Hot Foot
May 20, 2023
An instant classic. Since the Mets have only won the World Series once in my lifetime, to me, everything about that season is enhanced. To me, it's difficult to remember great individual games in seasons other than 1986. This is because if the Mets don't win the World Series, then those great individual games (from let's say 2005, 2006, 2014, or even 2022) tend to fade into the past and be forgotten more quickly. The reason I remember more games from 1986 than 2006 because most of my 2006 memories got flushed down the toilet that October in Game Seven of the NLCS, whereas the 1986 season will always stand out as a "Tiffany" season (in the spirit of the glossy version of Topps baseball cards) and the 2006 season (and every other season that did not result in a World Series win) is just a regular old common Topps set.
As of this writing, I do not know if the Mets will win the World Series this year, but if they do, this game will go down as one of the greatest games in Mets history, an all-time "Tiffany" game. However, if they falter in October, collapse in September, or lay down in August, this will just be another great game that becomes a minor positive note in an otherwise lost season.
Starting with Kodai Senga, he had Jacob deGrom-like stuff, striking out 12 in six innings, the most strikeouts by a Mets rookie since Noah Syndergaard in 2015. On this night, Senga looked like a number one starter, a mini-deGrominator (he's three inches shorter) and he left the game losing 1-0.
In the top of the 7th, Mets radio announcer Keith Raad invoked the announcer jinx when said something along the lines of the Mets are guaranteed a scoreless inning when Jeff Brigham pitches, and on the next pitch the Tampa Bay batter hit a home run against Brigham to make it 2-0.
Then the big moments. Vientos, in his first game of the year, hit a home run in the bottom of the seventh to make it 2-1.
In the bottom of the ninth, with the score 5-2 for the bad, Vogelbach and Marte got on with no out, bringing up Vientos, Baty, and Alvarez. I was sure the kids were going to do it. I wondered, can Vientos do it again?, but he flew out to center. Then Baty struck out, bringing up the man, the legend, the natural, Frankie Alvz. With two outs, Alvarez hit a three run homer, stepping up big time in the clutch to tie the game 5-5.
After Robertson uncharacteristically gave up two runs in the top of the 10th to make it 7-5, McNeil singled leading off the bottom of the tenth, putting two men on base, since the inning had started with a runner on second. After Lindor struck out, Pete Alonso came to the plate. The fans were chanting PETE ALONSO! PETE ALONSO! and on an 0-1 pitch Pete hit a three run homer that turned this game from a possible bitter loss into possibly one of the all-time great Mets wins (in the regular season).
In the Associated Press recap of the game, the writer stated:
A tying two-run homer in the seventh by Mark Vientos, brought up from the minors for his season debut, was only the third-most memorable long ball of the night.
They couldn't have been more accurate. The article also included this quote by Vientos:
“Go! Go! Go! Go!” Vientos remembered telling the ball. “Maybe it listened to me. Maybe it didn't. But who knows?”
This quote made me think, a rookie who talks to baseballs? This guy sounds like an all-star.
This thrilling game is currently in contention for one of the greatest Mets games of all time, contingent on making the postseason and winning the World Series. If they do win it all this year, then Mets fans can look back on this game and know that it all started here.
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