Lost Classics: May 5, 2004

This was part of a 3-way tie for the winner of the Choose the Lost Classic for 2004 poll (Remember that? Took me long enough to get to it!).

At the beginning of the 2004 season, the New York Mets consisted of Mike Piazza, Tom Glavine and a bunch of other guys who wouldn't amount to much. Jose Reyes, the franchise future, was battling hamstring issues. The pitching staff was full of scrubs and retreads. In short, the franchise was headed nowhere fast.

Which is, more than likely, why I didn't attend my first game of the season until May 5th.

On May 5th, the Mets stood at a mediocre 11-15, in 4th place, 4 games behind whoever. It was just another one of those nondescript weekday night games I was so fond of attending. El Guapo was with me. It was a first of sorts for him. Having just moved to New York during the Winter, this was the first time he'd been to a Regular Season Mets game. His first trip to Shea, 4 years prior, produced a particularly memorable result. I reminded him, as we rode out to Shea, that not all games would turn out like that. In fact, this game would be similar in opponent only, as the Mets would take on the San Francisco Giants.

But, as it turned out, I would be wrong. This night would produce a particularly memorable result.

It was a damp Wednesday night, with a sparse crowd of 19,974 in attendance. At least that was the paid crowd. There may not have been that many people. Jae Seo, fresh off a passably marginal 2003 season, took the mound for the Mets, opposed by Jerome Williams for the Giants. Seo allowed a leadoff single to Brian Dallimore, then picked him off, before retiring J.T. Snow and Marquis Grissom to set the Giants down.

In the bottom of the first, Kaz Matsui and Todd Zeile both flied out. Mike Piazza followed.

Mike Piazza, now one of only four players remaining from the glory days of 1999 and 2000 (Joe McEwing, Al Leiter and John Franco the others; Todd Zeile was there, but he had shuffled between a few teams between then and now) was no longer the feared slugger he once was. That much was evdent. The years of Catching had begun to take their toll on Mike, and the talk was prevalent that he should move to First Base to try to prolong his career. Mike would have none of that. There was a record he was chasing. It was Carlton Fisk's record for HRs by a Catcher, 351. It would be Mike's destiny to make that record his own. His Hall of Fame ballot was certainly assured, however this record would surely make it unanimous. And he strode to the plate on this evening tied with Carlton Fisk at 351.

"Watch him break it here," I said to El Guapo.

Piazza had a habit of, more often than not, hitting a HR in my first game of the season. He'd done so in 1999, 2000 and 2001.
Mike worked the count to 3-1 against Williams, then swung and belted a long, high drive out towards the scoreboard in Right Center. Fittingly, the Piazza Zone. I could tell it off the bat, and I threw my arms up and laughed. There, finally, was the record. The icing on the cake of a brilliant career. Mike kept his date with destiny and got a long, loud standing ovation. Well deserved, and well-earned.

"Mazel Tov. Now, grab that First Baseman's mitt, Mike." I said.

The major plotline of the night now put to bed, we sat back for the rest of the game. And things would get a little wet, and a little hairy before things finally settled themselves.

The Giants tied the game in the top of the 2nd. Jeffrey Hammonds drilled a double over Mike Cameron's head in Center and Edgardo Alfonzo, who got a standing ovation of his own...however only from El Guapo and Myself, followed with a sharp single back up the middle to score Hammonds.

The Mets, however, would strike right back, with Mike Cameron drawing a walk, Danny Garcia getting hit by a pitch, and Jae Seo dropping down a brilliant bunt, directly down the 3rd base line. Jerome Williams ran over to pick it up, spun and threw to first, and threw it away. Cameron scampered home on the error to give the Mets the lead.

It was already raining in the top of the 5th, and raining pretty good when Neifi Perez led off with a double, was sacrifieced to 3rd by Williams. Ricky Bottalico took over for Seo and promptly allowed a Sacrifice Fly to Dallimore. All of a sudden, now, the game was tied 2-2, with the weather deteriorating. After the Mets went down 1-2-3 in the last of the 5th, the grounds crew was summoned and the tarp was pulled on the field. Great. Rain Delay. And this was back when an official game that was tied and called was erased. What a burn. El Guapo and I stood in the ramps discussing this. We could only imagine what was going on in the mind of Fran Healy, he who loved to repeat things over and over again in his horrible warbling voice.

"He had to break the record...TWICE!" El Guapo yelled, doing his best Fran impression. We figured he would probably say this about 20 times. "He broke the record...TWICE!"

The Rain Delay continued on for an hour and 19 minutes, and about 134 repetitions of the phrase "He had to break the record...TWICE!" before things resumed. And with the top of the 6th underway and Bottalico taking the mound, I turned to El Guapo and said, "So I guess this means that Fran will say, 'He didn't have to break the record...TWICE!'"

No, he wouldn't. But the Mets still had to win the game. And as the bullpens took over, the game rapidly moved into the later innings. Bottalico got through the 6th in order. Tyler Walker retired the Mets in the bottom half. John Franco came in in the 7th and had a typical John Franco inning, replete with a walk, a full count and a strikeout, but no runs. Felix Rodriguez got the Mets in order in the bottom half. David Weathers took over in the 8th and got the Giants without any trouble. Now, things were getting a little restless. After the Rain Delay, it was beginning to get a little late, approaching 11pm. Rodriguez started the 8th by getting Matsui to strike out. Zeile singled, but Piazza's long drive to center died at the Warning Track. Felipe Alou came out and decided he would get cute, removing Rodriguez in favor of lefty Scott Eyre, as Karim Garcia came to the plate. This was the state of the 2004 Mets: Batting Cleanup, Karim Garcia, replete with "Low Rider" as his At-Bat music. The sign of a real winner, and a winning team. But Garcia persevered, punching a single to left-center to prolong the inning. Matt Herges was summoned to get the next batter, Shane Spencer. Herges, the Giants closer, was also supposed to shore up the pitching staff of El Guapo's Fantasy Team. He instead did a fabulous job of handing the game to the Mets. First, Spencer smashed a long drive to deep left-center, banging off the front of the bleachers and bouncing back onto the field. Grissom picked up the ball and fired it back in, but it was over the fence, a 3-run HR to give the Mets a 5-2 lead. Herges then walked Jason Phillips, then gave up another HR, this one a no-doubt bomb to Mike Cameron. That was it for Herges, as an indignant Alou removed him from the game, in favor of David Aardsma. Aardsma didn't fare so well either, hitting Garcia and then giving up hits to Eric Valent and Kaz Matsui, plating another run. All of a sudden, this squeaker had turned decidedly in the Mets favor, and when Orber Moreno came in and set the Giants down quietly, the Mets had an 8-2 victory, their 3rd win in a row, and Piazza officially had his HR Record.
The Mets would go on to win the following night on an 11th inning Walk-Off HR by Piazza, a much more dramatic blast than his record breaker turned out to be. But the record is the record. And he didn't have to break it twice, and he wasn't even getting a divorce. His record of 396 HRs as a Catcher stands to remain for quite some time.

Lost Classics: July 15, 2004

This was part of a 3-way tie for the winner of the Choose the Lost Classic for 2004 poll.

In the interest of diverting attention from the current version of the Mets as they take on the Phillies in uninspired fashion, I offer the latest installment of The Ballclub's Lost Classics.

Today, I take you all the way back to a bygone era. Back to 2004, and a period of time we recently revisited just last week.

Following their sweep of the Yankees, the Mets continued to play solid baseball through to the All-Star break. At the Break, the Mets stood at 44-43, merely 2 games behind the division leading Phillies, who stood at 46-41. It would be the Phillies coming into Shea to play the Mets on this Thursday evening, July 15th, the first game after the All-Star Break.

As I've mentioned in the past, I've always been partial to the first game after the Break. It has a mini-opening day feel of sorts. I met El Guapo in Union Square as per usual, and we headed out to Shea for the game. It was a humid, cloudy Summer night, the kind of night reminiscent of the movie "Smoke," in which William Hurt, often dressed rather sharply, would sit in his small, sweltering, un-air conditioned New York apartment, wearing a Mets hat that looked all too out of place on him, and listen to the Mets game. These kinds of games, we deduced, could be referred to as "William Hurt Games," based on the opponent, the time of year, and the weather outside.

The weather being what it was, this was definitely a William Hurt Game.

It was a 7:10pm start on this evening, as Steve Trachsel took the mound for the Mets against Eric Milton for Philadelphia. We alighted to our seats, Upper deck, Section 9, Row C. The Guap and I had been to several games this season, and it seemed like, more often than not, Steve Trachsel was starting for the Mets. In actuality, it was only our 5th game of the year, but it was the 3rd time we'd seen Trachsel. The other two games were started by Jae Seo. Nonetheless, it was Trachsel starting and starting strong, zipping through the Phillies lineup in short order in the 1st, only allowing a walk to Bobby Abreu, who stole second and was stranded when Jim Thome (if you can remember that Jim Thome was actually on the Phillies—something I'd forgotten until I looked at my scorecard) struck out. In the 2nd, Trachsel was even more efficient, striking out Pat Burrell, Ricky Ledee and David Bell in order. He set down Philly in order in the 3rd and 4th as well, and appeared to be cruising along.

But Eric Milton was matching him. Through the first 3 innings, Milton didn't allow a Met to reach base at all. Neither team had a hit through 3 1/2. But the Mets finally broke through in the bottom of the 4th.

Jose Reyes, in the middle of his intermittent, injury-interrupted 2004 campaign, started off by working the count against Milton. And working the count. And fouling off pitches. And fouling off some more pitches. And working the count some more. Finally, after fouling off 6 straight 3-2 pitches, Jose poked a double, just inside the 3rd base line. Kaz Matsui followed, and it took him only 2 pitches to stroke a double of his own, past Abreu and off the wall in right, scoring Reyes with the game's first run. Piazza (starting at Catcher tonight, with Shane Spencer at 1st), Hidalgo and Floyd followed by doing very little.

In the 5th, it was the Phillies finally reaching Trachsel. After getting Burrell and Ledee, Trachsel allowed his first hit, just as the fans were beginning to get that No-Hitter murmur going, a David Bell single ground into left field. Mike Lieberthal followed with a double down the left field line, and all of a sudden, Philly had a decent threat...except that Milton was hitting next. He struck out on 4 pitches.

In the last of the 5th, the Mets would extend their lead, and Trachsel would be the one helping himself out. After Spencer led off with a groundout, Ty Wigginton hit a clean single to left. Mike Cameron, mysteriously hitting 8th in the order, followed by grounding out to Thome at 1st, with Wigginton moving up to 2nd. Trachsel was next, and Trachsel, using the trademark Pitcher's swing—Swing hard, you just might hit it!—lofted a single in front of Burrell in left, scoring Wigginton and giving the Mets a 2-0 lead.

But while Trachsel may have helped his cause at the plate, he couldn't maintain his pace on the mound. In the 6th, Trachsel got Rollins to fly out to center. Placido Polanco, however, followed by hitting a single to left. Bobby Abreu then jumped on Trachsel's first offering and launched it high and deep and out, into the bleachers in left-center for a 2-run Home Run to tie up the game. Trachsel continued to unravel after that, and very nearly cost himself the game. He would give up a single to Thome, and then, as Trachsel was apt to do when he allowed runners on base, he stalled. The game, to that point a quick affair, began to drag. You could see the infield grass grow as Trachsel stalled, and worked, and stalled, getting Burrell to pop out for the second out. But he went 3-0 on Ledee before walking him. Then, he slowed down even more in working a full count on Bell, then walking him to load the bases for Lieberthal. Finally, we'd had enough. The crowd, a hearty 36,803, had seen enough. Even Art How had seen enough. Mercifully, Trachsel was removed from the game after 5.2 innings and 110 pitches for Orber Moreno, who got Lieberthal to pound a comebacker to him for the 3rd out.

And from that point forward, the pitchers resumed their domination of the game. Milton departed after setting down the Mets in order in the 6th, allowing merely 2 runs and 4 hits over his 98 pitches. Moreno retired Philadelphia in order in the 7th. Rheal Cormier came on for Philly in the last of the 7th and got the Mets 1-2-3. Mike Stanton pitched the 8th for the Mets, and punctuated his inning with strikeouts of Abreu and Burrell.

But the Mets would mount a rally against Cormier in their half of the 8th. After Cameron flew out, Todd Zeile hit for Stanton and singled past Bell at 3rd. Joe McEwing came in to run for him, which proved to be a waste when Reyes slapped the ball back to Cormier, who wheeled and threw to 2nd in time to get McEwing, but Polanco's return throw was too late to get Reyes. Matsui then followed with a hard single to right, moving Reyes to 3rd. Mike Piazza was up, and so was the crowd. Larry Bowa, red-faced and pissed-off as always, stormed to the mound and removed Cormier in favor of Tim Worrell. Worrell came in and got Piazza to hit the ball hard, but in the air to center, not deep enough to get past Ledee, and the inning was over.

Braden Looper came on for the Mets in the 9th, as the stadium began to empty out. As this happened, a row of 4 or 5 Philly fans sitting a row or two behind us, began to make more and more noise. After retiring Ledee and Bell quickly, Mike Lieberthal came to the plate.

"COME ON, LIE-BEE, LET'S GET IT DONE!" yelled one of the Philly fans.

El Guapo and I looked at each other, dumbfounded.

"Did you hear what I heard?" he said to me.

I did.

Lieberthal drove a long double over Cameron's head in center.

"YEAH, LIE-BEE! THAT'S GETTIN' IT DONE!"

This wasn't looking good.

Chase Utley followed by poking a pinch single to left, but Floyd charged the ball quickly and threw it back in, holding Lieberthal at 3rd. Jimmy Rollins was next.

"TAKE HIM OUT, J-ROL!"

Oh boy, here we go again.

Rollins, though, hit a comebacker to Looper for the final out. After dispatching of Lie-Bee and J-Rol, I turned around and tipped my hat to the Philly fans.

Ryan Madson came on for Philly in the last of the 9th. He walked Hidalgo, and then promptly wild pitched him to 2nd. Now, we were the ones standing and rooting for a hit with Floyd at the plate. But Madson intentionally walked Floyd, and promptly struck out Spencer, got Wigginton to fly out and Cameron to hit into a weak force play.

"YEAH, MADSON! WAY TO GET IT DONE!"

I didn't like where this was going.

Earlier that year, I had been dating a girl who was also a Phillies fan. In my younger, more wily days, I wasn't so discriminating. But the relationship ended rather badly, and left a particularly poor taste in my mouth, particularly towards the Phillies. I really wanted the Mets to win this game, and the more the group of Philly fans yelled, the more my ire towards the Phillies was raised. By the time we moved to the 10th inning, I was gritting my teeth. Looper worked the 10th and retired the Phillies quickly. Madson did the same to the Mets in the bottom half. Jose Parra came on for the Mets in the 11th, and walked Burrell to lead off (despite the obnoxious "PAT THE BAT!" chants that had me tearing my hear out). But Parra settled down, striking out Ledee, getting Bell to fly to left, and getting Lie-Bee to strike out to shut the Philly fans up. As Lieberthal struck out, I rose to my feet and cheered the Mets off the field. Time to get this game over with.

Roberto Hernandez came on to pitch for Philly in the 11th, and he began by walking Piazza. Art Howe responded by sending Vance Wilson in to run for Piazza. With a thin bench, was this the right move? El Guapo didn't think so. The move threw him into a John McEnroe fit. He looked at me. "Are they serious? He can't be serious," he said. Then he stood. "YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS!" he yelled.

Hidalgo followed by flying out to center. Cliff Floyd, however, nailed the first pitch he saw right back up the middle, moving Wilson to 2nd. Shane Spencer followed, and Hernandez quickly went 3-0 on him, before throwing a fat strike that Spencer watched.

"COME ON, MADSON, LET'S GET OUT OF IT!" yelled one of the Philly fans.

"Some fans," I say to El Guapo, "They're not even aware they changed pitchers."

Hernandez, not Madson, walked Spencer on the next pitch to load the bases. Ty Wigginton stepped to the plate as the infield and outfield crept in.

"LET'S GO, ROBERTO!" yelled another fan. Someone must have noticed.

Wiggy responded by drilling a hard shot right back at Hernandez. But instead of getting his glove on the ball, Hernandez could only manage a crude kick save of the ball, letting it dribble in front of him. Mets were flying around the bases as Hernandez desperately tried to pick the ball up. El Guapo and I were screaming for Wilson to "GO! GO! GO!" Hernandez made a desperate fling of the ball towards Lie-Bee at the plate, but could only manage a weak toss that bounced to the plate, arriving just as Wilson completed his slide across home with the winning run. With that, the vitriol that I'd been building up towards the Phillies poured out, as I raised my fist and screamed some unintelligible yells, partially directed at the field, partially directed at the quickly-departing Philly fans, who said nothing as they left. The Mets poured out of the dugout and gang-tackled Wigginton at first, his 60 foot single proving just enough to provide the Mets with a 3-2 victory to kick off the second half of the season, and move them to within one game of the 1st place Phillies.

The ride home is mirthful. The train is well air conditioned, fortunate as there was no breeze to speak of, and the haze was clearly visible in the Shea lights. The William Hurt Game ended up in the Mets favor on this night, but the joy would be short lived. The Phillies would win the next two games in the series, and the Mets, whose offensive struggles had held them back to this point, would only continue, and their desperate attempt at a Pennant race would fall short. Piazza would get injured in the midst of his failed experiment as a 1st baseman within the week. His trip to the DL would result in the arrival of a much-hyped 3rd Base prospect who would turn out to become pretty good as time would go on.

Lost Classics: July 2, 2004

This was tied for the winner of the Choose the Lost Classic for 2004 Poll. I guess that means I have to write about all 3 games.

The 2004 Mets were, for the most part, a forgettable team. Led by Art Howe, the Mets featured what looked, on paper, to be a fairly formidable roster, featuring Mike Piazza, Mike Cameron, Cliff Floyd and a Japanese import playing at Shortstop, Kaz Matsui. A ballyhooed offseason acquisition, Matsui was so highly touted as a Shortstop that the Mets went so far as to move top prospect Jose Reyes to second base in order to make room for Matsui. Reyes relented, then proceeded to miss the first two and a half months of the season with a hamstring injury. Matsui homered on the first pitch he ever saw in the Major leagues, and went on to pop several more HRs, all of them leading off the game. But, for the most part, the Mets were pretty flat. But they hung tough in the NL East, and they stood merely 2 games out of first place, behind Florida and Philadelphia, when the Yankees came to Shea for the second half of the 2004 Subway Series. One weekend prior, the Mets took one of three from the Yankees in the Bronx. But the Mets didn't rate against the Yankees, it seemed. There was, in fact, such a lack of interest in the Subway Series this season, that tickets for all three games at Shea remained available up to a week prior to the game. I noticed this while looking at mets.com around that time, and immediately called El Guapo. The Guap had recently moved to New York, and jumped at the chance to go to a Subway Series game. So we snapped up a pair of Mezzanine seats for the Friday night game, July 2nd.

We would be in for one of the great surprise performances of the season.

It was a miserably humid day that Friday. We met in Union Square at around 5:15 and took the train out to Shea. The Stadium was moderately full when we arrived, close to 6pm, and fans continued to file in pretty regularly. All told, the attendance would be 55,068 for the game, impressive considering it wasn't sold out a week before. The Yankee contingent was certainly there, although, it seemed, they were mostly confined to the upper reaches of the stadium. In the Mezzanine, section 26, we were surrounded by mostly Mets fans. But where, at times, the crowd will get rowdy and nasty, tonight, for the most part, things seemed calm and harmonious, even before the game, when the rains came and delayed the start for almost 40 minutes. As the rain finally stopped and the tarp was removed, we were entertained by some horrendous singers from a Broadway Musical whose title escapes me. El Guapo and I took this opportunity to go and grab something to eat. Most of the concession stands were jammed, although we found a short line near our section. The pickings were rather slim. We each settled on the Cascarino's Pizza, which sounded like a good idea at the time. We expected a mini-pizza, like you used to be able to get at Shea. We returned to our seats and opened the box. There it was. A sorry, solitary pizza slice that appeared to be a relic from the Bobby Valentine era. It had all the consistency of a manhole cover and the box it came in probably had more flavor. "Here comes Botulism," I said, as I crunched into it. Following a discussion as to what would actually give you Botulism, we vowed never to make a similar mistake again.

Meanwhile, as the singers droned on, the fans began to get restless. "START THE GAME!" I screamed. "FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!" The fans around me laughed in agreement. Finally, at 7:52, the game began, with Steve Trachsel taking the mound for the Mets against Mike Mussina. Clearly, a mismatch, though to that point in the season, Trachsel had been outperforming the dainty Mussina, boasting an ERA nearly a point lower. Trachsel started off strong, getting Bernie Williams to pop out, and Derek Jeter, his face all banged up following his signature intangible catch against the Red Sox the previous evening, grounded out. Gary Sheffield flied to left, and Trachsel had eased through the first. So far, so good.

The Mets came out ready to attack Mussina. Jose Reyes flied out and Kaz Matsui followed by grounding out. Piazza followed with a hard single to left, in between Jeter and A-Rod. Cliff Floyd followed by ripping a hard shot deep in the gap in left center. Hideki Matsui and Bernie Williams gave it chase, and it appeared Matsui would run it down. But as soon as Matsui got a glove on it, he slammed into the wall, and dropped the ball. Piazza, running all the way, scored from first, and Floyd was on second on Matsui's error. Richard Hidalgo, brought in in a June trade with the Astros, and enjoying a short-lived hot streak, followed by drilling one well over Williams' head for an RBI double, scoring Floyd and staking the Mets to an early 2-0 lead. Shane Spencer grounded out, but the Mets had broken the ice.

It would only get better.

Trachsel would cruise through the top of the 2nd, only allowing a 2-out single to Jorge Posada. A-Rod led off the inning by getting heckled by just about everyone in the section before grounding back to Trachsel. In the Mets half of the 2nd, the Mets would continue their attack.. Eric Valent poked a rare single to right with 1 out. Trachsel sacrificed Valent over to 2nd. Reyes would follow with a ground ball towards the middle. Miguel Cairo, playing second for the Yankees, made a valiant dive to come up with it, but had no play on the speedy Reyes, as Valent advanced to 3rd. Kaz Matsui followed. After Mussina threw to first a couple of times, and missed outside on the first pitch to Matsui, Kaz swung and lifted a high fly ball out to right. In the humid air, the ball continued to carry and carry, and Sheffield chased it back until he ran out of room, and the ball landed just over the 371 sign for a 3-run HR. Now, we're talking! Now, all the Mets fans are up and making noise. That's the kind of hit we were looking for out of Kaz.

Kaz's 2-out hit put the Mets up 5-0, and put pressure on the Yankees to come back. But with the lead, Trachsel went into lockdown mode, a form that he would exhibit from time to time, but would be all too fleeting when he would need it the most. But this evening, Trachsel cruises, setting down the Yankees in order in the 3rd and 5th, and only allowing a leadoff walk to Jeter in the 4th. On the other side, Mussina settled down as well, retiring the Mets in order in the 3rd and 4th.

But in the 5th, the Mets would extend their lead. Piazza led off with a hard single to left. After Floyd struck out, Richard Hidalgo, after falling behind 0-2, got a fastball from Mussina and absolutely parked it, a no-doubt HR that sailed into the Bleachers in Left. 7-0 Mets. Now, the Mets fans are jumping and dancing and randomly high-fiving everyone, the Yankee fans are shrugging and saying, "Oh, well," and everyone's having a grand old time. Even the lone transplanted bleacher bum sitting two sections over.

Finally, in the 6th, the Yankees break through, capitalizing on some sloppy Mets defense. Kenny Lofton led off, pinch hitting for Mussina, done after allowing 7 runs and 9 hits in his 5 innings, and hit a dinky dribbler in front of the plate. But Lofton, known for his speed, busts it down the line, and when Piazza's hurried throw sails wide and into the seats, Lofton takes second on the error. Williams follows by striking out, but Trachsel then walks Jeter. Sheffield follows by ripping a line shot towards Ty Wigginton at 3rd. It has all the makings of a DP ball, but it goes right through Wigginton's legs for another error. Lofton scores, Jeter goes to 3rd and Sheffield makes it all the way to 2nd. And, even though they trail 7-1, all the Yankee fans suddenly come to life. "WIGGLE MY BALLS!" screams the Bleacher Bum. "MEATHEAD!" we fire back. Still, knowing the Yankees and their propensity to score 7 runs in the blink of an eye, there's a moment of trepidation. Rodriguez follows by flying deep to right, a long drive that carries back to the warning track before Hidalgo runs it down, but Jeter tags and scores to make the score 7-2. Trachsel, however, gets Matsui to ground out to end the inning.

5 runs doesn't seem like enough against this team. We need some more.

Bret Prinz enters for the Yankees in the 6th inning, and with 1 out, he allows a clean single right back up the box by Trachsel. After Reyes strikes out, it's Kaz Matsui up again. Kaz works a 3-0 count, before taking a strike and fouling off a pitch. On 3-2, Kaz swings and blasts another drive, deep and high and out, and, unlike his first HR, there was no doubt about this one as it sails into the Mets bullpen.

There's those runs we needed. The fans are delirious. Cliff Floyd and Mike Cameron need to show Kaz how to take a curtain call, which he takes. A salute to an unlikely Subway Series hero.

With their 7-run lead back, the rest of the game seems more or less academic. Trachsel eases through the 7th, then departs. The Mets add two more runs in the 7th off Prinz, courtesy of a 2-out rally started by a Shane Spencer single, a long Ty Wigginton double to deep center, and a triple from Valent that very nearly goes out of the ballpark before bouncing around the Left Field corner. The Yankee fans give up and depart with an 11-2 score. Most of the Mets fans, and just about everyone in our section stick around, enjoying a rare moment when the Mets and their fans can sit back, relax and enjoy kicking the Yankees' asses. Williams, Jeter, Sheffield and Hideki Matsui are all pulled from the game in the 8th, and Jose Parra and Orber Moreno combine to keep the Yankees at bay in the 8th and 9th, Moreno finishing the game off with a strikeout of Miguel Cairo. We go home full of mirth and merriment, kicking off the Subway Series with a rousing 11-2 victory.

Late that night, El Guapo receives a phone call from Shirts vs. Blouses, who at the time was living in San Francisco. He's out drinking at around 10pm. El Guapo, in New York, is asleep at 1am. El Guapo answers his phone. "KAZ MATSUI!!! KAZ MATSUI!!!" Shirts screams.

The Mets will go on to beat the Yankees again on Saturday and close out their first ever sweep of the Yankees with a victory on Sunday. It's not only the first time they've swept the Yankees, it's the first time they've taken the season series from the Yanks. But although the mojo of this series carries them for a few weeks, ultimately the Mets weaknesses will be exposed after several questionable deadline deals are made. Pitching is brought in, when the Mets sit near the top of the league in ERA, and close to the bottom in offense. Reyes will get injured again, Matsui will struggle both offensively and defensively, and Hidalgo will eventually come back to earth.

But it can't take away the magic of this Friday night, where the Mets asserted themselves and kick started a glorious weekend for us all.