Remembering Mets History (2003) Steve Trachsel Throws a Complete Game One Hitter & Jose Reyes Hits Grand Slam for First Career HR

Sunday June 15th, 2003: Art Howe's New York Mets were in fifth place (30-36) five games under .500.

The Mets were hoping to rebound after a disastrous 2002 where Roberto Alomar, Mo Vaughn & Jeromy Burnitz all failed as high-priced free agents.  For 2003 they brought in Tom Glavine & Cliff Floyd to start making things better.

On this interleague road trip, the Mets started out taking two of three in Texas from the Rangers. 

For the weekend, they came into the Los Angeles area of Anaheim splitting the first two games with Mike Scioscia's reigning World Champion Angels. In the afternoon rubber game of the series, 43,721 fans came out to at the beautiful "Big A" as Steve Trachsel (4-4) took on Jarod Washburn (6-6).

For the 32 year old Trachsel, it was a homecoming & dream come true to pitch in this ballpark, having grown up in near by Fullerton. Steve had lost his last two starts & given up six HRs in the last 7.1 innings.

In the top of the 2nd inning, Cliff Floyd struck out to start the inning. Next Jason Phillips walked & Jeromy Burnitz went down on strikes for the second out. Vance Wilson then singled & Tsuyoshi Shinjo walked, loading up the bases.

 

Rookie Reyes' Grand Slam: Next the Mets highly touted rookie Jose Reyes, playing in just his sixth career game, came to bat. Reyes was rated as Baseball America's #3 prospect coming into the season, had made his debut five days earlier on June 10th in the Texas series. Up to that point he was 3-20 with an RBI. 

Jose blasted Jarod Washburn's tenth pitch over the left field fence for a grand slam HR. His first career HR was certainly a memorable one.

Grand Slam HR Trivia: Reyes became the second Met in franchise history, matching pitcher Jack Hamilton (1967) to hit a grand slam for their first career HR.

In the top of the 4th, Jeromy Burnitz hit his first HR of the day, a solo HR to make it 5-0 Mets. In the top of the 6th, Burnitz hit a two-run shot giving New York a 7-0 lead. For Burnitz, it was his ninth & tenth HRs of the season.

But this day belonged to the quirky Mets starter, Steve Trachsel. 

In the bottom of the 1st inning, Trachsel walked two Angels but got Garret Anderson to ground into an inning ending double play. Steve then retired the next 14 batters in a row & was quietly rolling along with a no hitter into the 6th.

In the bottom of the 6th, Trachsel got Bengie Molina & Adam Kennedy to both ground out. But then the pesky, David Eckstein blooped a base hit to short right field beyond Roberto Alomar's outstretched glove, breaking up the no hit bid. 

Quotes- Steve Trachsel: "The pitch was supposed to be in the dirt & I didn't get it down. But it was a good piece of hitting. This team doesn't strike out, so I was really concentrating on trying to get them to hit my pitches."

An outfield error by Roger Cedeno had Eckstein advance all the way to third base. 

Trachsel got the next batter, Jeff DaVanon to pop out to first base, ending that inning. He did not allow another hit the rest of the way. 

In the bottom of the 7th, Trachsel walked Garrett Anderson, but retired the rest of the middle of the Angels order, Tim Salmon, Troy Glaus & Brad Fullmer.

Hit By Pitch: In the top of the 8th Jeromy Burnitz who had homered twice, was hit by a pitch from Scott Schoeneweis. Vance Wilson singled advancing him to second. Burnitz went to third then scored on Jose Reyes ground out & fifth RBI of the game.

Protecting his Teammate: In the bottom of the 8th with one out, Trachsel threw a tight pitch to Bengie Molina almost hitting him. Molina started walking to the mound but catcher Vance Wilson got between the two. Angels manager Mike Scioscia came storming out of the dug out arguing that the pitch was meant to hit Molina. 

Quotes- Mets Manager Art Howe: "I don't know if it's obvious or not. We're going to take care of our own. Scioscia's been known to go out & argue & hope the pitcher loses his grip."

In the bottom of the 9th, David Eckstein, Jeff DaVannon & Tim Salmon all were retired on fly ball outs.

Game Ball?: After centerfielder Tsuyoshi Shingo caught the final out, he threw the ball into the stands. When Trachsel asked him for it he noter he would have saved it if it was a no-hit game but didn't think it mattered.

 Quotes- Steve Trachsel: "Nice job Shingo, I guess they must have one-hitters all the time in Japan".

One Hit Shut Out Trivia: Trachsel pitched the complete game one shutout, striking out just one & walking four. It was the second one hit shut out of his career, the first coming in May 1996, when he was with the Cubs.  It was the twentieth one hitter in Mets franchise history. 

The Human Rain Delay: Trachsel who was known for pitching slowly & dragged out the time of games, became known as the Human Rain Delay. But on this night, he pitched one of his quickest games, wrapping it up in two hours & thirty-eight minutes. He tossed 119 pitches & it was the first complete game for New York that season.

Quotes- Steve Trachsel: "The biggest difference today was that the ball was down in the zone, and I pretty much had an idea where it was going."

Trachsel led the Mets staff in wins that season (16) fifth most in the NL. He also posted the staff's best ERA at 3.78 & tossed the most innings (204). Steve spent six years with the Mets, winning 15 or more games twice, throwing two one hitters.