Happy Belated Anniversary to Robin Ventura and the 1999 Mets. It's been 10 Years and 6 Days since...

Happy Belated Anniversary to Robin Ventura and the 1999 Mets. It's been 10 Years and 6 Days since Ventura's "grand slam single" made the Mets only the 2nd team in baseball history to rally back and force a Game 6 after being down 3 games to 0. For those who don't remember a world where the Red Sox were losers, that used to be a pretty impressive feat.

over 2 years ago cjmulrain 32 comments 0 recs |

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I just re-watched that game

it’s kind of incredible how old-fashioned some of the stuff looks, only 10 years later. A few of the things that jumped out at me:

- the production quality on NBC seems so low-tech. Also, Joe Morgan, though not great, was WAY less awful back then than he is now, though part of that might be b/c Bob Costas never shuts up. I like Costas though, so it was ok.
- The long sleeve shirts that some of the guys wore were so baggy, this being prior to the Under Armor revolution
- Ozzie Guillen was still playing with the Braves. Who knew?
- No fences in front of the dugouts (you can see it in the picture). I’ve never really thought about it, but something that used to be so natural looks pretty out of place now.
- Finally, on the game: it never really gets talked about, but Shawon Dunston’s at-bat leading off the 15th has to be the second best at-bat in franchise history. He fouled off 5 straight pitches at 3-2 before singling up the middle. Definitely took McGlinchy off his game and set up the rest of that inning.

I really loved that team, and to this day I’m still sadder that they didn’t win the World Series than I am about any of the 2006-2008 teams. I feel like if you took that ’99 team and put it in the 2009 NL, they could have won 100+ games without breaking much of a sweat.

"[The Giants] beat us down. We were beat by a grown-man team, a team we want to be like one day. They came in here and took it to us. Out-manned us, out-gunned us. ... It wasn't even close." - Raheem Morris, 9/27/09

by cjmulrain on Oct 23, 2009 2:28 AM EDT reply actions

I remember that Dunston AB

A friend of mine actually caught one of the foul balls, and I would’ve been sitting with him at Shea if I hadn’t had to go to a family wedding that same day. (Because of that, the fourth game, which I was at, when the Mets finally got to Rocker after he had been so dominant against them that year, and which was the loudest I remember Shea ever being, stands out in my mind as emblematic of that series.)

by JoshNY on Oct 23, 2009 9:32 AM EDT up reply actions

I watched it not long ago

The thing that really struck me was Pratt walking to the plate in the 15th, he had none of the dogged seriousness that our guys play with now. I don’t know if he felt like he was going to get on base or what, but it’s like he just wants to laugh about the whole thing, he’s so relaxed. I don’t know if New York has gotten that much tougher on players or if that team had been on the edge of elimination for so long that they were just beyond stress. They were having so much fun.

by SuperT on Oct 23, 2009 4:39 AM EDT reply actions

I know this goes against the grain here

but that team had a quality that the recent Mets just haven’t had. I never, ever felt like they were out of a game. 18 walkoff wins during the regular season, plus the Pratt walkoff and the Ventura walkoff, not to mention plenty more the next few seasons (the 8-1 game comes to mind). Even in 2006, as good as they were, it seemed like they won mostly b/c they jumped out to leads practically every game.

I know there’s no such thing as clutch hitters, but I do think some teams are more relaxed and confident late in games than others, which definitely has an effect. Witness the Phillies.

by cjmulrain on Oct 23, 2009 11:30 AM EDT up reply actions

I believe you have just described what happens when a team has "GRIT".

by fxcarden on Oct 23, 2009 11:36 AM EDT up reply actions

I wouldn't call it grit

they weren’t diving all over the field and picking fights. They were just a good team that played their best late in games. Hell, they even had some prima donnas (find me anyone who would call Rickey Henderson or Bobby Bonilla “gritty”)

by cjmulrain on Oct 23, 2009 11:44 AM EDT up reply actions

i wouldnt call it grit either

when we have a perfectly cromulent word for it already… Grission!

by KeithsMoustache on Oct 23, 2009 12:08 PM EDT up reply actions

No, it's not grit or grission

In fact, I believe those two things have more in common with “dogged seriousness”. My point was not that the current team doesn’t have “it,” whatever thing that makes for a winning team, but that the last few years have apparently been such a trial that it’s not even fun anymore. Well, it would have been hard for anyone to have fun this year. But 2007 was brutal, and 2008 they were trying to will that not to happen (and in 2008 only the bullpen was lacking “grission”, but when Ayala becomes your closer, all the grission in the world ain’t gonna help.)

I’m saying, watching that ‘99 team, it’s kind of shocking to see what fun they’re having. Maybe the current team is a little psyched out by all the trauma of the last while and is always expecting another kick in the nuts, I don’t know. It’s just sad for me to contrast the fun in the 1999 team with how they play now, and though I love them, I kind of feel bad for them that they have to be mets right now.

by SuperT on Oct 23, 2009 12:42 PM EDT up reply actions

A lot of what you are saying is a reflection on the manager and coaches.

by fxcarden on Oct 23, 2009 1:00 PM EDT up reply actions

I don't disagree with this

by cjmulrain on Oct 23, 2009 1:20 PM EDT up reply actions

oh i totally agree, its an entirely different atmosphere now

just having fun with the word grission. The mets used to be a different sort of team. They’re becoming too business-like, treating baseball more like a job they have to do than a game they love to play, its sad to see.

by KeithsMoustache on Oct 23, 2009 1:33 PM EDT up reply actions

I disagree

Nobody has more fun than Jose Reyes playing this game. When he’s in the dugout everyone seems to be in a better mood.

"We must win and we must know how to win rather than win because we have statistical people."

by Evan_S on Oct 23, 2009 2:16 PM EDT up reply actions

which maybe explains

the awful 2009 season?

by cjmulrain on Oct 23, 2009 2:26 PM EDT up reply actions

yeah he wasnt in the dugout this year

but they didnt used to need that one guy to cheer everyone up in the clubhouse, they all used to seem pretty excited to be playing baseball every day. Now it seems like a chore to some of them.

by KeithsMoustache on Oct 23, 2009 3:30 PM EDT up reply actions

It's hard to have fun

when you’re getting your brains beat in on a nightly basis.

You don't cheer for the Mets. You drink for the Mets.

by Kevin H on Oct 23, 2009 4:34 PM EDT up reply actions

meh, i think the '93 mets had more fun than these guys do

by KeithsMoustache on Oct 23, 2009 4:53 PM EDT up reply actions

word

by fxcarden on Oct 23, 2009 5:59 PM EDT up reply actions

Pedro in the dugout > Reyes in the dugout

for having fun

by fxcarden on Oct 23, 2009 5:59 PM EDT up reply actions

I think it's called steroids

by Sam Page on Oct 23, 2009 3:06 PM EDT up reply actions

if that's the case, let me be the first to say

bring back Kirk Radomski!

by cjmulrain on Oct 23, 2009 7:09 PM EDT up reply actions

That was my favorite game ever.

"I dunno. I never smoked any Astroturf"
-Tug McGraw

by squid92 on Oct 23, 2009 8:34 AM EDT reply actions

http://www.wittysparks.com/video/2484692/

by Mount17 on Oct 23, 2009 9:59 AM EDT reply actions

I love Gary Thorne

The level of excitement he brings to calling a game is unmatched.

Somehow, a chain of events unfolded that put Steve Phillips in a professional broadcast booth Sunday night so he could rip Carlos Beltran. Try to explain that in any other terms.

by Greenpoint Ian on Oct 24, 2009 11:21 AM EDT up reply actions

Wish i could have been at Shea for that game

but even on TV that game was fantastic. Remember when baseball was exciting guys?

by KeithsMoustache on Oct 23, 2009 10:41 AM EDT reply actions

Insert "Mets" in front of baseball

and I’ll respond, “2006”

"I dunno. I never smoked any Astroturf"
-Tug McGraw

by squid92 on Oct 23, 2009 8:47 PM EDT up reply actions

yeah 2006 before the molina incident was fantastic

hell 2007 for the better part of the season wasn’t bad, why do they all have to end so grotesquely? As far as I’m concerned “Mets” doesnt need to be added because Mets baseball is the only baseball that matters anyway. The rest of baseball just exists for off days and playoffs.

by KeithsMoustache on Oct 23, 2009 10:11 PM EDT up reply actions

fair enough

"I dunno. I never smoked any Astroturf"
-Tug McGraw

by squid92 on Oct 23, 2009 10:23 PM EDT up reply actions

Should have won game 6 also.

No weekend spent pantsless is a wasted weekend.

by sireric on Oct 23, 2009 11:20 AM EDT reply actions

Forgot to mention one thing from the telecast

during the 14th or 15th inning, they panned over the crowd and Costas mentions that each half inning, some of the crowd trickles out, b/c of the length of the game and the rain. Then he says “but some of these people paid $100 for a seat – they’re not willing to give that up.”

How quaint…

by cjmulrain on Oct 23, 2009 12:42 PM EDT reply actions