Since the Mets will begin their seventh National League Championship Series tonight, I thought it was only appropriate that we look back on the other six the Mets have participated in.
The Mets of course played in the first NLCS is baseball history. The division format was introduced in 1969, the year the Mets first won it all. Prior to ’69 there were two leagues, the National and the American with ten teams in each. The first place teams met in the World Series and generally the baseball season was over by October 10th. In 1969, the Major Leagues expanded by adding four teams, two in each league. Also the twelve teams in each league were separated into two divisions, an east and west in both leagues. With two divisions now in each league, there had to be a playoff between both division champions to determine who qualified for the Series. Hence, the League Championship Series was born. In the beginning it was a best of five series.
1969 – Mets 3, Braves 0
The Mets having won the Eastern Division title faced the Atlanta Braves, winners of the West, in the first NLCS. The miracle Mets swept the series winning the first two in Atlanta then the first game played at Shea Stadium. Back then the series started on a Saturday. The Mets known for great pitching and little offense beat the Braves soundly in the first two games by scores of 9-5 and 11-6. Tom Seaver won the first post game ever in New York Mets history. Somehow that seemed appropriate. There was no travel day in that first series. On Monday, October 6, 1969 the Mets won their first National League Pennant by coming back after trailing early. Gary Gentry pitched two innings and gave up the early lead before Nolan Ryan came in relief and shut the door. The Mets won the clincher 7-4. All games were played during the day. Post season night baseball was still a few years away. The most memorable aspect of that series was probably that the Mets scored so many runs. The ’69 Mets were a team known for great pitching, not offense. However, the Mets averaged 9 runs a game in that first NLCS.
1973 - Mets 3, Reds 2
The Mets returned to the NLCS in 1973 after winning the division the last day of the season with, at the time, the worst regular season record (82-79) for a team getting to the post season. To top it off the Mets had to face Cincinnati’s “Big Red Machine” to advance to the World Series. Once again the Mets would triumph with tremendous pitching. Unlike the ’69 NLCS, the ’73 series went the full five games. There was no home field advantage based on record in those days. Home field simply changed from one division to the other each year. In ’73 the series opened in Cincinnati. Seaver and the Mets lost the first game 2-1. In game 2, Jon Matlack pitched a two hit shut out to tie the series. The following day at Shea Stadium the Mets trounced the Reds 9-2. The Reds tied the series in game 4 winning for the second time by the same score of 2-1. In the fifth and deciding game, the “Franchise”—Tom Seaver gave up two runs as the Mets won the pennant by a score of 7-2. The Mets with a record a tad over .500 beat the mighty Reds in 5 games. The highlight of that series had to be the brawl between Bud Harrelson and Pete Rose. Harrelson was later quoted as saying that he hit Rose squarely on the fist with his chin.
1986 – Mets 4, Astros 2
This was one of the most memorable NLCS of all time. The Mets having crushed there way to the Eastern Division title had their work cut out for them against the Astros and Mike Scott. In fact the only two games the Mets lost in this series was to Scott and his doctored split finger fastball, a claim that players from that Mets team still maintain. The previous year the LCS had been expanded to seven games. The Mets lost the opener to Scott 1-0 at the Astrodome then came back the next night to tie the series. The series continued in New York on Saturday. Down by 1 in the bottom of the ninth, Lenny Dystra hit a two run home run to win it. Mike Scott pitched for the second time in game four and defeated the Mets 3-1. The Mets actually scored a run off of Scott in the eighth inning. The third and final game at Shea went 12 innings. In the bottom of the 12th Gary Carter singled up the middle driving in Wally Backman who scored from second. The Mets won 2-1 to take a series lead of 3 games to 2. Now the Mets had to win one of two from the Astros back in Houston. Knowing that they did not want to face Mike Scott in game seven, the Mets felt the necessity to win it in game six, undoubtedly the series most memorable highlight. With the Mets trailing in the ninth by a score of 3-0 and knowing that the Houston ace would be on the mound the next day, the Mets fought back in the ninth to tie the game. The game went into extra innings, 16 in all. In the 14th, the Mets went ahead. Darryl Strawberry scored on a Wally Backman single. The Mets led by one. With one out in the bottom of the inning, Billy Hatcher homered against the left field foul (fair) screen and once again the game was tied. The Mets scored 3 runs in the 16th going up by a score of 7-4 but the Astros came right back and scored two in their half. With the tying run on second and the winning run on first, Jesse Orosco struck out Kevin Bass and the Mets won the pennant. To this day, this game is considered one of the best in baseball history.
1988 – Dodgers 4, Mets 3
For the first time in Mets history, they lost the NLCS. After winning the division with 100 victories, the Mets were poised to go to the World Series for the second time in three years. During the regular season, the Mets had defeated the Dodgers 10 times in 11 games sweeping all 6 games in Los Angeles. The Mets were heavy favorites. New York took the first game in LA winning by scoring 3 runs in the 9th to come back from a 2-0 deficit. The Dodgers took game 2 beating David Cone decisively. The series then shifted to Shea Stadium. The Mets won game three by scoring 5 runs in the 8th inning defeating the Dodgers 8-4. Doc Gooden was on the mound on Sunday evening for game 4. The Mets led 4-2 in the ninth. Gooden was still on the mound. The Mets were 3 outs away from taking a commanding 3 games to 1 lead over the Dodgers. With no one out Gooden walked John Shelby. The next batter, Mike Sciocia hit a Dwight Gooden fastball into the Mets bullpen to tie the game. The Mets went on to lose the game in extra innings shifting the momentum to the Dodgers. The next day on a beautiful Monday afternoon, the Dodgers won easily to take a 3 game to 2 lead and send the Mets back to Los Angeles where the pennant would be decided. The next night David Cone pitched brilliantly giving up 1 run and 5 hits in a complete game win to tie the series. The Mets looked like they would win the series. But it was not to be, in the seventh game Ron Darling had nothing as he gave up six runs in the first two innings. Oral Hershiser, who was as dominating as Mike Scott two years earlier, pitched the shutout never giving the Mets an opportunity to come back. The Dodgers won the pennant and the Mets went home. The most memorable moment had to be Sciocia’s home run. That one at bat was probably the single defining moment in the downfall of the 1980’s Mets. The Mets would not return to the post season for 11 years.
1999 – Braves 4, Mets 2
The Mets had already won a post season series by the time the NLCS started. In 1994, an extra level of playoff was added due to the new three divisions and wild card set up. First, the Mets had to defeat Arizona to get to the NLCS which they did in four games. Now the Mets had to face their nemesis, the Atlanta Braves. While the Mets made it to the post season as the wild card, the Braves were once again the division champs. The Mets lost the first three games of the series. Trailing 3 games to 0, the Mets knew they would have a heck of a time trying to win the series. At that time no team in the history of baseball ever came back to win a 7 game series after they trailed by 3. The Mets wouldn’t either but they gave it a hell of a fight. In game four at Shea Stadium, the Mets were trailing 2-1. In the eighth inning the Mets scored twice to take a one run lead. Benitez actually retired the Braves 1-2-3 and the Mets had their first win of the NLCS. The next night was a classic. This game had Mets written all over it. After nine innings the score was tied 2-2. They played on to the 15th inning. In the top of the inning, the Braves scored a run and it looked as if the Mets season would be over. But in the bottom of the 15th the Mets loaded the bases. Todd Pratt walked to tie the game. Then with the bases still loaded Robin Ventura hit a grand slam home run and the Mets won. Technically the home run was never credited because his teammates, led by Todd Pratt, mobbed Ventura as he rounded first. Having won their second game of the series, the Mets headed back to Atlanta where they had their work cut out for them. Al Leiter started and promptly gave up 5 runs in the first inning. Leiter did not record a single out. All looked lost for the Mets but they finally got on the board in the 6th to make it close now trailing by 2 runs. But Atlanta responded by getting two back in their bottom half of the 6th. With the Mets trailing 7-3 in the seventh inning, the boys from Flushing rallied. After scoring two runs, with a runner on second Mike Piazza homered to right to tie the score. The Mets, who once trailed by five runs had tied the game. The Mets took the lead in the 8th on a Melvin Mora single but the Braves came right back with a run in their half. The score was tied at 8. This game, like so many Mets post season games, went into extra innings. The Mets once again took the lead in the 10th as they scored an unearned run. Once again, the Braves refused to let the Mets tie the series and in the bottom of the 10th they tied the game again when Andrew Jones scored on an Ozzie Guillen base hit. With the score tied 9-9 in the bottom of the 11th, Gerald Williams doubled. After he was sacrificed to third, Bobby Valentine elected to load the bases via two intentional walks hoping for the chance for a double play. That strategy was thwarted when pitcher Kenny Rogers walked Andrew Jones to end the season for the Mets. However it was a wild and memorable Mets game. And even though the Mets lost, it would be worth SNY's while to show it again on “Mets Classics”. The most memorable moment of the series however was Ventura’s “Grand Slam Single”.
2000 – Mets 4, Cardinals 1
For the first time in Mets history, the club went to the post season in back to back seasons. After defeating the Giants in the NLDS in four games the Mets went to St. Louis to play the Cardinals in their sixth NLCS in team history. The Mets had excellent pitching in 2000 and it ultimately proved to be the key element as the Cardinals were only able to win one game in the series. The Mets took both the first and second games at Busch Stadium by scores of 6-2 and 6-5. Mike Hampton won the first game and Al Leiter pitched 7 innings in game 2 but did not factor in the decision. With the game tied 3-3, the Mets scored 2 runs in the eighth which was matched by the Cardinals in their half. The Mets got one in the ninth and held on to win the game. Benitez got the save. The Mets lost the opener at Shea Stadium by a score of 8 to 2 but still led the series 2 games to 1. After the Cardinals scored 2 runs in the first inning of game 4, the Mets answered back with 4 in their half of the first and 3 in the second. Early on the Mets led 7-2. The Cardinals made it closer when they got to within two runs late in the game but the Mets tacked on 2 more and won the game 10-6. With the Mets up 3 games to 1, Mike Hampton started game 5 at Shea Stadium. He pitched brilliantly shutting out the Cardinals on 3 hits. The Mets won the game 7-0 and took the series 4-1. The Mets went to their fourth World Series in team history. The highlight of this series was Mike Hampton who did not allow a run in 16 innings pitched and won 2 games.
Ironically the Mets will once again face the Cardinals in the NLCS starting tonight at Shea Stadium. The Mets are favored to win but anything can happen in the playoffs. One thing is for sure, based on the Mets history in the NLCS, win or lose it should be very exciting.
