. 8,020.

He may not have led the team to the promised land as most people expected him to do following the Mets' epic late-season collapse in 2007, but Johan Santana did lead the team's fans to a place they had never been before.  And in doing so, Mets fans will always remember exactly what they were doing as pitch No. 134 gave the team no-hitter No. 1.  Santana's moment in time is one that will never be forgotten.

YouTube video courtesy of Mark Egan

Note:  One Mo-MET In Time was a thirteen-part weekly series (that's "was" - the past tense of "is" - because you just read the final installment) spotlighting those Mets players who will forever be known for a single moment, game or event, regardless of whatever else they accomplished during their tenure with the Mets.  For previous installments, please click on the players' names below:

January 5, 2015: Mookie Wilson 
January 12, 2015: Dave Mlicki
January 19, 2015: Steve Henderson 
January 26, 2015: Ron Swoboda
February 2, 2015: Anthony Young
February 9, 2015: Tim Harkness
February 16, 2015: Kenny Rogers, Aaron Heilman, Tom Glavine
February 23, 2015: Mike Vail
March 2, 2015: Matt Franco
March 9, 2015: Shawn Estes
March 16, 2015: Dae-Sung Koo
March 23, 3015: Al Weis

One Mo-MET In Time: Al Weis

Baseball does not discriminate when it comes to players of all shapes and sizes.  Babe Ruth was powered by hot dogs instead of hormones, yet still became a legendary home run hitter who also pitched and hit for a high average.  On the other end of the spectrum, players like Freddie Patek and Jose Altuve were vertically challenged - neither measured more than 5' 6" tall - but were not challenged by much else on a baseball diamond, as Patek was a three-time All-Star in the 1970s and Altuve won a batting title and a Silver Slugger award in 2014.

Of course, a man of Ruth's size hitting majestic home runs is not really considered far-fetched.  Similarly, smaller players like Patek and Altuve stroking singles and stealing bases (both players won stolen base titles) are not beyond the scope of anyone's imagination.

But what happens when a player accomplishes something noteworthy on the field that his body is not built for?  And what happens when that player achieves his unlikely feat on the biggest stage of them all?  It happened to one particular member of the Mets in 1969, and his unexpected performance helped the team win its first championship.

Al Weis touched us all when he touched them all in the 1969 World Series.  (Getty Images)

Albert John Weis was originally signed by the Chicago White Sox in 1959 as a rail-thin middle infielder, making his debut with the Pale Hose three years later.  Although Weis was a switch-hitter and solid defensive player, he had trouble cracking the White Sox lineup, even after club legends and future Hall of Famers Luis Aparicio and Nellie Fox had left the team.

Only once did Weis manage more than 210 at-bats with the White Sox in parts of six seasons, as he was used mostly as a pinch-runner and late-inning defensive replacement.  From 1962 to 1967, Weis started just 247 of the 521 games he played in, and once the South Siders reacquired Aparicio from the Baltimore Orioles following the 1967 campaign, the writing was on the wall for Weis.  He was no longer needed.

On December 15, 1967, just two weeks after the White Sox brought back Aparicio, Weis and future World Series hero Tommie Agee were traded to the Mets for Tommy Davis, Jack Fisher, Billy Wynne and Buddy Booker.  Weis, whose final year in Chicago was shortened by a knee injury suffered in a collision with Frank Robinson, was finally going to get the opportunity to start with the Mets under first-year manager Gil Hodges.

Hodges had great faith in Weis, despite his anemic .172 batting average in 301 plate appearances during his first year in New York.  But with a young pitching staff, Hodges needed the dependable up-the-middle defense provided by Weis in more than just late-inning situations.  As a result, Weis started 77 of the 90 games he participated in - by far the greatest percentage of his career.

Weis "improved" his batting average to .215 in 1969, but also collected a career-high 13 extra-base hits in 247 at-bats.  Weis split his time between the two middle infield positions, filling in admirably for regular shortstop Bud Harrelson when Harrelson's military duties caused him to miss several weeks during the summer.

From June 25 to July 20, Weis started 25 consecutive games at shortstop, batting .259 with eight extra-base hits and 14 RBI in just 85 at-bats.  During that stretch, Weis collected his only two home runs of the season, with both coming against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field.  The extra-base bonanza was particularly surprising, especially when considering that Weis had collected only 43 extra-base hits in 1,420 lifetime plate appearances prior to his month-long residence at shortstop.  Just four of those 43 extra-base hits were home runs, and all came on the road.  Incredibly, Weis never hit a home run in Chicago as a member of the White Sox.  But he hit two in back-to-back games in the Windy City as a member of the Mets.

Once Harrelson returned from his military obligations, Weis went back to filling in wherever Hodges needed him, playing 28 games at second, 17 contests at short, pinch-running ten times and even making a cameo appearance for one inning at third base.  This continued into the postseason, as Weis appeared as a pinch-runner in Game One of the inaugural National League Championship Series and also played second base during the late innings of the Mets' three-game sweep over the Atlanta Braves.  But once the World Series began, Hodges went with a strict platoon at second base, playing lefty hitter Ken Boswell against right-handed pitchers and switch-hitter Weis against southpaws.  That meant Weis would start Games One and Two against Baltimore's magnificent lefties, Mike Cuellar and Dave McNally.

Given the opportunity to perform on the game's largest stage, Weis thrived.  He drove in the Mets' only run in their Game One loss, then produced the game-winning hit in Game Two when he delivered an RBI single in the top of the ninth inning that scored Ed Charles with the tie-breaking run.

Right-hander Jim Palmer started Game Three when the series shifted to Shea Stadium, allowing Hodges to start Boswell at second base in the Mets' 5-0 victory, but Orioles manager Earl Weaver went back to the dynamic duo of Cuellar and McNally for Games Four and Five.  That meant Boswell was back on the bench and Weis was manning second base.  It was a decision that would pay dividends in the most unexpected way.

In the critical Game Four, Weis delivered two hits in his first three at-bats, then came up to the plate in the tenth inning of a 1-1 game with no outs and Rod Gaspar on second base.  Gaspar was in the game as a pinch-runner for catcher Jerry Grote, who had led off the inning with a double.  Weis had already reached base in eight of his first 12 at-bats in the World Series.  It became nine of 13 when he was intentionally walked by Orioles reliever Dick Hall.  The free pass ended Tom Seaver's day after ten strong innings - Seaver was due to bat after Weis - and set up a potential rally-killing double play.  But Baltimore never recorded another out in the inning, as pinch-hitter J.C. Martin dropped a bunt that new pitcher Pete Richert fielded and threw into Martin's wrist.  The error allowed Gaspar to score the winning run.  It also allowed the Mets to potentially end the World Series the following day at Shea Stadium.

After scoring a total of two runs in the previous three games, the Orioles put up a three-spot against Mets starter Jerry Koosman in the third inning of Game Five.  A two-run homer in the sixth inning by Donn Clendenon (which followed Cleon Jones's infamous Shoe Polish incident) cut Baltimore's lead to a single run.  Koosman then retired the Orioles in order in their half of the seventh inning.  Al Weis was due to lead off the bottom of the seventh against Dave McNally.  What happened next was something Weis had never done before and never did again.

Video courtesy of MLB.com's YouTube channel

With Dave McNally clearly still reeling from the events of the previous inning, Weis surprised everyone in the ballpark by hitting a game-tying home run into the left field bleachers - the first and only time he ever went deep in front of his home fans.  The 57,397 fans at Shea Stadium went crazy, and broadcaster Lindsey Nelson also showed disbelief at what had unfolded before his eyes.

"The Mighty Mite has become the hitting star of the World Series for the New York Mets," said Nelson in response to Weis's heroics.  "That is his fifth hit in this World Series."

Although the Mets had not yet taken the lead, the Orioles' confidence had left them almost as quickly as Weis's ball left the yard.  And once Ron Swoboda delivered the go-ahead run an inning later, followed by a run-producing error by first baseman Boog Powell, there was no doubt in anyone's mind that the Mets were going to win the World Series, which is exactly what they did once Cleon Jones squeezed Davey Johnson's long fly ball on the edge of the left field warning track.

Although Clendenon received a trophy and a new car as the MVP of the 1969 World Series, batting .357 and clubbing three of the team's six Fall Classic homers, Weis received the lesser known Babe Ruth Award, which was given out by the New York chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America to their World Series' most valuable player.

Prior to the trade that sent Al Weis and Tommie Agee to New York, the Mets had never won more than 66 games in a season.  Although the Mets surpassed 70 wins for the first time in 1968, both Weis and Agee had subpar seasons, combining to hit .198 with only 27 extra-base hits in 642 at-bats.  But both players rebounded in 1969, contributing greatly to the Mets' unexpected success.

Al Weis hit seven regular season home runs during his ten-year major league career.  Two of them came in 1969 in back-to-back games against the Chicago Cubs, the team the Mets had to pass in their quest for the division title.  None of the seven came in his home park - not at White Sox Park (as Comiskey Park was known from 1962 to 1975) and not at Shea Stadium.  The only home run Weis ever hit at home did not occur during the regular season.  Rather, it took place in a World Series-clinching game.

The Mets were trailing the Orioles by a run in the bottom of the seventh inning and were facing the prospect of returning to Memorial Stadium in Baltimore for a potential Game Six.  But once Weis delivered his jaw-dropping blast, the Mets never trailed again.  The next time the Mets would get together after Game Five would not be in Baltimore, but in the Canyon of Heroes in Lower Manhattan to celebrate their miraculous championship with a ticker tape parade.

Donn Clendenon and Al Weis celebrate after both hit home runs to erase Baltimore's three-run lead.  (NY Times photo)

Al Weis wasn't acquired by the Mets for his bat.  In fact, the Long Island native was one of the worst hitters in franchise history.  His .191 batting average and .253 slugging percentage in 714 plate appearances with the Mets were both lower than Dwight Gooden's figures in the same categories.  (Doc produced a .197 batting average and .260 slugging percentage in 837 plate appearances as a Met.)

No other position player with as many plate appearances as Weis batted lower than .219 (Duffy Dyer and Dave Kingman both produced that mark) and no other non-pitcher slugged lower than .275 (Roy McMillan flexed his muscles to put up that number).

But somehow, Weis led the Mets with a .455 batting average in the 1969 World Series and hit one of the biggest home runs in franchise history in the Fall Classic.  The home run in Game Five off Orioles starter Dave McNally was not a first for Weis, as he had taken McNally deep before as a member of the White Sox in 1964.  However, it was the first time he had ever homered while wearing his home whites.  It was also the last time he ever hit a ball out of his home ballpark.

In a year full of miracles, Al Weis saved the best miracle for last.  The 1969 Mets had to contend with players leaving for military training, black cats running on the field and baseballs stained with shoe polish.  They also had to contend with the Chicago Cubs during the regular season, the Atlanta Braves during the National League Championship Series and the 109-win Baltimore Orioles in the Fall Classic.  The Mets vanquished all of those threats mostly with quality pitching.  But on occasion, they needed to pull a rabbit out of their hat to help them reach the pinnacle of the baseball world.  And sometimes, that rabbit was in the form of a mighty mite named Al Weis.

Some players have the bodies to hit towering home runs.  Others are built to be scrappy players - players who don't have all the talents required to succeed on the baseball field, but will always find a way to beat you.  For ten seasons, Al Weis was a 160-pound scrappy utility player - the prototypical good-field, no-hit middle infielder.  But on one magical day at Shea Stadium, Weis was so much more than that.  He may not have had the body to hit many home runs throughout his career.  But his body of work will always have that wonderful moment in time when he showed that even the littlest player can come up with the biggest hit.

"I had an average career in the majors as a utility man.  But I had two good weeks of baseball and they came in the 1969 World Series."

--Al Weis, 1969 World Series champion




Note:  One Mo-MET In Time is a thirteen-part weekly series spotlighting those Mets players who will forever be known for a single moment, game or event, regardless of whatever else they accomplished during their tenure with the Mets.  For previous installments, please click on the players' names below:

January 5, 2015: Mookie Wilson 
January 12, 2015: Dave Mlicki
January 19, 2015: Steve Henderson 
January 26, 2015: Ron Swoboda
February 2, 2015: Anthony Young
February 9, 2015: Tim Harkness
February 16, 2015: Kenny Rogers, Aaron Heilman, Tom Glavine
February 23, 2015: Mike Vail
March 2, 2015: Matt Franco
March 9, 2015: Shawn Estes
March 16, 2015: Dae-Sung Koo 

One Mo-MET In Time: Dae-Sung Koo

Throughout the years, there have been many Mets players who were on the team for such a short period of time, you'd be hard-pressed to find anything of interest to remind you that they were ever on the team.  Mention the names Matt Wise, Lino Urdaneta and Jon Switzer to most Mets fans and they'll have no clue who you're talking about, even though all of these players appeared in games for the Mets in the 21st century.

Neither player - they were all pitchers, by the way - spent more than a few months on the major league roster and none of them accomplished anything of note to endear themselves to those fortunate Mets fans who actually saw them play and can vouch that they were not a figment of our collective imaginations.

But every once in a while, there comes a short-term player who saves himself from blue-and-orange obscurity by doing something that no one expected to see him do on a baseball field.  Occasionally, that player will accomplish his feat in front of a sellout crowd.  And sometimes, that packed house will witness that player cementing his legacy against a Hall of Fame pitcher on a legendary team.

Those who were in attendance at Shea Stadium on May 21, 2005 can confirm that one such player will never be forgotten.

How do you do, Mr. Koo?  (Chris Trotman/Getty Images)

Dae-Sung Koo was a journeyman pitcher before he ever stepped on a mound in the United States.  From 1993 to 2000, he pitched in the Korean Baseball Organization, winning the league's Most Valuable Player Award in 1996 when he notched 18 wins, 24 saves and posted a league-best 1.88 ERA.  He then spent the next four years of his professional career pitching in the Japanese Pacific League before announcing his desire to play in the major leagues.  Koo was courted by both New York teams, but chose the Mets over their crosstown rivals because the Yankees took too much time to make him an offer.

Upon his arrival at the Mets' spring training facility in Port St. Lucie, Florida, the 35-year-old southpaw immediately let it be known how he wanted to be identified, knowing that his new teammates and fans could have a problem with his name.

"For Americans, my first name is very hard to pronounce," said Koo through his interpreter.  "Over here, I will go by my last name only.  My teammates can call me Koo."

And thus, the legend of Mr. Koo was born.

Although Mr. Koo was a grizzled veteran with a dozen years of professional baseball experience, he was not a lock to break camp with the Mets in 2005.  At Port St. Lucie, Mr. Koo was competing with the likes of Matt Ginter, Scott Stewart and Scott Strickland for a coveted spot in the bullpen.  Ginter, Stewart and Strickland did not come north with the team.  Mr. Koo did.

Mr. Koo got off to a fast start in the big leagues, allowing no runs in his first six appearances and holding hitters to a .200 batting average and .294 on-base percentage.  As with most newcomers to the majors, Mr. Koo had some blemishes during his first few months, allowing three runs to the Washington Nationals in a mop-up role on April 23 and a game-tying three-run homer in an outing against the Chicago Cubs sixteen days later.  But even those hiccups didn't hurt Mr. Koo or the Mets, as the team was victorious in both efforts.

By late May, Mr. Koo had become the team's top left-handed reliever, as fellow southpaw Mike Matthews (10.80 ERA in six appearances) failed miserably and was designated for assignment before completing his first month in a Mets uniform.  That made Mr. Koo a valuable asset when the Mets squared off against the Yankees - a team loaded with left-handed hitters and switch hitters - during the Shea Stadium portion of the Subway Series.  But no one could have expected that his bat and legs would be just as important as his arm.

A sweet swing by a lefty wearing No. 17 at Shea Stadium.  Wait, that's not Keith Hernandez!  (Chris Trotman/Getty Images)

On May 21, the Mets entered the seventh inning of their showdown with the Yankees with a slim 2-0 lead.  But after Alex Rodriguez singled off Mets starter Kris Benson to lead off the inning, manager Willie Randolph decided to bring in his lefty specialist to fan the flames.  Mr. Koo would have to face Tino Martinez, Jorge Posada and Robinson Cano - all left-handed hitters - with each batter representing the tying run as long as Rodriguez was on base.  Unfortunately for the Yankees, A-Rod wasn't on base very long.

On a 1-1 pitch from Mr. Koo, Rodriguez took off for second base.  But upon realizing he was going to be thrown out by catcher Mike Piazza, Rodriguez retreated to first base, only to be tagged out by first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz.  Without the added pressure of facing the tying run, Mr. Koo proceeded to strike out Martinez and Posada to end the inning and give his manager an interesting problem.

Mr. Koo pitched quite well in the top half of the seventh, but was due to lead off for the Mets in the bottom half of the inning.  Meanwhile, the Yankees still had the lefty-swinging Robinson Cano due to bat first in the eighth inning and the Mets had no other southpaws in the bullpen.  Keeping that in mind, Randolph decided to let Mr. Koo bat for himself to lead off the bottom of the seventh against hard-throwing lefty Randy Johnson.

In his short major league career, Mr. Koo had never swung the bat in a game.  That's not to say that he hadn't had an at-bat in a game.  Just five days earlier, Mr. Koo had his first plate appearance when he strolled up to the plate against the Cincinnati Reds, but kept the bat on his shoulders as he watched three strikes from Todd Coffey go untouched into the catcher's mitt.

No one will ever confuse Todd Coffey with Randy Johnson.  So no one would have been upset or surprised had Mr. Koo also taken three straight strikes from the flame-throwing Yankee.  Well, no one except Mr. Koo, that is.

After Johnson's first two pitches to Mr. Koo - both of which were taken by the Mets reliever - FOX analyst Tim McCarver opined that Mr. Koo was going to be completely overmatched by the future Hall of Famer, basically saying that the 35-year-old "rookie" might as well just give up against Johnson.

"I'm just going to go out on a limb and say that this is, thus far in this young season, this is the biggest give-up at-bat."





Before McCarver had even finished his statement, Mr. Koo had already taken the bat off his shoulders for the first time in his short career, taking a hack at Johnson's third pitch.  To everyone's amazement and amusement, Mr. Koo made solid contact, driving the ball over the head of center fielder Bernie Williams, who was playing as shallow as can be expected against a hitter of Mr. Koo's caliber.

The ball landed just in front of the center field fence, approximately 400 feet from home plate.  Mr. Koo rounded second base and thought about stretching his first major league hit to a triple, but thought better of it, choosing to remain at second base.

With the energetic crowd and his teammates in the dugout all serenading him with a thunderous "KOOOOOOOOO!!!", Johnson turned away from the unlikely slugger and prepared to face shortstop and leadoff hitter Jose Reyes.  On Johnson's second pitch, Reyes dropped a successful sacrifice bunt, moving Mr. Koo to third base and putting him in position to score on something other than a hit.  Except the next batter never got a chance to drive him in, because by the time No. 2 hitter Miguel Cairo stepped up to the plate, Mr. Koo had already crossed it.

When Reyes dropped his bunt, catcher Jorge Posada ran out to field the ball and throw it to first.  Johnson, perhaps still disgusted with himself for allowing a hit to a relief pitcher who had never swung the bat in a major league game, forgot to cover the plate.  Johnson's mental fart allowed an astute Mr. Koo to round third and make a break for home.  Posada raced back and took first baseman Tino Martinez's throw about ten feet in front of the plate, then lunged toward a diving Mr. Koo.

With Reyes's bat resting across the batter's box, Mr. Koo used a head-first slide as he somehow maneuvered around both Reyes's lumber and the lumbering Posada before looking up to see that home plate umpire Chuck Meriwether had called him safe.  The daring base running by Mr. Koo gave the Mets a 3-0 lead, and gave Mets fans (and Tim McCarver) something they would talk about long after they left Shea Stadium that afternoon.

Mr. Koo finishes the most incredible trip around the bases in recent memory.  (Vincent Laforet/NY Times)

Following Mr. Koo's 360-foot Tour de Flushing, the Mets added another run in the seventh on a solo home run by Cairo just moments after Mr. Koo had scampered home.  They tacked on three additional runs an inning later to blow the game wide open.  By then, Mr. Koo's day was already done, as he exited to a thunderous ovation from the 55,800 fans in attendance after striking out Robinson Cano in the top of the eighth.  The Mets won the game handily, 7-1, leaving the Yankees to wonder about the Koo-tastrophe that had occurred before their stunned eyes.

Prior to May 21, 2005, Randy Johnson had excelled against the Mets, going 6-3 with a 2.32 ERA and 1.09 WHIP in ten regular season starts.  But beginning with the game of Mr. Koo's life, Johnson struggled mightily versus New York's National League squad.  The Big Unit shriveled in his last six starts versus the Mets, going 0-4 with an ungodly 7.90 ERA and 1.75 WHIP.

Johnson's 6-7 lifetime record against the Mets was the only losing mark he posted against any National League team.  The 4.26 ERA he put up in 16 career starts was also his worst against any of the sixteen Senior Circuit squads.  (Houston moved to the American League in 2013, four years after Johnson retired.)

As for Mr. Koo, he never batted again for the Mets, appearing exclusively on the mound for each of his final 15 appearances on a major league diamond.  Perhaps it was for the best that Mr. Koo never took a bat in his hands again, as two weeks after he completed his memorable day on the mound, at the plate and around the bases, Mr. Koo was placed on the disabled list with a rotator cuff injury that he suffered during his Slide Heard 'Round The World.  Despite pitching well upon his return from the DL, posting a 1.04 ERA in 11 appearances, Mr. Koo was optioned to AAA-Norfolk in late August and was designated for assignment a month later.  He never pitched again in the majors, but that didn't deter him, as he is still playing professionally at the age of 45 for the Sydney Blue Sox in the Australian Baseball League.

In 33 appearances with the Mets during his only season with the team in 2005, Mr. Koo did not record a win, loss or save.  His 33 career appearances remain the most by any pitcher in franchise history whose name never appeared in the win column, loss column or save column.  But just because he had a zero in all three categories doesn't mean he couldn't be a hero for one glorious day in 2005.

Dae-Sung Koo was respectfully known as Mr. Koo by his teammates and fans.  And although he barely played for the Mets, he earned his respect with an unlikely series of events that made him the talk of the town during a spring weekend in 2005.  The Subway Series made household names out of players like Dave Mlicki, Matt Franco and Shawn Estes.  It did the same for a journeyman pitcher from South Korea.

When he first came to the Mets, Mr. Koo didn't expect anyone to know how to pronounce his first name.  But by the end of his short tenure on the team, everyone certainly knew his last name.  Fifty-five thousand Koo-ing fans can vouch for that.

YouTube video courtesy of kifan

Note:  One Mo-MET In Time is a thirteen-part weekly series spotlighting those Mets players who will forever be known for a single moment, game or event, regardless of whatever else they accomplished during their tenure with the Mets.  For previous installments, please click on the players' names below:

January 5, 2015: Mookie Wilson 
January 12, 2015: Dave Mlicki
January 19, 2015: Steve Henderson 
January 26, 2015: Ron Swoboda
February 2, 2015: Anthony Young
February 9, 2015: Tim Harkness
February 16, 2015: Kenny Rogers, Aaron Heilman, Tom Glavine
February 23, 2015: Mike Vail
March 2, 2015: Matt Franco
March 9, 2015: Shawn Estes
 

One Mo-MET In Time: Shawn Estes

The 1999 season marked the first time that both the Mets and Yankees qualified for the postseason in the same year.  Although the two teams failed to meet in the World Series in 1999, they did provide several memorable moments during their regular season matchups, including Matt Franco's game-winning hit against Mariano Rivera on July 10.

But the day before the Franco walk-off, the Mets used a late three-run homer by catcher Mike Piazza off Yankees starter Roger Clemens to break a 2-2 tie in a game the Mets eventually won, 5-2.  It was Piazza's second career homer off Clemens, with the first one coming in the Rocket's previous start against the Mets a month earlier at Yankee Stadium.

One year later, Piazza continued his torrid hitting against Clemens, launching a grand slam to straightaway center field - just the second grand slam allowed by Clemens in 17 seasons - to help the Mets cruise to a 12-2 victory.  A single in his next plate appearance gave Piazza seven hits in 12 at-bats against Clemens, including three homers and nine RBI.   The next time Clemens started a game against the Mets, he hit Piazza in the helmet with a fastball, knocking the Mets catcher out of the game.  General manager Steve Phillips shared his thoughts on the beaning after the game, saying, "I don't know if things are ever over.  Guys have long memories in baseball."

Things weren't over between Clemens and Piazza.  And apparently, the memory of Piazza's ownership of Clemens resonated more with the Rocket than it did with the Mets' All-Star catcher.

When the two teams squared off in the 2000 World Series, Piazza faced Clemens for the first time since he was the target of Clemens's head-seeking missile.  It only took four pitches for Clemens to once again have Piazza in his sights, although this time it was with a broken bat instead of a fastball.  Swinging on a 1-2 pitch, Piazza hit a foul ball that shattered his bat into several pieces, with one of the shards bouncing toward the pitcher's mound.  Instinctively, Clemens fielded the sharp piece of wood, then threw it in the direction of a dumbfounded Piazza, claiming that he thought it was the ball.  Never mind that Clemens's initial reaction was to hop around as if a spear was coming right at him (which it was) instead of a spherical, blunt object (which it wasn't).

The Yankees went on to win the game and the World Series.  Although Clemens was fined $50,000 for his unexpected javelin toss, he could easily afford to pay for it with his World Series-winning share of $294,783.41.  A year later, Clemens didn't have to worry about retaliation by the Mets because Yankees manager Joe Torre went out of his way to ensure that Clemens wouldn't have to pitch at Shea Stadium, where he'd be forced to bat.

By the 2002 season, much had changed for the crosstown rivals.  The Yankees were no longer the defending World Series champions and the Mets were no longer playoff contenders in the National League.  One thing that hadn't changed was that the Mets were still fuming over Roger Clemens and his approach to facing Mike Piazza.  Three years after Piazza took Clemens deep for the first time and two years after Clemens aimed a fastball and a fast bat in the direction of Piazza's body, the stage was set for Clemens to finally step up to the plate as a hitter at Shea Stadium.  And it was up to a new member of the Mets - one who wasn't present for each of the previous incidents - to show Clemens exactly how the Mets felt about him.

Shawn Estes may have missed Roger Clemens with a pitch, but he didn't miss a Roger Clemens pitch.  (Getty Images)

Aaron Shawn Estes was a former first round draft pick who had his share of ups and downs in the big leagues.  In 1997, Estes was an All-Star for San Francisco, going 19-5 with a 3.18 ERA to help the Giants reach the playoffs for just the fifth time in 40 seasons in the Bay Area.  But the '97 campaign was also the first of three seasons that Estes reached triple digits in walks.  Estes was never known for his control, as evidenced by his 521 walks in seven seasons as a Giant, a number that puts him in the team's top 20 in free passes - a team that has been in existence since 1883 and has used 731 pitchers through the 2014 season.

When Mets general manager Steve Phillips wanted to overhaul the team after it barely finished above .500 in 2001, he added several former All-Stars to the roster (Roberto Alomar, Mo Vaughn) and re-acquired players who used to call Flushing home (Jeromy Burnitz, Roger Cedeño).  Phillips also looked to bolster his pitching staff, sending utility infielder Desi Relaford and popular outfielder Tsuyoshi Shinjo to the Giants in exchange for Estes.

Estes's first win as a Met was a complete-game, one-hit shutout on April 26, a game in which the left-hander didn't allow a base runner until the seventh inning.  Ironically, Estes's masterpiece came against Milwaukee's Glendon Rusch, the pitcher he essentially replaced in New York's starting rotation and the last hurler to start a one-hitter for the Mets.  (Rusch combined with Armando Benitez on a one-hitter in 2001.)

Following his gem against the Brewers, Estes struggled mightily.  The southpaw won just one of his next seven starts, posting a 5.84 ERA and allowing opposing hitters to bat .343 against him.  Not once in those seven starts did Estes pitch into the seventh inning and in five of the seven outings, he failed to pitch more than five innings.  Needless to say, Estes was not winning over many fans in New York, especially after a five-inning, six-run debacle against the Indians on June 9 that brought him into his first Subway Series experience in his next start.  And what a start it would be, as Estes would be facing none other than Roger Clemens in his first Shea Stadium appearance since the 1999 season.

Shawn Estes was toiling a coast away in San Francisco during the 1999 and 2000 seasons when the Clemens-Piazza feud was at its peak.  But it would fall upon Estes to protect his new battery mate by sending a message to Clemens and the Yankees that the Mets were not going to be bullied by anyone.  On an unusually cool mid-June afternoon at Shea Stadium, the tension was palpable.  Estes started the game by striking out four of the first eight Yankee batters to face him.  That brought up Roger Clemens, as Public Enemy No. 1 was also Yankee batter No. 9.

With all eyes in the Shea Stadium crowd focused on the Estes-Clemens matchup, Estes fired his first pitch to the plate.  Naturally, aiming at a particular target - even a six-foot, four inch target - wasn't a strong suit for a pitcher who had walked 100 or more batters in a season three times in his career.  Estes's first pitch went behind Clemens, missing his rear end by about a foot.  Home plate umpire Wally Bell issued warnings to both dugouts and Clemens continued his at-bat against Estes, eventually striking out on a 3-2 pitch.

To most fans at the time, Estes had failed in doing his job, just as he had done in most of his starts during the season's first two months.  Striking out Clemens wasn't what they wanted to see.  Striking him was.  And by not doing so, the two-year wait for retribution lingered on.  After Estes retired the side in order in the top of the third, it was his turn to take a bat in his hands to face Clemens.  Although Estes's sacrifice bunt did allow shortstop Rey Ordoñez to score all the way from second base - the Yankees left home plate unattended - to give the Mets an early lead, it still didn't give fans what they desired.  Two innings later, Estes made up for missing Clemens in the third.  He didn't miss this time.

Shawn Estes hits Roger Clemens in a way no one expected.  (Photo by Steve Crandall/Reuters)

With the Mets clinging to a 1-0 lead in the fifth, Roger Cedeño led off the inning with a double down the left field line.  Rey Ordoñez then swung away at the first pitch he saw, flying out to center fielder Bernie Williams, which left Cedeño at second and brought up Shawn Estes.  Had there been no outs, Estes would have been instructed to bunt the runner to third base.  But with one out, Estes was allowed to swing away - and what a swing it was!

Estes hit a high fly ball down the left field line that cleared the outfield wall for a jaw-dropping two-run homer.  Estes's first hit as a Met - he began the season by going 0-for-18 - was not the first time he had taken an opposing pitcher deep, as he had homered once in 1997 and also hit a grand slam in 2000.  But it was the first time Clemens had ever allowed a long ball to a fellow moundsman in his 19-year career.  (Clemens would allow just one more homer to an opposing pitcher, serving up a two-run shot to Montreal Expos starting pitcher Jon Rauch in 2004.  It was one of only 11 starts made by Rauch in his career and his only home run.)

Clemens would later stroke a double off Estes in the top of the sixth - just the third hit of the Rocket's career - but was left stranded on the bases.  If Clemens thought he had gotten some sort of payback off Estes by banging out an extra-base hit of his own, he was in for a rude awakening when he went back to the mound for the bottom of the sixth when his nemesis, Mike Piazza, stepped into the batter's box to lead off the inning.

Piazza, who claimed that he "never really went to the plate with any ulterior motive",  took Clemens's first offering and deposited it over the wall to give the Mets a 4-0 lead.  Clemens was never allowed to finish the sixth inning, as he was taken out of the game two batters later.  The Mets went on the win the game, 8-0, with Estes picking up his third win of the season.

Estes pitched seven shutout innings against the Yankees, allowing five hits, one walk and matching a career high with 11 strikeouts.  But despite pitching (and hitting) beautifully against the Yankees in June, Estes became a former Met less than two months later.  The southpaw would win just one more game in New York, as he was traded to the Cincinnati Reds in August as part of a package that netted the team long-time middle reliever Pedro Feliciano.

Roger Clemens had been disliked by Mets fans since the 1986 World Series, when he was seen clean-shaven prior to what he thought was going to be a championship-clinching win by his team at the time, the Boston Red Sox.  (Clemens had a five-o'clock shadow during the game, but shaved off his stubble in anticipation of a celebratory post-game interview that never happened.)  More than a decade later, Clemens infuriated fans once again when he took out beloved catcher Mike Piazza with a fastball to the helmet, then tried to do the same with a broken bat in that season's Fall Classic.

The Mets waited patiently for two seasons to get their revenge on Clemens.  The opportunity almost passed them by when Shawn Estes failed to hit Clemens with a pitch on a cool June day in 2002.  But before the day was over, Estes found a different way to hit Clemens, shaming him more than a fastball to the body ever could.  Piazza also exacted a modicum of payback against Clemens by homering off him an inning after Estes took him out of the park.  It turned out to be Piazza's final hit off Clemens after spending the previous half-decade hitting rockets off the Rocket.

''I don't think revenge mattered.  Hopefully today beating the Yankees and doing it the way we did is the key to getting some momentum.  That was really all we were trying to do.''

--Mike Piazza, following the June 15, 2002 game against the Yankees 


Shawn Estes never did bolster the starting rotation as general manager Steve Phillips expected, going 4-9 with a 4.55 ERA in 23 starts.  But he did provide the team and its fans with one magical day at Shea Stadium.  Estes was pitching across the country when the bad blood between Clemens and Piazza started to boil in 1999.  But when the book on the storied feud was closed, it was Estes who provided one of the final chapters, nailing a Roger Clemens pitch just two innings after he failed to nail Clemens at the plate.

A total of 72 players in Mets history (through the 2014 season) finished their careers in New York with just one home run to their credit.  Of those six dozen players, none of them hit a blast that resonated more with Mets fans than the one hit by Shawn Estes on June 15, 2002.

The man who came to New York with a history of being wild around the plate couldn't hit Roger Clemens with a pitch (yet still managed to get fined $750 for his efforts).  However, he did hit Clemens where it hurt the most - his ego - when he did something no pitcher had ever done before against him.  And in doing so, he helped provide closure to one of ugliest pitcher-batter feuds in recent memory.

Shawn Estes couldn't have picked a better time to have his one memorable moment as a Met.


Note:  One Mo-MET In Time is a thirteen-part weekly series spotlighting those Mets players who will forever be known for a single moment, game or event, regardless of whatever else they accomplished during their tenure with the Mets.  For previous installments, please click on the players' names below:

January 5, 2015: Mookie Wilson 
January 12, 2015: Dave Mlicki
January 19, 2015: Steve Henderson 
January 26, 2015: Ron Swoboda
February 2, 2015: Anthony Young
February 9, 2015: Tim Harkness
February 16, 2015: Kenny Rogers, Aaron Heilman, Tom Glavine
February 23, 2015: Mike Vail
March 2, 2015: Matt Franco

One Mo-MET In Time: Matt Franco

Prior to 1997, the Mets had only faced their crosstown rivals from the Bronx in Grapefruit League games and Mayor's Trophy exhibitions.  In addition, neither the Mets nor the Yankees had ever qualified for the postseason in the same year.  But thanks to interleague play, meaningful games between the two squads became a reality as the 20th century came to a close.

The first regular season contest between the two teams in 1997 ended with Dave Mlicki pumping his fists on the Yankee Stadium mound in celebration of the Mets' 6-0 victory over the Bronx Bombers.  It was the defining game for the journeyman Mlicki - an extraordinary moment in an otherwise ordinary ten-year major league career.

The Subway Series has become a venue for some of the most dramatic victories in Mets history.  Entering the 2015 season, the Mets have won 42 regular season games against the Yankees, including 13 one-run victories and six walk-off wins.  Perhaps the most dramatic of these one-run, walk-off triumphs occurred on July 10, 1999, as both the Mets and Yankees were trying to reach the playoffs in the same season for the first time.  And when the game ended, one Met became a hero for life, delivering the game-winning hit in a pinch.

Matt Franco proves that even bench players can become Mets legends.  (AP Photo)

Matthew Neil Franco was born for Hollywood endings.  His uncle, Kurt Russell, has been an actor since childhood, following in the footsteps of Franco's grandfather, Bing Russell.  Franco also has immediate family working behind the scenes, as his father is acclaimed movie producer Larry Franco.

Franco was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the seventh round of the 1987 June amateur draft.  As is the case with many struggling actors, it took Franco several years to make it to the big show.  He didn't advance past the Double-A level until his seventh professional season and didn't make his major league debut until the final month of the 1995 campaign.

Following his 16-game cup of coffee with the Cubs in 1995, Franco was traded to the Mets at the outset of the 1996 season.  Once again, Franco's only time spent in the big leagues in 1996 was during a brief September call-up.  But after starting the 1997 campaign in the minors, Franco was called up by the Mets following an injury to outfielder Andy Tomberlin, who also served as the team's primary pinch-hitter from the left side of the plate.  Tomberlin never played for the Mets again as Franco took over as the team's top lefty-swinging pinch-hitter, batting .306 with three homers and 13 RBI in 66 plate appearances as a pinch-hitter.

In 1998, Franco continued to be one of the baseball's most productive pinch-hitters, reaching base 26 times (14 hits, 12 walks) in 68 pinch-hitting appearances.  But his best season off the bench came in 1999, and he punctuated his year with a dramatic at-bat against the top closer in the game.

On July 10, the Mets and Yankees entered the second game of their three-game set at Shea Stadium with both teams playing their best baseball.  The Yankees were in first place in the AL East and were owners of the third-best record in the game.  Meanwhile, the Mets were the hottest team in the sport, winning 22 of their last 32 games to move them within striking distance of the first-place Braves.

The Mets took the first game of the series, 5-2, with the deciding runs scoring on a tie-breaking three-run homer by Mike Piazza off Roger Clemens in the sixth inning.  Power was on full display in the second game - a Saturday matinee at Shea - but most of it came from the players sitting in the road team's dugout.

The Yankees hit six home runs that afternoon (two by Paul O'Neill, two by Jorge Posada, one each by Ricky Ledee and Chuck Knoblauch), becoming the seventh team to hit at least six homers in one game against the Mets.  The Mets had lost the six previous contests in which they were taken deep half a dozen times, losing those games by a combined 94-26 score.  They were determined not to go 0-for-7 in those situations.

Mike Piazza did his part, hitting one of the longest home runs in Shea Stadium's history - a 482-foot blast over the picnic area tents in left field - to give the Mets a temporary 7-6 lead in the seventh inning.  But a two-run homer by Jorge Posada an inning later helped the Yankees retake the lead.  The score remained 8-7 as future Hall of Fame closer Mariano Rivera came into the game in the ninth inning.

Rivera had never allowed a run to the Mets in four career appearances, notching saves in all four games.  But that streak was in jeopardy when Edgardo Alfonzo followed Rickey Henderson's one-out walk with a double.  With the tying and winning runs in scoring position, John Olerud grounded out to first baseman Tino Martinez, leaving Henderson and Alfonzo on base and Yankees manager Joe Torre with a decision to make.  Should he have Rivera face cleanup hitter Mike Piazza or should he walk him intentionally to face Melvin Mora, who had entered the game two innings earlier as a late-inning defensive replacement for Benny Agbayani?  Torre chose the latter, and had Rivera issue a four-pitch free pass to the Mets catcher.

Mets manager Bobby Valentine counteracted by inserting Matt Franco into the game to pinch-hit for Mora.  Franco had never gotten a hit against Rivera in two previous plate appearances, but he had drawn a walk.  And a walk against Rivera with the bases loaded would have tied the game.  But Franco had his eye on a bigger prize, and with the Mets down to their final strike, Franco delivered.

YouTube video courtesy of Courtside Tweets

After taking a borderline 0-2 pitch from Rivera that was called a ball by home plate umpire Jeff Kellogg - a call that did not please Torre, who could be seen mouthing "that ball's not low" in the Yankee dugout - Franco laced a single to right on Rivera's next offering.  Running on contact, Henderson scored easily from third base and Alfonzo slid home safely ahead of Paul O'Neill's throw, giving the Mets a thrilling 9-8 victory before 53,792 raucous fans at Shea Stadium.

The two-run single by Franco would be the only safety he'd record against Rivera in four career plate appearances.  Franco's clutch hit was also the first of four times the Mets defeated Rivera during his illustrious career.  The only teams to defeat Rivera more often during his 19-year tenure with the Yankees were the Orioles (nine losses), Red Sox (seven) and Rays (six) - all teams that played in Rivera's division.

Matt Franco's game-winning single on July 10 was one of 14 pinch-hits he collected in 1999.  Franco also set a major league record in 1999 when he walked 20 times as a pinch-hitter.  By reaching base 34 times in 80 pinch-hit appearances, Franco posted a stellar .425 on-base percentage, one of the highest marks in team history.

But despite being one of the best substitute players in club annals, Franco is mainly remembered for his one big hit on a warm summer day at Shea.

Photo by Ed Leyro

''In batting practice alone, I've been through that same situation a million times.  Everyone has.  Bottom of the ninth, bases loaded, two outs, two strikes.  To get the game-winning hit at Shea Stadium, playing the Yankees, with 53,000 people in the stands, the bases loaded, down a run, in the bottom of the ninth, I don't know how it's going to get any better than that.  It's a dream come true.''




Ed Kranepool set a team record with 90 pinch-hits.  Rusty Staub's 72 RBI are also best among all Mets' subs.  Both figures are nearly double the amount of hits and RBI put by Matt Franco as a pinch-hitter (58 hits, 37 RBI) during his five seasons with the Mets.  But for all the regular season records set by Kranepool and Staub during their times as the top hitter off the bench for the Mets, none of their hits or runs batted in have resonated as much with Mets fans as Franco's game-winner off Mariano Rivera.

Matt Franco was born to a family that spent a lot of time in front of the camera.  But in a season where the Yankees and Mets qualified for the postseason together for the first time and one year before the teams squared off in the first Subway World Series in 44 years, it was Franco who took center stage in a mid-July game at Shea Stadium.

Hollywood is known for producing storybook endings in film and television.  On July 10, 1999, Matt Franco produced a storybook ending of his own.  And in doing so, he became a beloved Met for life, all because he came through in a pinch against one of the most dependable pitchers of this or any other generation.

No script could have produced a better ending.


Note:  One Mo-MET In Time is a thirteen-part weekly series spotlighting those Mets players who will forever be known for a single moment, game or event, regardless of whatever else they accomplished during their tenure with the Mets.  For previous installments, please click on the players' names below:

January 5, 2015: Mookie Wilson 
January 12, 2015: Dave Mlicki
January 19, 2015: Steve Henderson 
January 26, 2015: Ron Swoboda
February 2, 2015: Anthony Young
February 9, 2015: Tim Harkness
February 16, 2015: Kenny Rogers, Aaron Heilman, Tom Glavine
February 23, 2015: Mike Vail