Mets' nine lives nally run out against Braves

That's why they took the end so hard.

Any team can fall behind 5-0 when it's just one loss from elimination. But to come back and tie it 7-all, take an 8-7 lead and blow it, and then take a 9-8 lead in the 10th and blow that, too?

That's special.

That's amazin'.

AP PHOTO The 1999 Mets refused to die. New York barely made the playoffs, squeezed by the Diamondbacks in the wild card, and almost came back to tie the NLCS at three games apiece - after being down 3-0 to the Braves.

That's the 1999 New York Mets.

"It's so typical of what's gone on," Al Leiter said early Wednesday as players milled about the visitor's clubhouse at Turner Field. "I thought for sure we would win this."

They didn't, and winter at Shea Stadium started Wednesday. The Mets, the team that just would not die, finally drove a stake through their own heart at 12:38 a.m., when Kenny Rogers walked in the winning run that gave Atlanta a 10-9, 11-inning win and a 4-2 victory in the NL championship series.

"I'm a big boy," Rogers said. "I can handle it. God thinks I can handle a lot. He can lay off me now."

More than an hour later, Mike Piazza finally emerged from the showers and talked about the amazin' three weeks - the seven-game losing streak that put them on the verge of wasting a wild-card lead for the second straight year, the three-game sweep of Pittsburgh on the final weekend that forced a tiebreaker against Cincinnati, the first-round upset of Arizona that began with Edgardo Alfonzo's ninth-inning grand slam and ended with Todd Pratt's 10th-inning homer.

Then there was the Braves' series, losing the first three games but clawing back and forcing a return to Atlanta on Robin Ventura's 15th-inning grand slam-turned-single Sunday.

Until the first inning in Tuesday night's finale, when Leiter allowed his first five batters to score, the teams never had been separated by more than two runs at any point, in any game.

And even then, the Mets came back again, with Piazza's two-run homer off John Smoltz tying the score 7-7 in a four-run seventh.

Still, it wasn't enough. John Franco couldn't hold an 8-7 lead in the eight, and Armando Benitez wasted a 9-8 lead in the 10th.

"We've gone a lot of miles," Piazza said softly in a corner of the room. "There's a lot of guys that matured in here. There's a lot of guys that have learned so much, not only about themselves, but what it takes to get to a World Series, not only the tangibles on the field, but the things that you don't see in a boxscore."

When the Mets showed up at Port St. Lucie, Fla., in February, they were an entirely different team. Since then, they've added Shawon Dunston, Darryl Hamilton, Orel Hershiser and Rogers. Benny Agbayani emerged during the season, and Melvin Mora and Pratt took star turns in the playoffs.

"I love this team," said Mora, who last year was playing pro ball in Taiwan. "This is a great team. I've never played with a team like this before. Now that I know what goes on in this league, I'll be better."

Hamilton, acquired just before the July 31 trade deadline, talked about how many players "ran out of gas," that they were too banged up at this point to perform up to their abilities. Piazza and many Mets repeatedly said they "left it all on the field."

Leiter remembered back to last year, when the Mets went 0-5 in the last week and fell one win short of forcing a wild-card playoff. That, he said, was a "flop."

This wasn't.

"It's a damn good stepping stone to get to the next level," he said. "It's a great group of guys. With a tweak here and there, there's no question we can get to the next level."

The Mets know their weak spots: atrocious outfield defense and shaky starting pitching. While Leiter is an ace, Ricky Reed, Masato Yoshii, Bobby Jones are on and off.

It's not clear if Orel Hershiser will be back. First, he wants to explore whether Cleveland wants him as its manager. Rogers' return also is uncertain, especially after his Game 6 performance.

And there are few pitching options on the free-agent market, with David Cone perhaps the best available starter willing to play in New York. Re-signing John Olerud would appear to be the first priority.

But on Wednesday, all of that could wait.

About an hour after the game, nearly half the team was still in the clubhouse, most wearing orange Mets' T-shirts, so proud of their accomplishments, even in defeat. It seemed like they wanted this season to go on and on.

They had moved the folding chairs set up in front of each locker and formed a circle.

"Come on, have a beer," Franco yelled to a teammate across the room.

By now the girlfriends and wives were in, consoling, just wanting to be part of the moment.

"I think every guy in this room should be proud of the way we handled ourselves," Franco said. "We're champions in our own hearts."

10-21-99