October 24, 1999: The Major League Baseball All-Century Team

Top row, left to right: Johnny Bench, Willie Mays, Stan Musial.

Middle row: Mike Schmidt, Brooks Robinson,

Ken Griffey Jr., Sandy Koufax and Nolan Ryan.

Bottom row: Bob Gibson, Yogi Berra, Cal Ripken, Warren Spahn,

then-Commissioner Bud Selig, Roger Clemens and Hank Aaron.

October 24, 1999: The New York Yankees beat the Atlanta Braves, 7-2 at Turner Field (now Center Parc Stadium), behind the pitching of David Cone and 3 hits from Bernie Williams, and take a 2 games to 0 lead in the World Series.

Before the game, the winners in the fan balloting for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team were introduced. With some older players overlooked by young fans, some "wild cards" were added by a "select panel."

Pitchers
* Cy Young, born in 1867, pitched for several teams from 1890 to 1911. He died in 1955.
* Christy Mathewson, born in 1880, New York Giants, 1900-16. He died in 1925, and was added by the panel.
* Walter Johnson, born in 1887, Washington Senators, 1907-27. He died in 1946.
* Robert "Lefty" Grove, born in 1900, Philadelphia Athletics and Boston Red Sox, 1925-41. He died in 1975, and was added by the panel.
* Warren Spahn, born in 1921, Boston/Milwaukee Braves, 1942-65. He was added by the panel. He was on hand for the ceremony, and threw out the ceremonial first ball before Game 1, even though he never pitched for the Braves in Atlanta. He died in 2003.
* Sandy Koufax, born in 1935, Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers, 1955-66. He was on hand, making a rare public appearance, and joked that Spahn had to be added to the All-Century Team, "because he pitched for most of the century." As of October 24, 2022, he is still alive.
* Bob Gibson, born in 1935, St. Louis Cardinals, 1959-75. He was on hand for the ceremony, and died in 2020.

* Nolan Ryan, born in 1947, and pitched his best years with the California Angels and Houston Astros, pitching overall 1966-93. He was on hand, and is still alive.
* Roger Clemens, born in 1963, pitched his best years with the Boston Red Sox, was then still active with the Yankees, and would start and win Game 4. His career lasted 1986-2007. He was on hand, and is still alive.

Catchers
* Lawrence "Yogi" Berra, born in 1925, Yankees, 1946-63. He was on hand, and died 2015.
* Johnny Bench, born in 1947, Cincinnati Reds, 1967-83. He was on hand, and is still alive.

1st Basemen
* Lou Gehrig, born in 1903, Yankees, 1923-39. He died in 1941.
* Mark McGwire, born in 1963, Oakland Athletics and St. Louis Cardinals, 1986-2001. He was on hand, and then still active. He is still alive.

2nd Basemen
* Rogers Hornsby, born in 1896, best years with the St. Louis Cardinals, 1917-37. He died 1963.
* Jackie Robinson, born in 1919, Brooklyn Dodgers, 1947-56. He died in 1972. Joe Morgan, one of the finalists on the ballot, was part of the NBC broadcasting crew for this Series, and said that if he were one of the 2nd basemen chosen, and Robinson was not, he would forfeit his place to Robinson. Morgan finished 3rd in the 2B voting, so it wasn't necessary.

Shortstops
* John "Honus" Wagner, born in 1874, Pittsburgh Pirates, 1897-1917. He died in 1955, and was added by the panel.
* Ernie Banks, born in 1931, Chicago Cubs, 1953-71. He was on hand, and died in 2015.
* Cal Ripken Jr., born in 1960, Baltimore Orioles, 1981-2001. He was then still active, was on hand, and is still alive.

3rd Basemen
* Brooks Robinson, born in 1937, Baltimore Orioles, 1955-77. He was on hand, and is still alive.
* Mike Schmidt, born in 1948, Philadelphia Phillies, 1972-89. He was on hand, and is still alive.

Outfielders
* Ty Cobb, born in 1886, Detroit Tigers, 1905-28. He died 1961.
* Babe Ruth, born in 1895, Yankees, 1914-35. He died in 1948.
* Joe DiMaggio, born in 1914, Yankees, 1936-51. He had died earlier in 1999.
* Ted Williams, born in 1918, Boston Red Sox, 1939-60. He was on hand despite already being ill, and it turned out to be his last appearance in a big-league ballpark, following his emotional appearance at that season's All-Star Game at Fenway Park in Boston, his former home field. As he did on that occasion, he tipped his cap to the fans. He died in 2002.
* Stan Musial, born in 1920, St. Louis Cardinals, 1941-63. He was added by the panel. He was on hand, and died in 2013.

* Mickey Mantle, born in 1931, Yankees, 1951-68. He died in 1995.
* Willie Mays, born in 1931, New York/San Francisco Giants, 1951-73. He was on hand, and is still alive.

* Hank Aaron, born in 1934, Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves, 1954-76. He was on hand, and threw out the first ball that night. He died in 2021.

* Pete Rose, born in 1941, Cincinnati Reds and Philadelphia Phillies, 1963-86. He is probably better known as a 3rd baseman or a 1st baseman. Despite having been permanently banned from baseball, for betting on baseball games while a manager, he was permitted to attend, and did. He is still alive.

* Ken Griffey Jr., born 1969, Seattle Mariners and Cincinnati Reds, 1989-2010. He was still active, was on hand, and is still alive.

(UPDATE: Mays and Rose both died in 2024.)

With the steroid accusations against Clemens and McGwire, the ban on Rose, and the "kid vote" for Griffey in mind, the next-highest vote getters at the positions in question were Greg Maddux (who was on hand as an active Brave) for Clemens' spot, Jimmie Foxx (who died in 1967) for McGwire's, and Roberto Clemente (who died in 1972) for Griffey's and Shoeless Joe Jackson (who died in 1951) for, with some irony, Rose's. So if Jackson, also banned permanently for gambling-related offenses, is also removed, the next-highest outfielder was Reggie Jackson (who was on hand, being a Yankee front-office man).

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October 24, 1999 was a Sunday. These NFL games were played that day:

* The New York Giants beat the New Orleans Saints, 31-3 at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands.

* The New York Jets lost to the Oakland Raiders, 24-23 at the Oakland Coliseum (then named the Network Associates Coliseum).

* The New England Patriots beat the Denver Broncos, 24-23 at Foxboro Stadium in the Boston suburb of Foxborough, Massachusetts.

* The Detroit Lions beat the Carolina Panthers, 24-9 at Ericsson Stadium (now Bank of America Stadium) in Charlotte.

* The Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Chicago Bears, 6-3 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.

* The Miami Dolphins beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 16-13 at Pro Player Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida.

* The Indianapolis Colts beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 31-10 at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis.

* The Minnesota Vikings beat the San Francisco 49ers, 40-16 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* The St. Louis Rams beat the Cleveland Browns, 34-3 at the TWA Dome (now the Dome at America's Center) in St. Louis.

* The Dallas Cowboys beat their arch-rivals, the Washington Redskins, 38-20 at Texas Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Irving, Texas.

* The Green Bay Packers beat the San Diego Chargers, 31-3 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego.

* The Seattle Seahawks beat the Buffalo Bills, 26-16 at the Kingdome in Seattle.

* The preceding Thursday, the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Baltimore Ravens, 35-8 at PSINet Stadium (now M&T Bank Stadium) in Baltimore.

* The next night, on ABC Monday Night Football, the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Atlanta Falcons, 13-9 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh.

* And the Arizona Cardinals, the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Tennessee Titans all had a bye week.

The NBA season started 9 days later. There were 4 games in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers lost to the Vancouver Canucks, 3-0 at Madison Square Garden.

* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Florida Panthers, 2-0 at the First Union Center (now the Xfinity Mobile Arena) in Philadelphia.

* The Boston Bruins beat the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, 3-2 at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim (now the Honda Center).

* And the Los Angeles Kings beat the San Jose Sharks, 4-3 at the brand-new Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles.

October 19, 1999: Kenny Rogers Walks Andruw Jones

October 19, 1999: A wild National League Championship Series, just 2 days after Robin Ventura's "Grand Slam Single" won Game 5 at Shea Stadium, moves on to an even wilder Game 6 at Turner Field in Atlanta. (The stadium is now known as Center Parc Stadium.) The Atlanta Braves blow Al Leiter off the mound with 5 runs in the 1st inning, and later lead the New York Mets, 7-3. But the Mets storm back, with Mike Piazza tying the game with a home run. The Braves take an 8-7 lead late, but the Mets tie it. The Mets take a 9-8 lead in the 10th, but the Braves tie it.

In the bottom of the 11th inning, the Braves load the bases, and Met manager Bobby Valentine, instead of bringing in righthanded reliever Octavio Dotel to pitch to righthanded hitter Andruw Jones, brings in lefthander Kenny Rogers. Rogers has been one of the top pitchers in baseball in regular-season play the last few years, but his postseason experience has been limited to some terrible outings for the Yankees in 1996 and '97. For whatever reason, Valentine brings him in to face the Braves'
kinderwonder from the Netherlands Antilles.

I watched this game on TV with my father, who was a nominal Met fan (the only sports team he really cared about was Rutgers football), and it was this series, with all its twists and turns, that led him to finally understand what lunatics like me see in the game of baseball.

And I remember telling him, late in the game, that this game and this series deserved to end with a hero, and that it would be a shame if it ended with a goat.

With a 3-2 count on Jones, Rogers threw a pitch low and outside. Jones would not swing at it. Ball 4. 10-9 Braves. Winning run forced home. Pennant dream over.

If Jones had gotten a hit, to drive home the Pennant-winning run, he would have been a hero, and you couldn't really criticize anyone on the Mets. They had fought gallantly, at moments even brilliantly, from a 3-games-to-none deficit.

Of course, no one had ever come back from such a deficit to win a postseason series. Not in baseball, anyway. None had even forced a Game 7. None had even forced a Game 6 until the Braves themselves did it the year before against the San Diego Padres in the NLCS.

Back from 3-0 to win the series? That was never going to happen in baseball. Everybody who had ever watched baseball was thinking that in October 1999. If only it had stayed that way for 5 more years, plus a couple more days.

Was the goat Rogers, for pitching poorly when his team needed him to get one more out and get out of the 11th-inning jam? Or was the goat Valentine, for yet another dimwitted bullpen move? (Paging Mel Rojas, and that was in a game with far less significance.)

Did this move convince him to leave Leiter in to face Luis Sojo in Game 5 of the next year's World Series after 141 pitches? Who knows. Bobby V himself probably doesn’t know.

What is known is that the Mets had taken their fans on a thrilling ride, their first October ride in 11 years, and provided them with treasured moments on the ride... and then they crashed. What a way for the Mets and their fans to end the 20th Century.

One more thing: In the 2010s, in sports, "goat" ceased to be short for "scapegoat," someone or something you blamed for a defeat; and became an abbreviation: "GOAT," meaning "Greatest Of All Time." It even became a verb: A player who had reached elite status was said to have been "goated." To those of us old enough to remember earlier times, this sounds really stupid.

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October 19, 1999 was a Tuesday. The American League Championship Series had ended the night before, with the New York Yankees beating the Boston Red Sox in Game 5 at Fenway Park, to take the Pennant. Since Major League Baseball counts the 1978 Bucky Dent Game as a regular-season game, this was the 1st official postseason matchup between the ancient rivals, and the Yankees had clinched on Boston soil. There would be revenge.

Football was in midweek. The NBA season started 12 days later. There were 4 games played in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers lost to the San Jose Sharks, 2-1 at Madison Square Garden.

* The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim beat the Washington Capitals, 7-1 at the MCI Center (now the Capital One Arena) in Washington.

* The Vancouver Canucks beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 6-5 at the Ice Palace (now the Benchmark International Arena) in Tampa. Mark Messier, playing out the string with the Canucks, scored the winner, 39 seconds into overtime.

* And the St. Louis Blues beat the Calgary Flames, 7-1 at the Kiel Center (now the Enterprise Center) in St. Louis.

June 18, 2015: The Most Consecutive Errorless Games By a Right Fielder

June 18, 2015: The Boston Red Sox beat the Atlanta Braves, 5-2 at Turner Field (now Center Parc Stadium) in Atlanta. Clay Buchholz outpitched Shelby Miller. David Ortiz went 1-for-3 with a walk and an RBI.

Nick Markakis went 0-for-2 with 2 walks for the Braves. He also caught 2 fly balls, without making an error. This was thus the 393rd consecutive game without an error for him, setting a new major league record for a right fielder.

The previous record was set by Darren Lewis, with the San Francisco Giants in 1994. Markakis extended the record to 398, before making an error on June 25, 7 days later.

He was born in 1983 in Glen Cove, Long Island, New York, but grew up outside Atlanta in Woodstock, Georgia. He debuted with the Baltimore Orioles in 2006, and he and his family still maintain their residence outside Baltimore. After 9 seasons with the Orioles, including the start of his streak, he signed as a free agent with his "hometown" Braves, and played 6 seasons for them.

He won 3 Gold Gloves, and made the 2018 All-Star Game. He reached the postseason with the O's in 2014; and with the Braves in 2018, 2019 and 2020, after which he retired, with a .288 lifetime batting average and 2,388 hits, including 189 home runs. The Orioles elected him to their team Hall of Fame.

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June 18, 2015 was a Thursday. These other games were played in Major League Baseball, most of them Interleague games:

* The New York Yankees beat the Miami Marlins, 9-4 at Yankee Stadium. Chasen Shreve was the winning pitcher, in relief of CC Sabathia. Brett Gardner and Carlos Beltrán hit home runs. Alex Rodriguez went 2-for-4 with a walk and an RBI. Future Yankee Giancarlo Stanton hit a home run for the Marlins.

* The New York Mets lost to the Toronto Blue Jays, 7-1 at the Rogers Centre in Toronto. Former Met R.A. Dickey outpitched Bartolo Colón. Chris Colabello hit a home run for the Jays. The only Met run came on a homer by Lucas Duda.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Baltimore Orioles, 2-1 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. Manny Machado led off the game with a home run, but the Phils' Ryan Howard hit a 2-run home run in the bottom of the 6th inning to win it.

* The Tampa Bay Rays beat the Washington Nationals, 5-3 at Nationals Park in Washington.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Chicago Cubs, 4-3 at Progressive Field in Cleveland.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Chicago White Sox, 3-2 at U.S. Cellular Field (now Rate Field) in Chicago.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 2-1 at Target Field in Minneapolis.

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

* The Houston Astros beat the Colorado Rockies, 8-4 at Coors Field in Denver.

* The Los Angeles Angels beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 7-1 at Chase Field in Phoenix.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Texas Rangers, 1-0 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. The game was scoreless until the bottom of the 9th, when, with Jimmy Rollins at bat, Ranger pitcher Keone Kela was called for a balk, forcing home Enrique "Kike" Hernández. This made Kenley Jansen a winning pitcher in relief of Zack Greinke.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Oakland Athletics, 3-1 at the O.co Coliseum (as the Oakland Coliseum was then known).

* And the San Francisco Giants beat the Seattle Mariners, 7-0 at Safeco Field (now T-Mobile Park) in Seattle. How many Giant pitchers does it take to pitch a 5-hit shutout? This time, 4: Ryan Vogelsong allowed 3 hits over 6 2/3rds innings, Javier López got the last out in the 7th, Hunter Strickland pitched a hitless 8th, and Jeremy Affeldt allowed 2 hits in the 9th.