FRIDAY FIVE: Subway Series unsung heroes
- Posted: 11:10 AM, June 8, 2012
Yes, the Series has lost some of its luster as we head into its 16th year. What series wouldn’t? But it has built up quite an inventory of memories and moments in its first 15 years.
Today, let’s list our five favorite unsung heroes of the Subway Series. Guys whose major-league careers didn’t amount to a great deal, but who made their mark on this rivalry.
1. Dave Mlicki. He’s first because he was the first. The first winning pitcher in a regular-season Subway Series matchup, to be precise. On June 16, 1997, Mlicki threw a nine-hit shutout against the Yankees, stunning a Stadium crowd.
Mlicki put up a few decent years in the majors, and he actually earned good money from 2000 to 2002, with salaries of $4.5 million (Detroit), $5.3 million (Detroit) and $6.2 million (Houston) in those three seasons. Around here, though, he’s remembered most for that Subway Series opener. And he’s very likely remembered around here more than anywhere else.
2. Matt Franco. If you don't recall that he's Kurt Russell's nephew, then you at least know what he did on July 10, 1999 at Shea. In a crazy game that featured five lead changes and a monster, seventh-inning homer by Mike Piazza off Ramiro Mendoza, the final lead change took place in the bottom of the ninth. With the Yankees up by one, two outs and the bases loaded, Franco delivered a groundball single to rightfield, scoring both Rickey Henderson and Edgardo Alfonzo for the 9-8 Mets victory.
Franco lasted a few more years in the majors, eventually joining the Braves, but he was never more than a role player. He eventually reunited with Bobby Valentine on the Chiba Lotte Marines.
3. Dae-Sung Koo. Ah, Mr. Koo. On May 21, 2005, the Mets were leading 2-0 at Shea when Willie Randolph opted to let Koo hit to start the top of the seventh. He stunned the Yankees by slashing a double to deep centerfield, his first and only major-league hit. When Jose Reyes followed with a sacrifice bunt, Koo headed to third base, then noticed that home plate was unoccupied and booked for home. He just beat Jorge Posada's tag there for a cartoon-ish trip around the bases.
2005 proved to be Koo's only season in the big leagues. But surely, if the Mets brought him back to Citi Field, he'd get a huge ovation for his one moment in the sun.
4. Kevin Russo. A local boy (born in West Babylon) who's still at the Yankees' Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre affiliate, Russo delivered in the most local series when he slammed a two-run, seventh-inning double at Citi Field on May 21, 2010. That broke a scoreless tie, and the Yankees held on for a 2-1 victory.
Russo hasn't been back in the major leagues since the 2010 season.
5. Andy Phillips. He once was regarded as a little bit of a prospect, having been drafted in the seventh round of the 1999 amateur draft. That didn't happen, but Phillips contributed sporadically to the Yankees from 2004 through 2007. Never more so than on May 20, 2006. The Mets blew a 4-0 lead in the ninth inning, and Billy Wagner complained afterwards that Willie Randolph shouldn't have brough him in for a non-save situation. Yeesh.
Anyway, having tied the game in the ninth, the Yankees completed their comeback in the 11th when, with two outs and Miguel Cairo on third base, Phillips _ having entered the game on a 10th-inning double-switch _ lined a single to centerfield.
Phillips played for the Mets and Cincinnati in 2008, and that was it for him. He'll always have his big Subway Series hit, though.
--Enjoy the Subway Series.
