#99 mets

The series finale on Sunday, May 23 was preceded by a two-hour rain delay. The Mets continued to rest once it began, as they could do nothing against Philly's ace, Curt Schilling. The New York papers were filled with glowing profiles of Schilling, praising him for pitching deep into games and for pressuring his miserly team to spend on free agents, lest he demand a trade him to a team that would. Despite the fact that Schilling's pitching was one of the biggest reason the Phillies were a surprise contender early in the season, it was assumed a trade was almost certain to happen, due to Schilling's high value, large contract, and inability to keep his mouth shut.

Schilling held a 4-0 lead going into the bottom of the ninth and clearly had his eye on the finish line. But suddenly the Mets awoke, starting their rally with a two-run Ventura homer to cut the deficit in half. One out later, Matt Franco singled, Luis Lopez was hit by a pitch, and Jermaine Allensworth hit an RBI single to bring the Mets within a run. There was no hint of action in the Philly bullpen, however. "Regardless of who was available, that was his game," manager Terry Francona said later, with a clear aim of blaming what transpired solely on his pitcher.

The righty nearly wriggled off the hook by getting Roger Cedeño to hit a grounder to short, but the speedy runner beat the relay throw to first, and Cedeño promptly stole second without a throw. Schilling went right after the next batter, Edgardo Alfonzo, and backed him into an 1-2 hole, only to hit him with a pitch and load the bases. His very next pitch was belted into left field by John Olerud. Lopez scored easily, and Cedeño came charging right behind him. The throw to the plate was late by just a hair, handing the Mets an improbable 5-4 walkoff win against one of the best pitchers in the game.

"We sit around for an hour," Valentine later opined in the hopped up clubhouse, "and some people started saying: ‘Should we even play this game? We should issue an executive edict and miss Schilling, and maybe he’ll be in the American League the next time we meet them’. There was a lot of that going around. And if we didn’t win that game, there would have been a lot of second guessing."

Now that both he and his old skipper are managing in the American League, Robin Ventura may finally get his hat and sunglasses back. On June 9, 1999, when he managed the Mets, Bobby Valentine donned a fake mustache and sunglasses and re-emerged in the dugout after being ejected for arguing with the umpires in the 12th inning of the game.

Although Valentine, who was recently hired to manage the Boston Red Sox, has become known for the stunt, it was Ventura, who had been removed for a pinch-runner in the ninth inning, and teammates who urged Valentine to put on the disguise and return to the dugout.

Probably the most heartbroken I've ever been as a baseball fan, when Kenny Rogers walked in the winning run. Not only did they lose after coming so close and fighting so hard, but they lost in the most agonizing way possible.