This was the first-ever regular-season game at Coors Field. Rico Brogna of the Mets hit the first home run in the history of Coors Field in the fourth inning off Bill Swift. Todd Hundley hit a grand slam in the sixth inning. However, the Rockies won the game 11-9 on Dante Bichette's three-run home run off Mike Remlinger in the bottom of the fourteenth inning.

The only opener I've been to was the Mets home opener after the strike. This was the one where the three guys ran on the field with shirts that said "Greed", threw dollar bills at the players, and then stood at second base to cheers from the crowd.

After that it was a parade of people running on the field. There were at least three others in seperate incidents, and each of them ran to the outfield to try to jump over the wall. One of them, a fat redheaded guy, ran on right after security pulled another guy off, so he was out there for at least five minutes before they came back to get him. He tried to jump the fence, but could barely even touch the top. After he realized he wasn't making it over the wall, he took pictures of the left fielder, I forget who, and Brett Butler in center. Butler took off his hat and posed for him, holding his hat in the crook of his arm, logo forward.

All in all, a fun day.

I remember this game vividly. As I recall there were only 26,000 of us there but it was the most raucous, rowdy crowd I have ever been in. There must have been at least 10 delays of fans running on the field. The classic was the heavy guy taking Brett Butlers picture in CF, then trying to climb over the fence, to no avail. The game was marred by numerous fights un the stands. I saw MSG analyst Dave Simms after the game, and he said in all his years he has never seem such a wild stadium. Todd Hundley came through with a big bases loaded hit, and this Met fan and his bussies went home happy after a long strike.

This was the Mets' only home opener at Shea Stadium that was ever played at night. It wasn't scheduled that way originally, but the delay in starting the season caused by the strike of '94 forced this 7:00PM starting game to serve as the home debut for '95. Every other Shea opener between 1964 and 2008 was played during the daytime.

It's kinda sad the big story of this game wasn't the Mets comeback from 5 runs down but instead the 5 times (at least that's how many delays I counted while watching the broadcast) fans ran on the field. It was a real sign of disrespect, not only for the game and players, but also for law enforcement. It takes a special kind of person to know a few seconds of hamming it up on the field will lead to their inevitable arrest. I was also going to post about the anecdote that Jimrat shared -- this was the Mets first ever home opener played at night.

As far as the actual game was concerned, it wasn't a good one if you enjoy good pitching and defense. Bret Saberhagen got tagged for 7 runs, the most he gave up in 16 starts with the Mets in 1995. I think the Mets also could have easily been charged with two errors in the 4th inning, when David Segui came up way short on a dive attempt in left field and had the ball kick off his glove, allowing opposing pitcher Allen Watson (who hit .417 in 1995!) to get a double. The next batter, Bernard Gilkey, hit a sharp grounder to 1B that Rico Brogna had lined up but let the ball bounce over his glove for an RBI single. But no errors were charged all inning, nor against the Mets all game.

The same couldn't be said for the Cardinals, as Ozzie Smith and Scott Cooper committed errors in the 8th that allowed the Mets to score their final run of the game. By the way, both baseball-reference and this website have the order of the errors incorrect for some reason. It was Ozzie who booted Jose Vizcaino's grounder to lead off the inning, and Cooper who had the throwing error on Jeff Kent's grounder. Whoops!

Newcomer Carl Everett hit a home run on the very first pitch he ever saw as a home player at Shea Stadium, going deep to lead off the bottom of the 3rd. He also had a huge OF assist to end the top of the 7th, which helped keep the Mets down by just 2. Brogna led off the bottom of the 7th with a homer, and then the Mets loaded the bases with 1 out after St. Louis opted to intentionally walk Everett to face Todd Hundley in the hopes of coaxing a double play. Instead, Todd slammed one to the fence in left-center field, scoring a pair to give the Mets their first lead of the contest.

There were some other things I noticed that were new in 1995. I believe this is the first year the Mets installed the scrolling ad banner behind home plate. They also starting using Tag Team's "Whoomp There it is" as the home run song. And John Franco sported a different look from year's passed, going with the goatee instead of the mustache and growing out a bit of a mullet. It was nice to see him strike out the side and look like a true closer after quite a few years of giving fans heart palpitations every time he took the mound.

I attended this game with my dad, mom, and my late greatgrandmother (died in spring of '98) who was a big Mets' fan. I was 12. There were over 44,000 people at the game; my dad made a joke that during the seventh inning stretch everyone was standing for my greatgrandmother. Pete Harnisch made his Mets' debut and threw six good innings. Jerry Dipoto came in and blew a 4-1 lead in the seventh. However, the Mets would go on to win 5-4 in the eleventh. I remember there was a front office person from the Cardinals sitting next to us; when the Mets won, I said "HAHA" to him.

I have nothing but negative memories of Pete Harnisch as a Met, but all things considered he began his time in the uniform with a really nice start here. After giving up back-to-back doubles in the first to give the Cardinals a 1-0 lead, Pete allowed only 1 more hit through 6 innings while striking out 6. He left after just 73 pitches, more than likely attributed to there being no spring training for pitchers to build up their arm strength, and because he was coming back from an injury to his pitching arm in 1994. If this were a game in June instead of April, no doubt he would have gone longer.

He left with the Mets leading 4-1 but, in an odd choice, Dallas Green opted to bring in Jerry DiPoto in the 7th. It was odd not only because DiPoto had worked the previous night, but also because the Cardinals had 3 left-hand hitters due up. It seemed like a more logical move to have brought in the southpaw Eric Gunderson instead, who could then bridge the gap to Josias Manzanillo in the 8th and John Franco in the 9th. Unsurprisingly, DiPoto coughed up 3 runs and Harnisch's chances for a win in his Mets debut disappeared. I put the blame more on Dallas than DiPoto, to be honest.

From there, both bullpens pitched very well -- with lots of help from home plate umpire Sy Ryberg. If you don't recognize the name, it's because he was a replacement ump, as the official umps had been locked out due to a pay dispute and wouldn't be back until early May. Ryberg's strike zone was all over the place, and it seemed like as long as the pitcher threw the ball to the catcher's mitt -- even if it was 6 inches off the plate -- he'd call it a strike. The teams combined for 23 strikeouts -- 11 times looking, mainly on pitches well off the plate. The Mets didn't manage a baserunner after Rico Brogna's 1-out double in the 6th until Bobby Bonilla walked with 1 out in the 11th. Tim Bogar then singled to put runners on 1st and 3rd, and, after an intentional walk to Brogna, Joe Orsulak hit an 0-2 pitch to deep center for the walkoff victory. Dave Mlicki, who made his Mets debut pitching a scoreless top of the 11th, got the win.

After the previous night's game was interrupted nearly half a dozen times because of fans getting on the field, this game wasn't interrupted at all -- which is really saying something considering it was $1 day at Shea, meaning tickets were available for $1. Perhaps that was only for the upper deck (kinda hard to sneak onto the field from up there). Still, either security stepped up its presence, or the fans got it all out of their system in the home opener.

Carl Everett continued to really settle in as the new everyday RF, picking up another OF assist, hitting another home run and coming within a triple of hitting for the cycle. Some tough luck for Todd Hundley, though, who missed a home run that went foul by a few feet in the 6th, and then just got under one in the 9th that was caught shy of the warning track. I thought for sure that one was going out. It wouldn't be long, however, before Todd started hitting everything out of the park.

I kept the ticket stub to this game because it will be THE only time I ever pay $1 to attend a sporting event. The strike had ended, the seasson got off to a late start, and the Mets were so desperate for fans that they charged $1 for field level box seats to this game. I was treated to a miserable display of baseball (Kevin Lomon pitched for the Mets -- 'nuff said) and to top it off it rained for most of the game. The highlight was Joe Torre getting ejected from the game for arguing a running inside the baseline call on Jose Oquendo. It was just a year before the Yankees began their nauseating World Series run so it's easy to forget that Torre was in St. Louis and that Buck Showalter was managing in the Bronx.

After a great rookie campaign in 1994, Jason Jacome looks like a complete bust and is undone by a 6-run 3rd inning as the Expos win their home opener. Jacome looked fine in the 1st but squirmed out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the 2nd, thanks to a strikeout, a nice play by Todd Hundley saving a wild throw by Edgardo Alfonzo to get the lead runner out at home, and then a force out at second base. But his luck ran out in the 3rd, as he surrendered 6 hits and 2 walks before getting relieved by Dave Mlicki after 10 batters came to the plate. Though the Mets fought back, they never got closer than 2 runs behind. The downward spiral would unfortunately continue for Jacome, as he'd pitch himself back to the minors after 3 more starts, and then eventually get traded to Kansas City in July.

The weirdest thing that happened in the game happened in the bottom of the sixth inning when the Expos were penalized for batting out of order. In the top of the inning Montreal had brought in Luis Aquino as their new pitcher and also brought in Cliff Floyd to take over at 1B for Shane Andrews. Andrews was batting 5th and the Expos were going to start their half of the 6th with the #3 hitter up first, so it made no sense to perform a double switch. And apparently they didn't, but the replacement umps (who were thankfully in their last game before the real umps were back) mistakenly recorded it as a double switch. So when Floyd came up to bat, the umps told the Expos he was not the correct batter, and manager Felipe Alou completely lost it and was ejected. Despite knowing he was out of order, Floyd batted anyway (perhaps because he had to since the umps shouldn't be allowed to tip off a team to batting out of order). But oddly, after he was called out, the pitcher Aquino had to bat next, which means when a team bats out of order, it doesn't automatically go to the next hitter, it goes to the hitter who that spot in the order actually belongs to. I'm not sure if that's the right call or if the replacement umps blew that too. Whichever the case, Aquino ironically got a single -- the last of 4 hits he had in his career. It was an odd inning to say the least.

Speaking of odd, Dallas Green started Bobby Bonilla at 1B -- his first start at the position since May of 1993. My only guess for why is because he wanted all righties facing the left-handed Jeff Fassero, and so regular starters like Rico Brogna and Brett Butler got the day off. That also meant Ricky Otero received his first ML start, and Alfonzo started in lieu of Bonilla at 3B. Alfonzo cranked an RBI double in the 4th for the first hit of his career. However, he was later pinch-hit for with Bill Spiers in the 8th, something that seems completely unfathomable knowing the type of hitter Alfonzo would end up being in time.

Dave VW, you overlooked a significant fact about Edgardo Alfonzo in this game. He became the 100th third baseman in Mets history. Third base was a problem position with the Mets for over forty years before a guy named David Wright came along.

The Mets win this one in ten innings on a pinch-hit grand slam by Todd Hundley in the top of the tenth off LHP Bryan Eversgerd. Hundley is only the eleventh player in history to hit an extra-inning pinch-slam.

The one-year-old MLB Network is a godsend. With the NFL playoffs going on and the weather outside was raw and rainy on January 17, 20and Rusty Staub as the game announcers on the late SportsChannel (now MSG Plus). Deion "Prime Time" Sanders playing CF for the Reds as well.

MLB Network is a godsend. With the NFL playoffs going on with the weather outside raw and rainy on January 17, 2010 they aired a replay of this game with Fran Healy and Rusty Staub as the game announcers on the late great SportsChannel (now MSG Plus) and playing CF for the Reds was Tim McCarver's "good buddy" Deion "PRIME TIME" Sanders.

Chipper Jones' HR in the top of the 9th won the game an inning after Jeff Kent's HR tied the score at 2.

Larry's HR off of Manzanillo in the 9th was not only the game winner, but it was his first Major League HR. And, of course, only the beginning of the lifetime of misery he would bring to all Mets fans, and the reason he named his daughter Shea.

Shea is Larry's son, not daughter. But yes, this was indeed the day Larry hit his first major league homer.

I was not aware prior to watching this game that Chipper's first career home run came against the Mets at Shea, but I should have guessed it. His first of 468 longballs during his Hall of Fame career was a no-doubt line drive to right field. As soon as he hit it, I just hung my head and knew -- as Mets2Moon so eloquently put it -- the misery was just beginning.

His home run was extra clutch too, considering Kent had tied the game with his own dinger just minutes earlier. His homer was the first Braves reliever Greg McMichael gave up to a right-hand hitter in 2 years. The Mets even had a chance to tie things up again in the 9th when Todd Hundley was grazed by a pitch on the leg to lead off and pinch-runner Tim Bogar was sacrificed to 2nd by Carl Everett. But, in what I thought was an odd decision, Dallas Green let light-hitting rookie Ricky Otero bat instead of turning to David Segui or Joe Orsulak as a pinch-hitter. Otero flew out weakly to left, and then Segui pinch-hit for Manzanillo and flew out to center to end the game. Rookie Brad Clontz worked the 9th for Atlanta to already earn his 4th save of the season ... and oddly enough, it ended up being his last save of the season.

Speaking of misery, the Braves scored their other 2 runs on a 2nd-inning 2-run shot by former Met catcher Charlie O'Brien, which was the only homer he'd ever hit against the Mets. Though it was his only hit of the game, he actually hit the ball hard in each of his 3 at-bats, seemingly playing with a little extra intensity due to facing his former mates.

The replay of the game I watched was from the TBS broadcast, and Skip Caray and Don Sutton were in peak form. Skip evidently did not enjoy visiting Shea Stadium, and wondered if the Mets were thinking about building a new stadium anytime soon -- and would even chip in $50 to get the ball rolling. Unfortunately, CitiField wouldn't open until 2009 -- one year after Caray passed away. Caray and Don also saw a guy in the stands sporting a very unflattering hairdo, prompting Skip to ask, "Now, what do you call that?" To which Sutton replied, "Hopefully, free." I definitely laughed out loud to that exchange.

It was a cold and wet night at this game. I went with my mom, dad, and grandma. Then rookie Chipper Jones helped stake the Braves to a 2-0 lead with a solo home run. The Mets went into the eighth down 2-1 and rallied to go on to win 5-2. However, the highlight of the rally was when the field sprinklers suddenly started up and delayed the game.

Jason Jacome and Jeff Fassero match up against each other for the second time in 10 days and this game ends the exact same way as the first -- with the Expos winning, 9-6. Jacome was holding his own through 5 innings, allowing 2 runs on just 3 hits, but Montreal was hitting the ball hard against him and it felt like just a matter of time before the wheels fell off. Sure enough, Jacome got rocked in the 6th, allowing doubles to Sean Berry, Wil Cordero and Moises Alou before Mark Lansing hit a 3-run homer to finally chase Jacome and give Montreal a 7-3 lead. Jacome had Lansing 0-2 but threw a meatball on pitch #3 that Lansing creamed over the left field wall. Ultra scrub Kevin Lomon gave up a run each in the 7th and 8th -- a shame because the Mets wound up plating 3 more runs, so the score would have been much closer if Lomon had held Montreal scoreless.

The Expos tied a season high with 8 extra-base hits as manager Felipe Alou celebrated his 60th birthday. They also had 8 in their previous game, a 13-1 win at Philadelphia. Safe to say, they were hitting the ball pretty well around this time of the season.

For the Mets, Bobby Bo had his second to last 2-homer game as a member of the team. Oddly enough, the Mets went 4-6 in the 10 games Bonilla hit 2 homers in a game for them. The Mets had a ton of other chances to score but stranded runners on base all game long, including in the 7th when Jose Vizcaino led off by reaching on an error and Jeff Kent singled, but then Jeff Shaw relieved Fassero and went on to strike out Bonilla, Rico Brogna (pinch-hitting for Edgardo Alfonzo) and David Segui to end the threat. The Mets also hit 3 straight singles to begin the 8th, but then Tim Scott came in for Montreal and got Ricky Otero, Vizcaino and Kent all to ground out to limit the damage. Otero's groundout scored a run, accounting for the only RBI he ever collected in 35 games as a Met. Kent's out left him 0-for-20 with runners in scoring position to start the season, and he slammed his helmet to the ground after getting called out in obvious disgust with himself. Also, Brook Fordyce hit a double in his last at-bat for the Mets; he'd be waived when rosters were cut down a few days later and would get claimed by the Indians.

I know it seems like I complain a lot about McCarver and Kiner, but in retrospect I can't help but notice how annoying they were when calling a game. When the broadcast posed that night's trivia question (Who is the only player to have played for the Mets, Astros, Angels and Rangers?), McCarver selfishly blurted out the answer in 20 seconds, as if the question was only for him and not the audience. Hey jerk, give the people at home a chance to think about it before giving out the answer! If you didn't know, the answer is Nolan Ryan. Kiner than asked "Do you think he has a chance of making the Hall of Fame?" I was like, are you serious? But then again, Kiner may have been kidding. Sometimes you weren't sure where his ignorance ended and his joking began.

The Mets thought they had this game won when Brogna hit the go ahead homer in the 8th. But Montreal tied it in the 9th and then ended up winning it in 13.

A stark reminder of the strike that has just ended recently, this game was played on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball and the stands were almost empty for this one. Looked like there were 10k in attendance, and that's an optimistic guess.

Despite John Franco justifiably being remembered fondly by the majority of fans, the first half of his tenure with the Mets was just not very good. Far too often he was either unreliable or injured, and it seemed like even when he earned a save he had to make things interesting. When he was a free agent after the 1994 season, I would have had no problem with the Mets finding themselves a new closer, despite him leading the league in saves and providing veteran leadership and charitable contributions off the the field.

This game perfectly summed up a typical Franco outing during this era. Silenced over the first 7 innings, the Mets come back in dramatic fashion with a 2-run Rico Brogna homer in the 8th. Summoned to close out the 2-1 win, Franco gets Roberto Kelly to ground out to SS on a real close play leading off the inning -- a big call considering the way the rest of the inning played out. Next up, Moises Alou also hit a grounder to SS, but this time Jose Vizcaino can't immediately get a grip on the ball in his glove and Alou beats the throw. It's ruled a hit but it should have been an error. Rondell White pinch hits for Darrin Fletcher next, and he also grounds one to the SS hole. Vizcaino fields it but has no play at either base. So Franco gets 3 ground balls, but only 1 out to show for it. Mike Lansing follows with a solid single, scoring pinch-runner Lou Frazier to tie the game. Franco gets out of the jam with no more runs scoring, but the damage is done. It's already his 2nd blown save in 7 appearances in 1995. Whether it's a case of bad luck or a case of a guy who just doesn't have the "stuff" to be a consistent closer, Franco seemed to be plagued by these type of innings all the time.

The Mets had all kinds of chances to score beyond the Brogna homer but kept coming up short. They loaded the bases with 1 out in the 7th, nothing. They put the leadoff man on in the 10th, 11th, and 13th, zilch. They put runners in motion trying to manufacture runs, both were caught stealing. Vizcaino bid for his second triple of the game with a deep drive to CF with 2 out in the 12th, but Roberto Kelly made a great running catch for the out. Too bad, cause Brogna led off the next inning with a single. That could have been the walk-off hit if not for Kelly's catch. Then there's David Segui, who, despite not entering the game until he pinch-hit for Ricky Otero in the 7th, still found a way to strand 6 runners on base, popping out with the bases loaded in the 7th, striking out with a runner on in the 9th, and grounding out to the pitcher with 2 on to end the 11th. He was one of those classic players who was excellent with everyone else, but turned into a bum when he played for the Mets.

Ugueth Urbina, in just his second big-league appearance, pitched a 1-2-3 12th inning to earn his first career win. Meanwhile, Jerry DiPoto picked up his first loss as a Met. He also had a tough-luck outing, as he gave up a leadoff single to Lansing in the 13th and saw him score after a wild pitch (though I thought Hundley should have handled the pitch), a sac bunt, and an RBI groundout to first. But baseball is one of those sports where you gotta make your own luck, and during this era all the Mets were making were bad memories.

Although not a Met at the time yet, Cliff Floyd shattered his wrist trying to catch a throw at 1st base while Todd Hundley crashed into him. Watching on tv, I remember the scream of pure agony from Cliff as he walked off the field. A sad moment for a really good guy.

A triple by Brett Butler to lead off the game sets the tone as the Mets break out of an offensive rut with a lopsided win, resulting in their first series win at Houston since 1989. Butler's triple was his first of three to lead off a game while on the Mets, and the 11th of 13 times in his career. Vince Coleman was the last to achieve the feat for the Mets in July of 1993.

The Mets wound up scoring 4 times in the first, with the big hit coming from Jeff Kent. With the bases loaded and 2 out, Kent went first-pitch hitting and lined a ground-rule double to right to score 2. Coming into that at-bat, he was just 1-for-27 with runners in scoring position. The Astros looked like they were going to battle right back in the bottom of the inning and I thought got the benefit of a bad call when 2B umpire Larry Vanover (who is one of my least favorite umps of all-time) called Kent off the base when he received a throw from Bobby Bo on a force play. Even with the "neighborhood play" in full effect during this era, Vanover called the runner safe despite Kent being off the base by mere inches as he attempted to turn the around-the-horn double play. And of course this prompted Tim McCarver to chime in, saying Kent was "nowhere near the bag" ... even though replays obviously showed the opposite. Despite the controversy, Dave Mlicki battled back to get Luis Gonzalez and Scott Servais to ground out to end the inning, allowing the Astros to score just once.

It wound up being another superb outing from Mlicki, who improved to 2-0 and saw his ERA dip to 1.40. It really seemed like the Mets had regained the starting pitching that made them so dominant in the late 1980s, what with Bret Saberhagen, Bobby Jones and Pete Harnisch all throwing well at the time, too. Gee, I wonder if it holds up...

Ralph also had a few Kinerisms in this one. First, after Tim had just got done announcing the Astros lineup and pronounced all the names correctly, Kiner then called James Mouton "James Morton." And later in the game, the guys were having some fun at the expense of "General Admission," a character dressed up in Civil War garb who shot off a cannon whenever the Astros hit a home run. McCarver said he looked like someone from a Dave Letterman skit, to which Ralph replied, "I think he looks like a loser." I couldn't help but laugh but, damn, that was harsh!

I remember skipping school back in the 9th grade to go to this afternoon game. It seemed like another Mets loss as Franco was back to his old self blowing the save in the 9th and blowing the lead in the 11th, but Chris Jones hit a 3-run pinch hit homer off Trevor Hoffman in the bottom of the 11th to give us the win.

The first of 4 walk off homers for Chris Jones in his short Mets career (tied for the most in team history). This one came off future hall of famer Trevor Hoffman.

This one sure was ugly, and it felt much more like the Mets stole a win than earned it. The defense was horrendous, there were several key mental errors, and, like Tas mentioned, Franco was very much back to his 1992-94 form, allowing a run in both of the innings he worked (though the Mets won it in the 10th, not the 11th as was mentioned). Even when Jones hit his walk-off homer, it was more a sigh of relief than a jubilant cheer that came over the crowd and the broadcast booth.

Though the game officially only had 2 errors, I think 5 or 6 could have been ruled. Specifically, Jeff Kent probably could have been called for a pair - on a bobble in the 3rd that allowed a run to score, and on a mistake in the 6th trying to tag out a runner instead of throwing the ball to the base, which allowed another run to score. Also, Padres SS Andujar Cedeno probably could have been charged with two as well, as he kicked the ball around a couple times but the home-field scorer decided to give the Mets hits instead. Outside of the home runs, I'd say almost every other run that scored in this game was a result of bad defense.

That didn't result in bad starts from either Andy Benes or Bobby Jones, however, who were both locked in. Jones had allowed just 2 runs over 7 innings when his spot in the lineup came up in the bottom of the 7th with a runner on 2nd and 2 outs. For some reason, despite his team trailing 2-1, Dallas Green let Jones hit, and the pitcher grounded out to end the inning. I was shocked he didn't go to a pinch hitter, and the decision was made even worse as an obviously tiring Jones allowed another run to score in the top of the 8th. Meanwhile, Benes entered the game 7-3 with a 1.81 ERA in 12 starts vs. the Mets ... but was also winless in his last 14 starts, dating back to the previous July (which, coincidentally, was a 1-hit victory over the Mets). He looked on his way to snapping his skid until the 8th when he was relieved by Brian Williams with 2 on and 1 out. Williams allowed a bloop RBI single to Bonilla, then uncorked a wild pitch on a swinging strike 3 by Joe Orsulak (who was celebrating his 33rd birthday). That loaded the bases with 2 out for Jose Vizcaino, who hit a chopper up the middle that Cedeno tried to bare-hand but the ball bounced away, allowing 2 more runs to score and gave the Mets their first lead of the day.

But in typical Franco fashion, John gave up a bomb to the first batter he faced, Eddie Williams. Obviously pissed at himself, he threw his hat and glove into the dugout after the inning was over. The Mets put the leadoff man on in the bottom of the 9th and got him to 2nd with 1 out with Edgardo Alfonzo coming up. The rookie dunked one down the RF line that landed foul by mere inches, just missing a walk-off hit. He then lined out to short and Tim Bogar flew out to put the game into extras. In the 10th, Alfonzo committed a throwing error trying to get lead-off hitter Bip Roberts out, and Roberts eventually scored on a Ken Caminiti groundout, setting up the Mets comeback in the bottom of the frame.

The Padres brought in Trevor Hoffman, who I recall being absolutely deadly against the Mets over his career. But it was not meant to be on his day, as he would suffer his first career blown save vs. the Mets. Bonilla led off and hit a deep drive that Steve Finley caught running into the wall in left-center field. But then Kent and Orsulak hit back-to-back singles, and Jones came up as the pinch-hitter for Franco. His flyball to LF just cleared the wall, making it the first walk-off pinch-hit homer for the Mets since Tim Teufel in 1987. Jones would amazingly do it again just 2 months later, and he'd be the only player to hit a walk-off homer for the Mets in all of 1995.

Going back to Benes, he actually became the Padres all-time strikeout leader when he fanned Ryan Thompson (who was in just his second game back from the DL) in the 5th inning, surpassing Eric Show. Benes currently sits second in San Diego history, having since been overtaken by Jake Peavy. On the Mets side, Alberto Castillo had been thrust into starting catching duties with Todd Hundley and Kelly Stinnett banged up. I thought Castillo looked completely overmatched at this stage, and in fact wouldn't start another game for the Mets until July as Hundley was recovered at this point from a foot injury that cost him 7 games. I was also surprised to see Bonilla now playing in LF, where he hadn't started a game since 1987 when he was with Pittsburgh. He looked ok out there, but did misjudge one flyball that resulted in a double. The WWOR team also addressed rumors of Bonilla potentially getting traded to Baltimore, to which the Mets stated there was absolutely no truth to. And yet, just 2 months later, Bonilla would be an Oriole, so I guess the moral of the story is to always believe rumors over a team's front office.

Watched this one recently, a really good game on a Sunday afternoon.

David Segui hit a game tying double in the 8th after a great at bat, fouling off pitch after pitch. Chris Jones was on first base and had to keep running since it was a 3-2 count. McCarver and Kiner at one point were trying to figure out how many feet Jones had run with all of the foul balls in the at bat. A funny moment.

That turned out to be Segui's last RBI as a Met, as he was traded a few days later,unhappy that he was being asked to play Left Field since Rico Brogna had taken over at 1st.

San Diego pitcher Joey Hamilton beats the Mets 8- 4 and also doubles off Pete Harnisch for his first major league hit in 58 at bats.

The last time a Mets pitcher went 10 full innings was on this day, as Bobby Jones did it. A crazy game, as both teams traded runs in the 12th and 15th innings before the Astros finally put the game away with 2 in the 16th inning.

Nobody remembers the 95 season? Surely it wasn't the best of times for the Mets, although they improved markedly in the second half. On this day, however, I sojurned to Queens for the Major League Debut of Mr. Bill Pulsipher. I remember him warming up to Nirvana's "Come as you are," and I thought it fitting for this fellow who was viewed as a savior. Then he sailed his first pitch to the backstop. He gave up 5 runs in the first, but he certainly was not helped by Brett Butler, who bungled two fly balls, which prolonged the inning longer than it needed to be. To add insult, he wasn't charged with an error either time. Ended up a blowout loss for the Mets, and the start of a rocky road for Pulse.

It was the first Mets game I went to since the end of the 1994 cancellation strike. I remember Pulse pitching and the lineup consisted of Bobby Crybaby, Jeff "The Cable Guy" Kent; Brett Butler and Ryan Thompson, who at times showed 5-tool skills and at other no-tool skills. It was a Saturday Afternoon and Shea was NOT exactly packed to the rafters.

The highlight of the day was the softball game before the Mets game, Phil Niekro's silver bullets I think was the name of them. I should mention, I thought Pulse reminded me of Jon Matlack. Too bad he didn't have the stuff to make it.

The first of Generation K to make it to the big leagues, Bill Pulsipher made his debut in this one. He was pretty terrible (though was also the victim of terrible defense, to be fair). Although the hype for the Puls, Izzy and Paul Wilson was huge at the time, the crowd for this one was pretty empty, especially for a Saturday afternoon.

Pulsipher would have better days (though not many of them), but he also had the worst career of the trio known as Generation K.

Ya really gotta feel for Pulsipher. Just 21 years old, pegged with turning a slumping team around, told to cut your hair and ditch your earrings by your manager if you wanted to play on his team, and his first game is against the team with the reigning NL MVP (Jeff Bagwell). Clearly letting the butterflies get the better of him, he walked 3 in the first inning, including the first batter he faced, and didn't escape until expending 44 pitches and until all 9 batters reached the plate -- and only did so after he allowed an RBI single to opposing pitcher Doug Drabek and LF Bobby Bonilla bailed him out by throwing out a second runner trying to score. On a Mets team that struggled for offense, a 5-run first inning was all but a guaranteed loss.

But credit Pulse for going 6 more innings and allowing just 2 additional runs -- even though he wound up walking a career-high 6. I thought he probably would have been best served getting pinch-hit for when he led off the bottom of the 5th, as he had already racked up 99 pitches at that point. But perhaps because the Mets and Astros had just played 16 innings the previous night, Dallas Green stuck with his rookie for two more frames, allowing him to tally 133 pitches. Oh, and his first career strikeout was against that aforementioned reigning MVP (who he actually wound up striking out twice), which must have been a nice feather in his cap.

Regardless, frustrations were reaching a boiling point with yet another disheartening performance. When the usually mild-mannered Brett Butler struck out in the 3rd, he heard a spattering of boos on his way back to the dugout. He responded by removing his helmet and tipping it to the crowd, and when the boos got louder, he tipped it again. Not exactly the sort of behavior you'd want from one of your veterans. When Butler made a nice diving catch to rob Drabek of another hit in the 4th, the crowd cheered, but he waved his glove at them as if to say, "I don't want your applause. Screw you." I got the impression the California transplant was not acclimating well to the New York culture. In the 8th inning, Bonilla came up with 2 on and 1 out with a chance to get the Mets back in the game. First-pitch swinging against reliever Dave Veres, who had just entered the game, Bobby just got under one and flew out to RF. On his way back to the bench, he fired his helmet against the side wall by the photo box, then got in the dugout and threw all the Gatorade coolers down the clubhouse steps. This loss definitely made it feel like it was becoming 1993 all over again.

I was at this night game with my dad, mom, and grandma (dad's mother). I believe it was the same day as my sixth grade class graduation. It was an awful game.

I remember I got Phillies outfielder Tom Marsh's autograph, and he hit two homers in the game. That has happened before with me, such as when I got Moises Alou's autograph at a game in 1994. He ended up whacking two homers in that game, including a bomb that I believe went as high as the upper deck. Bobby Jones started this game, and did not do bad. He only gave up a total of four runs in seven innings. They were not all earned.

My grandma said how she remembers me trying to auction off our season tickets during the game because of how they had been playing. What a graduation gift for the Mets to give me that night, LOL! This was the third game of a four-game series in which the Mets would be swept. The Phillies had been playing awesome baseball.

As for the Mets, this was one of the seasons Dallas Green was managing. Need I say more? But, the game was still fun in a way.

Anthony, look at it this way...you were there for 40% of Tom Marsh's career home runs! Marsh finished his career with five homers in 93 career games, all with the Phillies.

How on Earth the Phillies had the best record in the National League on this date I'll never know. Their lineup looked more suited for a spring training game than a contest in late June. I can honestly say, even as a pretty astute baseball fan, I've never heard of a bunch of these guys. Tom Marsh? Gene Schall? Lenny Webster? Mike Mimbs? And yet, the offense pounded out 19 hits and Mimbs went the distance in an easy Philly win, completing a 4-game sweep at Shea. It's the second year in a row they've swept the Mets in 4 games in NY -- but, as of this writing, is the last time it's ever occurred.

Perhaps it wasn't that the Phillies were so dominant, but more the Mets were so inept. Bill Pulsipher, making his second big league start, had to deal with at least 2 base runners in every one of the 7 innings he pitched. He wound up giving up 14 hits, which would go on to be the most he ever allowed in a game in his career. Even after surrendering 7 runs in his debut, I'd still say his first start was better than this one, as the Phillies teed off against him from start to finish. Not that Jerry DiPoto or Pete Walker were any better.

Meanwhile, the entirety of the Mets scoring came in the 2nd inning, thanks to an opposite-field solo homer run by Jeff Kent and a 2-out RBI single by Jose Vizcaino. There wasn't much else besides that, as they squandered 4 lead-off singles and hit into 3 double plays. The bottom has completely fallen out on a Mets team that looked poised to start contending again in 1994, and I would very much be a part of the bandwagon arguing to sell off everything and dump Dallas Green if taken back to that time period.

The Mets scored 5 times in the 8th, including a huge homer by Chris Jones, to give Saberhagen what would end up being his last win as a Met.

As Michael mentioned, this was Saberhagen's last win as a Met. He'd get 4 more starts with New York before getting traded to Colorado. But by no means was this win a walk in the park. In fact, Saberhagen struggled mightily over the first 6 innings, giving up 10 hits -- including a 2-run homer by future Met Kurt Abbott -- and several other hard-hit flyballs that were caught deep in the outfield.

The turning point in this game I feel happened in the bottom of the 6th. Leading 3-1, Florida put its first 2 batters on the corners with singles and then pitcher John Burkett -- despite collecting hits in his first 2 ABs -- was instructed to sacrifice the runner on first to second. That brought up a pair of former Met farmhands in Quilvio Veras and Chuck Carr. Veras worked the count to 2-1 before dropping down a suicide squeeze bunt. However, he hit it a little too hard and Sabes pounced on it off the mound and flipped to Todd Hundley, who just barely put the tag on the runner before he reached the plate for the out. On the very next pitch, Carr put down a drag bunt attempt that Rico Brogna picked up and shoveled to Saberhagen, who dashed to first and stepped on the bag just before a diving Carr reached it. Three bunts, three outs, and the Mets got out of danger still down by just 2.

From there, the Mets scored 7 unanswered runs, while the Marlins didn't get another hit. Jeff Kent homered in the 7th and Ryan Thompson followed with an RBI double to tie the score. In the 8th, after two quick outs, the Mets put on their rally caps, as Brogna doubled off the wall and Bobby Bo was intentionally walked to allow Burkett to face the right-hand-hitting Kent. It was a poor move on paper by Marlins manager Rene Lachemann, as Kent had a career average of almost .500 vs. Burkett and had already homered against him. Kent worked a walk to load the bases and, in another poor decision, Lachemann brought in reliever Randy Veres to face Hundley, who hit a game-winning single off Veres the previous night. Hundley came through again here, singling to RF to score 2 and give the Mets the lead. As Michael mentioned, Jones followed with a 3-run dinger, and the Fish were pretty much fried after that.

I give credit to Dallas Green for staying with Saberhagen as long as he did, as I probably would have pinch hit for him with the game tied at 3-3 and Thompson on second base with two outs in the 7th. And even though Bret grounded out, he went on to fire 3 perfect innings after that, allowing him to stick around long enough to earn the win and collect his last of 12 complete games as a Met.

The Mets can't extend their season-long 3-game winning streak as Pete Harnisch ties a career high by allowing 4 home runs. Despite winning only once over his first 12 starts as a Met, Harnisch wasn't pitching that badly, as he held a 4.13 ERA entering this game. However, in 5 starts in June his ERA stood at 5.34, and that decline clearly continued during his first start in July here. Whether he was pitching hurt or tiring out after an abbreviated 1994 campaign, Harnisch didn't look right, as he consistently fell behind hitters, causing him to throw some meaty get-me-over pitches to some very dangerous hitters. The result: Cincinnati clobbered 4 homers, although luckily they were all solo shots. It was the first time a Mets pitcher gave up 4 home runs at Shea since Nino Espinosa -- also against the Reds -- in 1978!

The Mets didn't really do much against Cincy starter Tim Pugh, managing just a Todd Hundley solo blast in the 2nd and an RBI groundout by Brett Butler in the 5th. They had better luck against reliever Hector Carrasco in the 7th, collecting 3 straight 1-out singles and a sac fly to trim the score to 5-4. But that was as close as they'd get, as Jeff Brantley navigated a rain delay between the 8th and 9th innings to secure a 2-inning save.

On the positive side, though Doug Henry and Jerry DiPoto had some ugly numbers entering this game, both looked really good during their outings -- an encouraging sign considering how poorly the Mets bullpen had performed up to this point in the season. Also, Jeff Barry collected a pinch-hit single in the 5th for his first Major League hit. That represented half of all the hits he'd ever record in a Mets uniform.

The last game of the first half in 95, and the Mets lost again, finishing the half at a horrific 25-44. No one expected the Mets to contend in 1995, but no one expected them to be as bad as they played in the first half either (considering they were almost .500 in 1994 and showed signs of life).

Saberhagen made one of his last starts as a Met before being traded in a few weeks.

The 2nd half of the season would be a lot better for the Mets, as they played pretty excellent baseball the final few months.

The Mets absolutely destroyed 2 future Mets pitchers in this game, as both Reynoso and Acevedo would make their way to Shea in the coming years. But neither had anything in this one, and it was one of only a slight handful of games in team history where the Mets had a 9-run lead by the 3rd inning.

Jason Isringhausen's MLB debut. He pitched a gem that night, and it looked like at least one facet of Generation K (for whiff, which is what the Mets did in choosing Izzy, Pulsipher, and Wilson) would pan out.

Unfortunately, this game was largely overshadowed by the awful TWA 800 crash off the shores of JFK that same night.

Correction, Jared K. The TWA Flight 800 crash happened exactly one year later and on July 17, 1996, the Mets played an afternoon tilt vs the Phillies (I was there because me and my friend bought field level seats off a scalper) and several hours after the game is when the tragedy took place.

Along with Izzy's debut, I remember it was extremely weird to see HoJo in a Cubs uniform during this game. Just didn't look right on him.

Brett Butler had three singles and a home run in this Mets loss. Starting three games ago and ending tonight, Butler had 15 hits over four games, one shy of the record of 16 set by Brooklyn's Milt Stock in 1925. Stock was an infielder who played in the teens and early-mid 1920s.

According to baseballlibrary.com, Stock is probably best remembered by old-time Dodger fans not for this feat, but for the fact that he was the Dodgers' third base coach in 1950. On the last day of the 1950 season, the Dodgers, one game out of first, blew a chance for the pennant when Brooklyn's Cal Abrams was thrown out at the plate by Phillies outfielder Richie Ashburn in the ninth inning of a tie game. Stock was the coach who waved Abrams home. He was fired several days later and never again coached in the majors.

Due to the season starting later because of the strike, 1995 had some scheduling quirks. This game was one of those quirks,as the Mets made their 2nd trip to Wrigley in a week,for a regularly scheduled game in a "one game series". The same would also apply for the next two days, as the Mets went to St Louis twice in a week's span for 2 completely separate series.

In this game, on a gorgeous summer night on the ABC "Baseball Night in America" broadcast, Pulsipher got the start and while he wasn't terrible, it was also a reminder of how much things have changed since. He ended up going 8 full innings, walked 5, gave up 5 runs and with this being his first few weeks in the big leagues, that is just something that would never happen today.

The last game the Mets would ever play against the Cardinals on astroturf. Starting in the 1996 season, Busch Stadium went to grass and the Cards have played on it since, no matter what park. Also the last game that Bonilla would play for the Mets before being traded to the Orioles for Alex Ochoa (and before returning in 1999).

Isringhausen's first start at Shea, after making his debut on the road. He was brilliant. Pitching 8 full innings of 1 run ball and showing the stuff that made him so highly rated.

To piggyback off of what Michael wrote, not only was it Isringhausen's first start at Shea but it was also his first big-league win. He took advantage of a pretty bad Pirates lineup, as well as a horrible base-running blunder by Pittsburgh 1B Mark Johnson in the 4th inning. With 1 out, Johnson on second and already a run on the board, Nelson Liriano roped a single to CF. Brett Butler threw home and Johnson had the throw beat, but for some reason he prioritized colliding with catcher Alberto Castillo -- who was a few feet in front of the plate to field the ball -- instead of touching home, and thus went out of his way to get tagged when he could have easily slid past Castillo to score. If Johnson isn't a dope, this game is tied at 2-2 and Isringhausen has to wait for his first win.

Izzy had already reached 100 pitches and had the lead when he came up to bat with 2 out and 2 on in the 7th. In a move that clearly stated what Dallas Green thought of his relief pitching, he opted to let Jason hit instead of turning the final 2 innings over to his bullpen. Izzy popped out to end the inning but tossed a 1-2-3 8th before relenting to John Franco in the 9th. John had pitched in each of the first 2 games of the series and blew a lead in both, so it was quite gutsy for Green to turn to him here. But Franco finally did his job, retiring the side in order -- including striking out Liriano, who had RBI hits vs. Franco in each of the previous 2 games. This would start a streak of 11 consecutive scoreless appearances for Franco, a span during which he'd pick up 9 saves.

The Mets were still in the grips of the hangover from the Bobby Bonilla trade from 2 days earlier, as they sported a lineup that featured 4 players batting under .200 at the time -- 3 of which under .100! (Carl Everett .190, Damon Buford .081, Alberto Castillo .050, and Isringhausen .000) No surprise then that Paul Wagner had a perfect game going until Rico Brogna walked with 1 out in the 4th. Wagner lost the no-hitter 2 batters later when Jose Vizcaino singled. All 6 hits for the Mets were singles, and both runs scored on outs (RBI groundout by Everett in the 6th, and an RBI sac fly by Joe Orsulak in the 7th). Bret Saberhagen would be traded the following day, so rebuilding mode was back in full effect in Flushing.

The low water mark for the 1995 season for the Mets. After this loss, in which Pulsipher was left in the game way too long, the Mets were 22 games under .500 and had the worst record in the National League.

From this point on, they'd go 34-18 and play outstanding baseball for the rest of the year, finishing in 2nd place (well behind the Braves but still a great finish).

This was the first game I attended after the strike (I had intended to sit out the entire '95 season but didn't quite make it). Back then, Juden v. Pulsipher promised a match-up of Future All-Stars, not of Future Washed-Up Nut-Jobs.

Jose Vizcaino had the big hit when the Mets batted around against Heathcliffe Slocumb in the 10th.

Attended this game with my parents and a friend. They dedicated the night to Elvis Presley and they put my mom on the Diamond Vision screen being asked by one of the stadium employees what song by Elvis is her favorite. Mr. Met also was dressed up like Elvis. Most important was one of Bill Pulsipher's few dominating performances in a nice 1-0 win during a horrible period in Mets history.

Isn't this the game on 8-18-95 Butler's first as a Dodger? If I recall correctly he was traded during the afternoon to L.A. The fans in the stadium had to be notified that Butler changed uniforms.

The above comment is correct. This was the game in which the Mets traded Brett Butler to the Dodgers just hours before the game. Butler literally just had to switch locker rooms and then play against his former team, getting two hits.

I didn't go to this game, but my cousins did. I remember how excited I was to hear that Izzy beat Nomo, especially when Nomo was having his great year. It seemed at the time to be a preview of great things to come but alas, it was not to be (that expression seems to be a favorite of Met fans on this site, hmm...).

What a coincidence, I didn't go to this game either. I was looking forward to going to this game to see the new phenom Hideo Nomo, however the night before a friend calls me up to come to his party he threw at the last second. I figured I'd go for a couple of hours then leave. I was there 'till 3:30 am so I was too tired to go to Shea the next morning. So I watched on TV, in disgust because I wanted to have been there, my boy Butch Huskey go yard on Nomo and the Mets totally pushed him around.

Well I did get to see Nomo pitch a few years later for the Mets and everyone else pushed him around too. Go figure.

I remember being on vacation at the Jersey Shore with my family but sneaking in the hotel room every few minutes to watch this one. As, at the time, this was a huge matchup between Nomo and Izzy, 2 of the best young pitchers in baseball. Nomo was really good, striking out 13 but he gave up 3 homers and that was enough on this afternoon. One of the high points in a season that's mostly forgotten by most.

Jose Vizcaino and Carl Everett hit back-to-back homers in the 3rd, and Huskey hit the first home run of his ML career in the 7th. Despite striking out a season-high 14 times, the Mets find a way to win, sweeping their first 3-game series vs. L.A. since 1992.

Both Isringhausen and Nomo were rookies in 1995. On this day, at least, Izzy got the upper hand.

Chris Jones (the Mets pinch hitter du jour at the time -- the Matt Franco type) is batting with two outs in the 9th inning. He hits a long fly ball that lands over the fence right near the right field foul pole. The "homer" would've won the Mets the game; the Umpire ruled it foul.

I'm pretty sure Dallas Green got ejected arguing, and Jones struck out to end the game.

I seem to remember getting free tickets from a kind season-ticket holder for this game.

Glenn, here are more details from your posting in March 2002. Chris Jones actually started this game and batted fifth for the Mets.

From retrosheet.org:

The Giants led 3-2 with two out and Chris Jones at bat for the Mets. Jones hit a drive to right field which appeared to be a game tying homer off Terry Mulholland. However, first base umpire Gary Darling ruled the ball foul, even though replays of the hit showed it hitting the fair pole. Mulholland struck out Jones on the next pitch to end the game.

The Mets hit 3 home runs, including a 5th-inning grand slam by Carl Everett, and ride another strong start by Jason Isringhausen to win big over the Padres. It's the first of 8 career grand slams for Everett, and the third of four the Mets would hit in 1995. Butch Huskey -- called up a week earlier when Edgardo Alfonzo went down with a herniated disc in his back -- also hit a 2-run homer in the 5th, and Rico Brogna had a solo shot to lead off the 2nd. Every Mets starter had at least a hit except for Damon Buford -- including Isringhausen, who had 2 singles.

On the mound, Izzy allowed 2 runs in the 1st, then held San Diego without a hit until 3 straight singles with 1 out in the 6th. But he buckled down to strike out Jody Reed and Brian Johnson to end the inning, two of only 3 strikeouts he tallied in the game. Blas Minor, making his first appearance in a month due to a broken rib, pitched the final 3 innings to earn his only save as a Met. He was dominant until tiring and giving up a pair of unearned runs in the 9th, as he struck out a season-high 6. That included getting Tony Gwynn looking, one of only 5 times Gwynn struck out looking during the season. After watching Minor a few times in 1995, he reminds me a lot of what Turk Wendell brought to the team during the latter half of the decade.

This was one of the rare games broadcast on NBC during a Friday night. I think 1995 was the last year this occurred. Perhaps scrambling to put together a broadcast crew, the telecast featured Mets radio announcer Bob Murphy and former Mets catcher Rick Cerone in the booth, which was actually quite the pleasant surprise. The video I watched on Youtube also featured a Nolan Ryan Advil commercial that included his son, Reid. Reid was a pitcher in the Rangers system in 1995, where he went 0-10 with a 9.38 ERA. He called it a career after that.

The big story before this game was the Dodgers calling up Mike Busch, a former replacement player. Their clubhouse was extremely vocal about not wanting him around, as the strike was still fresh wounds and any "scab" was seen as a complete enemey, right or wrong. WWOR Channel 9 would peel the camera over to Busch at various points during the game and he was alone with no one near him each time.

Great game as well, as Jeff Kent tied it in the 9th and the Mets got another for an exciting victory.

Bobby Jones gives up a home run to Barry Bonds in this Mets victory. It is the 286th homer of Barry's career, and it's the 11,000th home run in Giants' franchise history.

Ironically, exactly 24 years earlier, on September 3, 1971, Barry's father Bobby Bonds hit the 8,000th homer in franchise history.

In a battle of two of the top rookie pitchers in 1995, Jason Isringhausen bests Carlos Perez as the Mets win in Montreal for the third straight day. As he was apt to doing during his rookie year, Izzy allowed a pair of 1st-inning runs as Montreal tallied 4 singles in the opening frame. But he buckled down and kept getting stronger as the game went on, finishing his outing with 6 shutout innings, no walks and 6 strikeouts to win his 4th straight start -- a streak that would eventually reach 7. As a matter of fact, Izzy held a 6.43 ERA during the 1st inning as a rookie; it was 2.16 from innings 2 through 8 (he didn't pitch into the 9th inning at all as a rookie). That's really something, considering how he'd develop into a stud closer who would pretty much exclusively need to excel in his first inning of work in order to get his job done.

This was my first time seeing Perez in a while. What a character this guy was, with his huge wad of chewing tobacco protruding from his cheek and his over-the-top histrionics when on the mound -- especially his little jig he'd do after recording a strikeout, most notably when he caught a batter looking. Amazing he never got beaned over the course of his career. You'd think there would have been at least one pitcher who took umbrage with his antics and tried to let his feelings be known by throwing one a little too high and tight.

The Mets scored all their runs with 2 outs, with the big barrage occurring in the 3rd. With 2 down and Kelly Stinnett on 2nd after a double, Damon Buford and Jose Vizcaino hit back-to-back singles, and then Carl Everett and Jeff Kent hit back-to-back homers. Everett actually had a chance to hit for the cycle, needing a triple when he batted in the 9th, but he instead struck out. The Mets did little else on offense in the game, but on a day when Izzy was in control and Jerry DiPoto and Blas Minor each worked scoreless innings, that was all that was necessary.

Just watched this one recently on the old tape. Pulsipher got roughed up badly, and though no one knew it at the time, this would be his last major league game for almost 3 seasons. Due to an obscene amount of arm injuries, he would not throw another major league pitch until 1998.

He's remembered as a bust, but people forget that Pulsipher did show some serious flashes of excellence. He had 6 starts in 1995 where he gave up 2 or less runs. He may or may not have kept developing, but we will never know as he just couldnt stay healthy.

I was so angry about the baseball strike; this was the only I game attended all year long. I wanted to keep my streak alive of going to at least one game per year since 1963!

Izzy became the only Mets pitcher ever to give up 13 hits in a game as a winning pitcher.

That's a great anecdote, Ed, and one that still holds true as of this writing in 2023. The last pitcher to come closest to Isringhausen was Noah Syndergaard, who allowed 12 hits in a win over the Phillies in 2018. But the craziness goes even deeper than that. The Phillies only scored 1 run in this game despite collecting 15 hits, and are -- as of 2023 -- the last team to score that few runs with that many hits. The previous time it occurred in a non-extra inning game prior to 1995 was in 1951 when the Cardinals also had 15 hits but lost to the Dodgers, 2-1.

Needless to say, Izzy wasn't particularly sharp -- but the bottom line is he kept the Phillies off the scoreboard. The only run he allowed came in the 3rd when Mickey Morandini poked a triple down the RF line that bounced off Carl Everett's face and, based on Everett's reaction, I thought broke his nose. But he shook it off and stayed in the game. Andy Van Slyke followed with an RBI sac fly, and that was all she wrote for Philly. They collected at least 1 hit in every inning -- including 2 hits in 6 innings -- but just could not get anyone home. It's nice to say that about a team other than the Mets, who were guilty of plenty of these types of performances in the years prior to 1995. Izzy worked into the 8th inning, despite entering the frame already at 110 pitches, but had to depart after Mike Lieberthal singled and Kevin Stocker was hit with a pitch. In came Jerry DiPoto, who allowed a bloop single behind 3B to pinch-hitter Gary Varsho that was just out of the reach of the diving Tim Bogar. That loaded the bases with 1 out, but then Morandini -- who hit .346 with RISP in 1995 -- hit into a huge 4-6-3 DP to end the inning. John Franco then tossed a scoreless 9th for the save.

Mike Mimbs started for Philly, his first start since July 23 after 16 appearances out of the bullpen. It was nice to put a loss on him to get revenge for his complete game victory at Shea back on June 22. Todd Hundley kept the homers coming with a 2-run blast off Russ Springer in the 6th, and Ryan Thompson just missed going yard for a 3-run shot in the 8th but Mark Whiten caught the ball over the wall. Bogar, who was starting at 3B with Edgardo Alfonzo and Butch Huskey both hurt, went 0-for-4 with 4 Ks, achieving his only career golden sombrero. Also, the telecast I watched had a commercial that featured Cecil Fielder at a diner eating and talking to his son, Prince, who was only 11 at the time. I thought that was really neat, now knowing Prince would also go on to be an All-Star 1B in his own right.

It rained ALL morning on this Sunday and no one thought the game had a prayer of getting played, but Pete Flynn said that there was a window to play and the game got in. Maybe 5,000 people showed up as Rico Brogna continued his red hot play and hit 2 more homers as the Mets continued to close the 1995 season playing VERY good baseball.

Greg Maddux showed why he was well on his way to his 4th straight Cy Young Award, blanking the Mets over 8 innings to improve to 18-2. Though he may have gotten a beneficial call or two from home plate umpire Mark Hirschbeck, Maddux was still incredibly dominant, allowing just 1 runner to reach third base over his eight innings and going to a 3-ball count to just 4 of the 29 batters he faced. He was even struck by a batted ball twice but remained in the game. As if that wasn't enough, he also went 2-for-3 with 2 doubles and a run scored on offense, with those 2 doubles being the only extra-base hits he'd have all season. He had only one other game in his career in which he'd collect 2 extra-base hits -- which also came against the Mets back when he was with the Cubs in 1992. To lock up the Cy Young Award -- which amazingly would be the last he'd win in his career -- Maddux ended the season allowing just 1 run in 31 innings in September. He was simply incredible.

The same unfortunately couldn't be said for Dave Telgheder, who was making his last ever appearance as a Met. He lasted just 4 innings and was undone by an error by -- of all people -- Rico Brogna, who led the NL in fielding percentage in 1995 and committed just 3 errors all season. In the 3rd, with runners on 1st and 2nd and 1 out, Mark Lemke hit a grounder right to Brogna, but Rico wasn't sure if he wanted to try to turn two or just take the out at first, and in his indecisiveness lost concentration and bobbled the ball attempting to transfer it from his glove to his throwing hand. That loaded the bases for Chipper Jones, and we all know Larry never missed an opportunity to make the Mets pay. On this first pitch, Chipper roped a double down the RF line to score 2, and Fred McGriff followed with an RBI groundout. That was all the runs that would be scored this evening, but it was more than enough for Maddux. The game lasted just an hour and 57 minutes, which was the shortest 9-inning game played by the Mets in 1995. A few days later they'd beat the Reds in an hour and 56 minutes, but that game was called after 6 innings.

I attended this game with a friend of mine. We sat right behind home plate because at this point in the season the ticket holders would stand outside of Shea begging for people to take them.

This was an overcast day to begin with and I remember getting to the stadium early and watching Barry Larkin jogging around the stadium.

There was intense controversy in the sixth when it began raining. Tim Pugh comes in and gives up a single to Vizcaino and walks Carl Everett. With Jeff Kent up Pugh balks the runners over and then uncorks a wild pitch scoring Vizcaino and right then the umpires called the game.

Reds manager Davey Johnson and coach Ray Knight run out on the field and start yelling loud and I think both were thrown out of the game. I have nice pictures of the event too.

This was Izzy's ninth and final win of his rookie year.

Mets pulled this season finale out in Shea in 11 innings. The win pulled the Mets into a second place tie in the NL East. Of course, they were 21 games behind the Braves and 6 games under .500. But considering that they were more than 20 games under .500 in early August and that Izzy pitched 8 great innings in this game to finish his half season in the rotation with a 9-2 record, and Met fans had some hope for the future. Sadly, they did not continue their improvement in 1996 and Izzy never panned out with the Mets. It wasn't until 1997 with Bobby V at the helm that things finally turned around.

Terrific game on a beautiful afternoon. We went without tickets planning to buy them at the park, but a man saw me on line with my two year old son and handed me tickets (field level box seats!) and wouldn't take any money. The only problem for us that day was that there was no food being sold because it was the last game of a long season and even the vendors had given up.

I remember this one well. A beautiful afternoon to end the season. Izzy continued his great pitching and the Mets put a nice touch on the end of their season. It's forgotten now but the 95 Mets were actually a decent team, especially in the second half.

I'm shocked that vendors didn't sell any food & drink. That's truly unprofessional in my opinion. If I was there, I would make a big stink about it.