Remembering Mets History: (2006) Mets Clinch NL Eastern Division

-
Monday September 18, 2006: On this night Shea Stadium  was filled with 46,729 fans to watch the Mets clinch their first NL Eastern Title since 1988. There had been two wild card births  since then but this was special, finally another Divisional Title.

In 2006 the New York Mets took over first place on April 6th, never losing a lead & finished up 12 games ahead of the Philadelphia Phillies.

Willie Randolph's Mets (91-58) sent Steve Trachsel (14-7) to the mound to face Joe Girardi's Florida Marlins & pitcher Brad Moehler (7-8).

Starting Lineups



Steve Trachsel who at the time was the longest tenured Met, pitched into the 7th inning without giving up any runs, allowing only three hits, walking just one & striking out three Marlins. He earned his 15th win of the year (15-7). 

Relievers Guillermo Mota & Aaron Heilman(8th inning) led the way to closer; Billy Wagner who finished it out with a perfect 9th inning. 

 The Marlins, Josh Willingham flew out to left fielder; Cliff Floyd for the final out & the Mets celebrated in victory.

Quotes: "I got that ball in my back pocket. For a small fee, I might give it up," Floyd said, laughing.

In the Mets 3rd inning, Shawn Green was hit by a pitch, then that night's hitting star; Jose Valentin hit a two run HR making it 2-0. Valentin homered again in the 5th inning, a solo shot making it 3-0 New York, as the fans went wild. It was Valentin's 16th & 17th HRs of the year.

 In 2006 the 36 year old Jose Valentin was the Mets primary second baseman hitting 18 HRs with 24 doubles, 62 RBIs & a .271 batting average.

In the 6th inning, Cliff Floyd singled to right field, bringing in Carlos Beltran with the final run.

In the joyful Mets clubhouse the team celebrated with cigars & champagne. The lockers were covered so none of the fancy clothes get wet & the players wore goggles to protect their eyes from the burn of the bubbly.

Back on the field after the game, the two young faces of the franchise; David Wright & Jose Reyes celebrated & posed for the press in celebration.

Comments

DyHrdMET said…
that was a fun night. i remember the Valentin homers and Trachsel's start. they were on the field, spraying champagne for a long time after the game ended. such a buzz during BP.

i posed a video and a couple of pics on RememberingShea.
September 18, 2009 at 12:21 PM
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

Remembering Mets History: (1978) Tough Guy John Stearns Wins Out In Home Plate Collision With Dave Parker

-
Image
Friday June 30th 1978: Joe Torre's fifth place Mets (33-45) were in Pittsburgh at Three Rivers Stadium to play the fourth place Pirates (35-38) in a weekend series. Not much excitement surrounded this one, although a nice crowd of 31,947 came out as the Mets; Nino Espinosa went up against veteran Don Robinson. Starting Lineups Mets 1 Lenny Randle 3B 2 Tim Foli SS 3 Lee Mazzilli CF 4 Steve Henderson LF 5 Willie Montanez 1B 6 Bruce Boisclair RF 7 John Stearns C 8 Doug Flynn 2B 9 Nino Espinosa P Pirates 1 Frank Taveras SS 2 Omar Moreno CF 3 Dave Parker RF 4 John Milner LF 5 Willie Stargell 1B 6 Ed Ott C 7 Phil Garner 2B 8 Ken Macha 3B 9 Don Robinson P The Mets scored in the 3rd inning, as Espinosa doubled, Len Randle singled  & Tim Foli brought in the first run with a sac fly. By the 7th inning the Pirates took the lead, as shortstop Frank Taveras had driven in two runs & Ken Macha had an RBI double of his own. 
Read more

Former Italian / American Player: Dante Bichette (1988-2001)

-
Image
Alphonse Dante Bichette was Born on November 18, 1963 in West Palm Beach, Florida. The six foot three, right handed hitting outfielder was signed at age 19 after attending Jupiter, High School in Jupiter Florida. He was drafted by the California Angels in the 17th round in 1984. Dante had a modest minor league career peeking in the majors for two seasons early on his career (1988 & 1989). He spent three years overall with the Angels hitting 15 HRs in 1990 in his first full season (109 games). He was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers for Dave Parker in March 1991. He hit his Brewer best 15 HRs the next season. In 1993 he was traded to the expansion Colorado Rockies for Kevin Reimer, becoming an original Rockie. There he became one of the teams first stars, as his offensive numbers exploded in the Mile high air of the Rocky Mountains.  Bichette was part of the "Blake Street Bombers" which also included sluggers Larry Walker, Andres Galarraga, and Vinny Castilla.
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