Sponsored by Shea Stadium Remembered
Memorial Day weekend 1998 is the best weekend Mets fans have seen in a decade: Mike Piazza came to Shea. It was considered a haul by the dismantling Marlins (who got Piazza a week earlier from the Dodgers in order to trade him). But you’d make the trade for a Hall of Fame catcher for Preston Wilson (Mookie’s son and a future All-Star), Ed Yarnell, and Geoff Goetz all day long, then or now.
On Friday the trade was announced and the stadium was filled with buzz, if not people. On Saturday he arrived just before gametime, doubled in a run, and caught Al Leiter’s shutout in front of 32,000. On Sunday he does not rest. He goes 1 for 5, but his teammates feed off the energy and Brewers pitching for an 8-3 win. Players acquired from previous Steve Phillips trades do the heavy lifting: three RBI from Brian McRae, a home run by Carlos Baerga, and Mel Rojas even contributing a scoreless ninth to complete the sweep. Rojas has a 1.74 ERA—it will balloon to 6.05 by year’s end and the big prize from the Cubs in Phillips’ 1997 deal will be swapped for even deader weight: Bobby Bonilla.
But this Sunday is about rebirth. The crowd of 47,291 is 5,000 more than the Mets drew for the entire four-game series against the Reds during the week; granted, one of those dates was a doubleheader, but having gone to several games prior to the arrival of Piazza, I can testify that pre-Piazza Shea was absolutely dead. And the Yankees were playing .767 ball through Memorial Day, on their way to 108 wins, a world championship, and accolades up the wazoo. The Mets will win the first seven games of the Piazza era and contend all the way to the final day.