It Was 45 Years Ago Today...Tuesday September 23rd 1969

September 23^rd

Met manager Gil Hodges relaxes with team one win away from clinching NL East

On the first day of fall Jim McAndrew had a tall task in front of him as he faced off against Bob Gibson. Earlier in the day at Wrigley the Cubs faded further into obscurity, falling to the expansion Expos. A win tonight would give the Mets the chance to clinch the next night during their final home game of the 1969 season.

Wayne Garrett’s run scoring single of Bud Harrelson put New York up 1-0 in the 3^rd. 

The lead held into the 5^th. Singles by Lou Brock and Curt Flood put runners on 1^st and 2^nd with two down but 2B Ken Boswell booted Vada Pinson’s grounder-allowing Brock to score from 2^nd. Joe Torre’s single broke the 1-1 tie, driving home Flood and putting St. Louis ahead 2-1. The Mets tied it against Gibson in the 8^th on Art Shamsky’s RBI single of Tommie Agee. 

It would remain that way until the 11^th Eddie Kranepool flied out to begin the inning but the next two batters-Ron Swoboda and Jerry Grote singled off Gibson, and then Harrelson delivered the game winning hit to give the Mets a 3-2 victory. Tug McGraw pitched four scoreless in relief of McAndrew for the win.