Regardless of how many Mets have been chosen to participate in the Midsummer Classic—whether it be five as in 1986 or one as in several years—there’s always the possibility of a moment similar to what’s taken place in the past. In addition to giving additional consideration to Met-hosted All-Star Games, we’re not including the Home Run Derby, so Pete Alonso would have to save a long ball for Tuesday in order to crack the list.
Davey Johnson‘s reward for being in the World Series is representing the NL as manager. He had Gary Carter and Darryl Strawberry in his starting lineup and Keith Hernandez off the bench, but it was Sid Fernandez who closed out the extra-inning victory.
Runs were at a premium thanks mainly to the late-afternoon sun at the Oakland Coliseum. The NL finally broke through in the 13th after Tim Raines‘ triple with “El Sid” preserved in the bullpen. Fernandez walked the leadoff batter but found his location from then on.
If the country wasn’t aware of the rapidly improving New York Mets—in second place at 53-39 and five games behind the Chicago Cubs by the time the All-Star Game arrived—it soon would. Three players who contributed to the turnaround were selected for the 40th midsummer classic at Washington D.C.’s RFK Stadium.
Cleon Jones started in left field for his first All-Star appearance and went 2-for-4, Jerry Koosman pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings, and eventual Cy Young Award winner Tom Seaver was present but was not called on to the mound in what turned out to be a 9-3 NL win.
In its debut season, Shea Stadium had already opened in conjunction with the New York World’s Fair. By July, it had already seen a perfect game (thrown by Philadelphia’s Jim Bunning on June 21), and now it hosted one of the greatest All-Star Games.
Mets fans who had little success to cheer for in the early years latched on to Ron Hunt, a scrappy second baseman elected to start for the National League in his home park. He would go 1-for-3, but more excitement was saved for the finish. Johnny Callison of the Phillies hit a walk-off homer to give the NL a 7-4 win, the last time in the contest’s history to end in such a fashion.
The Mets were the predominant story of ’86, so it was of little surprise that when the All-Star rosters were announced, the Mets had the most participants. At the Astrodome on July 15, the setting for future postseason drama, the Amazin’s had five selectees – Dwight Gooden, Carter, Hernandez, Strawberry, and Fernandez.
The recognition of the Mets’ accomplishments was apparent in the starting lineup. Fans voted in Carter at catcher, Hernandez at first base, and Strawberry in right field. At age 21, Gooden was making his third All-Star appearance in three seasons. He worked a scoreless first and was touched up for two runs in the second. The Hernandez-Carter-Strawberry trio combined to go 1-for-9 with Darryl logging the lone hit against Teddy Higuera in the bottom of the fifth.
The lowly Mets had one participant, but he was very much present even though he didn’t appear until the eighth inning. Nevertheless, Lee Mazzilli‘s cameo at the Kingdome was made worthwhile. Leading off with the NL down 6-5, Mazzilli took a Jim Kern pitch down the left field line that snuck just over the wall. The defensive heroics of MVP Dave Parker kept the score even into the ninth. That’s when the NL, and Mazzilli, took advantage of wild American League pitching.
Joe Morgan drew a one-out walk and moved to second on a balk. Parker was intentionally walked. Ron Cey earned the traditional free pass to load the bases for Maz with two gone. Ron Guidry came in, but his 3-1 pitch drifted outside. Mazzilli had driven in the tying and go-ahead runs. The 7-6 lead was placed into the hands of Bruce Sutter, who closed out the NL’s eighth straight win.
Jon Matlack was often second or third on the hierarchy of Mets pitchers during that era. But not long after Tom Seaver relinquished the lead by giving up a game-tying sixth-inning blast to Carl Yastrzemski, he bailed out this rotation cohort and kept the American League from scoring anymore. Matlack got two strikeouts (mixed in with a caught stealing) in the seventh inning and two more in the eighth.
It was certainly an MVP-caliber performance. Matlack shared the honor on this night at Milwaukee’s County Stadium with Bill Madlock of the Chicago Cubs, who produced the game-winning hit in the top of the eighth and allowed the lefty to get the victory.
Apparently, nobody told him the Home Run Derby was over. David Wright complimented his runner-up finish in the annual long ball contest with a drive off former Met Kenny Rogers, clearing the left-field fence to tie it up at one in the second inning.
Wright was one of six Mets selected to the NL squad in a season when the NL East was already a runaway by the unofficial midway point. Carlos Beltrán doubled in the first inning and later stole third and scored the tie-breaking run. That 2-1 lead held up until Trevor Hoffman let it get away in the ninth inning.
3. 2015
“Hi, I’m Jacob deGrom, and I have the chance with my stuff to just dominate baseball for years to come.”
Never has Joe Buck been so on point with a call. The 27-year-old defending Rookie of the Year wasn’t around long for his All-Star debut. That was of his own doing. DeGrom didn’t just strike out each of the three American League All-Stars he faced in the sixth inning at Cincinnati’s Great American Ballpark. He was nearly immaculate, fanning Stephen Vogt, Jason Kipnis, and finally — OMG! — Jose Iglesias on a mere 10 pitches.
The Mets’ past, present, and future was on display as Citi Field hosted the game for the first time. David Wright was the unofficial ambassador, starting at third base and batting fourth. He caught the ceremonial first pitch from Tom Seaver, who not surprisingly has the most All-Star appearances of any Met.
The actual first pitch also came from a Met. Matt Harvey was the headliner, earning the nod in his first full big-league season. For those in the national audience still unaware of “The Dark Knight,” they got glimpses over 32 pitches. Harvey brushed off early jitters to toss two scoreless innings before the announced crowd of 45,186—the largest in the brief history of Mets’ new stadium. As for Wright, he singled in the seventh, the last of his three at-bats in the game and, as it turned out, his seventh and final All-Star appearance.
For All-Star K’s, no one did it better—in quantity and quality—than Carl Hubbell back in 1934. After Fernando Valenzuela struck out the side in the fourth inning at Candlestick Park, it was time for Dwight Gooden (and history) to make an appearance as one former sensation passed the baton to the current one.
The 19-year-old was the youngest All-Star in history and, in the fifth inning, did what had been doing to hitters thus far in his Rookie of the Year campaign, Gooden overpowered a succession of American League sluggers: Lance Parrish of Detroit, fellow Tiger Chet Lemon, and the Mariners’ Alvin Davis.
Gooden tossed another scoreless frame with future teammate Gary Carter behind the plate.
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