Michael Conforto was 20 years from being born in 1973 and thus six years old during the 1999 baseball season, so he surely and understandably has no idea of the similarities between decades-old Mets teams and the Mets for whom he currently plays.
And while he was considerably more connected to the 2015 Mets, the season-defining moment for that World Series-bound club took place during his seventh day of big league service time, so it makes sense that he’s reluctant to compare the two teams.
Sounding familiar? The Mets put a 2019 twist on the 1973 recipe by making up a similar amount of ground in faster fashion. The Mets were eight games out of a wild card spot following the games of July 25. They have gone 14-1 — their best 15-game run in 29 years — since then to move within a half-game of the second NL wild card spot.
Ventura then hit his “Grand Slam Single” well beyond drawn-in right fielder and regular Mets rival Brian Jordan. Ventura, battling a chronic knee injury, was trying to limp his way around the bases when Pratt bolted from the dugout and wrapped him in a giant bear hug. Ventura never touched second base, hence, the grand slam that was only a single.
An inning later, two outs after Todd Frazier blasted a three-run game-tying homer, Conforto launched his game-winning hit well beyond drawn-in right fielder Adam Eaton, best known in these parts for his years-long feud with Frazier that had the two arguing over mortgage payments earlier this season.
The loudest echoes on Friday night were the most recent ones. One thousand four hundred and sixty-nine days earlier, the Mets, three games out of first place and fresh off acquiring Yoenis Cespedes seconds before the trade deadline, beat the Nationals 2-1 on a 12th-inning homer by popular homegrown infielder Wilmer Flores, who tugged at his uniform as he neared home plate. The Mets swept the series, moved into first place for good following the games of Aug.
Like four years and two weeks ago, Citi Field was filled Friday night with tens of thousands of delirious fans starved for any sign of meaningful late-season baseball by a franchise that has stumbled aimlessly for far too many of the 32-plus years since its most recent championship. Until two weeks ago, the Mets seemed destined for their eighth losing season of the decade.
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