FLASHBACK: JULY 28, 1993

I told you recently that I had to clear out my bookcase in New York, since my mom and dad are going to be doing some work on their house. As a result, I've been forced to go through some of my old Mets programs, and I very often kept score when I was younger (I still do occasionally). I have decided that for each Mets off day for the rest of the summer, I will pull one of these programs from its new residence on a shelf in the basement of the House Sponsored by DirecTV and share its contents with you. Sometimes this will be a random selection, sometimes it will be intentional. Today's selection was not random.

On July 28, 1993, the Mets were in the midst of what was quite possibly the worst season by any professional team in any sport. But that didn't deter me from going to Shea Stadium. No, I wasn't fazed at all that year - I have a ton of scorebooks from 1993. I should actually go through them and see what the Mets' win total was in games I attended. They went 59-103 that year...it I saw a few wins, it would make up a big percentage of their wins that year. Anyway, I remember July 28, 1993 as a pleasant night for a game, possibly it rained earlier in the evening. I think it was more of a cool night than a hot, oppressive July night.

Bret Saberhagen started this game for the Mets, against Jack Armstrong of the Florida Marlins. (That would be the expansion Florida Marlins, incidentally.) Neither starter would factor in the decision.

The Mets took a 1-0 lead in the first inning - Joe Orsulak, the starting left fielder, hit a solo homer. In the fourth, the Mets tacked on another, to make it 2-0. Jeromy Burnitz led the inning off with a single, then after flyouts by Jeff Kent and Todd Hundley, Burnitz made it to third on a wild pitch. Tim Bogar brought home Burnitz with an RBI single.

The Marlins struck in the sixth, against Sabes. Chuck Carr led off with a single, and then Bret Barberie hit a 2-run homer to tie the game at 2. In the 7th, the Mets took the lead on a Ryan Thompson solo homer, but the Marlins got the run back in the top of the eighth, still against Saberhagen. Barberie singled with one out, then after a Jeff Conine strikeout, Gary Sheffield singled. Orestes Destrade then doubled home Barberie, but Sheffield was gunned down at home. According to my scorecard, right fielder Burnitz threw to second baseman Kent, and the tag was put on by Hundley.

So the game stayed tied into the ninth. As the Mets often did in that year, they brought in Anthony Young to preserve the tie game. As Anthony Young did often that year (and the previous year), he gave the other team the lead. Benito Santiago singled. Darrell Whitmore laid down a sac bunt, which was bungled by Hundley somehow. Walt Weiss then had an infield single, loading the bases. Young induced a 5-2-3 (that's Bobby Bonilla to Todd Hundley to Eddie Murray) double play from a young Edgar Renteria, but then Chuck Carr had an infield hit to give the Marlins a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the ninth.

You must remember that to this point, Anthony Young was making nearly nightly appearances, as the Mets tried to get him a win. He had lost 27 decisions in a row!!! The 27 decisions spanned from mid-1992 to July, 1993. Now, keep in mind, in between these 27 losses Young also saved a bunch of games, and did hold some leads. But the majority of the time, he threw an ill-advised slider and gave up a homer, and ended up on the losing end of games. But a lot of the time also Young was the victim of hard luck. Take July 28, 1993 for example. Not one ball outside of Santiago's leadoff single left the infield (if my scorecard is accurate, which I believe it is). An error and a couple of infield hits led to the Marlins' lead. That reminds me - there were a bunch of unearned runs involved in his losing streak as well.

Anyway, the Mets trailed 4-3, going into the bottom of the ninth, but there was still a feeling of excitement (for me, anyway, because I really liked Anthony Young, and a Mets comeback would mean a win). Jeff McKnight (the most ordinary man I've ever seen put on a Major League baseball uniform - he will always hold a place in my heart because he made me believe I could play in the majors) led the inning off, pinch-hitting for Bogar, with a single. Dave Gallagher, who I will never like because he wore Hall of Famer Gary Carter's Number 8, sacrificed McKnight to second. Ryan Thompson had an RBI single to tie the game, so at least Young wouldn't get another loss at this point. But Shea was rocking when Orsulak flew out, and then Eddie Murray stepped to the plate. He lined one into the right field corner, if I remember right. Bryan Harvey was the Marlins pitcher, and he was a righty, so Murray would have been batting lefty, and he pulled it, so it must have went into the right field corner. Thompson booked around the bases, and scored the winning run! The Mets won, 5-4, and made a winner out of Anthony Young. He went 1-16 that year.

I was so excited that when we got home, I taped SportsChannel's rebroadcast of the game in the middle of the night. I still have that tape - I think it is among the stuff I have yet to remove from my bedroom in New York. I don't know why I always liked Anthony Young. I think it was because when the Mets were filled with such blatant idiots, like Vince Coleman, Bret Saberhagen, Bobby Bonilla, and Eddie Murray, Young would constantly lose and face the press, and take it like a man. I have since heard he wasn't the nicest guy, but he never showed it. I even met him once. He made an appearance at the Mets Clubhouse Store on Steinway Street in Astoria (since burned down, sadly), and he signed autographs and took pictures. The guy in front of me told him, "You've got to stop throwing that slider. Guys are killing it." If Anthony Young was ever going to act like a jerk in public, that was the time, but he just smiled at the guy. I wished him luck...and I'm pretty sure this was before the streak was over. It was a thrilling win for the Mets, and I want to watch the video of that game just so I can re-live it.

Back to 2005: The Washington Nationals are falling apart. The Mets are now six-and-a-half out after the Nationals lost, 5-4, to the Colorado Rockies (one of the worst teams in baseball, by the way). The go-ahead run came with the game tied 4-4 in the top of the ninth, when Vinny Castilla misplayed an easy grounder at third base. In the bottom of the ninth, the normally calm Jose Vidro got bent out of shape over two called strikes during his at-bat. After being called out on strikes, Vidro slammed his helmet to the ground and yelled at the umpire. He was thrown out of the game. I think Vidro's actions were a little microcosmic of the Nationals and their season and where it's heading.

THE KID'S KIDS: Good managing by Hall of Famer Gary Carter. The Mets bounced back from the 4-game losing streak with a 6-0 win over the Marlins. They are now 14-7, two games up on the Nationals.