MATT CAMPBELL/AFP/Getty Images
This swing produced the most memorable regular-season home run in Mets history.This is the second in a series of Top 10 lists we’ll be generating on the Mets this month. Last week, with the Gold Glove Awards upon us, we went through the 10 greatest defensive players in Mets history [Part 1 | Part 2]. Our next look is at the Mets' most notable home runs.
Five years ago, I embarked on trying to rank the most memorable Mets home runs and came up with a list that I shared with family and friends.
That list hasn’t changed much, but it seemed like a good idea to share it with a wider audience. We’ll do regular-season round-trippers Tuesday, postseason ones Wednesday.
Lists like these tend to be very personal. If you have other regular-season homers you wish to bring up, share them in the comments section.
10. Marlon Anderson and Cliff Floyd, 2005 vs. Angels
This was a notable win in the transition that moved the Mets from the subpar seasons of 2002 to 2004 to the postseason-contending teams of 2005 to 2008.
Richard Simon
A bird's-eye view of Cliff Floyd's home run.The Mets would tie this thriller with the Angels in the ninth inning, when Steve Finley kicked Marlon Anderson's ball away, turning it into an inside-the-park home run.
They would win it in the 10th when Cliff Floyd, who had a potential homer go just foul earlier in the at-bat, hit the ninth pitch of his turn over the right-center-field fence for a game-winning, come-from-behind three-run home run.
This win may not make most people's top 10 lists, but I wanted to include a couple with personal significance. In this case, this is a game I often look back on as a reminder of why you stick out a baseball game until the last out, because you just may see something you've never seen before -- and that you'll never see again.
Just looking at that photo brings that back for me.
9. Steve Henderson, 1980 vs. Giants
Before Cliff Floyd, there was Steve Henderson.
Any time I talk to a Mets fan old enough to have watched this game, one in which the Mets rallied for five runs in the ninth inning to beat the Giants 7-6, they remember it vividly. As does Henderson (and his wife) whom I’ve interviewed about it in past endeavors.
HendersonThe 1980 Mets were a team that provided a lot of people with hope, even in a season in which they finished 67-95, because of how they won games.
This was the best of those wins, a rally from four runs down in the ninth inning, capped by Henderson’s first home run of the season, a three-run walk-off shot with two outs.
It was the perfect end to a day in which Henderson bought his future wife an engagement ring. These Mets didn’t quite live happily ever after, but at least for one remarkable night (as the slogan for that year went), The Magic was Back.
8. Edgardo Alfonzo, 1999 vs. Reds
Mets fans held their breath for the final weeks of the 1999 season, when the team roller-coastered to the finish, rallying from two games out with three to play to force a one-game playoff with the Reds in Cincinnati.
And they could finally exhale after the first inning when Edgardo Alfonzo made a statement with a two-run home run to straightaway center field. The Mets would cruise to a 5-0 win behind Al Leiter to make the playoffs for the first time since 1988.
7. Tommie Agee, 1969 vs. Cubs
Tommie Agee’s 1969 highlight reel is a long one, culminating with the catches he made in Game 3 of the 1969 World Series.
But to get to that point, the Mets needed to win games like this, a 3-2 victory over the Cubs in which Agee was a one-man show.
After getting brushed back twice in the first inning, he’d homer in the third inning. He also snapped a 2-2 tie by scoring on a very close play at the plate later in the game.
6. Ron Swoboda, 1969 vs. Cardinals
Mets fans can thank Ralph Kiner for his influence on Ron Swoboda, who hit two home runs against Steve Carlton in a 4-3 win a week after Agee’s big game against the Cubs. Swoboda would credit Kiner’s hitting tips for helping in the book “A Magic Summer” by Stanley Cohen.
Those home runs were significant considering how feeble the Mets' hitters were that night. Carlton would finish with 19 strikeouts ... and a hard-luck loss.
5. Mike Piazza, 2000 vs. Braves
One of the most remarkable wins in Mets history was this June 30 triumph against the Braves, in which the Mets came back from 8-1 down in the eighth inning.
An atypical win deserved an atypical Piazza go-ahead home run, a screaming line drive down the left-field line, rather than the towering shots that epitomized his Mets tenure. But in terms of significance, few home runs in Mets history have been bigger.
4. Tommie Agee, 1969 vs. Giants
A few years ago, former Giants pitcher Juan Marichal was at ESPN, talking about his dominance over the Mets. But a couple of memories stood out, most notably an Agee 14th-inning home run that snapped a scoreless tie and gave the Mets another memorable win on the path to a World Series title.
“I can still see it today,” Marichal said wistfully.
3. Gary Carter, 1985 vs. Cardinals
This was a day of pain and pleasure for Mets fans, but there was much more of the latter, especially for Mets catcher Gary Carter, who was twice plunked by pitches in his Mets debut, one he ended with a walk-off home run against Cardinals reliever (and former Met) Neil Allen. It started a love affair with Kid that continues to this day.
2. Darryl Strawberry, 1985 vs. Cardinals
When you hear of a player really "clocking" a home run, remind them that the literal definition of that was experienced by Darryl Strawberry in the final days of the 1985 season.
Strawberry snapped a scoreless tie with an 11th-inning homer against Cardinals reliever Ken Dayley. But this was no ordinary home run. It was a moonshot off a hanging curveball that hit a clock way, way up in the right-field stands at Busch Stadium. The Mets were 1-0 winners and the clock had not yet struck midnight on their pennant hopes.
1. Mike Piazza, 2001 vs. Braves
Hopefully you won’t object if I close this with a personal reminiscence. I remember being really nervous about going to the ballpark for this game, the first baseball game back in New York since the World Trade Center attacks on Sept. 11. But looking back, I'm really glad that I was at Shea Stadium that night. It was important to be a part of the moment.
Afterward, I remember telling my family that while the night was very dramatic and touching, I thought Liza Minnelli's rendition of “New York, New York” was a bit over-the-top.
My family explained to me that Minnelli had to do it that way, because that was her style. It wouldn't have been right to do it any other way.
Just like it wouldn't have been right for the Mets to have won any other way than they did -- in come-from-behind fashion on a home run in the eighth by Piazza, best described as over-the-top.
Coming Wednesday: Mets' 10 most memorable postseason home runs.
Honorable Mentions
Tim Harkness, 1963 vs. Cubs: The first “famous” HR in Mets history; walk-off grand slam in 14th
Johnny Lewis, 1965 vs. Reds: Broke up a no-hitter with go-ahead HR ... in 11th inning!
Willie Mays, 1972 vs. Giants: Game-winning HR in first game with Mets after being traded by SF
Howard Johnson, 1986 vs. Cardinals: Tying HR in ninth in eventual “statement” win for Mets early in season.
Carl Everett, 1997 vs. Expos: Tying grand slam in ninth helped rally from 6-0 deficit
