What do the 1969 Mets and the 2009 Mets have in common?

Both teams had a record of 9-12 after 21 games. So far, that's about the only thing the current Mets club has in common with their distant ancestor.

A major difference is that the Mets of 40 years ago were never expected to win the World Series. Most Mets fans, back then, would have been happy if the '69 team simply finished above the .500 mark, something they had not acheived before. The '69 Mets became incredible overachievers while the current group are fast becoming dubious underachievers.

On paper, it would be easy to conclude the 2009 offense is superior to the one from 1969. But what the '69 team had the current team does not is an incredible ability to build runs. Plus they had fabulous starting pitcher. No question, Johan Santana would have slotted nicely in with Seaver, Koosman, and Gentry. But given the choice between having Perez and Maine or McAndrew and Gentry, I'll take the rookies from 1969.

The 1969 Mets had the advantage of playing under the radar because of little to no expectations. There were no talk radio loud mouths, a 24 hour cable station devoted to the team, or overly opinionated bloggers like me to add unncessary pressure on them. Back then it was so much simpler and innocent.

Today, the Mets must function in front of a weary and angry fan base after blowing the opportunity to get to the playoffs the last two seasons in a row. After 2006, we Mets fan thought going to the post season would become an anual event. More and more, it seems like it will not happen for many seasons to come.

The '69 club also had a brilliant manager in Gil Hodges. He knew how to motivate his team and make all the right calls. Jerry Manuel has looked foolish in some of his in-game strategy like pinch hitting for Ramon Castro on Wednesday or the way he has handled the bullpen of late.  

Can the Mets win it this year after such a dismal start? Of course they can. If a team of many castoffs surrounded by inexperienced but talented rookies could win 91 more games after its first 21, there is no reason the multi talented 2009 New York Mets can't achieve the same result.

The questions everyone asks are many. Can the Mets turn it around? When will the Mets turn it around? Why can't they turn it around? I wish I could answer these questions. I wish someone could answer these questions. The talent on this Mets team is very good. They have the best starting pitcher in baseball. The 2009 Mets have the potential of being as good as the Mets that won the Worlds Series four decades ago. Perhaps the pitching was better then but this year's pitching could be very good too.

The baseball season is long. There are plenty of games left to correct what has started out so wrong. The 2009 Mets share a 21 game record with one of the two most successful teams in Mets history. What it will take for it to turn around is anyone's guess. I just wonder if Donn Clendenon is available in a trade.

 

Never Forget '69 will celebrate the 40th anniversary of the 1969 Mets by posting 40 Years Ago Today each and every day this season that the 1969 Mets played a game 40 years ago. It will be a brief description of the game, the stars, and where the Mets were in the standings.

The idea is for those that remember to recall that wonderful season. Hopefully those that were too young to remember, or not even born, will get a sense of what it was like then. You must realize prior to 1969, the Mets never finished higher than ninth place. At the beginning of 1969, the running joke was the Mets could finish no worse than sixth place. That's because the league divided into two six team divisions that year. 

40 Years Ago Today will be part of what I remember (I was 13 at the time) supported by the many websites, including Retrosheet.org, that have compiled baseball statistics over the years. Look for it tomorrow.

In 1969 for the first time in baseball history, the World Series would become the second and final round of a brand new playoff format. The Mets played the Atlanta Braves in the first ever National League Championship Series. When divisional play started, it was agreed that the first round, the league championship series, would be the best of five. It stayed that way until 1985 when it was expanded to the best of seven.

 

Atlanta hosted the first two games with the final three, if necessary at Shea. The Mets, who won the eastern division with such sound pitching and timely hitting, uncharacteristically pounded the Braves in the first two games at Atlanta County Stadium. They scored nine runs in the first game and eleven in the second to take a 2-0 lead back home for Shea Stadium’s first baseball post season game.

 

On a Monday afternoon with Gary Gentry on the mound, the Mets trailed early. After Gentry allowed the first two to reach base in the third, he was replaced by Nolan Ryan. Ryan got out of the jam by striking out two and a fly ball to left. The Mets scored three runs in the fifth, fueled by a Wayne Garrett two run homerun, giving the Mets a lead they would not give up. The Mets defeated the Braves by a score of 7-4 to win the National League pennant. As they had after the division championship, the crowd stormed the field. The Mets became the first New York National League champion since the Brooklyn Dodgers won the pennant in 1956.

 

The Baltimore Orioles were the power house of the American League in 1969. Like the Mets, the O’s had strong pitching and were excellent defensively. But unlike the Mets, Baltimore had a powerful lineup capable of scoring runs in bunches. Frank Robinson and Boog Powel provided the power. The rest of the lineup included Don Buford, Paul Blair, Brooks Robinson, Davey Johnson, Mark Belanger, and Elrod Hendricks. The Miracle Mets, as everyone was calling them, would be an unlikely victor in a series against the powerful Orioles.

 

The Orioles swept the Twins in the American League championship series. Baltimore would host the first two games of the World Series with the middle three at Shea. If necessary, game six and seven would be back at Memorial Stadium.

 

Tom Seaver matched up with Mike Cuellar in game one. After the Mets did not score in the first, Seaver gave up a homerun to his first batter. As Don Buford rounded third, he told Ed Charles the Mets hadn’t seen anything yet. For one day, he was correct. The Mets lost the opener 4-1 for only their second loss in the last fourteen games, going back to the regular season. Even though the Mets had proven themselves time and time again over the course of the season, it seemed like the Orioles would be an impossible team to concur.

 

On Sunday, Jerry Koosman took the mound in a crucial game against Baltimore twenty game winner Dave McNally. The Mets held a slim 1-0 lead on Donn Clendenon’s homerun to lead late in the game when the Orioles tied the score in the seventh. The Mets were able to scratch out a run in the ninth on three consecutive two out singles against McNally. Al Weis’s RBI single gave the Mets the lead. In the bottom of the ninth after two outs, two Orioles reached base. Ron Taylor relieved Koosman. Brooks Robinson grounded to third and was out at first on a close play. The Mets were able to squelch an Oriole rally and tie the series at one game apiece. The Mets had won their first World Series game ever. And with the series switching to New York’s Shea Stadium, the teams were tied with five games left to play.

 

The only way to describe game three was to say Tommie Agee. His two stellar catches in left center and right center easily saved five runs. He single handedly helped Gary Gentry and Nolan Ryan to shutout the Orioles with a 5-0 win. Plus, Agee led off the game with a homerun, something he did quite often in 1969. The Mets now held a 2-1 lead in the series.

Game one’s starters Tom Seaver and Mike Cuellar were back on the mound for game four. The game was a pitcher’s dual. Donn Clendenon homered for the second time in the series, giving the Mets a 1-0 lead that lasted late into the game. With the Orioles threatening in the top of the ninth inning, Ron Swoboda made one of the all time great World Series plays. With two runners on, Paul Blair hit a line drive into the left center gap that looked like it would score two runs. Swoboda made a Hail Mary dive with his body parallel and inches off the ground. His outstretched glove managed to reach straight out and snare the ball for the out. Ron got up and threw the ball back to the infield as Frank Robinson was able to score from third to tie the game. It was a game saving catch that kept Baltimore from taking the lead. With the score tied at one, the game went to extra innings.

 

In the top of the tenth, the Orioles threatened but did not score. In the bottom half of the inning, Jerry Grote doubled to left. Rod Gaspar ran for Grote. J.C. Martin bunted the runner to third. As he ran to first the throw from pitcher Pete Richert hit Martin in the wrist and caromed past the second baseman. Gaspar scored and the Mets won game four by the score of 2-1. The replay showed Martin was not in the runner’s lane and could have been called out for interference. The call did not occur and Oriole manager Earl Weaver never argued. The Mets were one game away from the unimaginable.

 

Jerry Koosman started his second World Series game in game number five. Again he faced Dave McNally. So far, Koosman was perfect in the post season having defeated the Braves in the NLCS and the Orioles in game two of the series. The Orioles took an early 3-0 lead. In the third inning, Oriole pitcher Dave McNally hit a two run homer. Frank Robinson hit a solo homerun to cap the inning. Knowing they had to win to get the series back to Baltimore, the Orioles had to feel good having scored early against Koosman who had been so dominant.

 

In the Mets sixth inning, Cleon Jones was hit in the foot by a pitch. At first, the home plate umpire did not make the call. The ball apparently hit off of Jones’s shoe then rolled into the Mets dugout. Gil Hodges came out of the dugout with the ball. As he spoke to the home plate umpire, Gil pointed to the ball showing the shoe polish¹. The umpire awarded Jones first base with manager Earl Weaver arguing to no avail. The next batter, Donn Clendenon, deposited a home run into the left field loge section. It was Clendenon’s third homerun of the series. The Mets trailed by a single run.

 

In the 7th inning, weak hitting second baseman Al Weis led off with a solo homerun. Once again, weak hitting Al Weis provided a huge hit for the Mets. How is it that so often in the World Series, some of the biggest heroes turn out to be bench players? Weis’s homerun tied the game and now the crowd could sense that the Mets might be able to end the series in five games.

 

Jerry Koosman was like a machine on the mound, not allowing a run since the third inning.  The game was still tied heading to the bottom of the eighth. Cleon Jones led off with a double then moved to third on Clendenon’s ground out. Ron Swoboda doubled to left scoring Jones giving the Mets a 4-3 lead. After Ed Charles flied out, Jerry Grote reached base on an error. The pitcher attempting to get Swoboda at third threw wildly. Swoboda scored giving the Mets an important insurance run.

 

Frank Robinson walked to lead off the ninth putting the tying run at the plate. With two outs, Second baseman and future Mets manager Davey Johnson hit a fly ball to left field. It was after 4:00PM in the afternoon on October 16th. Cleon Jones went back, turned, and caught the ball in front of the warning track. He then kneeled down bowing his head as if to praise the baseball gods. The Mets, in only their eighth year of existence, were the world champions of baseball.

 

If it were a movie, no one would believe the story. Too far fetched they would say. It couldn’t happen in real life. But it did. And for those non Mets fans who subtly try to put down the ’69 squad’s accomplishment by calling them the Miracle Mets, there was nothing miracle about it. The Mets won 100 games, swept the Braves in the playoffs, and then in the World Series, defeated an extremely powerful Orioles team in five games.

 

During the regular season, the Mets authored an eleven, ten, nine, and seven game winning streaks. They won 38 of the final 49 games of the season. That’s not a miracle, that’s incredible baseball. And while the 1986 team gets the nod for being the most powerful of all Mets teams with 108 wins, no Mets team was more dominating in the post season than the ’69 Mets. They won seven and lost one. The 1969 Mets were the best post season Mets team of all time.

 

There were some things that happened during the season that does, perhaps, make you think of miraculous intervention. There was the double header in Pittsburgh when the Mets won both ends by a score of 1-0. In both games, the pitcher knocked in the only run. Or the game in St. Louis when Steve Carlton struck out nineteen Mets but yet lost the game on two Ron Swoboda two run homers. The black cat in front of the Cubs dugout and of course the shoe polish play in the World Series. Those events made you scratch your head but great teams put themselves in the position to win those odd contests. Make no mistake about it. The 1969 Mets were truly a great baseball team.

 

This coming season, Never Forget ’69 will post a brief daily column highlighting the day’s events 40 years previously as we honor that ’69 team.  

 

¹In the book Amazin’, The Miraculous Story of New York’s Most Beloved Baseball Team, author Peter Golenboch writes that the ball rolled into the dugout. Gil Hodges told Jerry Koosman to pick up the ball and rub it against his shoe. 

 

Extra Tidbit – The National League Parks the Mets played in 1969…

 

In 2009, the only ballparks in the National League still active from 1969 will be Dodger Stadium and Wrigley Field. Shea Stadium closed this year. The other parks that have bit the dust from 1969 are Connie Mack Stadium, Philadelphia; Forbes Field, Pittsburgh; Busch Stadium II, St. Louis; Jarry Park, Montreal; Candlestick Park, San Francisco; Jack Murphy Stadium, San Diego; The Astrodome, Houston; Crosley Field, Cincinnati; and Atlanta Fulton County Stadium, Atlanta. And four of the parks that replaced these oldies were replaced themselves. Busch Stadium II was replaced by Busch III, Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia was replaced by Citizen’s Bank Park, Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh was replaced by PNC Park, and Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati was replaced by Great American Ballpark. Jack Murphy Stadium, now QUALCOMM Park and Candlestick Park are still open for football.

 

Where are the 1969 Mets now…

 

CF       Tommy Agee – Deceased

SS        Bud Harrelson – Co owner of the Atlantic League’s Long Island Ducks

LF        Cleon Jones – Living in Mobile Alabama

1B        Donn Clendenon – Deceased

C         Jerry Grote – Living in Texas

RF       Ron Swoboda – Broadcaster for the New Orleans Zephyrs.

RF       Art Shamsky – Most recently managed in the Israeli League

2B        Ken Boswell – Living, whereabouts unknown

2B        Al Weis Living, whereabouts unknown

3B        Ed Charles – Lives in Queens, shows up to lots of Mets games

3B        Wayne Garrett - Living, whereabouts unknown

C         J.C. Martin - Living, whereabouts unknown

1B        Ed Kranepool – Lives in New York

OF       Rod Gaspar - Living, whereabouts unknown

IF         Bobby Pfeil - Living, whereabouts unknown

P          Tom Seaver – Running his own winery in northern California (HOF)

P          Jerry Koosman – Living in Minnesota

P          Gary Gentry - Living, whereabouts unknown

P          Nolan Ryan – Living in Texas (HOF)

P          Jim McAndrew - Living, whereabouts unknown

P          Don Cardwell – Deceased

P          Tug McGraw – Deceased

P          Cal Koonce – Deceased

P          Jack DiLauro - Living, whereabouts unknown

P          Dr. Ron Taylor – Toronto Blue Jays Team Physician

 

1969, Part 1

1969, Part 2

After winning five games in a row in early July, the Mets hosted the Chicago Cubs in the most crucial series of their short history. The Mets trailed the Cubs by five and a half games for the eastern division lead. There was no better time for the Mets to make a statement than this mid week series that began on Tuesday, July 8, 1969, an afternoon game at Shea. A crowd of 55,096 fans showed up that afternoon. The Mets trailed going to their half of the ninth inning by a score of 3-1.

 

In the bottom of the ninth inning, Ken Boswell led off with a double. After Agee popped out, newly acquired Donn Clendenon pinched hit and drove a ball to deep left that bounced off the wall and glove of Cubs centerfielder Don Young. Clendenon ended up on second moving Boswell to third who was unable to score because with one out, he had to make sure the ball was not caught. Cleon Jones followed by doubling in two runs tying the game. After Art Shamsky was walked intentionally, Wayne Garrett grounded out moving Jones and Shamsky up to second and third. With two outs, Ed Kranepool singled up the middle as Jones scored the winning run. It was an amazing comeback win. Euphoria was in the air at Shea Stadium.

 

The following evening was a classic. Tom Seaver pitched the now famous near perfect game. Seaver retired twenty-five straight batters. Journeyman pinch hitter Jimmy Qualls hit a dying quail into short left center field to break up the perfecto. The Mets won the game 4-0 for their seventh consecutive win and also won the series against the division leading Cubs. Heading into the series finale, the Mets had shrunk the Cubs lead to 3.5 games.

 

The Mets lost the final game of the series 6-2. When the Cubs first arrived at Shea, they were aware of the Mets surprising success. Before the first game, Cubs third baseman Ron Santo looked at the lineup cards in the dugout and shook his head sarcastically at the Mets hitters. What he should have been concerned about was the Mets pitching. The starting staff and relief core was not giving up many runs.

The Mets traveled to Chicago’s Wrigley Field the following week for another three game set. All three games were played in the afternoon. Wrigley had no lights installed at that time. The Cubs gave the Mets a taste of their own medicine winning the opener 1-0. Chicago may have felt confident now that the Mets were on their turf. But the Mets won the next two games, beating the Cubs decisively for the second consecutive series against them. New York had now won four of six games within a week against division leading Chicago, and had moved to four games behind. The Mets were for real.

 

On July 18th, the Mets record stood at 52-37, 15 games above .500, and in second place in the National League East. The team was now considered a legitimate contender. But doubt soon crept into the psyche of the fans and media as the Mets began to struggle.

 

Over the next twenty-five games, the Mets went 11-14 and fell to ten games behind Chicago, dropping them into third place, swapping positions with the Cardinals. It was August 13th. The Mets record was still a respectable 62-51 but many were thinking that dreams of a post season would probably have to wait untill another year. That would have likely been okay with most fans though because no one had expected the Mets to be playing so well.

 

During the twenty-five game lull through the middle of July and the beginning of August, the Mets played a doubleheader in Montreal. It was a rather surreal day. The Mets lost the first game by a score of 3-2 but won the nightcap 4-3 in ten innings. It was Sunday, July 20th, 1969. While the Mets were at the Montreal airport waiting for their flight prior to the All Star break, they witnessed something no baseball team, or anyone, had ever seen before. The club gathered around the TV sets in the airport bar and watched two human beings walk on the surface of the moon. The moon, Vietnam, Woodstock, and the Mets—it was a summer like no other.

 

The twenty-five game streak of lethargic play ended in Houston where the Astros swept the Mets in a three game series. If there was an Achilles Heal for the Mets in 1969, it was their play against Houston. The Mets lost all six games at the Astrodome and won only two at Shea for a combined record of 2-10 against the Astros.

 

After the Astros series, the Mets returned home to face San Diego with Tom Seaver on the hill. Seaver shut out the Padres 2-0. Like the eleven game streak that started against San Diego back in May, the Padres once again served to ignite the Mets. The Mets won 12 of their next 13 games, all against the west coast teams. Overall, the Mets won 38 of their final 49 games of the season that included a ten game winning streak.

 

During the ten game streak in early September, the Cubs came into town for their final two game series at Shea. An omen for the Cubs occurred when a black cat came from underneath the stands and peered into the Cubs dugout. The Mets swept both games reducing their deficit to a half game at the end of play on September 9th. The next night, the Mets swept a twi-night double header from the Expos while the Cubs lost their game to the Phillies. For the first time in the history of the New York Mets, they were in first place. When play concluded on September 10th, the Mets were one full game ahead of the Chicago Cubs. It was simply unbelievable.

 

Once the Mets secured the division lead, they never relinquished it. In the midst of yet another winning streak, this time a nine game affair at the end of September, the Mets defeated the Cardinals 6-0 on September 24^th at Shea Stadium. A complete game shutout by rookie Gary Gentry clinched the eastern division title for the Mets, the first championship in their history. It was also the first division clinching in National League history. The dream of all Mets fans became a reality. The Mets were champions and no one could ever take it away. Fifty-five thousand screaming fans poured on to the field tearing the place to shreds.

 

Even with the division sewn up, the Mets continued to win all but one game the rest of the regular season. The only loss occurred in the season’s final game that ironically took place at a mostly empty Wrigley Field against the Cubs.

 

The Mets finished the 1969 regular season with 100 wins and 62 losses, a 27 game improvement from one year earlier. The 1969 win-loss total remains the third best Mets record of all time only topped by the ’86 and ’88 clubs. The ’69 Mets won the division by eight full games.

 

Tom Seaver won the Cy Young award with a record of 25-7. Jerry Koosman won 17 and lost 9. Rookie Gary Gentry went 13-12. Nolan Ryan and Jim McAndrew combined to go 12-10, and veteran Don Cardwell won 8 while losing 10. Reliever Tug McGraw won nine games out of the bullpen. Good pitching stops good hitting. Never was that so evident than in the race that saw the Mets go from the bottom to the top.

 

The Mets also had unbelievable timely hitting. Tommie Agee hit 20 homeruns as a lead off hitter. Cleon Jones batted .341 and Donn Clendenon hit 26 homeruns having joined the Mets on June 15th. But there was not one batter who drove in more than 100 runs for the season. Tommy Agee led the club with 76 RBI. Cleon Jones had one less. As a team the Mets scored 632 runs for an average of less than four runs per game, not a power house by any means. Mets hitters, under the tutelage of Gil Hodges with support of that awesome pitching staff, manufactured enough runs to win 100 games. It was quite remarkable.

 

Read Part 3 this weekend and see how the Mets won it all in the post season.

1969, Part 1

This coming season will mark the fortieth anniversary of the New York Mets' first world championship. 1969 was one of the greatest baseball seasons ever, certainly one of the greatest in the history of New York baseball.

 

For the first six years of the existence of the Mets, futile baseball had found a home. The Mets still hold the record for the worst season compiled by a major league team. In 1962, their inaugural season, The Mets won just 40 games while losing a staggering 120. It could have been worse but two games were wiped off the schedule due to weather and mercifully were never made up.

 

While at the Polo Grounds in its final season, then the first four seasons at the late Shea Stadium, things did not get much better. The Mets continually lost more than one-hundred games except for 1966 when they were able to reduce their number of losses to ninety-five. That season, the Mets actually finished in ninth place, beating out the Chicago Cubs. Things were looking up. However, in 1967, the Mets fell back to tenth place while losing 101 games. Would fortunes ever change?

 

Although the Mets struggled in ’67, young players from the farm system were making fans take notice. Tom Seaver won the rookie of the year award. Cleon Jones looked like he might be a star hitter in the making. Ron Swoboda was showing the promise of a real power threat. Bud Harrelson was playing great defense at short. The pieces were starting to come together and the Mets farm system had other gems that only required more seasoning. 

 

The first step toward the Mets turning the corner came after the 1967 season. The Mets acquired Gil Hodges from the Washington Senators to manage. Hodges was a New York favorite having played for the Brooklyn Dodgers in his prime. He was the Dodgers first baseman when Brooklyn won their one and only world championship in 1955, defeating the Yankees in seven games. Hodges, a soft spoken mild mannered man, was also a strict and determined individual. As Mets players were soon to discover for themselves, Gil was a no nonsense guy between the lines. He expected results and he wanted to win.

 

1968 proved to be the Mets best season so far. The club won a franchise record 73 games and finished in ninth place for the second time in three years. More important than their record was the fact that the Mets began playing sound fundamental baseball. Their strength was their pitching staff. Tom Seaver had already established himself as a top pitcher in the National League. Rookie left hander Jerry Koosman won 19 games, another franchise record. He nearly won the rookie of the year award but was beaten out by Johnny Bench. Overall, the team performed better than ever and at the end of June, flirted with the .500 mark and got as high as sixth place for a brief period of time. But youth and inexperience contributed to the Mets stumbling during the dog days as they finished next to the bottom of the league. Regardless, Mets fans had a reason to hope and many thought more improvements would occur in 1969.

 

In the spring of 1969 at St. Petersburg, Florida, Gil Hodges informed his troops that the Mets would surprise a lot of teams, that they were better than they thought. He let them know that with hard work and dedication, their talent could take them deep into the season. Many players thought Gil was just trying to be positive but the manager was serious. He recognized the club’s talent, especially in the pitching department, and thoroughly believed they could succeed.

 

The Mets had a tremendous pitching staff. Led by Tom Seaver and Jerry Koosman, they brought up rookie Gary Gentry, a hard throwing right hander. They also had flame thrower Nolan Ryan, another rookie in Jim McAndrew, and veteran Don Cardwell. The Mets had six solid starting pitchers plus relievers Tug McGraw, Ron Taylor, Danny Frisella, Cal Koonce, and Jack DiLauro.

 

The Mets were very strong defensively, especially up the middle. Jerry Grote was an outstanding defensive catcher. Switch hitter Bud Harrelson was an excellent shortstop with good range and a strong arm. Hodges would play the platoon of Ken Boswell and Wayne Garrett at second. Veteran Al Weis would also play second base and shortstop. Weis subbed for Harrelson at short when he had to leave for military duty, something not that uncommon for players to do back in the sixties. Although Weis was not a good hitter, he was sound defensively. In center field, Tommie Agee had been received in a trade with the White Sox the year before. In 1968, Agee struggled after he was hit in the head by a pitch in his first game of spring training. But in 1969, Agee would succeed as the Mets leadoff hitter and he was one of the best center fielders in the game.

 

Ed Charles, the veteran from Kansas City, would enter his third year with the Mets in 1969. Although Charles would be playing his last season, his sound defensive play at third and his clutch hitting would pay huge dividends for the Mets. Original Met Ed Kranepool was at first. Eddie never blossomed into the player the Mets had hoped but played solidly in ‘69. Later during the season, the Mets would acquire power hitting Donn Clendenon from Montreal. Donn took over most of the duty at first. Ron Swoboda and Art Shamsky would form a righty-lefty platoon in right and Cleon Jones, the Mets purest hitter, played a solid left field. Outfielder Rod Gaspar and catcher J.C. Martin filled out the bench.

 

On paper the Mets looked pretty good. Many writers, during the pre-season, had predicted the Mets could finish above .500 for the first time and perhaps might influence who would make the playoffs. But no one, writer, broadcaster, or fan, could have ever predicted what was to happen that season. No one would have believed it.

 

1969 was also the one hundredth anniversary of Major League Baseball. For most of the twentieth century, the American and National Leagues were made up of eight teams. In 1961, the American League expanded to ten teams. The National League followed in 1962 by awarding New York and Houston a franchise.

 

Prior to ’69, the owners voted to expand the leagues again. The Kansas City Royals and Seattle Pilots would be added to the American League. The San Diego Padres and the Montreal Expos, the first team outside the United States, were added to the National League.

 

Since there would be twelve teams in each league, it was also decided that each league would be divided into two divisions, an eastern and western division made up of six teams each. A common joke was the Mets were guaranteed to finish higher than ever. They could not finish lower than sixth place.

 

Teams would play most of the schedule within their own division. The Mets played eighteen games each against the other eastern teams that included the Cubs, Cardinals, Phillies, Pirates, and newly formed Expos. Games against the west would total twelve against each club. The western teams of the National League were the Dodgers, Giants, Astros, Reds, Braves and Padres.

 

The 1969 Mets season opened as only a Met opener could. The Mets hosted the newly formed Montreal Expos at Shea Stadium in front of 44,500 fans. Tom Seaver was on the mound. While all the experts predicted a much improved Mets team, the outcome of the first game was typical. The Mets lost to the Expos by a score of 11-10. A ninth inning rally by the Mets fell a run short. Only the Mets could lose a game in such an excruciating way to a team making its major league debut.

 

The Mets struggled for the first month and a half of the season. They were under .500 winning some then losing a few. The club could not gain any consistency. It was the same old Mets. At one point, the Mets managed to get to 18-18, reaching the .500 mark, but then lost five in a row. It was frustrating. The fans were no longer interested in rooting for the lovable losers. Six years of that was enough. Mets fans wanted results. They wanted something to cheer about. In late May, they got it.

 

With a record of 18-23, the Mets played the San Diego Padres on Thursday night, May 28th at Shea Stadium. The Mets were in fourth place, nine full games behind Chicago. That evening, the game lasted eleven innings with the Mets winning 1-0. The Mets won the next day against San Francisco. Then they won the next day, then the next day, and continued to win eleven games in a row, by far the longest winning streak in Mets history.

 

The streak started at Shea Stadium and ended on the west coast. After splitting a two game set with the Padres, the Mets swept the Giants in three then did the same to LA. The Mets winning ways continued in California. They swept the Padres three straight then won the first game against the Giants in San Francisco before the streak finally ended. When the eleven game streak was over, the Mets were six games above the .500 mark, in second place, seven games back. Everyone in the tri-state area was wondering who were these guys wearing orange and blue.

 

Most remarkably was that during the streak, the Mets won two extra inning games by a score of 1-0. The first started the streak against San Diego, the second 1-0 contest went fifteen innings against the Dodgers. Mets pitching was outstanding. Through the eleven games, Mets pitching gave up just 22 runs for an average of two runs per game. To emphasize how important pitching was to the Mets success, Met batters only knocked in 42 runs during the streak for an average of 3.8 runs a game. And in the final game of the streak, the Mets scored nine runs. But perhaps the most remarkable feat was that the Mets won six of the eleven games by one run, an important statistics for a team with winning aspirations.

 

The Mets lost the next two games after the streak ended but then went on to win nine of twelve to improve their record to ten games above the .500 mark. Met fans were ecstatic. Never before had the Mets been so competitive this late into the season. I’m sure that every Met fan would have been satisfied if the Mets continued to play well, finish above .500 and finish in second or third place. However, the Mets players had other ideas.

 

Look for Part II later in the week...

1969, Part 2

July 9, 1969, up till this point the Mets had never tasted success. Having begun life in the National League seven seasons earlier, the Mets had never finished higher than 9th place.    more »