The 96 season was a waste, but anyone who remembers this game knows that, at least on this day, the Mets seemed invincible. In a steady rain, the Mets rallied from a 6-0 deficit to win 7-6. The Mets fell behind on HRs by immortals such as John Mabry and a 41-year-old Willie McGee off of Bobby Jones, and when he departed after 3.2 unmemorable innings, the score was 6-0. Then the bullpen took over. Hundley homered in the 4th, a 2-run shot, and the first of many. Gilkey homered in the 6th, in his Mets debut against the team that dealt him away. The Cards threatened in the 7th, but that rally was stifled when Rey Ordonez, in his Major League Debut, gunned out Royce Clayton from LF...ON HIS KNEES!!! Rey then promptly whacked his first ML hit in the bottom of the 7th, which keyed a 4-run rally which put the Mets ahead to stay. And anyone who sat through all 9 stormy and wet innings felt, at least that day, like champions.

Me and my friends Marie and Danny went to this game. We sat over the Mets bullpen. It was a rainy day and we got soaked. I remember the Mets were losing the game when we had to leave early. Bernard Gilkey hit a homer to make it 6-3. I said on the way home I know the Mets will come back to win and they did.

I remember watching this one on TV, not envying the rain-soaked fans in the stadium, and watching an incredible relay throw by a rookie shortshop on his knees down the left-field line to nail a runner at the plate. "Wow, this kid gonna be something," I thought. *Sigh* Rey, if you could only learn how to hit.

I remember this one well. I was 13, and in seventh grade. I got to skip a day of school (something I have done a lot for Mets baseball), as did my older sister, to go to this with my dad. This season started with a lot of high hopes. For the first 3 1/2 innings, it looked like it was going to be an awful game to go along with the miserable rainy & cold day as Bobby Jones fell behind 6-0. But, Todd Hundley started off the scoring by hitting a two-run homer in the bottom of the fourth. It was his first of 41 record breaking homers by a catcher in a single season. The Mets continued to come back later in the game, including a home run by then newcomer Benard Gilkey. They would go on to win 7-6. But, the famous from the knees play by then rookie Rey Ordonez is what stands out most in memories of this game. Royce Clayton tried to score, but was gunned down by a kneeling Rey Ordonez throw from left field. What an awesome play! I went to the first, and last game of this season. Too bad it merely ended to be the Mets' sixth straight season of finishing under the 500 mark.

I remember being at work and had my trusty radio on that crappy day and while the Mets game was going on; they had announced that Umpire Big John McSherry had died on the field in Cincinnati. A sad day for baseball!

This is one of my first, and to this day favorite memories from any Met game I've ever attended. I was a 10-year-old youth, getting to skip school for my first opening day at Shea, and boy was I pumped. I remember the excitement I had for the '96 season, leading up to 4/1/96, and while '96 was a rough one, this one game was a great one.

The rain was coming down from the early morning and I was praying for it to hold off, and luckily it was dry enough to get this one in. Bobby Jones threw a disappointing 3.2 innings and we were down 6-0. It looked as though my dad and I, who were enduring the rain in the loge section, might not be around for all 9. But Todd Hundley came up and cut the lead by 33%, making it 6-2 with a blast into the right field bullpen.

New Met Bernard "Innocent until proven" Gilkey came up a few innings later and reduced the lead even more to 6-3.

Somewhere in there rookie Rey Ordonez made one of the best plays I've ever seen, an incredible throw from his knees to gun down a runner at the plate, from left field.

The Mets would go on top in the 7th in an inning sparked by hits from Ordonez and one of my favorite Met pinch hitters ever, Chris Jones. 7-6 after 7 an a brutal day turned to terrific, as this no name bullpen was able to hold the Cards for 4.1 innings, something they couldn't do much of after this game. However this one is gonna be locked in the memory bank for a while, friend.

Watched this one recently on the old tape and it's probably my favorite opening day ever. It's generally forgotten now, but people had real hope for the 1996 Mets. Even during the pregame show before this game, a lot of analysts and interviewed fans were truly expecting the team to compete for the wild card, especially after how they finished the 1995 season so hot with all those young players.

As for the game, the Mets came from a 6-0 deficit to win a truly memorable opener. Homers from Hundley and Gilkey, both about to have the best season of their careers. And oh yea, that guy Rey Ordonez certainly knows how to make an introduction to NY.

These comments were all thoroughly enjoyable to read. Though I didn't watch this game live -- as it was a day game on a Monday and I was still a sophomore in high school at the time -- I vividly remember watching all the highlights when I got home revolving around Ordonez's fantastic play from his knees to gun down Royce Clayton trying to score from first on a double down the LF line by Ray Lankford in the 7th inning. Clayton's reaction is iconic, leaning back with his arms in the air after getting punched out and then looking around as if to say, "how in the world did he make that throw?" And Howie Rose had such a great call on Sportschannel: "Ordonez -- throwing from his knees! AND THEY GOT HIM!" Truly one of the most memorable Opening Day moments in Mets history.

It wasn't Ordonez's only defensive gem of the day, either. In the 3rd, he threw out Clayton again when Clayton tried turning a double into a triple. He also made some other really nifty plays on grounders up the middle, and fittingly ended the game by throwing out Willie McGee on a groundout. His brilliant play in the 7th seemed to serve as the turning point too, as in the bottom of the inning the Mets collected 5 straight singles, including one by Ordonez himself for his first career hit.

While Bobby Jones was awful, recording the third-shortest Opening Day start in Mets history (behind Mike Torrez's 1.1 innings in 1984 and Roger Craig's 3 innings in 1962), the bullpen was fantastic, with Jerry DiPoto getting the win, Doug Henry a hold, and John Franco the save. Credit goes to the fans who stuck around for the whole game, and those who did made plenty of noise as the Mets celebrated their first win from 6 runs down since June 14, 1980 (according to the broadcast). It spoiled Tony LaRussa's managerial debut with the Cardinals and gave the Mets their 4th straight Opening Day win over St. Louis (a streak that now sits at 6).

Ozzie Smith was announced to start the game but was scratched because of the weather. That was significant as he'd retire after the season, meaning he ended his career with 17 Opening Day starts as a shortstop. That puts him 1 off from tying for the all-time record, held by Luis Aparicio and Omar Vizquel.

The broadcast also showed the replays of John McSherry collapsing from his heart attack during the Reds/Expos game. What a sad sight that was, but his passing I think served as the catalyst for umpires to start getting in better shape. Nowadays, it's pretty rare to find umpires as obese as they were 30 years ago.

Tony LaRussa wins his first game as Cardinals manager as the Mets can't repeat their Opening Day comeback heroics. A 2-run homer and RBI sac fly by Ron Gant staked St. Louis to a 3-0 lead until the 6th inning, when Bernard Gilkey walloped his second home run in as many games, this time a 3-run shot to knot the score (and invoking many memories of Gilkey rounding the bases while Snap's "I've Got the Power" blared over the speakers). But the bullpen and some shoddy defense gave the lead right back to the Cards in the 7th. Robert Person, on in relief of Jason Isringhausen, retired the first two batters, but then pitcher Todd Stottlemyre dunked a single into LF, and Willie McGee followed by reaching on an error by Jose Vizcaino, now playing 2B with Rey Ordonez taking over SS. Royce Clayton then roped a single to RF to score Stottlemyre before Bob MacDonald came on in relief to strike out Ray Lankford and retire the side.

After Jerry DiPoto gave up another run in the 8th, the Mets tried staging a rally, putting two on with 2 out in both the 8th and 9th innings, but couldn't come through. And I questioned Dallas Green's moves quite a bit in those two innings. In the 8th, LaRussa summoned Dennis Eckersley to face Butch Huskey with runners on 1st and 2nd. Eck was pummeled by left-hand hitters the previous year (.344), so I thought it would have been academic to pinch-hit for Huskey with the switch-hitting Carl Everett -- who, by the way, hit .286 from the left side in 1995. Instead, Dallas used Everett as a pinch-runner at 1st for Rico Brogna, and stuck with Huskey. In all fairness, Huskey drilled what might have been a home run, but the ball was caught by a leaping Lankford at the wall for the final out of the inning. Still, if playing by the numbers, I'm not quite sure what Dallas' thinking was here.

Then, in the 9th, Eck got the first 2 hitters out before Vizcaino and new Met Kevin Roberson followed with singles, getting the winning run to the plate. Edgardo Alfonzo was due up, and at the time was a ripe candidate to be pinch-hit for by uber pinch-hitter Chris Jones. But again, Dallas stuck with his youngster, and Fonzie went down swinging and that was the ball game. Some better late-game management really could have been the difference in this one.

The loss broke a streak of 8 straight games the Mets won when Isringhausen started. The Mets also learned Bill Pulsipher was likely done for the season the day prior due to a torn elbow ligament -- one that led to eventual Tommy John surgery and would prevent Pulsipher from pitching for the Mets again until 1998.

This was also the game Ralph Kiner had his infamous "This will go down in history as the game where the pitchers have the most initials" comment. Not only a classic Kinerism, but also factually incorrect; that distinction, as noted later on in the telecast, went to a game between the Phillies and Pirates in 1944 when Ken Raffensberger faced Fritz Ostermueller. Try saying that three times fast.

I am the only man to run onto the field and get away with it at Shea Stadium. I will strike again. This historic day will live in infamy! Out of the five people who ran onto the field that day.. I am the soul survivor .

The Shea Stadium "Spider"

Wow, that was you, huh, Spider? 9th inning? Right after Franco had completed the Mets blowing a 7-3 lead in the Major League Debut of one Mr. Paul Wilson? Impressive. Not quite as impressive, however, as the 7 IP tossed by the last of the three "greats" to make their ML Debut, and we all know what happened after that... As for the game, which I was at (but not running on the field), yes, Wilson was staked to a 7-3 lead, which was blown by usual suspects Henry & DiPoto, but the Mets tied the game in the last of the 9th when a grounder that would have ended the game snuck through the legs of aging 3B Gary Gaetti, and then Brent Mayne, in one of his few shining moments of glory with the Mets, smacked a single to bring home the winner.

Wow! I was ten years old when I was at that game. During the later innings (Huskey was at 1st) some old guy ran up and gave him a hug, and then right after that a few more people ran out. Then yes I remember that one guy went running into the outfield, dove over the wall and the cops never got to him. You my friend are my hero!

I was at this great game with my father and I have a baseball from this game. It was a hard hit foul ball off the bat of Ron Gant. Everyone ducked and my father caught it. I remember his hand was black and blue. He wrote on the ball GANT 4-4-96. The Mets were winning 8-3 and the Cardinals came back late to take a 9-8 lead. The Mets won 10-9 when they scored two runs in the 9th off Dennis Eckersley. My father passed away and I keep this baseball next to a picture of us together.

I was at this game and sat pretty close to home plate, just behind the right hand side. What I most remember about this game was that forty year old Danny Darwin, someone who I thought retired, simply mowed the Mets down. They couldn't keep up with his breaking pitches and the Mets batters looked defeated.

This was also Mark Clark's debut with the Mets and he had a pretty good year for them. It was a shame to see him go the following summer. I also remember this game because I was on the worst date of my life.

I was a graduate student at Colorado State University at the time, and I attended the game at Coors Field with a fellow graduate student. The thing that sticks out in my mind about the game is the two errors made by Rey Ordóñez on a single play.

This was Rey-Rey's coming out party with the bat. I remember it well - an ESPN game as I recall. The announcers were totally nonplussed that Ordonez just kept getting hit after hit.

I just watched this one back on YouTube, and Toasty Joe was right -- this was an ESPN broadcast on Sunday night, and Ordonez went 4-for-5 with his first career triple. He also started a 14-game hitting streak with this performance, which amazingly was the longest of his career. However, John Miller and Joe Morgan weren't "nonplussed" at all; in fact, they brought up how Ordonez had the 2nd highest batting average during winter league ball behind Roberto Alomar, and Morgan in particular commented on how he liked Rey's level swing and thought he had the makings of a really good Major League hitter. Of course, he was wrong, but at the time Rey had a lot of us fooled.

The other big story in this game was the return of Pete Harnisch, who was making his first start of the season after undergoing surgery for a torn labrum. I doubt he touched 90 mph once all night, but he still kept a stacked Rockies lineup at bay, only allowing 2 runs over 6 innings. Although I gotta say, he gave up an absolute bomb to Larry Walker in the 2nd inning. That thing might still be in orbit. But he gets a ton of credit for weathering 45-degree temperatures, intermittent flurries and the Coors Field altitude in his first start back. The odds were definitely stacked against him and he came through in a big way. His win helped prevent the Mets from getting swept in Colorado, and was only the second earned by a Mets starter to that point in the season, so it came at a really good time.

The Mets had a comeback victory well in hand, rallying for 2 runs in the 8th on a Lance Johnson triple to take a 3-2 lead. But John Franco, in all too familiar fashion, blew it in the 9th, allowing the Rockies to bring 10 batters to the plate and score 4 times. It was already his 3rd blown save, and it was only the Mets' 16th game of the season! That put him on a pace to blow 30 saves in 1996, which is quite ridiculous.

But even though he gave up 3 singles and 3 walks in the inning, I don't peg the loss entirely on ol' Johnny boy. The Mets also committed a few errors behind him, with Johnson charged with 2 when he booted Walt Weiss' RBI single, allowing Trinidad Hubbard to score, then another when his throw home was errant, allowing the runners to move up a base. Jeff Kent had another error later on that allowed the final run of the inning to score. Not to mention, Franco had just worked 2 innings the previous day, and was the only member of the bullpen to work that game. So Dallas Green probably would have been best served going with someone else to nail down the save -- especially considering it was the bottom of the Colorado order due up in the 9th, so it shouldn't have been too difficult for a well-rested pitcher to navigate.

Nonetheless, Franco's implosion negated a very strong start from Jason Isringhausen, whose only mistake over 8 innings was serving up a 2-run homer to Ellis Burks -- despite some uncharacteristic wildness, as he walked 5 and hit 2 batters. However, he also rung up 8 strikeouts, which set a new career high at the time. His counterpart, Armando Reynoso, was not to be outdone. He faced the minimum through 5 innings and only allowed 1 run on 3 hits over 7, but was mysteriously removed from the game after just 76 pitches. The Colorado bullpen immediately blew it, with Johnson arguably getting his biggest hit as a Met to that point with his 2-out, 2-run triple. It was already his 4th triple of the season, and he'd go on to collect a still team-record 21 (a mark I doubt will ever be broken).

So far, 1996 was beginning just like 1995: high hopes and promise, but nothing but poor play and disheartening losses to show for it.

After a terrible start to the season, Paul Wilson got his first major league win on this night. Pitching 8 great innings and showing the stuff that made him so well thought of with scouts. There wouldn't be too many more nights like these for Paul, but was a star for this one.

Chris Jones' 3rd game ending homer of 4 that he had for the Mets. This one may have been his furthest, as hit shot off Jeff Shaw left the park in an instant, ending this rainy night.

Jose Vizcaino got his ninth consecutive hit (a Met record) in this game before the streak was stopped in his last at-bat.

As best as I can tell, Vizcaino's 9 straight hits still stands as the Mets record. He's a guy I've learned to develop a new respect for after re-watching these mid-90s games: He was a soft-spoken professional, moved from SS to 2B to accommodate Rey Ordonez, but didn't let the position change affect him at the plate, nor was he bothered by losing occasional playing time to Edgardo Alfonzo.

Vizcaino also played a part in the Mets' 8-run 7th inning during this game, which was their highest-scoring inning of the season (and, according to the WWOR broadcast, the highest-scoring 7th inning in the team's history to that point). The Mets first 8 batters reached base during the inning, highlighted by home runs from Brent Mayne (his only as a Met), Lance Johnson (his first as a Met) and Butch Huskey (his first of the season). It was Vizcaino's triple that represented his 9th straight hit and chased starter Alan Benes from the game, who prior to the 7th had only given up 3 hits -- all to Vizcaino.

Now staked to a 9-3 lead, Mark Clark was allowed to go the distance, notching the first of 10 complete games Mets pitching would record in 1996. It was his first win as a Met, even though he had pitched well during his first 3 starts but ran into some bad luck. The Mets narrowly avoided further misfortune in the 8th inning when Rey Ordonez, while making a fancy diving catch on a pop fly by Gary Gaetti, accidentally shinned Bernard Gilkey in the face. Somehow, despite the collision looking pretty nasty, no one got hurt.

After looking like a batting practice pitcher earlier in April -- which caused him to get sent to extended spring training and work out his kinks -- Bobby Jones finally earned his first win of the year, ultimately pitching better than his final line would indicate. He allowed only a pair of solo homers through 8 innings with 5 Ks, but Dallas Green got greedy and decided to let him go for the complete game. Running on fumes, Jones walked the leadoff man, then gave up a 2-run shot to Jay Bell, trimming the Mets lead to 7-4. He then produced a groundout before Charlie Hayes singled, bringing in Doug Henry from the bullpen.

That's when things really got interesting. Henry walked pinch-hitter Mark Johnson, bringing the tying run to the plate. Dallas then went to John Franco, and you could almost taste another meltdown coming. Franco struck out Jacob Brumfield, then allowed an RBI single to Carlos Garcia, which brought up the go-ahead run in Al Martin. But Franco prevailed, getting Martin to go down swinging and secure the Mets' first road series win of the season.

Joe Boever, in his last hurrah as a major leaguer, was just picked up the day before by the Buccos and was summoned to pitch the 9th inning. You could tell he was brand new, too, as he wasn't in sync with catcher Jason Kendall at all. A wild pitch and a passed ball in the inning allowed Rey Ordonez to score the final run of the day for the Mets.

I was also a bit surprised to see Kevin Roberson batting cleanup. It was only 1 of 6 times he started a game batting cleanup during his career. He did have an RBI single but also struck out 3 times, and it's hard to understand why Dallas didn't go with a more established power threat, like Rico Brogna or Todd Hundley, in the 4-hole on this day. It almost seemed like he was more interested in experimenting than winning, which I think is a big reason why his Mets teams never got over the hump and why he'd be out of a job later in 1996.

This game was a baseball history maker! John Franco, with a scoreless ninth inning, became the first left-hander to record 300 saves in his career. A few years later, he became the first lefty to get 400 saves.

This was a crushing loss. Wilson one of the supposed "phenom" pitchers had like a 1 hitter going into the 9th at Wrigley. Sammy Sosa hit a three run homer in the bottom of the 9th to win it for the Cubs. The Mets never recovered that season.

This is Dallas Green as his finest. Wilson pitches the game of his life striking out 14. Instead of taking him out to face Sosa and bringing in the junk baller (Franco), Green keeps him in. Wilson was never the same after this game and this is when I lost all credibility for Dallas Green.

Dallas Green certainly deserved his fair share of criticisms for the many disappointments of the 1996 season, but I'm not sure this game is an example of one. Wilson entered the 9th inning having thrown just 92 pitches and hadn't allowed a hit since the 1st inning, so I don't see the problem in letting him chase his first career complete game. Despite a leadoff bunt single, Wilson struck out the next two batters, Brian McRae and Ryan Sandberg. Green then had a choice with the runner on 2nd after a stolen base and the lefty Mark Grace up -- bring in Franco to face Grace lefty vs. lefty, or intentionally walk Grace and let Wilson face Sosa, who Wilson had struck out twice already in the game and hadn't had a hit in 5 games. When the decision was made to walk Grace, you're not then going to bring in Franco to face the righty Sosa. That makes no sense. Unfortunately, Wilson left a hanging slider over the plate that Sosa ripped onto Waveland Avenue for a walkoff homer, but you can't disagree with the strategy that was used.

Not only that, but Wilson struck out 10, not 14. With the power of hindsight it's real easy to say Green should have taken Wilson out in that spot, but in real time I don't think there was anything wrong with his decision whatsoever. But I do concur that this was a real tough loss and one that sent the Mets into quite the tailspin.

Bobby Jones continues his comeback from a poor start to the season, tossing 8 shutout innings to help the Mets snap, what is at that point, a season-long 4 game losing streak. He definitely had some good defense behind him, as Jeff Kent made several diving plays at 3B, and Bernard Gilkey tallied his 7th of what would be a league-leading 18 OF assists when he gunned down Mark Grace trying to tag up and score on a line drive to left in the 7th inning.

That preserved a 1-0 lead (thanks to a Butch Huskey homer in the 3rd), which would grow to 2-0 in the 8th. After Jones successfully navigated the top half of the inning despite a couple of walks, Huskey hit a 1-out single in the bottom half of the inning. Rey Ordonez then appeared to have an infield hit beat out, but, as he would frustratingly do his entire career, dove head-first into first instead of running through the base, slowing him down and prompting the 1B umpire to call him out. Now with a runner on 2nd and 2 down, the Mets pinch hit for Jones with Carl Everett, who earlier in the day had a closed-door meeting with Dallas Green, most likely in regards to his lack of playing time. The Cubs countered by bringing in left-hander Bob Patterson, realizing Everett hit only .210 vs. lefties in 1995. But Everett came through nonetheless, drilling an opposite-field double up the gap to plate an insurance run, and potentially helping to earn himself a boost in playing time in the future. John Franco took it from there, nailing down his 301st career save in a 1-2-3 9th inning.

The telecast also posed the following trivia question during the game: What Hall of Famer and native of Puerto Rico is (as of the date of the broadcast) the only player in Major League history to hit .350 and strikeout more than 100 times in a season?

The answer: Roberto Clemente in 1967. What's really crazy about that year is that, despite winning a batting title and leading the majors in hits, Clemente only placed 3rd for NL MVP, ranking behind a couple of Cardinals. Orlando Cepeda won it, and none other than Tim McCarver, who was calling the game for the Mets on this evening in 1996, ranked second. Shockingly, despite his massive ego, he didn't bring this anecdote up during the broadcast. It was the only time during his 21-year career McCarver received any votes for MVP. Since 1996, there have been three more players who have hit .350 and struck out 100 times in a season: Alex Rodriguez (oddly enough in 1996), Manny Ramirez (2000) and Larry Walker (2001).

This was the infamous Pete Harnisch/Scott Servais/Kevin Foster brawl, where Foster threw a pitch over Hundley's head in the 1st, Harnisch hit Foster with a pitch in the 2nd, then Terry Adams threw a pitch behind Harnisch in the 5th. Harnisch then began jawing with Cubs Catcher Scott Servais, then closed-fisted him in the face, setting off a brawl that spilled into the Cubs dugout. I believe Harnisch, Adams, Servais and Hundley all got tossed.

Then, of course, after the Mets led 6-2, Henry came in and blew the lead.

Rico Brogna, in his last great moment (and there weren't that many) as a Met, hit the game winner, his 2nd of the game, in the 9th.

As mentioned by Mets2Moon, there were NINE ejections in this game, including Servais and Harnisch, who was also fined and suspended for eight games for throwing the punch. Mets bullpen coach Steve Swisher was also thrown out and suspended for two games, and John Franco was thrown out too, and today was John Franco Day at Shea!

Rico Brogna had a triple and a single to go along with his two homers.

To my knowledge.....this game is where a Mets player came the closets to hitting 3 homers in a game at Shea (it never happened).

Brogna hit 2 homers and then hit a triple that hit the VERY top of the wall.

A wild game to say the least. To clear up the ejections: it was Harnisch, Hundley, Franco, Blas Minor and Steve Swisher for the Mets, and Servais, Leo Gomez, Turk Wendell and Scott Bullett for the Cubs. I guess they let Terry Adams stay in the game because he didn't actually hit Harnisch and didn't do anything egregious during the brawl.

The fight is still well-documented to this day. I found a blog post written by a fan who claimed to have been punched (accidentally?) during the fracas by Mark Grace, found here: http://studiousMetsimus.blogspot.com/2021/05/25-years-ago-when-mark-grace-punched-me.html

There's also an interesting article from 2016 written in the Seattle Times about how Harnisch and Servais were actually good friends at the time -- as they were teammates for several seasons with the Astros prior to 1996 -- and the two mended fences and worked together as coaches with the Angels and Mariners, found here: https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/mariners/buddies-at-brawl/

Thanks goes to Michael, as I did not know there never was a Mets player who hit 3 home runs while Shea Stadium existed. There's actually been 4 players who've already done it at Citi Field, which I guess proves Citi is a better hitter's ballpark than Shea was. They are (in chronological order) Kirk Nieuwenhuis, Lucas Duda, Robinson Cano, and Francisco Lindor.

It really was a great day for Rico. He had a 2-out, 2-run single to tie the game in the 1st, then homered, tripled, and hit his first of two career walkoff homers (but only one he'd hit with the Mets) that was likely assisted by a gusty wind that grew stronger as the game wore on. This win would perhaps be the apex of good feeling the Mets would achieve in 1996.

There was so much else going on in this game besides the brawl and Brogna's homer. Jeff Kent was just barely thrown out at home with the bases loaded in the 3rd. In the 6th, with two runners on base, Lance Johnson made a spectacular running catch slamming into the wall to end the inning. Then, the 9th inning saw some interesting strategy employed by the Cubs, as they opted not to bunt with Mark Grace with 2 on and no one out, risking a double play. But then, after Grace flew out, the runners pulled off a gutsy double steal with Sammy Sosa at the plate. Sosa struck out after a controversial strike 3 (as the scoreboard had the count wrong and manager Jim Riggleman came out to argue), and then the Mets intentionally walked Luis Gonzalez to have Henry face the right-handed Jose Hernandez with the sacks full. Down to his last strike, Hernandez poked a single to center that tied the score, eventually leading to Brogna's heroics.

Oh, and there was also an epic visit by Jerry Seinfeld in the broadcast booth that lasted an inning and a half, as he was grilled about his love life (he was dating the stunning 20-year-old Shoshanna Lonstein at the time, who was also at the game), instinctively took over the play-by-play call at times, and was then told by Ralph Kiner not to quit his day job as he was leaving. Absolutely hilarious.

Just watched this one recently on an old tape. Harnisch was completely in control of this game from the beginning of this afternoon affair. The Mets broke a 4 game losing streak.

Todd Hundley had two three-run homers in this game along with another RBI for a total of seven on the day. Mark Clark went the distance for his second complete game victory of the year; at this point no other Met had pitched a complete game.

Rey Ordonez had two singles, two doubles, and two errors in the game. Rico Brogna also saved Ordonez from making two more errors when he made nice plays at first to save two bad throws.

One of the few games in modern Mets history that absolutely no one saw, unless you happened to be in San Francisco at the game in person.

Due to the rainout a couple of nights earlier, this was a double header, and though the first game of the day was shown on tv in New York, this nightcap could not be, as ESPN had exclusive "prime time rights" on Sunday night and they were showing a different game.

Probably a good thing, as it was a ho-hum Giants win, as Mark Gardner went the distance.

As a senior in high school, Fireworks Night at Shea was a game that about a dozen of my friends and I attended in hopes of seeing the budding young phenom named Jason Isringhausen throw his first no-hitter. Of course, as we've all come to see, Isringhausen turned out to be a real bust and there was no no- hitter coming that night. Instead, Isringhausen was shelled and the Mets' managed to put one measly run on the board courtesy of Butch Huskey's solo shot late in the game. I think the name Butch Husky stands for "one who hits solo home runs of no consequence" in Swahili because that came to be his claim to fame. Anyway, despite the 13 to 1 drubbing, my friends and I managed to enjoy ourselves...that is until the fireworks were set off accompanied by the garage-band wailings of some band called "The Fool". The name of the band says it all folks, because that night the Mets were indeed playin' the fool...

I remember this game well. I was 13 years old at it was a sunny afternoon at Shea Stadium. Gilkey went deep in the 1st inning, and pretty much it was a pitcher's duel the rest of the way. Quick game!

Taped this game years ago and watched it recently. A nice weekday afternoon game on Channel 9 (a rarity by the time the mid-90's came around). Definitely the best game that Paul Wilson ever pitched as a Met. And you could really see the fantastic stuff that he did have when he was fully healthy on this day. A shame that this was his high point with the team.

I agree with Michael. Wilson had the stuff of a true ace when he was healthy, which unfortunately wouldn't be for very much longer in 1996. Freshly shaved for the first time as a rookie, Wilson didn't allow another hit after a 4th inning double by Barry Bonds, ultimately tossing 8 shutout innings with 8 strikeouts. Wilson knew his day was done after the 8th, having thrown 99 pitches and due up in the bottom of the frame, and with the score still deadlocked at 0-0, the Mets needed to score a run to give Wilson his much deserved win. Thankfully, Jose Vizcaino came through with a 2-out single to plate Rey Ordonez, and then all that needed to happen was for John Franco to nail down the save.

But it was never that easy for these Mets. Stan Javier led off the 9th with a bunt single, which brought up Barry Bonds as the go-ahead run. Bonds smacked a deep flyball to CF that luckily got caught up in the stiff wind that was blowing in all day (and likely cost Matt Williams and Butch Huskey home runs earlier in the game, too), but Javier tagged up and moved to second base on the play. With the ever-dangerous Williams up next, I thought the Mets could have walked him with a base open and instead face Mark Carreon and attempt to get a double play. Pitching coach Greg Pavlick came to the mound to ask Franco what he wanted to do, and apparently Franco preferred going straight after Williams. It was a gutsy decision, but Franco came out looking like a genius as he struck out Williams, and then, after a 9-pitch battle, got Carreon to ground out to end the game.

Credit goes to Wilson and Giants starter Allen Watson for looking like Cy Young Award candidates, but the truth is both teams were really struggling to score runs at the time. Including this game, the Giants had scored just 12 runs in their last 7 games, and the Mets had only scored more than 4 runs once over their last 11 games. Didn't help that the Mets were missing Rico Brogna due to a bad shoulder, and gave Tim Bogar his first start of the season at 1B in this game. I'm still astonished at how little Carl Everett was being used at the time. The Mets easily could have started him in RF and Huskey at 1B. Everett was so far in Dallas Green's doghouse that nothing short of solving world hunger was getting him out.

This was the first ever FOX Saturday game. Turned out to be a good one. Mets won a 1 run game and in the 8th inning, Rey Ordonez saved the game with a great play at SS.

I have no memory of watching this game but I probably did when it originally aired considering, as Michael wrote, this was the first ever game broadcast on FOX. I may be in the minority, but I actually like Joe Buck as a broadcaster, and it was nice listening to him when he was younger.

This was Pete Harnisch's first start since serving an 8-game suspension for his part in the brawl between the Mets and Cubs on March 11. He got off to a rocky start, walking three in a row before giving up a double down the LF line to Raul Mondesi that scored two. Those were actually the first walks he allowed in 3 starts. But after that, Harnisch only gave up a solo homer to Mike Blowers, and he left after 7 innings with a 4-3 lead.

The Mets took the lead in the 6th, but it looked like more bad luck was going to doom them in the inning. After Jose Vizcaino led off with a single, Bernard Gilkey drilled a deep flyball to CF that Roger Cedeno somehow caught after the ball hit off the heel of his glove and he trapped it up against his body. Jeff Kent followed by hitting a liner off Tom Candiotti, but 2B Delino DeShields alertly tracked down the ball and threw Kent out. After those tough outs, it was up to Roberto Petagine, making just his second start for the Mets since being promoted from AAA. But he came through, knocking in Vizcaino with a single, and Chris Jones followed with an RBI double to give the Mets the lead.

Doug Henry made things exciting in the 8th but worked around a walk and a single, and then John Franco retired all 3 he faced in the 9th for the save. So in the record books, the Mets won the first ever game on FOX. As mentioned by Michael, Ordonez made a diving play on a grounder by Eric Karros in the 8th, resulting in a game-changing double play. He also made a sparkling catch on a foul popup by Cedeno in the 2nd. Even after all these years, he's still mesmerizing to watch on defense.

I learned watching this back that the Dodgers had gone 485 consecutive games starting a right-hand pitcher. The last lefty that started for them was Bobby Ojeda in 1992, and the next wouldn't be until Dennys Reyes in 1997. Crazy. This was also the only time in 21 appearances against the Mets in which Candiotti didn't record a strikeout.

Finally, the trivia question during the game was: Who are the only players (as of 1996) to hit at least 25 career home runs for both the Mets and Dodgers? The answer was Darryl Strawberry and Eddie Murray (I guessed Hubie Brooks instead of Murray). As luck would have it, two future members of the club played in this very game: Mike Piazza and Jeff Kent. Can anyone think of any others?

The Mets offense finally breaks out of its slump in doubling up the defending champion Braves, 12-6. The Mets had averaged just 2.5 runs per game over their last 15 (going 6-9 over that span), so this was a long time coming. They took advantage of a young Jason Schmidt, who was making his first start with Atlanta since being sent to the minors back in April. Though he apparently threw a 1-hitter in his last start in the minors, he still looked like a lost cause during his return, giving up a long 3-run homer to Todd Hundley in the 1st and ultimately allowing 7 runs over just 3.2 innings.

On the other side, Paul Wilson wasn't great but was good enough to get the win. It looked like he was in line for a quick hook, too, as after the Mets took a 6-2 lead in the top of the 3rd, Wilson promptly walked the first two batters he faced in the bottom half of the inning, with Chipper Jones, Fred McGriff and Ryan Klesko up next. That normally spelled disaster, but Wilson buckled down and struck out Chipper, Klesko and Javy Lopez, with a McGriff RBI single sandwiched in. Still, he only gave up 1 run before escaping the jam, which was quite the accomplishment. For some reason, even after Wilson had reached 98 pitches over 6 innings and the Mets up comfortably, 12-4, Dallas Green still let his pitcher hit to lead off the 7th, and then let him go another 6 batters before finally taking him out. Maybe that didn't seem like a big deal at the time, but in retrospect this would be Wilson's last start for over a month as he'd land on the DL with shoulder tendinitis, so the extra unnecessary workload certainly couldn't have helped.

The 12 runs the Mets scored were the most they had vs. Atlanta since a 13-4 win back in April of 1988. These types of lopsided wins over the Braves were quite uncommon during this era, for sure.

I went to this game with my mom, dad, and a friend. Mets had a 2-0 lead after Butch Huskey hit a solo shot. But Pete Harnisch let up five runs before all hell broke loose in the seventh inning with Blas Minor, Jerry Dipoto, and Bob MacDonald. This included a grand slam by Devon White. The boos could be heard loudly as the Mets went on to lose 12-2. Then Marlin Al Leiter pitched six solid innings. On the plus side, I got Terry Pendleton to throw me a ball before the game.

I was at Shea that warm Sunday afternoon. It was probably Izzy's highlight as a Met: Complete Game Shutout and 10K's plus a home run by Butch Huskey, a fave of mine between the '90 season and when we got Piazza. Izzy was part of Generation K (with Pulpisher and Paul Wilson) and out of all 3 who thought he would be the best of them by being a pretty good reliever with the A's and Cards.

My first Mets game ever. Sat in a sky box.

At one point (I forget which inning), Steve Avery on the mound, hits Jose Vizcaino on the leg, his bad leg, on which he had a very well-publicized injury. The Mets cried foul. Nothing happens.

Bottom of the same inning, Steve Avery leads off, and Bobby Jones throws two pitches right at his head. Home plate ump comes out to warn the pitcher, and then Dallas Green comes out to argue a bit with the umpire. As Green starts to walk back to the dugout, Avery makes a smart-ass comment about Green in front of Todd Hundley. Hundley then gets in Avery's face and chest-bumps him. BENCHES CLEAR. BULLPENS CLEAR. Everyone is pushing and shoving...no punches thrown, just a big scuffle....

Mets win 8-3

I have to think Matt's view from the sky box wasn't too good, as things didn't play out exactly as he described.

Everything stemmed from Hundley's 3-run homer in the 3rd inning. Vizcaino was on 2nd base and celebrated like Hundley just won the game, drawing the ire of Avery. So next time up, Vizcaino gets plunked right behind the knee, and has to come out of the game and misses the next 2 contests. Avery leads off the top of the 5th and the umpire gave Jones two chances for retaliation, but he fails to get the job done on a couple of inside pitches -- which certainly weren't anywhere close to Avery's head, like Matt wrote. At this point the umpire has to issue warnings, bringing Green out to argue. After he's done he says something to Avery, Avery says something back, and then Hundley gets involved, shoving Avery before the umpire and on-deck-batter Marquis Grissom come in to pry Hundley away. After that, mostly just jawing and waist holding until the game gets back underway.

The cherry on top was that Avery then bangs one to dead center that Lance Johnson can't reel in at the wall, but Avery lollygagged around the bases and only settled for a double in what could have been a possible inside-the-park home run. Avery then winds up being one of 13 runners the Braves leave on base, as Jones danced in and out of trouble all night. In fact, he set the Mets record in this game by allowing the most hits without giving up a run. His final line was 7.1 innings pitched, 12 hits, no runs. No other pitcher in team history has allowed more hits while allowing no runs.

Though Hundley didn't get to punch out Avery, he sure socked it to him at the plate. He went 4-for-4 with 2 dingers, with the one he hit in the 3rd a 440-foot tape-measure shot over the visitors bullpen. Probably one of the longest he ever hit right-handed. Incredibly, though this was Avery's 18th career start vs. the Mets, that was only the 2nd home run he ever allowed against them. The only other one was hit by Howard Johnson in 1991. This was Avery's first loss against the Mets since 1991 as well.

This was a back-and-forth game that also featured the spinklers coming on during the middle of an inning, which brought laughs from players and the crowd. Rey Ordonez made a beautiful game saving catch in extras, diving for a pop fly with the bases loaded, down the left field line. Unfortunately, it ended up a small footnote as the Braves eventually pushed a run across in the 13th to go ahead and win it. But a fun game to watch, regardless.

I covered this game for a local newspaper, and at his locker following the game, starting/winning pitcher Mark Clark said, "People back home said (Braves pitcher Greg) Maddux is hard to beat, but hey, look at me, I did it!"

Nice quote, Stu. Clark sure deserved to feel jubilant, considering he set a career high with 9 Ks (though his eventual career high would be 11) and won for the 5th time in 6 starts. This performance legitimized his claim as the Mets ace, as he not only tamed a stacked Braves lineup but also bested Maddux head to head. Maddux was really struggling at the time, too, as he dropped to 5-5 with a 3.35 ERA with this loss -- figures that were unheard of when it came to the Professor.

The Mets really had Tony Graffanino, filling in for the injured Mark Lemke at 2B, to thank for the win. After all, he booted a tailor-made double play grounder off the bat of Edgardo Alfonzo in the 5th that put runners on the corners with no one out instead of bases empty and 2 out. Though the Mets only scored once in the inning, that run proved to be the difference in the end.

Clark was cruising, up 3-1 in the 8th, but had eclipsed 100 pitches and allowed the Braves to put runners on 2nd and 3rd with 1 out and Dwight Smith coming up. With Chipper Jones on deck, there was no way the Mets were intentionally walking Smith, and since the teams played 13 innings the previous night (with John Franco tossing a pair), they were sticking with Clark instead of turning to the tired bullpen. Clark got Smith to ground out to first, but a run scored to make it 3-2. Chipper was then given an unintentional intentional walk, as Clark threw 4 straight out of the zone and clearly preferred facing Fred McGriff. Clark was right to think so, as he got the Crime Dog to fly out weakly to left on 1 pitch to end the threat. Franco then worked a scoreless 9th to ensure the Mets won their 4th straight series against the Braves at home.

This game was a Monday afternoon businessperson's special, so my friend and I left Jersey around 6 am and made very good time driving across Pennsylvania. So, we get to 3 Rivers ten minutes before game time, and the computer that prints out the tickets gets jammed. Finally the computer gets fixed and we buy our tickets and go in, only it is now the bottom of the 2nd and we missed the 6 run onslaught the Mets whupped on the Pirates.

Lo and behold the Mets blow the lead, but luckily won the game in the 10th. Now I'm tired from getting up at the crack of dawn, driving 6 hours and sitting through a 3 l/2 hour game. I want to check into my hotel and go to sleep. But no, my friend wants to watch a post game softball game between 2 local radio stations. B0RlNG!!! The only remote thing that made this half assed softball game interesting is this hot blonde that played for one of the teams. Whenever she got up, the 10 of us left in the stadium cheered wildly.

The next day in Pittsburgh was sunny and hot, great day for a ball game. Only problem was the game was at night and by the 2nd inning it was a torrential downpour. The Pirates waited almost 2 hours before calling the game and it was to be made up as a double header the next day. Only problem is that I had to be home the next day.

So my maiden voyage to Pittsburgh SUCKED!!! I hope I have better luck with the new stadium.

Bernard Gilkey continued his fantastic season with a game winning homer in the 9th, a nice shot to left field. It helped the Mets avoid a doubleheader sweep by the Pirates.

I was at this one. The Mets came from behind THREE times this sunny afternoon. Alex Ochoa had a big hit to put the home team ahead to stay. One of the guttier efforts during a lackluster season.

Hard to believe this game is 18 years old now. The local community college was sponsoring a trip down to Philly for this game. Of course I was mocked by Yankee fans for having an interest in going to see two last place teams play at the time.

The only memory I have of this game besides the Phillies winning was the third base coach sending a runner home who got thrown at the plate to end the eighth inning. Obviously not that exciting of a game as I can't remember most of it!

Rookie OF Alex Ochoa had five hits in this game and hit for the cycle. He had two doubles among the five hits.

Ochoa was the only Met to get five hits in a game in 1996. The next time a Met had five hits in a game was more than three years later--in August of 1999--when Edgardo Alfonso had six hits (including three homers) against the Astros.

I remember watching this game and being pissed off when Huskey was removed from the game late needing only a double for the cycle--especially when hios turn came up one more time in the game! I have never bothered to confirm it, but I am guessing no team has ever had two guys hit for the cycle in one game.

Watched this one recently, and as the previous comment said, it's such a shame that Butch Huskey was removed before he got his own chance at the cycle. I guess Dallas Green removed him for defensive reasons, as the game was still close at the time. But in hindsight, it's still such a lost opportunity for the Mets to get 2 players to hit for the cycle in the same game.

Oh well, still a great night.Ochoa was locked in all game, and his homer was the one that clinched the cycle. It was also fireworks night in Philly, so it was a large and rowdy crowd. Fun game all around

I remember being on the beach at the Jersey Shore listening to this game on the radio and hearing the call from Gary on Lance Johnson's bases-loaded 3-run triple. Don't know why I remember that.

Love me some Jersey Shore, DaKid! Johnson's big triple was his 13th in the first half, a total that has been topped only twice since 1996: by Curtis Granderson in 2007, and Jose Reyes in 2011 (both had 15). It also happened to be Johnson's 33rd birthday on this date!

The Mets were starting to play some very good baseball at this point, despite missing Rico Brogna and Bernard Gilkey from the lineup. In fact, this win was their fourth in a row, tying their season high thus far. Alex Ochoa had recently been called up to take over RF and he hit a 3-run homer. Todd Hundley also homered, which was his 22nd of the season. That was the most by a Met before the All-Star break since Howard Johnson also had 22 in 1989. Hundley would hit another longball the next day, and his 23 HRs were (at the time) the 2nd most during the 1st half by a Met, after Dave Kingman's 30 in 1976. Bobby Jones was solid, and Dave Mlicki get a great job in relief, stranding runners on 2nd and 3rd with 1 out in the 7th inning. It was his 8th straight appearance without allowing a run.

All in all, things were really starting to look up in Mets land.

Though far from overpowering, Pedro Martinez nonetheless improves his career record against the Mets to 9-0 by tossing a complete game in the Expos 7-3 victory, snapping the Mets' 4-game win streak.

Pete Harnisch started on just 3 days rest, thanks to the Mets playing a doubleheader a few days back. He was chosen over other capable candidates such as Robert Person, Paul Byrd or Dave Mlicki, all of whom were in the bullpen at this point in time. It looked like Harnisch was in for a short night, too, as he gave up a 3-run bomb to Henry Rodriguez in the 1st inning, pretty much giving Pedro all the run support he'd need. But Harnisch put up all zeroes after that, bending but not breaking in a very gritty performance. He wasn't helped out by his outfield defense, as both Bernard Gilkey and Alex Ochoa dropped flyballs for errors, and Ochoa and Lance Johnson both lost a ball in the lights on the same play that allowed Shane Andrews (who had the only 4-hit game of his career) to get a cheap double. But thankfully none of those errors came back to bite Harnisch.

Todd Hundley (who later stole his only base of the season) responded in the bottom of the 1st with a 2-run dinger, but that would be all the Mets would muster until Johnson scored on a groundout after he tripled in the 8th. By then the combination of Byrd and Doug Henry had allowed Montreal to score 3 more times, all but putting the game out of reach. It sure didn't help that the Mets went 1-for-10 with runners on base.

Pedro also set a personal record by laying down 3 sacrifice bunts. He actually led the league with 16 sacrifices in 1996.

A frustrating game to sit through on a muggy Friday night (I think it was Latino Appreciation night, as well). At the time I couldn't believe the Mets lost to a bunch of no-names from Montreal. Looking at that lineup today, the Expos they had a solid group of players (who contributed elsewhere, of course).

Paul Wilson had one of his best starts as a Met on this night. Sadly, no one knew at the time that this would be his second to last win ever as a Met. He was in complete control all game during this one, throwing first pitch strikes to almost all hitters. Paul did show the ace like potential at various points during this 1996 season, but it was always followed up by a complete disaster of a start the very next game. And then of course the career altering injuries started in 1997. Todd Hundley hit another homer on this night, continuing a month and stretch of baseball for him that was just out of this world. He was one of the hottest hitters in the league at this point.

Totally forgotten today but the Mets went into this 4 game series against the Expos only 4 games behind in the wild card race, with the Expos ahead of them. Montreal would proceed to take 3 of 4 from the Mets, including this day's game, as Mark Clark just didnt have it and gave up 2 homers (one to future Met Cliff Floyd). The Mets would lose the next 5 games after this one and any tiny thought the of 1996 Mets making a wild card run were forgotten pretty quickly.

This was the second game of a day-night doubleheader, and I was driving at night in my SUV in northeastern Minnesota, heading out to Thunder Bay, Ontario. Even though I was in Minnesota, I could hear this game on KOA radio in Denver, which calls itself the "Blowtorch of the Rockies". Eric Young drove in the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Rockies a sweep of the doubleheader.

My dad caught a foul ball off the bat of Jose Vizcaino in this game. It was one of his and my step-mom's first dates. I've been searching for the footage, but have yet to find it. Any help would be appreciated!

The last game as Mets for both Jose Vizcaino and Jeff Kent,as the Mets felt that Carlos Baerga was just in the mist of a slump in Cleveland, and not, as it turned out, a complete shell of the All Star he used to be.

As for the game, McCarver remarked during the broadcast that Todd Hundley was in dire need of a rest, as he had been playing pretty much every single day as a catcher. Hundley did look tired, at least on tv, but he still hit a long homer, as he was still red hot at the time.

Todd Hundley hits a game-winning homer at 12:24 a.m. to cap the doubleheader, which started with great anticipaton because of the acquisition of Carlos Baerga. Who knew it wasn't the Baerga of circa 1993?

This was, perhaps, the game of Gary Thorne's best HR call ever.

"HUNDLEY A DRIVE! DEEP RIGHT CENTER! GOODBYE! GOODNIGHT! HOME RUN! METS WIN!"

I was at this game in the upper deck closest to the scoreboard. Man was it hot and humid that day. Mets down 1-0 in the bottom of the ninth and Bernard Gilkey hits a home run to tie it. In the tenth the immortal Chris Jones hits a mammoth 2-run shot to win it. As a side note one of those summer storms was coming into the area at the moment Chris Jones hits it a massive lightning strike occurs off to the north. I don't know why but that was wierd.

Only memory on this one is Chris Jones (now the Newark Bears Mrgr.) hit a walk-off HR, we were still under the delusion that a wild card birth was a possibility...lol

Chris Jones came through with a two-run homer in the bottom of the tenth inning to win this game for the Mets. It was Jones' fourth walk-off home run as a member of the team. The winning blast tied Chris with both Cleon Jones and Kevin McReynolds for the most walk-off homers by a Mets player during the twentieth century (a few others would have four of their own in the 21st.) The amazing thing about Chris's accomplishment is that he was with the Mets for only two seasons.

This game was cover-your-eyes ugly: the Mets made seven errors and allowed seven unearned runs in a loss to the Pirates, who were eleven games under .500.

The Mets were behind, 5-0 going to the bottom of the fifth but then scored six to take a 6-5 lead after five innings. But the Pirates scored eight runs (six unearned) over the last three innings for the win.

Tood Hundley had a single and his 31st home run, and drove in five runs.

I remember my parents took me to this game for my 14th birthday. The only things I remember was Gilkey having a great game (he had many of those in 96) and it was fireworks night and ash got all over our car. I can't believe that was 12 years ago already.

l went to this game thinking it will be the last time l'll see Ozzie Smith play. But no, that jerk Tony LaRussa not only screwed over Ozzie like he did all season long, but screwed us fans out from seeing Ozzie play one last time at Shea. More on that jerk LaRussa later.

Although in between innings they did put Ozzie on the Diamond Vision and the fans gave him a standing ovation. Oh yeah, LaRussa. After Espinoza made an error that cost the Mets the game, the Cards were facing the weak part of the order in the bottom of the 9th and even I could've gotten them out l-2-3. But no, LaRussa had to bring in 3 different relievers culminating with his pet Eckersley to throw 2 pitches so he can get a save. This set the game back an extra half hour and I missed my train back to Jersey by 2 minutes. So I had to wait another hour for the next train, thus getting home almost 8 at night. All because Tony LaRussa had to give his boy Eckersely a save.

On a lighter note, Hundley homered in the upper deck that echoed throught the stadium. Other than that the afternoon was a waste.

This was 70s night at Wrigley Field. On WGN, they brought back the Cubs broadcast team from the decade to call an inning, which was certainly better than listening to Harry Carey make drunken comments while people watching in the stands.

The Mets played a lot like it was still the late 1970s, too. Paul Wilson was all over the place, walking two, throwing a pair of wild pitches, hitting a batter, and giving up back to back homers to Mark Grace and Sammy Sosa in the 3rd inning. The offense looked meek against slowpoke Steve Trachsel, outside of Alvaro Espinoza's first homer as a Met and Todd Hundley's 34th homer of the season. This was actually the 21st consecutive game in which the Mets hit a home run, which still stands as the team record. On top of it all, Butch Huskey pulled his hamstring beating out an error during garbage time in the 9th inning, and he'd be out until rosters expanded in September. A total crappy game from start to finish.

There was also a play in the 2nd inning I couldn't believe. Cubs catcher Scott Servais led off hitting an infield grounder that appeared to be an easy out, but the throw was a little high to Huskey at 1B. Huskey caught it and Servais was out by a mile, but as he ran through the base, he elbowed the ball out of Huskey's glove, and 1B umpire Brian Gorman ruled Servais safe. How is that not illegal? I remember when Arod tried to slap the ball out of a defender's grasp vs. Boston one time and that was ruled illegal, so why was this play different? As soon as the ball was secure in Huskey's glove, that play should have been over and the ball dead; otherwise, what's to prevent every runner going down the first base line trying to wrestle the ball away from the 1B in an effort to be called safe? It was just an awful call and further evidence why I'm so glad instant replay is now a thing.

Carlos Baerga's first homer as a Met, after the big trade to bring him to New York. There wouldn't be too many good moments here for Carlos. He tried and was always generally hustling. But one of those cases where he just lost his talent right in the middle of his prime. On a positive note, Mark Clark continued his underrated good season, pitching into the 9th inning for another win

Took my 11 year-old nephew to his first ballgame this night. Tried to get him into baseball, into the Mets. Then we sat through this rain-soaked monstrosity. My nephew's now a skateboard punk- rocker who could care less about baseball.

The game was long and boring.The only exciting thing I saw was Andy Tomberlin hitting a home run in left field.

This was a simply amazin' game. Andy Tomberlin going opposite field...oh baby!!! That shot was worth the price of admission! Izzy getting the Mets first hit in the latter innings. Izzy gave us everything he could that night, but the Cubbies were just too tough as Ryan Sandberg put on display his home run power.

The Mets get 1-hit through 7 innings by bum rookie starter Amaury Telemaco, then try to stage a 9th-inning comeback but fall a run short and lose in another uninspiring performance.

The only things really worth mentioning about this game: Dave Magadan hit his only career home run against the Mets on this night, and Derek Wallace made his major league debut, pitching a scoreless top of the 9th. He had just been called up from AAA Norfolk, where I believe the WGN telecast said he set a team record with 26 saves. Pretty sure it no longer holds up.

In this game played in Monterrey, Mexico, Padres CF Steve Finley homers off Robert Person in the bottom of the first, making him the first player in history to hit home runs in three different countries.

The Mets rallied late to make the score look respectable, but they were down 15-0 to Fernando Valenzuela and the Padres after six innings.

This was the start of Dallas Green's final road trip as Mets manager.

Building off of what Bob wrote, the Mets completely embarrass themselves in the first regular season game played outside of US or Canada. Only a 7-run 9th inning during garbage time made the score look somewhat respectable. The 15 runs allowed were the most the Mets gave up since a 19-2 loss to the Pirates in September of 1992.

The Padres hit 4 home runs in the game, one by Ken Caminiti that left the stadium, as well as a grand slam by Greg Vaughn. It was the 5th of 6 grand slams the Mets allowed in 1996, while they didn't hit any for the first time since 1979.

This was also one of 3 times the Mets lost a game despite scoring a least 10 runs in 1996, which still stands as a team record.

It was quite apropos for Fernando Valenzuela to start and win for San Diego, hailing from Mexico and all. He threw out the first pitch and was cheered loudly every time he came to bat. Looking back, the stadium in Monterrey was pretty bland and dated, but the backdrop of the city and mountains beyond the outfield wall was gorgeous. They talked about MLB perhaps expanding into Monterrey for the future, but here we are 25 years later and nothing has come of it.

Not to be outdone, Ralph Kiner embarrassed himself several times during the telecast as well. With the Padres coming to bat in the bottom of the 1st, Kiner kept jumping his cue to announce their lineup, saying over and over again "The Padres lineup is brought to you by..." Then finally when the graphic for the lineup appeared on the screen, a clearly flustered Kiner said, "The Padres lineup is brought to you by Tony Gwynn ... and also by Honda." He also pronounced ever name that had at least 3 syllables as if it he was asking a question, and didn't get any right the first time. At this point, what WWOR was thinking allowing him to call games is beyond me. He was clearly no longer able to keep up with the action, and was really only good for a funny anecdote or two during the entire broadcast.

Dallas Green’s last game as manager. Thank goodness!

An inauspicious debut for new Mets Manager Bobby Valentine. Mets took a 3-0 lead into the 8th, thanks to a 2 run HR by Mets immortal Roberto Petagine, and Mlicki was crusing, but got into trouble, and finally was done in when Steve Finley walloped a 3 run HR off him, which gave the Padres the 4-3 lead and the win. There would, obviously, be better days for Bobby V.

In the 7th inning, two foul balls were hit to the two tier/mezzanine behind home plate. I caught them both. Believe it was the bottom of the 7th and possibly the second batter.

The last game for Dallas Green as Met manager. Mets blew a 4-0 lead in a Sunday game ending a series at Dodger Stadium. It had been a dreadful August. By the time, they played in San Diego after a day off, Bobby V was the manager.

Bobby V's first win as Mets manager, and he messed up on a double switch confusing Gilkey with Everett. LOL, its so embarassing being a Mets fan

This was Mookie Wilson day ! $1 hot dogs and sodas. Andy Tomberlin has the key pinch hit. Was a beautiful Sunday afternoon.

Derek Wallace struck out four batters in the ninth inning for a save in this game. A passed ball on a third strike allowed Terry Pendleton to reach base at the start of the inning. Wallace followed up with three more strikeouts to bring the game to an end. It was the first four-strikeout inning ever for a Mets pitcher.

A true piece of Mets history: Todd Hundley's 41st HR of the season, putting him in the record books for most HRs in a season by a catcher. The previous record was held by Roy Campanella and the record would once again be broken by Javy Lopes in the 2000's.

Hundley should have been a franchise player with NY. Too bad the Piazza-at-first experiment wasn't tried then.

I have very fond memories of this game. I took my then 9 year old nephew to see his first baseball game. Todd Hundley had been stuck on 40 home runs for about a week and seemed to be getting frustrated. He came up in the 7th with 2 men on and the Mets down 5-2. Bam! Batting lefty, he drilled an opposite field shot over the wall in the left field corner (off of future Met Greg McMichael) to tie the game. I think they played a video on Diamond Vision right after he circled the bases, showing each of his 41 home runs.

The Mets eventually won in the 12th on a Lance Johnson single and we raced back to Staten Island to celebrate my sister's 30th birthday. All in all, a great day.

My nephew became a big New York baseball fan that season, though even the excitement at Shea on that sunny September afternoon couldn't save him from being pulled over to the "Dark Side." Oh well, I still love him.

One of the first "classics" from the Bobby Valentine era. The hapless Mets beat the World Series-bound Braves in 12 innings, with Hundley setting the home run record by a catcher. Like HH mentioned, it would by Javy Lopez -- who was Hundley's counterpart in this very game -- who would eventually break his record with 42 HRs in 2003. Todd's 41 homers also stood as the Mets record until Pete Alonso had 53 in 2019.

It looked like this was shaping up to be another disheartening loss, too, as the Mets trailed 5-0 entering the 7th inning, and had only mustered 3 hits to that point. Steve Avery, making his first start in 2 months and his last against the Mets as a member of the Braves, was very sharp ... but he had hit his pitch-count limit and had come out of the game. In the 7th, with 2 outs and the bases loaded, Bernard Gilkey hit a 2-run double when LF Jermaine Dye had the ball bounce off his glove when he tried to make a diving catch, and then Hundley followed with his clutch home run.

The Mets bullpen, featuring such household names as Mike Fyhrie (making his ML debut), Rick Trlicek and Derek Wallace, held the Braves scoreless over the last 8 innings of the game, helping pick up Mark Clark, who only lasted 3 innings -- his shortest outing of the season. After the Mets loaded the bases with nobody out but failed to score in the 11th, they finally broke through in the 12th. Matt Franco led off with a walk and moved to second on a groundout by Chris Jones. Tim Bogar was then hit by a pitch, and Johnson followed with his game-winning single, which would be his only walk-off hit as a member of the Mets.

I don't agree, though, with HH's statement about moving Piazza to first when Hundley was on the team. If you remember, Hundley had a career-threatening elbow injury in 1998 and was never the same player after that, so making him a franchise player may have been the nice thing to do, but it would not have been prudent at all. Not to mention, John Olerud was the 1B at the time... where are you moving him to put Piazza at 1B? And Mike D., I'm sorry to hear about your nephew. It took a very loyal and devoted Met fan not to be lured to join the Dark Side during this era.

An otherwise meaningless game for both teams, but this day was the occasion of my second Mets game, over six years from the date of my first.

I sat in the mezzanine behind home plate on an overcast, damp afternoon and watched Tom Glavine shut down a lineup littered with guys like Roberto Petagine and Chris Jones. We also got to witness the major-league debut of Mets catcher Charlie Greene.

Nothing all too special about this one, but I'd be back for '97. And '98. And '99. And...

At the end of this generally depressing, of its era contest, my friend and I sat quietly for a moment, giving it a "what a long season it's been" pause.

An usher came by.

"All right, get moving."

I've always wished I'd said, "What do you need the place for? A Bar Mitzvah?"

Well, my story of this game may well top the others...at least from a sad standpoint.

First of all, I originally had tickets for the previous afternoon's game, the Hundley 41st HR/great 12-inning win game. However, it was also Rosh Hashana, and therefore I would not be attending that game. I traded my tickets for that game with a friend who had tickets for this game. Not quite the same, although I ended up with better seats.

But the kicker was, in the days when Chipper Jones was simply the Braves up-and-comer, and not the hated LARRY!, I happened to be seated in the loge, just underneath a box full of female teenage Braves fans. This was what I was subjected to the entire game:

"WOOOO! CHIPPER RULES!"

"I LOVE YOU CHIPPER!!"

"LARRY! YOU'RE THE BEST!"

"CHIPPER IS SOOOOOOO HOT!"

Of course, Chips is enjoying a 3 hit game. However, all the Mets fans in my section have wised up by his 4th AB, and boo long and lustily as he approaches the plate, drawing the ire of the girls, and we cheer even louder after he struck out. At least the girls shut up for a few minutes.

First MLB homer by Rey Ordonez.

Paul Wilson pitched eight innings for the win over the Phillies in this game at Veterans Stadium. With the score tied in the top of the fifth, Wilson slugged his own home run to put the Mets ahead to stay. Paul wouldn't have gotten the chance to do this with a designated hitter in the lineup.

A game played in and out of rainstorms on the last night game of the season (obviously the next day's game was an afternooner). Robert Person (in his last appearance before being traded for Olerud) completely mowed down the Phillies on this night. Who knows, maybe this game helped spring the trade to Toronto during the offseason.

Butch Huskey got the big hit to get the win for the Mets, their final one of the 1996 season.

I remember this game quite well. I was in junior high. My mom took my two good friends and I. Both loved to rag on me about the Mets; one of them was a big Yanks' fan at the time and now, ironically, is a Met lover who hates the Yanks. As I remember, we got there around the third inning. Nothing about the game excited me being that they had already clinched a 90-loss season. We stayed after the game and went near the Mets' dugout so we could try to catch any of the various items that the players traditionally throw into the stands after the last game. One of my friends was lucky to catch a batting glove. Other than that, a depressing end to a very depressing stretch of six seasons. Of course, we all know what the Yanks' did that October.