It was forty years ago today ...

[Frayed Knot]

... that YOUR 4th place Mets opened a big Five game series with the 1st place (although only 2 games above .500) Pirates.

The Mets, who sat at 73-76 as September 17th began, sent ace Tom Seaver to the mound where Tom Terrific, a month shy of winning his 2nd Cy Young Award, ... got his ass handed to him by Pittsburgh bats. There are rumors that a then teenage Mikey Francesa was heard to utter into his toy microphone "See, this proves he can't win the big one" but I'm still looking into that.

After yielding 5 runs on 7 hits plus a walk, Seaver was yanked after the 3rd inning in a game the Mets would go on to lose 10-3 with Ray Sadecki, 22 y/o Craig Swan (2 IP - 4 ER), and Buzz Capra taking the remainder of the punishment. Ten of the Pirate fifteen hits would go for XBs including 2 doubles, a triple, and a HR from Willie Stargell. That's right, Willie both had a triple and opted NOT to stop at 1st base on his 2nd double so as to "achieve" a cycle.

As the day ended, Pittsburgh sat on top by one game over idle Montreal, with StL 2.5 games back, the Mets now 73-77 and 3.5 games back, and the Cubs at -5.5.
The (65-84) Phils were the only team really out of it with just two weeks to go at -11 games

[Zvon]

This was a weird series because the first 2 games were played in Pittsburg and the last three at Shea without a break in between.
Yea, Seaver lost the opener. There was always a lot of talk back then about him not winning the big game. He won plenty of big ones. He won the last game of this series and that was just as big a game and the opener. At the hump of a pennant race all these games were huge.

The next day Matlack was knocked out of the box after three. The Mets were losing 4-1 when they exploded for five runs in the 9th to give Tug McGraw the win. These were the games that the Mets HAD to win to stay in the race in '73 and they won em.

In the midst of this series the "Dave Augustine Play" occurred, which I have always called "The Ball Off The Wall" play. I wrote a composition about this play in college and I wish I still had a copy of that. My English teacher gave me an A+ and read it to the class. It really captured the incredibility of the play.

[Frayed Knot]

Zvon wrote: This was a weird series because the first 2 games were played in Pittsburg and the last three at Shea without a break in between. Yea, Seaver lost the opener. ... The next day Matlack was knocked out of the box after three. The Mets were losing 4-1 when they exploded for five runs in the 9th to give Tug McGraw the win.

Yup!
After Harrelson grounded out to start the 9th with the Mets down 4-1, seven straight Mets reached base and they had scored five times before the smoke cleared.
Beauchamp (pinch-hitting for Kranepool) - Single
Garrett - Double
Millan - 2-RBI Triple
Staub - Walk
Hodges (PH-ing for Dyer who was PH-ing for McGraw) - RBI Single -- Teddy Martinez pinch-runs
Cleon - Walk
Hahn - 2-RBI Single

Still some drama to come in the bottom of the inning.
Apodaca was brought in to close after McGraw's 2 scoreless innings but immediately walked the first two hitters.
Out went Dac and in came Buzz Capra who got an out on a bunt and then a run-scoring out on a grounder. Then after intentionally walking Stargell (4 XBHs the night before) and UNintentionally walking Richie Zisk, Buzz got Manny Sanguillen on a bases-loaded Fly Out to end the game.

Mets till in 4th at the end of the day but had closed to just 2.5 out.

[Edgy MD]

Jim Beauchamp is the hinge of history.

[Frayed Knot]

The unusual five-game series shifts to Shea and the Mets ride 2 Cleon Jones HRs and 5 RBIs to a 7--3 win.

George Stone was on the mound for the Mets was up 4 - 2 with 2 out and none on in the 6th until the final three hitters he was to face went HR (Stargell), single (Zisk) and Double (Sanguillen). But the Mets kept the lead when Zisk was cut down at the plate (RF-1B-C) to end the inning.
Tug McGraw came on to start the 7th and pitched 3 scoreless/2-hit innings (relievers were allowed to do that in those days) to close it out.

The win left the Mets with a 75-77 record and pulled them to a tie for 3rd with StL, just a half-game behind the Expos and 1.5 in back of the Pirates.

[Zvon]

Damn. 40 years.

[Vic Sage]

just remove the first period and observe the power of punctuation.

[Frayed Knot]

I was late in getting around yesterday to reviewing the September 20th game in 1973 and by the time I was about to Gary had done a much better job of summing it up than I could have AND he had the video to go along with it.

That game, which was the one that planted the idea of looking back at the whole stretch run of �73, is obviously a big one to remember but I�ve always remembered the specific date as well. It was the same night as the Bobby Riggs/Billie Jean King match and it was the day Jim Croce�s plane went down outside of Nachitoches, Louisiana (if you don�t know who Jim Croce was, kids, ask your parents). And while neither one of those happenings were major events in my life, if you had asked me at any time over the last four decades when Croce died or what was the date of the King-Riggs match I could have told you the exact date without a moments hesitation.
And whenever I hear that �all of America� was watching the made for TV / network televised / Cosell narrated tennis match in those pre-cable days where an event like that probably drew a 70 share, I think to myself: well not everyone was watching because I was watching (and then listening to after I got sent to bed) the Mets/Pirate game.




September 21
The five game series concludes (on a Friday?!?) with Seaver getting his revenge from game 1 and the Mets thumping the Bucs 10-2
Four 1st inning runs off Steve Blass (who wouldn�t survive the inning) and 13 hits and 3 HRs (Staub, Milner, Garrett) altogether assured that the Mets would never trail.
It was also the game that put the Mets into 1st place with a glorious 77-77 record.

NYM ---
PIT -0.5
StL -1.0
MON -1.5
CHC -2.5
PHI -9.0

[Zvon]

I was late in getting around yesterday to reviewing the September 20th game in 1973 and by the time I was about to Gary had done a much better job of summing it up than I could have AND he had the video to go along with it. That game, which was the one that planted the idea of looking back at the whole stretch run of �73, is obviously a big one to remember but I�ve always remembered the specific date as well. It was the same night as the Bobby Riggs/Billie Jean King match and it was the day Jim Croce�s plane went down outside of Nachitoches, Louisiana (if you don�t know who Jim Croce was, kids, ask your parents). And while neither one of those happenings were major events in my life, if you had asked me at any time over the last four decades when Croce died or what was the date of the King-Riggs match I could have told you the exact date without a moments hesitation. And whenever I hear that �all of America� was watching the made for TV / network televised / Cosell narrated tennis match in those pre-cable days where an event like that probably drew a 70 share, I think to myself: well not everyone was watching because I was watching (and then listening to after I got sent to bed) the Mets/Pirate game. September 21 The five game series concludes (on a Friday?!?) with Seaver getting his revenge from game 1 and the Mets thumping the Bucs 10-2 Four 1st inning runs off Steve Blass (who wouldn�t survive the inning) and 13 hits and 3 HRs (Staub, Milner, Garrett) altogether assured that the Mets would never trail. It was also the game that put the Mets into 1st place with a glorious 77-77 record. NYM --- PIT -0.5 StL -1.0 MON -1.5 CHC -2.5 PHI -9.0

Did he do that tonight? Damn u motherfkin comcast! Damn u all to hellll!
Yea, now I gotta watch it. Kool.

[Frayed Knot]

Gary recapped and chatted about the Sept 20th game during Friday's telecast.
Not sure if he talked about today's (21st) anniversary game.

[Zvon]

Frayed Knot wrote: Gary recapped and chatted about the Sept 20th game during Friday's telecast. Not sure if he talked about today's (21st) anniversary game.

Glad you told me. I can call up that game. Just about to see the play at the plate with Brown.

[Frayed Knot]

[u:u4dsyqtl]September 22nd, 1973[/u:u4dsyqtl]

A two--game (Saturday - Sunday) series starts at Shea with a visit from 3rd place St. Louis

Jon Matlack responds with a complete game / 4-hit shutout.
Mets also only get four hits but it�s Wayne Garrett�s 2R HR in the 3rd (his 2nd in 3 days) off Cardinal starter Reggie Cleveland that provides all the scoring in the game.

Pittsburgh didn�t play this day (rain out?) so the 78-77 Mets lead the East by a full game at the end of the day.
It�s also the first time the �73 Mets have been above .500 since they were 20-19 in late May.

Cards & Expos are tied 2 games out of 1st; the Cubs are 2.5

btw, Time of Game = 1:55

[RealityChuck]

I remember Garrett turning into a superstar that September. Baseball Reference gives him a slash line of .323/.411/.604.

The other big slugger that month was Rusty Staub. This was the first time Rusty had a chance at the postseason and I think he wanted to will the team into it.

[Zvon]

RealityChuck wrote: I remember Garrett turning into a superstar that September. Baseball Reference gives him a slash line of .323/.411/.604. The other big slugger that month was Rusty Staub. This was the first time Rusty had a chance at the postseason and I think he wanted to will the team into it.

And he did. He and Tugger powered a lot of will.

[Frayed Knot]

I had noticed Garrett's name popping up a lot as I've been reviewing these games.
'73 was pretty much the best full season of his career anyway and those stats show that he certainly finished with a bang.

One thing I've noticed in the past about Garrett, something that would have escaped notice of my young self at the time, is that the dude drew a ton of walks.
His lifetime OBA wound up being 111 points higher than his BA (65 - 70 is about the norm) and he finished his career with more walks than Ks.
If we could have taken modern weight-training techniques (even just the legal ones) to put a little more beef on that skinny redhead way back when he might have had an impressive career.
As it was he got a decent 10 years in but was a bit light on power and was done as a full-timer by age 28 and for good before he hit 31.

[dinosaur jesus]

Frayed Knot wrote: I had noticed Garrett's name popping up a lot as I've been reviewing these games. '73 was pretty much the best full season of his career anyway and those stats show that he certainly finished with a bang. One thing I've noticed in the past about Garrett, something that would have escaped notice of my young self at the time, is that the dude drew a ton of walks. His lifetime OBA wound up being 111 points higher than his BA (65 - 70 is about the norm) and he finished his career with more walks than Ks. If we could have taken modern weight-training techniques (even just the legal ones) to put a little more beef on that skinny redhead way back when he might have had an impressive career. As it was he got a decent 10 years in but was a bit light on power and was done as a full-timer by age 28 and for good before he hit 31.

I wonder if he'd have been better off as a middle infielder. His glove was good enough (for second, anyway), and his offense would have stood out more. As a third baseman, he always seemed just not quite good enough (which was obviously what the Mets were thinking when they traded for Fregosi). But that perception might have been very different if he'd been a second baseman.

I remember Ralph saying once that "Wayne Garrett's got what they call charisma." And I guess he did.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Without looking anything up and just going by old memories, I remember Garrett as being awesome in Sept. '73. Which might turn out to be not so true, but I sorta remember it that way. I played the 1975 Strat-O-Matic set and Garrett was a walking machine that season. Among Mets with 2,000+ AB's he ranks 11th all-time in OBP. Tom Seaver spoke highly of Garrett and was convinced that he'd be an all- star someday.

[Frayed Knot]

Without looking anything up and just going by old memories, I remember Garrett as being awesome in Sept. '73. Which might turn out to be not so true, but I sorta remember it that way.

From Chuck's post above: "Baseball Reference gives him a slash line [in September '73] of .323/.411/.604."

[Edgy MD]

They were always looking for a leadoff hitter and a thirdbaseman and maybe with a little more attention to the bird in hand, they might've realized they had both those things all along.

[Guest Mets � Willets Point]

I was in the womb so I missed out on this the first time around.

[Vic Sage]

I remember `73 as being the September when Rusty grabbing the team by its collective and metaphorical hair and dragged it into the post-season, and almost beating Oakland with 1 arm tied behind his back.

I may be misremembering but i don't like it when facts get in the way.

[Frayed Knot]

Edgy MD wrote: They were always looking for a leadoff hitter and a thirdbaseman and maybe with a little more attention to the bird in hand, they might've realized they had both those things all along.

Garrett tallied nearly 1/4 of his career PAs in the leadoff spot and hit there more than any other single slot - so even the cretins in the pre-Sabremetric era couldn't have been totally unaware of his OBA skills.
I guess the bigger question is why those skills and his career had all petered right around the time he should have been hitting his prime.

[Edgy MD]

Well, I don't think anybody was a cretin, but him grabbing one appearance for him in four suggests the team itself never really took him seriously enough to use him there regularly in any season. That they continually tried (and falied) to displace him at third (Foy, Apromonte, Fregosi) says more.

[Chad ochoseis]

Foy was another low-BA, high-OBP guy. For all the criticism he took, that OBP of .373 in 1970 doesn't look bad at all.

[Edgy MD]

Yeah, his walk rate was Wes Westrumesque. He and Wayno might have made an effective platoon.

But I understand that his immoderate habits did him in as much as his production.

[Zvon]

I always liked Garrett. He was like a Justin Turner, only better. And he was used more. He could play all infield positions well, hit, run, slide..I couldn't understand why he wasn't an everyday player. I never saw him do anything wrong and that's something. IIRC he also kicked major ass vs. the Braves in the '69 NLCS.

[Edgy MD]

I've long thought of Garrett and Donn Clendennon pretty much make up the totality of Johnny Murphy's stewardship of the Mets, personnel-wise, but maybe that's unfair. It's hard to tell what happened in the fall of 1967 that had Bing Devine's DNA on it or Murphy's.

I found a clipping from a December 6 newspaper that has Bing Devine jumping ship to return to the Cards. Gil Hodges was obtained November 27, and that's generally credited to Murphy. Was he already on the stick at this time? How about for the Bob Johnson/Art Shamsky trade on November 8?

A week after Devine joined St. Louis, the Mets completed their blockbuster of the winter, trading Jack Fisher, Tommy Davis, Billy Wynne and Buddy Booker to the White Sox for Tommie Agee and Al Weis. Was this Murphy's initiative or was he merely signing off on a deal set in motion by Devine before he left?

Anyhow, his 1968 draft netted John Milner and Tim Foli, and that ain't bad. He got George Theodore and Buzz Capra in the 1970 draft too. He somehow traded another Jack DiLauro before the 1969 season and got him back in time to for the season to be key contributor to the bullpen. (DiLauro was a real yo-yo, transaction wise.)

He traded Amos Otis and Bob Johnson for Joe Foy, and that sucked so much that it sent him tailspinning toward an early death, but a week before he passed, he made one last deal for Ray Sadecki. Go Johnny, go!

[Frayed Knot]

September 23rd, 1973 -- 2nd of the two-game series vs the Cards at Shea

Tommie Agee* hits a 1st inning 2R HR against Geroge Stone.
Those would be the last runs the Cards would get in this game although it wouldn�t be due to Stone. After allowing five hits over the first two innings and only being saved from further damage by two StL GiDPs, Yogi chose not to wait around for more and Stone was gone for a PH-er in the bottom of the 2nd even though there were two outs and nobody on at the time.
The PH move didn't pay off (Lute Barnes struck out) but the relief did as the Mets got four innings of 1-hit ball from Harry Parker and zeroes over the final three from McGraw

On the offensive side, the Mets loaded the bases in the 3rd on three straight walks but netted only one via a Cleon Jones Sac Fly
Staub�s single knocked in Garrett (who had led off with a single) in the 5th to tie the game before Garrett�s (there�s that name again!) 2-RBI Triple in the 6th put them ahead to stay.
Cleon�s 7th inning HR ended the scoring.


Pitt won a DH from the Expos this day so the Mets� lead actually shrunk to just 1/2 game.
But it dropped St Looie to 3 full games out and the Expos & Cubs to 3.5



* Agee had been picked up by the Cards from Houston about five weeks earlier. This HR would be the final one of his career and his second to last hit.
He would try hooking on with the Dodgers the in �74 but was released during spring training and would never play again.

[Zvon]

I remember seeing Agee make a diving catch playing for the Cards. It was on TV at a friends house, not sure if it was a Met game or a Game of the Week thing. So he makes this lunging skidding diving catch in right-center ( 99% sure this was on artificial turf) that looked like a carbon copy of his second 69 series catch, only it wasn't near the track. It was in from the track by quite a bit. I always thought that had to have happened in '72 but it couldn't have. Had to be 73.

Playing for Houston and St Lou at that time could not have been good for his knees.

[G-Fafif]

Postgame show is on!

[youtube:al86h1kr]s7Usnpt-7m4[/youtube:al86h1kr]