Remembering Mets History: (2003) Steve Trachsel Tosses His Second One Hitter of the Season

-
Monday August 18th, 2003: In an afternoon matinee at Shea the fifth place Mets (54-69) hosted Clint Hurdle's fourth place Colorado Rockies (61-66).

The Mets were on a five-game win streak & after today's victory, would have their biggest win streak of the year at six. They had two different eight game losing streaks in the dismal year where they finished fifth under manager Art Howe (66-95).

A crowd of 23,865 came to Shea Stadium &as Steve Trachsel (11-7) the Mets winningest pitcher that season go up against Chin-hui Tsao (2-0)


Steve Trachsel didn't get his first strike out until the 4th inning, but he also did not allow a hit until the 6th inning.

After getting Charles Johnson to ground out, Tony Womack attempted a bunt to get on, but Trachsel fielded it cleanly & retired the out.

But the no hit bid was spoiled when the Rockies pitcher, of all people, Chin-hui Tsao doubled to centerfield. In his six-year career Tsao had just three hits in 14 at bats, two of them were doubles.

The crowd gasped, gave Trachsel a nice ovation, as he went about his business.

Trachsel retired the next nine batters until Greg Norton reached on an error in the 9th inning. Trachsel did not walk anyone in the game & struck out three, earning his 12th win of the year to go to 12-7 with a 4.20 ERA.

Trivia: This was the 26th one hitter thrown in Mets history. Trachsel had thrown a one hitter two months prior on June 15th against the Anaheim Angles with David Eckstein getting the lone hit. Two days later Jae Seo, David Weathers & Armando Benitez combined for a one hitter over the Florida Marlins.

Tonight, The Mets supported Trachsel with eight runs, starting out with a Mike Piazza two run HR in the 1st inning. It was Piazza's 9th HR of the year in a year where he missed over three months of action due to injuries. 

In the 3rd inning, Jason Phillips added a two-run blast making it 4-0.

In the Mets 6th inning, the Mets sent nine men to the plate, three straight singles from Joe McEwing, Trachsel & Roger Cedeno made it 5-0. Then, Jose Reyes walked to load them up, Mike Piazza reached on a fielder's choice making it 6-0. Then Cliff Floyd drove in the final runs with a base hit to left field.

Trivia: Trachsel would lead the Mets in wins that year going 16-10, one game better than Al Leiter at 15-10.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Remembering Vixen Founder / Guitarist; Jan Kuehnemund (1961-2013)

-
Image
centerfieldmaz was shocked to learn of the sudden passing of Jan Kuehnemund, the founding member of the all female metal band Vixen. Jan was a fantastic guitarist, song writer & women pioneer in Heavy Metal. I am a huge fan of hard rock all girl bands & Vixen were one my long time favorites. Janice Lynn Kuehnemund was born November 18th, 1961 in St. Paul Minnesota. The female guitarist formed one of the first all female Metal bands in Minnesota with singer Janet Gardner while in high school in 1980. By 1985 they moved the band to Los Angles California, to be part of the Heavy Metal scene. In 1987 the classic Vixen line up of Jan Kuehnemund (lead guitar) Janet Gardner (vocals/ guitar) Share Pederson (bass) & Roxy Petrucci (drums) formed & released their debut album the following year. Vixen 1988 In a world of all male Heavy Metal bands during its heyday, Vixen were groundbreaking in being an all female metal band. The Runaways, with Joan Jett & Lita Ford
Read more

Remembering Bobby Ojeda's Tragic Boating Accident (1993)

-
Image
Steve Olin, Tim Crews & Bob Ojeda March 22 nd 1993: was an off day from Spring Training, for three Cleveland Indians pitchers; Former Mets 1986 World Champion pitcher; Bobby Ojeda, Tim Crews & Steve Olin. The three friends, took out an 18-foot open-air bass boat & went out fishing & gator hunting in the darkness of the evening on Lake Nellie in Clermont, Florida. Tragedy struck, when the boat rammed into a private dock that jutted out some 250 feet into the still waters. Two other Cleveland Indians personnel had arrived to meet the fishing party just as the horror took place. They heard Bob Ojeda saying they needed help. The two men jumped into the water and called out for someone to call 911. 27 year old pitcher; Steve Olin was killed instantly. 31 year old pitcher; Tim Crews was alive but was struggling to breathe suffering from massive head wounds. Bobby Ojeda was in & out of shock, he was suffering from head lacerations but was coherent. The
Read more

The 1970's Oakland A's Ball Girls- (MLB's First)

-
Image
In the days of the early seventies the Oakland A's won three straight Championships & changed the face of baseball forever.  The team's controversial owner was known to be cheap in paying his star players & known to meddle in the teams on field affairs. He drove managers crazy & even had Dick Williams resign after winning his second straight World Series. But Finley also revolutionized baseball in many other ways. He was instrumental in getting the designated hitter in the American League & have the World Series played at night, so fans could attend after work. He gave his players fancy names like Catfish, Blue Moon & True Blue.  When his star Reggie Jackson refused to shave his beard, he encouraged the whole team to grow facial hair by paying them $200 each.  The A's team even grew their hair long, a sign of the times. But before that baseball players had not had facial or long hair since the 1800's.  He introduced bright colored yello
Read more

The Story of the New York Mets Logo

-
Image
On November 16, 1961 cartoonist Ray Gotto (1916-2003) unveiled the circular New York Mets logo, a symbol which has virtually gone unchanged since its birth 55 years ago. Gatto was the illustrator of the "Ozark Ike" & "Cotton Woods" comic strips as well as having drawn many classic sports cartoons for the Sporting News. He won a contest that the club sponsored in order to start up a fan base beating out over 500 other entries for his design. The prize was not only to have his logo used but also $1000.  Artist Ray Gotto The original New York Mets team colors are blue and orange, the colors represent the two former National League teams who left New York for the West Coast. The orange represents the former New York Giants & the blue represents the Brooklyn Dodgers. Blue & orange are also the official colors of New York State. T he logo design is a round baseball with orange stitching and the Mets orange script lettering outlined in white ac
Read more

Remembering Christine McVie (1943-2022)

-
Image
 Longtime Fleetwood Mac singer Christine McVie passed away in hospital after a brief illness, she was 70 years old. The lovely Christine was a beautiful singer, songwriter, piano/keyboard player for Fleetwood Mac & in a solo career. Christine Anne Perfect was born in Lancashire, England on July 12th, 1943. Her father was a concert violinist & her mother a physic medium. Originally wanting to be an art teacher but she ended up in the music business. In 1968 she married Fleetwood Mac bassist John McVie, by 1971 she became a full-time member. It wasn't until 1975 when Stevie Nicks & Lindsay Buckingham joined Mac as the group became one of the biggest rock bands of all time. McVie usually was overshadowed by the star of Stevie Nicks. In 1975 her biggest songs from the album- Fleetwood Mac, Over My Head & Say You Love Me, both reached the top twenty in the US. She also co-wrote World Turning with Lindsay Buckingham, as well as Warm Ways & Sugar Daddy on her own. In
Read more