1999 New York Mets season - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

New York Mets

The New York Mets are a professional baseball team based in the borough of Queens in New York City, New York. They belong to Major League Baseball's National League East Division. One of baseball's first expansion teams, the Mets were founded in 1962 to replace New York's departed National League...

' 1999 season

1999 Major League Baseball season

The previous record of most home runs hit in a season, set at 5,064 in 1998, was broken once again as the American League and National League combined to hit 5,528 home runs. Moreover, it was the first season in 61 years to feature a team that scored 1,000 runs in a season, as the Cleveland Indians...

was the 38th regular season for the Mets. They went 96-66 and finished 2nd in the NL East but won the NL Wild Card by beating the Cincinnati Reds in a one game playoff. They were managed by Bobby Valentine

Bobby Valentine

Robert John "Bobby V" Valentine is an American professional baseball manager and former player who is currently the manager of the Boston Red Sox. He previously managed the Texas Rangers and New York Mets as well as the Chiba Lotte Marines in Japan...

. They played home games at Shea Stadium

Shea Stadium

William A. Shea Municipal Stadium, usually shortened to Shea Stadium or just Shea , was a stadium in the New York City borough of Queens, in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park. It was the home baseball park of Major League Baseball's New York Mets from 1964 to 2008...

Offseason

November 11, 1998: Bobby Bonilla was traded by the Los Angeles Dodgers to the New York Mets for Mel Rojas.
December 1, 1998: Todd Hundley
Todd Hundley
Todd Randolph Hundley is a former Major League Baseball catcher and outfielder. He is the son of former Chicago Cubs catcher Randy Hundley...

was traded by the New York Mets with Arnold Gooch (minors) to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Roger Cedeno and Charles Johnson.
December 1, 1998: Charles Johnson was traded by the New York Mets to the Baltimore Orioles for Armando Benitez.
December 1, 1998: Robin Ventura
Robin Ventura
Robin Mark Ventura is the current manager of the Chicago White Sox. He is a former professional baseball player, a third baseman who played for four major league teams, most notably for the Chicago White Sox...

was signed as a Free Agent with the New York Mets.
December 16, 1998: Rickey Henderson
Rickey Henderson
Rickey Henley Henderson is a former Major League Baseball left fielder who played for nine teams from 1979 to 2003, including four stints with his original team, the Oakland Athletics. Nicknamed The Man of Steal, he is widely regarded as the sport's greatest leadoff hitter and baserunner...

signed as a Free Agent with the New York Mets.
December 18, 1998: Josias Manzanillo
Josias Manzanillo
Josías Manzanillo Adams is a former Major League Baseball pitcher who played in the major leagues from -. He is the 17th of 18 children....

was signed as a Free Agent with the New York Mets.

Opening Day starters

Edgardo Alfonzo
Bobby Bonilla
Rickey Henderson
Al Leiter
Brian McRae
John Olerud
Rey Ordonez
Mike Piazza
Robin Ventura

Notable transactions

July 31, 1999: Brian McRae was traded by the New York Mets with Thomas Johnson (minors) and Rigo Beltran to the Colorado Rockies for Darryl Hamilton and Chuck McElroy.
July 31, 1999: Jason Isringhausen was traded by the New York Mets with Greg McMichael to the Oakland Athletics for Billy Taylor.

Roster

1999 New York Mets
Roster
Pitchers		Catchers Infielders		Outfielders Other batters		Manager Coaches

Starters by position

Note: Pos = position; G = Games played; AB = At Bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting Average; HR = Home Runs; RBI = Runs Batted In

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
C	Mike Piazza	141	534	162	.303	40	124
1B	John Olerud	162	581	173	.298	19	96
2B	Edgardo Alfonzo	158	628	191	.304	27	108
3B	Robin Ventura	161	588	177	.301	32	120
SS	Rey Ordonez	154	520	134	.258	1	60
LF	Rickey Henderson	121	438	138	.315	12	42
CF	Brian McRae	96	298	66	.221	8	36
RF	Roger Cedeno	155	453	142	.313	4	36

Other batters

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Benny Agbayani	101	276	79	.286	14	42
Darryl Hamilton	55	168	57	.339	5	21
Todd Pratt	71	140	41	.293	3	21
Matt Franco	122	132	31	.235	4	21
Bobby Bonilla	60	119	19	.160	4	18
Luiz Lopez	68	104	22	.212	2	13
Shawon Dunston	42	93	32	.344	0	16
Jermaine Allensworth	40	73	16	.219	3	9
Mike Kinkade	28	46	9	.196	2	6
Melvin Mora	66	31	5	.161	0	1
Jay Payton	13	8	2	.250	0	1
Terrence Long	3	3	0	.000	0	0
Jorge Toca	4	3	1	.333	0	0

Starting pitchers

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO

Other pitchers

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO

Relief pitchers

Player	G	IP	W	L	SV	ERA	SO

NLDS

New York wins series, 3-1

Game	Score	Date
1	New York 8, Arizona 4	October 5
2	Arizona 7, New York 1	October 6
3	New York 9, Arizona 2	October 8
4	New York 4, Arizona 3 (10 innings)	October 9

Game 1

October 12: Turner Field

Turner Field

Turner Field is a stadium in Atlanta, Georgia, home to Major League Baseball's Atlanta Braves since 1997. Turner Field was originally built as Centennial Olympic Stadium, it was completed in 1996 to serve as the centerpiece of the 1996 Summer Olympics...

, Atlanta, Georgia

Atlanta, Georgia

Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
New York	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	2	6	2
Atlanta	1	0	0	0	1	1	0	1	X	4	8	2
WP: Greg Maddux Greg Maddux Gregory Alan Maddux , nicknamed "Mad Dog" and "The Professor", is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He was the first pitcher in major league history to win the Cy Young Award for four consecutive years , a feat matched only by Randy Johnson... (1-0) LP: Masato Yoshii Masato Yoshii is a retired Japanese baseball player who is currently a pitching coach for the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters in the Japanese Pacific League. He pitched in the Major Leagues from to .-Biography:... (0-1) SV: John Rocker John Rocker John Loy Rocker is a retired American Major League Baseball relief pitcher who played for the Atlanta Braves, the Cleveland Indians, the Texas Rangers, and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays as well as the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League of Professional Baseball... (1)
HR: NYM – None ; ATL – Eddie Pérez (1)

Game 2

October 13: Turner Field

Turner Field

, Atlanta, Georgia

Atlanta, Georgia

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
New York	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	3	5	1
Atlanta	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	0	X	4	9	1
WP: Kevin Millwood Kevin Millwood Kevin Austin Millwood is an American professional baseball pitcher. He has previously played for the Atlanta Braves, Philadelphia Phillies, Cleveland Indians, Texas Rangers, Baltimore Orioles and Colorado Rockies.-Personal life:Millwood graduated from Bessemer City High School in North Carolina... (1-0) LP: Kenny Rogers (0-1) SV: John Smoltz John Smoltz John Andrew Smoltz is an American former Major League Baseball pitcher and active sportscaster. He is best known for his prolific career of more than two decades with the Atlanta Braves, in which he garnered eight All-Star selections and received the Cy Young Award in 1996... (1)
HR: NYM – Melvin Mora Melvin Mora Melvin Mora , affectionately nicknamed Melmo or Melvy, is a Venezuelan professional baseball infielder who is a free agent... (1) ; ATL – Brian Jordan Brian Jordan Brian O'Neal Jordan is a retired Major League Baseball outfielder and National Football League safety. In the NFL, he played for the Atlanta Falcons, while he played in the MLB for the St... (1);Eddie Pérez (2)

Game 3

October 15: Shea Stadium

Shea Stadium

, Flushing, New York

Flushing, Queens

Flushing, founded in 1645, is a neighborhood in the north central part of the City of New York borough of Queens, east of Manhattan.Flushing was one of the first Dutch settlements on Long Island. Today, it is one of the largest and most diverse neighborhoods in New York City...

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Atlanta	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	3	1
New York	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	7	2
WP: Tom Glavine Tom Glavine Thomas Michael Glavine is a former Major League Baseball left-handed pitcher.With 164 victories during the 1990s, Glavine was the second winningest pitcher in the National League, second only to teammate Greg Maddux's 176... (1-0) LP: Al Leiter Al Leiter Alois Terry "Al" Leiter is a former Major League Baseball left-handed starting pitcher. He is now a studio analyst for MLB Network, and a color commentator for the YES Network.-Early career :Leiter attended Central Regional High School.... (0-1) SV: John Rocker John Rocker John Loy Rocker is a retired American Major League Baseball relief pitcher who played for the Atlanta Braves, the Cleveland Indians, the Texas Rangers, and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays as well as the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League of Professional Baseball... (2)
HR: ATL – None ; NYM – None

Game 4

October 16: Shea Stadium

Shea Stadium

, Flushing, New York

Flushing, Queens

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Atlanta	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	2	3	0
New York	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	2	X	3	5	0
WP: Turk Wendell Turk Wendell Steven John "Turk" Wendell is a former Major League Baseball right-handed relief pitcher from to .... (1-0) LP: Mike Remlinger Mike Remlinger Michael John Remlinger is a former relief pitcher in Major League Baseball. Remlinger has played with the San Francisco Giants , New York Mets , Cincinnati Reds , Atlanta Braves , Chicago Cubs , and the Boston Red Sox... (0-1) SV: Armando Benitez Armando Benítez Armando Germán Benítez is a relief pitcher who is currently a free agent.-Baltimore Orioles:... (1)
HR: ATL – Brian Jordan Brian Jordan Brian O'Neal Jordan is a retired Major League Baseball outfielder and National Football League safety. In the NFL, he played for the Atlanta Falcons, while he played in the MLB for the St... (2); Ryan Klesko Ryan Klesko Ryan Anthony Klesko , is a former Major League Baseball first baseman and corner outfielder, who played for the Atlanta Braves, San Diego Padres, and the San Francisco Giants... (1) ; NYM – John Olerud John Olerud John Garrett Olerud , is a former American first baseman in Major League Baseball. Olerud played with the Toronto Blue Jays , New York Mets , Seattle Mariners , New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox .... (1)

Game 5

October 17: Shea Stadium

Shea Stadium

, Flushing, New York

Flushing, Queens

In the bottom of the 15th inning, the Mets managed to load the bases against Braves relief pitcher
Relief pitcher
A relief pitcher or reliever is a baseball or softball pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed due to injury, ineffectiveness, fatigue, ejection, or for other strategic reasons, such as being substituted by a pinch hitter...

Kevin McGlinchy
Kevin McGlinchy
Kevin McGlinchy , is a professional baseball player who pitched in the Major Leagues from 1999-2000 with the Atlanta Braves. In the 1999 National League Championship Series, he gave up the famous Grand Slam Single to Robin Ventura in game 5. However, the Braves would win the next game to take the...

. Mets catcher
Catcher
Catcher is a position for a baseball or softball player. When a batter takes his turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. This is a catcher's primary duty, but he is also called upon to master many other skills in order to...

Todd Pratt
Todd Pratt
Todd Alan Pratt is a former Major League Baseball catcher from 1992-2006. He has primarily served as a back-up catcher for most of his career....

drew a bases loaded
Bases loaded
In the sport of baseball, the bases are loaded when there is a runner on each base . This presents a great scoring opportunity for the batting team, but it also presents an easy double play opportunity for the defense. Causing the bases to become loaded is called loading the bases...

walk
Base on balls
A base on balls is credited to a batter and against a pitcher in baseball statistics when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls balls. It is better known as a walk. The base on balls is defined in Section 2.00 of baseball's Official Rules, and further detail is given in 6.08...

, tying the score at 3-3.

The next batter was Mets third baseman
Third baseman
A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run...

Robin Ventura
Robin Ventura
Robin Mark Ventura is the current manager of the Chicago White Sox. He is a former professional baseball player, a third baseman who played for four major league teams, most notably for the Chicago White Sox...

. Ventura crushed the 2-1 pitch over the wall in right-center for a grand slam
Grand slam (baseball)
In the sport of baseball, a grand slam is a home run hit with all three bases occupied by baserunners , thereby scoring four runs—the most possible in one play. According to The Dickson Baseball Dictionary, the term originated in the card game of contract bridge, in which a grand slam involves...

, winning the game for the Mets and driving the Mets players and fans into a frenzied celebration. Ventura, however, never reached second base as Todd Pratt, the runner who was on first, picked him up in celebration. Subsequently, Ventura was mobbed by his teammates, never finishing his trot around the bases. Because he failed to touch all four bases, the hit was officially scored a single
Single (baseball)
In baseball, a single is the most common type of base hit, accomplished through the act of a batter safely reaching first base by hitting a fair ball and getting to first base before a fielder puts him out...

. Roger Cedeno, the runner on third at the time, was ruled the only runner to have crossed home plate before the on-field celebration began and the Mets were awarded a 4-3 victory. Thus, Ventura was only credited with a single
Single (baseball)
In baseball, a single is the most common type of base hit, accomplished through the act of a batter safely reaching first base by hitting a fair ball and getting to first base before a fielder puts him out...

and one RBI. This play is now referred to as the grand slam single
Grand Slam Single
The Grand Slam Single is a reference to the hit that ended Game 5 of the 1999 National League Championship Series between the New York Mets and one of their biggest rivals, Atlanta Braves...

.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	R	H	E
Atlanta	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	3	13	2
New York	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	4	11	1
WP: Octavio Dotel Octavio Dotel Octavio Eduardo Dotel is a Domincan professional baseball pitcher who is currently a Free Agent.... (1-0) LP: Kevin McGlinchy Kevin McGlinchy Kevin McGlinchy , is a professional baseball player who pitched in the Major Leagues from 1999-2000 with the Atlanta Braves. In the 1999 National League Championship Series, he gave up the famous Grand Slam Single to Robin Ventura in game 5. However, the Braves would win the next game to take the... (0-1)
HR: ATL – None ; NYM – John Olerud John Olerud John Garrett Olerud , is a former American first baseman in Major League Baseball. Olerud played with the Toronto Blue Jays , New York Mets , Seattle Mariners , New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox .... (2)

Game 6

October 19: Turner Field

Turner Field

, Atlanta, Georgia

Atlanta, Georgia

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	R	H	E
New York	0	0	0	0	0	3	4	1	0	1	0	9	15	2
Atlanta	5	0	0	0	0	2	0	1	0	1	1	10	10	1
WP: Russ Springer Russ Springer Russell Paul Springer is a former Major League Baseball relief pitcher. Springer made his major league debut on April 17, , with the New York Yankees. He also pitched for the California Angels, Philadelphia Phillies, Arizona Diamondbacks, Atlanta Braves, Houston Astros, St... (1-0) LP: Kenny Rogers (0-2)
HR: NYM – Mike Piazza Mike Piazza Michael Joseph "Mike" Piazza ; born September 4, 1968) is an American former Major League Baseball catcher. He played in his career with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Florida Marlins, New York Mets, San Diego Padres and the Oakland Athletics.... (1) ; ATL – None

Farm system

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: GCL Mets

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.