Reese Kaplan -- To Make it to the World Series and Losing: 1973

Well, folks, a quick travel snafu highlight allows me plenty of time to research and write today (assuming the airport's Internet service keeps working).  The initial flights from El Paso to Los Angeles, then Los Angeles to Vancouver were fine.  There was a VERY slow baggage check-in for over 2.5 hours in Vancouver for the next flight, but it left by Philippine Airlines standards almost on time (less than an hour late).

While in the midst of this 14 hour flight the captain announces that the Manila International Airport has been shut down from 4:00 AM until 6:30 AM without providing a reason.  This plane was supposed to land there at 4:10 AM so he rerouted us to Clark International Airport about 50 miles from Manila to sit on the tarmac and wait for about 2.5 hours.  Then we flew to Manila where no one from the airline seemed to understand that folks have booking obligations for hotels, connecting flights and other travel arrangements tied directly to the flight schedules.  

They shepherded a group of international transfer ticket passengers to multiple lines and lounges before driving us by bus over to the international terminal where we were put into a nicer lounge than is typical in most airports.  Now through all of this time no one from Philippine Airlines has said a single word about what's going on, but a security guard said that the connecting flights have all left and it's their intention to have us sitting in this lounge until tomorrow.

I pointed out the obvious flaw in his logic in that the flights tomorrow already have ticketed passengers and they may not have room to accommodate the people bumped today. His answer was a shoulder shrug.  

I then went and found someone from Philippine Airlines who said she's trying to get permission to rebook us on another airline to fly later today.  Since that solution would cost the airline money, I was ready to guarantee it wouldn't happen.  However, just a few moments ago we were informed we would be put on a 3:00 PM Malaysian Air flight to Kuala Lumpur.  All of these details pretty much explain why I now find myself with free time (and dwindling batter power) to write about the 1973 Mets.

After Gil Hodges passed away in 1972 the Mets turned to veteran player and manager Yogi Berra to take over the reins for running the team.  He'd been a successful short term manager for the Yankees in the 1960s but as a Mets manager other than the surprising postseason run in his second year, Berra finished like most Mets managers with a losing record spread over 4 years of 292-296.  

The team he inherited was not bad at all but he was hovering around .500 for each of his first two years.  As crushing a blow that Gil Hodges' heart attack made on the club, one could argue that a top contender for worst trade of all time that sent Nolan Ryan and others packing to bring in an over-the-hill Jim Fregosi really put a lynch pin of mediocrity on the franchise.  

Still, when August drew to a close the entire division from top to bottom was separated by just six games.  It was during that year the phrase "NL Least" was coined by sportswriters.

After M. Donald Grant failed to inspire his troops with talk about believing in their ability to win, reliever Tug McGraw gave his own fiery speech doubling down with the now famous slogan, "You gotta believe!"  The Mets went on to win 4 of their final 5 against the first place Pirates and went into a shaky hold on first place as September ended the regular season.  

The Mets Opening Day lineup did not exactly inspire butterflies in the stomachs of opponents.  Though looking better than the 1969 group, it wasn't exactly full of All Stars:

Duffy Dyer
Jim Fregosi
Bud Harrelson
Cleon Jones
Willie Mays
Félix Millán
John Milner
Rusty Staub
Tom Seaver

Dyer, Fregosi and Harrelson were all forgetable with their bats.  After the .340 season in 1969 people were expecting a repeat from Cleon Jones and he responded with just a .260 batting average and limited run production.  Willie Mays was, of course, a Hall of Fame player with the Giants, but in final baseball season at age 42 for the Mets season he only hit .211.  

Felix Millan gave solid at-bats, John Milner wasn't doing much for average but did pop 23 HRs, and Rusty Staub hit a respectable .279 with 15 HRs and 76 RBIs.  

Once again this Mets team needed to lean heavily on pitching to gain victories.  Seaver was, of course, Tom Seaver, going 19-10 with a 2.08 ERA.  Jerry Koosman pitched to the tune of 2.84.  Young southpaw Jon Matlack was rock solid pitching to a 3.20 ERA and former Brave George Stone turned in a highly unexpected 2.84 ERA.  Jim McAndrew, Harry Parker, Ray Sadecki and others contributed the other starts.  

In the bullpen you had Tug McGraw as one of the fan favorites though his metrics showed he was a credible but not great fireman that year.  He racked up 25 saves but his ERA was pretty high at 3.87.  No one else in the pen stood out very much, so the starters had to be exceptional for the Mets to finish on the winning side.

When the club emerged as a National League East Champion and went on to play the Big Red Machine who had just come off a massacre of the other NL teams in 1972.  Their lineup was virtually an All Star at every position with players like Pete Rose, Joe Morgan, Dave Concepcion, Tony Perez, Johnny Bench, George Foster and Ken Griffey.  Although they were known primarily for hitting, the pitching was better than most appreciated with Don Gullett, Ross Grimsley, Jack Billingham. Clay Carroll, Pedro Borbon and others.  

To a man everyone anticipated a rapid slaughter of the barely-above-.500 Mets by Sparky Anderson's club, but the Mets pulled off a miracle.  Although obviously the team needed to take that set to move into a World Series challenge against returning champions in Oakland, it was the vicious fight that erupted between Pete Rose and Bud Harrelson that is most vivid in fans' memories.

Unfortunately, the miracles came to an end agsinst the A's who featured nearly as many sluggers as did the Reds.  They included Reggie Jackson, Gene Tenace, Sal Bando, Joe Rudi, Deron Johnson, Bert Campaneris and others.  However, it was their pitching staff that rendered the Mets bats silent, headed by Catfish Hunter, Vida Blue, Blue Moon Odom and Ken Holtzman.  

They also leaned heavily on mustachioed closer Rollie Fingers.  The Mets simply couldn't play on the same level and after winning the World Series in 1969 now knew what it felt like to lose one in 1973.