Memorable Mets Opening Day games
In this April 5, 1983, file photo, Mets pitcher Tom Seaver throws against the Philadelphia Phillies during an Opening Day baseball game at Shea Stadium. Credit: AP/Richard Drew
The Mets have the best Opening Day winning percentage in baseball history (.655). But not all their most memorable openers have been victories:
1. 1985 – Mets beat the Cardinals, 6-5, on Gary Carter’s walk-off homer in the 10th in his first game as a Met. The homer came off Neil Allen, who the Mets had traded to St. Louis on June 15, 1983, as part of the Keith Hernandez deal.
2. 1983 – Tom Seaver throws six shutout innings at age 38 in his return to the Mets. The Franchise, who was traded away in 1977 and reacquired before the 1983 season, didn’t get the win, but the Mets beat Steve Carlton and the Phillies, 2-0, at Shea Stadium.
3.1988 – Darryl Strawberry hits two home runs, including one off the roof at Montreal’s Olympic Stadium, as the Mets went deep a club record and then-Opening Day record six times in a 10-6 victory over the Expos.
4. 1994 – Cubs centerfielder Tuffy Rhodes hits three home runs off Dwight Gooden, but the Mets win, 12-8, at Wrigley Field. Rhodes, who hit 13 home runs in his big-league career, became the first major-leaguer to homer in his first three at-bats of a season.
5. 1962 – In the first game in franchise history, the expansion Mets lost to the host Cardinals, 11-4. The Mets lost their first nine games and a record 120 on the season.
6. 1970 – The Mets won a World Series in 1969 before winning their first Opening Day game. In 1970, World Series MVP Donn Clendenon’s pinch-hit, two-run single in the 11th inning led the Mets to a 5-3 victory in Pittsburgh.
Donn Clendenon, infielder for the Mets, 1970. Credit: AP
7. 2005 – Pedro Martinez struck out 12 in six innings in his first start as a Met. But Adam Dunn and Joe Randa of the Reds hit back-to-back homers off closer Braden Looper in the ninth to beat the Mets, 7-6, and spoil Willie Randolph’s managerial debut.
8. 1998 – The Mets and Phillies played 13½ scoreless innings at Shea Stadium before pinch hitter Alberto Castillo’s RBI single in the 14th gave the Mets a 1-0 victory.
Mets pinch-hitter Alberto Castillo watches his game winning single in the bottom of the 14th inning as the Mets beat the Philadelphia Phillies 1-0 in their season opener Tuesday, March 31, 1998, at Shea Stadium. Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS/KATHY WILLENS
9. 2001 – Robin Ventura’s two-run home run in the 10th inning powered the Mets to a 6-4 victory over the Braves in Atlanta in the Mets' first game following the 2000 Subway Series.
10. 2000 – The Mets opened the season with a 5-3 loss to the Cubs in Tokyo in the first regular-season baseball game to be played outside of North America.
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.
