Braves-Mets rivalry

The rivalry between the Atlanta Braves and the New York Mets features two teams in Major League Baseball's National League East.

1969 NLCS

The Braves-Mets rivalry has roots that trace all the way back to the 1969 NLCS, when the upstart Mets, led by Tom Seaver, would defeat Hank Aaron and the Braves in a three game sweep en route to their first World Series Championship. The rivalry didn't pick up real steam until the late 1990s though when the Mets and Braves both became members of the National League East Division.

1998

The Braves had been the dominant team of the National League throughout the 1990s, while the Mets were perennial doormats. This changed in 1998 as the Mets would start competing with the Braves for the division title, and contend for the National League Wild Card. Despite this success, the Mets couldn't claim victory over the Braves, especially at Turner Field in Atlanta. Significant late season losses to the Braves, including a season ending sweep in Atlanta (when the Mets only needed to win one game to win the Wild Card) kept the Mets out of the playoffs as the Braves cruised to the division title with a franchise-record 106 wins, finishing 18 games ahead of New York in the East.

The 1999 NLCS & John Rocker

Both teams played solid baseball in 1999. The Mets, led by Mike Piazza, Robin Ventura, Al Leiter, and Edgardo Alfonzo, still had problems beating the Braves in the regular season and almost missed the playoffs altogether due to late season losses in Atlanta. The Braves, led by John Rocker, Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and eventual NL MVP Chipper Jones ended up winning their eighth straight division title, due to their late season heroics over the Mets. Jones, whose real first name is Larry, would have to endure “LARRY” chants by Shea Stadium crowds.

After a season long battle for first place, both teams made the playoffs. The Braves won the division, and the Mets backed into the playoffs with a one game playoff victory over the Cincinnati Reds for the 1999 Wild Card. The Braves defeated the Houston Astros, and the Mets defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks in the NLDS that year setting up what would become a classic NLCS.

The Braves would win the first three contests of the NLCS, with their Hall Of Fame caliber starting rotation basically shutting down the New York Mets explosive line-up. During the series Rocker continually insulted the Mets and their fans and was greeted with a barrage of insults and thrown objects (including batteries) at Shea. With the Mets down in the series 3-0, Mets first baseman John Olerud extended the series against Rocker as he hit a crucial two-run single to give the Mets the lead off the closer.

Game 5 would become a classic battle, as the game extended into 15-inning marathon that lasted over five hours. The game began shortly after 4 p.m. with Atlanta ace Greg Maddux taking on New York's Masato Yoshii. The game would continue on well into what was a wet evening, hampered by a steady October rain in New York City. With the game tied at 2 in the top of the 13th inning, the Braves just missed their best chance. With Keith Lockhart at first Chipper Jones launched an extra base hit down the right field line. Mets right fielder Melvin Mora did an excellent job cutting the ball off and hit relay man Edgardo Alfonzo with a perfect relay thrown. Alfonzo then fired the ball home where Mets catcher Mike Piazza applied the tag for the out. In the top of the 15th, Lockhart got his own personal revenge on the Mets as he hit a go ahead RBI triple off Octavio Dotel to give the Braves a 3-2 lead. In the bottom of the 15th, the Mets then mounted their own comeback, by loading the bases for third baseman, and perennial grand slam threat Robin Ventura. Ventura then proceeded to launch one the most memorable walk-off grand slam's in baseball history to win the game for the Mets. The home run, which is commonly referred by Mets fans as the "Grand Slam Single" gave the Mets the opportunity to bring the series back to Atlanta, and effectively put the Mets back in the series. Since Ventura only made it no further than first base due to being mobbed by his teammates the hit would officially go down in the books as a walk off single.

The series returned to Turner Field in Atlanta, a place that had been a house of horrors for the Mets since it opened for baseball in 1997. Game Six was just as close as the previous five games. The Braves were staked to a quick 6-0, battering Mets ace Al Leiter. However, the Mets staged a comeback, highlighted by a game tying home run by Mike Piazza off Braves starter John Smoltz. After blowing late inning leads in the 9th and 10th innings, the Mets saw their season come to an end when Kenny Rogers walked Andruw Jones with the bases loaded. The walk solidified the troubles that Rogers had always occurred while pitching for New York based teams. Rogers was instantly vilified by Mets fans, and was not resigned after the season.

After the season, Rocker made disparaging remarks about New Yorkers in an interview with Sports Illustrated writer Jeff Pearlman. Many of his complaints involved riding the 7 train of the New York City Subway (which services the Mets home field, Shea Stadium). Among the groups of people Rocker specifically insulted his New York City were, Mets fans, Hispanics, single mothers, homosexuals and all foreigners in general. During the following seasons, the NYPD had to patrol the stands and bleachers during further visits by the Braves to Shea Stadium and Mets officials put up giant pieces of plywood between the outfield bleachers and the visiting bullpen to keep fans from heckling and abusing Rocker. The same process was also used by the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium when the Braves visited the Yankees for their annual interleague match up.

The 2000 and 2001 Seasons

During another season-long struggle between the two teams for the division title, the rivalry came to a climax on fireworks night at Shea Stadium on June 30, 2000. Trailing the Braves 8-1 in the 8th inning, the Mets staged a furious two-out rally in the bottom half of the inning, capped by a Mike Piazza line drive home run off the Mets retired numbers in left field, to give the Mets the lead and eventually the victory.

All signs pointed to a rematch in the 2000 NLCS, as the Braves won their ninth straight division title and the Mets once again captured the National League Wild Card. However, the Braves lost in the Division Series against the St. Louis Cardinals, while the Mets defeated the San Francisco Giants en route to the NLCS and their first World Series berth since 1986. The Mets would go on to lose the Series to their cross town rivals, the New York Yankees.

The Mets started the 2001 season very slowly, but after the terrorist attacks of September 11, the Mets saw themselves back in the race for the National League East crown after the Braves' once 13-and-one-half-game lead over the Mets eroded to as little as three games. In fact, the first professional sporting event in New York City after the attacks was a game on September 21 between the Mets and the Braves. In a moment that transcended the rivalry, Mets and Braves players embraced each other on the field during pregame ceremonies remembering the victims of the attacks. The game itself was highly emotional as the Mets came from behind to win 3-2 on an emotional home run by Mike Piazza. Piazza later stated that the home run was one of the proudest moments of his career. With a chance to sweep and tie the Braves for the division lead, the Mets headed to Atlanta the next weekend for a three game series. However, after losing the first game, they saw the season virtually end on September 29, 2001, as they blew a 5-1 lead, once again in ninth inning. In that inning, relievers Armando Benitez and John Franco struggled to record an out and Franco ultimately gave up a game winning grand slam to Brian Jordan.

Braves Dominance in the 2000s

The hatred between the two teams during the 2002 season became increasingly insignificant as the Mets fielded a very uncompetitive team and the Braves continued their winning ways.

After the disappointing 2002 season the Mets signed long time Braves pitching staple Tom Glavine to anchor their starting rotation in a move that started to fuel the rivalry's fire again. Glavine has seen mostly poor results while facing his former team, sporting a 3-10 record with an ERA of 5.55, but has thrived against other teams, and is still one of the best pitchers in the game.

In the 2004 the Braves effectively ended the Mets' season right after the trading deadline. After the Mets, 6 games behind of the Braves at the time, traded infamously for Kris Benson and Victor Zambrano (the latter for top tier Mets prospect Scott Kazmir), the Braves swept the Mets in decisive fashion at Turner Field. The Mets left Atlanta 9 games behind their rivals and never recovered.

The Mets fielded a much more competitive team in 2005 after hiring Omar Minaya as their General Manager and former Yankees third base coach Willie Randolph as manager. The Mets finished in third place, 7 games behind the Braves, who won their 14th straight division title.

Present Day

Sarcastic remarks were made by Braves players Jeff Francoeur and Adam LaRoche concerning an early Mets lead in the division, Mets pitcher Pedro Martinez won his 200th career game against them at Shea. The Mets went on to run away with the division and swept a late July series in Atlanta. It was the Mets first sweep of more than three games against the Braves since 1985, and their first sweep ever in Turner Field. On September 12, 2006 the Mets 6-4 win over the Florida Marlins mathematically eliminated the Braves from winning the NL East, finally ending the Braves' streak of consecutive division titles at 14. The Mets officially won the division on September 18, ending a significant era of dominance by the Braves. The Mets also won the season series against the Braves for the first time since 1996. The Mets would go to the NLCS but lose in seven games to the eventual champion St. Louis Cardinals.

Prior to 2007, the two teams (along with the Philadelphia Phillies), were considered the front runners to compete for the NL East title. With both teams 3-0, the Braves won an early April series two games to one at Turner Field. On April 20, 2007 the teams played a three game series at Shea Stadium, where the Braves once again took two out of three games. From May 22-24 the two teams played a three game set at Turner Field, where the Braves for the third time in the season took the series. The only Mets win was attributed to Mets pitcher Oliver Perez, who has the only three Mets wins against their rivals in 2007. The teams met from August 7-9 at Shea Stadium, the Braves taking the series 2-1. The Mets swept a series at Turner Field from August 31-September 2 which left the Braves 7 games back of the NL East. The Mets took the final series from September 10-12 leaving the season series tied 9 apiece. In the end, both teams failed to take the division, which was won by the Philadelphia Phillies.

Smoltz vs. Glavine

Former teammates and long-time friends John Smoltz and Tom Glavine have faced each other 6 times since Tom Glavine went to the Mets in 2003. Smoltz has had more success against his old teammate going 3-1 while Glavine has gone 1-2. The two were reunited after the 2007 season as Glavine signed a one-year contract with the Braves.

Quick Facts
*The Braves hold an all-time series lead of 328-276 over the Mets as of May 25, 2007.

*Each team has beaten the other in an NLCS. The Mets swept the Braves in 1969, and the Braves defeated the Mets four games to two in 1999.

*Atlanta star Chipper Jones named his son Shea after the Mets' Shea Stadium because of his impressive numbers while playing in that ballpark. He also hit his first home run there.

*Since the Mets joined the National League in 1962 they have won two World Series titles (1969 and 1986), four National League Pennants (1969, 1973, 1986, and 2000), and five division titles (1969, 1973, 1986, 1988, and 2006). Since 1962 the Braves have won one World Series title (1995), five National League Pennants (1991, 1992, 1995, 1996, 1999), and 16 division titles (1969, 1982, 1991-1993, 1995-2005).

*The Mets and Braves played a memorable game on Thursday July 4, 1985 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. After a back and forth tustle throughout the game, the score was tied at 8 at the end of nine. The game would not end though until 10 innings later as the Mets led by first baseman Keith Hernandez, who hit for the cycle would defeat the Braves in a wild 16-13 victory. The Mets would go on to sweep the four game series. It would be their last sweep of three or more games against Atlanta until 2006.

*Going into the final five games of the 1998 season all the Mets had to do was win one game to win the National League Wild Card. After losing to the Montreal Expos at Shea Stadium, the Mets then proceeded to get swept at Turner Field by the Braves, thwarting their push for their first post season berth since 1988. The Mets were 0-6 at Turner Field in 1998.

*Game Five of the 1999 NLCS is known to Mets fans as the "Grand Slam Single" game, when Mets third baseman Robin Ventura ended the game with a walk-off grand slam. However Ventura never made it past second base as his teammates mobbed him. The single extended the series to a Game Six in Atlanta.

*Game Six of the 1999 NLCS concluded what was a memorable series as Mets pitcher Kenny Rogers walked in Andruw Jones as the pennant winning run for the Braves.

*With a 10-6 win at Turner Field on July 30, 2006 the Mets completed a three game sweep of the Braves. This marked their first sweep of the Braves of three or more games since 1985, and their first ever sweep at Turner Field.

*Braves ace John Smoltz and former Mets ace Tom Glavine, longtime friends, have been matched up against each other five times. The Braves won the first four duels with John Smoltz winning three of the starts and Tom Glavine won for the first time against his old buddy on September 2. On May 24, 2007, Smoltz won against his old buddy 2-1 capturing his 200th win of his career.

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