 Welcome to Watchin' Baseball. Thank you for joining us. Today we will be watching Game 163 Tiebreaker between the New York Mets and the Cincinnati Reds in 1999. This is the first one you're tuning into. We started with World Series, went from 1972 all the way to 2019. Now we're doing Game 163s. Do or die. Are you in the playoffs or are you not in the playoffs? Tiebreaker Games, 1999. I'm Jimmy. This is Jake. Jake, how you doing? James, I'm doing well, my good fiend. And this is exciting, man. 1999 is an interesting time for me because I'm probably 10 years old. I barely know what a female is. I love sports, but it's interesting to look back and see what my interpretation of those certain sports were because 10-year-old Jake probably wasn't the best sports analysis. But, dude, this Mets team could hit, man. Like, dude, I know you're looking at the box score from this one game. They're 1 through 8 hitters. I think everyone hit over 2.98 or they're 1 through 7. Everyone had a 2.98 or up batting average. And, like, there's no low O.B.P. guys, too. It's 3.61 and up. So this Mets team was an absolute problem lineup-wise. They just needed to get any pitching. Their rotation was kind of a mishmash of some old guys from around the league. And they end up getting a great pitching performance in this one. But, yeah, I mean, a couple fun teams from the 90s and we know this Mets team kind of propels themselves the next year. Yeah. They had the lead in the division for a long time. And then, I guess, substantially, they lost 7 games in a row in September and the Reds won 8 games in a row. Something like that that I read. Or the Braves won 8 games in a row. So the Braves took the division and then there, the Braves won 8 games in a row. They took the division. This is for the wild card spot. They end up getting beat by the Braves in the NLCS, which is, again, we're talking about kind of these fun 163 game seasons. Like, this was probably not so fun for the Mets. They blow it to the Braves and then they lose to the Braves. Again, they're like rival. And they have to go to Cincinnati due to a coin toss, which said that Cincinnati gets home field advantage. Riverfront Stadium. What was the name we just read? I closed that tab. Synergy Field. Synergy Field. It was called Synergy. Alright, anyway, this is brought to you by Talking Baseball. It's a podcast that Jake and I are on. Third co-host is Trevor Plou, former MLB player. We've been pumping out three episodes a week. Two of them interviews. This week was Walker Bueller before that. Dahl, a lot of players, a lot of people within baseball. Go check it out if you want. Talking Baseball podcast. It's got its own channel on YouTube and it's on all podcast apps. Alright, let's dive right in, Jake. Cookie Cutter Stadium. Everyone knows I don't like these if you've been watching baseball. This one is so funny. Have you ever seen the satellite images of this riverfront? They build the ballpark right by a beautiful river and then closed off any view of the river. It's by the river, baby. You can sniff it a little bit. So this is the very start of the game. Pretty Ricky. Is he one of the most beloved guys in baseball history? Is he? I don't know. I mean, Ricky obviously loved him some Ricky, but he also showed up on so many teams. Yeah, he danced around for a while. But I feel like he had to rub people the wrong way just because how much he loved himself. Probably within baseball but as a fan. I mean, it's kind of just entertainment. Comment. Comment. Yes or no. Do you like, are you endeared to Ricky Henderson? On the field, amazing. Like the skill set and the way he played. Very easy to love. How old is he here in 99? Ricky in 99. Got to be high 30s. Let's see. That's what I would guess. Shown but early. Trying to get that early run, baby. And we saw it in the Dodgers Astros game 163. You can strike first. You put instant fear into the opponent. In 99, that's Ricky's age 40 season. Yeah. All right. So Steve Parrish is pitching for them. For the Reds. Yeah. And this red staff just wasn't it either. Parnish, Tom Covellone, Paris and Nagel. You've been using that saying a lot. Was it? Wasn't it? What's your new saying? It'll be here this week. It'll be gone the next. And then I'll use it in three weeks from now and that's just how it works. I got all saying. That is one ugly catcher sound. Here comes the pitch and Alfonso hits a drive center field. Going back and it's deep at the warning track at the wall. Damn. By the way, Alfonso was squaring around a bunt a minute ago. Yeah. And a dead center by Impossum. I was going to bunt and just put an 88 right down the middle. Jack McKien managing the Reds. Two runs before any outs, basically starting the game down. Yeah. And this is, I don't know how many Reds fans are tuning into this one, but this is, hey, it's one of those spins. Like this whole game kind of is a slaughter. So I guess you kind of didn't get teased too much. Well, right there, they just kind of, it's never like a huge inning, right? It's just kind of like chipping away. I was trying to see if he faced the Mets earlier. In June, Parrish faced the Mets. 6.2-3 earned runs. Pretty good numbers. Not bad to have as your typical year. Scared curve ball, opens them up. Chops, Mike. Yep. The 1-0 pitch on the way. Piazza taking down an outside two balls in those strikes. Robin Ventura on deck. Too many seated over there and that Mets dugout. They are upstanding for the most part. 2-0 pitch. Piazza is taking that. Come on, Mike. Slam it home. Working Parrish. Doesn't want that 86 mile per hour heater. All right, now we got to have a big swing from Piazza here, right? You just got two runs. Stay on the attack. Batman on deck. Well, not with that damn pitch. So Parrish didn't want to really give Mike anything. Jake, later on in this game, I might just skip around. Okay. Because the Reds walk in the third run. So that's about as defeated as you can get right there. When does Venturgo straight Mets to Yankees? Maybe? Maybe? I'm not sure. Oh, Monday Night Football Countdown. Oh, Monday Night Football Countdown, currently airing on ESPN 2. Baseball instead of football. Well, yeah, and albeit it's because the game is slow. I mean, Parrish isn't really... It's a rocky start. Very rocky start. Three batters faced. Four batters faced. Two runs, runner on. There you go. Nated it. Pitcher's dream. Let's go to the middle of the third. Fun Reds infield. Sean Casey, Pokey, Reese, Barry Larkin and Aaron Boone. This might be boring to watch. Might have to speed through this. But Parrish has two outs here, right? Granted, the first out was Al Leiter. But then he did get Ricky to fly out. And then we'll skip this because he walks Alfonzo, who homered off him. And I may have read this in the wiki, but I think there's like a controversial intentional walk. Like they decide to walk piazza or something. That's right, it's in the sinning. All right, so he walks the dude who homered off him last sinning and now John Olerud comes up. Where's a helmet on his head in the field? John Gullit. Our guy. How do your career stats come out, Olerud? When did Olerud join the Eagles? 2004? 2005? 2005? Absolutely. Man, Olerud had a really good career. Olerud was on the Yanks 2004 trade deadline. Man, just a good ball play. 295 batting average, 398 on base career. 398 on base career? How long's his career? It's a long one too. He's, I mean, 17 seasons. Whoa! 398 career on base percentage average over 17 seasons. There's no joke. That's awesome. He's hats are weirding me out. The Reds hats? Yeah, they look like they're double brim. No, the Mets did too. There's like a crease in the brim that makes it look like a double brim. Double brim. Maybe I'm seeing things. I see, there's a little bit of a duck bill in the hat. It's a little thicker. Yeah. Beautiful baseball stadium. Just gorgeous. It's like a giant ripple in the outfield there too. Are we listening to the radio call? Sounds like it. 2-2. So here we go. What's he going to throw here, Jake? Whoa, look at that. That's baseball right there. This has to be the radio call, right? It sounds like a sad radio call. Is this the Cincinnati radio call? Because that was a, you know, deciding game double. And it sounded like a fly ball out to left. Very, very sad call. Sling and it's down the line. That will be extra bases. Maybe it's a radio broadcast for those, for people that just can't get over excited. Just stay calm. So this, you said there's controversy around this? Well they're walking Mikey P. Because first base is open. Then they bring in the new pitcher who walks in a run. So I'm guessing that's the controversy. Danny Nagel. The train hard. Bad job, Perich. Denny Nagel. So let's see, you think any of these are close? I'm sure something's close. Baseball, right? Strike one. 300 batting average on the season. His last plate appearance. I wonder if it came down to that. Well this counts towards this season average. So chat with Davis about his injury during halftime. Ooh the Cubs fired Jim Riggleman. Rats historians don't like that one. That looked pretty close. Those ads during the game are brutal. I hate them. They're very distracting. Yeah. Danny Nagel had a really nice four year stretch but everything outside of that was pretty rough. He's got him with two strikes man. One strike away from getting out of it. Oh no. Check out the trench coat on the older gentleman behind home plate. It's a look. Inspector Gadget type look. Yes. If he emptied his pockets you'd have a dinner's table's worth. Oh no. So that's that run. That's not good. Then he does strike out. No he gets a ground out next. And then the fifth inning. The Mets pounce again. Right here. Our dude 40 year old Ricky who we were just saying shows up. Leads off the inning against Danny Nagel. Still in there. Ooh. And the New York Mets take a four to nothing lead. Paul shot. First pitch at the fifth inning and Ricky Henderson goes down the line. Yeah. I think I'm going to stand on my Ricky Henderson is one of the most beloved players ever because he scored the most runs in Major League history. He has the most stolen bases in Major League history. He played on a bunch of teams. He won an MVP. And dude this is his age 40 season. 315 with a 423 on base and 889 OPS. 323 on base. Batting order. Yep. How many steals at age 40? Just 37. It's a cool 37. Jesus. He did have 66 the year before. How many teams do you play for? Can you list them? Do you guys still have it out? Let's see. Oakland. Yankees. Toronto. San Diego. Anaheim. Metz. Seattle. Padres. Boston Dodgers. Damn. Wipe your right. Coming away. Do you love Ricky Henderson? Good job Greg Vaughn. Good job. Let's watch Al Schauff because that's the story of this game. We're yet to tell it. Yep. Let's go. You want to go to the eighth or ninth? That's too early. Here we go. Al Leiter hadn't thrown a complete game this season is what I read. Al Leiter has some phrasing. Al's got some big games under his belt. And I think he did have a much better second half of the season. We'll see in that. Yeah, Al's got some big ones, man. Pokey is so fine. Hell yes. It's an odd sign to bring out. Yeah, I'd say so. I'd say so. And yeah, Al Leiter, he goes complete game two hits. Spoilers. The Reds had two double play balls in this game. You have as many hits as double play balls. That's a sucky game. And one of the hits comes in this inning. So at this point, he had gotten eight innings, one hit. Just dominated him. Oh man, rough start. Reliever drops the ball. Benitez. Yeah, probably just do anything but to put him in, right? He takes off a sign. He's done that very little tonight, pitches. Ideally. Bobby V. Al's got a pretty great wind up, huh? Yeah. He's like, uh, Reese backs away from the plate. What are they doing? Was he telling him not to warm up? Bit of a party. What is he? I think he's saying, yo, Benitez, don't even fucking warm up. We don't want you in this game. I don't want to go back. I really want to know what Bobby V. was just doing. Antics. This big Al. Tom's River pride. No, no, no. You think these are real shakes or fake shakes? Fake shakes. I was thinking fake shakes as well. 3-2 Al knows what he wants. So should Mikey P. Shouldn't have thrown that. Pokey is so fine. That's a little sad. Like, I very much appreciate what the fans are doing now. It's a good crowd. Like, hey, let's turn this into something. Let's give them the energy knowing very well. Hey, man, if you go to a game and that's the second hit you've seen in the ninth inning. Yeah, tear the roof off. Which word would you want to hold the most? The lady who's holding fine. Did you see that? The lady who's holding fine. The woman of the three. And she is. She's not into this at all. Three daughters that are obsessed with poke. Mom got roped into it. Dad was supposed to be there and he was like, I'm not holding that damn son. Yeah, nope. Boy, poke is so fine. We got Barry Larkin up. You want to make a pitching change? Why? They said it's up to Bobby He wants to make a pitching change, because Benitez is warm in the pen. Oh, OK, that makes sense. Five, nothing. Yeah, I mean, still a sign of different times, you know? For sure. But was Benitez bad? Like, because all our jokes are stemmed from the 2000 season in postseason, right? Let's see Benitez's season. I mean, I'm sure he's great. Yeah, 185 ERA, 22 saves, 128 strikeouts, and 78 innings. It's got a 2-0 count now. Was it 3-0 less appearances? Was it 3-0 to Pokey, now 2-0 to Barry? I mean, yeah, you have a lot of cause to be like, let's see. 2-1, so 2-0, back-to-back 2-0. She's had to clean a spike, so that's all. Yes, that was the Cincinnati radio station. So we were right. They said, like, an ad for it. It's up. Yeah, sounded very much like the Cincinnati bar. That's a ball, 3-0. Uh-oh. Dig deep. So it's got to be his best fastball here, right? Or does he get crafty with it? A little cut fastball. I think we're still in a time period where swinging 3-0 is pretty faux pas as well. Especially if you're down 5-0. You got to get on base. That's a run-home, that's nice. Lot of Barry checks. Easy peasy. And this is the fun spot you want to be at, because, I mean, you've got Sean Casey, the big lefty in their lineup, so you can give him the lighter. If you get him, sure. Knock yourself out, Al, if you don't. You know that's it. Season average, 3-32. Every season average is so high. It's such a different sport. But the two good teams. Two good teams. Two much better lineups than their pitching staffs as well. Al's lineup's weird, man. The way he comes off the mound so far, the other side, he usually left his fall away from first. But he kind of... He just plants, he's ready to field. Yeah. I want to see how good the Braves pitchers were this year, because, I mean, we are in steroid era. You want to prepare the Braves staff, who's known as very, very good, and use those stats as the barometer to judge the Reds and the Mets' staffs. I mean, Smoltz, Smoltz, Maddox, and Millwood had really good years. Maddox average slash man, Glavin, man. But, I mean, Kevin Millwood had a 2-6 ADRA. So you could pitch. Okay. One and two count here. Here's a pitch. So that's his fastball right now, which is 88. I think you got to drop something low here. You just kind of went high fastball. See if he drops like even a cutter low inside, right here. Straight up. Curveball. Allider serves it up. Allider. Little pine tar, brand new ball. Just got fouled back. So I've got to rub that one down. Put some pine tar on it. Ooh. Casey snapped his bat over his leg. That was just high heat. Damn. Imagine if that's what was going through his head. Solid. Pretty good. One out of way. And yeah, like we said, this Mets team, they felt like they could make a good run in the postseason. It wasn't like they were sneaking in. And they do make a good run. It's on ice, Jake. That clubhouse just looks like a wide hallway. Yeah, it's a long one. Come on now. Get out. Like, god damn it, one out of way. Yeah. Come on, idiots. Did you see? I think he said get that motherfucker. Get him before Bobby V does, man. Bobby V did not like that streaker. It was perfect for the Mets, man. It was just perfect. That's some 90s hair right there. 130. Let it, let it ride, Al. So this was the Jack McKeon Reds. He was the manager. They just showed him. I was like, oh, only four years. He was there. Sit him down. Extreme. He's had a couple of big years. 340 plus owner seasons. Lider was the most animated pitcher on the mound. I mean, we've seen him kind of calm right here, but he just did a little like, you know, kick. But that's, that's like the book on him. Whenever they talk about him, he was just wars and motions on his sleeve. Always talking to himself. Well, they bring beneath you. Let's see this. They show it. Seen a lot of gridded teeth. This lasts like two minutes. And it's, it's tough because even as an emotional player, you love showing those emotions, but you're so close. You're one out of way. You know, you can't, you know, you can't let out more than that. I think, I think, I think Dimitri Young's young here. I mean, God to be. He's 25. This is his third full year. And he had a pretty good year. Extended friend of the family of John Boy media. This is the most mundane because it's Cincinnati radio. That was kind of a crazy play. Anyone that was driving and listening on their car just thinks that was like a regular old. You know, it's like, you know, humpback line drive or something. It's kind of a weird play. Cause you couldn't tell if he caught or has picked it. I'll see. It was truly a magical. Dude, Dimitri Young, 13 years. And 12, 12 full seasons. 12 years by this group of young men. Actually, he's got an injury year too. And clapping his hands together. If Dimitri Young, let me butter knife this up. Dimitri was a hitter. They had a problem finding him a spot. A spot in these NL lineups. So he had nine seasons. Dimitri Young where he played in a hundred or more games. And eight of them. He had an OPS plus above 100. He's got a couple hundred. He's got a couple hundred. He's got a couple hundred. He's got a couple hundred. He's got a couple hundred. He's got a couple hundred. He's got a couple hundred. He's got a couple hundred. He's got a couple, you know, rookie season got brought up, then injury and then old. Her round is changing. You'll see. We won't do any post game worthwhile in the games. So the Mets kind of just took care of this. Met and Owlider just took care of this. Owlider and Rookie Hannerson just kind of took care of the same. I mean, yeah, it's that's Sandy, Alfonzo with the bomb in the first to go to nothing important Um, but yeah, I mean a lot or held them shut out man 130 plus pitches And I mean, yeah, you heard it in the reds radio guys voice It's a great shot replay for now at the end. I like it. Yep. We did it This is the first guy to hug Bobby He's out of uniform just like he looked like the third member of tenacious D Who was that guy? The Mets went to go on to win the DS and then they played the Braves in the Nationally championship series and lose. Did they take the Braves to like seven games or anything? I Think it was six games. Let me see if I could get some highlights from the NLCS right quick They beat the Diamondbacks. Let's see Braves four to two Braves four to three Braves one nothing So Braves They take the first three games and they win two of them by one run one by two runs Mets win the third by one run Mets win the fifth 15 innings Four to three and then man Braves win the final game in eleven nine to ten. So I mean That's as tight as it gets through and through Mets just kind of got the raw end of the first couple. Otherwise, I mean, that's like that's a great series All right, Jake can't hear me and I couldn't hear him But I think he's done talking now and I think we'll end the episode But I it sounded like what you said was interesting and you were very interested in it But I cannot hear you but your mic will pick you up. This ends watching baseball