LOSING UGLY: HONORABLE MENTION

1. Meet the new Knicks, same as the old Knicks, November 7, 2004, Madison Square Garden.

Isiah Thomas was going to save the Knicks. The new club president tweaked and he traded and he did it some more, remaking the roster over and over. And so, for the home opener on November 7, 2004, Madison Square Garden was packed and filled with hope. It was quickly snuffed out.

Turns out all those additions--the Jamal Crawfords and Stephon Marburys—didn’t add up to much. Down 42-36 in the second, the Knicks made a run… in the wrong direction. Boston scored 13 straight to finish the half and eight straight to start the third and suddenly the Knicks trailed 63-36. It was only a matter of minutes before they were behind by more than 30. The 107-73 loss wasn’t the worst in Knick history but it might have been the most disheartening.

2. The Mets lose but learn about winning, July 30th, 1969, Shea Stadium

Giving up 10 runs in an inning is bad enough but when you do it twice in one day, well, that’s pathetic. The 1969 Mets were 55-41 and in second place, finally shedding the “lovable losers” tag when they disintegrated in historic fashion at Shea Stadium against Houston in a July 30th doubleheader.

       Trailing 5-3 in the ninth inning of the first game, Cal Koonce surrendered a grand slam to Denis Menke. Then Ron Taylor replaced him and gave up a grand-slam to Jimmy Winn—the first time in modern NL history a team yielded two slams in one inning. The Astros finished the frame with 11 runs—the most the Mets ever allowed—and a 16-3 win. The nightcap was equally disturbing. In the third inning, Gary Gentry imploded with two outs: single, walk, single, walk, bases-loaded walk, three-run triple, single. On came Nolan Ryan. He gave up a double and then a final embarrassing touch—the ninth and tenth runs scored on a two-run homer to opposing pitcher Larry Dierker who hadn’t homered since 1966.

       Yet this fiasco is remembered fondly by Met followers—the blemish on their record was mitigated by the fact that in the middle of that third inning manager Gil Hodges, dismayed by what the New York Times called Cleon Jones’ “mild pursuit” of the double to left, stopped play and took a long slow walk to the outfield. Hodges removed the league’s leading hitter in mid-inning sending a message under Hodges, you never give up and you never stop hustling. It was an attitude that would make the Mets winners once and for all.

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