The 1999 National League Championship Series (NLCS), was a semifinal series held in Major League Baseball's 1999 postseason to determine the champion of the National League. The 30th in NL history, it was held between two East Division rivals, the division champion Atlanta Braves and the wild card New York Mets.
After defeating the Mets in the NLCS in six games, the Braves would go on to lose in a sweep to the New York Yankees in the World Series in four games.
This was the first edition of the postseason where both teams from New York City appeared in the LCS, a phenomenon that has only repeated twice since (2000, 2024).
Background
After the Mets lost eight of nine games in September — including five of six to the NL East rival Braves — the Mets seemed unlikely to make the playoffs, two games out of the wild card lead with three games to play.
Following the Mets' most recent defeat in this stretch, an 11-inning loss to Atlanta at Shea Stadium, Braves third baseman Chipper Jones was quoted as saying, "Now all the Mets fans can go home and put their Yankees stuff on." Braves closer John Rocker was also quoted as saying he hated the Mets, and "How many times you gotta beat a team before the fans finally shut up?" Thinking they had buried the Mets, the Braves had closed out their season with another division title and were poised to enter the playoffs and leave the Mets behind.
However, the Mets swept their season-ending three-game series with the Pittsburgh Pirates at Shea Stadium, while the wild-card-leading Cincinnati Reds lost two out of three to the Milwaukee Brewers. The Mets and Reds had the same record at 95–66 heading into an eventful final day of the season. That Sunday saw the Mets win their game, 2–1, on a wild pitch in the bottom of the ninth; the Reds avoided the sweep in Milwaukee following a seven-hour rain delay. Both teams finished even with records of 96–66 after 162 games.
The Atlanta Braves captured their eighth consecutive division title with a league-best record, 103-59. Third-baseman, Chipper Jones, was the National League's Most Valuable Player with a .319 batting average, 45 HR's, and 110 RBI. A major factor in his selection as MVP was his performance against the New York Mets. The Braves led the National League East by only one game as they entered a three-game September series against the Mets, the team that was right on their heels. Atlanta swept the series at Turner Field, though, largely thanks to Jones, who hit four home runs and drove in seven of the 13 runs that the Braves scored. For the season, he hit .319 with a .510 on-base percentage, a 1.000 slugging percentage, and seven home runs against the Mets.
Per MLB rules, the one game wild card playoff was held the next day, October 4, at Cincinnati's Cinergy Field. Al Leiter shut down the Reds with a two-hit shutout in a 5–0 Mets victory, sending New York to its first playoff berth since 1988 (as the wild card team, the Mets would be scheduled to play the division winner with the best record. However, since that team came from their own division — the 103–59 Braves, who also had the best record in baseball — New York faced the team with the second best record, the 100–62 Arizona Diamondbacks).
In the National League Division Series, both the Mets and Braves would advance in four games. The Mets would defeat the Arizona Diamondbacks, with the series ending on a walk-off home run by seldom-used backup catcher Todd Pratt, only playing due to a thumb injury to star catcher Mike Piazza. The Braves would vanquish the Houston Astros in four games, with Brian Jordan and eventual National League MVP Chipper Jone leading the way. And that would set up a National League Championship Series that was anticipated by many, pitting two bitter rivals against each other on the national stage. This marked the Braves' record eighth-straight appearance in the NLCS, while the Mets advanced to the league championship for the first time since 1988. This would be the second time that the Braves and Mets met in the NLCS. The two teams met in the very first National League Championship Series in 1969, with the Mets sweeping the then best-of-five set.
Prior to Game 1, Mets Manager Bobby Valentine chided the Braves, saying that "They better be ready to play some ghosts, because we were dead and buried two weeks ago," in reference to earlier statements by Chipper Jones. When the series shifted to Shea Stadium in New York, raucous Mets fans would continually jeer Jones, chanting "LARRY!" (his given name) in derision every time he stepped to the plate. John Rocker also riled up fans, as he would often pretend to toss baseballs into the stands, and got into several arguments.
This was Atlanta's eighth straight NLCS appearance, excluding the strike-shortened 1994 season.
Summary
Atlanta Braves vs. New York Mets
Game summaries
Game 1 Tuesday, October 12, 1999, 8:12p.m. (EDT) at Turner Field in Atlanta, Georgia; , cloudy
The Braves began their eighth consecutive NLCS with a 4–2 victory over the Mets, defeating a team they left for dead two weeks earlier. They struck first in the first off of Masato Yoshii when Gerald Williams hit a leadoff single, stole second and scored on Brett Boone's single. The Mets tied it in the fourth on Mike Piazza's groundout with runners on first and third. The Braves retook the lead when Walt Weiss, who went 3 for 4, doubled to lead off the fifth, moved to third on a sacrifice bunt and scored on Williams's single. Future NLCS MVP Eddie Pérez's home run next inning off of Pat Mahomes made it 3–1 Braves. Andruw Jones walked to lead off the eighth off of Turk Wendell, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt, and scored on Weiss's single. Greg Maddux tossed seven solid innings and John Rocker recorded the final four outs for the save, his second of the postseason, despite allowing an RBI single to Todd Pratt in the ninth to seal Atlanta's fourth straight win.
Game 2 Wednesday, October 13, 1999, 4:09p.m. (EDT) at Turner Field in Atlanta, Georgia; , cloudy
Kevin Millwood held the Mets in check to win his second straight postseason start, allowing three runs—two earned—over innings.
The Mets struck first in the second on Roger Cedeño's RBI single with two on, then made it 2–0 on Melvin Mora's home run in the fifth.
In the sixth, Chipper Jones walked before Brian Jordan's home run tied the game. After Andruw Jones singled, Eddie Pérez's home run off of Mets starter Kenny Rogers put the Braves up 4–2.
The Mets cut the lead to 4–3 in the eighth when Mora reached on third baseman Jones's error and scored on Edgardo Alfonso's double. John Rocker relieved Millwood and ended the inning without further damage, but after pitching innings in Game 1, manager Bobby Cox turned to Game 4 starter John Smoltz for the ninth. Smoltz retired the Mets in order to give the Braves a 2–0 series lead.
Game 3 Friday, October 15, 1999, 8:12p.m. (EDT) at Shea Stadium in Queens, New York; , clear
Tom Glavine pitched seven shutout innings and the Braves edged the Mets, 1–0, to take a commanding three-games-to-none lead in the NLCS. The only run of the game scored in the first inning without the need for a base hit. The lead-off runner was walked, and two throwing errors by Al Leiter and Mike Piazza allowed the lead-off runner to score. This would cost the Mets the win despite seven stellar innings from Leiter.
In 1996, the Braves won the first two games of the World Series against the Yankees. In Game 3, the Yankees rallied to beat Glavine and took the series in six games. With a superb effort from its two-time Cy Young Award winner, Atlanta avoided that fate here, setting up the possibility of its fifth World Series in the 1990s with a win in Game 4.
After Mike Remlinger worked a perfect eighth, Shea Stadium villain John Rocker perfectly played the part with a scoreless ninth. After Benny Agbayani reached on an error, the animated left-hander struck out pinch-hitter Todd Pratt, got Melvin Mora on a deep fly to right-center field and Rey Ordóñez on a weak force play.
The Mets faced an obstacle that no team in baseball history had overcome: rally from a 3–0 deficit to win a playoff series (the Boston Red Sox would become the first team ever to do it in the 2004 ALCS).
Game 4 Saturday, October 16, 1999, 7:42 p.m. (EDT) at Shea Stadium in Queens, New York; , clear
The Mets struck first in Game 4 on John Olerud's home run in the sixth off of Braves' starter John Smoltz, but back-to-back leadoff home runs by Brian Jordan and Ryan Klesko off of Mets' starter Rick Reed put the Braves up 2–1. Reed pitched seven innings and gave up just those two runs.
The Braves were four outs from a series sweep and their fifth trip to the World Series in the 1990s but failed to hold the slim lead in the bottom of the eighth. Smoltz allowed a leadoff single to Roger Cedeño and got one more out before his night ended in favor of setup man Mike Remlinger. Remlinger struck out pinch hitter Benny Agbayani, but allowed Cedeno to steal second and walked pinch hitter Melvin Mora to put men on first and second. The Braves then called on John Rocker, who had treated the Mets and their fans with similar disdain during the season. The left-handed closer saved five games against New York during the regular season and two in this series. During the season, he said he hated the Mets and prior to this showdown wondered how many times the Braves would have to beat them before their fans would "shut up."
In a pivotal at-bat, Olerud got the better of Rocker. After a double steal put both men in scoring position, Olerud's two-run single put the Mets up 3–2 and Armando Benitez retired the Braves in order in the ninth to keep New York in the NLCS.
Game 5 Sunday, October 17, 1999, 4:09 p.m. (EDT) at Shea Stadium in Queens, New York; , cloudy
Robin Ventura's bases-loaded blast off Kevin McGlinchy with one out in the bottom of the 15th inning kept the Mets' season alive with a 4–3 victory over the Braves in Game 5 of the NLCS. Ventura never made it home because he was mobbed by his teammates between first and second. Official scorer Red Foley ruled the hit (which was recently ranked the third Greatest Moment in Mets history, behind only the team's two World Series Championships) a single.
The game began shortly after 4 p.m. with Greg Maddux pitching for Atlanta and Masato Yoshii starting for the Mets. The Mets took an early 2–0 lead in the bottom of the first inning as John Olerud hit his second home run in as many days with Rickey Henderson on first. The lead lasted into the fourth inning, when Atlanta struck back with consecutive doubles by Bret Boone and Chipper Jones, eventually knotting the score at 2–2 when Brian Jordan singled home Jones. Mets Manager Bobby Valentine was immediately prompted to remove Yoshii from the game in favor of Orel Hershiser, which began a run on pitching changes that resulted in the Mets emptying their bullpen by game's end, relying on starter Kenny Rogers and rookie Octavio Dotel for key innings, and might have gone to Game 4's starter Rick Reed had the game progressed past the 15th inning. In all, the Mets used a postseason record nine pitchers in this game.
The game continued on well into the night, accompanied by a steady rainfall which did not delay the game. Although both teams mounted some threats as the game continued, neither team was able to break through for the tie-breaking run. Atlanta eventually set a mark for futility, stranding a record 19 men on base over the course of the game. A most notable failure occurred in the 13th inning, with two out and Keith Lockhart on first base and Jones at the plate. With Lockhart running, Jones laced an offering from Dotel into the right field corner. But the ball was cut off by Melvin Mora before it reached the wall, and Mora's strong relay throw, via Edgardo Alfonzo, cut down Lockhart at the plate and ended the inning.