The 2000 Mets played 162 games and finished with a 94–68 record. The Mets won their first pennant in 14 years and faced the Yankees in the Subway Series.
They won the pennant and got to the World Series. The parade part did not happen.
How 2000 actually went.
01The Mets returned with a roster designed to finish the job. Piazza remained the star, Alfonzo supplied complete play, Leiter led the rotation, and newcomers Mike Hampton, Todd Zeile, and Derek Bell filled major roles. The club did not catch Atlanta, but 94 wins comfortably earned the Wild Card and brought another October chance.
02Bobby Jones threw a one-hit shutout to finish San Francisco in the Division Series. Hampton then dominated St. Louis, winning twice and closing the NLCS with a complete-game shutout. The Mets had their first pennant since 1986 and the first Subway World Series since the Dodgers and Yankees met in 1956.
03The World Series turned on missed chances. The Mets let a late lead escape in the 12-inning opener, Piazza’s broken bat led to the famous Roger Clemens incident in Game 2, and the Yankees kept winning close games. The series ended in five, but the result hides how narrow it felt. Losing to the Yankees made the pain sharper; winning the pennant still marked the full achievement of the Piazza-Alfonzo era.
The Yankees owned the ending, but Hampton’s clincher and the National League pennant still belong to Queens.
The part you rememberWhy 2000 still matters.
The 2000 Mets were built around Mike Piazza’s power, Edgardo Alfonzo’s complete game, Al Leiter’s big-game nerve, and a roster deep enough to survive an uneven summer. They did not catch Atlanta in the division, but 94 wins secured the Wild Card and gave the late-1990s core another shot after the heartbreak of the previous NLCS.
They eliminated San Francisco in four games, with Bobby Jones throwing a one-hit shutout to close the Division Series. Against St. Louis, the Mets finally broke through for the pennant. Mike Hampton was brilliant and ended the series with a complete-game shutout, while Piazza, Alfonzo, and the lineup kept answering every time the pressure rose.
The Subway Series is remembered as a Yankees victory, but it was tighter than the five-game result looks. The Mets let a long Game 1 slip away and never fully recovered, even though nearly every game stayed close. Losing to the team across town still stings. The pennant matters anyway: this was the Piazza-era Mets reaching their highest point and bringing the World Series back to Queens.
The ending hurt twice because it was the World Series and the Yankees, but nobody can take away that National League pennant.
The moment everybody remembersThe Mets won their first pennant in 14 years and faced the Yankees in the Subway Series.
Where it turnedMike Hampton’s shutout in NLCS Game 5 finished off St. Louis and delivered the Mets’ first pennant in 14 years.
How it endedThe Mets beat San Francisco and St. Louis before losing a close five-game World Series to the Yankees.
Where it fitsPiazza, Alfonzo, and the Return to October
Piazza made the lineup matter again, Alfonzo did everything, and the Mets finally returned to October. The reward was a pennant and a Subway Series.
Better or worse?The Mets won 3 fewer games than they did in 1999.
Then came...In 2001, the Mets finished 82–80. Mike Piazza’s home run lifted New York in the first game at Shea after September 11. Go to 2001 →
