Posts Tagged ‘Jerry Grote’
MIRACLE METS SING ON ‘ED SULLIVAN’
After their thrilling World Series victory, your 1969 New York Mets were honored with an invitation to appear on The Ed Sullivan Show, on which they delivered an unforgettably forgettable rendition of “You Gotta Have Heart.”
Click on the link below to see the Miracle Mets look downright out of their element. “G. Thomas” Seaver and ”Gerald” Grote seem to be enjoying themselves, but most of the team seems like they’d rather be somewhere else. And is it just me, or does Wayne Garrett remind you of Richie Cunningham?
‘THERE ARE NO WORDS’
Thursday, October 16, 1969
The New York Mets are World Series champions.
The Amazin’s overcame an early three-run deficit to beat the Baltimore Orioles 5-3 in Game Five and close out the series at home. Jerry Koosman pitched a complete game to earn his second series win, series MVP Donn Clendenon homered in his third straight appearance, and Al Weis hit a key game-tying home run, his first ever homer at Shea Stadium.
After hitting .215 in the regular season, Weis finished with a .455 series average.
The Mets fell behind in the third when Orioles pitcher Dave McNally smacked a two-run shot over the leftfield wall. Three batters later, Frank Robinson drove a towering home run over the centerfield fence for a 3-0 Orioles lead.
But it was the last time Baltimore would score in ‘69.
Koosman settled into a groove, and the Mets got on the board in the sixth when Cleon Jones was hit by a pitch and Clendenon followed with a drive that ricocheted off the upper deck in leftfield. At first, umpire Lou DiMuro ruled that McNally’s pitch had missed Jones’s feet before it hit the ground and bounced into the Mets dugout. But manager Gil Hodges emerged with a ball that bore the mark of shoe polish, and after inspecting it, DiMuro awarded Jones first. This enraged Baltimore manager Earl Weaver, as in the top of the inning, Frank Robinson had struck out after claiming to have been hit by a Koosman pitch.
With the Mets trailing by one, Al Weis sent the fans to their feet with his game-tying home run off McNally in the seventh. In the eighth against reliever Eddie Watt, Jones led off with a double high off the centerfield fence, and he scored the go-ahead run one batter latter on Ron Swoboda’s bloop single to left, which landed just in front of a lunging Don Buford to the delight of the enraptured Shea faithful. After Ed Charles flew out, Jerry Grote lined a hard grounder to Boog Powell at first, and when Watt mishandled Powell’s toss to first, Swoboda came around to score a key insurance run.
Protecting a two-run lead, Koosman made a mistake in walking Frank Robinson to begin the ninth. But Koosman got Powell to ground into a force play and retired Brooks Robinson on a fly to right.
Davey Johnson stepped to the plate next. I recount what happened next in 1969: The Year Everything Changed:
Second baseman Davey Johnson hit a deep fly ball to left that might have made many a fan hold their breath, but when Jones stopped moving backward and calmly settled under the ball just shy of the warning track, it was all over.
He collected the ball and brought his hands down as he practically knelt to the Shea grass in a solemn gesture. Veteran baseball writer George Vecsey wrote, “Shea Stadium was caught quivering as Jones sighted the ball, and the whole city erupted as he caught it, and the fans poured onto the field, and the New York Mets were the champions of baseball. There were a million exciting things happening and it was hard to focus on any one incident. But out in left field, if you had been looking there, you would have seen Cleon Jones, with fans racing over to pummel him, stop for a moment, drop quickly to one knee. Later, he explained his brief genuflection. ‘Someone was good to us.’ ”
The Mets, the laughingstock of baseball in their first seven years of existence, were now the best team in all of the land. All jubilant hell broke loose. Fans ran onto the field in celebration. Some collected dirt from the infield; others dug out home plate as a souvenir. It was just before 3:30 on that Thursday afternoon, October 16, and throughout the city, New Yorkers began their celebration. White-collar confetti danced downward upon spontaneous revelers. Strangers danced in the streets, young with old, black with white—one of the few moments of harmony during a year that had seen the nation divided by age and race.
In the stands, one Karl Ehrhardt – a.k.a. “Sign Man” – the commercial artist who has attended Mets games since 1964 with a catalog of message-emblazoned signs to hold up for seemingly any occasion that might arise during the game, held up a sign that summed up the improbability of events that New Yorkers and the rest of the baseball world had just witnessed:
THERE ARE NO WORDS.
WORLD SERIES GAME FIVE: Mets 5, Orioles 3. W: Koosman (2-0) L: Watt (0-1)
METS WIN SERIES 4-1
AGEE AMAZIN’ IN GAME THREE, METS BEAT ORIOLES 5-0 TO TAKE SERIES LEAD
Tuesday, October 14, 1969
Superman came to Shea Stadium for the World Series, and his name is Tommie Agee.
The Mets centerfielder led off the bottom of the first in Game 3 with a home run off Baltimore’s Jim Palmer. More importantly, Agee made not one but two sparkling plays in the field to prevent at least five potential runs in New York’s 5-0 victory over the Baltimore Orioles.
The underdog Mets now lead the Orioles 2-1 in the series.
Mets no. 3 starter Gary Gentry cruised through the first three innings and New York led 3-0 after Gentry struck a two-run double in the second to score Jerry Grote and Bud Harrelson.
But with two outs in the fourth inning, Baltimore’s Frank Robinson singled for his team’s first hit of the game, and Boog Powell followed with a single of his own. After Gentry got Brooks Robinson on strikes for the second out, Elrod Hendricks drove a ball deep into the left-centerfield gap in Shea. (After the game, he would describe it as the hardest ball he’d ever hit.) But Agee raced into the gap and nabbed the sinking drive with an amazing backhanded “ice cream cone” catch just in front of the wall.
Jerry Grote’s sixth-inning double scored Ken Boswell to make it 4-0. Then, Agee came to the rescue once again. Gentry again fell into two-out trouble in the seventh when he walked the bases loaded. Gil Hodges called to the bullpen for Nolan Ryan, and the Orioles’s Paul Blair greeted him with a line drive into right-center. Agee got on his horse, pounded his glove just before diving, and gathered it in for the third out. The home crowd erupted as he jogged in from centerfield, realizing that Agee, the former A.L. Rookie of the Year, was responsible for stranding a total of five Baltimore runners on base.
From there, Ryan closed things out and Ed Kranepool’s solo shot in the eighth ended the day’s scoring.
WORLD SERIES GAME THREE: Mets 5, Orioles 0. W: Gentry (1-0) L: Palmer (0-1) SV: Ryan (1)
METS EVEN SERIES ON KOOSMAN’S GEM, WEIS’S TWO-OUT HIT SCORES GAME WINNER
Sunday, October 12, 1969
A Mets starting pitcher finally threw a good game in the playoffs, and the bottom of the order delivered when it counted most for New York in Game Two of the World Series.
After three rocky outings in the NLCS by its the team’s top three hurlers - Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman, and Gary Gentry – and a loss by Seaver in Game One of the World Series, Koosman took the mound in Memorial Stadium and carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning against the potent Baltimore Orioles lineup.
Don Clendenon had given the team its first lead in a Series game with his home run off Dave McNally to begin the fourth inning. Koosman, owenr of a 17-9 record in the regular season, made that single stand up until Paul Blair lead off the seventh with a single to left, stole second, and scored on Brooks Robinson’s two-out single into center.
The score was knotted in the top of the ninth when Ed Charles singled with two outs and moved to third on a perfectly executed hit-and-run by Jerry Grote. Manager Gil Hodges left eighth-place hitter Al Weis, who hit just .215 in the regular season and had just one at-bat in the NLCS, in to face McNally. Weis had singled off the Orioles southpaw back in the third, and he rewarded Hodges’s confidence by rapping a single into left to score Charles with the go-ahead run.
Koosman took that lead into the bottom of the ninth and retired the first two men in the Orioles order, Paul Blair and Don Buford. But there the lefty faltered, issuing walks to both Frank Robinson and Boog Powell to put the tying and winning runs on base. Hodges called for closer Ron Taylor to put out the fire.
Up stepped the dangerous Brooks Robinson, who drove in 84 runs in the 1969 season and starred with a .500 average in the ALCS. Robinson swung at a Taylor offering and bounced a hard smash to Charles at third base. The man they call The Glider gloved it and took a step toward third for the force out. But realizing he might not beat Frank Robinson to the base, Charles stopped and fired across the diamond to first. Clendenon stretched and dug Charles’s throw out of the dirt to get the final out and preserve a 2-1 win in the Mets’ first World Series victory.
Both Charles and Weis were 2 for 4 in the game. McNally suffered his first postseason loss despite giving up just six hits while striking out seven batters.
The series now moves to New York, where the Mets and Orioles will square off in Game Three at Shea Stadium on Tuesday, October 14.
WORLD SERIES GAME TWO: Mets 2, Orioles 1. W: Koosman (1-0) L: McNally (0-1)
BUFORD, CUELLAR LEAD O’S PAST METS IN GAME ONE
Saturday, October 11, 1969
The New York Mets ran into the Baltimore Orioles buzzsaw in Game One of the World Series.
Don Buford homered on the second pitch thrown by Tom Seaver to set the tone for the game. Buford and Mets shortstop Bud Harrelson seemed to jaw at each other as Buford circled the bases to the delight of the Memorial Stadium crowd. Three innings later, the home fans had more to celebrate. Elrod Hendricks singled to spark a two-out rally. Orioles pitcher Mike Cuellar provided the big hit of the inning with a single to score two runs, and Buford followed with a double for his second RBI of the game and a 4-0 Baltimore lead.
The Mets attempted a rally in the seventh. Singles from Don Clendenon and Jerry Grote sandwiched around a walk to Ron Swoboda brought the tying run to bat with one out. But all Al Weis could manage was a sacrifice fly for one run, and Rod Gaspar grounded out to end the threat.
Cuellar then closed out the game to give the Orioles a 1-0 lead in the series. He struck out 8 New Yorkers while allowing 6 hits and 4 walks.
After compiling a 2.21 ERA in the regular season, Seaver now has a 6.75 ERA in two postseason starts. Clendenon, who sat out the NLCS in favor of Ed Kranepool against the Atlanta Braves’s right-handed staff, had a double and single in four at-bats against Cuellar. Cleon Jones recorded the first Mets World Series hit with his first-inning single.
WORLD SERIES GAME ONE: Orioles 4, Mets 1. W: Cuellar (1-0) L: Seaver (0-1)
METS WIN PENNANT! AGEE, BOSWELL, GARRETT GO DEEP AND RYAN SAVES DAY AS AMAZINS SWEEP BRAVES IN NLCS, TO FACE ORIOLES IN WORLD SERIES
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)
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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)
METS’ BATS BEAT BRAVES IN GAME ONE, ORIOLES TRIP UP TWINS IN 12
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)
METS WIN IN 11, MAGIC NUMBER DOWN TO 1
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)
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NL EAST W L T PCT GB M#
New York Mets 95 61 0 .609 - 1
Chicago Cubs 89 67 1 .571 6.0 -
SEAVER WINS 7TH STRAIGHT START, METS’ MAGIC NUMBER SHRINKS TO 3; TWINS WIN THE WEST
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
MOOSE NO-HITS METS AT SHEA, CARDS TAKE 2 OF 3 AT WRIGLEY
Saturday, September 20, 1969
The Mets may be in first place, but the Pirates are looking like the top team in the East right now.
Bob Moose threw a no-hitter at Shea, giving Pirates their third win in two days against New York. Moose walked 3 and struck out 6. After walking Rod Gaspar to lead off the ninth, Moose got Tommie Agee to pop up, retired Wayne Garrett on a ground out to third, and then secured the no-hitter when Art Shamsky grounded out to second.
Pirates 4, Mets 0. W: Moose (12-3) L: Gentry (11-12)
Errors by All-Stars Ron Santo and Glenn Beckert opened the door for four Cardinals runs as St. Louis emerged with a victory in Wrigley, despite a triple and home run from Jim Hickman.
Cardinals 4, Cubs 1. W: Carlton (17-10) L: Hands (18-14) SV: Grant (7)
Friday, September 19, 1969
Looking for something to build off next year, the improving Pittsburgh Pirates jumped on the streaking New York Mets to sweep a doubleheader at Shea. Matty Alou led the charge in game one by going 4 for 4 with 3 RBI, and Willie Stargell was 3 for 5 with a home run and 2 RBI in the second game. New York’s Al Weis went a combined 4 for 7 on the day and Jerry Grote a combined 3 for 6.
Pirates 8, Mets 2 (1). W: Veale (13-12) L: Ryan (6-3)
Pirates 8, Mets 0 (2). W: Walker (3-6) L: McAndrew (6-7)
Both Ken Holtzman and Bob Gibson recorded extra-inning complete games in the front end of a doubleheader at Wrigley, and Jim Hickman touched Gibson for a double with two outs bottom of tenth to drive in Billy Williams with the winning run. The Cardinals struck back with 5 runs, 3 unearned, off the Chicago bullpen to pull away in game two.
Cubs 2, Cardinals 1 (1, 10 inn.). W: Holtzman (17-11) L: Gibson (18-12)
Cardinals 7, Cubs 2. W: Torrez (9-4) L: Selma (12-9)
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STANDINGS AT CLOSE OF PLAY ON 9/20/69
NL EAST W L T PCT GB
New York Mets 91 61 0 .599 -
Chicago Cubs 88 66 1 .571 4.0
Pittsburgh Pirates 82 70 0 .539 9.0
St. Louis Cardinals 82 70 0 .539 9.0
Philadelphia Phillies 61 91 0 .401 30.0
Montreal Expos 50 104 0 .325 42.0