I was 14 at that time, my parents took me to the game. I remember meeting Orlando's Cepeda's parents outside before going into the stadium, because my parents know them from Puerto Rico. We stayed till the 17th inning because we (my sister and I) had school the next day. It's funny that by the time we got home in Brooklyn the game was still on.

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 for my brother's 16th birthday. I was 13. I remember the Mets PA guy urging the crowd to cheer as the triple play was completed. I also recall that as they were coming off the field Bud Harrelson did a little jump/skip like he might if they really pulled that play off (a true thespian).

It's a long time ago and maybe I'm wrong but my recollection is that for a moment they said they were going to reshoot it but then decided not to as it was good enough. Why were they going to reshoot it? At the time I noticed they screwed it up (this was the Mets) as the second baseman came off the bag early. The umpire noticed too.

In the movie they barely showed the scene so you really couldn't tell much of anything.

BTW, I remember the movie scene far more than the game itself.

I was 7 years old and my dad, a lifelong Giants fan, would take my brothers and me to the games at Candlestick Park and we would sit in the right field bleachers for 99 cents. My dad with glove on and his boys would stand in the open area in front of the bleachers behind the right field fence when a big hitter like McCovey, Mays, or Clendenon came up in hopes of catching a home run ball. I remember vividly the Clendenon home run going over the fence and the ball coming off my dad’s glove and I scampering after and retrieving it as I excitedly held it up to the crowd. My dad wrote the game score and date on it and home run Donn Clendenon. I still have the ball and a cherished memory of my dad.

Sept 13,1986: Me and my friends drove down to Philadelphia to watch the Mets clinch the division. We asked for the cheapest seats and they put us in the right field bleachers. It was full of Mets fans, it was Saturday night and everybody was rowdy. We were clapping and stomping our feet in unison as Mets nation took over Veterans stadium.

After Lenny Dykstra's lead off homer for the Mets things went downhill from there. As the game wore on are some fans started ripping large pieces of the seats right off of their foundation. Some were carelessly and dangerously throwing them around. That's when me and my friends quietly decided to go sit nearby where it wasn’t so crazy.

It was our best move of the weekend! Next thing you know the Philadelphia Police Department arrived in riot gear, along with the K-9 unit. These guys meant business. Anyone who resisted arrest was beat up by the police.

I saw one guy mouthing off to a cop about their presence in the stadium. That guy never knew what hit him after the cop took his nightstick , cross checked in the midsection and sent him falling backward down several rows of seats.

The Mets wound up Losing the game. We were just happy to escape from Philadelphia in one piece. It was one of the craziest experiences I ever had.

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.

You're not wrong in the least, straightjacket. This was the Mets 8th straight loss, their longest losing streak since August of 1996 -- during which Bobby Valentine took over managing duties for Dallas Green. This loss also dropped the Mets to under .500 for the first time since Opening Day, and the first time this deep into a season since May 9, 1997.

After the Mets built up a 3-0 lead, it all fell apart as Masato Yoshii allowed 3 runs in the 3rd, 2 more in the 4th, and one in the 5th before the bullpen held the Yankees scoreless the rest of the way. Allen Watson did a fine job in relief in what would be his second-to-last appearance as a Met. He'd get traded to Seattle, released, then signed by the Yankees a month later, and would go on to win the World Series with the Bronx Bombers. Good for him.

The Mets had a golden opportunity in the 7th, putting runners on the corners with no one out. But then John Olerud, Mike Piazza and Bobby Bonilla struck out in succession to completely take the air out of any chance of a comeback. Piazza had a particularly rough day, tying a season high with 3 strikeouts.

El Duque got the win for the Yankees. This was the game he had his famous glove toss to first when the ball got stuck in his glove after fielding a Rey Ordonez comebacker in the 2nd inning. I'm sure we all got sick of seeing those replays. Meanwhile, Yoshii got saddled with the loss. He allowed a season-high 9 hits and recorded a season-low 0 strikeouts.

But this was as low as the Mets would sink, as they'd win 15 of their next 18 games to climb out of their slump and back into the playoff picture. I'm very interested to watch the following game to pinpoint what exactly got the Mets turned back around.

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.

Mets were on their way to another brutal loss in this series against the Marlins like in the first game of their series, due to another bullpen blown save today like in the first game (this time by Wagner today), but Mets win it in the end. This would have been a BRUTAL LOSS had the Mets lost the game.

Wagner blew the save when he allowed a game-tying-home-run in the bottom of the 9th inning to Uggla, reminding you of the first game of this 4-game-series when the Mets bullpen blew that game as well against the Marlins.

Delgado also had a late clutch home run in this game. Delgado actually was hitting a lot of home runs starting in late August till this game here, that he was turning his 2007 season around.

And to make it better for the Mets, the Phillies and Padres both lost on September 23, to increase their lead on the NL East over the Phillies and increase their lead over the NL Wild Card leading Padres.

After this victory to the Marlins on September 23, the Mets have now won 3 consecutive games, and the Mets have won four of their last five games overall. It was starting to look like they wont collapse after all with just one week left.

And with the way the Mets avoided losing to the Marlins on this game September 23, one can make the argument that the Mets collapse has been reversed. I mean, just look at how the Mets lost the games against the Phillies and Nationals and Marlins starting on September 14.

So with one week left in the season, the Mets were winning lately, only had 7 games left, and they are 3 games up in the loss column over the Phillies in the NL East division. Mets were also 2 games up in the loss column over the NL Wild Card leading Padres.

And the Mets final 7 games are at Shea Stadium, and the games are against teams who will finish the season with a losing record, including 3 games against the Nationals, who had the worst offense in all of baseball in 2007. All the Mets have to do is win 3 games of these final 7 games, and postseason again.

But nightmare was what awaited the Mets in that 7-game-homestand to finish the 2007 season....

After the Marlins scored 7 runs in the top of the first, the Mets actually had many chances in the first 3 innings with many base runners to hopefully tie the game. But it was just that kind of season.

Ramon Castro almost had a grand slam in the first inning, but nope.

Mets had two runners on in the second inning, but did not score

Mets had the bases loaded in the third inning, but did not score.

Also, Glavine was not only horrible in this game against the Marlins, but Glavine was also horrible in his previous start against the Nationals on September 25. I remembered not feeling confident with Glavine starting this game 162

What many tend to forget is that had the Mets won this game 162, then the Mets-Phillies-Rockies-Brewers would have all finished tied, and they would all be involved in a mini-tournament to decide both the NL East and the NL Wild Card. But with the Mets losing, that didn’t happen, as the Phillies won the NL East after game 162, and the Rockies beat the Padres for the NL Wild Card in a game 163

If there is one thing about the Mets “era” of 2006-2007-2008 is that they ended their season on three brutal home losses

2006 = game 7 of the 2006 NLCS against the Cardinals

2007 = Game 162 against the Marlins

2008 = Game 162 against the Marlins

What was also very frustrating is that how in those 3 games above, the Mets offense just disappeared in those elimination games.

2006 NLCS game 7 = Mets scored one run

2007 game 162 = Mets scored one run

2008 game 162 = Mets scored two runs (Beltran two-run-home-run)

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!