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Remembering Mets History (1998) The Mets Catching Problem Before the Arrival Of Mike Piazza

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When the Bobby Valentine era began in late 1996, there were signs of good things to come. In Valentine's first full year at the helm, the Mets won 88 games, the most wins they had had in seven years. It was also the first time they went over .500 since 1990. In 1998 they won 88 games again, this time finishing second but still missing out on the wild card spot. There were a couple of more pieces Valentine & the Mets needed to complete their team to make a deep post season run. On May 22nd, 1998 Mike Piazza arrived & the Mets had their superstar player, a future Hall of Famer. In Piazza's first full season the Mets won 97 games & made the post season. Piazza hit 40 HRs & drove in 124 runs.  In 2000 he led the Mets to the NL Pennant.  But before the greatest hitting catcher of All Time arrived, the Mets were in turmoil at the catchers position. Todd Hundley was the Mets All Star catcher having the position locked up since 1992. By 1996, he had s...
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Remembering Mets History (1998) The Mets Acquire Mike Piazza & His Met Legacy Begins

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Friday May 22nd, 1998:   The groundwork on this massive Mets deal, was laid out a week earlier when the Los Angeles Dodgers traded Mike Piazza & Todd Zeile to the Florida Marlins in exchange for Gary Sheffield, Bobby Bonilla, Charles Johnson & Jim Eisenreich. It was a blockbuster deal with some big names of the day involved. Piazza was set to be a free agent at the end of the season. As one of the biggest stars in the game he was looking for $105 million over seven years & the Dodgers were offering $76 million over six years. The fans & the media thought his demands were too high. Piazza felt legendary Dodger broadcaster Vin Scully had a lot to do with the criticism.  The deal was made with the Marlins & is considered one of the worst trades in Dodger history. The Florida Marlins had won the World Series the previous year & wanted to cut salary. They would shed over $22 million on this trade alone. In 1998, the Marlins had a big-league fi...
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Remembering Mets History (2015) Jacob deGrom Strikes Out Season High Eleven Allowing Just One Hit as Lucas Duda Has a Multi-HR Game

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Thursday May 21st, 2015: A Citi Field crowd of 32,783 came out for an afternoon matinee as Terry Collins second place Mets (24-18) were a half game behind the Washington Nationals in the NL East.  Today they hosted Mike Matheny's first place St. Louis Cardinals. (27-13). The Mets sent Jacob deGrom (4-4) to the mound against the Cards Jaime Garcia (0-0).  In the top of the 1st inning, deGrom began the afternoon by striking out Kolten Wong.  Matt Carpenter then singled to left field. This was to be the only hit deGrom would allow on the day.  He would retire the next 23 batters in a row all the way through the 8th inning.   No Cardinal got past first base during his eight innings of work. deGrom  then struck out Jhonny Peralta & Matt Adams to end the 1st inning with three K's. In the 2nd inning, deGrom struck out the first two batters, Randal Grichuk & Jason Heyward. Over the next four innings, he recorded a strike out in each to reach nine K...
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Remembering Mets History (2005) Dae-Sung Koo Has His Day In The Sun

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Saturday May 21, 2005: On a Saturday matinee nationally televised, Fox Game of the Week,  55,800 fans came out to Shea Stadium to watch  Willie Randolph's Mets (22-20) host a regular season match up of the annual subway series.  This year's Mets, led by new manager Willie Randolph, along with newly acquired players Carlos Beltran & Pedro Martinez ushered in a winning era for the team. The Mike Piazza era was in its final year & the Mets had been struggling since the 2000 team won the NL Pennant. With a new GM, a new manager, the signing of some of the top free agents on the market as well as the established stars Piazza, David Wright, Tom Glavine & Cliff Floyd there was a new excitement at Shea Stadium. With plenty of celebrities on hand thru the weekend, Cyndi Lauper stated the game singing the National Anthem. For the Mets Kris Benson got the start facing the tall, lean, Randy Johnson.  Benson a promising young pitcher had come over from the Pirates th...
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Remembering Mets History (1999) Robin Ventura Becomes the First Player To Hit Grand Slams In Both Ends Of A Double Header

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Thursday May 20th, 1999:  At this point in the season, Bobby Valentine's Mets were at 21-18, 2.5 games behind the Atlanta Braves. The Mets had lost three straight games & were in a funk losing nine of their last 13 games. This late afternoon, 19,542 fans came to Shea as the Mets hosted Phil Garner's last place Milwaukee Brewers (18-20) in a twi-night double header.  Trivia: In 1998 the Brewers were moved to the National League after having spent 27 years in the American League. Milwaukee had not had a winning season since 1992. The starting pitchers for the first game would be the Mets Al Leiter & Milwaukee's Jim Abbot. Six years earlier, Jim Abbot who was born without a right hand, had pitched a no hitter for the AL New York team. Al Leiter was having a rough start to the season, entering the game with just one win & a 6.38 ERA. In the bottom of the 1st, Jim Abbot issued walks to  John Olerud & Edgardo Alfonzo.  Mike Piazza then reached an in...
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