Gonna party like it's 1969

[Frayed Knot]

Wednesday, September 24 - Shea Stadium: Mets 6 - Cardinals 0 -- Gary Gentry vs Steve Carlton

Clinching Day at Shea!! ... and, unlike some future clinching chances which took several chances and involved great drama, there was absolutely no suspense here at all.

Facing a future HoF pitcher for the second consecutive night, the Mets start off the first inning:
Harrelson - single
Agee - walk
Jones - K
Clendenon - 3R HR
Swoboda - walk
Charles - 2R HR
and that was it for Carlton.

In the 5th, Clendenon�s 2nd HR of the game in the 5th closed out the scoring.

Gentry took that lead and merely tossed a 4-hit (all singles), 2 walk, complete game shutout. Two of those singles came leading off the 9th (Brock & Davalillo) but he then struck-out Vada Pinson and got Joe Torre to ground into a 6-4-3 DP and the celebration was on.

Game Time = 2:02


95 - 61; 1st Place; 6.0 Games Ahead -- Cubs beat Expos 6-3 hours earlier in an afternoon game in Wrigley but all they could do at that point was sit and watch.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Last homer of Ed Charles' career and it seals the deal for the Mets against a Hall of Fame pitcher.

[G-Fafif]

My first game-specific memory is that clinching. Every day I followed the standings and the magic number in Newsday leading up to that moment.

Speaking of Newsday, Reality Chuck's star turn in LI Life appeared online yesterday, with pic, here.

Chuck Rothman, 57, then of Southold and now of Schenectady. Instructional technologist at Siena College and author of "Staroamer's Fate." I vividly remember Newsday's humor story before the season. They jokingly predicted the Mets would win the World Series. The whole thing was ridiculous, except they got the result right. I was a senior at the time and playoff games were in the afternoon. I was in school for most of them. I was able to watch the fourth game , but for the fifth game I was just getting word from other kids and checking the TV in the gym between classes. I was in my last period when Game 5 ended. Somebody came up and told us and we went nuts, jumping around. It was unbelievable. I got downstairs to the gym in time to see the celebration. . . . Saw the fans tearing up the Shea Stadium turf.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Love the shirt, Chuck!

[Frayed Knot]

Friday, September 26 - Shibe Park: Mets 5 - Phillies 0 -- Jerry Koosman vs Woody Fryman

After a champagne shower and a well-earned day off, Met get two runs in the 1st coupled with one in the 2nd and two more in the 5th, backed by yet another complete game 4-hit shutout.
Rinse. Lather. Repeat.

Koosman, this time, goes the distance as only one Philly batters even reaches 2nd base and the last 11 batters go down in a row.

On the offensive side, Clendenon hits a 2R HR in the 1st (his 3rd in 2 games).
Dyer�s leadoff double in the 2nd sets up an unearned run; and 5th inning singles by Otis & Pfeil knock in the final two.

Post-clinch lineup:
Gaspar - RF
Heise - SS
Jones - LF
Clendenon - 1B
Otis - CF
Pfeil - 3B
Dyer - C
Weis - 2B

For Bob Heise, who played pieces of both �67 & �68 for the Mets, this was his first start of the year (he had just one AB prior). He�d also start the next two but that was it for his NYM career as he was dealt in the off-season to SF for Ray Sadecki & Dave Marshall

Game Time = 1:58


97 - 61; 1st Place; 7.0 Games Ahead -- Cubs ... ahh, who cares

[Guest Edgy DC]

That's a nice deal. Though almost any deal that brought Suzi Sadecki into my life would have been. Heise bounced around until 1977, but without particular distinction.

That would be Johnny Murphy's last trade before he died. Interestingly, Bob Scheffing (or whoever was at the stick in the interim) would lead a January draft three days after Murphy died that would net only one future Met in Roy Staiger. (Not that teams tended to net a lot of fish in the January drafts.)

[Frayed Knot]

Saturday, September 27 - Shibe Park: Mets 1 - Phillies 0 -- Tom Seaver vs Grant Jackson

As I�ve noted in the past ... good thing this team could pitch.
Seaver tosses another in what seems like an endless series of complete game shutouts; 3 singles & 2 walks this time.

The Mets tally the only run of the game on an eighth inning two-out �rally� consisting of a Clendenon single, a walk to Swoboda, and a Bobby Pfeil single, all off starter Grant Jackson.

Game Time = 2:18


98 - 61


I have no memories of Philadelphia�s �Shibe Park�. Even though �The Vet� came about into existence right around the same time as �Three Rivers� in Pittsburgh & �Riverfront� in Cincy, I fully remember the Mets playing in, and announcers saying the names of, �Forbes Field� and �Crosley Field�. But �Shibe Park� for some reason doesn't have that same ring. It sounds to my ears like some old place that only existed in black & white photos from way before my time or the kind of place you�d have to talk to someone of Ralph Kiner�s age to hear about.

[RealityChuck]

Love the shirt, Chuck![/quote:grwb42wt]
Thanks. This is the first I heard it had been printed. Have to find a hard copy.

[G-Fafif]

I have no memories of Philadelphia�s �Shibe Park�. Even though �The Vet� came about into existence right around the same time as �Three Rivers� in Pittsburgh & �Riverfront� in Cincy, I fully remember the Mets playing in, and announcers saying the names of, �Forbes Field� and �Crosley Field�. But �Shibe Park� for some reason doesn't have that same ring. It sounds to my ears like some old place that only existed in black & white photos from way before my time or the kind of place you�d have to talk to someone of Ralph Kiner�s age to hear about.[/quote:2zgoy7jm]

By the time the Mets came into existence, Shibe Park had been renamed Connie Mack Stadium (so dubbed in 1953).

Have very faint memories of watching Connie, Forbes and Crosley on black and white TV. Of course we didn't have a color set until the offseason between '74 and '75, so it was all black and white to me for a pretty long time.

[G-Fafif]

Love the shirt, Chuck![/quote:2rkoa2h5]
Thanks. This is the first I heard it had been printed. Have to find a hard copy.[/quote:2rkoa2h5]

The shirt is cut off in the print version, sadly.

[Frayed Knot]

By the time the Mets came into existence, Shibe Park had been renamed Connie Mack Stadium (so dubbed in 1953).

That's probably why it seemed so odd to me that Baseball-Reference still has it listed as 'Shibe Park' in their box scores and why it sounded so old to me.

[Frayed Knot]

Sunday, September 28 - Shibe Park: Mets 2 - Phillies 0 -- Gary Gentry vs Jerry Johnson

Mets get only three hits in the game, but score twice in the 3rd on a Jim Gosger RBI single and a Gentry Sac Fly.

On the pitching side, Hodges starts to dial things down for the playoffs as Gentry is pulled after five despite pitching a 3-hit shutout. Nolan Ryan comes in for 3 Nolan Ryan innings (1 hit, 3 Ks, 4 BBs) and then Ron Taylor finishes up the combined 4-hitter.

It�s the team�s 8th straight win, their 4th straight shut-out, and the pitching has allowed just 4 runs (2 earned) over the last 7 games and 65 innings.

Game Time = 2:18

[Guest Edgy DC]

Opponents of the Jackie Robinson Rotunda might well blanch at their team playing in a park named for the manager of their team's American League rival.

[Frayed Knot]

No (to the 2 or 3 people actually paying attention here) I didn�t abandon this project with just two days to go. Actually the Mets had TWO days off between game #160 and #s161-162, games which looked like they�d be crucial just a few weeks back but are now just window dressing as a mere 10,000 fans �pack� Wrigley Field


Wednesday, October 1 - Wrigley Field: Mets 6 - Cubs 5 -- Jerry Koosman vs Ken Holtzman

Teams trade runs early to make it a 3-3 game by the 4th.
It stays that way until the 9th when Agee�s 2-out 2R-HR off starter Holtzman puts them up 5-3 but the Cubs answer back with two in their half and it�s on to extras (bet the Cubs loved that)
It takes until the 12th when Harrelson�s leadoff double is knocked in by Shamsky�s single
Bob Johnson - the Mets sixth pitcher of the day - appears in his 2nd and last game as a Met while earning his first ML save.

It�s also win #100 for the Mets on the season and their 9th straight.

Game Time = 3:20

[Frayed Knot]

FINAL GAME (of reg season of course)

Thursday, October 2 - Wrigley Field: Mets 3 - Cubs 5 -- Gary Gentry vs Bill Hands

Cubs finally get the better of the Mets (after 5 straight losses) but it�s during a meaningless game in October.
Gentry went just 4 innings despite allowing only 1 run.
Cardwell got hit up for 4 runs over 2 innings - mostly due to Ernie Banks�s 3R HR - and took the loss.
Boswell & Jones had two hits each and all three RBIs

Game Time = 2:46

100 - 62; 8 games ahead

Seasons have ended on Sundays for so long now it looks strange to have one close mid-week.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Cardwell was saving it up for his one scoreless inning in Game One of the World Series.

The Orioles went hitless over the last four innings of that game. The momentum had turned and nobody knew it but Clendennon.

[G-Fafif]

Seasons have ended on Sundays for so long now it looks strange to have one close mid-week.[/quote:xdm8rqg8]

Last Met season whose regularly scheduled end was on anything but a Sunday: 1974. Lockout grafted final games onto Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in 1990; strike ended season abruptly on a Thursday in 1994; one-game playoff was a Monday in 1999.

I remember that 62nd loss and feeling that it was perfect the Mets would go 100-62, that of course they wouldn't lose before they had 100 wins. Everything about them was so easy to understand for a mathematically inclined six-year-old.

[Frayed Knot]

For those betting I was done with this ongoing project consider yourself a loser


Milestones/Recap of the 1969 season:

Apr 8 -- Opening Day loss to expansion Montreal 11-10 as four Met pitchers combine to give up 12 hits in front of 3 errors. Same old Mets, right?

Apr 25-27 -- Get swept at home in the first three games of a four-game series vs the Cubs
Record drops to 6-11

May 21 -- Seaver shuts out Atlanta to get the team to .500 (18 - 18). Prior to this, the latest they had ever been at .500 was starting off 1967 at 4-4

May 23-25 -- In what would become a pattern, Mets get swept in Houston dropping them to 18-22 and into 4th place.

May 28-June 10 -- An 11-game winning streak against the west-coast teams. The streak pulls the team above .500 for good and into 2nd place where, except for one day in August, they�d spend each day until taking over first in September.

July 8-10 -- The first-ever important series in club history.
On the 8th, Fergie Jenkins takes a one-hitter and 3-1 lead into the 9th when three doubles, an IW and a Kranepool single nets 3 runs and stuns the Cubs. Shea was electric and the young me in attendance that night didn�t think life could get any better.
The next night Seaver Ks 11 and doesn�t lose his masterpiece until there was one out in the 9th.
They�d lose game 3 of the series but it showed anyone paying attention that the team was for real. They�d beat the Cubs 2 of 3 the next week in Wrigley as well to climb within 4 games of 1st place.

August 13 -- The 7 losses in 10 games doldrums culminates with a sweep in Houston which dropped them into 3rd place and 10 games out of 1st place.

Aug 16-27 -- The west coast teams again bring a long winning streak. 12 wins in 13 games chops the 10 game deficit quickly down to 2.5

Sept 6-13 -- A 10 game winning streak in which the pitching allowed a total of 11 runs vaults them into 1st place to stay

Sept 24 -- The NL East clincher - appropriately a shutout - comes in the middle game of a 9-game winning streak that takes them to the final game of the season

[Guest Edgy DC]

How many of us today would have thrown in the towel August 13?

[Frayed Knot]

40 years ago today came the first games in that new-fangled League Championship Series thing


Saturday, October 4 - Game 1 NLCS - Fulton County Stadium: Mets 9 - Braves 5 -- Tom Seaver vs Phil Neikro

After a scoreless 1st, a Shamsky single is followed by a Boswell single. Then, after a Kranepool strike-out (Clendenon sitting ... Really?) Grote�s single plus a passed ball makes it 2-0 Mets.
- Braves get one back in their half on a Rico Carty double, an error, and a Clete Boyer Sac Fly
- In the 3rd Seaver gets hit up for three straight doubles - Millan, Tony Gonzalez & Aaron - and two more runs
- In the 4th, Harrelson�s 2-RBI triple buts the Mets back up 4-3
- A leadoff HR from Tony Gozalez in the 5th ties things at 4 and one from Aaron in the 7th puts the Braves up by one
- 8th inning: Garrett doubles, Jones singles him in, Shamsky singles, Jones steals 3rd, Boswell reaches on an error and another run scores. Kranepool and Grote follow with ground outs, but when the Braves IW Harrelson to get to Seaver�s spot Hodges puts in JC Martin to PH who promptly singles and, thanks to a CF error, all three runners score before Martin himself is thrown out at the plate. Mets lead 9-5
- Taylor pitches a 1-2-3 8th. He then gives up a single & double in the 9th but gets Orlando Cepeda to pop out and end the game.

Game Time = 2:37
(good god, could you imagine how long a 14 run, 20 hits, 3 error, 7 walk post-season game would take in 2009? Yanx-Royals went 3:17 last week in a meaningless 4-3 game)



* In the other LCS, Orioles beat the Twins 4-3 when Paul Blair's 2-out bunt single in the 12th inning brought home Mark Belanger.
Twins reliever Ron Perranoski took the loss even though a ball never left the infield. Belanger had an infield single, got bunted over to 2nd, then went to 3rd on an infield ground-out before coming home on Blair's bunt. So much for big-inning Earl.

[MFS62]

FK, thank you.
I've been reading but didn't really have much to add to your great work.
RMPL kicked in.
kudos.

Later

[Frayed Knot]

Sunday, October 5 - Game 2 NLCS - Fulton County Stadium: Mets 11 - Braves 6 -- Jerry Koosman vs Ron Reed

Met bats, which were carried by their pitchers over the last month of the season, pound out runs early and often against Braves pitchers, including one in the 1st, three in the 2nd, two in the 3rd, two more in the 4th, and one in the 5th
1st - Kranpool singles in Agee w/2 outs although Grote fails to add more when he Ks with the bases-loaded
2nd - Agee HRs after Koosman walks. Shamsky's single knocks in Jones who had doubled (and knocks out starter Reed).
3rd - Harrelson doubles in Grote. Garrett later singles in Harrelson
4th - Shamsky leads off with a single and Boswell HRs
5th - Garrett doubles and Jones singles him in

At this point Cepeda�s 4th inning solo HR is the only Atlanta run, so Koosman takes a 9-1 lead into the bottom 5th and even retires the first two batters ... but never finishes the inning
A Single - Walk - 3R HR (Aaron) - Walk - Double - and 2-RBI Single (Boyer) later and Ron Taylor has to come in and get the final out in a suddenly tighter 9-6 game.

But Jones�s 2R HR in the 7th off Cecil Upshaw - the Braves 5th pitcher of the day - makes it a 5-run lead
Taylor goes 1-1/3 and gets the win while McGraw pitches one-hit ball over the 7th, 8th, and 9th
13 hits on the day for Met bats, including 3 each for Jones & Shamsky; two each for Agee & Garrett

Game Time = 3:10



Orioles again win in extras via some non-Earl-like small-ball.
In the bottom of the 11th inning, a Boog Powell walk is followed by a Brooks Robinson bunt (way to get that speedster over), an IW to Davey Johnson, then, after a Mark Belanger pop-up, the Twins replace starter Dave Boswell with the Game 1 loser Ron Perranoski. Earl Weaver counters with pinch-hitter Curt Motton (Who?!?) who singles in the winning run.
Dave McNally goes all 11 innings for the win.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Sunday, October 5 - Game 2 NLCS - Fulton County Stadium: Mets 11 - Braves 6 -- Jerry Koosman vs Ron Reed

[Guest Edgy DC]

The game was at Fulton County, but Shea was busy too.

[Frayed Knot]

Monday, October 6 - Game 3 NLCS - Shea Stadium: Mets 7 - Braves 4 -- Gary Gentry vs Pat Jarvis

Wow, look at that. They actually managed to schedule an LCS without the benefit of multiple �travel days� (or any travel days for that matter). Amazing how the post-season can be completed before November if one really puts their mind to it rather than allowing the TV networks to dictate start times.

- Gentry gets hit up for a 2R HR in the 1st ... Aaron again, this one hit the flagpole in straight-away CF. My father was there that day and he swears the ball was still rising when it hit.
- Gentry then retired the side in the 2nd on just one walk, but when the first two hitters in the 3rd reached base Hodges reached for his bullpen. Actually, the story the way I remember it is that he yanked Gentry not before the next hitter but in mid-AB (although this is not clear via the BB-Ref account so any other info is welcome). Rico Carty was the hitter after Gonzalez & Aaron had started the inning 1B - 2B and when Carty hit a screaming liner towards downtown Flushing somewhere only foul by a few feet, Hodges was walking up the dugout steps before the ball had landed. Rumor had it that Carty had to ask one of his teammates what this new guy Ryan threw. Not sure the word �fastball� was enough to prepare him for what he was about to face as he wound up striking out. After intentionally walking Cepeda to load the bases, Ryan retired the next two hitters and stranded all runners.
- So with a 2-run deficit which certainly looked like it was going to be much worse, Agee hit a solo HR in the bottom of the inning to cut the Braves lead in half
- In the 4th Boswell�s 2R HR put the Mets up 3-2
- Cepeda answered back with a 2R HR of his own in the 5th to put the Braves back up 4-3. But before the bottom half of that inning was over, Garrett tossed in a 2R HR and then Boswell�s RBI single jacked the Met lead up to 6-4
- Ryan finished out the game, getting credit for 7 full innings while giving up 2 runs on 3 hits, walking 2 and striking out 7, limiting the Braves to just two 8th inning singles after Cepeda�s 5th inning HR.

Game Time = 2:24


No drama in the AL this day. Orioles pound out 18 hits against 7 Minnesota pitchers while Palmer goes all the way in an 11-2 rout to complete the Baltimore sweep.

[Frayed Knot]

Saturday, October 11 - World Series Game 1 - Memorial Stadium: Mets 1 - Orioles 4 -- Tom Seaver vs Mike Cuellar

Agee - CF
Harrelson - SS
Jones - LF
Clendenon - 1B
Swoboda - RF
Charles - 3B
Grote - C
Weis - 2B
Seaver - P


Don Buford - LF
Paul Blair - CF
Frank Robinson - RF
Boog Powell - 1B
Brooks Robinson - 3B
Elrod Hendricks - C
Davey Johnson - 2B
Mark Belanger - SS
Mike Cuellar - P



- Mets don�t score in the top of the first, and then when Don Buford hits the 2nd pitch thrown by a Met in the World Series over the RF fence it�s 1-0 Orioles
- In the 4th Seaver gets the first two outs but then, while facing the lower part of the lineup, allows a Single (Hendricks), Walk (Johnson), RBI-Single (Belanger), RBI-Single (Cuellar), RBI-Double (Buford) and the Os lead 4-zip
- Cardwell relieves Seaver for the 6th. In the 7th the Mets load the bases with one out on a Clendenon single, Swoboda walk, and Grote single. Al Weis gts one in with a Sac Fly, but pinch-hitter Gaspar grounds out to end the threat.
- Mets get one runner on in the 8th and two in the 9th but Cuellar gets Shamsky on a come-backer to complete his 6-hit victory.


Game Time = 2:13

[Guest Edgy DC]

I forget that they had a rally opportunity there. Amazin' to think that, with thier righthanded lineup in there, that they didn't have a better pinch-hitting option than Gaspar.

[Frayed Knot]

Sunday, October 12 - World Series Game 2 - Memorial Stadium: Mets 2 - Orioles 1 -- Jerry Koosman vs Dave McNally

Same lineup for Gil in game 2 while Earl changes catchers:

Agee - CF
Harrelson - SS
Jones - LF
Clendenon - 1B
Swoboda - RF
Charles - 3B
Grote - C
Weis - 2B
Koosman - P



Don Buford - LF
Paul Blair - CF
Frank Robinson - RF
Boog Powell - 1B
Brooks Robinson - 3B
Davey Johnson - 2B
Andy Etchebarren - C
Mark Belanger - SS
Dave McNally - P


- Mets get a leadoff walk in the 2nd but don�t score
- In the 3rd they get a leadoff single and later a walk but can�t bring any around
- Clendenon�s leadoff HR in the 4th breaks the ice
- The score stays that way until Paul Blair leads off the 7th with the Orioles first hit of the game. Two outs later he steals 2nd and comes in on a Brooks Robinson RBI single
- Game remains tied at 1 when McNally, still hurling in the 9th, gets the first two outs before three consecutive singles by Charles, Grote & Weis makes it 2-1 Mets.
- Koosman also gets the first two in the bottom half, but when he walks Frank Robinson & Powell, Hodges calls on Taylor for the final out, getting Brooks Robinson to ground to 3rd and even the series at one game each.

Those two 7th inning singles were the only Oriole hits of the game. Koosman walked three.

Game Time = 2:20

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Weis: Coulda (shoulda?) been series MVP.

Discuss.

[Frayed Knot]

No, Koosman shoulda.