A Playoff Series for the Ages....

[Folderol]

Starting with 2003 rosters, NY Mets. Yes, I am a sucker for punishment.

Over the decade I have come close, made the playoffs three times, crumbled in the final week of the season twice to lose a playoff slot to the hated Philadelphia Phillies.

It's 2009. 2008 was the year of the second late-season collapse, so the taste of bitter disappointment lingers, even into the late summer. I have what I consider a great off season, with two good free agent pick-ups, several strong returning players, and even a few high quality draft picks.

2009 turns out even better than I suspected, cruising to an easy pennant, 15 games over the wild card Philadelphia Phillies. After both teams dispatched their first round opponents in short order, it was time for the showdown.

Philadelphia is lead by a still-dominant Pedro Martinez. At 37, Pedro still carries a 5 gold star rating; he sets the new NL league record for K's this year with 247; he goes 15-11 with a 3.21 era (good for second overall in the NL). Pedro anchors one of the top starting 5's in the game, with Tomokazu Ohka, Denny Thole, R.A. Dickey, and Carlos Silva all with double-digit win totals. To make matters worse, late-season call-up Calixto Cuesta goes 6-0, to actually give the Phils SIX solid starters in the post-season. On top of that, closer Steve Colyer (4-3, 2.44, 44 saves) leads the majors in saves.

No slouch at the plate either, the Phils sport 5 players with 20+ home runs, and all eight starting position players hit over .288 for the year.

The Mets are a tough team to beat. Winning 111 games this season, they are solid in the field and at the plate. Paul Dixon (13-4, 2.62) leads a strong starting rotation that includes Mark Prior (15-7, 3.81); Barry Zito (15-5, 4.97); Peter Gerstner (21-6, 3.87), and the surprise 5th starter Mike Bynum, picked up as a free agent and signed to a minor league contract late in 2008 to bolster an injury riddled starting rotation. Never having won more than 2 games a season in his career, Bynum blew up in 2009, shocking everyone by going 15-3 with a 3.66 era.

In the field, 1B Bill Caudillo and John Monti split the duties, with Caudillo batting .360-15-78 and Monti putting up solid numbers of .313-5-41. 2B Edgar Meisner (.328-11-62); 3B Carlos Guillen (.346-6-49); SS Cesar Izturis (.326-11-78); LF Adam Piatt (.300-17-94); CF Carlos Beltran (.312-44-130); RF Joseph Ellis (.291-35-124); C Victor Martinez (.312-17-92), and a better-than-solid bench contributed to the Mets' landmark season.

Although a season ending injury to hot C prospect Patricio "Ghost" Cisco (who contended for the ROY in 2008, going .315-9-66 in his first full season) two weeks into the season and a 5 week DL stint for staff ace Dixon cast a shadow over the first 2 months of the year, the Mets cruised to their first division title after three previous wild card visits.

As the two NL East titans faced off in the championship series, it was quickly evident that, despite a 15 game difference in the standings during the regular season, all bets were off and this seven game set put both teams back to square one. Game 1 featured what should have been a pitchers duel, with Pedro taking the mound for the Phils and 21 game winner Peter Gerstner taking the ball for the Mets. Fate, and the Phils, had other plans, beating the Mets easily at Shea, 7-1. Pedro was on, holding the powerful Mets lineup to one run on three hits over 7 innings.

Game 1 served as a wakeup call of sorts for the possibly complacent New York squad. Putting staff ace Paul Dixon on the mound for Game Two, facing the Phils Ohka, the Mets wanted to put this one away early, and did; they knocked Ohka out of the box after three innings, scoring 5 runs off him and then facing off against hot-shot rookie hurler Calixto Cuesto, who faired no better; by the end of four, the Mets held a comfortable 11-0 lead, eventually coasting home with a 13-4 win, evening up the series. Carlos Beltran was the big story in this one, hitting 3 round-trippers and driving in five.

Game 3 brought the series to the City of Brotherly Love, but there would be no love offered the hated New York Mets this night. The Phils roughed up Mark Prior early, eventually winning 6-4 and giving them a 2-1 series lead. Game 4 seemed an uneven matchup, bringing back Pedro Martinez for the Phils against surprise Mets hurler Mike Bynum; in actuality, it was more of a mismatch than one might think, with the Phils scoring five in the first and never looking back; Pedro was his usual overwhelming self, bringing his record to 3-0 in the playoffs as the Phils glided to a 14-6 win and a commanding 3-1 series lead with game 5 being held at home.

Game 5 pitted Barry Zito, uneven during the season but bouyed by strong run support, against Tomokazu Ohka, determined to clinch things and make up for the shelling he took in Game 2. This was not to be, as Zito was excellent, pitching six strong innings and giving up one run on 3 hits, striking out 8. Ohka was shelled again (in all fairness, so were relievers Juan Narvaez and Geoff Geary), and the Mets exended their playoff lives by crushing the Phillies at home, 9-1. After a much needed day off for both teams, the series returned to Shea.

What happened next elevated this series to legendary status.

For Game 6, the Mets would again bring 21-game winner Peter Gerstner to the mound in hopes of earning the Mets a Game 7. The Phillies, looking for a fresh arm, brought in 27 year old right-hander Denny Thole to shut the Mets down.

Thole, a first round draft pick for the Pirates in 2004, had been plagued with injuries throughout his minor league career, finally sticking with the Phils in 2008. He pitched well in his rookie season, going 12-5 with a solid 4.39 era and, more importantly to the Phils this night, had pitched well in the 2008 post-season, going 1-1 with a 3.38 era in three post-season starts.

Gerstner, also a first round draft pick (for Los Angeles in 2005) had had a different route coming up through the minors. His ascent was swift, catching an impressive cup of coffee with the Mets in 2006, and earning a spot in the starting rotation with New York in 2007. He posted records of 1-0, 10-5, 16-7 , and an outstanding 21-6 in 2009. But the Phils had rocked him hard in Game 1, and Gerstner was out to show that he could handle the playoff pressure that seemed to magnify in that pressure cooker known as the Big Apple.

Truth be told, both pitchers felt they had a lot to prove this night. As it turned out, both men showed the baseball world exactly what they were made of.

On a beautiful October night at Shea, with a gentle breeze blowing in from right and the moon hanging over the left-field wall like an eager fan, the baseball world watched in awe as two young hurlers baffled two strong veteran line-ups. Both pitchers threw no-hitters through four innings, with the Mets finally breaking through with a bloop single by Carlos Beltran in the 5th and a wasted double by Bill Caudillo in the 6th. Gerstner, on the other hand, was keeping the Phils lineup totally in check, surrendering a lead-off walk to start the game to Ramon Vazquez, and another to Jason Giambi in the third. Neither man, neither team, was willing to give an inch, with stellar plays by both teams in the field on several occasions to keep the game knotted at zero into the 7th inning.

After 7, neither pitcher was showing signs of tiring. The Mets with two hits, the Phils with none, the Mets came to bat in the bottom of the 7th knowing that their World Series hopes may well rest on a bunt, a stolen base, a wild pitch, on anything. Stepping to the plate to lead off the bottom of the seventh inning was Mets rookie left-fielder Percy Cothran. The 22 year-old Cothran had impressed management and fans alike with electrifying play in the field, and a consistent (and timely) bat. A September call-up for Detroit the previous year, he availed himself well, hitting .328 with 5 home runs and 20 runs batted in in only 64 at bats. Acquired in the off-season with Mark Prior and Carlos Guillen from the Tigers in what has to be considered the steal of the decade, Cothran was brought in to help address the wafer-thin Mets outfield. Called on to platoon all three outfield positions, the man who would probably be a starter on 25 other major league teams still shone, batting .319 with 10 home runs and 54 runs batted in 207 at bats.

It would be Cothran, then, who would break the stalemate this night, and on Tholes' third pitch of the seventh inning, Cothran arced a low fastball high over the left field wall and the Mets were on the scoreboard. Thole hung his head low as the rookie rounded the bases, as the Shea faithful bathed them both in cheers and applause. He had no reason to; he had pitched better this night, would continue to pitch better, than any other pitcher on any other playoff team this post-season.

Except for one.

With the Mets on the scoreboard, the lead so slim as to be nearly invisible, Peter Gerstner took to the mound in the eighth inning. He had given up no hits, only two walks, had been nearly perfect. He had relied far less than Thole on exceptional fielding to keep his gem intact and his team in the World Series hunt, and now six men stood between him and immortality.

Phils catcher Doug Mirabelli would lead off the top of the eighth, and in short order he had earned himself a 5 pitch walk. The Mets crowd stirred, but the Mets bullpen remained quiet. The Mets, then, would rise or fall on the arm of this young man from the quiet Adirondack town of Schroon Lake, New York.

At this point the Phils sent Austin Kearns to pinch hit for Denny Thole. After a near wild-pitch, saved by a scrambling Victor Martinez, Kearns popped up harmlessly to first base. Second baseman Vazquez would then ground out to first, moving Mirabelli to second. Phils center fielder Jason Lane would then fly out to deep center, ending the inning and increasing the tension tenfold in the blue and orange haven known as Shea Stadium.

The Mets went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the eighth, and no one was surprised to see an evidently weary, yet strangely calm Gerstner trudge out to the mound to face three more batters (if the Mets season were to continue).

Gerstner again walked the leadoff batter, Jason Giambi, who was promptly pulled for a pinch runner.

Still, no action in the Mets pen.

Left Fielder Jason Michaels then strikes out on a vicious slider on 3-2, and suddenly you knew: there was no way Gerstner or the Mets would be denied this night. Not by the Phils, not by the '27 Yankees, not by anyone in any era. The crowd sensed it too, tempering the growing hysteria with the desire to not rattle their young star pitcher. It was an odd balance, but somehow 46,546 fans managed to strike it.

Right fielder Craig Wilson then grounded out to second, holding the runner at first.

Third baseman Mark Bellhorn then strode to the plate. In a situation where you know you have no chance, rarely do you see a professional athlete show that desperation on their faces as they go about their jobs, and Bellhorn, a consummate professional with twelve years in the bigs, never looked anything less than determined, resilient, confident.

Right down to strike three.

We've all seen the highlights, Peter Gerstner collapsing to his knees on the mound as players and fans alike swarmed the field, as New York City cops tried desperately to hold back the tide of humanity, while at the same time resisting the urge to become part of that same tide.

For the first time since Don Larsen, a no-hitter had been thrown in a post-season game. For the Mets, there would be another tomorrow.

Game 7, believe it or not, would prove to be just as riveting.

[JDOldSchool]

You had BETTER post results of game 7...

[Folderol]

Originally Posted by JDOldSchool

You had BETTER post results of game 7...

Sorry, I don't have it in me to do the whole SI treatment to game 7 - Mets won in ANOTHER 1-0 game, this time scoring a run with 2 outs in the bottom of the ninth to move on to the World Series, where they had a fairly easy time beating the Twins 4 games to 2. Dixon had the complete game victory.

The Mets are now 26-5 at the start of 2010.

Folderol!

[JDOldSchool]

Originally Posted by Folderol

Sorry, I don't have it in me to do the whole SI treatment to game 7 - Mets won in ANOTHER 1-0 game, this time scoring a run with 2 outs in the bottom of the ninth to move on to the World Series, where they had a fairly easy time beating the Twins 4 games to 2. Dixon had the complete game victory.

The Mets are now 26-5 at the start of 2010.

Folderol!

How anticlimactic...

[Folderol]

I know, I know....from now on, I will have to make the effort to complete the task in the manner I started it - I would have liked to write that whoel thing out as a "sports story"; but hell, the first one took me an hour and I had work to do

Folderol!

[Cooker]

Nicely done, Folderol!! You put into words some of the drama and emotion that we all feel whenever one of our OOTP teams plays a memorable and decisive playoff game, and wins.

If you do decide to write up game 7, I assure you that many of us will enjoy reading it!!

[smeyers003]

That is similar to one of my playoff series where I lost Game 7 of the NLCS despite having a no-hitter. It really sucked.

[Vezna31]

I don't think it will ever matter what league they are in, the Fightins' never win