Ultimate Mets Database: Game of June 7, 1993

Dave VW
January 4, 2023
Good for you, Eric! Murray was shown on the Cubs telecast looking incognito, so kudos for finding him in the crowd. Indeed, Gooden was nearing the end of his Mets brilliance, but he still had a few more gems left in the tank before it was all over. This game marked his final time starting against the Cubs at Shea. In those 17 starts, Doc went 15-1.

Just five days prior, he and Frank Castillo had faced off in Chicago with very similar results. In that game, Castillo allowed 7 runs in 3.2 innings as the Mets won, 11-3. Here he only lasted an inning and a third, throwing just 28 pitches before getting the hook. New York began the 2nd inning with six straight singles, and after a Gooden sac bunt, Coleman also singled to knock Castillo out. All told, the Mets tallied 12 hits in the game, all singles!

It looked ugly in the early going, however, as Kent committed errors on back-to-back plays (a la Gregg Jefferies) in the first, and then Gooden plunked Steve Buechele on an 0-2 pitch. Thankfully, catcher Rick Wilkins grounded out weakly to end the threat. Kent's defensive woes were becoming quite problematic at this time and I'm kinda surprised the Mets kept him at 2B for so long. Quilvio Veras had been tearing up the minor leagues for years at this point and could have easily been the new Mets second baseman by 1994. And with Eddie Murray being a free agent at season's end, Kent could have moved over to 1B. That would have been my plan of action, anyway.

Meantime, watching this broadcast was the first time I've ever heard of Tony Fernandez's kidney stone problems, which definitely explains why he performed so poorly in early 1993. He was batting .360 since the beginning of June through this game, so it looked like his woes were behind him... but unfortunately by this point the Mets were so far behind in the pennant race that Fernandez, who was a free agent at the end of the season, was more valuable as trade bait, and he'd be dealt to Toronto in just 4 days time. He'd hit .306 the rest of the year for the Jays, helping them win a second straight World Series. It was the second year in a row the Mets handed the Blue Jays a player that helped them win a championship, after David Cone in 1992.

They also talked about the Foreman vs. Morrison fight on the WGN telecast, which was to take place that night. The 24-year-old Morrison, who starred in Rocky V four years earlier, beat the 44-year-old Foreman in a unanimous decision to win the vacant WBO heavyweight championship. He lost it later in the year to Michael Bentt, and lost his life to AIDS in 2013. He was 44.

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