Dave VW
July 17, 2023
Bobby Jones continues his comeback from a poor start to the season, tossing 8 shutout innings to help the Mets snap, what is at that point, a season-long 4 game losing streak. He definitely had some good defense behind him, as Jeff Kent made several diving plays at 3B, and Bernard Gilkey tallied his 7th of what would be a league-leading 18 OF assists when he gunned down Mark Grace trying to tag up and score on a line drive to left in the 7th inning.
That preserved a 1-0 lead (thanks to a Butch Huskey homer in the 3rd), which would grow to 2-0 in the 8th. After Jones successfully navigated the top half of the inning despite a couple of walks, Huskey hit a 1-out single in the bottom half of the inning. Rey Ordonez then appeared to have an infield hit beat out, but, as he would frustratingly do his entire career, dove head-first into first instead of running through the base, slowing him down and prompting the 1B umpire to call him out. Now with a runner on 2nd and 2 down, the Mets pinch hit for Jones with Carl Everett, who earlier in the day had a closed-door meeting with Dallas Green, most likely in regards to his lack of playing time. The Cubs countered by bringing in left-hander Bob Patterson, realizing Everett hit only .210 vs. lefties in 1995. But Everett came through nonetheless, drilling an opposite-field double up the gap to plate an insurance run, and potentially helping to earn himself a boost in playing time in the future. John Franco took it from there, nailing down his 301st career save in a 1-2-3 9th inning.
The telecast also posed the following trivia question during the game: What Hall of Famer and native of Puerto Rico is (as of the date of the broadcast) the only player in Major League history to hit .350 and strikeout more than 100 times in a season?
The answer: Roberto Clemente in 1967. What's really crazy about that year is that, despite winning a batting title and leading the majors in hits, Clemente only placed 3rd for NL MVP, ranking behind a couple of Cardinals. Orlando Cepeda won it, and none other than Tim McCarver, who was calling the game for the Mets on this evening in 1996, ranked second. Shockingly, despite his massive ego, he didn't bring this anecdote up during the broadcast. It was the only time during his 21-year career McCarver received any votes for MVP. Since 1996, there have been three more players who have hit .350 and struck out 100 times in a season: Alex Rodriguez (oddly enough in 1996), Manny Ramirez (2000) and Larry Walker (2001).
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