Congratulations to the five Faith and Fear in Flushing readers who each won a copy of Baseball’s Greatest Games: 1986 World Series Game 6 from A&E Home Entertainment in association with MLB Productions. These five industrious fellows answered a quiz issued last Tuesday to coincide with the 25th anniversary of what was then indisputably the greatest World Series Game Six ever and, recent events notwithstanding, is still the greatest World Series Game Six ever (let Cardinal blogs blow the trumpets on behalf of the 2011 version, we’ll take Mookie and Buckner for eternity, thank you very much).
Our five winners came from five different states, which shows Metsopotamia spreads out far and wide: Tim Lowell of Texas, Matt Edwards of Connecticut, Anthony Liguori of North Carolina, David Hurwitz of New Jersey and Andre Tessier of good old Long Island, New York.
As for our 18 answers, since I was inspired by Game Five’s pitchers of record, both of them former Mets, I came up with the quiz theme on the fly and thus probably could have done a better job tightening the questions. A couple of times what seemed like wrong guesses were, in fact, perfectly accurate, just not what I was thinking. But since I couldn’t rightly say, “That’s right but it’s not what I was thinking,” the judges were compelled to be generous in their interpretations. Plus I could have been a little more careful with my stat-checking, which explains the two crossouts below…and I probably should have said, “Don’t use any answer more than once.”
So with that…
1) I’m the Original Met who became the first former Met to win a World Series game. Who am I?
Roger Craig, 1964 Cardinals.
2) I’m the Original Met who became the second third former Met to lose a World Series game. Who am I?
Bob L. Miller, 1971 Pirates.
3) I wasn’t an Original Met, but I was traded for one and wound up losing a World Series game the very same year that trade was made. Who am I?
Jack Lamabe, 1967 Cardinals, traded for Al Jackson.
4) I was a Met during three seasons when the Mets lost a combined 290 games, but don’t blame me: I lost only one two FOUR of them. I eventually hooked up with a world champion, but I lost a World Series game for them. Who am I?
Juan Berenguer, 1987 Twins; 1978-1980 Mets.
5) I pitched for the 1969 Mets, but my first World Series decision — a loss — occurred in the 1970s. Who am I?
Bob Johnson, 1971 Pirates.
6) I lost two games in the same World Series when I was a former Met, yet I’m pretty sure even those Mets fans who rooted for me when I had been a Met didn’t mind. Who am I?
Calvin Schiraldi, 1986 Red Sox (whose first loss just happened to be the game celebrated on the prize DVD).
7) I’m a former Met who lost two games in the same World Series in New York, but I couldn’t say for sure how most Mets fans felt about it since most Mets fans probably weren’t too happy about anything during that World Series. Who am I?
Pedro Martinez, 2009 Phillies.
8) I’m the only former Met to win a game and lose a game in the same World Series as a starter. Who am I?
Kevin Tapani, 1991 Twins.
9) I’m the only former Met to win a game in two different World Series. Who am I?
David Cone, 1996 and 1999 Yankees.
10) I’m the only former Met to lose a game in two different World Series. Who am I?
Alejandro Peña, 1991 and 1995 Braves.
11) I was traded to the Mets for the pitcher who would become the only former Met to lose a game in two different World Series. But my luck was better: I won a World Series game as a former Met. Who am I?
Tony Castillo, 1993 Blue Jays.
12) I’m the former Met who nailed down a playoff spot for my team by throwing the final pitch of our clincher at Shea Stadium. More than a decade later, however, I lost a World Series game. Who am I?
Jeff Reardon, 1992 Braves (eleven years after clinching the Expos’ second-season title at Shea in 1981).
13) I won the longest postseason game ever played at Shea Stadium, but more than a decade later, I lost a regulation World Series game. Who am I?
Octavio Dotel, 2011 Cardinals. (He was in the headline, so I figured this was kind of a gimme.)
14) I’m the only former Met to lose a World Series game in the same postseason in which I had earlier pitched against the Mets. Who am I?
Mike Remlinger, 1999 Braves.
15) I’m the only former Met to win a World Series game who also threw the final pitch for the Mets in a different postseason. Who am I?
Kenny Rogers, 2006 Tigers, better known to us as the man who threw the final, ill-fated pitch for bases-loaded ball four to end the 1999 NLCS unfavorably. (But I had to accept Rick Aguilera because he threw the final pitch for the Mets in the 1988 postseason…which caught me by surprise when it was pointed out to me, but facts is facts, he said ungramatically.)
16) I’m the only lefty former Met pitcher to win a game and lose a game in the same World Series. Who am I?
Tug McGraw, 1980 Phillies.
17) I was once a teammate of a former Mets pitcher who had won his only World Series ring when he was a Met. During my tenure as a former Mets pitcher myself, I won a game that gave that same former Mets pitcher with whom I was once a teammate a pretty good chance to win another World Series ring. Who am I?
Darren Oliver, 2011 Rangers. (I thought this would also be a gimme considering his name was in the headline and his relationship to 1969 World Champion Met Nolan Ryan — his teammate on the 1993 Rangers, his club’s owner during this year’s Fall Classic — was all but spelled out, but I had to accept Kevin Tapani as answer because he fit the description to a tee, having been Rick Aguilera’s teammate on the 1991 Twins when Aggie had only one World Series ring to his credit. By the way, Nolan Ryan still has only one World Series ring.)
18) I’m the only former righty Met pitcher to win a game and lose a game in relief in the same World Series. Who am I?
Rick Aguilera, 1991 Twins. (And the winner of the game celebrated on the prize DVD.)
I’d like to thank all those who made this day necessary