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Now that we’ve completed our day-by-day recreation of the 1969 World Championship season, we can take some time to analyze how the Mets pulled off their miraculous upset of the Orioles in five games.

First, if someone had said that New York’s top two hitters from their everyday lineup, leadoff man Tommie Agee and third-spot slugger Cleon Jones, would hit a combined .162 (6 for 37) in the series – and that Art Shamsky, the only other Met (aside from Jones) to post a .300 average in the regular season, would be hitless in 6 at-bats in the World Series after hitting .538 against the Braves in the NLCS - one might have thought Baltimore had swept the series. 

So how did the Mets win?  Simple: pitching.  True, New York had a less than amazin’ .220 team average in the series, but their pitching staff held the O’s to an anemic .146 team mark in the five games. After scoring 4 runs off Tom Seaver in Game One, the AL champs scored just 5 runs over the final 4 games.  Jerry Koosman, the team’s second best hurler in the regular season, was its best in the series with a 2-0 record and a 2.04 ERA in 17 2/3 innings. With Koosman’s two wins bookending Gary Gentry’s 6 2/3 scoreless innings in Game Three and Seaver’s 10-inning masterpiece in Game Four, New York subdued the Birds by holding them to just 4 extra-base hits across the 5 games. Out of the bullpen, Ron Taylor, Nolan Ryan, and Don Cardwell threw 5 2/3 innings without allowing a run.

The top two men in the Baltimore lineup, Paul Blair and Don Buford, had just 4 hits in 40 at-bats. Boog Powell led the Orioles with a .263 average but had no home runs or RBI.

Meanwhile, the Mets got enough offense from two members of their right-handed platoon lineup - one expected and one unexpected. Seeing the majority of the action at their positions with southpaws Mike Cuellar and Dave McNally starting 2 games aipiece for the O’s, cleanup hitter Donn Clendenon hit .357 with 3 home runs, and eighth-place hitter Al Weis opened eyes with 5 hits in 11 at-bats (.455) including the game-winning RBI in Game Two and a game-tying home run in Game Five. As they had throughout their 100-win campaign, the 1969 Amazin; Mets used timely hitting and dominant pitching to bring a happy end to a miracle season.

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)

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

Wednesday, October 1, 1969

The Mets’s had their scoreless innings pitched streak snapped, but they kept their winning streak going.

New York won 6-5 in 12 innings at Wrigley to record their 100th victory of the season. The Mets looked to have won it in the top of the 9th when Tommie Agee doubled off Cubs starter Ken Holtzman to drive in two runs. But Nolan Ryan walked the first two men he faced in the bottom of the inning, and both came around to score. Ron Taylor stranded the winning run at second, and the game proceeded into extra innings.

The game stayed knotted until the top of the 12th, when Bud Harrelson led off with a double off Dick Selma and then scored on a single from Art Shamsky. Rookie Bob Johnson took the mound for New York in the bottom of the 12th and preserved the win despite giving up a one-out double to Ernie Banks.

Tug McGraw pitched two scoreless innings for the Mets after Jerry Koosman went the first five. Bud Harrelson and Tommie Agee both went 2 for 6 with 2 RBI. Cleon Jones went 1 for 5 and now sits at .339 in the batting race.

Dick Young went 2 for 5 with a home run for the Cubs, while Paul Popovich, Billy Williams, and Ernie Banks each went 2 for 6.

Mets 6, Cubs 5 (12 inn.).  W: Taylor (9-4)  L: Selma (12-10)  SV: Johnson (1)

Sunday, September 28, 1969

Mets pitchers extended their scoreless streak to 42 consecutive innings as Gary Gentry, Nolan Ryan, and Ron Taylor combined to shutout the Phillies and complete a three-game sweep in Philadelphia.

The only runs of the game came in the top of the second inning. Ed Kranepool’s walk followed by Wayne Garrett’s single placed men on first and second with none out. Jim Gosger, who came over in July as the player-to-be-named-later in the Mets’ preseason trade with the Seattle Pilots, doubled to score Kranepool. Gentry’s sac fly plated Garrett for the second and final run of the game. Garrett’s leadoff double in the seventh was the only other Mets hit of the day.

Gentry went five innings to pick up the victory and finish the season with a winning record. Ryan pitched the sixth, seventh and eighth, and Taylor threw a scoreless ninth for the save.

Batting leadoff again, Cleon Jones went 0 for 3 with a walk and saw his average drop to .340, now third in the league behind Pete Rose (.347) and Roberto Clemente (.341).

Mets 2, Phillies 0.  W: Gentry (13-12)  L: J. Johnson (6-13)

Wednesday, September 10, 1969.

The unthinkable has happened.  The New York Mets are in first place.

The Mets began play a half-game behind Chicago, which had been in first place in the National League East since the very first day of the season, and had as recently as August 13 led New York by 9 1/2 games in the standings.

The Shea Stadium crowd cheered the Amazins Wednesday evening as the home took the field for the first game of a doubleheader against the last-place Montreal Expos. New York’s Jim McAndrew worked through a rocky first and second innings, giving up a single run in each, before settling into a groove and turning in a heroic, 11-inning gem – allowing just one hit over his last nine frames. At the same time, Expos starter Mike Wegener was just as good, lasting 11 innings himself and allowing just two runs himself – one on a first-inning Art Shamsky single that scored Tommie Agee, and another when Wegener balked in Agee from third in the fifth inning.

From there, it was a nail-biting test of endurance, with neither team crossing the plate in the next six innings. Ron Taylor relieved McAndrew in the top of the 12th, and Agee threw out Remy Hermoso at the plate for the last out of the inning. In the bottom half of the 12th, the Expos’ Bill Stoneman came on for a rare relief appearance. Cleon Jones singled with two outs and moved to second on Rod Gaspar’s walk, and Ken Boswell proved the hero with a game-winning RBI single.

Mets 3, Expos 2 (1, 12 inn.).  W: Taylor (8-4)  L: Stoneman (9-17)

Meanwhile, the slumping Chicago Cubs were on their way to another loss. Starter Ken Holtzman left after seven innings with his team trailing 3-2, and reliever Phil Regan poured gasoline on the fire by allowing three more runs without recording a single out. After winning 10 of his first 11 decisions, Holtzman has now lost nine of his last 15.  Rick Wise tossed a complete game for the Phils, allowing just one unearned run.

Phillies 6, Cubs 2.  W: Wise (13-11)  L: Holtzman (16-10)

With the second game of the Mets-Expos doubleheader underway, the home fans took to watching the out-of-town scoreboard. When the electronic “F” flashed to signal the end of the Cubs game, the Mets fans began to dance in the aisles.  Regardless of the outcome of the nightcap, the Mets were now assured of waking up the next morning in first place. The scoreboard operator ran a celebratory message that seemed aimed just as much to the rest of the league as it was to the Shea faithful: LOOK WHO’S NO. 1.

In the third inning of game two, Jerry Grote’s leadoff double sparked a 6-run rally, and Nolan Ryan made the lead hold up en route to a 7-1 blowout. Ken Boswell recorded three hits, with Art Shamsky and Bud Harrelson each tallying two. When John Bateman flied out to Rod Gaspar for the final out, the Mets had moved into a full-game lead in the National League East.

Mets 7, Expos 1 (2).  W: Ryan (6-1)  L: Reed (6-6)

NL EAST STANDINGS

                                                 W    L    T   PCT    GB    RS   RA
New York Mets                   84   57    0  .596     -   565  494
Chicago Cubs                     84   59    1  .587   1.0   656  532

Wednesday, July 16, 1969

The Mets put up 6 runs in the first two innings and held on for a 9-5 win to take a second series from the Chicago Cubs this month.

New York jumped early on starter Fergie Jenkins, who allowed three straight hits to start the game. Jenkins was charged with 5 runs in just 1 inning of work.

Staked to an early lead, though, ex-Cubs starter Don Cardwell was unable to make it out of the second innings for the Mets. Chicago drew to within 6-5 after 3 innings, but New York’s Cal Koonce righted the ship with 5 scoreless innings in relief, and Ron Taylor added 2 of his own to finish out the game and the series at Wrigley.

Art Shamsky went 3 for 5 with 2 RBI, Tommie Agee had a double and home run, and Cleon Jones went 2 for 5 and scored three times. J.C. Martin has 2 hits and 2 RBI, and Ken Boswell also had 2 hits and an RBI.

The win pulled the Mets back to within 3.5 games of the first-place Cubs.

Mets 9, Cubs 5.  W: Koonce (4-3)  L: Jenkins (12-7)  SV: Taylor (9)

***

Team Name                        W    L    T   PCT    GB
Chicago Cubs                    57   36    1  .613     -
New York Mets                   51   37    0  .580   3.5

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