Posts Tagged ‘Lindsey Nelson’
BEDLAM AT SHEA AS METS CLINCH DIVISION TITLE
Wednesday, September 24, 1969
With Bill Hands pitching the Cubs to a win over the Expos at Wrigley today, the Mets had to take care of business themselves if they wanted to clinch the Eastern Division of the National League.
And take care of business they did, scoring five runs out of the gate off Steve Carlton, the starting pitcher for the National League in this past summer’s All-Star game.
Don Clendenon got the scoring started in a big way with his first inning home run, after Bud Harrelson had lead off with a single and Tommie Agee reached on a walk. Two batters latter, Ed Charles went deep with a two-run shot to knock Carlton out of the box, and the Shea Stadium crowd could sense that this was the Mets’ night.
From there, rookie Gary Gentry kept the Cardinals at bay, allowing just four hits on the night. Clendenon homered again in the fifth inning, his fifteenth roundtripper of the season, to give the Mets another insurance run.
Gentry carried the shutout into the ninth. Lou Brock and Vic Davalillo both singled to open the inning. But Gentry struck out Vada Pinson for the first out, and the next batter, Joe Torre, bounced a tailor-made groundball to Harrelson. The Mets shortstop threw to Al Weis for the out at second, and Weis turned and fired to Clendenon for the final out of the game.
I recount what happened next in 1969: The Year Everything Changed:
Mets announcer Lindsey Nelson officially proclaimed: “At 9:07 on September 24th, the Mets have won the championship of the Eastern Division of the National League!”
As the Mets players ran into the dugout and began spraying champagne inside the locker room, fans stormed the field to celebrate an event that had seemed unthinkable in the team’s first seven years. In what the Associated Press called “one of the most incredible souvenir-snatching safaaris in baseball history,” the Shea crowd tore up as much as 1,500 square feet of sod. The AP quoted a police report the next day that summarized the festive damage: “They celebrated by breaking three wheels off the batting cage and stripping the netting off it. They celebrated by tearing up the all-weather matting in the coaches’ boxes behind first and third base. They celebrated by taking pieces of the scoreboard. They celebrated by stealing home plate.” Fans also sprayed graffiti across the wall in centerfield and stole the stadium’s American flag from atop its outfield post.
The Mets now await the winner of the National League West, which the Atlanta Braves currently lead by 1.5 games over the San Francisco Giants and 3 over the Cincinnati Reds.
Cubs 6, Expos 3. W: Hands (19-14) L: Renko (6-7)
Mets 6, Cardinals 0. W: Gentry (12-12) L: Carlton (17-11)
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NL EAST W L T PCT GB RS RA New York Mets* 96 61 0 .611 - 615 531 Chicago Cubs 90 67 1 .573 6.0 706 595 Pittsburgh Pirates 82 73 0 .529 13.0 691 632 St. Louis Cardinals 82 74 0 .526 13.5 567 527 Philadelphia Phillies 62 92 0 .403 32.5 624 711 Montreal Expos 52 105 0 .331 44.0 574 762 * clinched division
NL WEST W L T PCT GB RS RA Atlanta Braves 89 68 0 .567 - 667 613 San Francisco Giants 87 69 0 .558 1.5 690 619 Cincinnati Reds 85 70 1 .548 3.0 771 750 Los Angeles Dodgers 82 74 0 .526 6.5 628 538 Houston Astros 78 76 0 .506 9.5 652 638 San Diego Padres 50 106 0 .321 38.5 447 716