Ultimate Mets Database: Game of May 14, 1994

Dave VW
March 8, 2023
If ever there was a player the Mets could have called a "sparkplug," it would be John Cangelosi. Hit on the foot by a curveball in an obvious accident his previous at-bat, Cangelosi is then plunked by just as obvious of a purpose pitch following Ryan Thompson's grand slam in the 5th inning. But little Johnny wasn't about to just take one between the numbers and claim his base, as he instead charged the mound and sparked a brawl that was mainly just shirt clutching and shouting after Smoltz and O'Brien got their licks in on Cangelosi. The pitcher and batter were the only 2 players ejected, and no one else was even close to getting plunked the rest of the game. You really have to figure, down 7-0 at the time, that Smoltz, who was set to lead off in the top of the 6th, knew he was going to be pinch-hit for and decided to let some frustration out before he hit the showers. If there's one thing I can say on his behalf, at least he didn't go head-hunting, instead hitting Cangelosi square in the back. As Met fans, it wouldn't be fair to get on Smoltz for doing the exact same thing Gooden did plenty of times during his career as well.

Thompson's grand slam was the only one of his career, as well as the only one the Mets would ever hit against Smoltz. It was quite unexpected considering Ryan had struck out on 3 pitches in each of his first 2 at-bats, and got down 0-2 in his grand slam at-bat. He somehow stayed alive by nicking a foul tip on pitch 3 and took a ball up and in on pitch 4 before socking a curveball to the back of the LF bullpen. Oddly enough, Thompson finished his career 2-for-11 vs. Smoltz, with both hits being home runs.

Speaking of odd, Ryan Klesko had quite the adventurous day. With two outs and a runner on 3rd in the 3rd inning, Todd Hundley lifted a weak fly to LF that should have ended the inning. Instead, for some reason Klesko decided to flip his sunglasses from down to up, then proceeded to lose the ball in the sun and drop it for a run-scoring error. On the very next pitch, Joe Orsulak hit a single to left that Klesko then airmailed to the backstop even though he had no chance of getting Hundley at the plate for his second error of the inning. Then Bonilla lifted another flyball to LF that Klesko again lost in the sun, then slipped and fell as the ball landed in the grass for an RBI double. I wonder if Smoltz would have rather thrown at Klesko instead of Cangelosi if he had the chance. Klesko somewhat made up for his miscues by slugging a no-doubter of a home run (his first of 16 career HRs vs. the Mets) in the 8th off the very ineffective Doug Linton. That made the score 8-4, and Fred McGriff and David Justice each reached base after that as the Braves looked poised for a rally. But Roger Mason came on and did yeoman's work, getting Mark Lemke to flyout to the warning track, O'Brien to strikeout and pinch-hitter Javy Lopez to groundout to end the threat. For O'Brien, it was his first ever game facing his former team. The Braves also featured fellow former Mets Bill Pecota and Dave Gallagher ... why they wanted so many players from the lowly 1992-93 Mets era is beyond me.

This was also my first extended look at Mauro Gozzo, and I liked what I saw. He worked fast, threw strikes and seemed to have good stuff. Unfortunately, the good times didn't last, as he'd hold a 6.20 ERA over his next 5 starts (the Mets losing each of those games) and he'd be permanently moved to the bullpen after that.

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