Dipping Into The Archives Vol. 26
1997
The 1997 season continued the Mets’ gradual march back towards relevancy. More pieces of the 99/00 squad were being put in place. The season would end with a 3rd place finish in the NL East, only 3 games out of a wild card spot. That year’s wild card team would be the Marlins, who went on to win that year’s World Series only to immediately dismantle the team. That decision had ramifications for the Mets, as key members of the future pennant winning club would make their way to Shea either directly or indirectly as a result of the Marlins’ housecleaning. (Forgive the poor quality on the cover photo. It was a 3-D cover; doesn’t photograph well.)
Pitching was still an issue; Bill Pulsipher and Paul Wilson missed the entire season (Wilson’s injuries prevented him from ever pitching for the Mets again) and Pete Harnisch was limited to 5 starts before being dealt at the trade deadline. His departure was ugly, as he got into a heated argument with Bobby Valentine on his way out the door. That illustrates an odd paradox when it came to Valentine. To his credit he was extremely loyal to his players, yet there were so many verbal confrontations he had with players as they left the team.
The Mets made it a priority to rebuild the bullpen in the offseason, albeit not very successfully. There’s a reason why few people remember Toby Borland or Barry Manuel. They fizzled out quickly & didn’t last the season. The one reliever who performed well was Greg McMichael, but if you look closely at the cover he is the pitcher who gave up the home run in which Todd Hundley broke the single season record for homers by a catcher. Awkward! One of those bullpen moves worked out in a roundabout way. The Mets sent incumbent starting first baseman Rico Brogna to the Phillies in exchange for Borland. That meant they needed a new first baseman. As it turned out, they got a good one.
In a hugely one-sided trade the Mets sent Robert Person to Toronto in exchange for John Olerud. Olerud only spent 3 seasons as a Met, but he made the most of that relatively short time. The only flaw in his game was that he was an exceptionally slow runner, but that didn’t prevent him from being a very smooth defensive first baseman. And he was a fantastic hitter; with one of those picture perfect left handed swings, the guy was a line drive machine.
As for that defense; with Olerud in the fold they now had 3/4 of the players who Sports Illustrated would dub the greatest defensive infield ever 2 years later. At the time Edgardo Alfonzo was still playing third base, not second, but he was coming into his own as a terrific all-around player. Even at a young age, he was demonstrating a notable baseball IQ. Now he had gained the necessary experience to become a star. And Rey Ordonez came with the reputation as a spectacular defensive shortstop who needed to improve his hitting. He lived up to that promise defensively; he had both seemingly unlimited range (watching him go deep into the hole to snag grounders was a beautiful sight) and a cannon for an arm. Unfortunately he never did turn into much of a hitter, it was a running story that he each season he would hit only 1 home run. Ultimately he never even managed to develop into an adequate hitter; his poor offense severely diminished his value. But oh, that defense.
One of the highlights of the year came early in the season. 1997 marked the 50th anniversary of Jackie Robinson’s debut with the Dodgers, and the April 15 date was celebrated at Shea by a ceremony featuring Rachel Robinson and President Clinton. (The man who wore the Mr. Met costume at the time told the story of his asking Secret Service agents what would happen if he tried to include Clinton in one of his gags. He was informed that there were trained snipers in the stands ready to act if anything looked fishy. Needless to say Mr. Met did not interact with the President.) It was at this event that Bud Selig announced that Robinson’s #42 would be retired throughout the sport. For the record, Butch Huskey was the final Met to be assigned #42.
A big change came to the game in 1997 with the introduction of interleague play, and there was lots of anticipation for the first regular season meeting between the Mets & Yankees. Fans of a certain age fondly remember the annual Mayor’s Trophy exhibition games, but this was the real thing. It was a big deal because by this point the Yankees, who were the reigning World Series champs, had clearly seized bragging rights in the city. So even though the Yankees were clearly the superior team, we always got satisfaction from victories in these games. That’s why the names of players such as Matt Franco and Dae-Sung Koo live on in the hearts of Mets fans. Well, Dave Mlicki became the initial Subway Series hero, pitching a shutout in the very first regular season Mets-Yankees tilt.
I’ll end 1997 on a semi-ominous note. This is the first appearance for Jeff Wilpon in a yearbook. Nelson Doubleday was still Chairman of the Board, but over the years Fred Wilpon was gradually obtaining a larger share of the club as well as more power. Doubleday would fully divest and give complete control of the franchise a few years later. Now, I don’t know how vital Jeff was to the success of the family’s real estate holdings, so I’m not sure if he fully qualifies as a failson. What I do know is that when people discuss the failures of the Wilpons as team owners, much of the fault lies with Jeff. But the Wilponization of the franchise and the establishment of the LOL Mets punchline were still years away. The immediate future was sunny, and 1998 would produce one of the most significant in-season trades in franchise history.
SNL Recap
Timothee Chalamet hosted for the second time. He projects a likable presence, and he falls in the category of hosts that cherish the opportunity to drop their defenses and let loose. I just wish the material had been better this week. There was nothing truly memorable.
There have been a couple of patterns that have stood out over the past year. First, the show has cut back on the frequency of recurring bits. This week was a little different in that regard, as Chalamet brought back 2 characters he had portrayed in his first turn as host. Second, Update has been considerably shorter. That was the case this week as well; Che & Jost took turns trading jokes and there was only 1 correspondent piece. It was another repeated bit, with Heidi as your busy coworker, complete with a giant water bottle, stacks of paperwork, multiple cellphones, and a laptop screen covered with post-its in different colors.
Another blah cold open this week, parodying the latest Republican debate. Devon was able to introduce his impersonation of now former candidate Tim Scott just under the wire along with Molly as Chris Christie, Ego as Vivek Ramaswamy, Heidi as Nikki Haley, and John Higgins as Ron DeSantis. I could be wrong, but this is the first time I recall seeing any of the Please Don’t Destroy trio in a live sketch. My first reaction was that the fact they used him indicated the show’s lack of belief in DeSantis’s chances. Well, that fact was soon referenced when the sketch veered as JAJ sabotaged the stage as Trump while the other 5 remained frozen while Trump riffed. I was impressed that they were able to stand still that entire time; I can imagine how quickly Jimmy Fallon would have ruined it by breaking into laughter.
This isn’t a repeat bit per se but it’s a sketch format the show uses a lot; presenting a premise that allows a rapid fire amount of impersonations. In this case they took Michele Williams’ highly praised narration of the audio version of Britney Spears’ new book to show auditions for that job. The problem is that when you try to fit in so many impressions in such a brief amount of time everyone only gets 1 joke so nothing connects - with one exception. Among those auditioning was JAJ as Werner Herzog, which was outstanding. Really, Herzog should narrate everything in life. I want him as the voice on my GPS, and I want him to talk about despair when I’m stuck in traffic.
Boygenius was this week’s musical act, and they kicked serious butt. They even got to appear in a sketch this time. There was also a surprise cameo near show’s end from Alec Baldwin, which I believe was his first time back since the on-set shooting tragedy. No word on how he felt watching JAJ & seeing what it’s like to have someone do an actual competent Trump impersonation.
The aforementioned James Austin Johnson was this week’s cast standout. In addition to Herzog, he also pulled out a very good Rick Rubin impersonation in a sketch involving a panel discussion celebrating the 50th anniversary of hip-hop. Chalamet brought back his clueless white rapper character, whose internet fame both puzzled and horrified his fellow panelists. Kenan was a very good Cornel West. Kudos should also go to Punkie; she had a lot more airtime than she usually gets. It was essentially a good week if your last name is Johnson.
Chalamet clearly had a good time & it’s obvious the cast loves to work with him. I’m sure he’ll be back again before too long. Next week we’ll have another returning host with a high likability factor. Jason Momoa will have the honor, and it will be the first full week with no labor issues hanging over the industry. Time to promote the hell out of the Aquaman sequel.
Godspeed, Frank Borman
Former Gemini & Apollo astronaut Frank Borman passed away last week at the age of 95. He was the commander of the Apollo 8 mission in 1968, the first to orbit the moon. I was just a bit too young to fully appreciate the Apollo program - the only mission that I have clear memories of was 17, which was the final mission - but Borman did have a bit of cultural resonance for people my age. After his retirement from NASA, he worked for Eastern Airlines, eventually becoming chairman. As the public face of the company, he appeared in all of the television ads for the airline.
Borman’s death came mere days after the passing of fellow astronaut Ken Mattingly, who was famously medically grounded and therefore was not part of the Apollo 13 mission. He did eventually go on to pilot the command module for Apollo 16. As time goes on, there are fewer and fewer men left who have either orbited or walked on the moon. These men are a vital part of our history, it’s sobering to see time take its toll.
As for Borman, I’m not sure how accurate the depiction is, but in HBO’s outstanding From the Earth To the Moon miniseries back in the late 90’s, he was portrayed as the conscience of the Apollo program. RIP to a man who lived one hell of an American life.
Closing Laughs
That’s all for now as we begin a new week. Thanks as always for being part of the Tending the Herd community. See you all again on Wednesday. And Happy Felix Unger Asked To Remove Himself From His Place Of Residence Day to those who celebrate.