This Date In Mets History: June 13 — R.A. Dickey comes within one play of a no-hitter

One year ago today, 12 days after an umpire's error in judgment helped Johan Santana become the first Mets pitcher to ever throw a no-hitter, a debatable decision by the hometown official scorer in Tampa Bay kept knuckleballer R.A. Dickey from logging a second one. It happened in the first inning, so there was no malice aforethought, but when David Wright tried to bare-hand B.J. Upton's bouncer and failed to come up with it cleanly, it could reasonably have been ruled an error. Instead, Upton was credited with a single.

Dickey settled for a one-hitter as he cruised to a 9-1 victory, striking out 12 Rays and walking none while extending his scoreless streak to 32.2 innings, breaking the mark Jerry Koosman set in 1973 by one. Ironically, it was a throwing error by Wright that helped the Rays to score their only (unearned) run, snapping the streak and costing Dickey the shutout. Under the circumstances Wright might have been a little less miffed when Terry Collins appealed to have the scorer's decision reversed, thus charging the Mets third baseman with a second error. The appeal was denied.

Dickey was characteristically philosophical about the appeal, welcoming the chance to be credited with a no-no, but wondering whether "the asterisk beside the no-hitter" would get more attention than the feat itself.

Other Game of Note
The Mets' 8-4 loss to Boston at Shea on this date in 1997 is notable only because it was the Amazins' first-ever regular season interleague game. Future Mets Mo Vaughn, John Valentin, and Darren Bragg drove in five of the Red Sox runs, while nemesis-to-be Jeff Suppan got the win.

Transactions
On June 13, 1969, the Mets sold lefty Al Jackson to the Cincinnati Reds. Had he remained, it would have been poetic justice for an original Met who toiled through the team's awful early years to be an active participant in the team's first World Series Championship. (Manager Gil Hodges and coach Joe Pignatano both played for the 1962 Mets as well.) But Jackson had been ineffective, yielding multiple runs in five of his nine relief appearances.

Amazin'-ly Tenuous Connection
On this date in 1777, the Marquis de Lafayette arrived in Charleston, South Carolina, to help train the Continental Army during the American Revolution. Lafayette, who served as a major general under George Washington, has had many tributes paid to him over the years, including the naming of a Brooklyn high school in his honor. New York Mets who graduated from Lafayette High include owner Fred Wilpon (who reportedly pitched for the school's baseball team while Sandy Koufax played first base), John Franco, Pete Falcone, Bob Aspromonte, and Kevin Baez.