1999 National League Championship Series

The 1999 National League Championship Series, to determine the champion of Major League Baseball's National League, was played between the East Division Champion Atlanta Braves and the Wild Card New York Mets.

It is important to note that this matchup had seemed highly unlikely as recently as 3 days prior to the end of the season. With the Mets having muddled through a streak that saw them lose 8 of 9 games--including 5 of 6 to their division rival Braves--the Mets seemed buried, two games out of the Wildcard lead with three games to play.

Following the Mets most recent defeat in this stretch, an 11-inning loss to Atlanta at Shea Stadium, Braves third baseman Chipper Jones was quoted as saying, "Now all the Mets fans can go home and put on their Yankees stuff." Hotheaded Braves relief pitcher John Rocker was also quoted as saying he hated "The Mets and their [expletive] fans." Thinking they had buried the Mets, the Braves had closed out their season with another Division title and were poised to enter the playoffs and leave the Mets behind.

But the Mets had other thoughts on the matter. They would go on to sweep a 3-game series from the Pittsburgh Pirates to close out their season, while the Wildcard leading Cincinnati Reds lost two out of three to the Milwaukee Brewers. Following a crazy Sunday, which saw the Mets win their last game on a wild pitch and the Reds winning following a ridiculous 7-hour Rain Delay, both teams were even with records of 96-66.

The Wildcard Play-in game was held on Monday, October 4, 1999 in Cincinnati's Cinergy Field. Al Leiter would shut down the Reds completely, hurling a 2-hit shutout as the Mets raced to a 5-0 victory and their first, and most improbable, playoff berth since 1988.

In the National League Division Series, both the Mets and Braves would advance in 4 games. The Mets would defeat the Arizona Diamondbacks, with the series ending on a walk-off Home Run by seldom used backup Catcher Todd Pratt, only playing due to a thumb injury to star Catcher Mike Piazza. The Braves would vanquish the Houston Astros in 4 games themelves, with Brian Jordan and eventual National League MVP Chipper Jones leading the way. And that would set up a National League Championship Series that was unlikely, but anticipated by many.

Prior to Game 1, Mets Manager Bobby Valentine chided the Braves, saying that "They better be ready to play some ghosts, because we were dead and buried 2 weeks ago," in reference to earlier statements by Chipper Jones. When the series shifted to Shea Stadium in New York, raucous Mets fans would continually jeer Jones, chanting "LARRY!" (his given name) in derision every time he stepped to the plate. Chief jerk John Rocker also riled up fans, as he would often pretend to toss baseballs into the stands, and got into several arguments.

This series would prove to be a harbinger of many events that would shape the 2000 Baseball season. Rocker would go on to make several controversial remarks in an Sports Illustrated article. Jones, and many other members of this Braves team would continue to be heckled mercilessly at Shea Stadium, which still continues at the current time. The Mets would post a remarkable 10-run rally to defeat Atlanta 11-8 in a game they once trailed 8-1, on June 30, 2000. This victory would spur the Mets on to an appearance in the 2000 World Series.

Umpires: Ed Montague, Jeff Kellogg, Charlie Reliford, Ed Rapuano, Jerry Layne, Jerry Crawford

Television: NBC (Bob Costas and Joe Morgan announcing)

Results

== Game 1 Tuesday, October 12, 1999 ==

The Braves began their eighth consecutive NLCS with a 4-2 victory over the Mets, defeating a team they left for dead two weeks earlier. Greg Maddux tossed seven solid innings, future NLCS MVP Eddie Pérez homered and light-hitting shortstop Walt Weiss went 3-for-4 with a run scored and RBI for the Braves.

John Rocker recorded the final four outs for the save, his second of the postseason, to seal Atlanta's fourth straight win.

=Game 2=== == Wednesday, October 13, 1999

Brian Jordan and Eddie Perez hit two-run homers in the sixth inning as the Braves edged the Mets, 4-3, and took a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.

Kevin Millwood (2-0) held the Mets in check to win his second straight postseason start, allowing three runs -- two earned -- over 7 1/3 innings.

John Rocker worked out of a jam in the eighth by striking out two, but after pitching 1 1/3 innings in Game 1, manager Bobby Cox turned to Game 4 starter John Smoltz for the ninth.

=Game 3=== == Friday, October 15, 1999

Tom Glavine pitched seven shutout innings and the Braves edged the Mets, 1-0, to take a commanding three games to none lead in the NLCS.

In 1996, the Braves won the first two games of the World Series against the Yankees. In Game 3, the Yankees rallied to beat Glavine and took the series in six games. With a superb effort from its two-time Cy Young Award winner, Atlanta avoided that fate here, setting up the possibility of its fifth World Series in the 1990s with a win in Game Four.

After Mike Remlinger worked a perfect eighth, Shea Stadium villain John Rocker perfectly played the part with a scoreless ninth. After Benny Agbayani reached on an error, the animated lefthander struck out pinch-hitter Todd Pratt, got Melvin Mora on a deep fly to right-center field and Rey Ordonez on a weak force play.

The Mets faced the obstacle that no team in baseball history had ever rallied from a 3-0 deficit to win a playoff series.

=Game 4=== == Saturday, October 16, 1999

Carrying the hopes and hatred of an entire city, John Olerud finally got back at John Rocker. Olerud's two-run single off Rocker in the bottom of the eighth inning allowed the Mets to stay alive in the NLCS with a 3-2 victory over the Braves.

The Braves were four outs away from a series sweep and their fifth trip to the World Series in the 1990s when they called on Rocker, who has treated the Mets and their fans with similar disdain this season. The lefthanded closer saved five games against New York during the regular season and two in this series. During the season, he said he hated the Mets and prior to this showdown wondered how many times the Braves would have to beat them before their fans would "shut up."

=Game 5=== == Sunday, October 17, 1999

Robin Ventura's bases-loaded blast off Kevin McGlinchy with one out in the bottom of the 15th inning kept alive the Mets' season with a classic 4-3 victory over the Braves in Game 5 of the NLCS. Ventura hit a game-winning grand slam off McGlinchy (0-1) but never made it home as he was mobbed by his teammates between first and second. National League officials, in conjunction with scorer Red Foley, ruled the hit a single.

The game began shortly after 4PM with Greg Maddux pitching for Atlanta and Masato Yoshii starting for the Mets. The Mets would take an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the 1st inning as John Olerud hit his second Home Run in as many days with Rickey Henderson on first. The lead would last into the 4th inning, when Atlanta struck back with consecutive doubles by Bret Boone and Chipper Jones, eventually knotting the score at 2-2 when Brian Jordan singled home Jones. Mets Manager Bobby Valentine was immediately prompted to remove Yoshii from the game in favor of Orel Hershiser, which would begin a run on pitching changes that would result in the Mets emptying their bullpen by game's end, relying on starter Kenny Rogers and rookie Octavio Dotel for key innings, and would have gone to game 4's starter Rick Reed had the game progressed past the 15th inning. In all, the Mets would use a postseason record 9 pitchers in this game.

Although there would be several threats by both teams as the game continued long into the night, accompanied by an increasing rain which never delayed the game. Atlanta would eventually set a mark for futility, stranding a record 19 men on base over the course of the game. A most notable failure occured in the 13th inning, with 2 out and Keith Lockhart on first base and Chipper Jones at the plate. With Lockhart running, Jones laced an offering from Octavio Dotel into the right field corner. But the ball would be cut off by Melvin Mora before it reached the wall, and Mora's strong relay throw would, via Edgardo Alfonzo, cut down Lockhart at the plate and end the inning.

Pitching on his 25th birthday, local villain John Rocker would enter the game in the bottom of the 13th inning to a loud chorus of boos and several projectiles hurled in his direction. He would retire 4 batters over one and one-third innings, including a strikeout of the ailing Mike Piazza. Upon being removed from the game, Rocker mocked the Shea Stadium fans by pretending to boo, and yelled at fans sitting around the Atlanta dugout as he left the field.

The Mets' season appeared over after Keith Lockhart tripled home a run in the top of the 15th off Octavio Dotel to give the Braves a 3-2 lead. However, McGlinchy could not hold the lead. Shawon Dunston, who misplayed Lockhart's triple, atoned with a leadoff single after fouling off several pitches with a full count. With pinch-hitter Matt Franco batting, Dunston would steal second base. Franco would eventually work out a walk, which was followed by Edgardo Alfonzo selflessly laying down a sacrifice bunt to move Dunston to third. John Olerud -- whose homer in the first was now a distant memory -- was intentionally walked to load the bases.

Todd Pratt, again thrust into the spotlight with Mike Piazza nursing several injuries, hit next. McGlinchy walked Todd Pratt on five pitches and fell behind the slumping Ventura. He grooved a fastball and Ventura launched it through the steady rain and over the right-field fence.

Mets Manager Bobby Valentine would say following the game "Robin Ventura played it out on one leg all day. There were times I thought about taking him out, but he told me 'No, I'm okay, no, I can go,' and now he comes up with the winning hit, it's gotta be poetic justice. Justice indeed." Valentine was speaking in reference to a calf injury that had been bothering Ventura during the postseason, and had led to his entering this game without a hit in the series.

NBC's Bob Costas would gush on the air following Ventura's blast, "I'll tell you, these Mets are Rasputin-like. You cannot put them away. They will not die."

At the time, the game was the longest in terms of elapsed time in Postseason History, clocking in at 5 hours, 46 minutes. It was surpassed in 2004 by Game 5 of the American League Championship Series between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees, and again in 2005 in Game 4 of the National League Division Series between the Houston Astros and the Atlanta Braves.

=Game 6=== == Tuesday, October 19, 1999

If you're a Mets fan, you know how this one turned out and you don't want to talk about it.