July 10, 1999: The Matt Franco Game

July 10, 1999: An Interleague game is played at Shea Stadium, the New York Mets hosting the New York Yankees. The Yankees were the defending World Champions, the Mets a team on the rise. The Fox network broadcast this game as their Saturday Game of the Week.

The starting pitchers were Andy Pettitte for the Bronx team, Rick Reed for the Queens club. In the top of the 1st inning, Bernie Williams singled, and Paul O'Neill hit a home run, to give the Yankees a 2-0 lead. But the Mets came right back, with a Rickey Henderson single and a Mike Piazza double. In the bottom of the 2nd, a sacrifice fly by Rey Ordóñez tied it at 2-2.

The Mets took a 4-2 lead in the bottom of the 4th, but the Yankees got back-to-back home runs in the top of the 5th, from Ricky Ledée and Jorge Posada, to tie it. These were followed by a homer in the 6th from O'Neill, and one in the 7th from Chuck Knoblauch, to take a 6-4 lead. In the bottom of the 7th, Henderson doubled, John Olerud drew a walk, and Mike Piazza hit a home run. The Mets led, 7-6. But Scott Brosius led off the top of the 8th with a walk, and Posada hit his 2nd home run of the game, and it was 8-7 Yankees.

Mariano Rivera got the 1st out in the bottom of the 9th. But, Cliché Alert: Walks can kill you. And Henderson, who went on to break Babe Ruth's career record for most walks (before Barry Bonds took the record from him), drew a walk. Edgardo Alfonzo doubled, but Henderson, now 40 years old, was no no longer fast enough to score. Rivera got Olerud to ground out, and the runners held. Not willing to to take a chance on Piazza getting the winning hit, Yankee manager Joe Torre ordered him intentionally walked, to set up the final out at any base.

But on a 1-ball-2-strike count, Matt Franco singled to right field, scoring Henderson with the tying run, and Alfonzo with the winning run: Mets 9, Yankees 8. The crowd of 53,792, about 90 percent Met fans, went wild. The winning pitcher was Pat Mahomes, whose son, Patrick Mahomes, would later star at quarterback for the Kansas City Chiefs.

This game helps to illustrate the difference between the Yankees and the Mets. When the DVD The Essential Games of Shea Stadium was released in 2008, this game was included on it. When the DVD The Essential Games of Yankee Stadium was released at the same time, there were only postseason games on it. Aside from no-hitters and perfect games, the Yankees would never ascribe such importance to any single regular-season game.

Yet the Small Club in Flushing, and their fans, celebrated this game as if they had won the World Series. To this day, whenever Yankee Fans mention Rivera as the greatest relief pitcher ever, a Met fan will bring up The Matt Franco Game -- even though the Mets went on to lose the National League Championship Series to the Atlanta Braves, and the Yankees then beat the Braves in the World Series, and then, the next season, beat the Mets in the World Series.

In 2007, Franco was exposed as a user of performance-enhancing drugs. Mets fans don't want you to know that, as it spoils their narrative that they are somehow more virtuous and heroic then the Yankees.

*

July 10, 1999 was a Saturday. This was also the day women's soccer grew up, with the U.S. team winning the Women's World Cup over China on penalties at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. I have a separate entry for that event.

These other MLB games were played on that day, all of them Interleague:

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Montreal Expos, 7-6 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 8-4 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. Mike Mussina outpitched Paul Byrd. Cal Ripken went 1-for-4 with 2 RBIs.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Boston Red Sox, 2-1 at Turner Field (now Center Parc Stadium) in Atlanta. Cliché Alert: Walks can kill you, especially the leadoff variety. John Wasdin walked Andruw Jones to start the bottom of the 11th inning. Brian Hunter bunted, and Wasdin threw the ball away, allowing Jones to score the winning run.

* The Tampa Bay Devil Rays beat the Florida Marlins, 9-8 at Pro Player Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Cincinnati Reds, 11-10 at Jacobs Field (now Progressive Field) in Cleveland. The Reds led 9-4 going into the bottom of the 5th, but the Indians clawed back, and tied the game in the 8th. The Reds took a 10-9 lead in the top of the 9th.

Cliché Alert: Walks can kill you, especially the leadoff variety. Danny Graves started the bottom of the 9th by walking Jim Thome. He was replaced by Scott Williamson, who gave up a game-winning home run to Omar Vizquel. Thome drawing a walk, and Vizquel hitting a home run, instead of the other way around? That's the way it happened.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 9-3 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Chicago White Sox, 10-2 at the new Comiskey Park (now Rate Field). Sammy Sosa went 0-for-5, but the Cubs got home runs from José Hernández and Glenallen Hill.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 5-4 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* The Houston Astros beat the Kansas City Royals, 3-2 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.

* The Anaheim Angels beat the Colorado Rockies, 9-3 at Coors Field in Denver.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 2-0 at Bank One Ballpark (now Chase Field) in Phoenix. Tim Hudson took a 3-hit shutout into the 9th inning, but A's manager Art Howe decided he needed Billy Taylor to get the last 2 outs.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Texas Rangers, 5-4 at Qualcomm Stadium (formerly San Diego Stadium and Jack Murphy Stadium). Tony Gwynn did not play.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Seattle Mariners, 2-1 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Adrián Beltré singled Devon White home with the winning run in the bottom of the 9th inning. Ken Griffey Jr. went 0-for-4.

* And the San Francisco Giants beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-2 at Candlestick Park (then known as 3Com Park at Candlestick Park) in San Francisco. Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire did not play.

June 16, 1997: The Greatest Win In Mets History

Todd Hundley (left) and Dave Mlicki

June 16, 1997: The dawn of Interleague play means that, for the 1st time, the New York Yankees and the New York Mets play each other in a game that counts, at the original Yankee Stadium. I was there.

At the time, I wished I wasn't. Andy Pettitte had nothing, John Olerud had 3 RBIs, and the Yankees stranded 10 baserunners as Dave Mlicki pitched a shutout: Mets 6, Yankees 0. When it was over, of the 56,188 fans on hand, maybe 20,000 were left, nearly all rooting for the Mets. What a humiliating, ignominious defeat. Some Met fans thought it was the greatest moment in franchise history.

WABC-Channel 7 sports anchor Scott Clark interviewed Mlicki after the game, asking him if it felt like a Playoff atmosphere. Mlicki was honest: "Never been there, so I couldn't tell you." It was the 18th victory of his career. He would finish 66-80, but he did reach the postseason -- not with the Mets, but with the 1998 Los Angeles Dodgers and the 2001 Houston Astros.

The next day, the Yankees won, 6-3. And the day after that, Tino Martinez singled Paul O'Neill home in the bottom of the 10th inning, to give the Yankees a 3-2 win. So while the Mets won the 1st regular-season game between the teams, the Yankees won the 1st series between them.

Ever since the 1st game between the teams, on March 23, 1962, at Huggins-Stengel Field in St. Petersburg, Florida, a 4-3 walkoff win for the Mets, Met fans have treated them like a religious crusade. Yankee Fans treat them like something to get out of the way.

This may be why more Met fans than Yankee Fans don't believe in God - or, at least, not in a just, loving God.

It's been suggested that the entire reason Interleague Play came into existence in 1997 was so that the Mets could play the Yankees in a game that actually counted, instead of just in Spring Training and the mid-season "Mayor's Trophy" game that was last played in 1983. But once the Yankees won the 2000 World Series, it became just another game: The Yankees had won the argument for all time -- at least, until the Mets beat them in a World Series, which has never come close to happening.

And let's get one thing straight: Regular-season games are not a "Subway Series." Nobody gave that name to the regular-season games between the New York Giants and the Brooklyn Dodgers before they moved after the 1957 season. The name "Subway Series" was reserved for World Series between the Yankees and either the Giants (1921, '22, '23, '36, '37 and '51) or the Dodgers (1941, '47, '49, '52, '53, '55 and '56).

*

Also on June 16, 1997, for the 1st time since the 1906 World Series, the 2 Chicago teams played each other. The Cubs beat the White Sox, 8-3 at what's now called Rate Field on the South Side. Lyle Mouton hit a home run for the Pale Hose, but Ryne Sandberg and Brian McRae each had 3 hits for the North Siders.

And for the 1st time ever, the 2 Ohio teams played each other: Cincinnati Reds 4, Cleveland Indians 1 at Jacobs Field (now Progressive Field). Manny Ramirez hit a home run in the bottom of the 9th, but that was all the Tribe got.

Other Interleague milestones:

* June 17, 1997: The 2 Los Angeles area teams played each other for the 1st time. The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the team then known as the Anaheim Angels, 4-3 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

* June 30, 1997: The 2 Canadian teams played each other for the 1st time. The Montreal Expos beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 2-1 at the SkyDome (now the Rogers Centre) in Toronto.

* July 2, 1997: The 2 San Francisco Bay Area teams played each other for the 1st time since the 1989 World Series. The Oakland Athletics beat the San Francisco Giants, 8-1 at Candlestick Park (then named 3Com Park at Candlestick Point) in San Francisco.

* August 29, 1997: The Atlanta Braves played in Boston for the 1st time since 1952, and beat the Red Sox, 9-1 at Fenway Park. The same night, the Kansas City Royals and the St. Louis Cardinals played each other for the 1st time since the 1985 World Series, and the Cardinals won, 9-7 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.

* June 1, 1998: The Braves played in Milwaukee for the 1st time since 1965, and beat the Brewers, 5-2 at Milwaukee County Stadium.

* June 22, 1998: The Florida teams played each other for the 1st time. The Florida Marlins (now the Miami Marlins) beat the Tampa Bay Rays (an expansion team that season), 3-2 in 12 innings at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg.

* June 8, 2001: The Texas teams played each other for the 1st time. The Houston Astros beat the Texas Rangers, 5-4 in 11 innings at Minute Maid Park in Houston.

* June 6, 2003: The Oakland Athletics played in Philadelphia for the 1st time since 1954, and beat the Phillies, 7-4 at Veterans Stadium. The same night, the Baltimore Orioles played in St. Louis for the 1st time since 1953, and lost to the Cardinals, 8-6 at Busch Memorial Stadium.

* May 19, 2006: The Baltimore Orioles and the Washington Nationals played each other for the 1st time. The Orioles won, 5-1 at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in Washington.

* June 20, 2008: The Texas Rangers played in Washington for the 1st time since they left as the Washington Senators in 1971. The Washington Nationals beat them, 4-3 in 14 innings at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium.

*

June 16, 1997 was a Monday. In addition to the 1st-ever Yanks-Mets, Cubs-Sox and Reds-Indians games, these games were played that day:

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 5-4 at Fenway Park in Boston. Ricky Bottalico loaded the bases in the bottom of the 10th, and hit Troy O'Leary with a pitch.

* The Montreal Expos beat the Baltimore Orioles, 6-4 at Camden Yards in Baltimore. Mike Lansing and Ryan McGuire hit home runs. Cal Ripken went 0-for-4.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 3-0 at the SkyDome (now the Rogers Center) in Toronto. Denny Neagle pitched a 5-hit shutout.

* The Florida Marlins beat the Detroit Tigers, 7-3 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 1-0 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Jeromy Burnitz hit a home run in the bottom of the 9th, making Bob Wickman the winning pitcher in relief of Ben McDonald. Between them, they pitched a 5-hit shutout. Alan Benes lost despite having, until then, pitched a 3-hit shutout. McDonald struck out 12 batters; Benes, 11.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Minnesota Twins, 8-6 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Houston Astros, 5-2 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.

* And none of the teams in either League's Western Division were scheduled: The Anaheim Angels, the Oakland Athletics, the Seattle Mariners, the Texas Rangers; the Colorado Rockies, the Los Angeles Dodgers, the San Diego Padres and the San Francisco Giants.

June 12, 2009: The Luis Castillo Game

June 12, 2009: The New York Yankees host the New York Mets in an Interleague game at the brand-new version of Yankee Stadium that had opened 2 months earlier. Here's what I wrote at the time:

It is appropriate that the Mets have a minor-league affiliate, the Brooklyn Cyclones, named for a rollercoaster. The Mets put their fans on a rollercoaster all the time. Sometimes these fans end up saying, "Wheeee! What a ride!" Sometimes they end up throwing up all that Blue Smoke and Shake Shack stuff they ingested.

We have now had Interleague play long enough to know what a typical Yankees-Mets game is like. Last night's game, the 1st between the teams not at the original Yankee Stadium or at Shea Stadium, was typical.

1-0 Yankees. 2-1 Mets. 3-2 Yankees -- and I knew then that this game was not going to end benignly. Something was going to happen to make those who watched it, in the seats at YSII or on TV, talk about it for the next 50 years. 4-3 Mets. 6-3 Mets.

Has any broadcaster ever driven his own team's fans crazy as much as John Sterling? John, please, if you're not completely sure it's going to go out, don't get us going. No more, "Theeeeeeee pitch, it's swung on! And it's driven to deep right!" unless you know it's going to be A, over the fence, and B, a fair ball. Three times last night, he did that, leading me to think the Yankees had just hit a home run, but it turned out otherwise. On top of the times they actually did.

But then, as Hideki Matsui came up, on his 35th birthday no less, Sterling left no doubt: "It's swung on! And there it goes! Deep to right field! That ball is high! It is far! It is gone! It's a thrilla from Godzilla!"

7-6 Yankees. Still, I knew it wasn't over. Yogi Berra managed both the Yankees and the Mets, and was managing the Mets in the whacked-out NL East race of 1973, when he said, "It ain't over 'til it's over." And at 7-6 Yankees, I knew this game was far from over.

Sure enough, Phil Coke wasn't it -- again. And Joe Girardi used Joe Torre's panic move, bringing Mariano Rivera in for the 8th inning. Like most panic moves, it didn't work, and it was 8-7 Mets.

Now it was over. I was sure. Well, I've only been watching these 2 teams play for 33 seasons, so what the hell do I know?

Bottom of the 9th, 2 out, the Yankees down to their last chance, but with the tying and winning runs on, and who's up? Alex Rodriguez. Oh, well, game over. A-Rod will strike out or pop up. He can't be trusted in a situation like this. And, sure enough, Francisco Rodriguez, who hasn't blown a save since he became a Met, got him to pop up! I knew it! Game over!

Met 2nd baseman Luis Castillo settled under it, can o' corn, easy play. I could have caught this. Game over.

Except... HOLY COW! He dropped the ball! Castillo dropped the ball! Tying run scores! Winning run scores! Yankees 9, Mets 8! Ballgame over! Yankees win! Theeeeeeeeeeeeeeee Yankees win! HOW ABOUT THAT!

This was less a "classic Yankee win" than a "classic Met loss." Once I got over the shock and stopped laughing, I felt awful for Met fans.

This was in the bag. K-Rod pitching against the Yankees (which he sure knew how to do for the Angels)? Needing only to get A-Rod for the last out? This was as close to a sure thing as exists in baseball.

And K-Rod didn't blow it. He got A-Rod do to what A-Rod does so well, screw up in a clutch situation. A-Rod knew it, slamming his bat down in disgust. (Well, at least he does one thing as well as Mickey Mantle. Or Paul O'Neill.)

Met fans were ready to party like it's 1969. Or 1986. Then Luis Castillo turned it into 1962. Or 1979. Or 1993. Or 2002. And Yankee Fans partied like it's 1999. Or, more accurately, October 2000.

Did Met fans deserve this? Well, some of them. But this was a game practically already in the standings. The Daily News headline writers were already coming up with something -- maybe along the lines of "WHOSE HOUSE? Mets win first Subway Series game in new Stadium." Bill Gallo was already drawing his "goat-horns" cartoon. And then... It's going to ring in Met fans' (pardon me) minds for generations: "Castillo dropped the ball!"

I know, I know, it's only June 12. Not September. A regular-season game, just 1 of 162.

Still... And the Mets couldn't take advantage of the Phillies losing to the Red Sox, either. (Though they did spare the Yankees dropping another game behind The Scum.)

Greg Prince, author of the blog Faith and Fear In Flushing (and the terrific book of the same title), says he has a friend who calls rooting for the Mets "Metsochism." How true, how true.

This would have been bad enough for Met fans against any team. But against the Yankees? Not the Braves, not even the Phillies, but the team they truly hate the most, the Yankees?

I suspect that, somewhere, there is a Met fan now writing what I was writing after various losses to Boston: "This is unacceptable... My team has no heart... Clean house! If you can't win, then at least don't lose with the same guys!"

Do I have sympathy for this hypothetical fan? Do I have sympathy for all the Met fans who feel like this? Yeah, I do. Damn, maturity sucks sometimes.

Two more games in this series. And you just know at least one of them is going to be another epic.

Meet the Mets, meet the Mets.
Step right up and BEAT the Mets!
Bring your kiddies, and bring your wife.
They'll beat the Mets to within an inch of their life!
Because the Mets are really dropping the ball!
They've got their backs up against the wall!
East Side, West Side, they're all watching the Mets go down!
Yeah, they're the M-E-T-S, Mets, the New... York... Clowns!

An oldie, but a goodie.

You know, with all that money he makes, the least A-Rod can do is buy Luis Castillo dinner. Or introduce him to Kate Hudson, or whatever chick he's dating this week.

*

Here's how Michael Kay announced it on the YES Network:

And the three-one: Popped up. Castillo... dropped the ball! He dropped the ball! Here comes Teixeira, and the Yankees win! Oh, my goodness! He dropped the ball! What an ending! The Yankees win, 9-8, in the most improbable fashion! A-Rod becomes a hero with a pop-up!

And there exists at least one video of a Mets fan inside The House That Steinbrenner Built to Replace the House That Ruth Built, celebrating a little too early.

Overall, Luis Castillo was not a bad ballplayer. He batted .302 that season. He was a 3-time All-Star, a 3-time Gold Glove, a 2-time National League stolen base leader, a .290 lifetime hitter with 370 career stolen bases, and helped the team then known as the Florida Marlins win the 2003 World Series. But after this drop, he only played another year and a half, and was released by first the Mets, and then the Philadelphia Phillies, during Spring Training of 2011, and never played in America again.

*

June 12, 2009 was a Friday. As you can see by that New York Post headline, the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Detroit Red Wings that night, 2-1 at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, clinching the Stanley Cup and reversing the result of last year's Finals. Sidney Crosby had his 1st Cup. It should've been his Crosby's last. It wasn't.

The NBA Finals were on a travel day. Two nights later, the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Orlando Magic, 99-86 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles, in Game 5 to clinch the title.

And a full slate of Major League Baseball games was played:

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 5-2 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. Kyle Kendrick collapsed in the top of the 13th inning, allowing 4 singles, a walk and a sacrifice fly that scored 3 runs.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Baltimore Orioles, 7-2 at Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore.

* The Tampa Bay Rays beat the Washington Nationals, 4-3 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 6-0 at Rangers Ballpark in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. (It's now named Choctaw Stadium.) The Rangers needed 3 pitchers to complete an 8-hit shutout.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 3-1 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh.

* The Florida Marlins beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 7-3 at the Rogers Centre in Toronto.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 7-3 at Progressive Field in Cleveland.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Chicago Cubs, 7-4 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Chicago White Sox, 7-2 at Miller Park in Milwaukee. (It's now named American Family Field.)

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Cincinnati Reds, 4-1 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.

* The Colorado Rockies beat the Seattle Mariners, 6-4 at Coors Field in Denver.

* The Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Houston Astros, 8-1 at Chase Field in Phoenix.

* The Los Angeles Angels beat the San Diego Padres, 11-6 at Angel Stadium of Anahiem.

* And the San Francisco Giants beat the Oakland Athletics, 3-0 at AT&T Park in San Francisco. (It's now named Oracle Park.)

June 12, 1997: Interleague Play Comes to Major League Baseball

June 12, 1997: The 1st regular season Interleague games are played in Major League Baseball.

Interleague games had been played before. Of course, the World Series. In Spring Training, since some teams trained in Florida and others in Arizona, forcing the crossover "Grapefruit League" and "Cactus League." In-season exhibition games, such as the Mayor's Trophy Game between the New York Yankees and the New York Mets. Chicago also had City Series games between the Cubs and the White Sox, sometimes before the regular season, sometimes after it. In the era when there were more cities with 2 teams, there would frequently be postseason series for charity.

But in the regular season? No, this was one time when "segregation" in baseball was considered good. There was a mystique about the World Series, in that the teams facing each other hadn't faced each other during the regular season.

But most cities and metropolitan areas only had 1 team, in 1 League. The exceptions were New York, Chicago, the San Francisco Bay Area (the San Francisco Giants and the Oakland Athletics), and Los Angeles (the Los Angeles Dodgers and the team known from 1965 to 1996 as the California Angels).

If you were a fan of a team in 1 League, and wanted to see a team, or a star player, in the other, and you didn't live in 1 of those 4 areas, you had to go a long way, usually over 100 miles, to see it. Otherwise, you had to wait for television: NBC's Saturday Game of the Week, ABC's Monday Night Baseball, or, maybe, if your TV antenna was good enough, you could pull in another city's station. Failing that, you had to wait for the postseason.

The growth of ESPN and its baseball coverage didn't satisfy the appetite of fans looking to see players and teams from the other League: It actually increased it. Those of us who were opposed to Interleague Play joked, "What's next, cats and dogs becoming friends?"

The jokes went the other way, too: During the pregame show for the 1993 All-Star Game, Barry Bonds, of the National League's Giants, walked into Oriole Park of Camden Yards, home of the American League's Baltimore Orioles, and, since it wasn't an NL park, and he wasn't familiar with it due to having played there several times before, he couldn't find the locker room. He looked into the camera, and said, "This is why we need Interleague Play!" 

(As you can see, Bonds was put on the cover of the game program, along with then-current Rangers star Juan González, and legends Nolan Ryan of Texas and Willie Mays of San Francisco.)

And so, in 1995, as a way of bringing fans back after the Strike of '94, MLB officials, including Acting Commissioner Bud Selig, agreed on Interleague Play for the 1997 season. At first, it would only be series between "Divisional" opponents: Teams in the AL East would play teams in the NL East, Central vs. Central, West vs. West. This would lead to intracity, intra-metro-area, and intra-State matchups that had never happened in the regular season.

There were still separate umpiring crews, so they would be mixed for these games. As for the designated hitter, MLB would apply the same rule from the World Series and the All-Star Game: Which ever League had the home team would decide. So, home game in an AL park, DH, yes; home game in an NL park, DH, no.

The 1st such game was on June 12, 1997, a Thursday. It was at The Ballpark in Arlington (which has since undergone several name changes, and is now named Choctaw Stadium), in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas, where the Texas Rangers hosted the Giants.

At 7:11 PM, Central Daylight Time (8:11 Eastern), Darren Oliver threw a pitch, which home plate umpire Jim McKean called ball 1, to Darryl Hamilton. McKean handed that ball to the Rangers' equipment manager, who made sure it went to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. After 126 1/2 seasons without regular-season Interleague Play, it had begun. With the next ball, Hamilton singled, for the 1st Interleague hit, but did not score.

Billy Ripken, Cal's brother, had the 1st Interleague RBI, with a single up the middle off Mark Gardner, that scored Damon Buford, in the bottom of the 2nd. Stan Javier of the Giants led off the 3rd with the 1st Interleague homer. The Giants went on to win the game, 4-3. Winning pitcher: Gardner. Save: Rod Beck. Losing pitcher: Oliver.

(Ripken, Buford and Javier had all been sons of major league figures: Ripken of Oriole coach Cal Ripken Sr., Buford of former Oriole outfielder Don Buford, and Javier of former St. Louis Cardinals star Julián Javier.)

There were 3 other Interleague games that night, all on the Pacific Coast. The newly-renamed Anaheim Angels beat the San Diego Padres, 8-4 at Edison International Field in the Los Angeles suburb of Anaheim, California. (In 2004, the team would be renamed the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, and the Stadium, formerly Anaheim Stadium, was renamed Angel Stadium of Anaheim.) The Oakland Athletics beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 5-4 at the Oakland Coliseum (then named the Network Associates Coliseum). And the Seattle Mariners beat the Colorado Rockies, 12-11 at the Kingdome in Seattle.

That night, there were 2 games played that night within the American League: The Boston Red Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles, 9-5 at Fenway Park in Boston; and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Cleveland Indians, 6-2 at Jacobs Field (which was renamed Progressive Field in 2007) in Cleveland.

There were no scores in other sports on this historic day: Football was in the off-season; hockey had ended 5 days earlier, when the Detroit Red Wings completed a 4-game sweep of the Philadelphia Flyers to win their 1st Stanley Cup in 42 years; and it was a travel day in the NBA Finals, as, the next night, the Chicago Bulls beat the Utah Jazz in Game 6 to take the title.

This introduction of Interleague Play would set up the first regional rivalries:

* June 16, 1997, the 1st regular-season game between the New York teams: The New York Mets beat the New York Yankees, 6-0 at Yankee Stadium. I was there, and, as a Yankee Fan, it was a miserable experience. Among the 56,188 fans, the fandom was about evenly split, and the Met fans were having way too much fun.

Bernard Gilkey, John Olerud, Butch Huskey and Matt Franco each collected 2 hits. Joe Girardi got 3 hits for the Yankees, but to the rest of the team, Dave Mlicki allowed only 6, and pitched a shutout. Andy Pettitte was the losing pitcher.

The Yankees did win the next 2 games to take the series, and also went on to win the only World Series between them (so far), in 2000.

* Also on June 16, 1997, the 1st regular-season game between the Chicago teams: The Chicago Cubs beat the Chicago White Sox, 8-3 at the new Comiskey Park (which was renamed U.S. Cellular Field in 2002, Guaranteed Rate Field in 2016, and just Rate Field in 2025). The teams had met in the 1906 World Series, which the White Sox won.

* Also on June 16, 1997, the 1st regular-season game between the Ohio teams: The Cincinnati Reds beat the Cleveland Indians, 4-1 at Jacobs Field. (Starting in 2022, the Indians became the Cleveland Guardians.) There has never been a World Series between them, the closest call coming in 1940, when the Reds won, beating the Detroit Tigers, who finished a game ahead of the Indians.

* On June 17, 1997, the 1st regular-season game between the Los Angeles-area teams: The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Anaheim Angels, 4-3 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. (In 2004, the Angels became the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. In 2016, they dropped the "of Anaheim.") Todd Zeile hit a home run off Troy Percival to win the game in the bottom of the 9th.

There has never been a World Series between them, the closest call coming in 2009, when both teams made their respective League's Championship Series.

* On June 30, 1997, the 1st regular-season game between the Canadian teams: The Montreal Expos beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 2-1 at the SkyDome in Toronto (renamed the Rogers Centre in 2005). The next day, July 1, Canada Day, saw them play each other again, wearing red as their primary color, matching the Canadian flag, as opposed to the blue that both teams usually wore. The Expos won that game, 2-1, as well.

With the Expos having moved after the 2004 season, to become the Washington Nationals, there can still be a World Series between the franchises, but there was never an All-Canadian World Series, nor was there ever a season when both teams made the Playoffs.

* On July 2, 1997, the 1st regular-season game between the San Francisco Bay Area teams: The Oakland Athletics beat the San Francisco Giants, 8-1 at the Oakland Coliseum. They played each other in the 1989 World Series, and the A's won. They also played each other when they were still on the East Coast: The New York Giants won in 1905, while the Philadelphia Athletics won in 1911 and 1913. (UPDATE: The Athletics left Oakland after the 2024 season, but were still, for the moment, in Northern California, in Sacramento, through the 2027 season, planning to move to Las Vegas in 2028.)

* On August 29, 1997, the 1st regular-season game between the Missouri teams: The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Kansas City Royals, 9-7 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City. They had already played each other in the 1985 World Series, which the Royals won under controversial circumstances.

* Also on August 29, 1997, the 1st return of the Braves to Boston since 1952: The Atlanta Braves beat the Boston Red Sox, 9-1 at Fenway Park. The teams have never played each other in the World Series, regardless of city. The closest call for an all-Boston World Series was in 1948, when the Braves won the Pennant, and the Red Sox lost a Playoff for the Pennant to the Cleveland Indians.

* On June 1, 1998, the 1st return of the Braves to Milwaukee since 1965: The Atlanta Braves beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 5-2 at Milwaukee County Stadium. This was also the year the Brewers moved to the National League, so there can never be a World Series between them, although both teams made the Playoffs in 1982.

* On June 22, 1998, the 1st regular-season game between the Florida teams: The Florida Marlins beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 3-2 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg. Todd Zeile is involved again, hitting a sacrifice fly that scores the winning run in the top of the 12th inning. There has never been a World Series between them, although both teams made the Playoffs in 2020.

* On June 8, 2001, the 1st regular-season game between the Texas teams: The Houston Astros beat the Texas Rangers, 5-4 at The Ballpark in Arlington. Moisés Alou hit a home run to win the game in the top of the 11th inning.

The Astros moved to the American League in 2013, so there can never be a World Series between them. The closest call came in 1998 and 1999, when both teams made the Playoffs.

* On June 6, 2003, the 1st return of the Athletics to Philadelphia since 1954: The Oakland Athletics beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 7-4 at Veterans Stadium. I was at this game as well, and a few surviving Philadelphia Athletics, including Bobby Shantz and Gun Zernial, appeared on the field in a pregame ceremony.

The teams have never played each other in the World Series, regardless of city. There was never even a close call for an all-Philadelphia World Series, as they were never both good at the same time.

* Finally, on June 28, 2011, the schedule worked out to give fans the 1st return of the team that had been the Browns to St. Louis since 1953: The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Baltimore Orioles, 6-2 at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. They had played each other in an all-St. Louis World Series in 1944, and though the Browns took 2 of the 1st 3, the Cards won the next 3 to take the title. They have never faced each other as the Cardinals and the Orioles.