National League Standings, April 5, 1999
METS FANS SHARE THEIR MEMORIES OF THE APRIL 5, 1999 GAME:
Michael
May 6, 2020
A dubious opening day for one of the most memorable teams in Mets history. Al Leiter was spotty on this day (and would continue to be bad until June) and the offense had a rare off game. The 99 Mets would largely dominate the Marlins, but not today.
Dave VW
April 10, 2024
I have great memories of the 1999 season, so it's surprising to see they lost in such uninspiring fashion on Opening Day. They left 14 runners on base, loaded the bases and didn't score in an inning twice, and trailed 3-0 after the first inning. Leiter labored through the afternoon, needing 124 pitches to finish 5 innings. Very disappointing.
The Mets were on the brink of having a huge first inning, with Alfonzo getting a single, Piazza hitting a ground-rule double (a pitch after fouling one off his kneecap), and Bonilla walking. That gave Robin Ventura (who hit 3 grand slams during the regular season in 1999) a chance for a grand slammer in his first at-bat as a Met, but he flew out harmlessly to center field instead. The Marlins then played small-ball in their opening inning, collecting 4 singles (though I think Ventura could have been charged with an error on a hot-shot hit to him by Derrek Lee) that led to 3 runs. In comparison, Leiter only gave up 6 first inning runs in total during the previous season.
Alex Fernandez was making his first appearance since 1997 as he missed all of 1998 recovering from a torn labrum in his shoulder. He looked pretty good, too, striking out 5 over 5 innings and only allowing a run on a Ventura sac fly in the 3rd.
Down by 4 in the 8th, the Mets brought the tying run to the plate when they loaded the bases with 1 out. Matt Franco pinch hit and lined a bullet that was caught by 2B Luis Castillo. Then Rickey Henderson tapped one to 3B Kevin Orie, who raced to the base to beat Brian McRae for the third out. The Fish tacked on another run in their half of the 8th off Turk Wendell, and Olerud got a run back with a homer in the 9th. The Mets put 2 more on via walk in the 9th but McRae flew out to end the game.
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