Mets house of horrors: Turner Field

Turner Field opened in time for the 1997 season.

During the late 1990s, the Braves were a dominant team and were in the middle of ten straight NL Eastern Division titles (1995-2005). Between the years 1997-2016, the Mets played 173 regular season games at Turner Field and their record is 67-106. Digging deeper, during the Braves’ decade-long dominance of the NL East, the Mets played 80 games at Turner Field and won a quarter of those games (20).

Yes, the Braves proved to be the better team during these seasons but the fact is that the Mets seemed to be completely dominated at this park. In 1998, they lost all six games at Turner Field but went 3-3 at Shea Stadium. In 2003, the Mets won five out of nine at Shea Stadium despite going 3-7 at Turner Field against a 101 win Braves team.

In 1999, the two rivals matched up for NLCS. The Braves took the first three games of the series; the first two at Turner Field, and the third at Shea. The Braves were looking for a sweep in game 4. The Mets however came back and took the next two games at Shea.

Before game 6 at Turner Field, I’d imagine most Mets fans were not happy about the team’s chances. They had lost all but one game there all season, including the postseason. It also didn’t help when the Braves put up a five spot in the first inning. The Mets would eventually come back to tie the game in the 7th. They actually took the lead in both the 8th and 10th innings.

The demons at Turner Field looked like they were ready to be exorcised — think of Father Damien and Father Lankester giving it their all to save Reagan, but it proved to not be in the cards that night. Ultimately, fans will remember Kenny Rogers walking in the winning run in the 11th inning to produce the infamous walk-off walk. Yep, the demons still thrived at Turner Field.