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Wednesday, October 15, 1969

Tom Seaver pitched his best game of the postseason, Ron Swoboda made the catch of his life, and now the Mets find themselves one game away from a world championship.

After allowing 9 runs over 12 innings in two starts, Cy Young candidate Tom Seaver crafted a masterpiece in Game 4 of the World Series. The Franchise threw 10 strong frames, allowing just one run on six hits and two walks, as the Orioles and Mets went into extra innings at Shea Stadium.

Donn Clendenon’s solo home run in the second inning off Baltimore’s Mike Cuellar gave New York an early lead. The score remained 1-0 until the top of the ninth, when Seaver appeared to tire. He surrendered back-to-back hits to Frank Robinson and Boog Powell to put men on first and third with one out. Brooks Robinson sent a sinking liner into rightfielder. Swoboda, who was dubbed “Rocky” because of his defensive struggles earlier in his career, made a split-second decision and dove to his right with his body parallel to the ground and his arm reaching out as far as he could. Quoting from 1969: The Year Everything Changed:

If not for perfect timing, the ball would have skipped past Swoboda’s glove and likely gone all the way to the wall. Perhaps in some parallel universe, it did just that: Both runners scored as Robinson pulled into third with a triple, and Baltimore scored a come-from-behind win in Game Four to regain momentum in the Series. Perhaps in this alternate reality, the Orioles went on to win the Series, while the ’69 Mets had to settle for being an intriguing footnote in baseball’s long, storied history.

But Swoboda’s timing was perfect, and he caught the ball just inches above the outfield grass. Frank Robinson tagged up and scored from third to tie the game, but the Shea crowd didn’t seem to care. The fans of this miracle team had witnessed yet another miraculous catch, and one batter later, Swoboda made another fine (though not nearly as difficult) catch on a line drive to halt the Orioles rally.

After the game, commentators would compare the play to the greatest catches in World Series history. 

Swoboda made a jogging catch on Elrod Hendricks’s liner to end the inning. Swoboda’s single in the bottom of the ninth, his third of the game, pushed Cleon Jones to third with two outs, but reliever Eddie Watt got pinch-hitter Art Shamsky to ground out to second, and the game proceeded into extra innings.

Still on the mound, Seaver worked around a jam in the tenth. Davey Johnson reached on an error by Wayne Garrett, and Clay Dalrymple’s pinch hit put two on with one out. But Don Buford flew out to right, and then Seaver struck out Paul Blair.

In the bottom of the tenth, Jerry Grote led off with a flyball double that fell just out of reach of shortstop Mark Belanger in shallow leftfield. After an intentional walk to Al Weis, Pete Richert came on to face pinch-hitter J. C. Martin. Martin laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt, and when Richert fielded it and wheeled to first, his throw hit Martin and bounced away. Rod Gaspar, running for Grote, came around to score the winning run.

The Orioles would argue that Martin should have been called out and the play called dead because he had been running outside the basepath when the ball struck him. But the play stood, and now this miraculous Mets team will look to close out the series on Thursday at Shea.

WORLD SERIES GAME FOUR: Mets 2, Orioles 1 (10 inn.).  W: Seaver (1-1)  L: Hall (0-1)

Monday, October 6, 1969

The New York Mets, winners of 100 games in the regular season, are going to the World Series.

For the third time, the Mets offense outslugged the might Atlanta Braves, and Nolan Ryan turned in a seven-inning relief performance as New York won 7-4 in the first ever postseason baseball game at Shea Stadium.

The Braves took an early lead on Hank Aaron’s two-run homer in the first off Gary Gentry. Aaron had a roundtripper in each of the three NLCS games. Two innings later, Aaron doubled to put runners on second and third with no outs.  Manager Gil Hodges acted quickly and summoned to the bullpen for Ryan. The fireballing rookie struck out Rico Carty and Orlando Cepeda and then got Bob Didier on a flyout to end the Atlanta threat.

Tommie Agee got the Mets on the board with a solo home run in the third off Pat Jarvis, and then Ken Boswell struck a two-run homer to put New York up 3-2. Cepeda went deep off Ryan with one on to grab the lead back for the Braves. But again, the Amazin’s bounced back. Ryan surprised everyone with a single to lead off the home fifth, and two batters later, Wayne Garrett’s blast gave the Mets the lead again. Cleon Jones followed with a double and scored an insurance run on Boswell’s single. An inning later, Jerry Grote doubled and scored on a single from Agee to bring the score to 7-4.

By then, Ryan had settled into a groove and did not allow a run over the final four innings of the NLCS. The sometimes starter struck out seven while yielding just three hits. When Garrett fielded Tony Gonzalez’s grounder and threw to Ed Kranepool for the last out, the Mets had won the National League pennant.

For the ‘69 Mets, who’d won the East on the strength of a dominant pitching staff, the story of the NLCS was the team’s offensive outburst. While neither Seaver, Koosman, nor Gentry recorded strong starts in the series, the Mets lineup hit .327 and scored 27 runs in the three games against the Braves. Art Shamsky paced the team by hitting .538, while the first five men in the lineup - Agee, Garrett, Jones, Shamsky, and Boswell - combined to hit .409 with 6 home runs and 17 RBI.

The National League champion Mets will face the American League champion Baltimore Orioles in the World Series. The 1969 edition of the fall classic will begin on Saturday, October 11, in Baltimore’s Memorial Stadium.

NLCS GAME 3: Mets 7, Braves 4.  W: Ryan (1-0)  L: Jarvis (0-1)

***

After two dramatic, extra-innings wins in Minnesota, the Baltimore Orioles decided to do it the easy way, pounding out 11 runs on 18 hits against Twins pitchers. Minnesota’s Bob Miller lasted just 1 2/3 innings, as Don Buford and Paul Blair led the O’s with a combined 9 hits – Buford scoring four times and Blair recording 5 RBI. Elrod Hendricks went 2 for 5 with 3 RBI. Jim Palmer continued the excellent pitching by Baltimore starters in the ALCS by going nine full innings while working around ten hits. The Twins managed just five runs in the three-game series.

ALCS GAME 3: Orioles 11, Twins 2.  W: Palmer (1-0)  L: Miller (0-1)

Sunday, October 5, 1969

For the second straight game, the New York Mets beat up Atlanta Braves pitchers and now have a two games to none lead in the National League pennant series.

Tommie Agee, Ken Boswell, and Cleon Jones all homered and combined for seven RBI. Agee got the scoring started after he led off the game with a single off Atlanta’s Ron Reed. Wayne Garrett walked, Agee and Garrett pulled off a double steal, and Ed Kranepool singled in Agee.

Agee’s two-run homer and Art Shamsky’s RBI single stretched the Mets’ lead to 4-0 in the second. In the third inning, Bud Harrelson’s double and Garrett’s single both plated a run, and Boswell’s two-run shot in the fourth made it 8-0.

The Braves broke through in the bottom of the inning when Orlando Cepeda singled off New York starter Jerry Koosman to drive in Rico Carty. The Mets answered back in the fifth when Garrett doubled and Jones singled.

But for the second straight game, a New York starter had a surprisingly poor outing. A winner of 17 games and possessor of a 2.28 ERA in the regular season, Koosman imploded in the bottom of the fifth. A three-run shot by Hank Aaron highlighted a five-run rally, and Ron Taylor, usually the Mets closer, came on with two outs and two men on to get Bob Didier to line out to second. Taylor and Tug McGraw combined for 4 1/3 shutout frames to right the ship, and Jones’s two-run home run in the seventh put the game away.

Both teams now head north for Game Three, to be played tomorrow at Shea Stadium. 

NLCS GAME 3: Mets 11, Braves 6.  W: Taylor (1-0)  L: Reed (0-1)

***

The Minnesota Twins and Baltimore Orioles squared off in an old-fashioned pitcher’s duel in Game Two of the American League series.  Dave Boswell and Dave McNally both blanked the opposition through regulation and carried a shutout into the 11th inning. After McNally retired the side in the top of the 11th, Boswell walked leadoff batter Boog Powell. Brooks Robinson sacrificed him to second and Dave Johnson was walked intentionally. After Mark Belanger popped, Ron Perranoski came on to relieve Boswell. Pinch-hitter Curt Motton stepped up and singled to rightfield to give the Orioles their second straight extra-innings and a two-game lead in the series.

McNally, a twenty-game winner in the regular season, recorded one of the best performances in postseason history. He allowed just three hits – none after the 4th inning – and struck out 11 batters.

ALCS GAME 2: Orioles 1, Twins 0 (11 inn.).  W: McNally (1-0)  L: Boswell (0-1)

Saturday, October 4, 1969

In Atlanta, the New York Mets outslugged the Braves to win the first game of the National League pennant series.

The Mets scored first when Jerry Grote singled off starter Phil Miekro to drive in Art Shamsky for the franchise’s first ever run. Ken Boswell scored moments later on a passed ball by Atlanta’s Bob Didier.

But Tom Seaver, winner of 25 games in the regular season, squandered his team’s early lead. Rico Carty doubled to lead off the second and scored on Clete Boyer’s sac fly. In the third, three straight doubles from Felix Millan, Tony Gonzalez and Hank Aaron gave the Braves a 3-2 lead.

Bud Harrelson, who had just 24 RBI in the regular season, knocked in two runs with his fourth-inning triple to put the Mets back on top. But again, Seaver couldn’t hold the lead, as he surrendered solo home runs to Gonzalez in the fifth and Aaron in the seventh.

But then New York broke through in the eighth. Wayne Garrett led off with a double and scored on Cleon Jones’s single. Art Shamsky followed with a single, and Jones scored when Ken Boswell reached on an error by first baseman Orlando Cepeda. Later in the inning, the bases were loaded with two outs when Seaver’s spot in the lineup came up. Pinch-hitter J. C. Martin stepped into the box and struck a single into right-centerfield. All three runners scored, the final one on an error by Gonzalez.

From there, Ron Taylor came on to pitch two scoreless innings to preserve a 9-5 victory. Seaver was credited with the win despite his uncharacteristic rocky outing. Art Shamsky starred with three hits in four at-bats for the NL East champs, and Wayne Garrett was two for four.

NLCS GAME ONE: Mets 9, Braves 5.  W: Seaver (1-0)  L: Niekro (0-1)  SV: Taylor (1)

***

Baltimore’s Mike Cuellar went eight innings and then handed it over to the Orioles bullpen, which tossed four scoreless frames as the home team won Game One of the American League pennant series over Minnesota.

The Twins’s Gaylord Perry carried a 3-2 lead into the bottom of the ninth, but he surrendered a game-tying home run to Boog Powell. The game stayed tied until the bottom of the twelfth. Mark Belanger lead off with a single and moved to third after Andy Etchebarren’s sacrifice bunt and Don Buford’s groundout. Paul Blair then surprised the Twins with a bunt single to score Belanger with the winning run.

ALCS GAME ONE: Orioles 4, Twins 3 (12 inn.)  W: Hall (1-0)  L: Perranoski (0-1)

TEAM LEADERS – HITTING

PA: Tommie Agee, 635

AB: Agee, 565

H: Cleon Jones, 164

BB: Jones, 64

R: Agee, 97

HR: Agee, 26

RBI: Agee, 76

BA: Jones, .340

OBP: Jones, .422

SLG: Shamsky, .488

OPS: Jones, .904

SB: Jones, 16

TEAM LEADERS – PITCHING

G: Ron Taylor, 59

GS: Tom Seaver and Gary Gentry, 35

GF: Taylor, 44

IP: Seaver, 273.1

W: Seaver, 25

SV: Taylor, 13

K: Seaver, 208

SHO: Jerry Koosman, 6

ERA: Seaver, 2.21

WHIP: Seaver, 1.039

TEAM LEADERS – FIELDING

PO: Ed Kranepool, 810

A: Bud Harrelson, 347

CS: Jerry Grote, 40

Tuesday, September 23, 1969

The Mets trailed the Cardinals 2-1 going into the bottom of the eighth, but Art Shamsky singled in Tommie Agee to tie the game.  Four innings of scoreless relief from Tug McGraw carried the game into the bottom of the eleventh. Ron Swoboda singled off starter Bob Gibson with one out, Jerry Grote’s hit moved him to second, and Bud Harrelson punched a single into leftfield to score Swoboda with the winning run. New York’s Jim McAndrew started and gave up just two unearned runs in seven innings before leaving in favor of a pinch-hitter.

With the win and Chicago’s loss, the Mets’s magic number is down to 1.

Mets 3, Cardinals 2 (11 inn.).  W: McGraw (9-3)  L: Gibson (18-13)

Ken Holtzman’s second-half struggles continued, as he lasted just three innings and gave up five runs to visiting Montreal. Bob Bailey drove in three runs, and both Rusty Staub and Ron Fairly went deep for the Expos.

Expos 7, Cubs 3.  W: Stoneman (11-18)  L: Holtzman (17-12)

***

NL EAST                              W    L    T   PCT    GB    M#
New York Mets                  95   61    0  .609     -       1
Chicago Cubs                    89   67    1  .571   6.0     -

Monday, September 22, 1969

Is there any better pitcher on the planet right now than Tom Seaver?

Working on three days’ rest, the man they call The Franchise notched his seventh victory in seven starts - all complete games – and his ninth in his last nine decisions.  Seaver allowed just one run on four hits to the visiting St. Louis Cardinals, and he also drove in a run with his seventh-inning single.  Art Shamsky had an RBI single and Jerry Grote went 2 for 3 for New York.

With the Cubs idle on Monday, the Mets’ magic number for clinching the division is down to 2. 

Mets 3, Cardinals 1.  W: Seaver (24-7)  L: Briles (15-13)

NL EAST                               W    L    T   PCT    GB    M#
New York Mets                   94   61    0  .606     -     3
Chicago Cubs                     89   66    1  .574   5.0    -

BONUS GAME

The Minnesota Twins claimed the crown in the American League West with a 4-3 victory over the Royals in Kansas City. Leadoff man Cesar Tovar went 3 for 5 and drove in two runs. Veteran hurler Bob Miller carried a three-run lead into the ninth, but an Ed Kirkpatrick single and a double from Lou Piniella brought the tying run to bat with no outs. On came reliever Al Worthington, who got Joe Foy on a fly to center for out number one. Jerry Adair and Buck Martinez punched one safely into rightfield, but a quick-thinking Tony Olivia fired to second to nab pinch-runner Scott Northey. Worthington then got Paul Schaal to ground to first base for the final out.

Twins 4, Royals 3.  W: Miller (5-4)  L: Rooker (4-15)

Elsewhere in the majors, the Baltimore Orioles have clinched the American League East and the San Francisco Giants hold a slim half-game lead over the Atlanta Braves in the National League West.

AL WEST                          W    L    T   PCT    GB
Minnesota Twins                 92   61    0  .601     -
Oakland Athletics               81   71    0  .533  10.5
California Angels               68   85    1  .444  24.0
Chicago White Sox               64   88    0  .421  27.5
Kansas City Royals              64   89    1  .418  28.0
Seattle Pilots                  60   93    1  .392  32.0

Sunday, September 21, 1969

The Mets rebounded after getting no-hit the day before to sweep a Sunday doubleheader at Shea and take a big step toward claiming the National League Eastern Division title.  Jerry Koosman and Don Cardwell gave the New York bullpen the day off by each going nine full innings.  Art Shamsky went a combined 4 for 7 with a home run, 4 runs scored, a two RBI; and Ken Boswell went 3 for 6 on the day. 

The Mets’ magic number is now 4. 

Mets 5, Pirates 3 (1).  W: Koosman (16-9)  L: Ellis (10-17)

Mets 6, Pirates 1 (2).  W: Cardwell (8-9)  L: Blass (15-10)

Fergie Jenkins has been a workhorse for the Cubs in ‘69, and on Sunday he threw his 22nd complete game and collected his 21nd win. Reserve shortstop Paul Popovich went an impressive 3 for 3 and scored twice, and Randy Hundley hit a two-run shot for Chicago.

Cubs 4, Cardinals 3.  W: Jenkins (21-14)  L: Taylor (7-5)

***

NL EAST                             W    L    T   PCT    GB   M# 
New York Mets                   93   61    0  .604     -      4 
Chicago Cubs                    89   66    1  .574   4.5    -

Tuesday, September 9, 1969

A black cat visited the Chicago Cubs dugout, and now the Cubs are wondering if it’s an omen for their 1969.

As Don Kessinger stepped into the batter’s box, a stray black cat in circled Glenn Beckert in the visitor’s on-deck circle, hissed at manager Leo Durocher, and then scampered back under the stands of Shea Stadium.

Are the Cubs jinxed?  Some people might say so, as Chicago’s division lead has now shrunk to just one-half game with the Mets 7-1 victory on Tuesday night. 

Ken Boswell got the scoring started with a two-run double in the bottom of the first inning. Two innings later, Art Shamsky was picked off by Fergie Jenkins but remained alive when Chicago’s Glenn Beckert botched the run down. Don Clendenon followed with a two-run shot to give the Mets a 4-0 lead.

New York starter Tom Seaver allowed the Cubs’s only run of the game on a Ron Santo single in the fourth. But the Mets added single runs in the fourth, fifth, and seventh to pull away. Art Shamsky hit a solo homer, and both Tommie Agee and Jerry Grote went 2 for 4.  Seaver went the distance in a masterful effort, giving up just five hits while striking out five.  His counterpart tallied nine strikeouts but proved very hittable, allowing ten hits and seven runs (two unearned) in seven innings of work.

With New York’s two-game series sweep of the Cubs, Chicago leaves town with the slimmest of leads in the division and actually one more loss on the season than the (for the moment) second-place Mets. Next up, the last-place Expos come to Shea for a three-game series, while the Cubs remain on the road and head to Philadelphia.

Can the New York Mets, baseball’s loveable losers for the past seven seasons, move into first place?  Tune in tomorrow to find out…

Mets 7, Cubs 1.  W: Seaver (21-7)  L: Jenkins (19-13)

***

                                              W    L    T   PCT    GB  
Chicago Cubs                    84   58    1  .592     -  
New York Mets                  82   57    0  .590   0.5  

Sunday, September 7, 1969

Don Kessinger’s error on Al Oliver’s batted ball in the 11th inning opened the door for two runs, and the Pirates triumphed over the Cubs in a contest that featured a combined 25 hits. Jim Hickman’s two-run homer had given Chicago the lead in the bottom of the 8th, but Willie Stargell’s home run off Phil Regan in the top of the 9th sent the game into extra frames. Billy Williams had 3 hits for the Cubs, who were swept in the three-game series at Wrigley.

Pirates 7, Cubs 5.  W: Dal Canton (8-2)  L: Johnson (1-3)

Tied 3-3, the New York Mets rallied for two runs in the 7th and four more in the 8th to win going away against the Phillies. Nolan Ryan picked up the victory by throwing three scoreless innings to close out the game.

In the 7th, Art Shamsky’s sac fly and Ken Boswell’s triple plated two runs. Then in the 8th, Tommie Agee and Rod Gaspar (Shamsky’s defensive replacement) both recorded 2-RBI singles to put the game away.

The win moved the Mets to within 2.5 games of the Cubs, who now travel to Shea Stadium for a two-game series.

Mets 9, Phillies 3.  W: Ryan (5-1)  L: Champion (5-8)

***

NL EAST STANDINGS

                                              W    L    T   PCT    GB  
Chicago Cubs                    84   56    1  .600     -  
New York Mets                  80   57    0  .584   2.5