2000 New York Mets: Metropolitan Way

2000 New York Mets: Metropolitan Way

[paypal_donation_button]2000 New York Mets: Metropolitan Way

In 1999 the New York Mets made it to the National League Championship Series, but they would fall short of reaching the Fall Classic as the Atlanta Braves, their National League East division rivals, got the best of them. The Braves beat the Mets 4 games to 2 to reach the 1999 World Series. At the beginning of the 21st Century the Mets were aiming to obtain a different outcome.

The Mets went 94-68 in the 2000 MLB season, finishing just 1 game behind the Atlanta Braves for the National League East division crown. The Mets went 6-7 against the Braves in head-to-head play. The Mets went 55-26 at home and 39-42 on the road.

Catcher Mike Piazza was among one of the most popular Mets players the fans looked up to. Piazza batted .324 with 38 home runs and 113 RBI’s off 156 hits and 26 doubles. Second baseman Edgardo Alfonzo batted .324 with 25 home runs and 94 RBI’s off 176 hits and 40 doubles. Center fielder Jay Payton batted .291 with 17 home runs and 62 RBI’s off 142 hits, 23 doubles and 5 stolen bases. Left fielder Benny Agbayani batted .289 with 15 home runs and 60 RBI’s off 101 hits, 19 doubles and 5 stolen bases. First baseman Todd Zeile had 22 home runs and 79 RBI’s off 146 hits, 36 doubles and 3 triples. Right fielder Derek Bell had 18 home runs and 69 RBI’s off 145 hits, 31 doubles and 8 stolen bases. Shortstop Melvin Mora had 56 hits, 13 doubles and 7 stolen bases in 79 games. Utility player Lenny Harris had 42 hits, 3 triples and 8 stolen bases in 76 games.

Starting pitcher Mike Hampton went 15-10 with 151 strikeouts and a 3.14 ERA, recording 3 complete games and 1 shutout. Al Leiter went 16-8 with 200 strikeouts and a 3.20 ERA, recording 2 complete games and 1 shutout. Leiter would go on to win the Roberto Clemente Award. Glendon Rusch went 11-11 with 157 strikeouts and 2 complete games. Rick Reed went 11-5 with 121 strikeouts. Bobby Jones went 11-6 with 1 complete game.

Closer Armando Benitez went 4-4 with 41 saves, 106 strikeouts and a 2.61 ERA. Relief pitcher John Franco went 5-4 with 4 saves and a 3.40 ERA. Dennis Cook went 6-3 with 2 saves. Turk Wendell went 8-6 with 1 save and a 3.59 ERA. Pat Mahomes went 5-3 from the bullpen.

The Mets took care of the San Francisco Giants in the National League Division Series as they won the series 3 games to 1. The Giants did take Game 1 on October 4 with a 5-1 win at Pacific Bell Park. Livan Hernandez pitched a great game for the Giants as he went 7.2 innings deep, giving up 5 hits, 5 walks and 1 run while recording 5 strikeouts. In the bottom of the 1st inning first baseman and second baseman Jeff Kent had an RBI groundout. In the top of the 3rd Jay Payton had a sacrifice fly to give New York its only run. In the bottom of the 3rd left fielder Barry Bonds had an RBI triple, and right fielder Ellis Burks followed by smashing a 3-run home run.

The series would swing back to the Mets and they wouldn’t look back as they won Game 2 on October 5 by the score of 5-4. In the top of the 2nd inning right fielder Timo Perez had a 2-run single. In the bottom of the 2nd Burks had an RBI double. In the top of the 9th Edgardo Alfonzo smacked a 2-run home run, and in the bottom of the 9th pinch hitting first baseman J.T. Snow belted a 3-run home run to tie the game. In the top of the 10th Payton had an RBI single.

In Game 3 on October 7 at Shea Stadium, the Mets held on to beat the Giants 3-2. This game would take a whopping 5 hours and 22 minutes to complete. San Francisco’s Russ Ortiz pitched 5.1 innings and gave up 2 hits, 4 walks and 1 run while recording 4 strikeouts. In the top of the 4th inning catcher Bobby Estalella and center fielder Marvin Benard both had RBI singles, but then the Mets came back in the bottom of the 6th with an RBI single by Perez. Alfonzo then had an RBI double to tie the game. In the bottom of the 13th Benny Agbayani hit a walk-off solo home run.

In Game 4 on October 8 the Mets blanked the Giants 4-0 to advance in the playoffs. Bobby Jones pitched a complete game and gave up 1 hit and 2 walks while recording 5 strikeouts. In the bottom of the 1st inning third baseman Robin Ventura belted a 2-run home run, and in the bottom of the 5th Alfonzo had a 2-run double.

The Mets then faced the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Championship Series, and in Game 1 on October 11 at Busch Stadium II, the Mets won 6-2. In the top of the 1st inning Mike Piazza had an RBI double, and then Ventura followed with a sacrifice fly. In the top of the 5th Alfonzo had an RBI single. In the top of the 9th Todd Zeile hit a solo home run, and then Payton crushed a 2-run home run. The Cardinals attempted a comeback in the bottom of the 9th starting with shortstop Edgar Renteria reaching on an error to score center fielder Ray Lankford, and then center fielder Jim Edmonds had an RBI single. However, the Cardinals would fall short.

In Game 2 on October 12 the Mets hung on to win 6-5. In the top of the 1st inning Zeile had a sacrifice fly and Agbayani followed with an RBI double. In the bottom of the 2nd catcher Eli Marrero had an RBI groundout, and in the top of the 3rd Piazza hit a solo home run. In the bottom of the 5th Renteria and third baseman Fernando Tatis both had RBI doubles. In the top of the 8th Alfonzo and Zeile both had RBI singles. In the bottom of the 8th a wild pitch scored catcher Carlos Hernandez, and then pinch-hitting right fielder J.D. Drew had an RBI double. In the top of the 9th Payton had what would end up being the game-winning RBI single.

The only setback for the Mets was a Game 3 loss to the Cardinals on October 14 at Shea Stadium by the score of 8-2. In the top of the 1st inning Edmonds had a 2-run double. In the bottom of the 1st Piazza grounded into a double play to score Perez. In the top of the 3rd Lankford had an RBI single, and then Tatis had a sacrifice fly. In the top of the 4th Renteria had an RBI single, and in the bottom of the 4th Payton grounded into a double play to score Ventura. In the top of the 5th Hernandez had an RBI single, second baseman Fernando Vina scored a run off a fielder’s choice, and then Renteria had an RBI groundout.

In Game 4 on October 15 the Mets came back to win 10-6. Edmonds belted a 2-run home run in the top of the 1st inning, and in the bottom of the 1st Alfonzo had an RBI double. Ventura had a 2-run double to follow, and then Agbayani had an RBI double. In the bottom of the 2nd Zeile had a 2-run double and Agbayani followed with an RBI single. In the top of the 4th first baseman Will Clark hit a solo home run, and in the bottom of the 4th Piazza hit his own solo home run. In the top of the 5th outfielder Eric Davis had an RBI double, Renteria had a sacrifice fly, and Edmonds topped things off with an RBI single. In the bottom of the 6th Piazza reached on an error to score shortstop Mike Bordick, and Ventura followed with a sacrifice fly.

The Mets then made a bold statement in Game 5 on October 16 when they blanked the Cardinals 7-0 to win the National League pennant. Capturing the NLCS Most Valuable Player award, Mike Hampton carried the Mets to victory, pitching a complete game and giving up 3 hits and 1 walk while recording 8 strikeouts. In the bottom of the 1st inning Alfonzo and Ventura both had RBI singles, and Zeile then grounded into a forceout at second base to score Piazza. In the bottom of the 4th Zeile had a 3-run double, and then in the bottom of the 7th Mike Bordick scored on a wild pitch.

The 2000 World Series was appropriately nicknamed the “Subway Series” because of the fact that the New York Mets were facing their city rivals, the New York Yankees. Unfortunately for the Mets, they didn’t have a storybook ending to their amazing run as they would fall to the Yankees 4 games to 1. The Yankees won their 4th World Series Championship in 5 years and their 3rd consecutive title.

However, the Mets did get one win the Subway Series, which would be Game 3 on October 24 at Shea Stadium by the score of 4-2. Rick Reed pitched 6 innings and gave up 6 hits, 1 walk and 2 runs while recording 8 strikeouts. In the bottom of the 2nd inning Ventura hit a solo home run. In the top of the 3rd left fielder David Justice had an RBI double, and in the top of the 4th right fielder Paul O’Neill had an RBI triple. In the bottom of the 6th Zeile had an RBI double. In the bottom of the 8th Agbayani had an RBI double, and then pinch hitting outfielder Bubba Trammell had a sacrifice fly to secure the victory.

It would take the New York Mets 15 years to get back to the Fall Classic, but the 21st Century was already looking promising for the baseball organization in Queens.