Damned if I was going to let the fact that this game started at 11PM cost me the chance to miss the Mets first playoff game since 88. And they made staying up until 2AM worth it by whipping Johnson and the DBacks. As I had done a few short days ago, I gasped and then cheered and danced as Alfonzo blasted a grand slam just inside the foul pole in the 9th. And the Mets miracle run continued...

As a Diamondbacks fan, I attended this game at Bank One Ballpark. I was sitting behind the left- field foul pole when Edgardo Alfonzo's grand slam in the ninth inning fell into the stands just below me. I was disappointed by this result and by the fact that Randy Johnson did not pitch a good game.

However, the Diamondbacks finally got their revenge against New York (if not against the Mets - against the bad boys from the Bronx) when they won World Series two years later, coming from behind in the bottom of the ninth inning to win the seventh game on Luis Gonzalez' bases- loaded bloop single.

A lesson is learned from every baseball game. In game 6 of the 1986 World Series, Bob McNamara pulled Roger Clemens after 7 incredible innings for the Red Sox and, as you all know and have seen highlight reels of a million times, the Mets managed to come back and win. YOU DON'T PULL A GOOD PITCHER LIKE ROGER CLEMENS IN A CLOSE, HUGE GAME! The same thing happened on this night in Arizona, Game 1 of the 1999 NLDS. Randy Johnson did not pitch a great game, this is true. But the game was tied at 4 and Buck Showalter decided to hand the game over to his bullpen instead of letting Randy Johnson, the great pitcher that he is, finish what he started. Instead, he gave Bobby Chouinard the ball and, with the bases loaded, Edgardo Alfonzo skied one into the seats in left and put a dagger in the hearts of every Diamondbacks fan (which I'm okay with because, of course, I'm a Met fan). After this game, I had a feeling the Mets had this series.

Obviously this was our first playoff game in a decade (if you don't count the tiebreaker vs. the Reds) and Fonzie put the team on his back. I remember how late it was on the East Coast when this one ended. One general comment about this game, which was true for a lot of 98 and 99 especially was how well Cook and Wendell kept us in it after the Diamondbacks got on a roll in the middle innings. Particularly Wendell - he got more key outs for us in those two seasons than most people seem to remember.

As a Diamondbacks fan, I attended this game at Bank One Ballpark. It was pleasing to me to see the D-Backs bounce back after a disappointing performance the night before. The D-Backs needed to win only one game at Shea Stadium to return the series to Phoenix. However, that was not to be, so we had to wait until the year after next year to earn our championship.

This was my first ever playoff game and this season I went to many many nailbitters and of course of the way to Shea we hear Ed Coleman say Mike Piazza wont play today because of a injured thumb, the 1st thing that came to my mind was I have the worst luck in the world, that at of all the playoffs games I go to Mike Piazza isn't gonna play, but finnally something went my way and that is the Mets beat the D-Backs 9-2 oh man after all the games I have ever went to and all the years of stressful games it felt so great to watch a playoff game and in the 7th inning just relax and not even worry about a rally or nothing, this was my favorite game ever and also I caught a foul ball hit by Tony Womack so it couldn't get better.

The first home postseason Mets game in 13 years. . .and I was there! This was the first (and so far only) playoff game I attended and my boys didn't disappoint. They played a dominant brand of baseball that night and took hold of this series against a team they struggled with all season long. The 6-run sixth when they batted around was a thing of precision, as they kept getting one well-placed hit after another. When you score nine runs without a home run, you know players brought their hitting shoes with 'em. Just a great night to be at Shea (although probably not as great as the following afternoon). For a lifelong Mets fan (we're talking since 1973), getting to see my boys in person in the playoffs was a great moment.

This was the first playoff game I attended. My family has a share in season tickets for seats on the field level behind third base. It was my dad and I. I was in my junior year of high school. I remember I got called down to the office at school because my dad was on the phone to verify when we were heading off to Shea. The game was awesome. I would have been happy even if the Mets had gotten knocked out in the first round (I did not expect them to beat Arizona). This game the field level was litterly rockin' with all the fans jumpin'.

This was the first Met playoff game I ever attended after being a Met fan for 24 years and the electricity was incredible. We were sitting down the right field line and some people were standing up for most of the game. I remember Darryl Hamilton being a sparkplug this night.

It was the 1st Mets playoff game I ever attended. My brother, cousin and his ex-brother-in-law was with me. We sat in the mezzanine (3rd base side). And before the game we tailgated with thousands of other fans in the parking lot. Many of the fans were blasting "LA Woman" from the Doors and many more were listening to the Braves-Astros game that was going on that afternoon. The Mets won in a rout and my best memory was of the 4 of us hopscotching to our seats to avoid the clumps of horse manure that the NYPD horsies had left as a reminder. I always wish to this day that my cousin (who had the tickets to all the playoffs, he had the Sunday games package) had invited me to Game 4 aka Todd Pratt's home run off Matt Mantei. Oh well.

My oldest son had a Little League game that afternoon, so before leaving, I popped in a videotape around the 7th inning and started taping. Turned out to be a great move - my youngest son's all-time favorite videotape moment (which gets rewound and replayed ad infinitum) is watching Steve Finley look in his glove and NOT see the baseball that had just come off of Todd Pratt's bat. The most priceless moment is watching Johnny Franco prance out of the dugout as Pratt rounded the bases and crossed the plate, ensuring that the Mets would meet the Braves in the LCS.

A very strange game. . .the Mets benefit from Tony Womack's late inning muff of an easy fly ball. . .Cookie Rojas is tossed for arguing a foul-ball call down the 3rd base line (it looked fair to me too Cookie!). . .defensive super-sub Melvin Mora cuts down a runner at the plate in the late innings to keep the Mets in it. . .and then. . .TODD PRATT! Tank manages to turn around Mantei's best fastball and drive it 411 feet to dead center! No one at Shea knows if its gone until the fireworks go off and Finley checks his gloves and slumps dejectedly. What a wierd, wonderful game!!!

I was at this game, scrambed down from Binghamton that morning, and risked academic ruin as I had a paper due Tuesday, but I had a chance to go and I took it. Not to nitpick with the last comment, but Mantei had thrown 2.2 innings by time Pratt hit his HR, and he's a short man, so I think his fastball was lagging. Pratt would later say he was sitting dead red, especially after Mantei bounced a splitter into the stands on the first pitch. And then it happened, Pratt smoked it out of the ballpark and somehow, I managed to stay composed enough to snap some pictures of the moment while everyone else went berserk. What a fabulous game!

Where do I begin...It was an odd game, satisfying but tense. When the game began many seats had remained empty(traffic problems it turns out)and the sky was kind of hazy. I don't think many of us there were very confident since Piazza had the bad hand and could not play. Lots of memories, from the blast down the line that got Rojas canned, to Hamilton's sliding catch in center, to Benny's blast to right center and finally to Pratt's picture perfect punch to center. But what I will never ever forget was how the upper deck vibrated with the jubilent rhythmic stomping of feet. I feared that Shea would fall apart, I really did. Long Live Todd Pratt! Lets Go Mets!

Sitting behind the plate in Section 1 or 3 of the upper deck, this was the best game I have ever seen in my lifetime. Back and forth battle until the bottom of the 10th. "Mantei sets, the pitch swing and a high fly ball deep CF hit pretty well Finley goes back at the track jumping... and its OUTTA HERE, Pratt hit it over the fence, Finley jumped and he missed it the Mets win the ballgame!" by Cohen, or Berman's call "(crack) hit pretty well, Finley goes back back back...it's over, it's over, Todd Pratt, one of the most unlikely heroes wins it in the 10th."

I was at this game and what a classic it was! It was Game 4 of the NLDS, where the Mets had the chance to clinch with a 2-1 series lead. I had my regular seats (behind home plate on the third base side). It stayed close but the D- Backs threatened in the eighth but a great throw by Agbayani and an even better job by Todd Pratt of blocking the plate saved the Mets from having Jay Bell, a future Met, score the go-ahead run.

In the bottom half of the inning, a Met (who I think was Darryl Hamilton) hit a ball down the line that would have brought home a run if it were fair. Everyone stood up and I couldn't see but it was called foul and the fans groaned but then Cookie Rojas started arguing the call and he got ejected, suspended, and fined.

I think in the same inning, Shawon Dunston had the most incredible at-bat I've ever seen, fouling off EVERY SINGLE PITCH before finally hitting one up the middle.

Then, in the tenth, Todd Pratt stepped up against Matt Mantei and hit a shot with that helicopter swing of his and it was back to the wall and I was scared because I knew Steve Finley was an incredible center fielder (which was where the ball was) and it was BACK BACK BACK! and Steve Finley jumped and came down and I thought he had the ball but he looked down at his glove and the ball wasn't there and that's when I knew the Mets were going to the NLCS and I watched John Franco (who had gotten the win) coming jumping and hopping out of the dugout and it was the greatest Mets moment I had ever experienced and then I was on eyewitness news screaming "Let's Go Mets!" so that was cool too.

I was sitting in the third to last row in the upper deck way down the right field line. Lousy seats but it gave me a perfect view of Todd Pratt's homer, which was hit to the right of the 410 sign. What most people at Shea and everyone on TV didn't see was that the ball actually GRAZED THE TOP OF STEVE FINLEY'S GLOVE as it went over the fence. The ball clearly changed trajectory (flattened out) as Finley leaped for it. Everyone remembers those few agonizing seconds when they didn't know whether to cheer or cry, but few people realize how close Finley actually came to pulling it back into the park. What a game!

As is becoming a habit of mine, I go back to posts I have made and feeling as though I was a bit too terse in leaving my memories of a particular game. This is no different. Looking back 7 years later, and having attended many games over time, this was by far the best game I have ever attended, and my memories of this game, aided by videotape and by pictures I took are far more vivid than most other games.

I remember...

...Driving down from Binghamton the previous night, a Friday, and listening to game 3 on the radio, knowing Piazza was out and then arriving home around the 6th inning and seeing the Mets slowly put the game out of reach and knowing that I would be there for game 4 and a potential clincher.

...Being so amped up for the game that I left my house around 9AM and arrived at the stadium around 10:30. The gates had just opened and I was outside waiting for my friend until 11:30. Noted the banners outside that read "ARE YOU READY FOR THE POST-SEASON."

...Finally going into the stadium and up to my seat in the Mezzanine, section 12. Watching the Dbacks take batting practice, snapping some pictures and watching as the crowds coming off the train got larger and larger as game time approached.

...Keith and Mookie throwing out the first pitches to more ovations and more anticipation. The stadium was electric. I noted that after so many years of bad Mets teams the stadium would look so large when it was empty and how it seemed so much smaller now that it was full.

...The Mets taking the field at 1:07 PM charging out to the field not to the intro to Pink Floyd’s "Time" as they had during the season but the outro to The Beatles "A Day In The Life." Everything seemed different about this game.

...Fonzie homering into the LF bleachers in the 4th and the crowd going bonkers.

...Leiter taking a no-hitter into the 5th before Colbrunn homered to break it up and tie the game.

...Henderson fouling off every deuce from Anderson before blooping a single to right. Agbayani doubled to right center to score Rickey and giving the Mets a 2-1 lead.

...Leiter making it through 7.2 innings before allowing a walk to Turner Ward and a questionable infield single to Womack which Fonzie booted before throwing to first just late. Leiter would then exit to one of the largest and loudest standing ovations I have ever bore witness to.

...Benitez giving up the double to Jay Bell scoring Ward and Womack and feeling like I was just suckerpunched. I felt like crying.

...Williams drilling a single to Left shortly after Bell rounding third to score but Melvin Mora throwing a perfect strike home and Pratt diving to tag out Bell to end the Dbacks threat.

...The bottom of the 8th being the longest inning I have ever sat through. Mind you, nobody in the stadium is sitting at this point, as Greg Olson walks Fonzie to lead off, then is removed for Greg Swindell to pitch to Olerud. And Olerud putting forth an incredible at bat, working the count to 2-2, fouling off pitch after pitch before finally lofting a fly ball to right, and seeing Womack drift back, thinking it’s going to be caught, but it keeps drifting and drifting...suddenly Womack is on the warning track...lines it up...and drops it. He dropped the ball and Fonzie scampers all the way to third, and Olerud to second. Cedeno then lofting a fly to center, Finley cutting in front of Womack to make the catch, Fonzie scoring easily to re-tie the game. Ventura then walked, and Showalter then made a peculiar move. He double switched Matt Williams, his best hitter and fielder out of the game, for Mantei. Mantei would get Pratt to hit a comebacker, and Olerud was tagged out at 3rd. 2 out. Darryl Hamilton, on 3-2, hit a slicing liner down the left field line which bounced on the chalk...And the crowd went nuts because to just about everyone it looked fair. Everyone except Charlie Williams, the LF Umpire. Cookie Rojas and Williams then engaged in a legendary argument. Bobby V. had to come out and restrain Rojas, Rojas then shoved Williams in the chest and finally had to be pulled away by Valentine, Mookie and Ventura. Bobby V. would end up coaching third after everything settled and spent the rest of the inning glaring directly at Mantei. Mantei walked Hamilton on the next pitch to load the bases. Then Ordonez struck out...I then had to take a deep breath and make sure I hadn’t died during the inning.

...Benitez getting through the 9th 1-2-3.

...Fonzie batting in the last of the 9th with Matt Franco on 2nd and being sure he would drive in the winning run...He didn’t.

...John Franco coming in for the 10th and making a great play on a Lenny Harris chopper.

...4:33PM...Pratt smoking a drive to deep center on the 1-0 pitch...and Finley going back...and I’m reaching for my camera...And Finley at the wall...And jumps...and comes down...and slumps down...And Pratt is jumping around the bases, and Ordonez and Luis Lopez come streaking across the infield, and everyone is going crazy...And the whole time I remember thinking to myself "Did I just see that? Did Pratt just do that? What in the world!?"...And fireworks are going off, and "LA Woman" is blasting.

...And the scoreboard reads in giant letters "CONGRATULATIONS NEW YORK METS ON ADVANCING TO THE NATIONAL LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES!!!"

...And nobody wanting to leave the stadium just yet...and walking down the ramps and hearing mock tomahawk chops and varied chants of "LARRY" and "ROCKER SUCKS" and knowing that the Blood feud was about to begin.

And you look back on a game like this and think about how many times the Mets had high hopes and tanked or never had hopes at all, and you wonder why you stick with a team. This is why. It’s all for games like this. But they’re fleeting, and time passes, you come to appreciate games like this more and more because they don’t happen very often.

I can't believe how stupid I was. If I routinely tape games to watch later (I live on the West Coast) then how could I not have taped this one??? I was STUPID enough to do three things: 1) actually go to work, knowing this game was on at 1 pm our time; 2) actually go into yet another agonizingly boring staff meeting led by an even more agonzingly boring manager - a guy whose milquetoast personality makes even Art Howe look like The Rock - while the game was going on. I was more pissed at myself than Kenny Rogers - who Bobby V should've saved for a Game 3 home start - for allowing Eddie Perez to take him deep.

this was a rough one. the Mets made like no errors the whole year, and their best offensive player's error cost the Mets a biggie. Leiter was superb, but had nothing to show for it.

The first playoff game at Shea stadium in many, many years. Friend of mine got tickets and four of us made the drive down from Albany. Met other friends at Shea, but the friend with the tickets hadn't shown yet. Jimmy Cadillac talked with a cop, expalined the situation and the cop let us into a pre-game party going on in the left field bullpen. Incredible. Ice sculptures, live music, open bars, sushi, BBQ. Wilpon was working the crowd, as was former Senator Al D'Amato, who was stuffing his face with the free food. Great seats and an incredible game with several plays at the plate. Braves scored only once -- in the first inning, but the Mets couldn't put a run across and lost. Tough ride home. Ventura's grand-slam single two games later would lift our spirits, but Kenny Rogers walking in the game and series winner was a killer.

I was at this game. A tight one to nothing loss with Leiter pitching his guts out but the highlight was me yelling to John Rocker "RUN, FORREST, RUN" as he entered the game in the 9th and that was 2 months before he almost ruined Christmas and Y2K with his ignorant comments about New Yorkers and the 7 train.

It was crazy. I went to this game certain the Mets were going to lose. I mean, the braves had 3 games and the Mets none. I went in with a negative attitude, and came out of the stadium with a feeling of triumph! I felt like the entire crowd, young and old, came together that night. The entire stadium echoed "ASSHOLE" periodically through the night and occational "LARRY"'s. everyone, old men and little girls were all screaming it at the top of their lungs. thats what I love about being a Mets fan. such a diverse crowd that comes together regardless of any diffrences. I had so much fun and the Mets rocked, but it was overshadowed by the fact that after the game, I had the luck of meeting Gary CArter in the parking lot. he was my alltime favorite met and my childhood idol. the whole night was one to remember, even though I dont remember the specific detail of the game.

This was the first Met playoff game I had ever been to, although I have been a fan for nearly 25 years. I was sitting right next to the Braves bullpen in the picnic area. I remember all the police who had been there to protect John Rocker, and you should have heard the abuse he took from all the Met fans. In the bottom of the eighth inning, he came in to pitch and John Olerud hit a 2-run single off Rocker to score the tying and eventual winning runs. Benitez got the save in the 9th, and the Mets were still alive. I will never forget how crazy the subway ride home from Shea was that night.

This was my second playoff game I ever attended (and second of 1999 for that matter) and it was awesome. It was my cousin Dan, my uncle Dave, my sister Julie and myself. My cousin and I took the upper deck tickets and my sister and uncle took the field level tickets. The upper deck was awesome though. The game was quiet for the first six innings.

I remember when John Olerud came up, I pulled my Rosary out of my pocket and all of a sudden, BANG! Olerud hit a solo shot. It looked like Rick Reed was in control, then suddenly, Brian Jordan (this guy always seems to get big hits against them) and Ryan Klesko hit back-to-back homers to give the Braves a 2-1 lead. Rick Reed looked sooo down was he was pulled out. He still pitched an awesome game.

Then, Mets have runners on second and third (Roger Cedeno and Melvin Mora did a double steal) with Olerud coming up. In came John Rocker and along with him, the roaring "a**hole* chants. It was sooo intense, Olerud had two strikes and then lo and behold, he gets what I believe was his first hit off Rocker and at the perfect time. My cousin and I screamed at each other in excitment. Then, Armando Benitez came in and closed out an awesome game.

I was really upset because the Braves were up in the NLCS 3-0 and were one game away from making the World Series and I knew I had tickets to Game 5 so if the Mets could just win this game I could get to see them play one more time this year. In the eighth inning, it was 2-1 Braves and things didn't look good and John Rocker was on the mound and everyone was booing him but the Mets got Mevlin Mora and Roger Cedeno on second and third for John Olerud and John Olerud hit a bouncing ball up the middle that went off Ozzie Guillen's glove and both runs scored and the Mets took the lead! Then Armando Benitez came in to save it and I was going to see them tomorrow.

I have been a Mets fan since I was 6, but I have never been to or even seen a game as exciting as this one. It was game 5 of the NLCS and it was the 15th inning. I remember the roar of the fans screaming down at John Rocker and then it came: the forever to be remembered Grand slam single by Robin Ventura! The crowd went wild, we were all hugging each other and jumping around and kissing stangers and going crazy. there was no feeling at all like that one, and I will always remember how loud that crowd was when Ventura got that hit, and how we all came together with one common goal; to get to the World Series. It didnt matter that the next day the braves went on to clinch the pennet, it didnt matter that I lost my voice the day before a big presentation , and it didn't matter that I had broke my toe jumping up an down like crazy, the only thing that mattered was that we won! and that rocker sucked! I am so privledged to have been part of this game, this history in the making.

Sat in the upper boxes in right field with my 8 year old son. We got pretty wet. When it went extra innings, I told the people around us that to be a true Met miracle they would have to be losing before they won. My son wanted to move down, because people were leaving. We went down to the loge by first base. It was getting cold and late and I told my son, against my better Met fan judgement, that we would leave if noone scored in the next inning. The rest is history. I'll always remember the Dunston atbat. And the Ventura blast. When it was in the air, the game was over. When it cleared the fence, all hell broke loose. I was at Game 7 in 86, the divisional clincher in 88, and the pennant winner in 2000. This was the most fun. people in the parking lot were telling my son that he would never forget that night. LA Woman, cold rain, my son, and alive for another day. It doesnt get better than that.

I remember I had to go to a very, very important family "get together" on this evening, unfortunately at a restaurant with no tv. Being die hard Mets fans, me and my brother had to finish it. The game kept on going, and dammit, I was going to sit till the end of it. I listened to the play-by-play on 660. Got to the point that my uncle came out in the parking lot twice to tell us to come in -- I wasn't budging. It was raining pretty hard that evening.

Then, bases loaded. Ventura comes to the plate. And you know what happened then.

Seeing it on television that night when I got home was awesome too. Robin didn't even make it to second! Remember: Grand Slam Single!! What bs. Me and my brother almost lost our voices that night.

I started watching this game at home. It was getting late in the game and I had an hour and a half ride back to school in the rain. I thought I was gonna miss the end of the game. I continued listening to the game in my car on 660 WFAN. I sped through the rain so I could watch the Mets beat those damn Braves. I parked my car and ran back to my dorm with my bags and threw the game on the TV. I watched the game for about another hour or so and then POW!! Ventura hit the "grand slam single." When the ball left the bat I jumped up and yelled "GET THE #&*@ OUTTA HERE" and then watched it land on the other side of the fence and giving high fives to other Met fans in the room. One of my favorite sports moments.

The matchup for tonight was Greg Maddux vs. Masato Yoshii. In the first inning, Olerud connected off Maddux for a two-run homer to pick up where he left off from the night before and, after that, the game was a low scoring game that featured Chipper Jones getting hits and no one else did and everyone was going "Laaaaaarry!!" and it was also John Rocker's birthday and everyone wanted to see him but I don't think he ever pitched.

Another factor in the game was the weather. It was raining all game and there were a couple of rain delays and the game went a long time into the night. It then went into extras in a 2-2 game and then in the 13th the Braves threatned again when Keith Lockhart, their little used second baseman, got a base hit and then Chipper Jones hit another shot into the right field corner and Lockhart came around third but Melvin Mora saved the game by making an incredible throw to the cutoff, Edgardo Alfonzo, and Fonzie threw it home to Piazza, who blocked the plate incredibly and Lockhart ran over him but Piazza held on to the ball but he was injured.

Then, in the fifteenth, Lockhart tripled and scored and it was 3-2 Braves. Then, the Mets rallied and loaded up the bases for Todd Pratt and he walked to tie it up and Ventura step up, Mr. Grand Slam himself, and, as I knew he would, he hit it out but before he could reach second base he was mobbed by his teammates and he never made it to second so he was only given one RBI and it will be forever known as the "grand single" It was the greatest game I ever went to.

I was never more proud of the Mets than when I watched this game. 25 men pulling together as a team. Every player doing his part.

Shawon Dunston refusing to give up. Orel Hershiser acting on the phone acting like a pitching coach. Al Leiter and Rick Reed warming in the bullpen, ready to go.

This was one game that truly was a team effort.

The greatest and most thrilling Mets game I ever saw.

In the pouring rain, the Mets and Braves poured it on through 15 soggy innings. I never saw such intensity at Shea, such crowd involvement, or such drama. Or a 14th-inning-stretch. I have seen many sea serpents (my name for extra-inning games) at Shea Stadium, including a 17-inning disaster in 1979, but never this.

My wife Kathy was blowing her nose from sinuses and hiding under the stands in the late innings, when they ran out of food.

Everybody played. My scorecard was utterly bedraggled.

My biggest memory is that Bobby Valentine brought on a relief pitcher to throw an intentional walk, then yank him. That was overmanaging defined.

After the game, Kats was furious about having to sit through such horrid weather and was reluctant to join me at the World Series. But she did, for Game 3. Logically, that game went into the 10th inning.

"Well, I remember the last play because Robin Ventura played it out on one leg the whole game, and there was a point where I thought about taking him out, and he said 'No, leave me in,' and he comes up and gets the winning hit, it's gotta be poetic justice. Justice indeed. -Bobby Valentine

"Run around the bases? Nah. I'm too tired." -Robin Ventura

"I'll tell you, these Mets are Rasputin-like. You cannot put them away. They will not die." -Bob Costas

"They couldn't see beating the Braves 4-in a row, but they can see beating them 2-in a row. They've taken it one game at a time and now maybe they're seeing light at the end of the tunnel." -Joe Morgan

hey I been a Mets fan since I was 5 years, the night of October 17, 1999 was a night every Mets fan will cherish for the rest of their lives. I remember I was 17 at the time a junior in HS, I was suppose to go to a B-day party that night, I was getting ready for the party, while I took a shower I had the game on my small radio, after I showered I tuned in the TV again, I think it was the most nervous night I have ever witnessed. At the party they had the game on, in the living room there were some Yankees fans, and like 3 Mets fans including me, when the bot. 15th came all 3 of us Mets fans where doing the rally hat, and then came the Ventura's Grand SLam single, we screamed, we jumped, we cried, and hugged. "WE STILL BELIEVE GO METS!!!" I still believe YEEAAH!! What a game, it was amazin' playing under the rain, making sure that it was not our last game of 1999, we kept on fighting. Hey my fellow Mets fans let us the keep the faith and believe, we will have our town back real soon.

My friend and I moved down a couple times from the upper deck, eventually moving to the front row of the loge boxes right near the foul pole in left field (by the Atlanta pen). We would have moved again but after the Braves scored in the 15th, we decided to stay put and watch the Mets' at-bat. And what an at-bat! I remember it like it was yesterday:

Dunston fouled off like eight pitches before singling up the middle and then stole second with Franco pinch-hitting. Franco walks and then Fonzie bunts the runners up. Olerud is walked intentionally to load bases, and Pratt walks on a 3-1 pitch, flings his bat and runs down to first as Mets tie it.

At this point, the place is ROCKING. Literally, and there were like 20,000 empty seats. I remember vividly the fans in the box seats jumping up and down in the rain (and the rain was falling hard); it was tremendous support...

and then Ventura launches the bomb to right. Before it went out I hugged my friend. I didn't even see the ball go out, I knew we had won it with a sac fly at least.

I remember getting on the subway afterward. I asked about the Jets game and somebody said they lost again. I didn't care, not after that Met win...it culminated a whirlwind weekend at Shea, starting with the Friday 1-0 loss, but the back- to-back nail-biting wins. It was crazy at Shea, it was so nice the Mets were in the postseason again. Throw in the Pratt HR vs. Arizona and it was a great run.

I had drawn my company's tickets for Game 5 and watched Game 4 on Saturday night wondering if my tickets would be any good. But after the Mets won on Saturday night, my wife and I made the trek to Shea for an unforgettable game. Unfortunately, we may have been the only fans to leave the game before it ended. We had a babysitter on short notice watching our infant son for a fixed time and could not stay for extra innings. I did get home in time to see the Ventura walk-off on television. Almost the entire time that we were at the game, everyone was standing.

I was at a bar in Hoboken which no longer exists (I forgot the name) watching this classic game and when Ventura hit the "grand-slam single" a lot of people went crazy and then some and there was talk of a Subway Series but thanks to Kenny Rogers... (As you know, it did happen in 2000.)

I can watch this whole game every day and never get bored. THIS was the epoch of the Mets-Braves rivalry in the 90s, and watching Bobby Cox and Bobby V try and out-manage one another makes me nostalgic.

Grand slam single in the rain, Robin Ventura being held aloft by Todd Pratt with "L.A. Woman" playing in the background; that's how I remember the 1999 Mets.

Been to hundreds of Met games at Shea, and this one will sting me a little forever. A friend of a friend offered me a ticket, and we sat through the rain for a game that seemed like it would never end. Until the 15th inning...I don't remember how it came about, but the Marlins scored and we were both spent. For some inexplicable reason we decided to leave, and heard the rest of the game in the car on the way home. A decision that will haunt me forever.

One of my all-time favorite games as a Mets fan, not just because we won but because it truly was a complete team effort. Everyone played a role in the win.

I remember after the First Five batters have a sick feeling in my gut and turned the TV off, I kept the Radio on and after the 5th inning I smelled COMEBACK! Too Bad We had Rogers in there, btw who else was in the Bull Pen?

Dotel was the other pitcher in the bullpen. I can't remember the exact phrase but the announcer said something like "They can bring in Rogers" and about a minute later "Now Dotel's warming up, so it'll be Rogers, a flutterbll pitcher or Dotel who throws heaters." I can't really say I blame Kenny. I blame Leiter, Franco, Benitez, and Valentine all before him.

Despite being perhaps the second most ugly postseason Met loss I have ever seen (I am only 16), this is one of the most exciting playoff games in history. I remember watching Al, my favorite Met, and that sparkling Met defense give up those five early runs. But when they eventually got to the 7th and trailed 7 to 3, I just said to myself (in bed and listening to the radio), "Mojo risin'." Then what became what I call today as three weddings and a funeral happened for the Mets.

First I saw them just club good ol' Smoltzy for 4 runs including that classic Piazza shot deep the other way. Next came the improbable base hit by Melly Mora to give them a 1-run lead. After that was blown, I watched big Benny beat Andruw Jones' throw home in the 10th, only to have the not immortal Armando give it right back.

Then came the funeral. Once Gerald Williams led off with the double I knew it was almost over, but I still had hope. What I still don't understand though, is if they started Leiter on three days to skip Rogers' turn, why bring Rogers into a tied extra-inning game on the road when there is zero margin for error? All in all, from opening day in Florida, all the way to ball four to Andruw Jones, this still remains as the greatest season in Mets history. Even better than 1986, and 2000.

This is one of my most hated game in Mets playoff history. I still have nightmares about Kenny Rogers and his pitch selection to Andruw Jones. When the bases were juiced and u needed to throw a strike why throw anything else but a fastball. As any met fan saw he was looking for the walk so make hi take a strike. Worse thing that could of happened is that he crushes it or a sac fly type ball. LET HIM HIT IT. He might grounded into the doubleplay if u let him take a swing. As a met fan im glad Kenny is gone as well as this game and I pray it never happens again.

The game 6 few thought would happen started, for me, not in front of a TV, but in a meeting featuring me screaming at people because I wanted to get the hell out of there and back to my house to watch the game. And when I got back, it was 5- 0! A fine How do you do indeed. Then, it happened. 3 in the 6th, but the Braves countered with 2. Then the Mets started whipping some long hits off of Smoltz in the 7th, capped by Piazza, looking as if he'd just been hit by a truck, blasted one out of the ballpark, and I damn near jumped through the ceiling. The Mets would take subsequent leads in this game, and each time the Braves tied it. And finally they prevailed on Kenny #$%#$^ Rogers' fluttering curve. Just before the pitch, I turned to my roommate and said, "Well, if it ends here, it's been one hell of a run, and nothing to be ashamed of...But wouldn't it be sweet if they got out of it?" The pitch is thrown..."Oh dear." Not to be, and all I was left with was this haunting chant over NBC's feed of "Mets suck!" A postscript: The next night, I actually put on NBC at 8, expecting to see Game 7, and instead getting Friends. And thanks to the $@$&*^%# braves, I refused to watch any of the World Series.

I remember having to work that night. I popped a tape in the VCR, planning to watch the game when I got home. When I got home, I rewound the tape, watched all the pre-game stuff, then the game started. Bam!!!! 5-zip, Braves, my stomach felt queezy. I figured that I would just fast forward to the end of the game and watch the coffin being nailed shut. But a strange thing happened, as I was fast forwarding the tape (FF play), all of the sudden I saw the Mets running around the bases. I slowed the tape, oh my god! They were scoring some runs! Then when Bobby Boo Boo came off the bench and got a hit I thought for sure The Almighty was a Met fan. Then, top of the 8th, Piazza comes up (his hands were so messed up by this time, he could barely hold the bat), and jacks one in to the right field seats off of Smoltz to give the Mets the lead, I came out of my chair hollering. I probably woke my upstairs neighbor (remember, I had to work, so it was probably about 1:30 AM by this time). I can remember the camera panning the Braves dougout, they looked like a collective deer in the headlights, they were in shock! I'll say this till the day I die, and no one will convince me any different. If the Mets had held on and won that game, they would have won Game 7 too. And finally, I can remember watching ESPN the next day. They interviewed a few of the Yankees, they were disappointed, they really wanted to play the Mets.

The heartbreaker of a century. If the Mets won this, they would become the first team in playoff history to come back from a 3-0 series deficit to force a 7th game. But the Braves got 5 runs. But the Mets come back and then Piazza tied it in the 8th (and he wasn't just playing injured he was playing dead) with a home run and I was jumping up and down and the Mets, throughout the game, would score runs only to have it tied by the Braves and then, in the bottom of the 10th, the Mets had a one run lead and then they tied and, with the bases loaded, Andruw Jones stepped up against Kenny Rogers, and, the infamous pitch, where Kenny Rogers floats a horrible curve with brings Gerald Williams home from third to send the Braves to the World Series and send the Mets home. It totally killed me.

Never Say Die. I have always said that when Bobby Valnetine managed the Mets his teams never gave up. Most teams would have mailed it in after the first. But the Mets battled back, refusing to die. They may have lost the game but that team gained a lot of respect.

When thinking about this game one thing comes to mind. Mike Piazza! The home run he hit off of Smoltz in the 7th was one of the most remarkable home runs I've seen. you could see the faces of the Braves players just dropped. I try not to think about the bases loaded walk so I sit back and think of that homer.

Everything that needs to be said about this game has been said. I'll just add the 3 things that stick out the most in my memory.

Beginning of the game: 4-0 Braves before the Mets could record an out. When it hit 5-0 moments later, my good friend Jim--who had watched every playoff game with me in our respective seats--got up to leave. I yelled to him, "sit the f*** down! We're gonna come back and win this game!"

Middle of the game: Piazza bomb makes it 7-7. Good thing Jim didn't leave.

End of the game: Bases loaded. Me and Jim are so dazed and confused from the entire series that we were perfectly content with the situation, knowing we were about to record an inning-ending double play. Then Rogers throws ball one--and we both knew. Jim and I look at each other immediately and Jim says, "you're thinking what I'm thinking aren't you?" I just nodded silently, solemnly. We kept repeating, PLEADING, "over the plate, over the plate, over the plate..."

Ball four.

Jim wasted no time. He got up, shook my hand, said "it's been a great season," and stormed out. I just stared at the screen, catatonic.

Not much to add on this one except that it may have been the hardest loss in Mets history for me to accept. I still think the 99 Mets were supposed to be the first team to come back from a 3-0 deficit to win a seven-game series. We all know what the Red Sox did five years later, but this was hard to take. Piazza's blast is still an all-time highlight - right up there with Ventura's GS single the game before and all the big homers in '86.

As it was said earlier in this section, the blame for this loss should ride heavily on the 2 "closers" this team had and how each one failed to hold the lead. A starter coming in relief is tough especially when some starters needs to get some pitches in to get loose.