October 9, 1999: The New York Mets win a postseason series. Stop laughing.
They defeat the Arizona Diamondbacks‚ 4-3 at Shea Stadium‚ in Game 4 of the National League Division Series, on backup catcher Todd Pratt's 10th inning home run. Pratt is in the game for starter Mike Piazza‚ who is unable to play because of a thumb injury. John Franco gets the victory in relief for the Mets.
On the same day, the Atlanta Braves score 5 runs in the 6th inning, and beat the Houston Astros 7-5. The Braves win their NLDS, 3-1. It is the last major sporting event at the Astrodome, as the Astros are moving into what's now Minute Maid Park next April, the Oilers left for Tennessee in 1997, and the Texans' approval by the NFL was dependent on a new stadium, which was built next-door to the Astrodome, and is now named NRG Stadium. In defeat, Ken Caminiti hit the Dome's last home run.
The Astrodome was home to the Astros from 1965 to 1999, the Oilers (in the AFL for the 1st 2 seasons, the NFL thereafter) from 1968 to 1996, the Houston Texans of the World Football League in 1974, the Houston Gamblers of the USFL in 1984 and 1985, the University of Houston football team from 1965 to 1997, the Bluebonnet Bowl from 1968 to 1987, the Houston Bowl in 2000 and 2001, the Houston Rockets for some home games from 1971 to 1975, the Houston Stars of the North American Soccer League in 1967 and 1968, the Houston Hurricane of the NASL from 1978 to 1980, the UH vs. UCLA basketball "Game of the Century" in 1968, the Billie Jean King vs. Bobby Riggs "Battle of the Sexes" tennis match in 1973, and an Elvis Presley concert in 1971.
But what was originally billed as "the Eighth Wonder of the World" was done. In one of the newspaper articles for its farewell in 1999, a writer compared it to the remaining structures for the 1964-65 New York World's Fair, calling them "relics from a future that never came to pass." When NRG Stadium opened as Reliant Stadium in 2002, it not only had more amenities than the Astrodome, but was noticeably larger, covering more space and a bit taller. In the end, the Astrodome was no more special than any of the other, less remarkable, concrete ovals that were built to host professional sports in the 1960s and '70s.
The Astrodome's finest hour came in 2005, when it housed refugees from Hurricane Katrina's devastation of New Orleans. Since then, it has been vacant. Various plans have been floated as to what to do with the Astrodome, but nothing has been approved. So it just sits there, waiting... for something. Anything, even demolition, but nobody can even agree on how to do that.
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October 9, 1999 was a Saturday. On the same day, the New York Yankees defeated the Texas Rangers‚ 3-0 at The Ballpark (now Choctaw Stadium) in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas‚ to sweep the American League Division Series. Roger Clemens hurled 7 shutout innings for the win‚ as Darryl Strawberry’s 3-run homer in the 1st provided all the runs in the game.
This was the 1st time the Yankees and the Mets had both clinched anything on the same day, so it was kind of appropriate that one of the heroes was Darryl, who played for both teams.
In the other ALDS, the Boston Red Sox, down 2 games to none, beat the Cleveland Indians, 9-3 at Fenway Park, launching a comeback to take the series. The Yankees then beat them for the Pennant, the Braves beat the Mets, and the Yankees swept the Braves in the World Series.
The NBA season didn't start until November 2, but there were 9 NHL games played:
* The New Jersey Devils beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 1-0 at the Continental Airlines Arena at the Meadowlands. Another shutout for Martin Brodeur, and Brian Rolston scored the game's only goal at 7:06 of the 2nd period.
* The Philadelphia Flyers and the Boston Bruins played to a tie, 1-1 at the FleetCenter (now the TD Garden) in Boston.
* The Los Angeles Kings and Washington Capitals played to a tie, 2-2 at the MCI Center (now the Capital One Arena) in Washington.
* The Buffalo Sabres and the Atlanta Thrashers played to a tie, 5-5 at the Philips Arena (now the State Farm Arena) in Atlanta.
* The Detroit Red Wings and the Florida Panthers played to a tie, 2-2 at the National Car Rental Center (now the Amerant Bank Center) in the Miami suburb of Sunrise, Florida.
* In the opener of CBC's doubleheader of Hockey Night In Canada, the Ottawa Senators beat their arch-rivals, the Toronto Maple Leafs, 4-3 at the Corel Centre in the Ottawa suburb of Kanata, Ontario. (It's now the Canadian Tire Centre. The town was absorbed into Ottawa proper in 2001.)
* The St. Louis Blues beat the Edmonton Oilers, 4-2 at the Skyreach Centre (as the Northlands Coliseum was then known) in Edmonton.
* The Dallas Stars beat the San Jose Sharks, 3-2 at the San Jose Arena (now the SAP Center).
* And in the nightcap of Hockey Night In Canada, the Vancouver Canucks beat the Montreal Canadiens, 4-1 at General Motors Place (now the Rogers Arena) in Vancouver.
Also on this day, there was college football. Virginia Tech came to Rutgers with their much-hyped lefthanded-throwing, crazy-running quarterback Michael Vick. He lit RU's defense up like a pinball machine.
My father and I were at this game, at Rutgers Stadium (now SHI Stadium) in Piscataway, New Jersey, and I was more impressed with the Hokie defense that head coach Frank Beamer built, led by defensive end Corey Moore. I'd never seen an amateur defense that was so fast.
Tech won 58-20, and took the Number 5 ranking they had in that game and got it up to Number 2, receiving a date with Number 1 Florida State in the Sugar Bowl for the National Championship. But the Seminoles gave them a taste of their own medicine, winning 46-29.
Moore ended up not playing much in the NFL, only for the Buffalo Bills in 2000. Vick would become a pro sensation, getting the Atlanta Falcons to the 2003 NFC Championship Game, before his life took a turn for the worse.
Among the other college games played that day:
* Number 1 Florida State beat Number 19 Miami, 31-21 at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee.
* Number 2 Penn State beat Iowa, 31-7 at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City.
* Number 3 Michigan were upset by Number 11 Michigan State, 34-31 at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing.
* Number 4 Nebraska beat Iowa State, 49-14 at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln.
* Number 6 Tennessee beat Number 10 Georgia, 37-20 at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee.
* Number 7 Georgia Tech beat North Carolina, 31-24 at Bobby Dodd Stadium in Atlanta.
* Number 8 Florida beat Louisiana State, 31-10 at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge.
* Number 9 Kansas State beat their arch-rivals, Kansas, 50-9 at KSU Stadium (now Bill Snyder Family Stadium) in Manhattan, Kansas.
* Number 13 Texas A&M beat Baylor, 45-13 at Kyle Field in College Station, Texas.
* Number 16 East Carolina were upset by Southern Mississippi, 39-22 at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium in Greenville, North Carolina.
* Number 17 Purdue were upset by Number 21 Ohio State, 25-22 at Ohio Stadium in Columbus.
* Number 20 Wisconsin beat Number 25 Minnesota, 20-17 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis, to win Paul Bunyan's Axe.
* Number 22 Southern California were upset by Arizona, 31-24 at Arizona Stadium in Tucson.
* Number 23 Texas beat Oklahoma, 38-28 at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.
* Notre Dame beat Arizona State, 48-17 at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana.
* Air Force beat Navy, 19-14 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland. Army had played 2 nights earlier, beating Louisville, 59-52 in overtime at Michie Stadium in West Point, New York.
* And Princeton lost to Brown, 53-30 at Brown Stadium in Providence, Rhode Island.
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