Roger Clemens is fined a reported $50,000 for throwing the jagged barrel of a shattered bat in the direction of Met catcher Mike Piazza in the first inning of Game 2 of the World Series. Yankee manager Joe Torre and the right-hander both deny the incident was intentional.
At Shea Stadium, the Giants get two unusual runs in the fourth inning as the Mets outfielder Benny Agbayani catches what he thinks is the third out and gives the ball to a kid in the stands. The mental lapse of not knowing there was only one out in the frame allows both runners on base to score, but the Mets will prevail, beating San Francisco, 3-2.
After rejecting a trade to the Mets, 36 year-old Barry Larkin agrees to a three-year, $27 million contract extension to continue to play for the Reds. The deal will keep the former Rookie of the Year (1986), NL’s MVP (1995), and 11-time All-Star shortstop in Cincinnati until 2003.
At the Tokyo Dome, the New York Mets defeat the Chicago Cubs in 11 innings, 5 – 1, on Benny Agbayani’s pinch-hit grand slam. Rey Ordóñez commits an error in the game, ending his major league record streak of 101 consecutive errorless games at shortstop. With a swipe of second base, Rickey Henderson joins Ted Williams as the only major league players to steal a base in four different decades.
2000 – In Japan, the Chicago Cubs open the major league season at the Tokyo Dome by defeating the New York Mets, 5 – 3, in the first major league opening day ever played outside of the United States, Canada or Mexico. Jon Lieber gets the victory and Mike Hampton takes the loss. Shane Andrews, Mark Grace and Mike Piazza hit home runs in the game.
1999 – The New York Mets shut out Cincinnati, 5 – 0, to become the National League’s wild card team. Al Leiter throws a complete game two-hitter for the win, as Mets shortstop Rey Ordóñez plays his 100th consecutive game without committing an error, setting a new major league mark.
On August 30, 1999, At the Astrodome, Edgardo Alfonzo becomes the first player in the Mets’ 38-year history to go 6-for-6, scoring six times, and drives in five runs. The second baseman hits three homers, two singles, and a double for a team-record 16 total bases in New York’s 17-1 rout of Houston. becomes only the…
1999 – The career of New York Mets pitcher Paul Wilson is derailed again when he suffers a partially torn ligament in his pitching elbow while warming up before a three-inning stint in a minor league game. An MRI will show a partial tear of a ligament in his elbow, and on March 30th he will undergo Tommy John surgery which will sideline him for the year.
New York Mets games this season will be broadcast by WPIX, Channel 11, after being aired on WOR, Channel 9, since the club’s inception in 1962. The New York Yankees’ games, which had been aired for nearly 50 years on Channel 11, will now be seen on Channel 5, a FOX affiliate.
The Mets sign free agent OF Rickey Henderson.
Enjoy our free trial and start listening to games, interviews and shows! Ruth, Mantle, Aaron, and Seaver!