Ultimate Mets Database: Game of July 20, 1997

Michael
October 4, 2023
Along with a great Mets win on a gorgeous Sunday afternoon, this broadcast had a classic back and forth with Howie Rose and Ralph Kiner in the early innings Howie, talking to Ralph, says "You know Ralph, there's been a lot of chatter around the league about how good of a young umpire that Angel Hernandez is so far this season" (Never mind how poorly that quote has aged!).....Ralph, completely deadpan with perfect comedic timing, replies.."Where the heck do you hang out that they're talking about umpires?"

A great broadcast moment from an otherwise easy victory.

Dave VW
October 19, 2023
I watched this game recently and caught even more hijinx between the announcers, as Kiner was in a particularly joking mood on this day. He brought up the term "duck soup" and wondered where it came from, and then started talking about other weird things he's tried, like clam chowder and turtle soup. Later he asked Fran Healy what he thought the most important stat in baseball is, but before answering Healy called the action, which was a swing and miss by Dave Mlicki. So Fran says "swung on and missed," and immediately Ralph asks, "swung on and missed is the most important stat?" That got an eyeroll out of me. In case anyone's wondering, they both agreed it's RBI.

They also came to the conclusion that middle relievers only end up in that spot because they can't make it as starters and are really nothing better than minor leaguers. Another classic example of two stuck-in-their-ways, old-school know-it-alls who refused to see the evolution of the game happening before their eyes. Yes, perhaps that philosophy applied to the 1960s, but gone were the days when starters went 8 or 9 innings every start. Baseball was, by this time, becoming far more analytical, with knowledge of matchups and splits giving far more weight to picking a solid relief corps. Even in 1997, calling situation relievers or setup pitchers nothing better than minor leaguers was terribly antiquated.

Healy kept up the stupid later on, remarking how MLB will have to create an expansion team in Japan, or else the Japanese League will go under like the Negro Leagues did. There are just so many things wrong with that statement. First, the logistics of a MLB team in Japan would be impossible. Second, think about how many players from Russia play in the NHL, or are from Europe and play in the NBA. Both those places still have their own leagues, so why would Japanese baseball be any different? Third, Fran not understanding there's a huge difference in the origins of the Negro Leagues and Japanese baseball is shockingly ignorant. Please, get these old farts out of the broadcast booth already!

As for Hundley, he broke Bobby Bonilla's team record by hitting a home run from both sides of the plate for the fifth time in this one. His first homer was actually caught barehanded by one of the Reds relievers in the bullpen. He still holds the record, though Carlos Beltran tied it in 2011. It was also Hundley's last of six times getting 4 hits in a game.

This was also Dave Mlicki's only time collecting 2 hits in a game. With the win, the Mets moved to 13 games over .500 for the first time since 1991.

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