Feb

27

Shea Memories - August 8, 1997

February 27, 2008 |

It was two weeks before I had to drive back down south for college, and my aging green 1982 Chevy Caprice (known affectionately as the big green boat) needed some work.  So I took it to the local garage, and as I waited on them to fix my car, I walked around and listened to the radio.  There was big breaking news on WFAN: the Mets had made a trade.  Only three games out of the Wild Card, they made a deal for some bullpen help in order to give them a boost down the stretch.  It was the first trade of the new Steve Phillips regime, and the details were sketchy at first.  The Mets were getting Turk Wendell, Brian McRae, and Mel Rojas.  Wendell was an okay middle reliever, and McRae was a serviceable centerfielder, but the real prize was Mel Rojas.  The fireballer would surely establish himself as a great setup guy for Johnny Franco.  Surely.

Who were the Mets giving up?  The first named mentioned was Lance Johnson.  That was a little disappointing.  Johnson had been a fairly effective leadoff hitter, and hell, his name was Lance Johnson. But it seemed like a reasonable price to pay.  There were two players to be named later: okay a couple of minor league throw-ins.

Well, the players were named later that day, and they turned out to be Mark Clark and Manny Alexander.

So the Mets gave up a very good leadoff hitter, their second or third best starting pitcher, and a very useful utility guy for two relievers and an underachieving outfielder.  This was not a good start to the Steve Phillips regime. 

Mike and the Mad Dog - or was it just Mad Dog by himself? - debated the merits of the trade, and it definitely did not seem to be a popular trade.  I tried to spin it in my own head, but I had a sinking feeling that this would not turn out well for the Mets.

And that’s what was happening as my sister and I made our way to Shea Stadium for a Friday evening game with the Astros.  On the way over I was telling my sister about this incredibly funny new show on Comedy Central called South Park.  It was a show about these foul-mouthed kids, and the episode I watched had to do with an alien abduction, and fire spewing from . . .

Anyway, because my sister knew people who knew people, we were told to just sit wherever the usher directed us.  And the head usher directed us to seats directly behind homeplate on the Field Level.  At first we thought this was pretty cool, but then we started to get a little concerned.  There is a screen that covers that section of the field level, and to tell the truth, it was kind of hard to see, even though we were forty feet or so behind home plate.  Sheepishly, and after about ten minutes of debate, we actually asked to be moved.  And so we were - about 10 or so sections over on the first base side.  These were incredible seats, and probably the best I’ve ever had for a game.  As the game wore on we had to move twice as actual ticketed customers came on, but each time we moved we moved closer to home, until we wound up about four sections over from home on the first base side.  Niiiiice.

As for the game itself, Brian Bohanan toed the rubber for the Mets.  Bohanan was yet another in a line of mediocrities brought along by the Mets who nonetheless experienced decent success in 1997.  Bohanan posted a 3.82 ERA before all was said and done, and was pretty good down the stretch.

Bohanan allowed a first inning homer to James Mouton, but that was the only run allowed by Mets pitching all night.  In the bottom half of the first, Brian McRae - already in the lineup - walked in his first Mets at bat, and then subsequently was thrown out stealing second - a sign of things to come.  But McRae atoned for his mistake by getting a one-out triple in the third (not a sign of things to come), and was driven in by Carlos Baerga, giving the Mets a 2-1 lead.

In the fourth, the Mets put the game away.  In a very odd inning the Mets put accross four runs.  On one play, Edgardo Alfonzo scored on a Rey Ordonez strikeout.  On the next play, Brian Bohanan drove in a run with a sac fly, and then another run scored on a balf. To make things even weirder, Brian McRae got on base for a third consecutive plate appearance, something I am fairly certain he did not repeat ever again.  McRae eventually came around to score on an Olerud single.  With that, Shane Reynolds was chased from the game, which meant it was:

LIMA TIME! 

Oh sweet irony: on the day the Mets acquired Mel Rojas, Jose Lima pitched in a game at Shea.  Moreover, Lima pitched well, not allowing a run in 2.1 innings, while striking out 3.

Anyway, with the Mets up 6-1, it allowed me to - I believe the first time in my life - to sit back and enjoy a Mets rout.  Truly this was a bizarre night at Shea.

Later on in the evening, the Astros closer came on for some mop-up work, though I don’t think he entered to “Enter Sandman.”  At any rate, Billy Wagner struck out two in a scoreless inning of work. 

We left Shea very happy.  The Mets win moved them to within two games of the Marlins.  On top of that, it looked like the new additions would really pay off.

Unfortunately the next night Mel Rojas made his debut at Shea, as did Turk Wendell.  The tandom threw a couple of scoreless innings. So two scoreless innings weren’t so bad.  Unfortunately, Rogas pitched another inning.  And let’s recap the ninth inning of the next game against the Astros, courtesy of retrosheet. 

ASTROS 9TH: Bogar tripled to right; Carr singled to first [Bogar
scored]; HOWARD BATTED FOR SPRINGER; Howard walked [Carr to
second]; Biggio lined to center [Carr to third]; Bell singled to
right [Carr scored, Howard to second]; MOUTON RAN FOR HOWARD;
Bagwell homered [Mouton scored, Bell scored]; Gonzalez flied to
right; Spiers grounded out (second to first); 5 R, 4 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Astros 8, Mets 3.

The Mets proceeded to lose the two games after that to the Astros.  And that was pretty much the end of the Mets’ wild card dreams.

But at least I experienced one good game in person.


Comments

1 Comment so far

  1. Alexa on February 27, 2008 5:11 pm

    Ahh, the big green boat. I still affectionately remember that car…..

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