July 3, 1969

Busch Stadium II - Mets rookie Gary Gentry pitched a complete game as the Mets won easily in St. Louis by a score of 8-1. Tommie Agee led off the game with his 11th home run of the season. Gentry recorded his eighth win of the season.

Record 42-34, second place 8 games back. Donn Clendenon had two hits in five at bats and drove in two runs.

July 2, 1969

Busch Stadium II - The Mets led by a score of 4-0. But then in the eighth inning, Jerry Koosman left the game after loading the bases. Ron Taylor came in the game and gave up a grand slam home run. Three of the four runs were charged to Koosman. The game stayed tied into extra innings. In the top of the 14th inning with two outs, the Mets rallied to score two runs. Tug McGraw earned the win having pitched the last six scoreless innings to end the game.

Record 41-34, second place 8 games back. Tommie Agee went 4 for 7 and Wayne Garrett went 4 for 6 and drove in 4 runs.

You have to give the Mets credit. The fourth inning, in the field, was one of the funniest things I have ever seen. I mean belly laugh funny.  The F-Mart pratfall was absolutely hysterical. Then the “Little League” grand slam that followed was hilarious too. I was actually laughing out loud.

Please don’t get me wrong, I know it was painful. And to all the Mets fans who suffered through this latest chapter in ineptitude, I feel your pain. I guess I have basically given up on this team. My expectations are so low, that I was not at all surprised the Mets gave up the lead. Therefore, I was free to enjoy the slapstick moment in all its glory.

You realize, the type of play we have seen from these Mets over the last five games is what fans saw daily back in 1962. Half the fun of that team was wondering what whacky plays would be invented on any given day. But of course this is not about comedy. It was supposed to be about championship caliber baseball this season. Injuries have taken that away from us. And all the whining and crying Mets fans are doing, hoping for a miracle deal, is nothing more than an exercise in futility.

In order for the Mets to improve, they would have to somehow acquire other team’s best players. That’s not going to happen.  At some point, Mets fans have to understand that the injuries that have befallen this team are insurmountable. There will be no post season in 2009 for the Mets. In fact, the Mets may not even have a winning record when all is said and done on October 4.

Let’s face the facts. Carlos Beltran, after his latest examination on his ailing knee, will require rest through the All Star break. Then he will have to work himself back into game shape. Likely he will not return until the end of July or beginning of August. Jose Reyes will also not be back until after the All Star break. Maybe he too, will not be at full strength until the end of the month.  Carlos Delgado, the big power threat of the team, will not be ready till sometime in August.  J. J. Puts will likely not be back till September and who knows about Perez and Maine.

Assume the best case scenario is that the Mets are close to full strength on August 1, one month from today.  The question then becomes is how far behind will the Mets be in 31 days? Even if the Mets were to make a minor deal or two, a logical fan would half to assume the Mets to be at least five to ten games back by then, maybe more.  Given such a scenario, the Mets would have to play incredibly hot baseball for the remainder of the season requiring every player to be at the top of their game and remain injury free. It’s not impossible but it is likely improbable.

That’s why I have written off this season and do not want to see Omar Minaya make ridiculous moves to improve a team that really has very little chance of winning.  Guys like Nick Evans, Daniel Murphy, and Bobby Parnell are going to require time to develop. Fernando Martinez could very well be the heir apparent to Carlos Beltran when Beltran’s contract runs out after 2011. The last thing I want to see are these players doing well in other organizations while we lament the has-beens that we got in return.

And do you really think Jerry Manuel can lead this team to a championship. You have to question how he manages this team. He says the hot hand will play but then he sits Nick Evans after he gets three big hits against St. Louis last week. Daniel Murphy finally got hot going 10 for 30 and then he warmed the pines.  David Wright finally hit a home run last night, the first since June 1, but Manuel is going to rest him today. And what of the mixed message he sends through the clubhouse when he tells the press he needs some bats. I’m sure that does a lot to inspire the team. Where is Bobby Valentine when you need him? Don't forget, Valentine took a Mets team to the World Series with Benny Agbayani leading off.

Some day it will all come together, the question is when. Not that I am some genius prognosticator but I wrote after the 2006 season that just because the Mets got so close does not mean they will win it all the next year. I warned to be prepared for the Mets to take a step or two back. Building a consistent winner takes time. I hate it when I’m right all the time.

July 1, 1969

Busch Stadium II - In the first game of a twi-night double header, the Cardinals defeated the Mets by a score of 4-1. Future Hall of Famer Steve Carlton allowed only three hits and struck out nine. Nolan Ryan lost his first game of the season.

Unfortunately, the Mets fared no better in the night cap losing 8-5. The Mets got off to a fast start scoring three in the first but St. Louis scored five in the fifth and that was enough to hold on to the win and sweep the Mets. Jack Di Lauro lost his third game of the year with no wins.

Record 40-34, second place eight games back. Cleon Jones went 3 for 5 in the double header.

On July 30, 2004, the Mets traded Scott Kasmir and Joselo Diaz to the Tampa Bay Rays for Victor Zambrano and Bartolome Fortunato. Likely one of the single worst trades ever made in Mets history.

At the time the Mets were 49-53, seven games back in fourth place. The Mets hierarchy, led by General Manager Jim Duquette thought the Mets had a chance to win in 2004 so they made the trade sending their top pitching prospect who has flourished in Tampa Bay. The Mets finished the season 20 games under .500 at 71-91. Victor Zambrano was a total bust ending his Mets career in 2006 running off the field during a game with a blown out elbow while Kasmir celebrated an American League pennant last season.

The trade was panned when it was made by the press and the fans. No one realistically felt the Mets had what it would take to win the wild card let alone the division. The Mets rolled the dice and they came up craps. There is a lesson here.

This season, the Mets have suffered a series of injuries a team experiences once in every 20 years. I think back to 1987, the year after the Mets won their last World Series. That season, the Mets lost most of their starting pitching staff. After winning 108 games in ’86, the Mets fell back to 92 wins in ’87 ending up in second place and out of the playoffs. Of course, it was easier to handle then given the fact the Mets were the reigning champions. This season it’s a bit harder to be patient since the Mets have not been in the Series in nine years.

But sometimes you just have to say it just isn’t meant to be. Everyone, fans and media, are bashing the Mets poor play but let’s be fair. No team could survive losing six key players the way the Mets have. The Mets have lost Jose Reyes, Carlos Delgado, Carlos Beltran, J.J. Puts, John Maine, and Oliver Perez for an extensive period of time. None of them are playing yet or are due back soon. How would the Yankees be doing right now if A-Rod, Jeter, Teixeira, Burnett, Pettitte, and Hughes were out.  What if the Red Sox were missing Beckett, Lester, Saito, Pedroia, Youkilis, and Oritz? Would they be leading the division?

Is it worth trading top farm players for a player that might or might not help the Mets win this year? And let’s be logical here. It will take more than one player to make up for the loss of all the Mets injured.

Many have complained that the Mets farm system is barren and cannot provide replacements for those who have gone down. I am the first one to criticize the Mets for not building a better farm system but this is an unrealistic expectation. First off, according to Baseball America, the Mets farm system is ranked at 17 out of 30, not last or at the bottom the way some angry fans have suggested. And do not forget, the Mets traded four prospects last year to acquire Johan Santana. Daniel Murphy is having a bad sophomore year but has the ability to be a fine hitter and believe it or not, he could be the first baseman of the future. Nick Evans should have been on the club after spring training and now that he is here, he’s not being played after having a couple of games where he had three big hits. That’s another story.

Do the Yankees or even the Red Sox with their fine minor league system have the players to replace six key players if they went down? I doubt it.

I’m not trying to defend Omar Minaya but I really do not think there is much he can do considering the severity of the injuries. The worst thing he can do now is make a trade for the sake of making a trade. Minaya has stated he would make a deal for the right player, a player that will be with the Mets for a while, not just rented for the rest of the season. Whether that happens or not remains to be seen.

Mets fans need some perspective. While their anger runs deep following two seasons ending on the last day in utter disappointment, it could be worse believe it or not. We love to bash Minaya, I have done it too, but let’s be fair, the culture of this team changed when he came on board. The Art Howe/Duquette Mets were horrible. Omar made the Mets relevant again. Has he made good deals, yes he has. He has made bad ones too. I love the way fans say that Omar has only made good trades because he has so much money to work with. One fan said give Billy Bean that money and he would build a dynasty. We don’t know that. Maybe Bean’s talent is working in a small market with little money to work with.  It’s so easy to be critical when things do not go right.

With the way the Phillies have played this season, I shudder to think just where the Mets would be had they not suffered such devastating injuries. What are you going to do? That’s baseball. You just cannot predict what can happen.

June 30, 1969

Busch Stadium II - The Mets scored six runs in the top of the first inning capped off by a three run home run from Jerry Grote. That's all the Mets would need as they thumped the Cardinals by a score of 10-2. Pitcher Jim McAndrew pitched a complete game winning his second game against two losses. As the third month of the season concluded, it was hard for fans to believe how good the Mets were playing.

Record 40-32, second place 7.5 games back. In addition to the win, pitcher McAndrew drove in two runs.

What should the Mets do? Should they give up some or all of their prime prospects for a batter? Or should they just bite the bullet and hope that key players return from injuries and help right the ship?

Personally, I would bite the bullet. If the Mets make a deal for even an Adam Dunn, they are going to have to give up a lot of talent because of the position they are in. But even Dunn, with his home run power, may not make much of a difference.  If the Mets had lost the three games from the Yankees playing fundamentally sound baseball, I would feel more confident in giving up some of the future for help now. But how is Adam Dunn or whomever going to teach Daniel Murphy how to play fundamentally sound? How is giving up a Jon Neise or Bobby Parnell going to make Fernando Tatis hit the cutoff man or stop hitting into double plays? How is a trade going to help David Wright hold the ball when he has no chance of making the play at first? How is bringing in another player going to convince Jerry Manuel to walk Derek Jeter because Mariano Rivera is on deck? How is acquiring a slugger going to make Francisco Rodriguez lay them over the plate for the same Rivera who had two at bats the entire season previously? Please explain that to me.  For all the hitting woes the Mets have, it’s the defense that has really killed them this month. The Mets simply cannot catch the baseball.

The Mets were outplayed and outclassed the entire subway series this season except for the one win in game 2 of the Yankee Stadium series. Think about it… Luis Castillo drops a simple popup that would have given the Mets the win in the subway series opener. Instead the Mets lose as Mark Teixeira crosses home plate. In the Sunday game at the Stadium, ace Johan Santana gets pummeled for nine runs, the worst outing of his career. On Friday evening at Citi Field, the Mets make three errors in one inning looking like the Bad News Bears. They are one hit on Saturday night when they went down 1-2-3 in all but one inning. Then last night, during a nightmarish first inning, they allowed the Yanks to score three runs in part from a fundamental blunder by Daniel Murphy.  The Yankees took the series five games to one, the worst since they were swept in all six games back in 2003. But in 2003 the Mets were horrible and not going anywhere. Hmm, come to think of it, maybe there is not that much difference to this year’s club after all.

As a Mets fan, the most embarrassed I ever felt was when the Yankees celebrated the 2000 world championship on Shea Stadium’s turf. This weekend was a close second. Our new ballpark was no advantage at all. Again, I did not have much expectations but I thought the Mets should at least have won one game.  And had they played well fundamentally, maybe they would have.

I am beginning to think that Jerry Manuel is not cut out to be this team’s manager but forget the Mets firing him. That is not going to happen while they are still paying ex-manager Willie Randolph through this season.  Manuel has not done a good job at getting this team to play the game the right way. I realize it could be the coaches too but the manager is responsible. He is the captain of the ship.

Manuel is not the only one to blame here. There is plenty of blame to go around. Omar Minaya should have gotten another bat last winter when everyone was screaming for him to do so. We kept hearing about how the Mets scored enough runs last year. While that was true, we see now there is no fallback if the worst were to happen and let’s face it, with Jose Reyes, Carlos Delgado, Carlos Beltran, John Maine and Oliver Perez on the DL, the worst has happened.

So the question remains now, how should the Mets proceed? Mortgage the future making a trade and hoping it is not a sequel to the Scott Kasmir trade or ride out the storm and hope that Daniel Murphy, Nick Evans and others can start to figure it out.  The latter is a better choice to me but the Mets are faced with this glaring problem. They have a 140 million dollar salary, the second highest in baseball. That kind of money just cannot be justified for a team likely to finish 15 games under .500 at their current pace.  All I know is I’m glad I am not in Omar’s shoes.

June 29, 1969

Shea Stadium - Mets ace pitcher Tom Seaver took the mound to try and end the Mets losing streak. Seaver pitched a complete game as the Mets won easily 7-3. The Mets scored two in the first inning but the Pirates tied it in the second. In the third, the Mets scored two and then three more in the fourth to complete their scoring. Seaver struck out 10 Pirate hitters for his 12th win of the season.

Record 39-32, second place 8.5 games back. Ed Charles (the Glider) went three for four and drove in two runs. Donn Clendenon drove in three.

June 28, 1969

Shea Stadium - The score was tied 2-2 through seven innings. But the Pirates scored five runs in the top of the eighth to blow the game wide open. Gary Gentry gave up three runs but Tug McGraw in relief gave up four. The Mets rallied for two in the ninth but fell short losing their fourth game in a row by a score of 7-4.

Record 38-32, second place 8 games back. Cleon Jones went 3 for 4 with a run batted in.

Do you remember the first time the Mets ever played the Yankees? No, it wasn’t in 1997 when Dave Mlicki shut out the Yanks by a score of 6-0. That of course was the first game that counted.

The first time the Mets played the Yankees occurred in 1963 at the old Yankee Stadium, the one where DiMaggio and Ruth actually played at. The date was June 20, 1963 and it was the first Mayor’s Trophy game the two clubs played in.

The Mayor’s Trophy game was actually started many years earlier when the Yankees played the New York Giants in an exhibition game during the regular season. Most years, the Yankees played the Brooklyn Dodgers in the Mayor’s Trophy Game raising money to benefit sandlot baseball throughout the city. The game was played every year until the two National League clubs left for the west coast.

It was decided to restart the Mayors Trophy Game in 1963, the second season for the Mets. In the first contest, the Mets defeated the Yankees by a score of 6-2. It was especially enjoyable for Mets manager Casey Stengel who had been let go by the Bombers after the 1960 season. The Yankees paid the Mets back during the inaugural season of Shea Stadium. The Mets lost to the Yankees 6-4 on August 24, 1964.

The series continued every year through 1979. In 1969, the Mets first championship year, the Mets defeated the Yankees 7-6 at Shea Stadium. During the Yankees championship seasons of 1977 and 1978, the Mets defeated the Yanks at Shea 6-4 then the Yanks beat the Mets 4-3 respectively. Through ’79, the Yankees led the series 9-7-1. The one tie came in 1979 when the Mets and Yanks tied at one run each.

George Steinbrenner hated the game. He hated anything having to do with the Mets gaining success, even for bragging rights against the Yankees. So the series ended after 1979 but it was restarted for two seasons in 1982 and 1983. The last Mayor’s Trophy Game occurred on April 21, 1983, a 4-1 loss at Shea Stadium. The Yankees and Mets would not play again until inter-league play began in 1997. However, during spring training, the Mets played the Yankees on and off over the years. It has not happened in recent years though because of the travel time between Tampa, where the Yankees train, and Port St. Lucie.

The last exhibition game the Mets played during the regular season, not including games against triple A affiliate Norfolk, occurred in 1986. Ironically, the Mets played the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park on September 4 in a game benefiting the Jimmy Fund. The Jimmy Fund is a long running charity in Boston that raises money for cancer patients. Both clubs, closing in on division titles, had to realize there was a chance of meeting in October and of course they did. The Mets won that game by a score of 7-3 in front of a sold out Fenway Park.

The Mets did not play the Yankees during the regular season again until 1997 when Mlicki pitched his gem at Yankee Stadium.

Last evening the Yankees played the Mets for the first time ever at Citi Field. After clobbering the Mets, the Yankees have the edge in inter-league play with 40 wins against 30 losses. And of course, the one subway World Series played between the two teams went to the Yankees 4 games to 1.

Perhaps someday in the distant future the Mets will dominate the Yankees. I wonder if any Mets fans today will live long enough to see it.