What a remarkable Opening Day at Shea. I cut school for this one, the sun was beaming down... it was 88 degrees on March 31st in Flushing, and I was in a field box behind the third base dugout.

Bobby Jones started against Curt Schilling, and the zeros piled up against each other on the scoreboard. Nine scoreless. Ten. Twelve. Fourteen. The Mets used six pitchers, including getting scoreless relief from Greg McMichael and Mel Rojas.

Finally, in the bottom of the fourteenth inning, light-hitting backup catcher Alberto "Bambino" Castillo singles home Brian McRae with the game winner off Ricky Bottalico to send everyone home happy, 4:35 and 428 pitches later.

Piazza wouldn't arrive until late May -- the Mets' Opening Day catcher was Tim Spehr, and Todd Pratt was in Norfolk.

This one ranks as one of my favorites ever. I went in to school the next day with a big ol' red sunburn, and everyone knew I hadn't really been sick the day before.

I was at this game too. Me and my dad went. It was about 80-something degrees, a great day for March 31. Great pitchers duel until bases-loaded single by last man on bench in 13th inning Alberto Castillo.

First and only Mets home opener in the month of March and it was an unbelievably warm (88 degrees) day. Was also my two year old son's first Met game. He really doesn't remember it, but he loves telling people that we stayed for the entire 14 innings.

As it turns out, Turk goes down in history as the last Met reliever to win a Season Opening Day at Shea.

Sat in the upper deck in fair territory. Sunburnt and tired, I could hase kissed Castillo when he finally ended it.

This was also the first regular season game ever played by the Mets in March. Expanding the MLB playoffs to three rounds forced the regular season to begin and end earlier.

Not only was this the Mets' first season-opener in March, as stated by a few commenters already, but this also tied their longest Opening Day game in franchise history. But instead of losing in 14 like they did at Colorado in 1995, this time they won in dramatic fashion. It also marked their fifth straight win over the Phillies in an Opening Day contest.

With Pedro Martinez now in Boston, the case could be made that Curt Schilling was now the most dominant pitcher in the NL. And he came roaring out of the gate in 1998, posting 8 shutout innings with 9 Ks, with the only 2 hits allowed being singles to journeyman catcher Tim Spehr. Thankfully, Bobby Jones and a very deep Mets bullpen matched zeroes, but operated under a much different "bend-but-don't-break" philosophy, stranding 13 Phillies runners on base, helped largely by holding Philly hitless in 9 ABs with RISP, along with some stellar Mets defense, particularly from usual webgemmers Rey Ordonez and Edgardo Alfonzo.

After getting the first 2 batters to reach in the 14th, the Mets looked ready to squander the opportunity when Alfonzo bunted too hard on a sacrifice attempt, resulting in the lead runner getting thrown out at 3rd. Bernard Gilkey followed with a single to LF but Brian McRae fell down rounding 3rd and had to retreat back to the base. It looked like he would have scored, too, because the throw to the plate from the leftfielder was up the first-base line. Luis Lopez then popped out after an 8-pitch AB, leaving it up to Castillo. After going down in the count 1-2, Alberto took some very close pitches for balls, then lashed a single to RF to send everyone home happy. It was actually his 2nd walk-off hit in the Mets' last 3 games, as he also had a walk-off RBI double in the Mets' 2nd to last game of the 1997 season vs. Atlanta!

All in all, there were 16 hits in the game, and all of them were singles. This was Jones' third and final Opening Day start for the Mets, and it was the first time the Mets ever won a game 1-0 on Opening Day; they've done it twice since, in 2012 and 2020, both times against the Braves. Also, this was the first regular season game broadcast on FSNY, formerly known as Sportschannel. During the broadcast, they periodically checked in on NY mayor Rudy Giuliani, who was in attendance, and wondered how long he'd stick around for, knowing he was delivering a speech in DC that evening. He actually didn't leave until midway through the 10th inning, which is better than what Howie and Fran had predicted in the booth.

The first game of the year on WWOR, in what would be its last season covering Mets games. This game was highlighted by great defense by both teams, as you could count at least 3 or 4 outstanding plays. Rick Reed proved that his 1997 breakout wasn't a fluke as he was fantastic on this night. The Mets won on a Pirates throwing error in the 9th

If memory serves, Rich Becker almost single-handedly won this game, hitting a HR and a 2B, and making a key run- saving catch. Probably his only shining moment in his far from memorable Mets career.

In their fourth game, the Mets picked up their third win of the season, and all three wins came in their final at bat.

A cold grey day at Shea. Becker hits a line drive into a stiff wind over the center field wall to win it. On WFAN after the game, one caller believes that Becker is going to be the valuable addition that helps the Mets make the playoffs.

This game was brutally cold. There could not have been more than a thousand fans in the park to witness the end. I remember going into the bathroom with my friends between innings so we could find some heat to endure to freeze. That was both of my friends' first Mets game and I don't think they've gone to another.

Justin wasn't kidding when describing how cold this game was even though it was in April! I went to this very early game in the season with my father. The Mets offense was lifeless that day for the first 8 innings. In the bottom of the 8th the Mets were able to scratch one run in but left the bases loaded. My father and I left at that point figuring the Mets were dead and we didn't feel like sitting in the freezing cold anymore. When we got off the 7 train in Woodside someone who had headphones announced the Mets tied it at 6-6. Remember these were the days before cell phones/blackberrys so I honestly didn't believe the man. Now that I think about it those days were so much simpler/better but that's a whole other thing for another day! So I eventually got home and the game was still going on and I caught the winning hit in the 13th on TV. Never gave up on a Met game my whole life after that!

I was at this game with my friend Kathy and it was a chilly, gray Saturday afternoon tilt at Shea; a difference to when it was summer-like for the home opener a few days earlier. After Rich Becker won it in extra frames, the PA system played the then- popular "Tub-thumping" aka (I get knocked down but I get up again song) by Chumbawamba. There was an announced crowd of 17,633 (according to retrosheet.org)

Masato Yoshi's first start as a Met, and he was fantastic. 7 shutout innings. He would rarely be as great as he was on this day but he was a solid signing for the team for a few years.

A poorley played game by the Mets, with multiple defensive miscues on a very cold and overcast day at Wrigley, not uncommon for April.

Al Leiter got his first win as a Met, he pitched better than his final line indicted as well.

The Mets snap a 2-game losing streak as Rey Ordonez plays the hero with the go-ahead RBI single with 2 outs in the 9th inning in a game otherwise dominated by very strong pitching performances by Masato Yoshii and Cal Eldred.

Both starters were long gone by the 9th, however, when the Mets staged a rally against Milwaukee reliever Bob Wickman that featured some pivotal and somewhat unorthodox managerial decisions. After Butch Huskey hit a 1-out double, Carlos Baerga struck out to bring up Alberto Castillo. With the righty Wickman on the mound, the obvious move was to pinch hit with Matt Franco, which is what Bobby V did, but all that did was waste arguably the Mets' best bat off the bench, as, with 1st base open, it was an academic decision for Milwaukee to intentionally walk Franco to bring up Ordonez. If I were managing, I would have pinch hit with Luis Lopez instead, who was a switch-hitter and would allow the Mets to save Franco for later.

As it were, Valentine now had Lopez able to pinch hit for Ordonez, but he decided to stick with Rey out of some gut feeling. Down in the count 0-2, Ordonez miraculously comes through with a frozen rope to left-center field, scoring Huskey from second to break the deadlock. Bum extraordinaire Rich Becker strikes out to end the inning, but John Franco is able to keep the Brewers off the scoreboard in the bottom of the 9th to preserve the victory. That also made a winner of Dennis Cook, who picked up his first W as a Met.

Yoshii only allowed an unearned run (thanks to a Castillo throwing error) and began his Met career not allowing an earned run over his first 13 innings, as he shutout the Pirates over 7 innings in his first start. Barely 2 weeks into the season and it's already glaringly obvious the Mets catching situation without Todd Hundley is in dire straits. That Mike Piazza countdown clock can't expire soon enough.

Brian Bohanon works 5 solid innings in an emergency start for Bobby Jones, who was scratched with back spasms, and John Olerud hits a clutch 2-run homer in the 7th off southpaw specialist Mike Myers, helping the Mets secure a series win in their first ever visit to County Stadium in Milwaukee.

Since Bohanon started the year in the bullpen, Bobby V didn't want to push him too far and decided to remove him after just 85 pitches. But Turk Wendell couldn't hold the 4-1 lead he was given, surrendering a 3-run homer to future Met Jose Valentin in the 6th. Brewers starter Paul Wagner, still in there in the 7th, struck out the first 2 he faced in the frame, but then Edgardo Alfonzo smacked a double, which was the first hit Wagner had given up since Butch Huskey's 2-run homer in the 3rd. Up to 123 pitches, Wagner was switched out for Myers to face Olerud, but John got the better of the matchup and put the Mets up to stay.

Even after giving up 3 runs, Wendell stayed in the game and worked a scoreless 7th, and then Mel Rojas recorded the final 6 outs to notch his first save of the season, and the second-to-last of his career. John Franco had pitched the previous day so I could only conclude Valentine wanted to avoid pitching his veterans on back-to-backs whenever possible. Given such a deep bullpen to play with in 1998, I can understand that philosophy.

Dave VW, good and informative writing as usual. But you're off on one fact. This was not the Mets' first visit ever to Milwaukee's County Stadium. It was only their first series against the Brewers (who had just switched over to the National League) at that place. From 1962 to 1965, the Mets played road games at County Stadium against the Braves before they moved to Atlanta.

You are right, NYB Buff, thank you for correcting that! I still have a ways to go in brushing up on my Mets history!

Hey there. I remember I attended this game with my dad. I was in ninth grade and on spring break. My great grandma (who was also a big Met's fan) had just died and we had just finished the whole funeral thing. Anyway, it was a cold night. It was Al Leiter's third start as a Met. I remember "Born to Run" by Bruce Springsteen was playing as he was warming up in the first inning. That is a cool song. I downloaded it. That song always reminds me of him as does any song by Bruce Springsteen. He pitched an awesome seven innings this game and the Mets went on to win 7- 0. It was Al Leiter's first win as a Met at Shea. I did not expect him to pitch as well as he has (especially in 1998) when they first got him.

This was the 2nd game of the infamous day-night doubleheader where the Bronx Evils played the Angels in the 1st game at Shea due to the building troubles in the old Bronx Ballyard. For the record: The Evils-Angels game drew 40,000 where the Mets-Cubs drew only 16,000 tops!!!!!

Not gonna lie, Franks' "Bronx Evils" reference made me chuckle. I do take umbrage with the mention of the attendance juxtaposition, however. Remember, Yankees Stadium had been closed for 3 days prior to this date, and the team was honoring tickets to all 3 games that were cancelled. Not only that, but having them play a "home" game at Shea Stadium was quite the novelty that I'm sure attracted more fans than just your average Tuesday afternoon game would. So I don't see it as any major accomplishment the Yankees drew so many people, while the Mets drew less than half that for a mid-week game in chilly temperatures. I strongly believe if the circumstances were reversed and the Mets were going to play a home game in the Bronx while honoring 3 games worth of tickets, they easily would have drawn 40k+ as well.

In regard to the actual game, Rick Reed pretty much did it all, shutting out the Cubs over 7 innings and accounting for all the runs on offense by hitting the second (and last) home run of his career in the 2nd inning off future Mets punching bag Steve Trachsel. It was the only HR hit by a pitcher for the Mets in all of 1998. The rest of the Mets mustered only 4 other hits all game -- all singles -- but what do you expect from a lineup with a washed up Carlos Baerga, Tim Spehr catching, and Rey Ordonez leading off? That's right, Bobby V gave Rey his first ever start as the leadoff hitter for this contest, an experiment tried only one more time the remainder of Ordonez's career. Rey actually extended a hitting streak to 11 games with a 1st-inning single, but it would be snapped the next game.

Reed's outing was a significant improvement over his previous, which was in Chicago and saw him give up 7 runs over 3.2 innings in an 8-7 loss. They mentioned during the FSNY broadcast (the first to feature Keith Hernandez, btw) that Reed actually hadn't allowed a wild pitch since debuting in the bigs back in 1988. As luck would have it, Reed would commit his first wild pitch later in 1998 vs. the Giants in August.

Speaking of the broadcast, during the latter portion of the game Matt Loughlin interviewed a guy in the crowd who had a small child, and the kid was wearing a Yankee cap. Loughlin asked him what's up with the cap, and he said the Mets don't sell any caps that fit his son, so he has to wear the Yankee one. Smelling BS, Loughlin returned a short time later with a Mets kids cap for the son, and asked the guy if he'll switch caps now. But the guy was like, "Well, we'll see who makes the playoffs this year." I was like, you incredible ingrate! You're at a Mets game, the team is gifting you a cap for your kid, you're on live TV, and you won't even put it on? I was so angry ... but a short time later the camera panned to him again and the kid was wearing the Mets cap, so the story has a happy ending.

My son's first Met game. Carlos Baerga fouled one off and we got it. Henry Rodriguez hit a 3 run homer off of Wendell to seal the game.

The Mets scored three runs in the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings to coast to a 14-0 win, the most lopsided shutout win in team history.

Bernard Gilkey had three hits, three RBI, and scored five runs.

This actually tied the record for most- lopsided shutout. Galen Cisco pitched a CG shutout on 7-29-65 that was also 14-0.

Jim Tatum was brought in for the 98 season for his big power off the bench, and made the team based on a great spring training. Expecations for his bench production were high after this night, a game winning 3 run homer off former Met Doug Henry. Unfortunately, this was the lone highlight of Jim's Mets career, as he ended up doing nothing after this game and was released within 2 months.

Don't even remind me about this game. I was there at Shea that day, and what promotion happened to be occurring? You guessed it---Rey Ordonez highlight VHS giveaway day.

David Weathers, of all people, pitched an absolute gem for the Reds. Then again, just take a look at the Mets' lineup for this game, and you can see why.

This was right before the Amazins made the deal for Iron Mike Piazza, and it is no wonder why they pulled the trigger. To call the attendance sparse would be an overstatement, and I attribute it to the lineup that left a lot to be desired.

The Mets lose for the 5th time in a row as the offense continues to sputter. Darryl Kile had a no-hitter going until Luis Lopez -- making his first career start in the outfield -- singled with 1 out in the 6th inning. They managed three more hits but no runs, giving Kile his only shutout while a member of the Rockies.

With Todd Hundley still out, Bernard Gilkey joining him on the DL, and players like Butch Huskey, Carlos Baerga and Brian McRae all slumping to start the season, there was just no one to turn to for offense. Their best chance came in the 8th when John Olerud led off with a double. Baerga followed with another double, but Olerud -- an already slow runner further slowed by a sore groin muscle -- could only make it the third base. McRae struck out next, and then Matt Franco drew a walk pinch-hitting for Tim Spehr. That gave Rey Ordonez a chance with the bases loaded, but a wild swing produced a 2-foot popup that landed in front of the plate, which Kile shoveled to the catcher for one out, who then threw to first to complete the inning-ending double play. Replays showed Ordonez was clearly safe at first, but the umps weren't willing to give the Mets any breaks on this night.

Bobby Jones started for the Mets and allowed an Ellis Burks opposite-field home run just over the outstretched glove of Rich Becker two batters into the game. With the way the Mets had been scoring recently, it felt like the game was pretty much over right then and there. It was beginning to look like, at this point, the team's 88-win season in 1997 was going to be some type of aberration, and they were about to fall right back into being the lovable losers we grew accustomed to throughout the decade. The Mets were at a crossroads, and could either accept their fate and keep rebuilding and playing second fiddle to the Yankees in New York, or they can take action and make a huge move that would show the fanbase they're serious about getting back to the top of the mountain.

Thankfully, we all know which direction they chose to go.

I found a video of this game on Super 8 film, with the first two innings and some fielding practice. It also includes the dulcet tones of Gary Cohen and Bob Murphy.

It is on YouTube, if you search 5/4/98.

Mark McGwire's 2-run homer (his 13th of the year) in the third inning is the 400th of his career.

McGwire became the 27th player to hit 400 homers and he did it in fewer at bats (4,726) than anyone else.

Brian McRae's three run homer in the fourth gave the Mets the lead and they coasted the rest of the way behind Rick Reed.

Went to this game with my brother and caught my first foul ball ever -- went to my first Mets game in 1972 and have usually made at least one game every year. The ball was hit by Dmitri Young. We were sitting behind the third base dugout and the ball hit off of an empty seat and bounced right into my hands! It was all the more memorable for me as I had just finished law school and my daughter had been born that January and I plan on giving that ball to her when she's old enough to understand the joy of baseball!

Congrats Eric! We'd love to know if you ended up giving your daughter that ball after all.

The Mets began a doubleheader sweep of the Reds behind 8 strong innings from Bobby Jones and a key 5-run 5th inning, highlighted by a 3-run laser beam of a home run off the bat of Butch Huskey. Aside from that 5th inning, the Mets mustered just 3 other hits all game, but when you get them in bunches it all works out in the end. Jones himself only allowed 4 hits, although 2 of them were home runs. Jon Nunnally actually greeted him with a HR to lead off the game, which prompted more "here we go again" groans from me. It was the first of two times Nunnally led off a game with a homer, his other oddly enough coming as a member of the Mets in 2000. Before him, the last to lead off a game with a HR against the Mets was Deion Sanders back in 1995. This was the first time it happened to Jones, though he'd fall victim twice more during his career.

The sweep -- which gave the Mets 6 straight wins at home -- was badly needed as they had lost 5 of 7 on the West Coast beforehand, and didn't score more than 4 runs in any of those contests. With Edgardo Alfonzo seeing his first action since May 3 after a stint on the DL, this was the first time in quite a while the Mets sported what could be considered an "everyday lineup," even though they were still without Todd Hundley.

Speaking of Hundley, in between games they played an interview of Steve Phillips on FSNY during which he was asked if he had had any conversations with the Marlins regarding Mike Piazza, who had been traded to Florida 5 days prior. Though he admitted that he had, he said a trade for Piazza was unlikely because his addition would cause too many problems for the Mets. What do they do with Hundley when he comes back? Why give up valuable trade chips to get a player at a position they already have an All-Star at? Why weaken a strong defense by playing people out of position? So on and so on. Whether he truly felt this way and changed his mind, or if he was just playing coy for the cameras, the fact is Phillips brought Piazza on board just 3 days later in a trade that changed the course of the franchise and turned a so-so team into a legit contender for several years to come. But it sure was interesting listening to that interview knowing what we know now.

The greatest day in Mets history. The buzz was unreal as the walk-up line was loaded with everybody discussing the catcher we just acquired from the Florida Marlins...Mike Piazza. I don't remember too much about the actual game except Cook picking off two guys in one inning of a one run game, and being one of the first in the park to realize that Franco was wearing #45, and giving up his number to Piazza, who would arrive the next day. You could just tell everybody knew it was a new era of Mets baseball

I recall sitting at Shea in the eighth inning when the Mets made a pitching change. I know players' uni numbers, so I thought it strange when I saw "45 P" on the scoreboard. I had no idea who that was until John Franco was announced, and I realized that he already had switched from 31 to 45 in deference to newly acquired Mike Piazza. Needless to say, this was the beginning of the end of Alberto Castillo's Mets career!

Credibility, excitement and most importantly, fans returned to Shea on this brilliant Saturday afternoon. All had come to see the New York debut of Mike Piazza that day, and he did not disappoint, slamming an RBI 2B off Jeff Juden in the 5th. 32,000 fans were on hand, giving Mike ovations from the moment he stepped onto the field before the game, to his first AB, and it reached a head when he got his first hit. The NY Times headline the following day read: "Piazza swings a bat and suddenly, it's the 80s again." How true it was. Oh, and Leiter was brilliant too, tossing a CGSHO to a catcher who was criticized by his former team of being a poor handler of pitchers. Didn't have any problems today, it seemed.

I didn't attend, but on the occasion of Mike Piazza's retirement, I can recall the excitement I felt for his Mets debut just watching the game on TV at home in Hamden, CT.

I listened to this game on the radio laying on a blanket at Harbor Park in Mamaroneck on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. One of those great joyous memories - my Mets were back! Leiter throwing a shutout to MIKE PIAZZA! One of those memories to last a lifetime. I remember packing up and leaving late in the afternoon - I was in a great place in my life and my Mets were back. Life is good.

I caught this game on SNY as a Mets classic last week. Being that except for the return of Beavis and Butthead I really can't stand anything on TV, I watched a good portion of it. Gotta say I was sucked right back in to the moment. When Mike Piazza got that double and ended up at third, I was as excited as I had been in five years watching/following this team. All in all it just seemed like a great day to be a Met fan. Hopefully, better days like this will be ahead.

During the telecast on UPN, they announced this was the first sellout for a Mets game at Shea since Opening Day 1993. Far be it for me to rain on the parade, but there appeared to be plenty of empty seats upon watching this one back... but nonetheless, the level of exuberance the mere addition of Mike Piazza brought to the stadium was quite palpable, and it can certainly be said his presence alone brought thousands back to Queens.

As luck would have it, Piazza was the only member of the starting lineup (aside from the pitcher) who didn't record a run or an RBI. The Mets never looked back after a 5-run 4th inning, knocking around Brewers pitching for 8 extra-base hits, including 7 doubles -- one off tying the franchise record. They tallied 13 hits off Cal Eldred, the most he ever gave up in a start, and Carlos Baerga put the cherry on top by hitting a rare home run right-handed in the bottom of the 7th. All the offense helped Bobby Jones win his 3rd straight start and gave the Mets 10 wins in their last 11 home games.

On the topic of trades, the broadcast mentioned there were rumors flying around the Mets were also toying with the idea of dealing Baerga and John Olerud to Baltimore for Roberto Alomar and Rafael Palmeiro. As Mets fans, we inexcusably gag whenever hearing Alomar's name, but he was a much different playing in 1998 than when we got him in 2002. Ultimately, however, I'm glad it's a trade that never panned out, mostly because Alomar, Palmeiro and Piazza were all free agents at the end of the season, and there was no way the Mets were going to be able to bring them all back. It might have been fun to see what they all could have done together in 1998, but it would have been a very short-lived party.

Meanwhile, I stumbled across this article from 1998 when doing some additional research about this game: https://www.southcoasttoday.com/story/sports/1998/05/19/Piazza-should-have-to-serve/50562780007/

It's obviously from the point of view of a Dodgers journalist who was desperate to point blame at somebody for the team's lack of success during the 1990s, and saw Piazza as an easy scapegoat since he was already off the team and had declined a contract offer because he thought he could get more money on the open market. The writer knew it was absolute rubbish, too, because the byline simply says "Staff Writer" -- no moron would want his name attributed to such a steaming pile of garbage. It pretty much states the case that "Mikey" is greedy and selfish and can't catch worth a damn and deserves to toil on a losing team for the remainder of his career because he wasn't willing to give L.A. a hometown discount and never brought the team a World Series win. Forget all his hitting accolades, forget the Dodgers could have moved him to 1B if his defense at catcher was so bad, forget his work ethic and positive attitude and will to win (all of which were praised just weeks earlier when teammates came to his defense after Brett Butler took some cowardly and unprovoked post-retirement potshots at Piazza). It's all big words from a keyboard warrior, lashing out like some jilted lover who thinks everyone else is to blame for the problems of their own making. And so it greatly pleases me to know that Piazza came to a franchise where the fans truly appreciated and lauded him, and that he helped the Mets become one of the baseball's best in 1999 and 2000, while the Dodgers floundered in mediocrity for the next half dozen years.

Butch Huskey had a unique feat in this game: driving in five runs in a inning with a pair of doubles when the Mets scored nine runs in the sixth inning.

GF and I were there. Ungodly hot day. We had seats on the field level, so they had the temporary metal floor stands. Combined with the heat of the sun on the 90+ degree day, and the heat from the Astroturf, it made for major discomfort.

Mets take an early 5-1 lead. I'm cheering, quite happy that my Mets are doing so well. Some fat Phillies fan in back of me says something like, "Stop cheering against my team." I said, "I'm not, I'm cheering for my team." He said something like STFU. Phillies come back to take the lead 6-5. He starts getting overly obnoxious and in my face and stuff. I'm thinking, "Whatever." Mets then take the lead and wind up winning the game 8-6.

The gentleman, as the game is just about over, asked me, "If you're such a huge Mets fan (I guess he was calling me a bandwagoner or something), who was the manager before Davey Johnson?" I look at him dead in the eyes and say, "Frank Howard." He turns around in a huff and says, "smartass."

Was at this game when I was just a freshman in high school. Really can't remember too much what happened in the actual game but I must be one of the few Met fans whose had nothing but positive experiences with the old Vet and the city of Philadelphia. Then again these were the days when the old Vet was at least half full of Met fans and the Phillies were always in last place. No one in Philly cared about the Phillies back then. I should have appreciated those times more as the roles between the Mets and Phillies has certainly changed since then.

I went to college at Rowan University in Gloucester County, NJ, which was only about a half hour drive from Philly. So I, too, went to many Mets/Phillies games at the Vet ... but not this one. I was still a junior in high school at the time up in Bergen County.

Bobby Jones had one of his worst starts in 1998, lasting just 4 innings and allowing all 6 Philly runs. Thankfully, the Mets had the better bullpen, as the combination of Brian Bohanon, Mel Rojas and John Franco threw 5 shutout innings, allowing just 2 hits. Meanwhile, Phillies pitching was downright awful, allowing the Mets to collect a season-high 19 hits. Mark Leiter -- Al's brother -- gave up a 2-run single to Bernard Gilkey as soon as he came into the game in the 8th, which proved to be the deciding blow. The win was the Mets 9th straight, which was their longest streak of the season, and the team's longest since 1991. It also gave the Mets their first 3-game sweep in Philadelphia since 1995.

Piazza's first Met homer came against Jason Schmidt in this game but Schmidt still won the game.

Aramis Ramirez was 0-22 for his career(!) and hit a 2 run double in the 8th of McMichael, scoring Kendall and Young.

Arrgh.

Two friends of mine from college--one a Met fan, the other a Sox fan--made the trip up to Boston to catch the first of the three game set. This was the first time I had seen a Met game outside of Shea, and it was also the first time I got to see Piazza in a Met uniform, as my previous trip to a Met game had been the day he was traded, and thus not in the lineup. Of course, I really didn't get the chance to see Piazza hit, as Pedro Martinez broke his hand with an inside heater (I've heard rumors that Pedro's brother Ramon had some ill feelings toward Mike left over from their days in Dodgerland). The three of us thought we had great seats-- much like Bob Uecker in those old beer commercials--though it was the usher's mistake and by the 2nd inning, they unfortunately found our correct seats. Then again, there really isn't a bad seat in the house there. We expected it to be a great pitching match- up between Leiter and Pedro, but Pedro, instead of throwing gas, pitched like he had bad gas, and gave up home runs to the following Mets: Alberto Castillo, Luis Lopez, Bernard Gilkey and finally, John Olerud. Obviously Olerud's the black sheep here, I mean, in a quartet of sluggers that includes honored company like Castillo and Luis Lopez, one tends to omit Olerud's name from such an elite class. Future Met Mo Vaughn cranked one late, but by then the game was far out of reach, and Bobby V had brought in Brad Clontz of all people. The Sox fan in our group didn't have a great night, but got his revenge the following year...

It's always fun to attend a game the Mets win in an opposing ballpark, so that must have been some experience revolve. Especially considering it was Fenway Park. Just to note: Piazza didn't actually break his hand when he was hit by Pedro's pitch, it was just a bruise and he was back in the lineup a couple games later.

A nice way to kick off interleague play in 1998, and a solid palette cleanser for the previous 3 games in Pittsburgh. After getting swept by the Pirates, scoring just 5 runs in those 3 games, and then losing Piazza in the 1st inning here, it's quite surprising the Mets had the outburst they did in this game, what with Pedro on the hill and all. But after starting the year 5-0 with a 1.74 ERA over his first 10 starts in 1998, Pedro hit a wall and allowed 23 runs over his next 24 innings, a span during which this game is included. The 4 home runs he allowed were tied for the most he ever gave up in a start; he actually gave up 4 more in his very next start at Atlanta. He also gave up 4 gopherballs as a member of the Mets vs. Philadelphia in 2005. Meanwhile, the 4 HRs were tied for the most the Mets would hit in a game in 1998.

Castillo and Olerud hit back-to-back blasts in the 3rd, something Pedro hadn't allowed since August of 1996. Castillo's homer was his last as a Met (though he only hit 2), and Gilkey's homer was his 2nd-to-last as a Met. At only 4 innings long, this was Pedro's shortest start in 1998, as well as his shortest out of 15 career starts vs. the Mets. What's really interesting is that Pedro didn't lose in any of his first 9 starts against the Mets, but has now lost each of his last 3. But in his 3 remaining starts vs. the Mets (1 with Boston, 2 with Philly) he wouldn't lose again.

This was also the first time Hideo Nomo was in a Mets uniform, just acquired along with Clontz the previous day. He sort of controversially chose to wear #16, making him the first player to wear it since Dwight Gooden left the team in 1994. Clontz made his Mets debut in the game, pitching a scoreless inning, but would be demoted to AAA Norfolk a short time later and wouldn't be back until September.

I was at this game with a friend in Boston, the only run scored was on a balk.

Incredible pitchers duel. Wakefield only gave up one hit through 8.

It was a game Wakefield should have won, but I was glad to see the Mets come out on top.

My first Mets game courtesy of tickets from my uncle who lived in the Boston suburbs.

Strangely in a series that featured Al Leiter and Pedro during his peak pitch the night before, this game turned out the pitcher's duel of the three. I was only seven, but I do remember the Mets getting a run on a Wakefield balk and Bobby Jones making it stand for eight inning before ceding the game to John Franco for a rare non-ulcer inducing ninth.

One of 4 1-0 Mets wins in 1998, and the first since Opening Day, which Bobby Jones also started. The game featured just 6 hits, all singles, but I think it should have been 7 as the official scorer robbed John Olerud of a base hit in the 4th when he scalded a ball past Mo Vaughn at 1B.

It was indeed Brian McRae who scored on Tim Wakefield's balk in the 6th. He had led off with a walk, took second on a delayed steal, advanced to third on a groundout by Olerud, and scored when he made a fake-break towards home that momentarily broke Wakefield's concentration and caused the balk. The Mets' dugout erupted as if it was the biggest run they had scored all year, telling you how invested they had become in winning during this era. It was Wakefield's only balk in 216 innings pitched in 1998.

Jones was awesome, as he didn't give up another hit after Troy O'Leary singled to lead off the 2nd. He was already over 100 pitches when he was sent back out for the 8th inning, and I thought for sure his day was done when he walked Darren Bragg during a 10-pitch AB with 2 outs, but he stayed in there and got Darren Lewis to ground out on 1 pitch to get out of it.

The lack of offense for the Mets could somewhat be blamed on a lineup missing Mike Piazza, who was plunked on the hand with a pitch by Pedro Martinez the previous game. They told a story on FOX that Piazza, while waiting to get x-rayed at the hospital, was signing autographs with his hurt hand for the kids there. It's stories like that that explain why it was so easy for us to fall in love with the guy.

I also just learned Wakefield passed away this past October from brain cancer. Very sad.

This was my first trip to Fenway park. I felt like I stepped through a portal into the past. I remember seeing dripping pipes in the concourse and being amazed by the lack of modern aesthetics in the ball park. I loved it for that very reason. My steak hoagie that I bought was far better than the Mets' bats. They were as rusty as the stains on the bare concrete walls. Mo Vaughn took a ball opposite field over the monster. You could C-it-go. Bad night for the Mets. Nice night for baseball.

It's nice you had a good time despite the final outcome and dreary, drizzly weather, Tim.

Second straight game with no Mike Piazza, and a second straight game with hardly any offense for the Mets. The team is quite Jekyl and Hyde depending on his presence in the lineup. They even made Steve Avery, who started the year relegated to bullpen duty as he was clearly washed up at this point in his career, look like a Cy Young candidate, despite not being able to break 85 MPH on the radar gun. I'm also totally over seeing Jim Tatum and Rich Becker continue to eat up roster spots. Benny Agbayani, Jay Payton and Todd Haney were all tearing it up at AAA, so it was clearly time to inject some new blood into this stale roster.

The offense wasn't the only thing to stink on this night, as Masato Yoshii had his worst start as a Met so far. I'm not expecting things to improve from here, either. Though he held a 2.33 ERA over his first 9 starts, he'd then go winless over his next 14, with a 5.03 ERA.

Even the ESPN broadcast team of John Miller and Joe Morgan stunk. During the game, Miller noted how both teams still have players wearing #42 (Butch Huskey and Mo Vaughn), even though the number had been retired throughout baseball to honor Jackie Robinson. He also said that they were the only 2 players still wearing #42, which was WAY WAY off. Later in the game, he sort-of corrected himself by saying Lenny Webster of the Orioles was also still wearing the number, but I was like, I'm pretty sure there's another really noteworthy player still wearing number #42: Mariano Rivera! And by the way, there were still 3 others on top of that: Scott Karl on Milwaukee, Jose Lima on Houston and Michael Jackson on Cleveland. Worldwide leader in sports by butt.

Reed's "Imperfect" game. In the wake of another perfect game thrown by a certain pitcher on a certain team occupying the same city, the Mets were completely squeezed out of the press. For 6 2/3 innings, however, Mets fans were given a teaser by Reed. I was at this game, and from the 4th inning forward, fans were up with every pitch he threw. McGriff smacked a shot up the middle leading off the 5th...right into Reed's glove. A PH (I forget who) slices a liner to right, and the crowd gasps as Butch Huskey lumbers toward it...dives...And the man caught it! And everyone there thought we were destined to witness history. Finally, it caught up with Reed on a 3-2 pitch to Boggs in the 7th. Doubled to center, out of McRae's reach. Undaunted, Reed did complete the game, K'd a then- career-high 10, and had his first CGSHO. As an added bonus, Piazza chimed in with his 1st Mets HR at Shea in the 4th. A wonderful game thrown by Reed. The man was absolutely unhittable that night.

THIS would be a great game to show on SNY classics instead of the same games they always air. Reed's best game as a Met (besides his October 2, 1999 game) AND Piazza's first Shea homer. I remember this one well.

I remember the excitement that night at Shea. Invariably we knew somehow it wasn't to be, but nice while it lasted. I did not realize until the prior comment that this was Piazza's first Shea home run.

This was Hideo Nomo's frst game with the Mets (and, I think, Rich Becker's last). Lots of excitement at Shea. I sat field level near the RF corner and caught a foul ball thrown into the stands by the Devil Ray right fielder. When I leaned forward to reach for it, I aggravated an achilles tendon tear which would eventually require surgery. Nomo didn't pitch very well, and the Mets lost in the 10th as a result of John Hudek's sorry relief and an error by Luis Lopez.

At least I got a ball.

Recently watched this one on the old tape. A sunny day at Shea for the Rays first ever trip to Shea. This game was also a 3 man booth with McCarver, Kiner and Keith Hernandez. The booth worked wonderfully, as all 3 were swapping funny stories while still giving excellent analysis of the game. Honestly, this may have been the only time that the 3 of them worked together. Keith was rarely doing games in the late 90's and McCarver was gone from the Mets after the 1998 season. A shame, as that booth could have been golden if things worked out differently.

Mel Rojas secured a rare save on this day, as he was still in the good graces of the bullpen (though not for long).

To continue Michael's thought, Rojas was definitely off to a great start in 1998, holding a 1.95 ERA at this point in the season. This was his second save of the year, prompted due to John Franco having pitched 2 innings the night before in the Mets' extra-inning loss to Tampa. However, it would also be his last of 126 career saves, as from here on out he'd arguably be the worst reliever in baseball. Over his remaining 25 appearances of the season, he would hold a 9.79 ERA. His collapse truly came fast and hard.

Al Leiter was also off to a great start, as his outing here lowered his season ERA to 1.70 and gave him his fourth win in as many starts.

This turned out to be another typical game for the Mets during the first half of 1998: stellar pitching and defense, and just enough offense to squeak out a win. They took an early lead in the bottom of the first despite not getting a hit, as future Met Rick White walked 5 batters to force home 2 runs. After Leiter gave a run back in the 4th, Butch Huskey drilled an opposite field homer in the 6th, which proved to be a huge insurance run as Rojas allowed a run in the 9th before getting another future Met, Miguel Cairo, to fly out to end the game.

This was White's final start of his career, outside of an emergency start he'd make in 1999. He walked 6 in the game, a career high, but only allowed 2 hits, helping to keep the Rays within striking distance. Meanwhile, Mets pitching tallied 14 strikeouts (including Bobby Smith 4 times), which was the most they'd rack up during a non-extra-inning game in 1998.

This game also thankfully marked the last we'd ever see of Rich Becker. I thought it made sense to acquire him from Minnesota for Alex Ochoa at the start of the season, as it gave a right-hand heavy OF a lefty bat, and Ochoa seemed to have lost all his momentum during a dismal 1997. But Becker completely forgot how to hit in 2+ months with NY, and was waived after the game to make room for Wayne Kirby, who was hitting .282 for the Cardinals' AAA team at the time.

Benny Agbayani made his Major League debut in this game. He struck out vs. Ugeth Urbina in the 9th.

I was at this game back when I was in like fourth grade. Rick Reed had a perfect game going in the seventh when he had two strikes on Edgar Renteria. A questionable call evened up the count and Renteria eventually delivered a single between short and third. While he was later thrown out stealing, the Marlins continued to hit Reed, and Floyd's three run homer put them ahead. John Olerud struck out with men on base to end the game.

It was Father's day! All the dads in attendance recieved white floppy Mets hats!

I was at this game in '98 and have been thinking about it on and off ever since. In this game, Mike Mussina of the Orioles pitched a perfect game, except for back to back home runs in the 2nd inning to Brian McRae and Butch Huskey. A PERFECT GAME! As rare as that feat is in baseball, it was quite a unique pitching performance that I witnessed. However, I don't recall hearing anything about the significance or lack thereof of such a feat. You'd have to think that someone in the back rooms of ESPN would have come up with an obscure stat pertaining to this! To show how rare I think this accomplishment is, can anyone recall a similar situation happening since this game in '98? Surely it would have been news worthy if it had been done, if only for the similar novelty of the event that I have never forgotten.

Oh well, it was a cool game, it wasn't a four hour snorer and, if you've never seen a Maddox, Ryan or Clemens just take over a ball game and spit out hitters, this was the next best thing on this day.

I do remember this game as well. I was supposed to be there, but did not go. They talked about it somewhat when it happened and that was it.

I can think of one other similar "almost-perfect" game on the Yankee end. Pedro Martinez perfected the Yankees except for a Chili Davis HR, in 1999 in September. I was at that game, working.

I had a 6-pack of tickets that year and had bought the particular pack I did because it contained tickets to one of the Met-Yankee tilts at Shea. It also included this ho-hum affair against Baltimore. Some might find the chance to see Cal Ripken Jr. as exciting, but I cannot respect a man who stayed in a different hotel than his team did during road trips. In any event, the three things I remember about this game are: 1. The Mets winning it impressively, 2. the return to Shea of two prior Met failures in Pete Smith and Rich Becker (who fittingly, struck out) and 3. the girl fight two sections over. Since this game took place two nights before the first Met-Yankee game, tensions were bubbling to the point of boiling over. Even on Opening Day, after the Mets won, various "Yankees Suck!" chants would erupt. They were more persistent on this night, despite the stadium being half- empty. Anyway, somewhere in the middle of the game--maybe the 3rd or 4th inning, all I remember was that it was still twilight--a "Yankees Suck!' chant gained momentum to the right of where I was sitting in the Mezzannine by 1st base. Looking over, I saw two girls--one in Met colors, the other in Yankee colors--get in each other's face and commence to jaw at each other and then finally...trade blows. A few left hooks later,and one of them tumbled down into the next row. A few fans cheered--I'm assuming the Met girl won, since the Yankee fans were silent--and that was that. I don't even think the police were involved. In fact, I don't even think I saw an officer the whole night. Fortunately their presence was much more evident 2 nights later...

This was the first Mets game I ever went to with my dad when I was 7 years old and in 2nd grade. After looking at the starting lineup for that night, I now realize even more why I feel a particular attachment as a fan to mediocre players like Baerga, McRae, Gilkey and Huskey. It's because they were some of the first players I saw for myself and that's why I remember some of the 1998 Mets so well.

The Mets won this in the 9th off of future Met Armando Benitez, as Carlos Baerga got the game winning single.

How ironic for Benitez to take a walk-off loss in his last appearance against the Mets before the team traded for him in the offseason. This was Baerga's last of 3 walk-off RBI for the Mets, with 2 being hits and another being a walk.

This also marked the first time the Mets won with Hideo Nomo starting. From what I remember about Nomo's brief time on the Mets, it seemed like he'd alternate between looking completely hopeless one start, to looking dominant in his next. Luckily, we got the dominate Nomo here. He didn't get the win though, as the Mets once again had a tough time scoring (they got exactly 1 hit in every inning of this game). After going down 2-0, Matt Franco got a run back with an RBI triple in the 5th, then Mike Piazza tied it up with an RBI sac fly in the 7th. In the 9th, Benitez walked two and struck out two before he gave up the hit to Baerga, which was a no-doubt frozen rope to center field and gave the Mets 4 wins out of their last 5 as they headed into a big weekend series vs. the Yankees.

In something I considered to be an odd occurrence, Roberto Alomar hit cleanup for Baltimore, one of only 11 times in his career he started a game hitting 4th. He actually hit a homer, which was the only one he ever recorded as a cleanup hitter. Along with Franco, Wayne Kirby also tripled for the Mets. Sadly, however, it was actually the second to last hit of his major league career.

Mel's Massacre.

The First ever Mets/Yankees game at Shea brought, shockingly, a sellout crowd (me in attendance), and saw Irabu and Leiter duke it out. Yanks scored their runs by running on CF McRae and his awful throwing arm. They must have scored 3 runs on singles with runners on second.

Rey Ordonez made an amazing grab of a Chad Curtis liner in the 2nd with the bases loaded and nearly turned it into a triple play. Posada just barely beat the relay to 1st.

Alfonzo and McRae homered off Hideki in the 5th, and the Mets led 4-3 into the 7th.

Then it happened.

Jeter dragged a bunt to the right side with a man on. Leiter, as best he could, pounced off the mound and got it, fell awkwardly, and couldn't get the throw off.

Leiter ended up injuring his knee and had to come out of the game (and on the DL with a strained patella tendon).

In comes the great, amazing Mel Rojas to pitch to O'Neill.

We all know what happened next.

1st pitch - BOOM. 6-4 Yanks.

Goodnight.

I had a Boy Scout function at age 8 and when I got back home the game was underway. Key thing about this game is of course the Leiter knee injury. Up to this point he was maybe the first half front-runner for NL Cy Young. After suffering the injury he wouldn't be the same until 2000.

Mets also, if I remember correctly, took the names off of the back of their jerseys for this series, foreshadowing 1999.

Having just watched this game back, I'd like to address the previous commenters:

Mets2Moon: On paper, it certainly looked like an Irabu vs. Leiter matchup would be a good one, as both led their respective leagues in ERA (with Leiter leading the majors). Unfortunately, neither were particularly sharp in this one, as Irabu failed to get out of the 6th inning, and Leiter gave up 5 runs, the most he allowed all season. But I do need to clear a few things up. First, on the Ordonez diving catch, Baerga never threw to first as Posada had already made it back to the base, so there was no relay for him to beat. Second, I don't blame McRae for any of the runners scoring from second base because I don't think anyone would have been able to throw them out. Most of the singles were softly hit, and the runners were already halfway home by the time McRae even got to the ball. Third, Jeter didn't drag a bunt, he got jammed and grounded a dribbler down the 1B line, and Leiter never fell down but twisted his knee trying to get off the mound to cover first base.

djh: I agree Leiter was likely among the Cy Young leaders at this point in the year. However, he was still very good after he returned from the injury, as he went 8-2 with a 3.15 ERA. But the time he missed likely cost him in the end, as he finished 6th in the Cy Young vote at season's end, with 20-game winner Tom Glavine winning the prize. And you are correct about this being the first time the Mets used jerseys without the names on the back. I HATED this look. It's like we were trying to copy the Yankees and got lazy with trying to identify our own players.

This game really tells you how talented the Yankees were this season, as they sported a starting lineup with no Tino Martinez, Bernie Williams or Darryl Strawberry, had Tim Raines getting his first start in the cleanup spot since 1989, and had Jorge Posada making his first start as a pro at 1B, and they STILL put up 8 runs. Jeter, who turned 24 on this day, had the pivotal play when he beat out his infield single in the 7th, which knocked Leiter out of the game. Leiter was at 110 pitches but likely would have stayed in for one more batter, as the lefty Paul O'Neill was up next. For some reason, despite also having lefty Brian Bohanon warming in the bullpen, Bobby V opted to go with Mel Rojas to face O'Neill. On the first pitch, O'Neill tagged one over the LF wall for a 3-run homer, and that was that. Terrible bullpen management by an otherwise reliable Valentine.

Bohanon wound up coming in for an ineffective John Hudek in the 8th, but was just as ineffective, giving up a walk and 2 run-scoring hits before getting relieved by Bill Pulsipher (who it was nice to see back in a Mets uniform again). Rojas' demise in 1998 is well documented, but Bohanon was right there with him, as in June he held a 7.84 ERA over 9 appearances. Thankfully, neither Hudek or Bohanon would be sticking around much longer as the Mets trade parade would really start to pick up in July.

The Mets had their chances, but in typical 1998 fashion they just couldn't find the big hit. They loaded the bases with nobody out in the 1st but only scored one run. They had first and third with none out in the 6th but again only scored once. They also loaded the bases in the 9th but didn't score. Their lack of clutch hitting, coupled with a suddenly struggling bullpen and the absence of Al Leiter for the next 3 weeks, made it seem like the season was on the brink of crashing down. And you could almost taste the sweep at the hands of the Yankees coming.

I know it's kind of blasphemous for a Yankees fan to be posting on a Mets page, but this was the first Yankees game I ever attended. On the train I got a horrible headache, but I decided to continue to the game instead of heading back home. It was all worth it. I remember leaving the stadium amid cheers of "Let's Go Yankees!", louder than the home team's cheers. Needless to say, I joined them. Talk about visitor's advantage!

Mike, you had plenty to cheer about after this one, that's for sure. This game really boiled down to two key innings.

In the 4th, Bobby Jones was in control with a 1-0 lead and had retired Derek Jeter on a pop up for the first out. Paul O'Neill then hit one up the middle that Rey Ordonez snagged on the RF side of 2B, but John Olerud uncharacteristically dropped his throw to first, allowing O'Neill to reach. And in 1998, the Yankees capitalized on every mistake by the opposition. Sure enough, Darryl Strawberry hit a single next, and then Tino Martinez drilled a homer over the RF wall, making it 3-1.

Jones then retired 8 in a row before Tino led off the 7th with a double. Jorge Posada followed with a surprise bunt single, putting runners on the corners with no one out. Next was Chad Curtis, who crushed a pitch that had home run distance to LF but went foul by about 6 inches. He instead hit a sac fly to RF to score Tino, bringing up Scott Brosius in the key AB of the game. He grounded one to Ordonez at SS, and Rey decided to try to cut down Posada going to third. Instead, he threw the ball directly into Jorge's back and everyone was safe. Andy Pettitte was up next, and even though he was at 111 pitches, he stayed in and promptly struck out in a weird move by Joe Torre. Still, with this being the Yankees, bad moves never seemed to matter. Jones gave up a terrible walk to Chuck Knoblauch, loading the bases for Jeter. Naturally, Jeter dunked one into CF for a 2-run single, and at this point we all knew there was no coming back. Bill Pulsipher came in for Jones to face O'Neill but another single brought in a 4th run in the inning.

Somehow, the Yankees turned an Olerud missed catch and a poor decision by Ordonez into 7 runs. Meanwhile, Pettitte struck out a season-high 9, as Edgardo Alfonzo, Mike Piazza and Olerud combined to go 0-for-11. The Mets are choking in their biggest series at home of the decade, and leave it up to Masato Yoshii, who's 0-2 with a 7.29 ERA over his previous 5 starts, to prevent the sweep. Color me pessimistic.

What a wild game. Well pitched which was rare of Yoshii. I went to the game to see Strawberry who was awful. The ending was chaotic. I believe it was first and 3rd one out in the 9th for the Mets and some Met hit a fly ball to O'Neill for the 2nd out. O'Neill threw it in and I believe McRae was on 1st and Baerga on third. The ball came into first to try to double off McRae who must've been sleeping on the basepaths. The 1st base umpire called out, the home plate umpire called safe. Chaos ensued. The Mets fans went wild, when Baerga was called safe, then the Yankee fans went wild when McRae was called out, then Valentine came out argued the call and the umpires called Baerga safe and the Mets won and the crowd was crazy with cheers and boos. Fun ending.

I remember watching this game on pins and needles. Hoping and praying the Mets would win. I just kept thinking there was no way we could get swept at home by the Yankees. To make things worse, the Mets were being no hit. But that old Met Magic prevailed and the Mets won it in the bottom of the 9th.

A previous poster wrote the ending to this game was chaotic, and I couldn't agree more. With the score tied at 1-1, Baerga led off the bottom of the 9th with a double that bounced just over Tino Martinez's head down the 1B line. Butch Huskey was then instructed to bunt Baerga to 3rd, which I thought was a risky move considering Huskey was not a proficient bunter, and all the Mets needed was a single out of one of their next 3 batters to win it. But Bobby V wanted the runner on 3rd to set up a sac fly situation, which I can also understand considering there were only 5 hits combined between the two teams all game.

Huskey got the job done, and Joe Torre opted to intentionally walk McRae to bring up Rey Ordonez, a ground ball away from turning a double play and forcing extra innings. Valentine countered by bringing up Luis Lopez for Rey, and Lopez smacked one to RF plenty deep enough to score Baerga and win it. But, for someone unknown reason, McRae didn't just hold his ground at 1B (considering his run didn't matter whatsoever) and instead starting rounding the bases, then desperately needed to sprint back to first when the ball came back into the infield. Baerga scored well before McRae could have been ruled out, but I guess in this situation the runner must get back to his base if he didn't tag up, or else the run won't count. And while the throw to 1B would have beaten McRae, it was wild, causing Tino to miss the base and for McRae to arrive safely.

However, 1B umpire Bruce Dreckman called McRae out anyway, and for a minute the Yankees thought they avoided the loss. The Mets went nuts on the field in protest, and after the umps got together, they ruled the run counted and the game was over. Even something as simple as a sacrifice fly has to be difficult for the Mets!

Yoshii probably pitched his best game as a Met, which came out of nowhere considering he had been awful in the month of June. He struck out a career-high 10 and gave up just 2 hits. But one was a home run by Scott Brosius, and the Mets barely did anything against Orlando Hernandez, so unfortunately Yoshii was denied a much-deserved win. Neither starter gave up a hit through the first 4 innings, as the Yankees go their first hit with a single by Jeter in the 5th, while Olerud had the Mets first hit with a single in the 6th. Baerga, who scored the winning run, also knocked in the Mets first run with a single just after Olerud, driving in Piazza, who had reached on a wild pitch after a strikeout.

This game is tied with 2 others for fewest hits allowed by Mets pitching in 1998, and is also tied for the fewest hits the Yankees collected in a game in 1998. While it was nice to avoid the sweep, the Mets were honestly lucky to win this one and still look far from any type of serious playoff contender or a team worthy of earning New York City bragging rights.

This was a great game for me! I'm a Jays fan, but I came to see the Mets for the first time that we could here in Toronto, and it turned out great for me!

During batting practice I caught a Rey Ordonez 'homer', a pretty awesome catch too! I just stuck my glove out in between two big guys and I felt a smack in the glove, got a nice round of applause from the SkyDome faithful.

Hideo left this game early due to some sort of injury, I can't recall what it was.

A Canada Day Classic! Fireworks after the game, 25 runs, and my first MLB Baseball!!

WHOA!!! Where do I start? July lst is Canada Day in Canada (our 4th of July) so it was a holiday matinee so they opened the roof of the Sky Dome on this beautiful sunny day. Key word in that sentence is sunny. More on that later.

This was the beginning of the end for the brief and pathetic Mets careers of Hideo Nomo and Mel Rojas. Nomo got shelled in his brief outing. The Mets managed to get back in the game to take the lead. However Mel Rojas came in relief and stunk up the joint. He was so bad, after he hit a batter, me and a bunch of other Mets fans yelled at the umpire for not ejecting him for intentionally hitting him.

This game was one of the longest 9 inning games in MLB history, lasting almost 4 and a half hours, thus leaving me to bake in the Canadian sun for 4 l/2 hours. After the game was over, they closed the roof for a fireworks display. Then they re-opened the roof and you had the sun shining on the smoke left by the fireworks, so you felt like you were in a war zone, not a friendly baseball game.

When I left the Sky Dome, I noticed that I was bright pink from all that sun. When I got back home, everyone was wondering where I got so much sun. Miami? The Caribbean? Hawaii? No, Toronto, Canada. So Hideo Nomo, Mel Rojas and I got royally burnt that day.

As a Met fan living smack in the middle of Jay-land, this game was the first live Met victory I'd seen after the first two in this series ending up losses. Because of my work schedule, I considered skipping the game but eventually decided to go to Skydome and made it just as the anthems wrapped up.

The extra bonus as a Toronto person was seeing Dave Stieb make his first appearance in Toronto during his 1998 comeback.

Michael Tucker was out - he never touched the plate. I was at the game sitting in the outfield on a 90 degree high humdity day and left after 9 with the score 2-2 and got home to watch the replay.

Probably the most angry that I've ever seen Mike Piazza and John Franco. As a blown call in the 11th loses the game for the Mets. Michael Tucker was clearly out on the play. Not shockingly, the home plate ump was Angel Hernandez.

One of many times Angel Hernandez screwed the Mets, and one of a million times he's blown a call over his career. Quite easily the worst umpire the game has ever seen.

The Mets limp into the All-Star break having been swept by the division-leading Braves, scoring just 5 runs in 3 games. They've also lost 5 of their last 6 and are a dreadful 13-19 since June 1 -- which coincidentally ended a 9-game winning streak. Will they use the ending of this game as fodder to play with some anger and passion once the 2nd half begins, or will they continue to slump and fall farther out of the playoff race?

There were two sad seasons that I can remember vividly where the Mets couldn't make the playoffs because of blown saves by one guy in the bullpen: in 2001, of course, there was Armando Benitez who ruined their almost-perfect September, and, in 1998, there was John Franco. I don't remember this night too well except I remember that I was there and John Franco lost his third consecutive game for the Mets and this was against the Expos; he had a 6-5 lead going into the ninth, and he lost it.

As out of place as Todd Hundley looked in LF that night, it was just great to see him back in the lineup.

At this game, Mezzanine to the right of homeplate. Hundley back in the lineup, so it was a glorious (and fleeting) day for us Hundley fans. Everytime he caught a fly ball he got a huge ovation, and you could see him smiling on the Diamond Vision.

First ever Met game as an 8 year old, and I distinctly remember it was gym bag night because I toted that damn thing around for the rest of grammar school.

Olerud goes deep twice as the Mets take it to young Carl Pavano in Hundley's first game back.

A weird game for sure. Todd Hundley made his season debut in LF, a position he would try to play for a while the rest of the season, unsuccessfully. Still, at the time it was just great seeing him back in the lineup. As Mets fans, we knew that Piazza was better and when push came to shove, he was the much better option for 1998 and beyond. But Todd was ours, being there in the down years.

This was my first baseball game as a 10 year old. I was sitting with my parents in the left field mezzanine. I remember it was incredibly hot that day, and the sun was scorching. We had bought some ice cream and it was all melted in just a few minutes.

I remember my father telling me about how they had just acquired Mike Piazza, and how he was a big star in Los Angeles. Anyway, I don't remember too much about the game, but I'll never forget the moment Brian McRae hit a monster home run over the center field wall. I just watched the ball sail across the stadium. It was an incredible moment, and I'll always remember seeing the apple come out of the top hat.

After the offense started to show signs of life in the previous series vs. Montreal, the Mets fall right back into a coma against the Braves in losing their 4th out of 4 games vs. Atlanta so far in 1998.

Todd Hundley, in just his 3rd game back from elbow surgery, knocked in his first 2 RBI of the season with a 2-run single in the 3rd, and that would be all the Mets would muster against John Smoltz. Actually, Andruw Jones had caught Hundley's shallow flyball on a diving attempt, but when he landed the ball came out of his glove. If he held on to the ball, the Mets get shutout.

The Mets did, like always, have additional chances to score but came up short. In the 7th, Rey Ordonez led off with a single and Lenny Harris walked as a pinch-hitter for Bobby Jones. Bobby V then had Edgardo Alfonzo bunting to sacrifice the runners over, but Fonzie couldn't get the job done, ultimately striking out on a foul bunt attempt instead of swinging away with 2 strikes. He went back to the dugout visibly upset, something you rarely saw out of him, and even went down the tunnel with a bat to take out some frustrations off-camera. The Braves had John Rocker ready in the bullpen to face the lefty John Olerud next, but they opted to stick with Smoltz, and he got Olerud to fly out to LF. That left it up to Mike Piazza, who took a few mighty hacks but ultimately grounded out weakly to the pitcher to end the inning. The crowd booed as loud as I could remember thus far into the 1998 season, probably both in combination of Piazza's failed effort to come up clutch, and the team's group effort in coming up empty with 2 on and none out.

Ordonez's hit was the only one the two teams would get over the final 4 innings, with the Mets having their last 9 retired in order. Taking a peak at the next game's final score, it looks like things would get much worse from here. At this point in time, I'd be very tempted as the Mets GM to pull the plug on this season, trade away any impending free agents (including Piazza), and start over in 1999. Nothing over the course of the previous month and a half has convinced me this team has any chance at competing for a playoff spot.

On Beach Towel day (whatever happened to Beach Towel day? I loved that promotion), a gorgeous afternoon to be at Shea, Mike Piazza belted 2 HRs.

This was, if I am not mistaken, the first of many multi-HR games Mike would have with the Mets.

The second game I ever went to and despite a Mets loss, this apparently was quite a unique game. (I don't remember it too vividly because I was 7 years old at the time, but I do have the scorecard)

Bernard Gilkey hit his last homer as a Met in this game and Todd Pratt made the first of just four appearances at 1B as a Met.

Sat in the picnic area bleachers for the first and only time ever on this night. A friend of mine nicknamed Bunny, btw his real first name was John, but everyone who knew him called him Bunny, got the 4 seats from another person who had won 'em on the late WCBS-FM 101.1. Talk about uncomfortable, I wish the bleachers had backs on them but me, Bunny, another friend Mickey and his brother Billy stuck it out until the final out in a game that saw Todd Hundley playing LF, Mike Piazza didn't play at all (Todd Pratt started at C) and Rick Reed pitching 8 shutout innings and striking out 9. It was also Queens Night and whenever a Mets player got up to bat, they would play the rumbling sound of the 7 train for some reason.

The Mets end a disappointing 12-game homestand with an upbeat win, propelled by a 4-run 3rd inning and a terrific outing by Reed. This win snapped a 5-game losing streak to the hapless Pirates, who actually swept the Mets in Pittsburgh back in early June.

Some awful infield defense helped the Mets do all their damage in the 3rd. After Todd Pratt led off with a double, Rey Ordonez tried bunting him to 3rd but the ball slipped past pitcher Jason Schmidt, and then 2B Tony Womack slipped trying to throw to first. With runners on the corners, Reed was up next and he swung away, bouncing one to Womack. Ordonez crossed his path and distracted him for a moment, allowing the ball to go under his glove into RF. After Brian McRae flew out, Edgardo Alfonzo hit one just fair down the 3B line to score two, and then John Olerud grounded one to SS, where Lou Collier misplayed a high bounce. That was ruled a hit but probably should have been an error. Todd Hundley then delivered his first extra-base hit of the year with a booming double to LF to score Alfonzo.

Butch Huskey was up next and he took a couple questionable pitches and struck out looking, and was clearly displeased with home plate ump Bob Davidson. He made it to the dugout, but Davidson heard someone chirping and yelled "Hey Butch! Take a hike!" and threw him out. Butch came sprinting out of the dugout and looked like he would have strangled Davidson if not for Bobby V and Cookie Rojas holding him back. Apparently Butch wasn't the one chirping and was quite angry for being thrown out unjustifiably. It all made for a very eventful inning.

Aside from the 3rd inning, the Mets managed just 1 other hit all game, so it was a good thing Reed was in control. I think he easily could have gone for a complete game shutout too, but Valentine wanted to get John Franco some work before the team headed out on an important road trip. Meanwhile, Schmidt's bad luck continued. He started the year 8-1 but lost his 6th straight decision with this defeat.

Hundley also contributed with his first career outfield assist in this game, throwing out Collier at 3B after the runner rounded the bag too far and got gunned out to end the 5th inning. Very nice to get a victory without Mike Piazza in the lineup, but the win only improved the Mets to 5-7 on their elongated homestand. They've also dropped to 3rd in the NL East and have a tough upcoming road trip in which they play 7 games in 5 days because of two scheduled doubleheaders. It's safe to say, with the trade deadline fast approaching, the next week will make or break the 1998 season.

The Mets scored 3 in the 9th off closer Bob Wickman to pull this one out in an eventual doubleheader sweep. After the game was tied, Alfonzo hit the game winning double to put the Mets ahead for good.

This day was one of 4 separate doubleheader sweeps for the Mets in 1998. Due to a lot of early season rain, they had to play numerous DH's throughout the year and they handled it unbelievably well.

Well, both Game 1 and 2 were probably close to the most memorable regular season games I've attended--I was sitting 6 rows back between 3rd base and shallow left, my first trip to Wrigley with my travel contingent (brother, brother's brother-in-law (Doc), and Stu (heretofore refered to as Spammy)...A noon doubleheader, beautiful sunshine, AND A MET SWEEP-- Good natured ribbing of Todd Hundley as he mascaraded as a major league leftfielder...significant beer consumption, great conversation in the stands with "Darned nice Mid-westerners"..a kid grabbed a foul ball next to us in his first baseball game..Doc needed one as he got some sunburn-- Poisonous Sunburn, and thus was moving kind of slow due to it..but the best part was post game festivities...A trip across the street to the famed "Pink House"...The 4 of us bought out Juan the icecream cart vendor for $50, and was our ticket to a keg party upstairs...Grooving to the sound of "Smack my bitch up" by Prodigy, watching my bro holding court with recent college grads on a lounge chair with perfect view of homeplate...watching the groundscrew manicure the magic of Wrigley as the sun set...the walk over to Slugger's for more cocktails ..A Perfect Baseball Day...Unfortunately the hangover lasted 2 days with both Met losses Sat./Sun....good matchup on the Sunday though...Kerry Wood vs. Rick Reed! Wrigley is the best ballpark, BAR NONE!

The Mets came into this FOX Game of the Week with a 6 game winning streak, and should have made it 7. But in the bottom of the 8th, John Franco nemisis, Glenallen Hill, hit a go ahead bomb off of him to give the Cubs the win. A tough loss, made even tougher a few months from this date when the Cubs finished a single game in front of the Mets.

The Mets' first time facing Kerry Wood, and they fared about as well as everyone else did during his Rookie of the Year campaign in 1998. Brian McRae accounted for all the scoring with a solo home run in the 3rd, which Rick Reed protected until he allowed Sammy Sosa to blast his 38th dinger in the 6th, a 2-run shot that gave the Cubs a lead they'd never relinquish.

With Wood removed in the 8th, the Mets did attempt a rally. After Bernard Gilkey struck out to lead off, John Olerud and Mike Piazza followed with back-to-back walks. Edgardo Alfonzo moved the runners along by grounding out to second to bring up Carlos Baerga, a notorious bum vs. left-hand pitching. With lefty Tony Fossas ready in the bullpen, the Cubs instead stuck with righty Terry Adams, spurning the statistics and going on gut instinct. And gut instinct prevailed, as Baerga disappointingly grounded out to end the threat.

After the Cubs tacked on another run in the bottom of the 8th, the Mets were at it again against closer Rod Beck, getting back-to-back 1-out singles from Luis Lopez and Matt Franco. But the red hot McRae, who hit safely in all 7 games of the road trip, grounded out to 1B, and Gilkey whiffed again to end the game. Gilkey was an absolute lost cause at this point. He started just once during the road trip and has 1 hit over his last 15 ABs. His end is nigh.

Still, the Mets salvaged the season by going 5-2 on the trip, pulling to 3 1/2 games behind the Cubs for the NL wildcard spot. And they're headed back to NY for another long homestand against the West Coast teams. If they can win 7 or more out of the next 10, things are going to get interesting -- especially if they pull the trigger on some trade deadline deals.

Mel Rojas won this game, huh? Well, let me tell you this. I was at this game and the only reason Mel Rojas won this game was because Luis Lopez hit a sac fly in the last of the 7th after Smell had BLOWN A 4-RUN LEAD!!!

I'm certainly no Mel Rojas advocate, but I don't think it's very fair he gets all the blame for blowing the lead in this game. Al Leiter put 2 runners on base with 1 out in the 7th before departing in favor of Greg McMichael, who gave up an RBI single to Greg Vaughn and a walk to Jim Leyritz without retiring a batter, making it 6-3. The bases now loaded, that's when the Mets went with Rojas to face a bunch of left-hand hitters, as Rojas, despite being a righty, had very strong numbers vs. lefties. But Mel walked Wally Joyner to force in a run, now 6-4. He did get Steve Finley to pop out next, but then Greg Myers laced a double into the RF corner to score 2 and tie the game before Rojas got out of it. All the runs were charged to Leiter and McMichael. Still, that didn't save Rojas from getting unmercifully booed as he walked back to the dugout.

Thankfully, the Mets offense was in a comeback mood on this night. After a Joyner 2-run homer made the score 3-2 in the 6th, the Mets came right back with 3 of their own in the bottom half of the inning, when the first 5 hitters each put the first pitch of their at-bat in play. And, like Mets2Moon mentioned, Lopez delivered an RBI sac fly in the bottom of the 7th after Carlos Baerga and Bernard Gilkey hit back-to-back 1-out singles to put the Mets right back in front. Bill Pulsipher (making his final appearance as a Met) and John Franco held San Diego at bay from there, with Franco getting a huge strikeout of Vaughn with a runner on 2nd base to get out of the 8th, and then inducing a game-ending double play in the 9th after the Padres put 2 on with a single and an error. That made an unlikely winner out of Rojas, which would be the second-to-last win of his career.

I watched the replay of this game from an old ESPN broadcast with Chris Berman in the booth, which meant there were plenty of name puns going on. Of note: Jim "Frito" Leyritz, Mike "Pepperoni" Piazza, Carlos "one if by land, two if by sea, three if" Baerga, and Bernard "Innocent until Proven" Gilkey. Leyritz made an ultra-rare start at 3B in this game, his only one in 1998 and first since being with the Yankees in 1996. And Gilkey's 7th-inning single was his last hit as a Met. He went hitless in 1 more game for the team before getting traded to Arizona.

Getting charged with 4 runs over 6.1 innings, this was the first time Leiter saw his season ERA rise to over 2.00 since April. His counterpart, Joey Hamilton, got lit up for 10 hits, tied for the most he'd allow in 1998. There were also a total of 10 doubles between the 2 teams, 3 by Tony Gwynn alone. Brian McRae led the Mets with 2 and also tallied 4 hits total, tied for the most he'd get in a Mets uniform. John Franco also got a rare at-bat in this game -- his first since 1996 -- and struck out swinging, looking like he had never held a bat in his life. Why John was even swinging at all is beyond me. Just stand there and watch next time, please.

Remember games like this in 98 and 99, and even into 2000, when Rick Reed would absolutely pitch his heart out and end up on the short end of the stick?

This shaped up like one of those games. Scoreless in the 8th, Lopez made an error which allowed the Dodgers to take a 1-0 lead.

LA brought in closer Jeff Shaw to pitch the 9th. It was Hispanic night or Asian night, I forget which, but the stadium was absolutely packed for this one.

With 1 out, Matt Franco pinch hit for Ordonez and absolutely blasted one high and deep and into the RF bullpen to tie the game 1-1. Everyone went totally nuts.

Hundley pinch-hit for Reed and walked and was sacrificed to 2nd. Alfonzo ripped a 2B deep into the gap in left center, Hundley scored and the crowd was damn near ready to rush the field.

And, guess who the winning pitcher was...

RICK REED!

Great game, great win. One of the best games I've ever been to.

I grew up in South Florida, and this summer, this was the only game I was able to get to at Shea when we were visiting family in NY. Usually I had gotten to two or three games, but this was my one in '98. And what a game to be at. Mets2Moon describes it perfectly, and I just remember going crazy. It was also nice because I still remember feeling bad for Hundley at the time, with all the Piazza stuff, and it was cool to have him involved in the win. Great game. Fun game. Shea was packed--awesome memory.

Some sloppy Dodgers defense helped the Mets score 5 unearned runs, leading to an easy win. Most of the damage was done in the 3rd inning, when Armando Reynoso led off reaching on an Adrian Beltre error. After Tony Phillips walked, Edgardo Alfonzo hit a deep drive to center that Raul Mondesi had lined up but dropped to load the bases. John Olerud followed with an RBI sac fly, and after Mike Piazza grounded out to move the runners up, Brian McRae hit a 2-run single, and then Butch Huskey slammed a 2-run homer (his second-to-last homer as a Met).

Reynoso was terrific, allowing just 2 hits over 7 innings. But even a game with so many positives had some lowlights. Piazza was actually booed a couple times in the game, first after striking out to lead off the 5th, and then again after grounding out with 2 on to end the 8th. Though his numbers were good to this point as a Met, it kinda seemed like he only got his hits in low-pressure situations, either with no one on base or with a game's outcome already determined. Hence, fans were getting antsy for Mike to get the big hits he was renowned for. Though Piazza would re-sign with the Mets during the offseason, the chances of that happening looked pretty grim at this moment. Also, Huskey pulled his hamstring after trying to leg out an infield single in the 5th and would be out for a month. It was particularly bad timing as the Mets had just traded Bernard Gilkey two days earlier, so a once crowded OF has now become quite thin.

File this one as another of the wild and wacky 1998 Mets games.

Giants take a 4-0 lead on Leiter. But the Mets battled back in the 6th. Todd Pratt drilled a 2-run single, followed by an RBI single from Tony Phillips and an RBI groundout by Alfonzo. Luis Lopez doubled home a run in the 7th, and the Mets took a 6-4 lead into the 9th.

Except that it was another one of those John Franco 9ths. He gives up a quick run and has the tying run on base. 2 outs, 2 strikes on Bonds, you know he's going to turn over that changeup and try to drop it in on the inside corner.

Bonds lined it into RF for the tying hit. Franco was mercilessly booed as the inning ended.

In the 10th, Jose Mesa came in for the Giants and loaded the bases with nobody out. Piazza hit a shot, but right at Aurilia at SS, who threw home for the force. 1 out.

Brian McRae chopped one out to Snow at 1B. He threw home for the force. 2 out.

It came down to Lenny Harris. Harris worked the count full, then fouled off several borderline pitches from Mesa. Trying to get one he could hit. Waiting for Mesa to miss.

Finally, Mesa threw one in the dirt. Harris trotted to first, Olerud trotted home and the Mets took home a W.

Just watched this broadcast. A few corrections to the fan above me. Piazza hit a lazy chopper to the SS in the 10th inning for a force out, not a line drive. And Lenny Harris didn't foul any pitches off before his game winning walk. It was a 6-pitch at bat, 4 balls, 2 looking strikes. Lenny never actually swung the bat.

Great game and an important win in the wild card chase at the time. But it's a reminder that 1998 was really Franco's worst season as a Met. He had so many of these kind of appearances.

Thank you to Michael for making those corrections. There's a couple other things to clarify on top of what you pointed out. Phillips' hit in the 7th was a double, not a single. Bonds' game-tying single was a looper to CF, not a liner to RF. And Mesa had actually come in to pitch the 9th for the Giants, and then stayed in to pitch the 10th as well.

Franco was downright awful during this period in time. This was his third blown save in his last four chances. He had also just gone the month of July with a 9.00 ERA over 11 appearances, and certainly didn't start August any better. I'm surprised neither of the previous commenters brought up the Ordonez error in the 9th, though. With Shawon Dunston on first and 2 out, Franco threw to first and had Dunston picked off. The runner took off for second and Olerud threw to Ordonez covering, but Rey straight up missed the catch and Dunston was safe. That extended the inning, and after walking Ellis Burks, Franco gave up the single to Bonds to force extras. I don't know why, but it seemed like John always had the worst luck behind him, either with bad defense or whacky bounces or something strange. Still, his days of being a capable closer are over, and thankfully the Mets realized that when they traded for Armando Benitez during the offseason.

Speaking of Dunston, he was making his first ever start in CF in this game, so the Mets weren't the only team playing people out of position in the OF. Of course, I'm speaking of the Todd Hundley experiment. Hundley actually collected an OF assist in this one, throwing out Rich Aurilia trying to stretch a single into a double in the 6th inning. Todd also got his only hit of the season as a right-handed batter in the game, collecting a single off Rich Rodriguez in the 7th. For the year, Todd was 1 for 17 with 14 strikeouts as a right-handed batter. Yuck.

There were also bases loaded opportunities galore in this game. Bonds hit with the bases juiced in the 3rd and delivered with a 2-run single. The Mets then had the bases loaded in the 4th with 1 out but failed to score when Luis Lopez popped out and Al Leiter struck out. They had the same situation in the 6th but this time came through for 4 runs, with Pratt getting the big pinch-hit single. And they then loaded the bases with no one out in the 10th which led to the eventual walkoff win. But amongst their walkoff wins in 1998, I'd say this one ranks pretty low, only because both Piazza and McRae came up woefully empty, and Harris was either going to walk or strike out looking vs. Jose Mesa. He had no intention of swinging at all. His was the Mets' first walkoff walk since August of the previous season. As luck would have it, they'd get another walkoff walk in the series finale vs. San Fran, this time Luis Lopez playing the hero with Mesa again playing the culprit.

It was also perhaps time to start worrying about Leiter. After beginning the season not allowing 4 runs in any of his first 14 starts, he's now allowed 4 runs in 4 of his last 5. He was a mess in this game, allowing at least 1 baserunner every inning, walking 5 (one intentionally), hitting a batter, and only striking out 2. Starting to wonder if maybe he did indeed come back too fast from the knee injury he suffered against the Yankees in late June, because something just doesn't seem right.

First Met game in 5 years. Was a little disapointing with a 6-4 loss, but I remember Olerud throwing home to get Bonds on a triple play, and then Bonds got robbed of a home run by Brian McRae. The boo birds were out for him.

A wild afternoon game as the Giants scored 6 in the 8th to take the lead. But their bullpen couldn't hold the lead and for the 2nd time in 3 days, the Mets win the game on a walk.

The Mets jumped out to a 7-0 lead after 2 innings in this one, but in typical Coors Field fashion no lead was safe. Rick Reed was cruising until allowing a 2-run homer in the 4th, and he then gave up 4 more runs in the 5th, only getting bailed out when Dante Bichette was embarrassingly picked off 2nd base to end the rally. The teams traded runs in the 6th, and then Mel Rojas and John Franco managed to hold the lead despite some nervous moments to give the Mets a win in their first game of a 9-game road trip.

For Reed, he tied a career high by allowing 12 hits, and also tied a Mets record by getting a win despite allowing 7 runs. No Mets pitcher has ever won a game giving up more than that. The last to do it prior to Reed was Dwight Gooden on Opening Day in 1994, when Tuffy Rhodes hit 3 home runs off him in Chicago but the Mets still won, 12-8.

Todd Hundley hit his first home run since rejoining the Mets from the disabled list, a 2-run moonshot in the 3rd inning that landed in the luxury suites in between the lower and upper decks of Busch Stadium. The Mets were shut down from there but Al Leiter, Dennis Cook, Turk Wendell and John Franco held the Cardinals scoreless the rest of the way as well to secure the win.

Mark McGwire just missed bashing his 47 homer of the season when he turned on an inside fastball in the first inning, yanking it foul down the LF line by about 6 feet. He walked during that at-bat, then struck out three times in a row, including against Wendell when he represented the tying run with a man on base in the 8th. Leiter also saved a run in the 7th when he blindly caught a screaming liner off the bat of Fernando Tatis with a runner on 2nd and no one out. You could see him mouthing the words "I didn't even see it" after he made the catch. He then struck out the next two batters to get out of the jam.

Speaking of Tatis, he made his first appearance as a pro at shortstop in this game. Also, this was Tom Pagnozzi's last career start. He had been with the Cardinals since 1987 and would be released in 6 days. Meanwhile, the Mets acquired Jermaine Allensworth from the Royals for cash on this day. Seemed like a nice under-the-radar move to shore up what had become a lefty-heavy OF since Butch Huskey went down with injury.

Weird that this loss sticks out so vividly in my mind watching it on TV.

Probably because Mike Piazza hit a mammoth HR that almost went into the upper deck of Busch Stadium, almost rivaled many of McGwire's moonshots that year.

Also one of the last games of the year (...and ten seasons since then!!) that the Mets wore their blue caps on the road.

Please, Omar Minaya and/or Charlie Samuels...ditch the black and bring back the BLUE!!

With the Mets down to their last out in the 9th inning, Carlos Baerga hit his third straight single in an attempt to spark a rally. Up next was Jorge Fabregas, who was making his first start as a Met, and though pinch-hitting extraordinaire Lenny Harris was available, Bobby V stuck with Fabregas, and the catcher delivered with his only home run as a Met to make the score 4-3. Now representing the tying run, Mike Piazza pinch hit for Rey Ordonez and, after nearly striking out, cranked one over the center field wall to tie the game. Easily his biggest hit thus far as a Met, and he rode the momentum from this blast the rest of 1998. From here until season's end, he hit .371 with 11 HR and 41 RBI in 41 games, convincing the Mets he was worth mega-star money, and convincing Piazza he could thrive in New York.

Unfortunately, though, this story doesn't have a happy ending, as the Mets were shutout over the next 5 innings, allowing the Cardinals to walk off in the bottom of the 14th. John Franco, who lost for the 6th time over his last 15 appearances, had put runners on first and second with 1 out and Ray Lankford coming up. He got out of a previous jam by inducing a double play out of Lankford, and naturally was hoping for the same outcome here. In the middle of the at-bat, Lankford lifted a fly ball down the LF line that Tony Phillips dropped entering foul territory. That would have been the second out and brought up the weak-hitting Tom Lampkin, but instead it gave Lankford another chance, and he eventually lined a single up the middle to score Brian Jordan and give St. Louis the win.

This was the first time Valentine went with a starting lineup that didn't include either John Olerud or Piazza since the two became teammates, so it's no big surprise the Mets had trouble scoring runs in this one. This was also the longest game for the Mets in 1998 at 4 hours and 42 minutes, and tied for the longest in length at 14 innings.

John Olerud supplied 3 runs thanks to a 1st-inning 2-run homer and a 3rd-inning RBI single, and Armando Reynoso threw shutout baseball for the first 5 innings. But it all unraveled in the 6th, as 4 singles, a Reynoso throwing error on a pickoff attempt, and a balk allowed Arizona to take a 4-3 lead.

But the Mets came right back in the 7th, as Carlos Baerga led off with a double and moved to third on a sac bunt by Rey Ordonez. Matt Franco pinch hit for Reynoso next, and he slapped a single to knock in Baerga and tie the score. Then Tony Phillips drove a double into the LF gap to score Franco, and the Mets went right back in front. Edgardo Alfonzo followed with a single, but Phillips could only make it to third. Olerud then lined one destined for the LF corner but Matt Williams made a great leaping catch, and Mike Piazza (facing lefty Alan Embree in a juicy matchup), fouled one down the RF line that had HR distance but was way foul. He then grounded out to third to end the inning.

Greg McMichael, Mel Rojas and John Franco kept the D'backs off the scoreboard from there, as the Mets would win to regain control of the wildcard lead and go 12 games over .500 for the first time all season.

I was not at this game but on vacation in Colorado at the time. I watched this game at a bar/grill/restaurant in Colorado and drove the Rockies fan insane! Great game. We also won the back end of the double header too.

This was the first of 7 games over a 4-day period for the Mets, as they had 3 doubleheaders scheduled over that brutal span. They got off on the right foot with this win, highlighted by tying their season high with 4 home runs. All 4 were given up by Pedro Astacio, who set a Rockies record that still stands by allowing 39 HRs in 1998. Coincidentally, the Mets also hit 4 HRs against another Pedro during this season -- Pedro Martinez in a win at Boston back in June. The 4 HRs Astacio allowed also tied the most he ever surrendered in a game, and tied the most a pitcher ever gave up in a game at Shea Stadium.

One of the Mets homers was by Todd Hundley, which was his second-to-last as a member of the team. It was a classic Hundley blast, as he turned on an inside hanging slider and pounded it way beyond the RF wall. Although, he also dropped a flyball in this game for his 5th error of the season.

On the whole, despite committing 2 errors (Edgardo Alfonzo had the other one), the Mets played some of the season's best defense in this game. Lenny Harris made a great catch while slipping and falling down on the wet outfield grass, Luis Lopez made several marvelous plays at 2B spelling Carlos Baerga, and Alfonzo retired Neifi Perez on screaming line drives 3 separate times. They needed it as Al Leiter once again put tons of runners on base. Despite eclipsing 100 pitches by the 6th inning, Leiter pitched through 8 innings as Bobby V wanted to save his bullpen bullets knowing the Mets would be playing so many games over such a short period of time. Turk Wendell then held the opposition scoreless for the 17th time in his last 18 appearances, and 27th time in his last 29 appearances, to close out the game. His emergence as a dependable lockdown reliever may be the most underappreciated story of the 1998 season.

Mets were stifled by John Thomson, then a rookie, in this game, into the 7th. Piazza came off the bench, Mets were down 3-1, was booed (as was the norm back in these days) for some ungodly reason, with the bases loaded, and he slammed (and I mean SLAMMED) a 3-run 2B to give the Mets the lead. Lenny Harris hit a HR in the 8th to ice a great comeback win.

The Home Run Chase brings a sellout crowd (myself included) to Shea. McGwire is cheered when he comes to bat, cheered when he strikes out, and cheered when he hits a solo HR in the 7th off Willie Blair. A towering blast into the LF bleachers. That HR happened to be his 50th on the season, on his way to what may very well be the former record of 70.

Brian Jordan and McGwire go yard back-to-back to lead off the 7th inning, giving Donovan Osborne all the run support he'd need as the Mets are shut out for the first time since June 7.

Willie Blair, in his first start as a Met, was pitching a gem up to that point, too, holding St. Louis to just 1 hit over the first 6 innings. He retired 15 in a row until Jordan clubbed a 2-0 meatball over the LF wall. After that, as Mets2Moon mentioned, McGwire hit #50, making him the first in MLB history to hit 50 HRs in 3 consecutive seasons. He'd make it a 4th in 1999, a record that has only been tied by Sammy Sosa. It's really something that, for as much credit as McGwire and Sosa get for making baseball popular again in 1998, that neither one has even come close to going into the Hall of Fame. I understand why that is, but it seems a bit ironic that they've been shunned for doing what helped save the sport.

The Mets offense looked lethargic, perhaps a byproduct of all the doubleheaders they've been playing. They didn't get their first hit until the 6th, and none of their 4 hits were for extra bases. It didn't help that Valentine benched John Olerud and Brian McRae, two of the team's hottest hitters, for Game 1. Olerud had a big chance to come through as a pinch-hitter in the 7th, batting with 2 on and 2 out. But he grounded out to first to end the threat, and the Mets went 6 up and 6 down after that.

This game and double header is one that I will never forget so long as I live. I was 18 years old and my parents got me tickets to see the game because I wanted so badly to see Mark McGwire on his quest to break Maris' record.

They got me field level seats on the first base side and boy was I in for a treat. McGwire hit numbers 50 and 51 and I can still see him rounding first base after he hit number 50, pumping his right fist in the air as he ran by. He knew (at the time) that he was the first player in MLB history to hit 50 or more home runs in 3 consecutive seasons.

When I meet fellow Mets fans who say they were at this game though, there is always something that they seem to forget. Mike Piazza gave McGwire a moment for pause as if to say, ya, well I can hit 'em out too. Piazza had a MONSTER shot in the second game of the double header past the visitor's bullpen in left field that went over the trees behind the dugout. I can't remember if it left the stadium, but it was certainly the closest I've ever seen anyone do it at Shea Stadium. I remember thinking to myself, "Ya, eat some humble pie Mark, you're not quite there yet."

I traded in a ticket from a previous rain-out to see this double header. The Mets and Cards were playing back-to-back double headers on Thursday and Friday. Most will remember Game 1 as McGwire hit his 50th and Willie Blair had his best game as a Met.

However, I remember Game 2 more clearly for 2 reasons:
1. After a horrendous start to the game, including serving up a monster blast to McGwire right down the left-field line, Rick Reed battled the Cards and refused to lose. He gave the Mets offense a chance to get the win instead of collapsing, which he easily could have done. Reed was a warrior that day.

2. Piazza's monster of a home run over the bleachers in left. It was one of the most majestic shots I've ever seen (only his shot off of Mike Hampton at Shea which hit the top of the TV camera stand in center sticks in my mind as a more beautiful home run).

Thanks to David and murphy for sharing those stories. Indeed, Reed looked like he was headed for an early exit, allowing 4 runs -- including 2 homers -- over the first 3 innings. The 2nd inning was particularly painful, as the Cardinals had runners on 1st and 3rd with 1 out and pitcher Darren Oliver at the plate in a bunting situation. On a failed bunt attempt, Piazza caught Fernando Tatis trying to steal home, but for some reason chose to chase him all the way back to 3B instead of throwing to Alfonzo covering. Tatis was safe, and the runner on 1st moved up to 2nd on the play. Then, after Oliver struck out, Placido Polanco hit a sinking liner to LF that Tony Phillips appeared to catch, but Angel Hernandez, umpiring at third, called it a trap and 2 runs scored. To my shock, replays showed Angel got the call right. I guess even a blind mouse finds a piece of cheese from time to time.

Piazza brought the Mets to within a run with the aforementioned monstrous 2-run home run in the 4th that cleared the visitors' bullpen. He was booed pretty noticeably after grounding out in his first at-bat, so I'm sure he put some extra mustard on the swing to try to silence the critics in the crowd. I have to say, the fans were very fickle towards Mike around this time, booing him after every out but going bonkers when he got a hit or came to the plate in a big spot. Unfortunately, that's the type of treatment reserved only for those who can meet the greatest of expectations.

Outside of a walk to McGwire in the 5th, Reed retired the final 15 batters he faced. Then a Rey Ordonez RBI double and a Phillips RBI groundout gave the Mets the lead in the 7th. Turk Wendell retired all 6 batters he faced across the 8th and 9th innings to pick up his second save of the year.

As a sidenote, McGwire's HR in this game was also the 400th of his career. And he also stole his only base of the season in this game too.

McGwire Fever! Poor sports, my pal and I booed him while everyone else cheered. Nothing against Big Mac, we were just concerned that our team, the home team, won and hung in in the very sweaty wild card race. A really drunk, really large guy sitting in front of us, wearing a McGwire batting practice jersey (haven't seen any of them lately, surprising considering it wasn't all that long ago and they must be pretty expensive) cursed us out. "Who do the Mets have?" he demanded. "Rusty Staub?" The great moment of this game was Turk striking out McGwire with runners on. The Wild Card dream would torture us right to the end of this mixed bag season, but at least we won this battle.

I'm at this game against the Cardinals in 1998 and every time McGwire gets up these kids who are wearing Cardinal McGwire 25 shirts who wouldn't know who holds the record for most HRs in a rookie season (hint, its Mark McGwire) all cheering and going nuts for McGwire and I'm muttering to myself "I'd really would love to flip these kids a double bird and tell them to **** off." Well when Reynoso struck him out I muttered, "I think Reynoso did it for me!"

I remember sitting in the last row of the upper deck. This is what baseball is all about, 1-0 game, any swing can win or tie the game. Unfortunately half the fans missed the end because they all left after McGwire's last at bat.

The last game in the stretch were the Mets played an insane 3 doubleheaders in 4 days, due to early season rainouts. I remember well, going into these games, the talk was that this stretch would make or break the team. They ended up going 5-2 in the 7 games and truly solidified themselves as a one of the best teams in the NL.

As for the game, Alfonzo's 1st inning homer held up in the 1-0 win. Armando Reynoso (a pretty underrated pitcher in team history) was fantastic for 7 shutout innings.

Greg may be confusing this game for another, because all 3 of McGwire's strikeouts in this game came against Reynoso. Wendell never faced him.

This was a nice bounceback win for the Mets, who got doubled up in Game 1, 10-5. Reynoso got outs when they mattered but I thought he was far from dominant, despite 7 strikeouts. He tied a career high with 6 walks, which included John Mabry twice. That deserves attention because he was batting second ahead of McGwire, so twice Reynoso put a man on base with Big Mac representing the go-ahead run. Luckily for Armando, he owned McGwire throughout his career, striking him out 4 times over 6 ABs while not allowing a hit.

Reynoso also snuck out of a 2nd and 3rd, 1 out jam on the 6th, when Tom Lampkin hit one right back at him, causing the runner at third to get tagged out in a rundown. After a walk to Willie McGee, he then got Placido Polanco (in a spot where I thought the Cardinals should have used Brian Jordan as a pinch hitter) to ground out to end the threat. At 108 pitches, Reynoso's spot in the order came up in the bottom of the 6th with runners on 1st and 3rd and 2 out, and I thought for sure we'd see Matt Franco pinch hit. But Reynoso stayed in, perhaps because Bobby V was conserving his bullpen, and he grounded out.

The Mets also loaded the bases with nobody out in the 8th, only to fail to score again. It was always precarious to give John Franco a 1-run lead to protect in the 9th, by Johnny mowed the Cardinals down 1-2-3 to give the Mets their 3rd of four 1-0 wins of the season.

Mike Piazza hit a grand slam in the second inning to put the Mets ahead to stay in this game. It was the first of six slams that Piazza would have as a Met to establish a team record.

To build off NYB Buff's post, Piazza's grand slam would be the only one the Mets hit in all of 1998. However, it was Piazza's 4th -- his other 3 came with the Dodgers. The 6-run explosion in the bottom of the 2nd was particularly nice to see as the D'backs had just gone up 4-0 in the top of the inning. But Bobby Jones only allowed 3 more hits the rest of the day, and Dennis Cook capped off the win with 2 hitless innings of relief.

Pitching on 3 days rest, Jones went 7 innings to get the victory. Sadly, though, it was his last win of the season. Over his remaining 5 starts he went 0-2, though he didn't pitch poorly with a 4.09 ERA. He just didn't get much run support.

On the other side, this was Andy Benes' worst of 24 career starts against the Mets. Though while he looked like toast, the crazy thing is he was phenomenal over the rest of 1998, allowing just 3 runs total over his 6 remaining starts.

Back to Piazza, he also made a fantastic catch on a foul pop up in the 3rd when he slid on his knees and had his momentum carry him into the Arizona dugout, where he crashed off the steps and onto the floor. Luckily, he was all right, but I hope Valentine planned to give him the next day off to allow his body to recuperate.

This win brought the Mets to 15 games over .500 for the first time all season. A Cubs loss to Randy Johnson and the Astros this afternoon also put the Mets all alone in the wildcard lead.

I was at this game on a hot, sticky, summer day at Shea and they were facing the Arizona Diamondbacks. Though I had known Bernard Gilkey had been traded to the Diamondbacks, it really felt weird seeing him playing in a D-Backs uniform just a month after I had watched him play in a Mets uniform and just two days after I had first seen the movie Men in Black where he appears in a Mets uniform when he is hit in the head with a batted ball.

It seemed like one of those easy days because our ace Al Leiter was facing Brian Anderson, a guy who one season gave up more homers than any other pitcher in baseball. However, despite a homer by Alfonzo, Anderson pitched well, Leiter didn't pitch as well, and the Mets lost 4-3.

Second game at Shea for me, went with my father and my friend's family.

I remember it being obnoxiously hot and an odd series because it was a three-gamer that started on a Saturday and ended on Monday. Just a bad loss to a bad team which culminated in a series loss the following day.

One of the few bright spots in Hideo Nomo's Mets career as he threw a complete game win and ended the team's 3 game losing streak.

Also noteworthy, this was the last weekday afternoon game ever shown on WWOR channel 9 for the Mets. The rest of the schedule was weekend broadcasts.

What a topsy-turvy game! I remember watching this game from a cheap hotel in Kingman, AZ(where it was at least 105 degrees at that day) on my way to Los Angeles for the Sunday and Monday games. It was FOX's Saturday Game of the Week. I remember being nervous as Franco put men on base in the 9th inning. I was worried he'd blow. But in Franco fashion, he pulled it together and the Mets won!! I was excited for the Mets playoff hopes on this night.

The Mets keep pace with the Cubs atop the wildcard standings by beating Chan Ho Park and the injury-riddled Dodgers, in doing so taking 3 out of 4 games in the series.

Every Mets starter had a hit. Piazza was ferociously booed every time he came to the plate but he seemed to feed off the negative energy, hitting two singles and a double while driving in two.

Rick Reed got the win, which would be his career-high 16th. However, it would be his last of 1998. Over his final 4 starts he was 0-3 with a 5.04 ERA. He allowed a ton of hard-hit balls against L.A. and it appeared like the magic he found throughout 1997 and the first half of 1998 was all but gone.

This game was memorable for a couple reasons: We overcame a 6-1 deficit with a 7-run 7th inning highlighted by Piazza's 3-run bomb. Wendell and Cook summarily blew the lead and we lost the game, and ground in the wild card race. Real gut-punch. The other interesting thing was that this game was Jay Payton's long-awaited major league debut. He went 2-for-2 with 2 singles.

Definitely a heartbreaking loss. To rally for 7 runs in the 7th inning to take a 2-run lead over a Padres team that was bound for the World Series, only to have Turk Wendell and Dennis Cook -- the two most reliable bullpen pitchers all season -- blow the lead in the bottom of the inning really hurt.

Stan Spencer was only making his second career start at the Major League level and largely held the Mets in check. He didn't allow a hit until Lenny Harris singled with 1 out in the 5th (which Tim McCarver deserves credit for as he jinxed the no-hitter by mentioning it mere seconds before Harris got his single). But then Edgardo Alfonzo homered off him in the 6th, and Brian McRae led off the 7th with another homer. Harris followed with a double, and that brought in Dan Miceli from the pen.

Miceli got 2 quick outs but then the Mets went on a roll, as Matt Franco (who questionably came in for John Olerud during a double switch very early on) hit an RBI single, Jay Payton singled on the first pitch he saw as a big-leaguer, and Alfonzo walked, loading the bases for pinch-hitter Jorge Fabregas. Fabregas knocked in 2 with a single (his last hit as a Met it would turn out), and Piazza followed with a 3-run homer to RF. The comeback complete, turning a 6-1 deficit into an 8-6 lead.

But the usually ultra-reliable Wendell couldn't hold it, as he allowed a single to Greg Vaughn and a 2-run homer to Steve Finley. Wendell had just tied a Mets record by appearing in 17 games in August, and was obviously showing signs of overuse. After the homer, he put 2 more on base with one out before giving way to Cook. Dennis' first pitch hit Jim Leyritz to load the bases, and he then walked Quilvio Veras to force in the go-ahead run. The Padres didn't have another baserunner the rest of the game, but the damage was done. Donne Wall struck out the side in the 8th, and Trevor Hoffman got Alfonzo to ground into a double play to end the game for his 45th save of the season, which set a new single-season record for the Padres.

Hideo Nomo, who turned 30 the day before, was coming off his only complete game as a Met vs. the Giants his last time out. But he was hideous in this one, giving up 2 bombs to Vaughn and lasted only 4 innings. It would be his second-to-last start as a Met, as his inconsistency would banish him from the rotation for most of September. Along with Payton, Rigo Beltran made his Mets debut as well, tossing a scoreless inning in relief. Mel Rojas also pitched in this one and characteristically allowed a run in his one inning of work, although he was ironically lined up to get the win as he was still the pitcher of record when the Mets had their 7-run rally. This would be Rojas' second-to-last appearance with the team as well.

Wendell took the loss, which was his first as a member of the Mets -- a span of 64 appearances. He wouldn't lose again until July of the following season. Former Met Randy Myers, who recorded the final out of the 7th inning, got the win for San Diego. It would be the last of his career, as he'd suffer a shoulder injury and be forced to retire a few years later after numerous comeback attempts.

After losing a heartbreaker the previous night, the Mets come right back with a strong win to finish their West Coast road trip 5-4. It was their first successful west coast trip since 1994.

The Mets did all their scoring on home runs by Lenny Harris, Edgardo Alfonzo and Mike Piazza. The 3 HRs allowed were the most by All-Star Andy Ashby all year. Meanwhile, Armando Reynoso continued his fantastic 2nd half by going 8 strong, and only looked to be getting stronger the longer the game went. His only blemish was a 1st-inning home run by Tony Gwynn.

When I was only 6 years old, I distinctly remember being at the game on Mike Piazza's birthday in which he hit a towering home run into the left field bleachers. As a small child, a home run was an amazing thing to see. I will remember this day for my entire life. Thanks for the memories, Mike.

I remember watching this game but only the last few innings because we had just come back from the 2nd night of my mother's wake (She was buried the next day). It was Piazza's 30th birthday and after the booing he had to put up with, it was sweet validation that he would be a Met in 1999. Looking at the boxscore just now is a treat in itself with the Braves having Ozzie Guillen (Current WS champion manager) lead off and play SS and a then unknown "inbred" named John Rocker pitching a scoreless 8th on the mound in his "favorite" ballpark. It was a classic Glavine vs Leiter matchup. One more thing, if the new SNY channel shows Mets classic games, lets hope they put this one on down the road.

A beautiful late summer day. Tony Phillip's high point as a Met. He hit a late inning homer to lead the Mets to victory. If Tony Phillips can hit a homer off a tough lefty (O. Perez?) to win a game, then justice can prevail.

To correct John, Phillips' home run was actually hit off a tough righty in Rudy Seanez, but I do agree that justice prevailed on this day. Seanez only allowed 2 HRs over 34 appearances for the Braves in 1998 (the other by future Met Shawn Green), so it was really quite the surprise that Phillips hit one out against him.

In that 8th inning, Seanez needed just 3 pitches to get the first 2 outs, but then he walked Matt Franco, which seemed innocent until Phillips smoked one over the wall in right-center field. The Mets came pouring out of the dugout to congratulate Tony in what must have been his biggest hit during his short tenure on the team. His longball also gave Seanez his only loss of the season.

That clutch homer was particularly nice to see after the Mets loaded the bases in both the 4th and 6th innings but failed to score both times. Though Mike Piazza only went 1-for-4 with a harmless single in the game, he deserves huge credit for breaking up a double play that would have ended the 7th inning. Instead, John Olerud was able to score on the play, which put the Mets within distance to take the lead on Phillips' eventual home run. It's those little things that it seemed like the Braves always did to win games during this era, so it was nice to see the Mets give them some of their own medicine.

On a final note, I watched this game back on a FOX telecast, and I was so annoyed they decided to completely leave the game and go to the Cardinals/Reds game every time Mark McGwire had an at-bat. That did allow the audience to see Big Mac hit his 60th home run, but I would have much preferred them split screen the at-bats so we can still see what's going on in the Mets game. As it was, they wound up completely missing a Willie Mays-esque catch by Brian McRae that saved a run in the 5th inning, all to see McGwire strike out on 3 pitches.

Andruw Jones homered in the seventh inning off Rick Reed, giving him 27 for the season and 50 for his career. Jones became the third-youngest player to reach 50 career homers. Only Mel Ott and Tony Conigliaro were younger when they hit their 50th career home run.

John Smoltz pitched a complete game three-hitter, striking out twelve.

I remember this was the day Mark McGuire tied Maris's record and the game was delayed by a wicked blowing rainstorm that brought Bobby Valentine out to hold down the tarp. Also it was a day game and the sky turned jet black during the delay.

Labor Day 1998. I remember watching this one on TV as in the middle innings, a huge storm came and at 3PM it basically looked like midnight. Truly a weird feeling. Also a great game, as Alfonzo hit a 2-run homer in the bottom of the 8th to put the Mets ahead 8-7. Franco saved it and the Mets had an important win in the wild card race.

The crazy part about this win is that the Mets beat the Braves the exact same way just 2 days prior -- with a 2-run homer with 2 outs in the 8th inning. Whereas Tony Phillips played the hero in that game, it was Alfonzo in this one -- helping to make up for going 0-for-4 with 3 strikeouts earlier in the game.

Future Met Bruce Chen made his Major League debut, starting in place of the ailing Denny Neagle. He struck out the first two batters he faced but the wheels quickly came off thereafter, as he gave up a 2-run homer to Luis Lopez and a solo shot to Phillips in the 2nd, and then an RBI single to Brian McRae in the 3rd before the storm hit and delayed the game for almost 2 hours.

In between the top and bottom half of the 3rd inning, it was pretty neat to see the entire stadium -- players included -- give a standing ovation when they saw the news that McGwire had hit #61. I wonder if the news received the same reception at each park that day.

With the Mets leading 6-2 in the 6th, Rigo Beltran retired the first two batters of the inning, but then 6 straight reached base for the Braves. That included Andruw Jones homering in a third consecutive game, and RBI hits by Greg Colbrunn, Gerald Williams and Tony Graffanino (all coming off Turk Wendell), giving Atlanta a 7-6 lead. The inning only came to an end after Lopez booted a grounder by Chipper Jones but tracked down the ball and threw home to nail Graffanino trying to score.

The Mets put 2 on in their half of the 6th but couldn't score, then went down quietly in the 7th. Atlanta brought in the dreaded John Rocker for the 8th, and he too looked firmly in control, getting the first two outs before losing Phillips on a 6-pitch walk. Alfonzo then came up clutch with his 2-run homer, which was one of only 2 Rocker allowed in his career against the Mets (Robin Ventura had the other one). Franco retired the side in order in the 9th, giving Rocker his only loss in 19 career appearances vs. the Mets.

Maybe some strange things happening because of the date (9-8-98)?

The Phillies hit a team-record seven home runs in this game. Two came off starter Hideo Nomo and three more came off Mel Rojas.

One of the homers Rojas allows is a pinch-homer by Marlon Anderson, which comes in Anderson's first major league at bat.

What is it about the Mets getting blown out at the old Vet? (A 26-7 blowout in June '85) come to mind. However, I was going back & forth between this blowout & Mark "I'm not here to talk about the past" McGuire breaking Roger Maris single season HR record on this Tuesday Night.

The Mets just keep on winning, securing a series win in Philadelphia to go 17 games over .500 for the first time since 1990.

It wasn't easy, however. Despite jumping out to a 5-0 lead in the first inning, and with staff ace Al Leiter on the mound, the Mets still found themselves hanging on by their fingertips at the end. In the 8th, Turk Wendell came on to protect a 7-2 lead but gave up a run, allowing 3 of the 4 batters he faced to reach base before Dennis Cook bailed him out. In the 9th, Jeff Tam was summoned to get the final 3 outs but didn't get any, as Wendell Magee reached on an infield single to 3B (though I think Edgardo Alfonzo should have been charged with a throwing error) and Bobby Estalella walked. On came John Franco, who barely beat Desi Relaford to the bag on a 3-1 putout for the first out of the inning. Kevin Jordan then bounced one to second, but Carlos Baerga couldn't handle the high hop and was charged with an error as Magee scored. Doug Glanville then hit a bouncer just past Franco's reach into CF for an RBI single, bringing the tying run to the plate with just 1 out. But Franco got Kevin Sefcik looking, and then Scott Rolen grounded out to end the game.

It's discouraging to see Wendell continue to struggle, especially after holding a 1.45 ERA and .169 opposing batting average over 17 appearances in August. Thus far, over 4 appearances in September, he's given up 6 runs while the opposition is hitting .529 against him. It's gonna be a rough final month if the only dependable bullpen arms are Cook and Franco.

Tyler Green was the starter for the Phillies. He was infamous for his horrible 1st innings, holding a career 6.95 ERA during the opening frame. That ballooned to 9.67 in 1998. He actually would make only 3 more starts at the Major League level before injuries ended his career.

Watched this game on TV. The Mets had a slim lead in the wild card race. Willie Blair was tremendous for the Mets. Expos' pitcher was equally tough. Mets took a one-zip lead in the 8th. Game ends as Brian McRae playing CF throws a bullet to Hundley, who tags out the potential tying run in a bang-bang play the the plate. Mets win 1-0. Maybe the last high point of Hundley's Mets' career.

WOW! Did the Mets really use 25 players in this game? I guess this could only happen in September after the rosters are expanded.

Using 25 players set a Met record later tied on 9-19-00 against the Braves in Atlanta.

I thought the Mets were going to the playoffs after this game. With Piazza tying it in the 9th, then Hundley's most important Mets homer (and sadly his last), I thought the 10-year playoff drought would finally be ending. Instead, I remember it as the last time my favorite player would win a game for my favorite team.

Deep to right. Hidalgo looks up..and it's outta here!! Great Piazza HR to tie game and great call by Gary Cohen on the radio.

Many people overlook, what I feel, is one of the greatest all time regular season series in Mets history. The Mets were in the heat of the wild card hunt in late September of '98, while the Astros were looking to officially win the division. Both teams played their hearts out in a four game series (featuring one double header) at the Astrodome. The Mets took three of four in dramatic fashion with I believe three of the games going to extra innings. This game featured one of Piazza's amazing clutch opposite field homers against flame thrower Billy Wagner. This was a good time to be a Met fan with the unforgettable '99 season a year away and the World Series 2000 team to follow. We were on the verge of something.

Cohen's radio call was replayed during the opening for WFAN Mets games throughout much of the 1999 season. It was something to the effect of "Swing and a drive deep towards the gap in right center field, looking up Hidalgo, IT'S OUTA HERE! PIAZZA GOES DEEP! A THREE-RUN HOMER IN THE NINTH OFF BILLY WAGNER! AND THE METS LEAD IT 3 TO 2!" It was a very long call, mentioning also that it was Piazza's 200th career homer, and the biggest hit of the year thus far for the Mets.

When you listen to Rose's TV call ("High fly ball, deep right field - that will be OUTTA HERE! HOW DO YOU LIKE THAT? MIKE PIAZZA GIVES THE METS THE LEAD!!"), you can hear Cohen screaming from the next booth. Cohen and Rose were yelling as loud and as emotionally as you have ever heard them, playoffs included.

I was at this game in Houston. One of the best games ever with one of the most clutch at-bats by Piazza off Wagner to give the Mets the lead inthe ninth.

I agree with Jon; this was one of the greatest regular season series I ever saw. Every time the Mets needed an out, there was Turk Wendell.

Absolutely the great regular season series in our history. I ran across the house when Piazza went deep.

I actually would love to hear Gary Cohen talk about this series one day during a Mets game. Knowing him I actually believe he would agree that this is one of the all-time great regular season series in Mets history.

I live in NY and have been a lifelong Met fan. I was at the game with a co-worker; we drove from Austin that night. My one-and-only game in the Astrodome. It was great when Piazza homered in the ninth off Wagner. I still have the ticket stub and came across it last night. I believe this is the only game when Piazza and Hundley homered for the Mets in the same game.

I absolutely love reading these comments. I had just started my senior year in high school at this time in 1998, and my parents didn't subscribe to FSNY, so I missed a large portion of Mets games. I finally watched this one for the first time recently (and didn't spoil it beforehand), and I found myself cheering as loudly as I would have been if it were 26 years ago!

This had to be the home run that sealed the Mets mindset to give Piazza whatever contract he wanted to stay in New York, and perhaps even what convinced Mike this was the team he wanted to play for long term. After he crossed the plate in the 9th, the team mobbed him halfway between home and the dugout, unable to hold back their excitement. And give huge credit to John Olerud, too, who went 4-for-5 and was down to his final strike before reaching on a hot-shot single to 3B before Piazza's at-bat. Piazza was also down to his last strike before lining one over the RF wall. Sadly, though, it was Mike's final home run of the season.

And then there's Hundley. Not only his last HR as a Met, his last hit as well. The camera caught him in the dugout with a helmet on and his bat in hand for multiple innings before he pinch-hit in the 11th, subtly planting the seed in Bobby V's head that he was ready whenever the opportunity presented itself. After he got back to the dugout, Valentine greeted him with multiple "Let's Go!"'s, hitting him on the back and on the helmet, then later came up to him to give him another high-five and to mess up his hair. These were good times.

Lost in the shuffle is a great start by Bobby Jones, who went 8 innings and allowed just 4 hits to a very dangerous Astros lineup. Don't forget, Houston was 40 games over .500 at the time. The only damage Jones allowed was a 2-run homer to ex-Met Carl Everett. He was in line for the win, but Dennis Cook allowed a 1-out homer to Brad Ausmus in the 9th to send the game to extras. It was the first earned run allowed by Cook since August 6th. He was used in the save chance as John Franco had worked 3 days in a row, so he was given the night off.

Greg McMichael nearly gave the game away in the 10th, as he got the first two batters out but then walked Everett (who then stole second and went to third on a Piazza throwing error), intentionally walked Jeff Bagwell, and walked Moises Alou. That brought up Ricky Gutierrez (who was allowed to hit despite the Astros having Derek Bell on the bench), and after he went down in the count 3-0, McMichael found a way to strike him out on 8 pitches. Then Wendell, pitching in his 4th consecutive game, struck out the side in the 11th to lock down the save. It was his only time striking out the side in 1998.

This was definitely the emotional high of the season, and probably of the last 10 years. You would think after this type of series the Mets would ride a wave of momentum into the playoffs... but alas they couldn't catch the Cubs, and would crash and burn over the final week of the season.

This won't be remembred as well as any of the final 5 chokes in '98, but I almost knew we lost it on this night, a Friday with a full house at Shea. I sat there in the Mezz above the auxilary scoreboard and watched Franco cough up a 3(?) run lead in a game we absolutely HAD to win... Brant Brown had dropped a flyball sparking a total Cubs giveaway earlier that day in Chicago (we were in a 3-team race for the WC with the Giants and Cubs and every game counted). That long post-game walk down the ramps at Shea that night was the ugliest I've ever seen Shea. That's saying something!

I've been informed this wasn't the same day as the Brant Brown goof... ooops. Everything else was true I swear.

I went to this game and sat behind home plate on the first base side and the Mets were winning 6-4 but in came Franco, Mr. Blow-it-All, and definitely not Mr. Reliable, and he gave up 3 runs and totally blew the game. After this loss, I was really angry because, once the Mets lost this game, I knew that they weren't going to get by the Giants and the Cubs in the playoff race. We came out of the stadium and everyone was chanting "Let's Go Yankees" and I joined in. That's how mad I was.

The forgotten game that really killed our chances in the 98 wild card race.

According to retrosheet.org; 34,862 attended this game and I was there with my 2 nephews who had gotten the tickets through a family friend. A tough loss for the Amazins and if you look at the lineup for this game for the '98 Marlins (who were somewhat depleted after Mr. Blockbuster Huizenga's fire sale) you will see 2 future Mets: Cliff Floyd (who homered) and Luis Castillo.

Franco was booed mercilessly as he came into this game due to blowing the game the night before. And he came very, very close to letting this one get away too. Johnny loaded the bases with 2 outs and a 3-2 count with a one-run lead before finally getting the K to end the game. At that point in his Mets career, that was probably the biggest out he ever got, in a game the Mets absolutely had to win. (obviously before 99 and 2000).

The final pitch Franco threw was also a ball, but he got bailed out when Mike Redmond swung at it anyway. If Redmond takes that pitch, Franco walks in a run, and then who knows. Franco said after the game if Redmond hadn't swung, he would have needed the national guard to get out of Shea alive.

After recording the strikeout, Franco jumped in the air and aggressively high-fived his teammates like he just saved Game 7 of the NLCS. It was certainly a gutsy call by Bobby V to turn to Franco to protect a 1-run lead after his struggles the previous night. John had no one to blame but himself, too, as he loaded the bases on 2 walks and a hit by pitch. He was also bailed out of further trouble when Rey Ordonez, who made sparkling plays all night, charged a grounder that hit off Franco's glove, then picked up the ball and threw to first all in one motion to get the batter out. That play saved the game.

Former Met prospect Jesus Sanchez started for the Fish and had quite the performance, striking out a career high 11 while also walking a season-high 7. The Mets did all their scoring in the first two innings, then mostly fell silent as Masato Yoshii and Turk Wendell held up the lead. Wendell, pitching in his 6th straight game (of a streak that would eventually reach 9) continued to amaze, tossing 1.2 scoreless innings. How this guy's arm didn't fall off in 1998 is beyond me.

Not to be outdone, John Olerud continued his pursuit of the batting crown. He went 3-for-3 with a walk, extending his streak to 10 straight plate appearances reaching base.

I also couldn't help but laugh and shake my head after another classic Kinerism. In the 7th inning, with the cameras clearly showing two pitchers warming up in the Mets bullpen, and after Gary Thorne just got done announcing that very fact, Kiner waited a pitch and commented on the thought of Yoshii perhaps tiring and said, "There's no action in the bullpen for the Mets," then quickly added, "Now a pitcher is starting to warm up." I'm sure it took everything within Thorne not to correct him. At this point in his broadcasting career, why WWOR still thought Kiner could handle a full game in the booth is a true mystery.

I was in attendance for this game, which turned out to be the last win of the season, sadly. John Olerud was as hot as could be, breaking the Mets record for consecutive times on base over a 4 game stretch. Al Leiter was dominant and walking out of the stadium that day, we truly believed that the Mets were going to win the wildcard.

Another note on this game, it was the last WWOR Mets broadcast in team history (Sept 25th was scheduled to be, but a late season schedule change proved it not to be). Truly the end of an era in Mets history, as Channel 9 was with the team since 1962. Generations of Mets fans grew up with the team on WOR Channel 9 (later WWOR), and that ended on this day.

It's so sad this would be the Mets' last win in 1998. The team was riding high at this point, with this win (paired with a Cubs loss on this day) putting them a game up in the wildcard race. But it would be the least time they'd be all alone in the lead, as they'd lose all 5 of their remaining games in the franchise's worst collapse until 2007.

Al Leiter was marvelous, as was often the case in 1998. He won his 17th game, which wound up being his career high. He was the Mets' first to reach 17 wins since Dwight Gooden and Frank Viola both reached it in 1990. It's hard to believe, but in nearly 30 years since, only one other pitcher has eclipsed 17 wins in a season: R.A. Dickey in 2012. Not deGrom, not Johan, not Harvey, not Pedro. Crazy.

Speaking of crazy, Olerud was in the middle of a stretch during which he'd probably get a hit blindfolded with a whiffle ball bat. In going 2-for-2 with 2 walks, he tied Jose Vizcaino's team record with a hit in 9 straight at-bats while reaching base in 14 straight plate appearances. Truly amazing.

Turk Wendell extended another streak, appearing in the Mets' 7th straight game (which tied Jesse Orosco's team record). He recorded the final 3 outs in dominating fashion, with the crowd loudly cheering each time he slammed the rosin bag to the ground and letting loose with a collection "YEAH" each time he threw a strike.

A scary moment came in the 4th inning, however, when Cliff Floyd made a sliding catch. His knee collided with that of SS Alex Gonzalez, and he was down on the ground writhing in pain. He had to be carted off the field with what looked like a devastating injury -- but it turns out he didn't even miss a game. The Marlins weren't playing for anything, so why they didn't just shut him down for the remainder of the year as a precaution is terribly reckless IMO, especially considering he was by far their best player at the time.

I didn't realize until reading Michael's post this was the last time the Mets would play on WWOR. But that also means this was Tim McCarver's final time calling a Met game as one of the team's announcers, as he joined the Yankees' booth in 1999. My feelings on Tim are mixed -- I liked his cadence and candor and his ability to throw in a corny joke or two during a broadcast. But I also feel like he had a big ego and sometimes got on a player's case or criticized an in-game decision unfairly. Like in this very game, he criticized Olerud for not tagging up and moving from 2B to 3B on a flyball to center field. He surely knew Olerud moved like molasses, and I'm also sure he'd probably be the first to criticize Olerud if he tried to tag up and was thrown out. His departure ushered in the Tom Seaver era in the booth, which I have my own feelings about... but that's for another time.

Although we blew it against the Braves the last series of the season, I really feel it was the two games at home against the Expos that ruined the season. I still remember Todd Pratt striking out to end the game...

This was the game where Jay Payton got a case of mistaken identity: he thought his name was "WALTER" Payton and -- while representing the tying run -- was gunned down trying to go 1st to 3rd on a shallow base hit.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

What I remember most is just sitting in front of the TV and bawling like a baby after this one was over. Although there was still hope, it was highly unlikely that Armando Reynoso was going to be able to outpitch Greg Maddux the next day. It looked like those playoff tickets we had received were going to be refunded. In light of the chokes each of the previous two years, why does it seem like this mini-choke is never referenced?

This game just might be the most heartbreaking since I have really started rooting for the Mets back late in the 1992 season when I was ten. We have a share in season tickets, and the playoff tickets had arrived right before this awful Braves series started. I really thought they had the wild card won, especially after taking three out of four from the first place Astros in a wild series in Houston. The fact that we already had recieved the playoff tickets made it all the more painful. How could they go from beating the Astros three out of four on the road to losing two to the last place Expos at home? Then, of course they were doomed to go to Atlanta for three. As I remember, the major mistake Bobby V. made was starting Armando Reynoso instead of Hideo Nomo.

Armando Reynoso had like an 0-6 record with like an ERA of 6.00 career against the Braves. It cost them majorly.

I was in tenth grade, and had the stupid walk-a-thon at my stupid high school the next day. I wore my Mets shirt under a fleece. This girl I am aquantances with who is a big Yankee fan, made a comment at me about the Mets, and opened her coat to show me a 1996 World Champion Yankees shirt she had on. Ohhh, did I want to whack her even though she is coool.

There are three games in sports that have always got to me and it feels just as bad everytime I watch the highlights. One is the game where Adam Vinatieri kicks the game-winning field goal in the last super bowl against the Panthers to end the dream, even though they had come so close. The second was the game when the Red Sox almost made the World Series last year but somehow those Yankees managed to come back and then Aaron Boone hit the home run, you know the story. The other one, however (probably the most heartbreaking one) was this game because I had so much faith in the Mets and the Mets needed to win this final game against the Braves while the Giants and Cubs both lost to force a three-way tie for the wild card lead for the first time in history. The Giants and Cubs both did lose their games and all the Mets needed to do was defeat the Braves but Armando Reynoso ruined any hope they had and Andruw Jones caught the fly ball that ended the Mets dreams.

What I remember about the game was Hideo Nomo who practically owned the Braves in his career, not starting the game after Bobby V had asked him to.