Mets Most Memorable Regular Season Home Runs
By Billy Heller
There are almost no words left for that season-saving Francisco Lindor blast on Monday. For me, Tug McGraw’s “You Gotta Believe” turned into “I Can’t Even Believe It.” I knew the hit was immediately part of Mets history with the likes of Pizza’s post-9/11 homer and Wilmer Flores’ post-tears classic against the Nationals. But I wondered what other regular-season home runs over the years would be close. Here are 10 Mets shots to consider and argue about for all you angst-filled Mets fans out there.
10) KAZ MATSUI, April 20, 2006 — Japanese import Matsui was certainly not known for his power. But remarkably, he hit home runs in his first at-bat of the season for three straight years. His third homer was an inside-the-parker at San Diego’s Petco Park off Jake Peavy. Left fielder Brian Giles retrieved the ball off the fence and fired it to the cutoff man, who got it home quickly, but Padres catcher Mike Piazza (really!) couldn’t hold the ball. Matsui hit seven homers for the Mets in 2004, three in 2005, and one in 2006 before he was traded to Colorado, where he hit two more.
9) JOE CHRISTOPHER, May 31, 1964 — Just another day at Shea Stadium, with a crowd of 57,037 for a doubleheader vs. the Giants a couple of months into Shea’s first season as the Mets new home. After a 5-3 loss in game 1, left fielder Joe Christopher tied the second game at 6-6 apiece with a homer in the seventh. No one scored till 16 innings later, when the Giants finally wound up with a sweep of the Mets in 23 innings. The first game began at 1:05 p.m.. The second game ended at 11:25 p.m. Thank you, Joe.
8) BENNY AGBAYANI, March 30, 2000 — Pinch hitting for reliever Dennis Cook in the top of the 11th of the second game of the season, Agbayani launched a grand slam over the center field fence at Japan’s Tokyo Dome to beat the Cubs 5-1. When he reached home plate, Mr. Met gave a stuffed animal to the slugger to throw into the crowd (apparently a custom in Japanese baseball). Agbayani was named MVP of the series and was presented with a shogun’s helmet.
7) WILLIE MAYS, May 14, 1972 — In Willie Mays’ debut with the Mets after being traded to New York, he played first base (with Tommie Agee in center field) and batted leadoff. No. 24 walked in his first plate appearance and scored on Rusty Staub’s grand slam. In the fifth inning, Mays slammed a homer of his own to put his new team ahead of his old team 5-4. And that was the final score. It was a rainy Sunday at Shea, but the fans went home happy.
6) GIL HODGES, April 11, 1962 — Hodges certainly went on to greater Mets glory as the 1969 Miracle Mets manager, but he first made history in the Mets’ first game ever, with the team’s first homer, victimizing the Cardinals in St. Louis. The Mets lost that inaugural effort 11-4, but Hodges’ dinger gave him 362 in his career, passing Joe DiMaggio on the all-time list, for 11th place.
5) DARRYL STRAWBERRY, Oct. 1, 1985 — With the Mets and Cardinals locked in a tight pennant race, Straw came through in this pitchers duel with an 11th-inning blast that hit the clock on the St. Louis scoreboard in right field at 10:44 p.m. After the Mets 1-0 victory, teammate Clint Hurdle quipped, “If the clock is a Timex, we now know that they take a licking and keep on ticking.”
Bartolo Colón. USA Today
4). BARTOLO COLON, May 7, 2016 — The 42-year-old “Big Sexy” Colon did have a body like the Babe, but a home run, really? Gary Cohen’s call of Colon’s first and only homer, in the second inning at San Diego’s Petco Park, was also great: “Bartolo has done it! The impossible has happened . . . This is one of the best moments in the history of baseball.”
3) WILMER FLORES, July 31, 2015 — Two days earlier, Flores was trying to play shortstop while wiping away tears. He’d heard that he was traded (although it wasn’t official yet). Fans, who also heard, cheered his every move until, finally, Terry Collins showed his humanity by taking Flores out of the game. The trade never went through, and Flores won the game 2-1 with a 12th-inning homer, bringing the Mets within two games of the first-place Nationals. I still tear up a bit when I see clips of this HR.
2) FRANCISCO LINDOR, Sept. 30, 2024 — Of course, the Mets had two games in Atlanta to determine a playoff spot blown into a doubleheader the day after the season’s supposed to end. And what looked like a sure loss for most of the game gave fans massive whiplash. But Lindor’s clutch’s clutch, clutch 9th inning winner, allowed us to finally exhale.
1) MIKE PIAZZA, Sept. 21, 2001 — After days of canceled baseball following the Sept. 11 attack, the Mets and Braves were at Shea for the first game back in New York. The Mets wore NYPD, NYFD and EMS caps. Piazza’s seventh-inning blast put the Mets on top 3-2 for the win. “I’m so happy I gave these people something to cheer,” he said.
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