The2000National League Championship Series (NLCS), to determine the champion of theNational League inMajor League Baseball’s2000 postseason, was played between the Central Division champion and second-seededSt. Louis Cardinals and thewild cardNew York Mets.

This series pitted a pair of teams that were former division rivals.^[1] In the mid-1980s, the Mets and Cardinals fought it out for supremacy in theNational League East over four seasons, with each team alternating division championships between 1985 and 1988 (the Cardinals in their pennant seasons of1985 and1987, the Mets in their championship season of1986 and1988; however, the Cardinals weren't serious contenders in both of those years).^[1]

The Cardinals, led by managerTony La Russa, had played through the 2000 season in relatively businesslike fashion. They had won theNational League Central division, and swept the Mets'fiercest rival,Atlanta Braves, in three games in theNL Division Series (the first time that Atlanta did not make the NLCS since 1991) that gave St. Louis home field advantage in the NLCS. However, they were struck with several injuries to key players as the playoffs began, including sluggerMark McGwire, catcherMike Matheny, starting pitcherGarrett Stephenson in Game 3 of the NLDS, and the sudden, unexplained wildness of rookie pitcherRick Ankiel.^[2][3]

The Mets, on the other hand, engaged in battle with the Braves for much of the season, eventually falling one game short of a division title. They matched up with theSan Francisco Giants in the Division Series. After dropping the first game, they would rebound to win the following three games in heart-stopping fashion, including a 13th inning walk off home run fromBenny Agbayani to win Game 3 and an improbable one-hit shutout byBobby Jones to win the clinching Game 4.^[3]

This was the first played NLCS since 1990 to not feature the Atlanta Braves as one of the teams; the Braves had competed in the NLCS eight times in the 1990s (the exceptions also included 1994, which did not hold a series due to the1994-95 Major League Baseball strike).

The Mets would go on to lose to theNew York Yankees in theWorld Series in five games.

New York won the series, 4–1.

Wednesday, October 11, 2000 atBusch Stadium (II) inSt. Louis, Missouri

The Mets jumped on Cardinals starterDarryl Kile right from the outset. RookieTimo Pérez led off the game with a double into the right field corner, and following a walk toEdgardo Alfonzo, scored on a double byMike Piazza. ARobin Ventura sacrifice fly would plate Alfonzo, and the Mets were off and running.

Piazza's double resulted in one of the more memorable moments of the series. Mets coachJohn Stearns was wearing a microphone forFox Sports during the games, and his screams of"THE MONSTER IS OUT OF THE CAGE!!" were broadcast to a national audience. "The Monster is out of the cage" would become a rallying cry for the Mets and Piazza throughout the series.

Mets starterMike Hampton was sharp. Over seven innings, he limited the Cardinals to six hits and no runs. At the plate, Hampton helped his own cause by singling, moving to second on a groundout, and scoring the Mets' third run on Alfonzo's RBI single in the fifth inning. Kile allowed those three runs over seven innings.

The Mets would effectively put the game away in the ninth inning off ofMike James on a lead off home run byTodd Zeile and two batters later, a two-run home run byJay Payton. In the bottom of the inning,Ray Lankford hit a leadoff double off ofArmando Benitez. Two outs later, shortstopKurt Abbott's error to first onEdgar Renteria's ground ball allowed Lankford to score and Renteria to reach first. ThenJim Edmonds singled to right andTimo Perez's errant throw to third allowed Renteria to score, butEric Davis grounded out to end the game as the Mets' 6–2 win gave them a 1–0 series lead.

Thursday, October 12, 2000 atBusch Stadium (II) inSt. Louis, Missouri

The Mets once again jumped out to a first inning lead due to the wildness of Cardinals starterRick Ankiel, who walked two and threw two wild pitches to put runners on second and third with one out.Todd Zeile's sacrifice fly scored a run and after a walk,Benny Agbayani's double scored another. Ankiel only got two outs before being relieved byBritt Reames

The Cardinals trimmed the Mets lead to 2–1 in the second inning against starterAl Leiter. A run-scoring ground out with two on byEli Marrero would plateShawon Dunston. The Mets got that run back in the third whenMike Piazza hit his first home run of the series off Reames. The Cardinals knotted the game at 3–3 in the fifth inning on run-scoring doubles byÉdgar Rentería andFernando Tatís after a one-out single.

With the score still tied and two out in the top of the eighth, the Mets would put together a rally to take a 5–3 lead off ofMatt Morris. A long single by Alfonzo would scoreTimo Pérez, who singled with two outs, and following an intentional walk to Piazza, Zeile would single home Alfonzo. However, in the bottom of the inning,John Franco walkedCarlos Hernandez, who moved to third on a single and scored on a wild pitch.J.D. Drew's double off ofTurk Wendell tied the game again.

In the top of the ninth off ofMike Timlin, afterRobin Ventura reached on aWill Clark error, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt, and was pinch run for byJoe McEwing, rookieJay Payton came through with his second game-winning hit of the postseason, nailing a single up the middle to score McEwing, as Cardinals center fielderJim Edmonds allowed the ball to hop off the heel of his glove and roll behind him.

Armando Benítez allowed a two-out walk toJim Edmonds in the last of the ninth, but that was all the Cardinals were able to muster as the Mets took Game 2, 6–5, to take a 2–0 series lead.

Saturday, October 14, 2000 atShea Stadium inQueens, New York

The Cardinals would mark their first, and only, victory of the NLCS with an easy 8–2 victory.Jim Edmonds hit a two-run double in the top of the first inning off Mets starterRick Reed. The Mets cut the lead to 2–1 in the bottom half onMike Piazza's double-play after back-to-back leadoff singles put runners on first and third. In the third, with runners on first and second,Ray Lankford's RBI single andFernando Tatis's sacrifice fly scored a run each. Next inning, three consecutive one-out singles, the last of which toEdgar Renteria scoring a run, knocked Reed out of the game. The Mets loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the inning, but only scored once onJay Payton's double play. In the fifth, after a leadoff double and subsequent single,Carlos Hernandez's RBI single off ofRick White made it 6–2 Cardinals. After a sacrifice bunt,Fernando Vina's fielder's choice and Renteria's groundout scored a run each to make it 8–2 Cardinals. Cardinals starterAndy Benes pitched eight solid innings, holding the Mets to two runs and six hits, while notching five strikeouts. More importantly, he was able to give the Cardinals' weary bullpen a bit of rest and put them back in the series.Mike James in the ninth allowed a leadoff single and walk, but struck out the next three batters looking to end the game.

Sunday, October 15, 2000 atShea Stadium inQueens, New York

Both teams would come out with their hitting shoes on in this game. The Cardinals would jump out to a 2–0 lead in the top of the first inning, asJim Edmonds hit a two-run home run off Mets StarterBobby Jones. The lead, however, would be short-lived as the Mets would flex their offensive muscle againstDarryl Kile in a record-setting display.

Timo Pérez, as he had done all postseason, sparked the rally with a leadoff ground rule double in the bottom of the first.Edgardo Alfonzo followed with a double of his own, down the right field line, scoring Perez.Mike Piazza followed with a third double for the Mets, a long one-hop drive off the wall in right center. Holding on the fly, Alfonzo only made it to third, butRobin Ventura followed by ripping the Mets' fourth consecutive double, which would score both Alfonzo and Piazza, and put the Mets ahead 3–2. One out later,Benny Agbayani launched a long double off the wall in left center to score Ventura. This was the Mets' fifth double of the inning, which set a newLeague Championship Series record.

The Mets would continue to bombard Kile and the Cardinals in the second inning. With two outs and the bases loaded,Todd Zeile would hit yet another double for the Mets, scoring two more runs. Agbayani would single home a seventh Mets run before Zeile was tagged out at home to end the inning.Will Clark's home run in the fourth cut the Mets' lead to 7–3

Kile was gone by the fourth inning, and Cardinals pitching coachDave Duncan was ejected from the game while removing him. Kile's replacement,Mike James, would not fare much better, asMike Piazza would launch a long home run, well over the Cardinals' bullpen out in deep left field to give the Mets an 8–3 lead after the fourth.

Bobby Jones, who had thrown a magnificent one-hit shutout against the Giants in the division series, struggled while pitching with a big lead. In the fifth inning, Jones would be knocked from the game after surrendering back-to-back leadoff singles followed by an RBI double toEric Davis, andGlendon Rusch in relief allowed a one-out sacrifice fly toEdgar Renteria and subsequent RBI single to Edmonds. However Rusch then pitched three shutout innings.

The Mets would put the game away in the sixth off ofMike Timlin, thanks to two errors by Cardinals third basemanFernando Tatís. Tatis' first error allowed Perez to reach base: despite the fact that Tatis had time, his hasty throw was low andWill Clark was unable to handle it. Tatis' second error, a bobble on a Ventura grounder with the bases loaded, would allowMike Bordick to score.Robin Ventura's sacrifice fly then scored the Mets' last run.

The Mets received strong bullpen work not only from Rusch, but also fromJohn Franco andArmando Benítez, who threw scoreless innings in the eighth and ninth respectively, to close out the Cardinals and give the Mets a commanding 3–1 lead in the series.

This game would turn controversial for LaRussa, who had been bringing injured sluggerMark McGwire off the bench to pinch hit in key situations. Afforded several opportunities with the tying runs in place, LaRussa never sent McGwire up to hit in this game, and eventually he would run out of opportunities to do so.

Monday, October 16, 2000 atShea Stadium inQueens, New York

Needing a victory to close out the series at home and avoid a trip back to St. Louis, the Mets, behindMike Hampton, cruised to a 7–0 victory and their first National League pennant since theirchampionship season of 1986.

The Mets would once again stake themselves to an early lead, jumping on Cardinals starterPat Hentgen in the first inning. Again it wasTimo Pérez sparking the Mets, singling under the glove of Édgar Rentería, stealing second base and moving to third when catcherCarlos Hernández's throw went into center field.Edgardo Alfonzo would single home Perez. Following a walk toMike Piazza,Robin Ventura would single home Alfonzo for the Mets' second run. The Mets would add a third run on a fielder's choice byTodd Zeile.

The Mets would effectively put the game away in the fourth inning, when with two outs and the bases loaded (a situation in which Zeile found himself the previous night),Todd Zeile hit a long double off the wall in right center field, scoring three runs, giving the Mets a 6–0 lead, and resulting in raucous Mets fans makingShea Stadium literally shake. Hentgen was finished and was relieved byMike Timlin, who escaped without further damage.Britt Reames added two shutout innings.

The Mets would add a final run off ofRick Ankiel whenMike Bordick drew a leadoff walk, moved to second on a groundout and scored on two wild pitches in the seventh inning. In yet another controversial move fromTony La Russa, Ankiel was inserted into the game in the bottom of the seventh. After walkingMike Bordick to start the inning, retired Hampton and Perez, before uncorking a pair of wild pitches withEdgardo Alfonzo at the plate, allowing Bordick to score the seventh and final run of the game. Ankiel would depart after walking Alfonzo, with Mike James finishing the inning.

An ugly incident was averted in the bottom of the eighth inning, where with two outs andBenny Agbayani on first base,Jay Payton was hit near his left eye by a fastball from Cardinals pitcherDave Veres. Payton immediately leapt up and charged Veres, and both benches and bullpens cleared, although Payton would be restrained by Agbayani andBobby Valentine before the incident could escalate. Mets pitcherJohn Franco mugged for the fans to settle down following the incident; the crowd responded by chantingNa Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye at the Cardinals, and booed them off the field at the conclusion of the inning.

Saying before the game that"I was looking to pitch the game of my life",Mike Hampton was nothing short of superb. In pitching a complete-game shutout, Hampton allowed only three hits and one walk, and struck out eight. His efforts in this game, and in Game 1 would result in his being named MVP of the NLCS.

Hampton closed out the game by getting pinch-hitterRick Wilkins to fly out to center field. Mets center fielderTimo Pérez jumped up and down three times before making the catch,Robin Ventura hoisted Hampton in the air and a wild celebration was touched off, culminating inMike Piazza leading the entire Mets team in a victory lap aroundShea Stadium.

2000 NLCS(4–1):New York Mets overSt. Louis Cardinals

With the NLCS victory, the Mets advanced to the2000 World Series, their first appearance in theWorld Series sincetheir championship season of 1986. They would meet their crosstown rivals, theNew York Yankees in the firstSubway Series to take place since1956. In five games that were as nip-and-tuck as baseball can be, the Yankees came out on top, winning their third consecutive World Championship. The Mets would then muddle through several unsuccessful seasons, and not return to the postseason until 2006.

Series MVPMike Hampton would leave viafree agency following the season, signing with theColorado Rockies. Hampton's departure from New York was not well-received, as he made comments about the city'sschool system, and was routinely booed upon his reappearances atShea Stadium.

The Cardinals returned to theNational League Championship Series in 2002, losing to theSan Francisco Giants. They would return to theWorld Series for the first time since1987 when they defeated theHouston Astros in the NLCS in2004, but were swept by the Red Sox in four games. The Cardinals faced the Mets again in the2006 National League Championship Series, with the Redbirds defeating the Mets this time in an epic and dramatic series that ended in seven games. The Cardinals finished the job this time around, defeating the Tigers in theWorld Series to capture their 10th World Series. For the 2006 NLCS, the only player remaining on either roster from the series in 2000 was Cardinals center fielderJim Edmonds. There were no 2006 Mets left on the team that played in 2000.

• 2000 NLCS at Baseball Reference

• National League Championship Series
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