National League Standings, May 19, 1997
METS FANS SHARE THEIR MEMORIES OF THE MAY 19, 1997 GAME:
Mets2Moon
March 7, 2004
A tip of the helmet! John Olerud hit the walk-off 2-run HR to win this one. First of many great moments with the Mets for Johnny.
Michael
July 6, 2023
A rare monday afternoon game, on the backend of a 4 game weekend series. Armando Reynoso was working on a no-hitter for the first 6 and 2/3 innings of this game, until a Jeff Reed homer in the 7th. From then, the Mets almost let this one get away, until John Olerud hit a 2 run, come from behind homer in the 9th to win. A fun one to watch,as the 97 team was in the middle of a strong month of May in what would be an unexpected, comeback season of 88 wins.
Dave VW
September 3, 2023
One of the most unsung trades of the 1990s was when the Mets stole Olerud from Toronto for Robert Person prior to the 1997 season. Though Dave Magadan, Eddie Murray and Rico Brogna had their moments, Olerud was the team's first difference-maker at 1B since Keith Hernandez, and was exactly the type of even-keeled, blue-collar player the Mets needed at the time. Every time he came to bat in a big spot, I always felt like he was going to come through, with this game perhaps being the first true example during his tenure in New York.
As Michael mentioned, Reynoso was fantastic but somehow found himself on the hook for the loss after Greg McMichael allowed Andres Galarraga to hit a 2-out, 2-run single in the top of the 8th, which put the Rockies up 3-2. Before that AB, Galarraga was 1-for-11 with 6 strikeouts vs. McMichael. Colorado turned to journeyman Jeff McCurry to get the save, but after Carl Everett flew out to CF, Edgardo Alfonzo hit a double and Olerud followed by taking McCurry's first pitch over the RF wall.
This was Reynoso's 100th career start, and first time facing his former team after being traded to the Mets for Jerry DiPoto (who also pitched in this game, fittingly giving up a pair of runs) during the offseason. Meanwhile, Colorado native John Burke made his first big-league start for the Rockies and went 5 shutout innings.
For Olerud, it was his only walk-off homer as a Met. It was also the Mets' first of 3 walk-off dingers in 1997, with Everett and Bernard Gilkey collecting the other two. The win put the Mets 3 games over .500 for the first time since May 14, 1994!
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