Mets Vault: Ike Davis flips over Citi Field railing

March 10th, 2022

MLB.com is digging back into its massive video vault to uncover classic plays that you have loved, forgotten about or, perhaps, are discovering for the very first time. Watch these moments and many, many more on the MLB Vault YouTube page.

May 11, 2010: Ike Davis flips over the railing at Citi Field
Known mostly for his power as a Mets first-round Draft pick who burst upon the scene in 2010, Ike Davis also came out of Arizona State as a slick-fielding first baseman. To prove it, Davis made two memorable catches early in his career in which he flipped over the dugout railing to snare a foul pop. By early May, that had become his calling card, so it came as little surprise when he flipped once again to grab an Ian Desmond pop fly for the final out of an 8-6 win over the Nationals, hanging on as multiple teammates raced over to keep him (somewhat) upright in the dugout.

Oct. 15, 1969: Swoboda makes career-defining catch
Leading up to the 1969 postseason, Ron Swoboda spent hours practicing his fielding with Mets coach Eddie Yost, who hit him line drives and ground balls from about 150 feet. The idea was that Swoboda would be prepared for anything that might come his way in right field, which proved prescient when Brooks Robinson hit a liner that could have given the favored Orioles a ninth-inning lead in World Series Game 4. Instead, Swoboda jumped to his right, extending horizontally to catch the ball and limit Robinson to a game-tying sacrifice fly. Tom Seaver escaped the inning and the Mets won the game in the bottom of the 10th, putting themselves on the precipice of their first title.

Said Swoboda: “This was the cynosure of all of that work when Brooks Robinson hit that ball to my right. I took the best line I could take, and I ran like hell.”

Oct. 5, 2000: Franco freezes Bonds to even NLDS
Looking to even up the 2000 National League Division Series against the Giants at one game apiece, the visiting Mets found themselves in a hard-fought Game 2, in which they never trailed but could also never quite put it in the books. After the Mets took a 5-4 lead in the top of the 10th, they called on John Franco -- no longer the closer, but still a valued member of the bullpen -- to record the final three outs. The first two of those came easily. The third proved more difficult. Facing Barry Bonds, Franco ran the count full before freezing Bonds with a breaking ball on the inside corner. As Bonds protested, the Mets celebrated on the field in San Francisco. New York went on to win the series in four games.

April 7, 1984: Dr. K introduces himself
Prospect watchers were well aware of a 19-year-old kid named Dwight Gooden before the skinny Tampa native climbed the hill for his Major League debut at the Astrodome. Gooden had won 24 of his 38 starts in the Minors while striking out an incredible 384 batters across 269 2/3 innings, and it was evident right away that his stuff could translate to the Majors. Relive his first inning in Houston here as Gooden, with his parents watching in the front row, retires Bill Doran and Terry Puhl on grounders to future Twins manager Ron Gardenhire, and then strikes out Dickie Thon with what would become his famously devastating fastball-curve combination.

Gooden allowed just one run, scattered three hits and struck out five across five innings to win his big-league debut. That opened one of the greatest rookie pitching seasons in history: a 17-9 record, 2.60 ERA and a Modern Era AL/NL rookie-record 276 strikeouts across 218 innings.

April 20, 2006: Julio Franco becomes oldest player to homer
A proponent of clean living and one of the game’s modern marvels, Julio Franco remained a productive hitter even as he approached his 50th birthday. He showcased those abilities early in the 2006 season, when Franco hit a pinch-hit, opposite-field homer off Padres reliever Scott Linebrink to become the oldest player to homer in a Major League game. At the time of his blast, Franco was 47 years old, breaking the record of A’s pitcher Jack Quinn, who had been 46 years, 357 days old when he hit his final homer in 1930. Just to make sure his record would last a while, Franco homered twice more in his career, doing so for the final time in 2007 at age 48.

July 22, 2007: Chip Ambres puts the Mets ahead
All told, Chip Ambres appeared in merely three games during his Mets career, had three plate appearances and recorded one hit. It was a memorable one. In a rematch of the previous October’s National League Division Series at Dodger Stadium, Ambres entered the series finale as a defensive replacement in the bottom of the ninth. Half an inning later, he came to the plate with runners on the corners and two outs against Dodgers reliever D.J. Houlton. The longtime Minor Leaguer proceeded to bounce a grounder past third baseman Nomar Garciaparra, knocking home the go-ahead run in a game the Mets closed out in the bottom of the 10th.

Sept. 24, 2000: Timo Perez's memorable first home run
Timo Perez was barely three weeks into his Mets career when he drew a rare start during a Sunday matinee against the Phillies. In the third inning, Perez hit what appeared to be a looping single into center. But when Philadelphia center fielder Doug Glanville pulled up in an attempt to play the ball on a hop, he slipped and fell on the wet Veterans Stadium turf. That gave Perez a chance to score, while shortstop Jimmy Rollins’ double-clutch on the relay provided him with some margin for error. The result was an inside-the-park home run to mark the first of Perez’s 26 career homers.

Aug. 30, 1999: Fonzie goes 6-for-6
Few have enjoyed a more productive game than Edgardo Alfonzo did in the thick of a pennant race in 1999, when he became the first Mets player to record six hits in a game. Facing Houston’s Shane Reynolds, Alfonzo homered in the first inning and singled in the second before taking Brian Williams deep in the fourth. The third baseman’s third homer came against Sean Bergman, preceding another single in the eighth and a double in the ninth. Alfonzo finished 6-for-6 with 16 total bases, a record that still stands. Seventeen years would pass before another Mets player, Wilmer Flores, rapped out six hits in a game.

Oct. 4, 2006: Lo Duca tags out two at the plate
Making their first postseason appearance in six years, the Mets found themselves in trouble early at Shea Stadium when the Dodgers put their first two batters of the second inning on base. Next up was Russell Martin, who hit a deep fly ball off the bottom of the right-field fence. The relay went from Shawn Green to José Valentín to Paul Lo Duca fast enough to beat Jeff Kent to the plate. That's when things got weird. After tagging Kent, Lo Duca turned around just in time to see J.D. Drew racing home. A stunned Lo Duca tagged Drew as well, prompting Valentín to quip after the game: "We got two for the price of one."

April 24, 2007: Endy's drag bunt wins the game
Known mostly for his wall-clearing catch in the 2006 National League Championship Series, Endy Chávez came through six months later with another signature play for the Mets, who were locked in a scoreless game with the Rockies through nine innings. The clubs traded runs in the 10th inning at Citi Field before the Mets rallied to put runners on the corners with two outs in the 11th. That brought up Chávez, who laid a daring drag bunt down the right side of the infield. Pitcher Ryan Speier had no play on it, allowing Shawn Green to race home with the game-winning run.