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To Be Frank

It was a good night for the old guys- Gary Sheffield and Sergei Fedorov- and a lousy night for all others concerned with the outcomes of the Mets and Rangers games.

Sheffield's triple had me checking out a list of the oldest Mets to triple, and while I could certainly see Willie Mays, Moises Alou, and even Orlando Hernandez tripling at some point, I was left puzzled to see one other name on the 40-year-old Mets to triple list.

Frank Tanana.

The New York Times devoted its game story for the contest of August 18, 1993 to Tanana's feat, though it doesn't explain how in the world he managed to hit one. Newsday does though, sharing that in the sixth inning, Tanana pulled a hanging slider down the first base line, and made it all the way to third base when rightfielder Tim Costo struggled to retrieve the ball.

Newsday provided this quote:

"I watched it the whole way," Tanana said. "I was hoping he would come up with it so I didn't have to go to third. When I got to second, I looked up and it was still rolling around, so I had no choice but to go to third. I don't know if I was running hard, I was just running. It's been a long time since I had to run that far without stopping."

While The Times articulated on Tanana's struggles in a humorous manner:

"By the time he hoofed it to third base, dizziness had set in."

Much the same reaction Mets and Rangers fans had within a brief span a few hours thereafter.

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