Favorite Moments

I mentioned yesterday that the Robin Ventura "Grand Slam Single" was one of my favorite all time Mets moments. When I started thinking about it, I was surprised that it wasnt that easy to come up with a "Top 5 moments" list. Now - just to define - Im talking about moments that truly made me happy as a Mets fan, and im limiting this list to moments that happened on the field - so you wont find the trade for Mike Piazza in here or the signing of Pedro, Beltran etc. Also these moments all occured while I was a "real fan" so i cant count the 1986 Mets or 1988 Mets in here, although I recall watching the games. Basically the list is from 1993 - 2009
After some thinking (not much - but some) here is my list

5. Al Leiter pitching a 2-hit complete game shutout to earn the win in the Mets 5-0 victory in a winner-take-all one game playoff in Cinergy Field in Cincinnati . The win put the Mets in the playoffs for the first time in 11 seasons.


4. Mike Hampton closing out the Cardinals to win the 2000 National League pennant. I remember watching Timo Perez jumping to catch the final out as if he couldn't wait either. (Sadly my feeling for Timo would change dramatically just one game later)


3. Todd Pratt, substituting for an injured Mike Piazza, hits a home run to center field with one out in the 10th inning to win the 1999 NLDS; Steve Finley nearly makes a leaping catch, but the ball just clears his glove. I remember Finley looking in disbelief at his empty glove when he came down and didnt make the catch.


2. "Grand Slam Single" - 1999 NLCS  In the bottom of the 15th inning, the Mets tied the score against the Atlanta Braves at 3–3. Ventura - always a great bases-loaded hitter - came to bat with the bases loaded, and hit a walk-off grand slam to deep right. (If you watch the clip you can actually see Ventura waiving off Todd Pratt from hugging him because he wanted to round the bases. Wonder how he feels about it now)


1. Endy Chavez - The Catch. If you dont know what this is, clearly youre in the wrong place.(The one thing i remember about that sequence was Willie Randolph walking to the mound before Ollie pitches to Rolen and first looking at LoDuca and asking how Perez is doing and LoDuca kind of gives this look like - "I dont know - ask him" so Willie turns to Ollie and Ollie says "Good" and Willie walks away and the crowd goes nuts. I have watched the highlight of the catch way too many times since then, but only once have i seen that exchange before the pitch was thrown.) Watching that catch, it was obvious to all that the Mets would win the game. Imagine David Tyrees catch and the Giants losing to the Pats. It cant be - right?


Two more notes about this list - One of my favorite Mets scenes was after the Mets clinched the NL east in 2006 seeing Wright and Reyes on the field soaked in champaign and smoking cigars. What a moment - two young stars basking in the glory of what they had just accomplished and thinking about how many times that would happen in the future. However this didnt happen during a games so i left it out. The most striking thing to me about this list is that it doesnt include Mike Piazza at all. Weird. I know people put the post 9/11 HR in there but to tell you the truth i never thought that was a great Mets moment. It was great for baseball and great for the city but it didnt really do a whole lot for the team and I barely remember it happening.