Reese Kaplan -- The Miracle Mets: Where Are They Now?

With the sad news about Tom Seaver’s dementia diagnosis this week, it got me to thinking about the 1969 Amazin’ Mets World Championship team.  A lot of time has passed since that momentous and unexpected miracle year a half century ago, but I remember it clearly as it was the apotheosis of my sometimes harrowing childhood.  The team for which I was taught to root and love as a bunch of losers all of the sudden was able to overcome the Chicago Cubs late in the season, then make it past the mighty Atlanta Braves and onto the national stage for the Baltimore Orioles against superstars like Boog Powell, Frank Robinson, Brooks Robinson, Jim Palmer, Mike Cuellar and Dave McNally.  All we had to offer were some decent but hardly memorable names that on paper didn’t have a prayer.  And thus it began with the Orioles beating the Mets and The Franchise, Tom Seaver, in game 1 of the Series.  That was, of course, all they would get as the Mets reeled off four straight to launch them into the history books and the resulting ticker tape parade. 

Where are they now?

Donn Clendenon – The former Pirate and Expo joined the Mets midway through the season to share 1^st base with Ed Kranepool for the remainder of the season.  He provided 12 HRs and 37 RBIs in less than a half-season’s work which helped propel them into the World Series where he was the driving force to provide a victory over the Orioles in the World Series, hitting .357 with 3 HRs, 4 RBIs and was named the Series MVP.  His 3 HRs in a 5-game series was tied by Ryan Howard, but the mark still stands.  After leaving baseball he earned a law degree but also succumbed to drug addiction in his 50s which led to his efforts to keep others from taking the same path.  He died from leukemia at age 70 in Sioux Falls, SD in 2005. 

Ken Boswell – The slick fielding second baseman got the lion’s share of the work at the keystone position along with some assistance from Bobby Pfeil.  While only a .250 hitter for his Mets career, he stepped it up when it counted, hitting .333 in both the playoffs and the World Series.  Since retiring from baseball, he’s been involved in the sale of antique cars and lives on a ranch outside Austin, TX.

Buddy Harrelson – The sad news of Buddy’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis came in 2016 and he’s been struggling to live with the awful disease ever since.  He used to throw batting practice for the Long Island Ducks, but nowadays is simply doing his best to live a healthy lifestyle and keep the illness at bay. 

Ed Charles – The Glider was also known as the Poet Laureate of Baseball, a man who would sit on his stool in the locker room and compose verse about aspects of his life as a ballplayer and as an African American man.  He is well remembered for the photo of he, Jerry Grote and Jerry Koosman celebrating the final out of that World Series.  His long career began in 1952, he broke into the majors as a 29 year old rookie.  After baseball he worked in promotions in the music and entertainment industry, then returning to the game as a scout and later as a regular in the Fantasy 

Camps.  We lost Charles last year.

Jerry Grote – The man who Johnny Bench once said he would step aside to have him catch, Grote threw out 44% of baserunners who were foolish enough to attempt to steal on him.  After coming to the Mets he flourished under Gil Hodges and was the All-Star catcher in 1968, finishing the year batting .282.  His bat never quite lived up to that one fabled season, but his glove and arm were enough to keep him a regular for quite some time.  After baseball he spent some time as a minor league manager and then retired altogether to be a cattle rancher and meat packer in Texas.

Cleon Jones – The man was the Mets’ first real offensive threat, coming very close to capturing the batting title in 1969 when he finished the season hitting .340.  While there were a few notable moments in his career that were not exactly highlights – the Gil Hodges walk to the outfield to take him out of the game and the incident in Florida where he was arrested for indecent exposure in the company of a young woman not his wife.  Still, all was eventually forgiven as Jones became a part of the Mets organization again in 1981 as a minor league instructor.  Now he builds homes in his native Alabama. 

Tommie Agee – The flashy centerfelder would provide both slugging and highlight reel defense as the Mets moved from laughingstock to World Series Champion.  He made what is one of the all-time great catches off the bat of Paul Blair in that series, though that one might pale next to the Elrod Hendricks drive that resulted a backhanded grab against the 396 mark on the outfield fence.  He ran a successful bar in Queens called The Outfielders Lounge and later worked for the Stewart Title Insurance Company.  He left too young at age 58 when a fatal heart attack took him in Manhattan in 2001.

Art Shamsky – The sweet swinging lefty hitter platooned in RF with Ron Swoboda.  He was second on the team in offensive production with a .300 AVG and 14 HRs despite only playing part-time.  He batted cleanup in the World Series, hitting .538.  After baseball he had two careers, one as a broadcaster and now in real estate. 

Ed Kranepool – Signed out of high school, Ed Kranepool did something almost no players ever accomplish – spending his entire career with one team.  He was the lefty half of the first base platoon that emerged once Donn Clendenon arrived.  He played off and on at 1B but then started a career as a pinch hitter extraordinaire, still holding the all time record for batting average off the bench.  He became a restaurateur and spent some time as a stockbroker.  Right now he’s suffering ill health as a result of diabetes, having suffered toe amputation and now awaiting a kidney. 

Ron Swoboda – Nicknamed Rocky for his shaky fielding ability, it’s ironic that most people remember him for a diving catch off the bat of Brooks Robinson during the World Series that preserved the 1-1 tie and sent the game into extra innings.  Swoboda has had a long and successful career as a television news sportscaster.

Tom Seaver – What can be said about the man that hasn’t been covered everywhere when his dementia diagnosis broke earlier this week.  The Franchise transitioned from baseball to vintner and still lives at his California winery that bears his name with his wife, Nancy.   

Jerry Koosman – Somewhat overshadowed by Cy Young Award winner Tom Seaver, Koosman turned in an All-Star worthy season that he finished with a 17-9 record with a 2.28 ERA.  After catching the final out of the 1969 World Series, left fielder Cleon Jones gave the ball to Koosman for getting them to the championship.  When he attended the 40^th anniversary celebration of the Amazin’ Mets miracle season little did anyone know he would wind up behind bars for tax evasion a few months later. 

Gary Gentry – A rookie in 1969, the Mets’ number three starter finished the year with a 13-12 record and a 3.43 ERA.  He started Game Three of the Series (the first ever played at Shea Stadium) and was saved not once but twice by amazing Tommie Agee catches.  Some young flamethrower named Nolan Ryan saved the game by pitching the final 3.1 IP to preserve Gentry’s victory.  Like many other retired ballplayers, Gentry has developed a second career in real estate, though his start came a bit earlier as severe arm trouble caused him to leave the game at just age 28.

Jim McAndrew – The soft tossing pitcher was plagued by injuries throughout his career, but at one point in 1969 reeled off 23 consecutive scoreless innings and had a streak of nine starts over the August/September push for the pennant in which he covered 73 IP and delivered a 1.60 ERA.  Unfortunately he did not appear in the post-season.  He worked as a coal industry executive for the remainder of his post-baseball career.

Don Cardwell – The unheralded hurler was probably more renowned for his bat than his arm.  He did have an important streak at the end of the 1969 season in which he won five straight starts before moving to the pen for the World Series where he pitched flawlessly in relief of Tom Seaver in Game One.  He got involved in cars after baseball, working for Ford and Ford dealerships over the next 36 years.  He passed away in 2008 at age 72.

Ron Taylor – After being purchased from the Astros, Taylor was for awhile the Mets career leader in saves, though he shared closer duties during 1969.  After baseball, Taylor went back to school, got his medical degree and served as the team doctor for the Toronto Blue Jays. 

Tug McGraw – In his up and down Mets career, Tug was the left handed half of the two headed closer during the Miracle Mets season.  He delivered a 0.47 ERA over his final 19 appearances on the way to the NL East title.  He didn’t get into the World Series, but went on to star as the closer and as an All Star through the middle 70s.  Nowadays another generation knows him more as country music superstar Tim McGraw’s dad, but he is fondly remembered both in New York and Philadelphia where he was honored in both cities for all he had done prior to succumbing to the aggressive brain cancer in 2004 at just age 59. 

There were others who were a part of the 1969 team, but this nucleus is what most people remember when they think about the team that took the entire world by surprise.