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Not to Rain on Your Parade, but...

The Mets list the best road trip in franchise history as having taken place in 1991, and like this last one just concluded, it ended with a three-game sweep in Philadelphia. The Mets went 7-0 on that Bon Voyage, a two-city mini-venture that also included Montreal. They returned home for a respite and the All-Star Break, with a 46-34 mark and everything looked pretty good for Bud Harrelson's team.

Their first game after the All-Star Break took place on July 11 and it makes sense to presume that the Flushing 9 got a rather rousing ovation when taking the field at Shea Stadium against the Padres that night.

A second inning home run by Hubie Brooks against Bruce Hurst got the night off to a rousing start, and RBI singles by Dave Magadan (fired as Padres hitting coach, yesterday, by the way) and Mark Carreon provided the home team with a 3-1 cushion by the 8th inning, with Dwight Gooden pitching.

With two outs in that frame, Tony Gwynn started a rally that produced two runs, tying the game and chasing Gooden. Alejandro Pena gave up the tying hit, but escaped a bases-loaded jam to keep the contest even, 3-3.

The score stood until the home 9th when the Mets took the necessary measures to win the game. Gregg Jefferies walked with one out and advanced to second base on Kelvin Torve's groundout. With two outs and a runner on second, the Padres had to choose between which of two former San Diegans to pitch to- Gary Templeton or Kevin McReynolds. Templeton had hit in 11 straight games, so the Padres provided him a free pass to first base.

Perhaps had management known that McReynolds was the all-time Mets leader in walk-off "somethings," they would have decided differently. McReynolds singled off Larry Anderson, scoring Jefferies with the winning run. It was the Mets 8th straight triumph and kept them within very close striking distance of the Pirates in the NL East race. The team was on pace to win 94 games.

The next day, there was a rosy glow about the feeling for this particular Mets squad. There was but one skeptic in the village. Claire Smith of the New York Times penned a column titled "Ya Gotta Believe...or Do Ya?"

From July 30 to August 21, the 1991 Mets went 2-18. They finished the season a rather pathetic 77-84. Let's hope a similar fate does not befall the current squad.

True Metchiatrists know...This blog has penetrated my subconscious. I had a rather odd dream last night, perhaps caused by eating too close to bedtime, in which the Mets were somehow playing both the Marlins and Cubs at the same time. This struck me as unusual until I discovered today that the Mets have had two walk-off wins on June 15's. Their opponents were the Marlins and the Cubs. I'd tell you about the part in which Tom Hausman, in relief of Duaner Sanchez, picked a guy off third base to end an 8th inning threat (score it: 1-unassisted, amazingly enough), but then you might really think I'm weird.

Comments

Anonymous said…
The '91 Mets, like many editions having a good stretch, we're doing it from behind. This team did it from ahead and only got better.

No rain on this parade, bub. Not even after a loss to the Orioles.
Metstradamus said…
There are probably a lot of people, at this very moment, wishing that the Mets could play 162 road games...but that would be bad for business around here, wouldn't it?

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