Posts Tagged ‘Ron Santo’
HOLTZMAN NO-HITS GIANTS, MARICHAL TAKES SHUTOUT INTO 14TH BUT AGEE’S HR WINS IT FOR METS
Tuesday, August 19, 1969
What a day for pitching!
For 13 1/3 innings, San Francisco’s Juan Marichal performed heroically as he kept the Mets scoreless while striking out 13 New York batters along the way.
Then up stepped Tommie Agee, who had gone 0 for 5 against Marichal to that point. The Mets centerfielder drove a pitch over the Shea Stadium fence to give the Mets a 1-0 victory. Gary Gentry pitched 10 shutout innings himself, and Tug McGraw added for of his own to earn the win.
Cleon Jones went 3 for 5 on the day for the Mets, who managed just 6 hits in 14 innings.
Mets 1, Giants 0 (14 inn.). W: McGraw (6-2) L: Marichal (14-9)
***
Ken Holtzman tossed nine innings of hitless baseball against the Braves, retiring Hank Aaron on a ground ball to second for the game’s final out. Ron Santo’s first-inning three-run homer proved to be all the scoring at Wrigley.
It was a rare feat accomplished by Holtzman, who lodged his no-hitter without striking out a single batter. But the Cubs defense played flawlessly, and only three Giants reached base on walks.
Cubs 3, Giants 0. W: Holtzman (14-7) L: P. Niekro (16-11)
NL EAST STANDINGS
Team W L T PCT GB Chicago Cubs 76 45 1 .628 - New York Mets 67 51 0 .568 7.5
‘SAY HEY’ KID SENDS CUBS TO DEFEAT
Tuesday, July 29, 1969
Willie Mays tripled in the go-ahead run and then scored an insurance run in the seventh inning as the Giants beat the Cubs. Chicago starting pitcher Jim Colburn lasted 4 2/3 innings, allowing 2 runs on 7 hits and 1 walk. Bobby Bonds had 3 hits and scored twice for San Francisco. Frank Linzy got the win after pitching 4 shutout innings out of the ‘pen. Ron Santo and Don Young collected 2 hits apiece for the Cubbies.
Giants 4, Cubs 2. W: Linzy (9-6) L: Abernathy (4-3)
MCCOVEY CLOUTS 2 HR’S AS NL ALL-STARS CLUB AL 9-3, METS’ JONES HAS 2 HITS & 2 RUNS
Wednesday, July 23, 1969
The top players from the National and American Leagues squared off in the All-Star Game at RFK Stadium in Washington, DC.
Centerfielder Matty Alou got the National Leaguers started by leading off the game with a single and later scored on an error by leftfielder Frank Howard.
In the top of the second, the Senior Circuit increased its lead when Mets leftfielder Cleon Jones singled and Johnny Bench followed with a 2-run homer off AL starter Mel Stottlemyre.
Howard, the hometown hero, got the American League on the board with a solo shot in the bottom of the inning, but the NL answered back with a 5-run outburst against A’s pitcher “Blue Moon” Odom. Hank Aaron singled with no outs and Willie McCovey sent one over the fence. Felix Millan doubled in 2 runs and then scored when starting pitcher Steve Carlton surprised everybody by smacking a double, chasing Odom from the game.
Bill Freehan smacked a home run for the American League in the home third, and Willie McCovey responded with his second home run in the two innings.
Freehan notched an RBI single in the 4th. The pitching staffs from both teams took over at that point, and the National League cruised to a 9-3 victory.
Cleon Jones had a 2-for-4 night, and Mets teammate Jerry Koosman pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings. Cubs third baseman Ron Santo went 0 for 3.
NL 9, AL 3. W: Carlton L: Stottlemyre SV: P. Niekro
STARTING LINEUP
NL
CF Alou (PIT)
SS Kessinger (CHI)
RF Aaron (ATL)
1B McCovey (SF)
3B Santo (CHI)
LF Jones (NYM)
C Bench (CIN)
2B Millan (ATL)
P Carlton (STL)
AL
2B Carew (MIN)
CF Jackson (OAK)
RF F. Robinson (BAL)
1B Powell (BAL)
LF Howard (WAS)
3B Bando (OAK)
SS Petrocelli (BOS)
C Freehan (DET)
P Stottlemyre (NYY)
METS ANSWER BACK AGAINST CUBS, WEIS AND BOSWELL GO DEEP
Tuesday, July 15, 1969
The middle of the New York Mets infield acted like they were hitting in the middle of the Mets lineup today.
Al Weis, New York’s eighth-place hitter who came into the game hitting just .208 with no home runs, lead off the third inning with a single and scored the game’s first run on Tommie Agee’s triple. An inning later, Weis homered over the Wrigley ivy with two on and two outs to give the Mets a 4-1 lead. Second baseman Ken Boswell also had two hits, including a solo shot in the fifth.
The Cubs drew within one run after back-to-back homers from Billy Williams and Ron Santo off starter Gary Gentry with two outs in the eighth, but Ron Taylor came on for a flawless four-out save.
After Taylor retired Jim Qualls for the last out, Mets ace Tom Seaver came out of the dugout and jumped up and clicked his heels together again and again, mocking Santo’s postgame gesture from the previous day.
Mets 5, Cubs 4. W: Gentry (9-7) L: Selma (9-4) SV: Taylor (8)
Team Name W L T PCT GB
Chicago Cubs 57 35 1 .620 -
New York Mets 50 37 0 .575 4.5
HANDS OUTDUELS SEAVER IN WRIGLEY SERIES OPENER
Monday, July 14, 1969
A three-game series touched off in Wrigley between baseball’s newest rivals, the Mets and Cubs. Tom Seaver, the clear leader among the New York pitching staff, squared off against Bill Hands, arguably the team’s best hurler this season, and both players lived up to their billing. The only run of the game came in the bottom of the sixth, when Don Kessinger reached on a bunt single, advanced to second on Glenn Beckert’s grounder, and scored on a two-out single by Billy Williams.
With two outs in the top of the ninth, J.C. Martin got his second hit of the game off Hands, but Phil Regan came on and got Don Clendenon on a lineout to second, prompting third baseman Ron Santo to jump in the air and click his heels together in celebration.
Cubs 1, Mets 0. W: Hands (11-7) L: Seaver (14-4) SV: Regan (9)
Team Name W L T % GB
Chicago Cubs 57 34 1 .626 -
New York Mets 49 37 0 .570 5.5
CUBS SWEEP DOUBLEHEADER FROM PHILS, METS KEEP PACE WITH SWEEP OF EXPOS
Sunday, July 13, 1969
Ken Holtzman shut out the Phillies in the first game of a doubleheader, and Jim Colburn, making his Major League debut, picked up a victory while going 5 1/3 innings and allowing 3 runs. Don Kessinger was 2 for 5 with 2 RBI in the first and scored twice in the second. Glenn Beckert was 3 for 4 and Ron Santo struck a 2-run shot in the first game. Ernie Banks was the hitting star of the second game, going 2 for 3 with 4 RBI. Billy Williams scored twice in the nightcap, as well.
Cubs 6, Phillies 0 (1). W: Holtzman (11-5) L: Fryman (8-6)
Cubs 6, Phillies 4 (2). W: J. Colburn (1-0) L: L. Palmer (0-1) SV: Nye (2)
***
At Shea, Jerry Koosman recorded a complete-game win in the opening end of a doubleheader with the Expos. Cleon Jones, Art Shamsky and Ed Kranepool each went 2 for 3.
The second game was a wild affair, with starters Nolan Ryan and Howie Reed both getting touched for 6 runs in 3 1/3 inning and neither figuring in the decision. Tommie Agee hit a leadoff home run and then followed with a 3-run blast to cap a 5-run rally in the 4th inning. Agee also scored the go-ahead run in the 7th on Ron Swoboda’s single and the insurance run on Wayne Garrett’s single in the 8th. The Mets centerfielder finished the game with 3 hits, 4 runs scored, and 4 RBI in 4 at-bats.
Mets 4, Expos 3 (1). W: Koosman (7-5) L: J. Robertson (2-7)
Mets 9, Expos 7 (2). W: Koonce (3-3) L: McGinn (4-9) SV: Taylor (7)
***
Team Name W L T GB
Chicago Cubs 56 34 1 -
New York Mets 49 36 0 4.5
CUBS SALVAGE FINAL GAME OF SERIES WITH METS
Thursday, July 10, 1969
A day after getting just 1 hit against Tom Seaver and the Mets, the Chicago Cubs collected 10 hits en route to a 6-2 win in the final game of the 3-game series at Shea.
The Mets led 2-1 after four innings, but Chicago broke out for 5 runs in the fifth. Jim Qualls, the man who broke up Seaver’s perfect game in the ninth inning on Wednesday, touched off the 5-run rally with a leadoff double. Pitcher Bill Hands reached on an Al Weis error, and then Don Kessinger singled in Qualls to tie the game. After Glenn Beckert reached on a bunt single, Billy Williams hit a sacrifice fly to center to score Hands, and Kessinger also scored on the same play on a Ken Boswell error. Santo then drove a 2-run shot over the fence to send starter Gary Gentry to the showers.
Cubs 6, Mets 2. W: Hands (10-7) L: Gentry (8-7)
Team Name W L T PCT GB
Chicago Cubs 53 33 1 .616 -
New York Mets 47 35 0 .573 4.0
TOM SEAVER TAKES PERFECT GAME INTO 9TH AGAINST CUBS **40 YEARS AGO TODAY**
Wednesday, July 9, 1969
Tom Seaver flirted with perfection, and now the Mets are flirting with the unimaginable – a run at first place.
It was clear from the first inning onward that the Mets’ young ace brought his good stuff to the ballpark. He struck out Don Kessinger to start the game and retired the side in order in the first. In the bottom of the inning, Tommie Agee led off with a triple and rookie Bobby Pfeil followed with a double off Chicago’s Ken Holtzman to score the game’s first run. Although the Mets would add three more in the game, one on a Cleon Jones homer, Agee’s was all they would need as Seaver pitched the game of his life.
New York’s 24-year-old hurler struck out the side in the second. He sent the Cubs down 1-2-3 in the third, and then again in the fourth. As he would later comment, “I was aware from the fourth inning on that I had a perfect game, and I was going for it.”
By 1969, only eight pitchers in the entire history of baseball had recorded a perfect game – that is, allowing not one opposing batter to reach base on either a hit, walk, error, or getting hit by a pitch. That’s nine consecutive 1-2-3 innings…27 batters up, 27 batters out.
After he got relief pitcher Ted Abernathy on strikes to end the top of the 6th, Seaver had gone through the Chicago lineup twice without a blemish. He took on the top of the order again in the seventh, getting Don Kessinger and Glenn Beckert on flyouts and Billy Williams on a groundout. Ron Santo flied out to lead off the eighth. Still going strong, Seaver struck out both Ernie Banks and Al Spangler.
When Seaver came to bat in the bottom of the inning, the game stopped for nearly two minutes as the Shea crowd stood in applause for the most dominant performance by a Mets pitcher they had ever seen.
In the top of the ninth and the game all but in hand, Seaver took the mound just three outs from baseball immortality. He got Randy Hundley out weakly, pitcher to first. Up next was the 8th-place hitter, Jim Qualls, a seldom-played rookie who brought a .244 average into the game. Seaver wound up and delivered a pitch, and Qualls blooped it into leftfield for a soft hit, not far from where Ed Kranepool’s game-winner had landed the previous night.
The quest for the perfect game was over, but the home crowd stood and cheered again in recognition of Seaver’s outstanding night. Visibly disappointed, he collected his emotions and retired pinch-hitter Willie Smith on a foul pop-up and then got Don Kessinger to fly out to leftfield for the game’s final out.
Seaver’s pitching performance would go down in Mets memory as The Imperfect Game. “That was the best game I ever pitched,” he’d later say. “It was better than my no-hitter with Cincinnati. I had great stuff that night, superb control, and a mastery of all my pitches. It was obvious even before the game.”
And it was now obvious that the Chicago Cubs had serious competition in the N.L. East.
Mets 4, Cubs 0. W: Seaver (14-3) L: Holtzman (10-5)
Chicago Cubs AB R H RBI BB SO Kessinger ss 4 0 0 0 0 2 Beckert 2b 3 0 0 0 0 0 Williams lf 3 0 0 0 0 1 Santo 3b 3 0 0 0 0 1 Banks 1b 3 0 0 0 0 2 Spangler rf 3 0 0 0 0 3 Hundley c 3 0 0 0 0 0 Qualls cf 3 0 1 0 0 0 Holtzman p 0 0 0 0 0 0 Abernathy p 2 0 0 0 0 2 W. Smith ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 28 0 1 0 0 11
New York Mets IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP Seaver W (14-3) 9 1 0 0 0 11 0 28
Team Name W L T PCT GB Chicago Cubs 52 33 1 .612 - New York Mets 47 34 0 .580 3.0 Pittsburgh Pirates 41 43 0 .488 10.5 St. Louis Cardinals 42 45 0 .483 11.0 Philadelphia Phillies 37 45 0 .451 13.5 Montreal Expos 26 58 0 .310 25.5
‘PORTENT OF DOOM?’ CUBS COLLAPSE IN 9TH AGAINST METS
Tuesday, July 8, 1969
The Chicago Cubs came to Shea Stadium for an afternoon game, bringing with them a 5-game lead over the surprising New York Mets in the National League Eastern Division.
With the Mets franchise unaccustomed to any sort of pennant race in their short history, anticipation ran high for the team’s first game back from its recent road trip – and one against its new division rival. The club distributed 16,000 free tickets to children, and one sportswriter observed that as the home team took the field, the young fans’ ”demonstrations of lung power even drowned out the blasts of low-flying jets from landing and taking off from nearby LaGuardia.”
All-Star pitchers Jerry Koosman and Fergie Jenkins squared off in a tightly fought contest. The Mets broke through with the first run of the game on Ed Kranepool’s home run in the 5th. Ernie Banks answered for the Cubs with a solo shot in the 6th. Chicago took the lead when Jenkins walked and later scored on Glenn Beckert’s single in the 7th, and Jim Hickman homered in the 8th to gave the Cubs a 3-1 lead.
The score stood that way going into the bottom of the 9th. With no outs, Don Young misjudged Ken Boswell’s shallow fly to centerfield, and Boswell pulled into second with a double. Two batters later, Don Clendenon sent a drive to the wall that Young tracked down but let bounce out of his glove. With the tying runs on base, the team’s best hitter, Cleon Jones, stepped up to the plate and doubled to score both men and tie the game.
Jenkins issued an intentional pass to Art Shamsky, and both runners moved up on Wayne Garrett’s groundout. Ed Kranepool stepped in and blooped a single over Don Kessinger to bring home Jones with the winning run.
The Shea crowd erupted. In the locker room, Mets manager Gil Hodges would admit, “Yes, you can call it one of the most important victories in Mets’ history….That’s what we’re here for, to make believers out of all you unbelievers.” A jubilant Jones declared, “Somebody said the Cubs aren’t taking us seriously! Maybe they’re taking us seriously now!”
Things erupted in the visitor’s locker room, as well, as the Cubs sounded more like a team that now trailed rather than led by 4 games in the standings. Manager Leo Durocher growled about Young’s two 9th-inning miscues. “It’s tough to win when your centerfielder can’t catch a fucking flyball. Jenkins pitched his heart out. But when one man can’t catch a flyball, it’s a disgrace.” He added: “My son could have caught those balls! My [bleep]ing thirteen-year-old son could have caught those balls!”
Ron Santo, the team’s outspoken third baseman, commented, “Don’s a major leager because of his glove. When he hits, he’s a divided, but when he fails on defense he’s lost–and today he took us down with him.”
The following day, the Chicago Tribune’s report on the game would carry the ominous headline: PORTENT OF DOOM?
Mets 4, Cubs 3. W: Koosman (6-5) L: Jenkins (11-6)
Team Name W L T PCT GB Chicago Cubs 52 32 1 .619 - New York Mets 46 34 0 .575 4.0
Parts of this game report were excerpted from 1969: The Year Everything Changed (Skyhorse Publishing, 2009), available now on Amazon and as part of a 40th anniversary promotion at Barnes and Noble.
METS SLUGGER LEADS CHARGE AGAINST PIRATES, CUBS STARTERS DROP THE BALL AS TEAM DROPS TWO IN ST. LOUIS
Sunday, July 5, 1969
Trailing 6-1 after just 2 innings, the New York Mets rallied back in Pittsburgh to win 8-7. Don Clendenon’s 3-run homer capped a 4-run rally in the 6th inning.
After starter Jim McAndrew had lasted just 2/3 of an inning and Nolan Ryan went just as long, the combination of Danny Frisella, Ron Taylor, and Cal Koonce kept the Mets in the game. Jerry Grote had 2 hits and an RBI, as did Ron Swoboda off the bench.
With Chicago’s doubleheader loss, the Mets pulled back to within 5 games of the Cubs.
Mets 8, Pirates 7. W: Taylor (4-2) L: Hartenstein (2-4) SV: Koonce (6)
***
The Cubs were scoreless in 16 of 18 innings of a doubleheader in St. Louis as they were swept by the Cardinals.
In the first game, Steve Carlton scattered 8 hits over 8-plus innings as the Cards carried a 4-0 lead into the 9th. Ernie Banks went 3-for-3, and Ron Santo and Randy Hundley had 2 hits apiece for the Cubs. Steve Huntz’s 2-run single in the 4th proved to be the difference.
In the second game, Rich Nye gave up 5 runs in just 3 innings. St. Louis starter Mike Torrez yielded 3 unearned runs in 2 2/3, but Chuck Taylor came out of the pen to throw 6 1/3 shutout innings. Mike Shannon’s 3-run homer and Joe Torre’s 2-run roundtripper powered the Cardinals’ attack in game 2. Jim Qualls was 2 for 4 with 2 ribbies for Chicago.
Cardinals 4, Cubs 2 (1). W: Carlton (10-5) L: Hands (9-7) SV: Hoerner (9)
Cardinals 6, Cubs 5 (2). W: C. Taylor (1-0) L: Nye (1-4)
Team Name W L T PCT GB Chicago Cubs 52 31 1 .627 - New York Mets 45 34 0 .570 5.0