Ultimate Mets Database: Game of September 25, 1998

Shickhaus Franks
September 28, 2010
A very bittersweet game for the Amazin's, not only they lost; it was also the last Mets game to be telecast on WWOR-TV (Channel 9) after 37 wonderful seasons. After the '98 season all local over-the-air (aka non-cable) games have wound up on WPIX (Channel 11). As the legendary rocker Chrissy Hynde once sang "Part of my childhood was gone". Speaking of rocker; the then-quiet John Rocker got the save for Atlanta but that Macon redneck would NOT be quiet for long.

Michael
April 27, 2019
I'll never forget that image of Jay Payton, running to 3rd base, out by 20 feet... while Mike Piazza stood in the on deck circle. A mistake of epic proportions.

Also, a note about the comment above mine. This was not the last WWOR telecast in Mets history. It was supposed to be, as it was originally scheduled as a WWOR game, but a late season schedule change negated it from being so. The true last WWOR game ever was the previous Sunday against the Marlins.

Dave VW
April 6, 2024
Like the 1998 season in a nutshell, the Mets displayed plenty of heart in this game but ultimately came up just short.

Rick Reed started the contest recording 2 quick outs, but then an uncharacteristic bout of wildness struck as he walked Chipper and hit Galarraga with a pitch. Ryan Klesko then dunked one into RF that Butch Huskey couldn't handle cleanly, allowing both runners to score. Not a good way to start the most important series of the year.

But the offense chipped away, getting a run in the 3rd and another in the 4th to tie it up, though it would have been nice to get more in the 4th after they loaded the bases with nobody out but squandered it after three straight batters popped out to the infield.

But the Braves struck right back with a 2-run homer by Andruw Jones in the 4th. The Mets put up another run in the 5th, only for the Braves to answer right back in their half of the inning. The Mets scored again in the 8th, and again so did the Braves.

In the 9th, Piazza and McRae led off with back-to-back walks, and Lenny Harris sacrificed them both into scoring position. Needing a hit from any of the next two batters to tie the score, instead Carlos Baerga grounded out to first (bringing in Piazza), and then Todd Pratt (pinch-hitting for Todd Hundley, who was pinch-hitting for Rey Ordonez) struck out in an epic 9-pitch battle vs. John Rocker to end the game.

The Mets had their chances, but were doomed by bad mistakes that you just couldn't make against the Braves. Huskey's error and Payton's mishap on the bases were huge, as well as Piazza striking out looking to end the top of the 6th with the bases loaded. In 6 pitches, he never took his bat off his shoulders. Be aggressive, my dude!

It also so happened that both Baerga and Huskey recorded their final hits in a Mets uniform in this game. They also divulged on the TBS broadcast that the 2 homers allowed by Reed in the game brought his season total to 30, which at the time made him only the 3rd in MLB history to allow 30 HRs while walking fewer than 30 in a season. The other two: Ken Dixon, while mainly serving as a crappy relief pitcher for Baltimore in 1987 (He allowed 31 HRs in 105 innings that season -- 1 HR every 3 and a third innings! Yuck!), and Brian Anderson, who also did it in 1998 as a member of the Diamondbacks.

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