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 Monday, October 18
Nothing impossible in this street fight
 
By Bob Klapisch
Special to ESPN.com

 The exhaustion on Bobby Valentine's face was too obvious to ignore, the breathlessness in his words telling you everything about an NL Championship Series that's already earned a separate berth in baseball history.

Repeat after the Mets, who in unison, say: nothing is impossible. Not anymore. Not this October.

Mets celebrate
Dancin' in the rain: The Mets mob Robin Ventura after his dramatic hit.

Who could possibly argue with the Mets, after a 15-inning war with the Braves in Game 5 of the NLCS -- one that set enough records to make it a permanent fixture in our memory banks. At 5 hours and 46 minutes, the Mets' 4-3 win was the longest postseason game ever played by time, used more players (45), and consumed the greatest number of pitchers (15) than any other.

It also brought the Mets a little closer to reaching the promised land: advancing to the World Series after losing the first three games of this series.

No major league team has ever recovered from a 3-0 series deficit in the postseason, and in all the seven-game series in baseball, the NBA and NHL history, only two teams -- the 1975 New York Islanders and the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs -- have ever won four straight.

So why are the Mets so eager to believe they can smash through the wall of impossible odds? Because, as Valentine said, "We've done it so many times already. The guys are starting to get used to it. We have an incredible group of players here."

Valentine was talking about the mammoth struggle waged from the fourth through the 15th innings on Sunday, when the score remained tied at 2-2 and neither team could score. The Mets and Braves went through their entire bullpens, and Valentine not only used Kenny Rogers, but had Al Leiter and Rick Reed both warming up, too.

Lucky for the Mets that Bobby Cox had used John Rocker -- who's become poison to Valentine's hitters and public enemy No. 1 at Shea. The 25-year-old reliever has shocked and outraged Met fans in the last two weeks, calling them "degenerates." The result has been war; Mets fans may taunt Chipper Jones and Greg Maddux, but with Rocker, it's become personal.

In fact, Rocker had to be protected by a wall of New York City cops on Friday night after Game 3, and spent the rest of the weekend trading insults with fans who sat near the third-base dugout.

It was so heated that Mets general manager Steve Phillips said, "I was actually worried for (Rocker). You don't take on the fans like that, because you can never win. They have a long memory."

Yet, as Phillips admitted, "he can back up his words." Indeed, Rocker finished up the 13th inning by striking out Mike Piazza, and couldn't resist the urge to trade epithets with the fans one last time. Rocker claimed he shouted, "I just struck out your team's best hitter," but it was actually a two-word taunt that went far beyond Take That.

Still, Rocker's departure was good news for the Mets, since they were now facing 22-year-old Kevin McGlinchy, the Braves' youngest pitcher, and their most susceptible to the wall of pressure building at Shea.

Even though the Braves had taken a 3-2 lead in the top of the 15th against Octavio Dotel, the Braves must have felt like the hunted. There was a monsoon of noise filling McGlinchy's ear, especially as Shawon Dunston's leadoff at-bat lasted 12 pitches, including six straight foul balls with a full count.

When he singled to center ... well, the Braves knew there was no turning back. Cox admitted, "I'd used all my players and pitchers," which meant his only remaining strategy was to cross his fingers tightly.

All along, the Braves had insisted they respected the Mets, but in a way a millionaire regards a lottery winner -- equally rich, but still not an equal. The Mets may have stunned the Reds and the Diamondbacks this month, but the Braves never, ever thought they'd be forced to take this series back to Atlanta.

Not matter what they say, the Braves know they have a street fight on their hands now. All they had to do was watch the Mets celebrate after Ventura eventually defeated McGlinchy.

Already, McGlinchy had tied the score by issuing a bases-loaded walk to Todd Pratt. But the final moment belonged to Ventura, who was only 1-for-6 on the day and 1-for-18 in the series. With the count 0-1, McGlinchy threw a fastball that was so far off the plate, so outside, the Mets must've known Ventura's rifle was locked and loaded.

They knew McGlinchy couldn't afford another walk and had to deliver a middle of the plate strike. When he did, Ventura's blast went screaming right over the wall in right-center.

"All I was looking for was a pitch to hit," Ventura said innocently. Instead, Ventura's blast -- which counted only as a single, and scored only one run, not four, because he was swallowed up by teammates on the basepaths -- puts the Mets at history's doorstep.

Valentine exhaled long and slow, and proclaimed, "This thing isn't over yet."

Guess what? No one's arguing. Not this October, as the Mets' mantra fills the air:

Nothing is impossible.

Bob Klapisch of the Bergen (N.J.) Record covers baseball for ESPN.com.
 


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