These were my first major league games a doubleheader 2 days before my 14th birthday. I was with my dad. I'm from Louisville but was a Mets fan from day 1 of their existence. When the Mets swept my dad made the shhh sign but I walked out with a 10 foot smile.

I was at this game with a friend, enjoying a Friday night game courtesy of two free box seats I won in a company raffle. Dave Magadan hit the game-winning walk-off home run was memorable since he was not known as a power hitter. However, he turned on a fastball, and we got the win.

Watched this one recently. HoJo hit a homer off of lefty Zane Smith, a guy the Mets could never hit well. It's hard to say as a fact, but I highly doubt Johnson hit a further homer batting right-handed in his entire career. His shot this night went into the second deck in Three Rivers, he never hit his moon shots from the right side. Even more impressive was that this was a cold and brisk night and the ball generally wasn't traveling well minus that homer. As for the rest of the game, the Mets scored 6 in the 9th to win what people thought was a key early season game against Pittsburgh. By season's end, this was all but forgotten and the Mets would have immense trouble winning in Pittsburgh over these next few years.

They showed a sign in the stands during the ESPN broadcast that read "Valentine's Day Massacre." It was an allusion to the 3 coaches that were fired after the previous day's game, as pitching coach Bob Apodaca was out in favor of Dave Wallace, hitting coach Tom Robson out for Mickey Brantley, and bullpen coach Randy Niemann out for Al Jackson. All 3 who were fired were also good personal friends of Valentine, and the manager claimed to not have been involved in the hiring/firing process at all, which I found really strange (and would serve as a precursor for the growing rift in between himself and GM Steve Phillips).

However, whether it was coincidence or not, you could point to that event and this game as what helped get the Mets right in 1999. They were all over Clemens, giving him his first loss since May 29 of the previous season -- a span of 30 starts. Clemens was far from his usual dominant form during his first couple months with the Yankees, as this was actually already the second time he had allowed 7 runs in a start. He also allowed 7 runs vs. Baltimore in April, but the Yankee offense bailed him out.

Of all people, it was Bobby Bonilla who drew first blood against Roger, smacking a 2-run ground-rule double in the 2nd inning (after nearly striking out on a borderline call the previous pitch). Benny Agbayani followed with a 2-run single (with Bonilla scoring after going through a stop sign at 3rd). The second inning could have been even bigger, too, but Roger Cedeno got doubled off first when he couldn't get back to the base after an Edgardo Alfonzo pop out. If he's back safely, then the 2nd inning continues as the 3rd inning began: John Olerud singles, and Piazza follows with a home run. That really would have been epic.

Somewhat worrisome was that the Mets bats again went quiet after Clemens left, as the combination of Todd Erdos and Dan Naulty held the Mets without a hit for the final 6 innings. Thankfully, Leiter was back to his 1998 form and went 7 solid innings. Armando Benitez came in for the 8th inning and made things interesting, as he allowed an RBI double to Bernie Williams and then walked Chili Davis to bring up Tino Martinez. This was the first time Benitez and Tino faced off since the pitcher, then a member of the Orioles, infamously plunked Martinez after the Yankees had just hit a big home run, which sparked a huge brawl. But this time Benitez threw it over the plate and got Tino to fly out to end the inning.

Dennis Cook pitched the 9th and got Chuck Knoblauch to fly out to center to end the game, which meant Derek Jeter's streak of 57 consecutive games reaching base also came to an end. Jeter would have been up next if Knoblauch got on.

This win broke a streak of three straight shutout losses versus the Braves. There were also plenty of fireworks during the game, as the teams combined for 5 home runs -- 4 by Atlanta, all off Orel Hershiser. That tied the most he ever allowed in a game. Crazy thing is, over his first 15 starts in 1999, he only allowed a total of 2 home runs.

But as Michael mentioned, Alfonzo hit the biggest blast of the game, as his clutch 3-run shot in the 7th put the Mets up to stay. Smoltz was pitching with a sore elbow but was still allowed to eclipse 100 pitches by the time Alfonzo made his way to the plate in the 7th. Instead of going to the bullpen, Bobby Cox stuck with his starter and it bit him right in the butt. Adding injury to insult, Smoltz missed almost 3 weeks on the DL after this start.

This was the first time the Mets won a game in which they allowed at least 4 HRs since 1996, and 1999 marks the only year in which the Mets won 3 times while giving up at least 4 HRs in a game.

Some other things to note: Rickey Henderson recorded his only sacrifice bunt as a Met in this game, dropping one down right before Alfonzo went deep. Also, this was the official christening of Armando Benitez as the team's new closer. John Franco had just landed on the DL with a finger injury, and Benitez inherited the job and ran with it. He closed out this victory, striking out the side in the 9th in dominating fashion.

After back-to-back 20-win seasons and Cy Young Awards pitching for the Blue Jays, it was amazing how pedestrian Clemens looked in 1999. This was his 15th start of the year for the Yankees, and after this loss his ERA stood at 4.70, batters were hitting .282 against him, and he had already given up 12 home runs -- one more than he had allowed in 33 starts for Toronto the year before. Was he pitching hurt? Was he finally showing his age? Was he choking under the intense scrutiny of the Big Apple?

Whatever the case, the Mets took full advantage. They banged out 9 hits in 6 innings against him, and while Piazza's blast was certainly more monumental, Olerud's solo shot in the third was also an absolute laser beam that hit off the bottom of the scoreboard in RF. On the flipside, Leiter continued his impressive bounceback from early season struggles, tossing his 7th straight quality start -- a span during which he only gave up 1 home run. I found it a little surprising he still went out there to pitch the 8th inning having already eclipsed 100 pitches and with the 2-3-4 spots up in the Yankee order. But that shows what I know, as Leiter retired the side in order. Benitez came in for the 9th, and while he did give up a double to Scott Brosius off the wall, a walk and a wild pitch, he still struck out 2 to pick up the save.

This win improved the Mets to 22-10 since June 6, the best record in baseball. Things are really looking up.

Of all the regular season games from the 1999 season (not counting the 1-game playoff vs. Cincinnati), this is the one I can most easily recollect. Preparing for my freshman year of college that summer, I was totally invested in the Mets, watching every game I could and reading every story in the paper. I spent this game in my room watching on my 17" Samsung TV, hanging on every pitch. There were highs, there were lows, and when it was all over, I had officially earned bragging rights over my Yankee fan friends.

That 9th inning was pure magic. After Knoblauch barely gets Brian McRae out on a weak grounder to start the inning, Henderson works a walk from Rivera to reach for the 5th time on the afternoon. Then Alfonzo cranks one to dead center which Bernie Williams almost caught but he got timid around the outfield wall and allowed the ball to hit off his glove. It went as a double for Fonzie, but Henderson, who held up, only advanced to third. Olerud then hit a smash to 1B but Tino snagged it and stepped on the bag for the 2nd out, no runner advancement. The Yankees do the obvious thing next, intentionally walking Piazza to get to Melvin Mora, and the Mets do the next obvious thing which is pinch hit with Matt Franco. As an earlier commenter wrote, Franco went down in the count 0-2 and then took strike three, but the ump called it a ball. On the very next pitch, Matt lines a frozen rope to RF, scoring Henderson and Alfonzo to win it. I'm sure they probably heard my cries of victory down the block.

This is the only game in Derek Jeter's career he batted cleanup. He responded by going 0-for-4. LOL.

Also as mentioned earlier, the Yankees hit a season-high 6 HRs in the game. It was the most they hit in a game since 1990, and the most in a loss since 1950! (Look up that game from June 23, 1950, at Detroit. It's a doozy.) As for the Mets, the 6 homers allowed were the most in 1999, but believe it or not they actually allowed 7 in a game at Philly just the season prior. However, it was the first time they ever won a game allowing 6 dingers, with the only other occurrence (so far) being in 2019 at Atlanta.

This was Rivera's first ever blown save against the Mets. His next wouldn't happen until 2011. The win also snapped the Yankees streak of 124 consecutive victories when leading after 8 innings.

A few Mets players stood out in this game. David Wright and Fernando Tatis had three singles each and Cory Sullivan connected for a pair of triples, one of which drove in a run. Coming off the bench, Luis Castillo hit a tie-breaking single to put the Mets ahead to stay.

It was a rough day for the Diamondbacks' pitching and defense. The Snakes committed two errors, threw three wild pitches and even had a passed ball during the game. On each one of these six miscues, Wright either reached first or advanced to another base. This may have been the most amazing experience for David in his entire career!