It came during the ninth inning of Game 4 of the 1941 World Series. The Brooklyn Dodgers led 4-3 and when the Yankee right fielder swung and missed at a low curveball. Dodger’s catcher Mickey Owen couldn’t handle the pitch and it got by him as Henrich scampered to first base. Low and behold, the Bronx Bombers rallied and took a 3-1 lead in the Series, wrapping it up the next game and breaking hearts all over Flatbush.

The Dayton, Ohio native passed away on Monday at the age of 96 in his hometown. He made his major league debut on May 11, 1937 and played 11 seasons, all for the Yankees. He missed three years serving in the Coast Guard during World War II (1943 through 1945) and won five rings in the Bronx.

“Tommy was a darn good ballplayer and teammate,” former Yankee Yogi Berra said. “He always took being a Yankee to heart. He won a lot of championships and did whatever he could do to help us win. When I came up in 1947, he taught me little nuances about playing the outfield. Being around Tommy made you feel good, whether playing cards or listening to him sing with that great voice. He was a proud man, and if you knew him, he made you proud too.”

Although Henrich was a very productive player his first few years in the league, he broke out in 1941 with a career-high 31 home runs and made the All-Star team a year later. After the war, Henrich returned and became an integral part of a very successful club. With a superstar like Joe DiMaggio playing next to him, it was easy to remain in the background, something not lost on his teammates.

“The called him “Old Reliable” and he was just that,” said Jerry Coleman, who played two years with Henrich. “My first year with him was 1949 and it seemed like every home run he hit won the game. His career stats might not show it (.282 career batting average), but he was a great clutch player. When he hit, it counted. He was also a fine defensive player in the outfield.”

That same year, Henrich was instrumental in the Yankees winning another pennant in a close American League race and hit the first walk-off home run in World Series history. The Yankees and Dodgers were locked in a scoreless tie when Henrich led off the bottom of the ninth inning against Don Newcombe. He launched the 2-0 delivery into the stands and sent the crowd home happy. He also starred in Game 5 as the Yanks won yet another Fall Classic.

Although Henrich was named to the All-Star squad in 1950, he retired after the season. Playing through injuries, he hit only .272 with 6 home runs and 34 RBI. Henrich went on to become a coach for the Yankees, New York Giants and Detroit Tigers.

Yes, Henrich did many great things on the baseball diamond, so many in fact that a strikeout can be included in that list.

The Mets are dropping like flies. Today Jose Reyes and Ryan Church went on the disabled list with Fernando Martinez making his big league debut. For those scoring at home, only two players tonight – David Wright and Luis Castillo – were in the opening day lineup. You have to wonder if the team built Citi Field on some sort of cursed ground.

But even with a M*A*S*H unit on 126^th Street, the Mets have endured, posting a 25-20 mark and a half game out of first. Sure their starters have been pretty good, especially Johan Santana, but someone has to drive in the runs, and no matter how well Omir Santos plays, they need someone creditable to replace Carlos Delgado. Luckily Gary Sheffield still has something left.

To put is simply, Doc Gooden’s nephew has been a godsend for this club. Sheffield has come in and stepped up when Delgado went down. Since May 16^th, when the first baseman went on the disabled list, Sheffield has hit .407 (11-27) with eight runs scored, three homers, 10 RBI and seven walks. Even at the age of 40, his bat still looks strong and obviously there’s some juice in the tank.

Actually Sheffield had some help. When the Mets were in Los Angeles, he had a chat with Carlos Beltran, who pointed out he was dropping his hands and had Sheffield look over some video.

“We were just talking baseball,” Beltran said. “And I pointed out that his hands were dropping, so we watched some tape. It was just two guys talking baseball.”

Whatever it was, it worked and Sheffield has been on fire. First he hit one out of Fenway over the weekend and then tattooed the Nats for two homers and six RBI in the first two games of the series.

All of this good work presents a problem for Jerry Manuel. At his advanced baseball age, Sheffield probably needs a rest in the next few days, but how can he if the outfielder stays so hot?

It’s a tricky problem to have but the Mets manager does have a unique solution.

“I’ll probably get him a recliner in the locker room and then get him a big soft chair and put it in there,” Manuel said. “I call him ‘pops’ every day and he gets a little upset. It is good to see a person at this point in his career still be able to do the things he’s doing, it’s really amazing.”

So Sheffield better get comfortable because he will be in the outfield for the foreseeable future. And Unless Strawberry makes a comeback, the Mets will lean on the man Manuel calls Pops to keep driving the middle of their lineup.

Thoughts of acquiring Wilson might have germinated two decades ago. As a member of the Mets, Carter put together a very preliminary mental scouting report on Wilson, though the competition level at the time was a little suspect.

“He was always the MVP of family days,” said Carter with a laugh.

Wilson is the stepson of Mookie Wilson, a teammate of Carter on the Mets 1986 championship team.  As a child growing up around a big league clubhouse in Shea Stadium, young Preston learned the game from players like his stepfather and Carter, who was in the midst of forging a Hall of Fame catching career.

Through the first two games of the new season, Wilson recorded a home run, four runs scored and four RBIs, including a 1-3, one-run, one RBI showing Friday night in a 10-6 Ducks victory over Southern Maryland that moved the Flock to 2-0.

Childhood memories aside, Wilson established a more tangibles connection to the Mets as an adult. The Amazin’s selected Wilson in the first round of the 1992 draft. As a 23-year-old in 1998, Wilson made his major league debut at Shea and played eight games for the Mets, where Mookie was the first base coach.

But the family reunion would not last long. Wilson’s Mets run lasted just eight games, though he became a key piece in one of the organization’s most famous trades. The Mets shipped the outfielder to Florida in the Mike Piazza trade.

Wilson played three full seasons for the Marlins before making stops in Colorado, Washington and Houston. He split 2006 with the Astros and Cardinals, marking his last full year in baseball. St. Louis. Wilson was limited to just 25 games with St. Louis in 2007, needing surgery to repair articular cartilage in his right knee.

With his 35th birthday coming in July, Wilson said he joined the Ducks for the typical reasons: get back to the big leagues, show the scouts his bat still has life and play against quality competition. But the Bamberg, South Carolina native said he has another goal for 2009.

“I was really frustrated sitting at home after the surgery,” Wilson said. “I came here to fall in love of the game again. It’s been such a big part of my life and I felt like I lost it.”

Despite batting a career .264 with 189 home runs and 668 RBIs in 10 major league seasons, no one called Wilson in 2008.  In 2003 the 6-2, 193-pound outfielder made his first All-Star team en route of belting a career-high 36 home runs while racking up 141 RBIs for the Rockies. Just five years later, Wilson was stuck in his Miami, Fl. home.

There are some positives for Wilson, who got to spend time with his six-year-old daughter. He said having to leave her to get on a plane to New York was the hardest part about starting the season, though a successful Ducks stint could mean his daughter might get the chance to see her dad play at the highest level once again. Wilson said his year off was difficult even if it allowed for personal reflection.

“No one is immune from life,” Wilson said. “I know there are people worse off than having to rehab a knee. When it’s done, it will be done.”

Carter said he would like to see Wilson make it to the majors and thinks the talent level is still there.

“I feel like he’s family,” Carter said.  ”I know how bad he wants to get back to the big leagues.”

New York will be Wilson’s home away from home this season, and Carter isn’t the only familiar face. Buddy Harrelson, the Ducks co-owner and coach, was the third base coach on the Mets 1986 team. That position of authority still resonates with Wilson 23 years later.

“I still call him Mr. Harrelson. It’s hard for me to call him Buddy,” Wilson said during Ducks media day. “I grew up around New York more than anywhere else.”

Brad Halsey’s acclimation process lasted exactly one start. As a 23-year-old Yankee prospect in 2004, Halsey limited the Dodgers to just two runs on five hits in 5 2/3 innings, earning the win in his major league debut.

As a reward, Halsey’s next two starts came in front of sold-out Yankee Stadium crowds who agonized and analyzed every pitch the Houston native threw. Asking someone barely out of college to pitch against the Mets and Red Sox-the Bombers top two rivals in terms of fan passion-can be a daunting task for any pitcher. While Halsey lost to the Mets, he held his own against the Red Sox and picked up a no-decision.

Five years later, Halsey is coming off arm surgery and looking to revive his career. That journey can take a positive turn tonight when Halsey takes the mound as the Ducks Opening Day starter against Southern Maryland.

Halsey last pitched in the majors in 2006, going 5-4 for Oakland. In 40 career starts, he is 14-19 with a respectable 4.84 ERA. The Yankees former eighth-round draft pick and University of Texas standout is just 28 and looking to complete a comeback following his July 2007 surgery to repair a torn labrum.

“I just take it one second at a time and enjoy every time I’m able to throw a ball and my arm feels good,” Halsey said.

The 6-1, 187-pound left-hander impressed Ducks manager Gary Carter and pitching coach Dave LaPoint enough to warrant the Opening Day assignment, which Halsey said is an honor at any professional level.

“It absolutely is an honor,” Halsey said. “There are a lot of guys in this clubhouse who have as much or even more major league experience than I do. Anytime you have an opportunity to start Opening Day, it’s a great thing.”

Former Ducks Bill Pulsipher was one of the players Halsey consulted in researching the Ducks. Earlier in the decade, Pulsipher parlayed a stint with the Ducks into another major league job, giving players like Halsey someone to emulate in trying to make a comeback into affiliated baseball.

Before coming to Long Island, Halsey pitched winter ball in Puerto Rico, where his new team got an endorsement.

“Just knowing some of the guys and for the last two years sitting at home doing rehab, I noticed there were a lot of good players in this league,” Halsey said. “For someone in my situation who has a lot to prove; this is a good place to do it.”

LaPoint said the Ducks signed an outstanding defensive catcher in John Pachot, who spent the last two seasons playing against the Flock for the Newark Bears. Pachot’s game-calling could help Halsey, along with playing under a Hall of Famer catcher in Carter.

“My experience is that catchers make the best managers because they have knowledge of the entire game” Halsey said. “Not only are they immersed in the relationship between the battery, they also have to take a bat up there all the time, which as pitchers, we don’t always have that experience.

“As a catcher, he [Carter] knows all facets of what goes on out there.”