National League Standings, August 23, 1999
METS FANS SHARE THEIR MEMORIES OF THE AUGUST 23, 1999 GAME:
Uncle Peanut
January 11, 2002
This was a good game. I remember that Carl Everett hit a HR for the 'stros (BOO!), Benitez coming in to get the last out of the top of the 9th, and Matt Franco getting a pinch hit to bring in somebody (Hamilton maybe?). Little blooper up the 3rd base line out of reach of the SS and 3B.
Weather was perfect. Late August, clear sky, temp. in the 60s, little bit of a breeze. Sat on the 1st base side near the Mets bullpen. My wife's first trip to Mecca (Shea). Good times.
Lee
October 21, 2004
Great game. A day after Fonzie got the walk-off hit for the Mets, it was Matt Franco's turn with Darryl Hamilton on third (yes it was Darryl Hamilton). He blooped it into shallow left field and Tim Bogar and I think Ken Caminiti went chasing after it and Bogar dove and he couldn't get and Hamilton trotted home with the winning run. As I watched this happen, I jumped off my couch and the bowl of popcorn that I had been eating fell over.
Mets2Moon
July 4, 2005
I remember walking into Shea on the evening of this game and stopping for a minute as I came to my seat. The air of excitement, something that had been missing for so many years was back. The crowd was abuzz all evening. I had to pause and let it all sink in. After so many years, it finally felt like the Mets would do something special in 1999, and the fans were feeling it as well. I remember the crowd really going crazy when Franco's parachute fell in with the winning run.
I'll always remember this one. There was a real playoff atmosphere all night.
Dave VW
June 17, 2024
Late in 1998, the Mets and Astros got together for a thrilling series at the AstroDome, and it looked like the two teams were going to pick up right where they left off based on the outcome of this game.
Franco's game-winner was the type of hit only good teams get: a little bloop just out of the reach of everybody. Larry Dierker, the Astros manager, was renowned for sticking with pitchers too long, and his decision-making during the 9th inning looked to be a clear example. Reliever Jay Powell started the inning, but when Hamilton advanced to third with 2 outs and Rey Ordonez due up, I thought it was clear the Astros should have intentionally walked Rey to force the Mets to take out Armando Benitez, their best bullpen arm, and pinch hit with Franco. And though Powell did end up walking Ordonez, he still toyed with him a little too much. The reason I say all this is because the Astros could have easily gone to Billy Wagner to face Franco and get the more favorable lefty-vs.-lefty matchup. And even if the Mets pinch hit for Franco with Shawon Dunston or another righty, you still force the Mets to waste a batter, and you then have your own best bullpen pitcher in the game. But Dierker stuck with Powell, and Franco walked it off.
Craig Biggio led off the game with his 50th double of the season, which made him the first with back-to-back 50 double seasons since Edgar Martinez in 1995 and 1996. Biggio reached base 3 times in 5 plate appearances in this game but didn't score a single time.
Al Leiter continued an impressive stretch, recording his 15th consecutive start allowing 3 or fewer earned runs (it would unfortunately come to an end his very next start). I thought that was pretty impressive and looked up where it stood in Mets history: He's actually no where close to the record. That's held by Jacob deGrom, who went 40 consecutive starts allowing no more than 3 earned runs between 2019 and 2022. He also owns the second-longest streak in team history at 31. I don't doubt those are records that'll never be broken.
Now it's your turn! Tell us what you remember of this game:
Please note:
We're looking for your comments about this specific
game. We've had people use this space to share their thoughts on how the
current season is going, or on ways that the Mets can improve the team.
Such comments, unless in the context of
this particular game,
will be considered off-topic and will be removed.
Example One
The Mets suck! They need to trade Smith and get somebody like
Jones.
This comment is off-topic and will be removed. It has nothing to do with
any specific game. But here's an acceptable alternative:
Example Two
The Mets suck! Smith made three errors in this game, and hit into a
double play, and the Mets blew a 5-0 lead. They need to get rid of Smith
and get somebody like Jones.
See the difference? Here you're getting the same point across, but it's in
the proper context. We wouldn't consider this message to be off-topic, and
we would let it remain.
We do appreciate anybody who takes the time to share their thoughts on our
site, and we hate to remove anybody's postings. But if we didn't take
steps to ensure that only on-topic messages were retained, The Ultimate
Mets Database would become a confusing jumble of unrelated comments,
and would thus be less enjoyable to visitors like you.
Thank you!
