Smithers : Pendelton homer : Ojeda gardening : Scioscia homer : Dykstra/McDowell for Samuel : Smithers again ( Strawberry ) : Strawberry leaves : Cone "warming up" in bullpen : Cone for Kent/Thompson : Anthony Young : Firecrackers : Bleach : "I'll show you the Bronx!" : Generation K : Kent/Baerga : Izzy/Taylor : Franco/Benitez Game 6 NLCS : Kenny Rogers : Card Game : Bordick/Mora : Zeile/Timo : BENITEZ! : Jeter/Jones : Luis Sojo : Goodbye, Hampton : Hello, Appier : Jordan homer ( BENITEZ!!! ) : 6 days later, 5-1 lead, BENITEZ!!!!!!!!! : Fonzie's bad back : Mo Vaughn : Alomar : Kazmir/Zambrano : Sanchez taxi : Pedro/El_Duque hurt : Molina homer : Beltran looking : 7_17 : Glavine's finale : 3_17 : Wright strands Murph at 3rd : Shea's last game : CASTILLO!!!!! : Jason Bay : K-Rod's father-in-law : Johan's injuries : Madoff : Harvey/Tommy_John
Yes, it's been a rough 28 season, but I have had one positive experience as a Mets fan in recent years. Entering this season, I had taken one or both of my sons to 6 Mets games ( Michael to 1, and Michael/Peter to 5 ) and the Mets had won all 6. The full history is listed below:
Michael
5/2/2007 : Mets 6, Marlins 3
Michael and Peter
5/11/2008: Mets 8, Reds 3
7/12/2008 : Mets 3, Rockies 0
7/30/2009 : Mets 7, Rockies 0
4/24/2010 : Mets 3, Braves 1 : Blog
7/21/2013 : Mets 5, Phillies 0 : Blog
I admit that I've been aware of this streak for a while and I've been cherry-picking games that I think the Mets have a good chance of winning. However, it hasn't been easy to find games the Mets have a good chance of winning considering the state of the Mets since 2009. Last year, I picked a Matt Harvey game, but that wasn't an option this year. Also, considering the how anemic the Mets' hitting has been this year ( the worst I've seen since the late 1970's ), I was seriously considering not going to a Mets game this year.
But then Jacob deGrom happened ...
The Mets have a bunch of highly-touted pitching prospects in their organization, but deGrom wasn't considered to be one. He was originally a college shortstop, and when given a chance to start a game for the Mets this May ( due to injuries on the Mets major league staff ) he was already well past the age ( he turned 26 in June ) where most pitchers make make their major league debuts. However, he showed electric stuff that first start, out-pitched the more highly-touted Mets prospect Rafael Montero over the next few weeks, and soon earned a regular spot in the pitching rotation. It's too early to say whether he'll be a long-term ace, but he's definitely been the best starting pitcher for the Mets this year.
When deGrom was slated to pitch on Fireworks Night on 8/2/14, it seemed like the perfect night to try and continue the streak ( even if the Mets lost, at least we'd get to see some fireworks ). My only concern was that the Mets would be playing the Giants that night. By any measure, the Giants ( along with the Cardinals ) have been one of the 2 best teams in the National League since 2010, winning 2 World Series over the past 4 years ( the Cardinals have been a bit more consistently good, but have only won 1 World Series since 2010 ). The fact that the Giants were sending a pitcher with a 1-10 record to the mound was comforting, until you considered that the pitcher was 2007 Cy Young Award winner Jack Peavy. Peavy clearly isn't as good as he was back in 2007, but at the age of 33, he's not at the stage of his career where you would expect him to be washed-up. The Giants certainly didn't think he was washed-up; they had traded for him a week earlier to help in their pennant race with the Dodgers. I had watched part of his first game with the Giants on ESPN, and it still seemed like he had really good stuff.
Still, no guts, no glory. I had confidence that deGrom could shut the Giants down, and if I want the boys to grow up to be Mets fans, I should take them to at least one game a year ( Peter actually seemed excited about the prospect of going to a Mets game when we brought it up, and considering that he's expressed an interest in the Yankees in the past, I wasn't going pass up a prime opportunity to brainwa-um-I-mean-coax him into being a Mets fan. ).
So, on the afternoon on 8/2/14, we all piled into the minivan and headed out to the ballpark in Flushing ( or as I like to unofficially call it, "new Shea" ). I wound up getting in the wrong lane on the GW Bridge, and actually had to drive across Manhattan to get to the game. Driving crosstown in Manhattan is never fun, but at least we got to see the Apollo theater.
I left the house hours before the game started, so despite the wrong turn, we still arrived at the game early enough to take plenty of pre-game photos.
I still can't believe how tall Michael is getting. I wouldn't be surprised it he's taller than Ruth by this time next year.
The parking lot is marked with the original locations of home plate, the bases, and the pitcher's mound at Shea. Here's a few shots of Peter hanging out where Gooden and Carter used to work.
After some food, some Kiddie Field fun, and a shot on the Shea Bridge, we were ready to take our seats.
Here's the view from our seats, plus a shot of Michael pre-game.
The boys paid closer attention to the game than they ever had in the past. I actually had some chances to explain the game to them.
Michael watched all 9 innings with me. This the first time he has ever watched an entire game. He's never watch a full game on TV before, and Ruth usually needs to take both boys on several little snack-trips at the ballpark.
Peter was in his seat the majority of the time, but he did take a trip with Ruth to get some ice cream.
I've seen more than 200 games in Flushing and have seem my share of great plays in person, and this catch is definitely in the top 5. It still remains to be seen if Juan Lagares can be a consistent hitter long-term, but he's already on my Mount Rushmore of great Mets defensive players ( Lagares joins Hernandez, Ordonzez, and Beltran ).
I've been to quite a few Mets games with my brother Craig and friend Tom, and we've always noticed that every time we go to a ballgame, we always see something we've never seen before ( Not all of these things are baseball related; We've seen a skinny guy doing body-building poses in front of our section for no apparent reason, a drunk guy roll down several rows of upper deck seats, and once saw a guy walking around the upper deck dressed like a six-foot piece of swiss cheese. ). Today was no exception. As we entered the 7th inning of the game, neither pitcher had surrendered a hit.
In the long history of baseball, there has only been one double no-hitter, and we were within three innings of it happening that night. Of course, I don't think Michael fully appreciated what he was seeing, because he kept telling me how boring it was that nobody has gotten any hits yet.
I was lucky enough to witness all 9 inning of the Mets' first no-hitter on TV ( Plus, all 9 innings of Nolan Ryan's record-breaking 5th no-hitter on national TV ), but this was only the second time I had seen been at a game in which a pitcher had carried a no-hitter into the 7th inning. Back in the late 90's, Craig and I watched Rick Reed retire the first 19 batters in a game before giving up a walk and a homer and ultimately losing the game. I had never been to a Mets game in which a pitcher from either team had been closer than 8 out from a no-hitter, and now both pitchers were only 9 outs away.
When deGrom retired the first 2 batters in the top of the 7th, a new benchmark had been set. I was now only 7 outs away from witnessing a Mets no-hitter in person. As a Mets fan who's watched scores of potential no-hitters go up in smoke before Johan broke through, I try not to get too excited about no-hit bids until the game reaches the 8th inning. Well, we were now just one out away from that as Pedro Sandoval stepped to the plate, and if DeGrom could retire Kung Fu Panda, he'd have a chance to complete the no-hitter without having to face the middle of the Giants order again. Alas, Sandoval smacked the ball into the left-center field gap so hard that even Lagares couldn't run it down. The no-hit bid was over, Sandoval stood at 2nd, and crowd rose to their feet show deGrom their appreciation ( I'm sure Mets fans didn't invent the tradition of giving the pitcher a standing ovation after a no-hit bid is lost, but we certainly perfected it after 50 years of failed no-hit bids from 1962 - 2012. ). Degrom quickly retired the next batter, and we were on to the bottom of the 7th.
Lest we forget, there was still another no-hitter in progress - not just a no-hitter, but a perfect game. Peavy had retired the first 18 Mets he'd faced, and considering that the Mets had only gotten 2 hits in the previous game ( and for what it's worth, they only managed 2 hits in the next game of the series ), it certainly seemed plausible that the Mets might help Peavy make history that night.
Granderson led off the inning with a deep fly ball that got us all to our feet, but we all sat back down as the ball died on the warning track. Murphy hit what looked like a harmless opposite-field fly ball to left, but it soon became apparent that the ball might make it over the head of Giants left-fielder Michael Morse. The next thing we knew, the ball hit the ground and we rose to our feet as Murph pulled into 2nd base. David Wright followed with a looper to left that also looked harmless, but it dropped a few feet in front of Morse, and the Mets had runners at the corners. Replays would later show that Morse had badly misplayed both Murphy's and Wright's fly balls. He initially broke the wrong way on both balls, and if he had broken the right way, he almost certainly would have caught both balls. Basically, if the Giants had been playing an average fielder in left field, Peavy would have carried a perfect game into the 8th. However, that didn't matter to us - it was rally time! Let's go Mets!!!!
Peavy hit Duda with a pitch to load the based, and Travis d'Arnaud followed with a sacrifice fly to give the Mets a 1-0 lead. After Lagares singled and Flores doubled to give the Mets a 4-0 lead, it was time to celebrate.
The way deGrom was pitching, a 4-0 lead seemed safe, but the Giants started to hit deGrom in the 8th ( It looked like he had clearly run out of gas, and it may have been worse that that. He looked sub-par in his following start, and then went on the 15-day DL with tendinitis in his shoulder. It's certainly not as bad as Harvey tearing a ligament last year, but sometime it feels like Mets fans can't catch a break. ), and the Mets bullpen took over with one out in the 8th with the score 4-2.
The Giants managed to get the tying runs on base in the 9th, but the Mets managed to hold on for a 4-2 victory. It may not have been pretty ( The 7th inning was the only inning the Mets got any runners on base, and two of those runners got on base due to poor fielding ), but the Mets had gotten it done, and the streak now stood at 7. Time for some fireworks!!!!
P.S. For the record, here's is a link to the play-by-play of the of victory.
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