Comments on: A Beautiful Ride

By: Identity Issues « Faith and Fear in Flushing

Identity Issues « Faith and Fear in Flushing — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 11:51:03 +0000

[...] dramatic series ever (television series, I should clarify; my favorite dramatic series ever was the ‘99 NLCS), Six Feet Under, was entitled “Static”. Why static? Take this exchange between Claire, [...]

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 20:48:43 +0000

A week late, but: *SWOON*

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 10:41:44 +0000

Thanks for sharing your story, though I have to admit I was kind of hoping it involved a birth and a baby of either sex named Melvin.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 05:30:42 +0000

Thanks for your summary of this game. I listened to many games that season from California in the early days of internet streaming and I knew the team quite well. I was very homesick for New York and nothing made me feel better that to hear Bob Murphy's voice come through my computer speaker. I hope you'll indulge me to tell my tale of that night for me.
I was 8.5 months pregnant when this game was played. I must have been exhausted to start that day from watching the game the night before but I also had tickets to see Sting that night in Berkeley. I set the VCR to tape in EP mode and had batteries for my walkman. When the Mets gave up the 5 runs to start the game I just gave up. I was done. I didn't listen to the game on the way there and didn't look for the score on the way home.
We got home after the show (~11PM PT maybe) and I was extremely exhausted. I went straight to bed, told my husband not to tell me the score if he found out. Well, my husband (who is not a baseball fan) must have turned on the TV and found the game still on. He came in to tell me the score was tied and I just yelled at him…something to the extent of “How dare you tease me. The game can't still be going. I'm exhausted and I told you i didn't want to know!” I was really exhausted because I fell asleep after that.
I got up the next morning and turned on Sports Center and they were showing Rodgers walk to end the game. I grabbed my breakfast and rewound the tape and watched the whole thing unfold before work. It was quite surreal.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 23:04:22 +0000

You make some interesting points, Munson, a few of which I'm planning on addressing in a future piece. I agree the Mets left the Braves' tank empty for what followed that October. There's no guarantee the Braves wouldn't have done the same to the Mets had it gone seven games and the way I wanted it to. It's all a great big hypothetical, I suppose.
The '99 Mets were indeed streaky and not a little bit schizo. And it surely helps to have a dependable closer.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 21:11:33 +0000

First off, and most importantly, I love this post. It's brilliant, poignant, and inspiring.
I don't want to draw a mustache on a masterpiece here, but… no way would the '99 Mets have beaten my Yankees. I promise you, I'm not some over-entitled asshole Yankees fan (OK, maybe somewhat), but I don't see how a team that ultimately couldn't beat Atlanta would ever have touched a team that SWEPT those same Braves— and almost effortlessly.(Truth be told, the Mets did soften the Braves up for the Series — Cox's boys had nothing left.)
I do think the 99 Mets were a terrific club, and actually better than the one that advanced to the Series the next season. But I'll say only this: Johnny Franco and Armando Benittez wilted when they could've closed out the Greatest Comeback in Baseball History; they'd have done the same against the Yankees. And you can bet Mighty Mo wouldn't have wilted.
One thing about the 99 Mets, though. Your wonderful post celebrates the team's heart and persistence, but, really, weren't they just an outrageously streaky team? Was it heart that caused them to collapse at the end of the regular season, only to revive their fortunes at the 11th hour against a really weak Pitt. club? And what explains the way they wilted in the first three games vs Atlanta? Did they have heart, or bipolar disorder?
I understand on some level why you're not angry that they ultimately lost, but you know what? It would've been so much more inspiring, and such an outrageous triumph, if they'd held on to win Game Six. Is there a human on the planet who thinks they wouldn't have won the Seventh Game?
Just ask fans of my hated rival how they'd have felt had the Sawx taken my Yankees to the 11th inning of Game Six in 04 before expiring. I don't know if they'd have found much solace in that, really. Maybe some of the literary types up in Cambridge would've found some poetry in it. But it was so much for satisfying for them to get to Game Seven, where Damon could get that grand slam off of Vasquez and shock the baseball world.
I think there was a better ending to the story of the 99 Mets.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 00:03:28 +0000

I appreciate it, Growler. Thinking about the '99 Mets is one of the things we do here.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 22:20:49 +0000

I read this epic post during Game 1 of the Series. Which made having the Series on somewhat tolerable. And you managed to put into words something I long felt but never really thought about enough to say. That is, yeah, I could never hate the '99 Mets, and I never felt bad about them. In fact, it's probably the last Met team I truly and fully loved, and Games 4, 5 and 6 of that series were miracles and gifts that I knew enough to cherish at the time. And felt no anger or grief when the run ended.
Beautiful post. Thanks for it.