September 28, 2008: An emotional day for both New York baseball teams. The New York Yankees, having closed the old Yankee Stadium a week earlier with a 7-3 win over the Baltimore Orioles, and a star-laden pregame ceremony and a postgame lap of honor, but eliminated from postseason eligibility for the 1st time in 15 years in their next game, beat the American League Eastern Division Champion Boston Red Sox 6-2 at Fenway Park.
Xavier Nady hit a home run off Daisuke Matsuzaka, who came into the game 18-2. But the big story was Mike Mussina, who had announced his retirement, and this was his last game. He won his 20th game of the season, the only time he ever did that. It was the 270th win of Moose's career.
It was the opener of a doubleheader. The Red Sox won the nightcap, 4-3, when Jonathan Van Every singled home Alex Cora in the bottom of the 10th inning. Alex Rodriguez got the 2nd game off, and Derek Jeter got both games off.
But at Shea Stadium, the Mets endured "Groundhog Day." Having blown a September Division lead and lost to the Florida Marlins at home on the last day of the season to miss the Playoffs completely last season, it happened again. They lost the last scheduled game at Shea, 6-2 to the Marlins.
Carlos Beltrán hit the last home run by a Met at Shea Stadium. In the 8th inning, Wes Helms and Dan Uggla hit back-to-back jacks, and that left Uggla as having hit the stadium's last home run. (Willie Stargell hit Shea's 1st home run in 1964, Ron Hunt hit its 1st Met home run, Jody Gerut hit the 1st home run at Citi Field, and David Wright hit the 1st Met home run there.)
The Philadelphia Phillies didn't wait until the last day to clinch the National League East this time, although they did beat the Washington Nationals, 8-3 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. And when the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Chicago Cubs, 3-1 at Miller Park (now American Family Field) in Milwaukee, they clinched the NL Wild Card, eliminating the Mets. There would be no more games at Shea, with Citi Field nearing completion beyond center field.
A postgame ceremony was held, with Mets going back to the first team in 1962, prior to Shea's opening in 1964, coming onto the field, including most of the 1969 and 1986 World Champions. Despite his Yankee connections, 1973 Pennant-winner manager Yogi Berra got a nice hand. So did Dave Kingman, a slugger known for his long home runs, but also for his strikeouts, bad fielding and moodiness. So did Willie Mays, even though he wasn't a Met for very long.
The close had the greatest of all Mets, Tom Seaver, take the mound, and throw a last pitch to Mike Piazza. But it was a bad pitch, bouncing in front of the plate. (Seaver threw a strike to Piazza for the ceremonial first pitch at Citi Field the following April.) Then, to the tune of "In My Life," not one of the songs the Beatles played in their 1965 and 1966 concerts at Shea, Seaver and Piazza walked across the field, gave one last wave to the fans at the center field gate, and walked out. The gate closed behind them, to close the book on the stadium.
Seaver was understandable. But why Piazza? Why not representatives of both World Series teams, who were both already in the Hall of Fame? Why not Seaver and Gary Carter, who was then still alive and well? If they wanted representatives of all the Mets' Pennant-winners, why not Seaver (1969 and 1973), Piazza (2000) and Carter (1986)? If they wanted representatives of all the Mets' Playoff teams, why not Seaver (1969 and 1973), Piazza (1999 and 2000), David Wright (2006) and Carter (1986 and 1988) -- making a "Met Mount Rushmore"? The organization had little control over the game, but they had absolute control over the closing ceremonies. Yet another error on the Mets.
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September 28, 2008 was a Sunday. In addition to those previously mentioned, these Major League Baseball games were played that day:
* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Baltimore Orioles, 10-1 at Camden Yards in Baltimore.
* The Tampa Bay Rays beat the Detroit Tigers, 8-7 at Comerica Park in Detroit. Ben Zobrist won it with a home run in the top of the 11th inning.
* The Chicago White Sox beat the Cleveland Indians, 5-1 at U.S. Cellular Field (now Rate Field) in Chicago.
* The Minnesota Twins beat the Kansas City Royals, 6-0 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis. Scott Baker (7 innings) and 2 relievers combined for a 5-hit shutout.
* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Cincinnati Reds, 11-4 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.
* The Houston Astros beat the Atlanta Braves, 3-1 at Minute Maid Park (now Daikin Park) in Houston.
* The Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Colorado Rockies, 2-1 at Chase Field in Phoenix.
* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the San Diego Padres, 6-1 at Petco Park in San Diego.
* The Los Angeles Angels beat the Texas Rangers, 7-0 at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. Joe Saunders (6 innings) and 3 relievers combined for a 3-hit shutout.
* The San Francisco Giants beat their arch-rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers, 3-1 at AT&T Park (now Oracle Park) in San Francisco.
* And the Seattle Mariners beat the Oakland Athletics, 4-3 at Safeco Field (now T-Mobile Park) in Seattle.
It was also an NFL Sunday. These games were played:
* The New York Jets beat the Arizona Cardinals, 56-35 at Giants Stadium at the Meadowlands.
* The Carolina Panthers beat the Atlanta Falcons, 24-9 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte.
* The Jacksonville Jaguars beat the Houston Texans, 30-27 at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium (now EverBank Stadium). Josh Scobee kicked a 37-yard field goal with 11:05 left in overtime.
* The Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Green Bay Packers, 30-21 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.
* The Tennessee Titans beat the Minnesota Vikings, 30-17 at LP Field (now Nissan Stadium) in Nashville.
* The New Orleans Saints beat the San Francisco 49ers, 31-17 at the Superdome in New Orleans.
* The Washington Redskins beat their arch-rivals, the Dallas Cowboys, 26-24 at Texas Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Irving, Texas.
* The Cleveland Browns beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 20-12 at Paul Brown Stadium (now Paycor Stadium) in Cincinnati.
* The Chicago Bears beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 24-20 at the new Soldier Field.
* The Buffalo Bills beat the St. Louis Rams, 31-14 at the Edward Jones Dome (now The Dome at America's Center) in St. Louis.
* The Kansas City Chiefs beat the Denver Broncos, 33-19 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.
* The San Diego Chargers beat the Oakland Athletics, 28-18 at the Oakland Coliseum.
* The next night, on Monday Night Football, the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Baltimore Ravens, 23-20 at Heinz Field (now Acrisure Stadium) in Pittsburgh. Jeff Reed kicked a 46-yard field goal with 8:55 left in overtime.
* And the New York Giants, the Detroit Lions, the Indianapolis Colts, the Miami Dolphins, the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks each had a bye week.
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