Devil Rey

So I pondered, as I drove home from work on Tuesday night, as to what was the Metsian equivalent to what the Rangers did to the Devils in rallying from two goals down against Martin Brodeur in the third period to win, 3-2.

That's the kind of thing that never happens. In fact, we heard that it is the kind of thing that had never before happened in the history of the Rangers-Devils rivalry. I often refer to Mariano Rivera as "Satan," but Brodeur is probably a better fit for that name, since he plays for a team with a more appropriate moniker. His value is the equivalent, if not of greater value of what Rivera means to the Yankees.

But I felt like picking a game in which Rivera blew a lead against the Mets was taking the easy way out, since most Met followers recollect the Matt Franco two-run walk-off pinch-hit of July 10, 1999, and besides, the Mets were only a run down entering the inning, as opposed to the deficit the Rangers faced in their final frame.

Then it hit me. There's a game that one fellow blogger has encouraged me to write about and it just so happens to be the ideal fit for this scenario, even though it required overtime to reach a conclusion. Based on some research, I believe I missed watching this game because it conflicted with a Knicks-Pacers playoff contest.

I'm referring to the Mets-Blue Jays contest of June 9, 1999 (a month and a day prior to Franco-Rivera). The Mets entered having won three straight but some of their better bats were in for a struggle against Toronto's southpaw starter David Wells. With two members of the 2006 Mets in the starting lineup (and Shawn Green making a cameo off the bench), the Blue Jays put up single runs in the second, third and fourth to take a 3-0 lead.

First baseman Carlos Delgado (who had an RBI double) and shortstop Chris Woodward (two hits) teamed with Wells to make that lead stand. Heading into the last of the 9th, the Mets had only four hits and trailed 3-0. Rickey Henderson grounded to third to start the frame, the eighth straight hitter retired by Wells to that point, but Edgardo Alfonzo followed with a single.

Ex-Blue Jay John Olerud had the chance to wear the goathorns against his former team, but his grounder back to Wells resulted in only one out, not two, and gave Mike Piazza a chance to hit, still down 3-0 with one on and two out. Piazza singled to center, sending Olerud to third, then stole second with Robin Ventura at the plate. Ventura fouled three pitches off with the count 2-2 than hit a grounder up the middle for single, scoring both Olerud and Piazza.

Luis Lopez pinch-ran for Ventura and Blue Jays skipper Jim Fregosi yanked Wells for closer Billy Koch in the hopes that he could retire Brian McRae. This proved to be a rare moment of success for McRae, usually a rally-killer, who delivered a double down the left field line. Lopez scampered in with the tying run. The Mets had a chance to win, but after an intentional walk to Roger Cedeno, Koch retired Rey Ordonez on a comebacker.

To make a long story shorter, the Mets bullpen was particularly stellar in this contest and the Blue Jays pen was equally solid. That's often forgotten by what happened in the 12th inning, when Bobby Valentine was ejected for arguing a catchers interference call against his team, and donned a hat/fake mustache disguise in order to continue watching the game (no truth to the rumor that afterward he said "The Devil(s) made me do it..."

This game stretched out into the 14th inning when Toronto moundsman Tom Davey faltered and walked both Lopez and McRae to start things out. Dan Plesac replaced Davey, but Roger Cedeno was able to successfully sacrifice and advance both runners to second and third.

Given the option of walking good-field (3 Gold Gloves)/no-hit Ordonez to set up the double play, the Blue Jays declined. Ordonez, normally lacking in offensive skills, was given a second chance to win the game and delivered a game-winning single to left field. That completed an amazing comeback, one from three runs down with two outs in the ninth inning. It was also rare on a Brodeurian level in that it was Ordonez's only walk-off hit among his 721 knocks as a Met.

As it so happens, we reference this contest (and this Rangers victory) on the same day that Ordonez makes a baseball comeback, signing a minor league deal with the Seattle Mariners. Funny how everything seems to come full circle around here.

True Metonez's know...Rey Ordonez got his first major-league RBI on April 4, 1996, a game that the Mets won in walk-off fashion. They beat the Cardinals that day, 10-9, scoring twice in the last of the ninth inning against Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley.

Making His Mark

I've never been one for neatness, so you might say I'm a little messier than the average guy. Or, if we're talking hockey, you could also say I'm a little Messier than the average guy and I'd be okay with that too. Of course, in that case, we're talking about ex-New York Rangers legend (and that is the appropriate word here) Mark Messier

They raised the captain's No. 11 to the rafters of Madison Square Garden on Thursday night in what by all accounts was a touching display, and Jaromir Jagr took the proverbial torch from the Rangers captain and lit the lamp for the game-winning goal in overtime as the Rangers defeated the Edmonton Oilers.

Mark Messier shall be hailed forever in New York sports as the leader of the team that ended a 54-year drought without a Stanley Cup championship. You can place him on a level with the all-time greats who have played for city teams, and if you insist on separating the imports from the homegrowns, his place belongs right alongside Reggie Jackson (sorry for the Yankees reference...he's a better comparison than Mike Piazza).

You can, should, and will talk about the guaranteed win in Game 6 of the 1994 Eastern Conference Finals against the Devils, when Messier scored three third-period goals to cap a Rangers comeback from the brink of elimination as his defining moment, or the game-winning goal he was (probably unjustly) credited with in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals against the Vancouver Canucks, but in this space, and this case, we'll talk walk-offs because it seems most appropriate.

The one I wish to reference took place during that 1994 season, the regular season actually, on January 27, 1994. As Rangers games go, I'm guessing it's not one that is particularly well-remembered, since there were many games that overshadowed it, but this is one with a fun finish. It is albeit a little messier (or Messier) than most games because of the way it concluded.

The Rangers were the hot team in the NHL throughout 1993-94 and they were in the midst of a nice run in January, having followed up three straight losses with four consecutive victories. They aimed for number five in Los Angeles against Wayne Gretzky and the Kings and it looked like they'd get it with ease, as the Rangers had a 4-1 lead in the second period, with a Gretzky goal the lone Los Angeles tally. The Kings, on their home ice, mounted a nice comeback against Rangers goalie Mike Richter, scoring twice in the second to get within a goal and then striking for the tying goal with 4:13 remaining in regulation.

This one went almost the full extra five minutes allotted to such contests. The Rangers dominated the overtime, but couldn't score. In the closing seconds, the Rangers caught an unusual break when Tony Granato came off the bench too soon on a change, trying to thwart a New York breakaway. The call, amazingly enough was for a penalty shot, but Kings goalie Kelly Hrudey was up for the challenge, and he stopped Rangers forward Tony Amonte's 1-on-1 attempt.

The ensuing face-off was in the Kings zone, but only 11 seconds remained, so there wasn't much time to try to work something out. The 1994 Rangers were a team that flourished in all situations regardless of time or score and on this occasion, it was there captain who came through. The Kings won the face-off and tried to immediately clear, but Rangers defenseman Sergei Zubov kept the puck in the zone and fired a slapshot. Hrudey made the save but could not corral the rebound. Messier, coming from behind the net, curled in and scored the winner on a backhand shot.

"I learned that from 'The Great One,'" Messier told reporters after the game, referring to Gretzky, and I wonder if Jagr said the same thing after Thursday night's game referring to his nifty game-winning wrist shot.

True Mettier fans know...The 1993-1994 Rangers had three regular-season walk-off (overtime) goals (scored by Mark Messier, Mike Gartner and Tony Amonte) and two more in the postseason (both tallied by Stephane Matteau).

Back to baseball, with maybe a little Jets, over the weekend or next week

Skate-Offs

The NHL returned to business on Wednesday night with the opening of the 2005-06 season after the sport suffered through an ugly one-year absence. I've had an odd relationship with hockey, which has fluctuated between my second and fourth-favorite sports, usually depending on how good the Rangers, a franchise with a history more tormented than the Mets, were.

I also covered the sport at the minor-league level for almost three full seasons during my tenure as a sportswriter in New Jersey. Hockey is a challenging sport to write about because the action happens so fast that it's hard to describe with accuracy and with flair (particularly without benefit of full-fledged instant replay in the minors), but I feel like I did a decent job on the beat, particularly in covering the human-interest angles (Human-interest is an issue with hockey ,in that there aren't a lot of interested humans, at least in the United States, but that's another topic for another day.) So I'll take a few minutes today to share a hockey walk-off story. Or would the more appropriate phrase be "skate-off?"

It would be easy to write about the 1994 Rangers and their run to the Stanley Cup, but I've been there and done that, so instead, I thought I'd talk about the unexpected run of the 1985-86 Rangers team, whose success was overshadowed by the eventual championship run of the 1986 Mets.

There was no reason during the regular season to think that the 1985-86 Rangers were going to be anything special. The Rangers had broken their fair share of hearts many times over since last winning the Stanley Cup in 1940. My dad was in Madison Square Garden when Pete Stemkowski beat the Blackhawks with a triple-overtime goal, putting the Rangers a game away from a Stanley Cup Finals they would never reach (the Blackhawks won the series in seven games) and when the Boston Bruins skated off the Garden ice with the championship trophy. The appreciation for torment was passed along to me at a young age. Though I'm too young to remember the run to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1979 (thwarted by the Canadiens), I still tend to react with anger when I hear discussions regarding the Islanders 80s dynasty (one of my earliest hockey memories: My dad lifting me up when Don Maloney scored in the final seconds of regulation to tie the decisive Game 5 of the opening round of the 1984 playoffs...Ken Morrow scored in overtime to end that still-bitter defeat).

The 1985-86 Rangers put their fans through some particularly disgusting defeats that season. I don't recall the specifics, but I do remember a couple of backup goalies- Terry Kleisinger and Ron Scott, giving away a couple of games early in the season, which led to John Vanbiesbrouck eventually appearing in 61 games. The Rangers, buoyed by a late-season arrival of scoring forward Pierre Larouche, were fortunate just to make the playoffs. doing so by just two points. They finished fourth in the Patrick Division at 36-38-6.

Hockey is a game ripe for upsets and somehow the Rangers managed to pull of a huge one, beating a far-superior Flyers team in the opening round of the playoffs. The Flyers won 53 games during the regular season but the Rangers had a hot goalie and Vanbiesbrouck carried the team to a surprising five-game upset.

The Washington Capitals, a 50-win team, were the Rangers next opponents and the chance of beating another dominant team seemed slim, particularly in Game 1 when the Capitals took a 3-1 lead. The Rangers were not a good comeback team that season, but somehow they battled back in this one, scoring a shorthanded tally late in the second and another goal midway through the third to even the score at 3-3, leading into overtime.

The game story from the Washington Post that served as a brain-refresher for this piece reminded me not only of the Rangers overtime struggles (winless in their last 21 overtimes, including 11 defeats) but Washington's overtime successes (unbeaten in 25 extra-sessions), so the numbers were due to catch up with both teams eventually. Fortunately for the Rangers, it happened to be this night.

Hockey playoff overtimes can be quite lengthy but this one lasted only 76 seconds. I remember only the last few. The Rangers had obtained a forward named Brian MacLellan from the Los Angeles Kings about one-third of the way through the season and MacLellan hadn't done much to distinguish himself prior to this game. What stood out about MacLellan was his size- 6-feet-3 inches, 210 pounds- and his speed, or lack thereof (I'm wondering if Piazzaesque would be a good description). There are moments in an athlete's life in which the adrenaline kick pushes them to superhuman feats. MacLellan had one of those moments at a very good time.

My remembrance of this particular magic moment begins with MacLellan taking a pass along the sideboards near center ice, but newspaper reports confirm only part of this (the part of his being near center ice). They enhanced my visual recollection, letting me know that MacLellan set the play up with a blocked shot. Sprung loose up ice, MacLellan took the feed and put on as much of a speed burst as his body would allow. MacLellan beat Capitals goalie Pete Peeters on the breakaway by whipping the puck through Peeters legs. I got another pick-me-up from my dad after this one (the unexpected nature of the goal led to a huge emotional burst). He noted to me afterwards that MacLellan had skated "like he never had before" to ensure that he'd have a good breakaway chance.

The Rangers beat the Capitals in overtime again, later in the series, in equally stunning fashion, when Bob Brooke scored off a giveaway by Washington defenseman Scott Stevens, who would recover to have much future success. They beat Washington in the series rather handily, which was a pretty remarkable accomplishment. I'm convinced that the only reason the Rangers didn't win the Stanley Cup that season was because they had the misfortune of running into the best goalie ever, a cocky Montreal Canadiens rookie named Patrick Roy, in the conference finals, which they lost in five games (including a heartbreaking skate-off loss in OT).

The run predated the Mets dominance slightly that season, and I think New Yorkers are quick to forget it because it was overshadowed by the Mets and the Rangers team that won the Stanley Cup in 1994. They're my version of the 1973 Mets-- a team that for a short span came through in a mighty, magical fashion.

True Metlellans know...The Rangers played three overtime playoff games in the 1985-86 playoffs. All three of them, oddly enough, came on days in which the Mets did not play

Clairvoyance, Prognostication, and Walk-Offs

One of my cousins, a young, Brooklyn-based chap named Matthew Sunday, thinks that my choice of vocabulary during conversation is too complex. He's not going to like this essay on clairvoyance and prognostication. Perhaps you will.

Clairvoyance is a skill that millions of sports fans think they have, but only a select few do.That's one of the reasons that prognosticating for money is so popular, because so many have a clouded belief of expertise in a subject matter that is as unpredictable as any in the world.

I have experienced moments of clairvoyance and take pride in my ability to selectively prognosticate with great accuracy. For example, moments after the New York Rangers lost Game 6 of the 1994 Stanley Cup Finals, I told my friends Daniel Gordon and David Cooper "Game 7 will be won by a captain." Let the record reflect that Vancouver captain Trevor Linden scored two goals in a losing effort and Rangers captain Mark Messier was credited (admittedly incorrectly) with the game-winning goal (Besides the fact that it was really Brian Noonan's goal, in hockey, they give the game-winning goal, for some reason, to the player that scored the goal that gives his team one more than the opponent's goal total).

But our subject is baseball, and on the subject of clairvoyance and prognostication, we turn to the Mets. When I think of Mets prognostication, I think of a pair of managers. Jeff Torborg, in a moment of what some might call delusional clairvoyance once uttered the phrase: "New York fans are going to love Bill Pecota!" That was poor prognostication. In 2001, about a month before the season ended, Bobby Valentine was asked how many wins it would take to win the NL East. His answer was 88. That was a pretty good prognostication.

Walk-off clairvoyance is something with which I have familiarity. It was sometime after midnight, in late October, 1986, when an 11-year-old turned to his father's friends and said "Wouldn't it be funny if this guy throws a wild pitch or balks here?" In May, 1988, with two outs and nobody on with the Mets down a run to the Reds in the 10th, an adolescent interrupted his dad's phone call to let him know that "Strawberry's gonna come up..." as Keith Hernandez stood at the plate, in what appeared to be a lost cause of a game. He did, and the Mets won (we'll save the story of that game for another day). In September, 1990, a loud-mouth sitting behind a pair of Mets fans let them know that after Dave Magadan's failed bunt, that Strawberry was going to launch a walk-off shot ("accurately called" as a colleague of mine would say).

My favorite walk-off clairvoyant story deals with July 29, 2001, with the Mets staggering along at 48-57. This was at a time in which we had a Sunday ticket plan, and this was a game my father and I went to without the enthusiam that accompanied trips to Shea Stadium the previous three years. Turned out, we got to see one heck of a game between the Mets and Phillies.

The Mets had an early 2-0 lead, but Kevin Appier couldn't hold it, and the game was even after four innings. Both teams had chances to go back ahead, but the Phillies left a combined five men on base in the fifth and sixth, and the Mets had a runner thrown out at the plate in the fifth.

New York went ahead in the seventh on an RBI groundout by Mike Piazza in which Desi Relaford's takeout slide prevented a double play, but the Phillies snatched the advantage away in the top of the eighth when Scott Rolen hit a two-run homer off John Franco. The game went topsy-turvy in the bottom of the eighth, when with a man on, Tsuyoshi Shinjo put the Mets back in front, 5-4, with a two-run home run off Jose Santiago.

Armando Benitez tried for the save in the top of the ninth, but that immediately went awry when he walked the leadoff batter (if you ever read me referring to something as being "Benitezian," it means, "walked the leadoff man"), who subsequently advanced to third on a single and scored on a sacrifice fly.

Proof that clairvoyance is an inherited trait came from the person sitting next to me, who decided aloud that as the Mets were ambling back to the dugout that "We'll be going home after Piazza's at-bat."

Now, my father has good prognosticative skills (hence his success at poker), so I listened, but still took those words with a grain of salt. My facial expression showed that. This was 2001 and things like that weren't happening for the Mets that season (at least not yet). So when Relaford grounded out to start the inning, that left only one way for the moment of clairvoyance to be correct.

For dramatic purposes, I'll say here that the prognostication was repeated as Piazza stepped to the plate, but I don't remember whether it was or not. What I do remember was the tap on the knee, and the words "Let's go!" a millisecond after Piazza's swing. He launched Rheal Cormier's second pitch over the left-center field fence for a no-doubt, walk-off home run (Phillies announcer Harry Kalas had a good home run call too, muttering "Oh brother!" as the ball left the bat). Afterwards, we lamented how this game wasn't going to make much of a dent in the standings. The cool thing about it is that, if you're familiar with how that season concluded, it almost did.

Anyway, for the last four years, I've had to endure the question "Was that a call, or was that a call????" any time that game is brought up in our household. In fact, I have a feeling I'm going to see it again in an e-mail or instant message from a certain family member at some point this evening. I don't have to be clairvoyant to prognosticate that.

True Metsicators know...Mike Piazza's first four walk-off hits for the Mets have all been home runs.