1999 National League Championship Series
| 1999 National League Championship Series | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Teams | |||||||||||||
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| Dates | October 12–19 | ||||||||||||
| MVP | Eddie Pérez (Atlanta) | ||||||||||||
| Umpires | Ed Montague, Jeff Kellogg, Charlie Reliford, Ed Rapuano, Jerry Layne, Jerry Crawford | ||||||||||||
| NLDS |
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| Broadcast | |||||||||||||
| Television | NBC | ||||||||||||
| TV announcers | Bob Costas and Joe Morgan | ||||||||||||
| Radio | ESPN | ||||||||||||
| Radio announcers | Charley Steiner and Kevin Kennedy | ||||||||||||
| Team (Wins) | Manager | Season | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Atlanta Braves (4) | Bobby Cox | 103–59, .636, GA: 6 1⁄2 | |
| New York Mets (2) | Bobby Valentine | 97–66, .595, GB: 6 1⁄2 |
The 1999 National League Championship Series (NLCS), to determine the champion of Major League Baseball's National League, was played between two East Division rivals, the division champion Atlanta Braves and the wild card New York Mets.
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 eleven-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 on their Yankees stuff." Braves closer John Rocker was also quoted as saying he hated the Mets, and "How many times do we have to beat them before their fans will 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.
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—New York faced the team with the second best record, the 100–62 Arizona Diamondbacks).
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