THESE ARE ONE OF JUST A FEW OF MY FAVORITE METS GAMES.
I posted this article about a great Mets memory a few years ago. It was part of the magic that got the Mets to the 1969 World Series.
I figured that there are new readers, so why not throw it back up there again? Here goes:
I figured that there are new readers, so why not throw it back up there again? Here goes:
SWOBODA DID WHAT????
My first favorite game that I wrote about the other day was the September 11, 1966 debut of fireballer Nolan Ryan.
My next favorite game was 3 years and 2 days later, on September 13, 1969.
The Mets had won 9 straight and had surged from what to everyone appeared to be an insurmountable fade into early August that left them 9 ½ games out. No wild card. Win or go home.
As a Met fan, you still felt great – the team had a winning record, something they’d never gotten remotely close to in 1962-68, when they were a combined 343 games below .500!
But then the miracle surge started. The sense of a miracle in the making was truly in the air by early September, as the Mets increasingly surged and the Cubs staggered.
The Mets reached first place on September 10. I tend to be a Doubting Thomas, so I was wondering how this absolute dream unfolding might go sour. After all, these WERE the Mets! Something had to go wrong!
On September 13, the Mets had a slim and tenuous hold on first place, but trailed the Bucceroos in cavernous Forbes field late in the game. Would this be the game where the wheels started to come off?
The Mets were tied 1-1 in the 8th, and Rocky Swoboda and his awe-uninspiring 6 homers stepped to the plate with the bags full.
I was hoping for a hit, knowing that it was incredibly hard to hit homers in Forbes, with its deep dimensions and 12 foot high fences.
I was hoping for a hit, knowing that it was incredibly hard to hit homers in Forbes, with its deep dimensions and 12 foot high fences.
SO… when he ripped a fly ball in the direction of the 440 mark in left center, I groaned – death valley – groaned, that is, until I saw the outfielders slow up and watch a ball that easily cleared that far-off barrier, as what had to be the longest ball Swoboda ever hit easily cleared the fence. Probably a 500 footer.
It was THEN that I felt the Mets would be unstoppable in 1969.
Because surely I had just seen a miracle place.
This blast, with Seaver going the full 9, put them up by 3.5 games. 11 days later, they clinched the pennant, blowing away all of New York.
But not before Swoboda once again stepped out of the realm of the natural into the supernatural in a game that took place just a few days later. Which I will cover in my next edition of “These are a Few of My Favorite Games!”
(Also flat out amazing was the day before this beauty - the Mets won both ends of a doubleheader against Pittsburgh by scores of 1-0, and both runs were driven in by Mets' pitchers! Crazy stuff!)
(Also flat out amazing was the day before this beauty - the Mets won both ends of a doubleheader against Pittsburgh by scores of 1-0, and both runs were driven in by Mets' pitchers! Crazy stuff!)
9 comments:
Watch this for a good memory of that time:
https://www.mlb.com/nationals/video/swoboda-makes-the-catch-c13062803
Excellent, Tom.
I was born in 1969, so that could explain why I am a Mets' fan??
I am sure Jake and Noah can relate to the back to back 1-0 wins over the Pirates.....they
are often times the only offense when the pitch.
An unconscious catch by Rocky. If he had to think about that one, I wonder if he tries it again. My guess? Yes, because he was Rocky.
Amazing that the forgotten tool, the bunt, won that game for the Mets.
I did try to find a video of that grand slam. It had to be Swoboda's longest ever. It was at that moment that I thought, the Mets are going to the playoffs - this is all REAL!
Reese -
The person that took the pic of that famous Swoboda catch w.orked with my brother back in the day at the Morgan Lewis law firm.
I interviewed him for a Mack's Mets -
http://macksmets.blogspot.com/2010/09/infamous-ron-swobada-catch.html
Mike -
God...I have underwear I wear that I bought in 1969.
Mike, it was incredible, the Mets were doing remarkable things - another replay article on that in a few days - but when Swoboda hit that titanic shot, it screamed "THIS IS REAL. THIS IS REAL."
After all, they were on a tremendous surge for about 5 weeks - it was very logical to think they could suddenly cool off. But they never did that year.
I think they were 48-10 in their last 58 games including the playoffs. Unheard of. Amazing.
The Cubs were playing all day games in Chicago - it was a hot summer - their pitchers (as I recall, on a 4 day rotation) wilted down the stretch as the Mets blew past them like they were standing still.
Only apropos to this article in that in concerns RHB OF'ers.
In a discussion last night a "thought question" was posed (not as a serious proposal, but to something to mull pros & cons). Would you swap (players & contacts) Stabton for Cespedes if you were (a) Mets, (b) Yankees--why or why not?
Hobie, although as Mack notes, I write a lot about the Yankees, I have not followed the Stanton saga long enough to know if he is a worthwhile future asset - but Cespedes is only one remaining year, so there is little downside for the Yanks.
So...if Stanton is deemed to be NOT damaged goods, and the Yanks wanted to eat $50 million to $100 million, I think that would be worth considering.
Holy underwear, Batman.
And a nice article from the past.
Post a Comment