2000 NLCS New York Mets
 

Arch rivalry
Mets fans are making travel plans for Game 1 and Game 2

The Mets and Cardinals had an intense rivalry in the late 1980s when they alternated NL East division titles. The rivalry will be renewed Wednesday night in St. Louis when the best-of-7 NL Championship Series begins. During the Division Series, St. Louis was firing on all cylinders in its surprising sweep of Atlanta, while New York relied on its old postseason magic to pull out two extra-inning victories in its defeat of San Francisco. The Mets won the first six games of their season series against the Cardinals, but St. Louis got a measure of revenge in early September when it won three consecutive games at home on the final swing of the bat.
 

CARDS FOLD TO METS ACE IN GAME 1

Good pitching always beats good hitting and the New York Mets got plenty of both.
Mike Hampton delivered with seven superb innings and Mike Piazza, Todd Zeile and Jay Payton came through with big hits as the Mets posted a 6-2 triumph over the St. Louis Cardinals in Game One of the National League Championship Series.
St. Louis entered the contest having torched the vaunted Atlanta Braves' pitching staff for 24 runs in a three-game sweep. But the Mets entered with an 18-inning scoreless streak and stretched that number to 26 2/3 before an error allowed a run to score in the ninth.
 

Good deal for Mets In Game 2

Armando Benitez and John Franco are headed back to New York with a 2-0 lead.
Rick Ankiel's control went haywire in the first inning, as did the Cardinals' defense in the ninth. That, plus some timely hitting, gave the Mets a 6-5 victory   on Thursday night in St. Louis and a 2-0 lead in the best-of-7 National League Championship Series. Both teams scored twice in the eighth inning, then Joe McEwing scored the winning run after Will Clark and Jim Edmonds made fielding errors. The series will resume Saturday at Shea Stadium.
 

METS SET TO TAKE ON CARDS AT SHEA

Oh, everything looked so familiar last night during the Mets' 6-5 win over the Cardinals in Game Two of the NLCS. There was Al Leiter, twirling another postseason gem and yet getting another no-decision. There was Edgardo Alfonzo, coming up with yet another huge hit in the eighth inning and yet getting overshadowed in the end.
There was Timo Perez, a Melvin Mora clone (we'd say the two are the same person, but Mora was spotted at Shea last weekend) who once again saved the Mets both in the field and at the plate. And there were yet more late inning heroics by the Mets, who once again came through in their last at-bat thanks to Jay Payton.
And yet in the midst of all this familiarity, the Mets reside in a very unfamiliar yet wonderful place. For the first time in 31 years, the Mets are ahead 2-0 in a playoff series.
 

Mets loose In Game 3

It took a strong outing from Andy Benes to get the Cards back on track.
With the Mets back on their home turf, they figured they would have Game 3 of the NLCS wrapped up. But St. Louis put a damper in New York's plans of possibly sweeping the Championship Series. Thanks to the stellar performance of Andy Benes, the Cardinals crept back into the series with a 8-2 victory over New York. Benes pitched eight strong innings and allowed just two runs on six hits. With New York holding a 2-1 series lead, St. Louis will get back level in Game 4 on Sunday.
 

Game 4

After the Mets hit a record-tying six doubles, Mike Piazza contributed a solo home run in the fourth inning.
New York is hoping for a double entry in the World Series this year. And now, each team is one victory away. On Sunday night, the Mets hit six doubles in the first two innings and hung on to defeat the Cardinals 10-6 and take a 3-1 lead in the National League Championship Series. The first four Mets to bat hit doubles en route to scoring four first-inning runs. St. Louis rallied to within 8-6 in the fifth inning, but New York's bullpen was unscored upon in the final four innings. The Mets will go for their first NL pennant since 1986 on Monday night in Game 5.
 

ONE INNING, FIVE DOUBLES EQUALS 3-1 LEAD

The New York Mets recorded five doubles in the opening inning, but it was a pair of errors by Fernando Tatis that put them on the brink of their first World Series appearance in 15 years.
The Mets overcame a two-run deficit by opening the bottom of the first inning with four straight doubles and scored seven times over the first two frames en route to a wild 10-6 triumph over the St. Louis Cardinals in Game Four of the National League Championship Series.
The victory, which left New York with a 3-1 lead in the series, was sealed by a couple of key defensive plays, some clutch relief pitching by Glendon Rusch and Tatis' miscues that allowed the Mets to tack on two pivotal runs in the sixth.
 

FROM RAIN TO CHAMPAGNE: METS ARE NL CHAMPS

Next stop, the World Series. The New York Mets, a team built for the postseason, held up their half of a potential Subway Series matchup by closing out the St. Louis Cardinals, 7-0, in Game Five of the National League Championship Series and advancing to the World Series for the first time since 1986.
Mike Hampton, the poster boy for the Mets' win-now mentality, was masterful in his biggest moment for New York. The lefthander, who normally struggles in cold weather, braved temperatures in the mid-50s and allowed just three singles and a walk with eight strikeouts.
Named the LCS Most Valuable Player for pitching 16 scoreless innings in the series, Hampton put the finishing touches on the pennant by retiring Rick Wilkins on a fly ball to center field, touching off a raucous celebration at the mound.
The ninth inning took on a twist after St. Louis reliever Dave Veres beaned Mets rookie Jay Payton in the head in the bottom of the eighth. The incident cleared both benches, although no punches were thrown.
The wild card-winning Mets await the winner of the American League Championship Series between the crosstown New York Yankees and Seattle Mariners. The two-time defending world champion Yankees lead Seattle 3-2 and host Games Six and Seven, if necessary.
A World Series matchup between New York teams would be the first since 1956. The Mets are headed for their fourth World Series, having won in 1969 and 1986. In 1973, they lost in seven games to the Oakland Athletics.
Hampton (2-1) struggled under the New York microscope but was much better than his 15-10 record indicated. He dropped Game One of the Division Series against San Francisco but rebounded to completely shut down St. Louis in Game One. Following his gem tonight, Hampton has tossed 18 consecutive scoreless innings in the postseason.
The Mets staked Hampton to all the offense he needed in the opening inning, taking advantage of a rusty Pat Hentgen (0-1). Edgardo Alfonzo and Robin Ventura had RBI singles before a groundout by Todd Zeile plated another run. Zeile broke open the game with a three-run double in the fourth and the final five innings were a mere formality as Hampton toyed with the Cardinals.
The Mets got to Hentgen quickly. Rookie Timo Perez singled in the bottom of the first, stole second and took third when Carlos Hernandez's throw bounced into center field. Alfonzo followed with a single, driving in his 16th postseason run -- a Mets' record.
Mike Piazza walked on four pitches and Ventura made Hentgen pay with a single to right that scored Alfonzo and left runners at the corners. Zeile hit an apparent double-play grounder, but second baseman Fernando Vina booted the ball before getting a forceout. Shortstop Edgar Renteria tried to complete the double play, but first baseman Will Clark dropped the throw as Zeile reached.
Benny Agbayani walked and Jay Payton blooped a single to right to load the bases. But Hentgen avoided further trouble by getting Mike Bordick to pop out and striking out Hampton.
The Mets threatened in the third, putting two aboard with one out. But Hentgen got Payton on a line drive to left field and Bordick -- who had just one hit in the series -- on a fly to right.
Another bad defensive play got Hentgen in trouble in the fourth. With one out, Perez ripped a grounder up the middle that hit the pitching rubber and caromed to shortstop. Renteria made a throw in the dirt and Clark could not handle it on a play that was generously ruled a single.
After a popout by Alfonzo, Piazza lined a double into the left-field corner and Ventura was walked. Zeile, a former Cardinal, crushed a three-run double off the wall in right-center field and Shea Stadium erupted. Hentgen was replaced by Mike Timlin, who walked Agbayani. Only a great defensive play by Renteria allowed St. Louis to escape more damage.
Hentgen allowed six runs and seven hits over 3 2/3 innings. Making his first start in 16 days, the veteran righthander walked five and struck out two.
Rookie Britt Reames surrendered a leadoff single in the fifth then drew the ire of the crowd by knocking down Hampton. After the Mets' starter failed to get down a bunt, Perez grounded into a forceout. Alfonzo singled up the middle before Piazza grounded back to the mound.
While Hampton was throttling the Cardinals, St. Louis manager Tony La Russa essentially looked to the future of his team and brought in erratic 21-year-old lefthander Rick Ankiel to start the seventh. After Bordick walked, Hampton sacrificed. But with a runner in scoring pitching, Ankiel struck out Perez.
Ankiel got ahead of Alfonzo before reverting to the form that saw him throw seven wild pitches in his first two postseason starts. Consecutive pitches to the backstop plated Bordick and Alfonzo walked. With the crowd of 55,695 getting on his promising pitcher, La Russa mercifully pulled Ankiel for Mike James.
La Russa admitted before the game that he was hoping to get Ankiel a positive appearance before the series was over. The manager went so far as to say it was one of his three wishes for the remainder of the NLCS. But like so many of the decisions made by the Cards skipper in the series, this one backfired badly.
 

Runaway train

After Mike Hampton gave the Mets a lift with his pitching, his teammates returned the favor.
The first Subway Series in 44 years is almost a reality. Mike Hampton threw a three-hit shutout Monday night in leading the New York Mets to the World Series for the first time since 1986 in a 7-0 defeat of the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 5 of the National League Championship Series. The Mets scored three runs in the first and fourth off losing pitcher Pat Hentgen, who hadn't pitched since Sept. 30. The Mets, 7-2 in the postseason, became the second Wild Card team in the six-season history of the three-tiered postseason format to reach the Fall Classic.
 

Just like the rest of his teammates, Bubba Trammell felt Shea Stadium quake as early as the fourth inning, when Todd Zeile's three-run double made the Mets' World Series appearance in team history a mere formality. He watched the 55,695 Mets fans sway and listened to them roar as they prepared to unleash 14 years of pent-up emotion.
But from his vantage point in the Mets dugout, Trammell was more moved by the handful of veteran faces he focused on, men whose emotions were ready to boil over as they prepared to experience the moment of a lifetime. "I looked at Lenny Harris tonight," Trammell shouted in the aftermath of the Mets' NLCS clinching 7-0 win over the Cardinals. "I looked at Darryl Hamilton. I looked at John Franco, and I could see in their eyes [what] it means to them to be here tonight. Just looking at them made me appreciate being here more than anything."
Ecstasy was the main emotion at Shea Stadium last night--for the fans who stuck around long after the Mets took a victory lap around the field, but especially for the players and personnel who made the celebration possible. The locker room was literally overflowing with joy, a traffic jam of delirious back-slapping, hugging and champagne-spraying pandemonium.
But just below the surface of the jubilation rode an undercurrent of humility and gratitude for a moment a long time in coming for everyone in the clubhouse Monday night. Every team appreciates the opportunity to reach a World Series, even the Yankees, who seemingly get there only in years ending in either an odd or an even number.
But the Mets, a club brimming with veteran leaders who had never before reached baseball's summit and younger personnel whose road to diamond nirvana had been far from smooth, embraced this opportunity tightly and might never let go of the feeling.
 "A lot of people have been in baseball for a lot longer than I have and never got a chance to get to a World Series," says Steve Phillips, officially a World Series general manager after a little more than three years on the job. "It's a dream come true."
One of those people who had waited so long to go to the World Series was Phillips' manager, Bobby Valentine, who before Monday night had participated in 3,463 games as a player and manager on two different continents. And in the 3,464th game, he finally made the World Series.
 Absolute joy was etched on Valentine's face as he roamed the locker room. First he barreled into Mike Piazza and hooked himself under the shoulder of his star catcher as the two embraced. And then Valentine spun around and around in the locker room as Phillips joyfully sprayed champagne all over his skipper.
"If you manage one game or 10,000 games, we're going to the World Series," Valentine says. "Who cares how long it took to get there?"
It took a long time for the heart and soul of this club, Robin Ventura, who came to the Mets after nine years with the White Sox because he knew a guy only gets so many chances at moments like these and that he was running out of time to experience one. It took a long time for Mike Piazza, the oft-maligned centerpiece of the club who could have taken the easy way out of New York after a difficult first year with the Mets but instead re-signed with the franchise because he knew the reward would be worth all the turmoil. And here he was now, his joy lighting up the room as he danced on a makeshift podium and even performed a little breakdance move on the champagne-soaked floor.
It took a long time for Zeile, a veteran of seven teams and three losses in the LCS who said last winter he elected to sign with the Mets because he wanted to feel what it was like to win in New York. His bases-clearing double in the fourth inning not only sealed this victory but also validated Zeile's decision to leave the safe confines of Texas for the risky yet potentially rewarding opportunity with the Mets.
If it looked like Zeile floated into second base, well, that's exactly what he did. "When it left my bat it just felt so easy, and I ran to second base and really more than I've ever consciously remembered before kind of enjoyed that moment," Zeile says. "The fans were absolutely rocking the stadium, the music was blaring, but you know what [was] the best part about it? When I looked in the dugout and saw the reaction of my teammates. This is the closest group of guys that I've ever been associated with--God knows I've had eight chances to find that out--but it's a really good group of guys."
All season long its been a group of guys who put aside personal goals for the opportunity to experience a celebration like this. Franco and Bobby J. Jones, the only remaining links to the lean years of the early '90s, endured professional difficulties this season--a demotion to Triple-A for the one-time staff ace Jones and a shift to set-up duties for the long-time closer Franco--but sacrificed in the short-term because they wanted to have a chance to experience the moment they would never forget here in New York.
"Those guys have been in the game for a lot longer than I have, and for those kind of guys who have paid their dues to the game to get a chance to go to the World Series, it means a lot to them to be a part of it," Phillips says. "Johnny Franco, being from New York, to get a chance to be in a World Series here, I'm really happy for him."
"For me and Johnny, it's been a long time, and we've had some really bad years," Jones says. "To be able to play for a world championship and represent the New York Mets is just a great feeling because I remember times here where in September we were counting down the days until we went home...that wasn't fun. This is fun."
In addition to Jones and Franco there were the likes of Hamilton, an 11-year veteran who never complained about his reduced role in the postseason but will now get to play in his first World Series ever. And there were the likes of Harris, a role player on the field who contributes so mightily in the clubhouse.
After he was re-acquired from Arizona earlier this year, Harris said one of his great regrets in baseball was not getting the opportunity to come back to the Mets in 1999 and finish what they had started in 98. No more regrets for Harris, not on the night he advanced to the first World Series of his 11-year career.
"I'm going to the World Series!" Harris shouted. "It took 11 years to get there but it's worth it."
There was Phillips getting hugged in the middle of the celebration by Mike Bordick, whom Phillips had acquired from a dead-end situation in Baltimore on July 28, and then Rick White, whom Phillips had acquired along with Trammell from a similarly bleak predicament in Tampa Bay later that day. Shouted Bordick, who had reached the big leagues as a non-drafted free agent out of Maine: "Thank you! I'm so happy! Awesome! Awesome!"
And there were the younger players, the likes of Trammell, Benny Agbayani, Jay Payton and Timo Perez, who didn't have to wait as long as their veteran teammates to play in a World Series but thought their dreams would never come true when they were stuck in Tampa Bay or mired in Double-A with Binghamton or on an operating table or in Japan as a rarely-used reserve. "It's just unreal," Agbayani says.
"The last two weeks we've been trying to make sure we enjoy certain moments, because we know it doesn't come around very often," Mets Assistant General Manager Jim Duquette says, and no one had to be reminded of that on Monday night, when the Mets finally reached the destination every person in baseball strives for but so few reach. Their path had been up and down, full of twists and turns and filled along the way with more tears than laughter. It was a long way from disappointment to elation, but not one person in the delirious Mets clubhouse could have traveled a more satisfying road.