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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)

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)

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)

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)

***

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

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     -

Thursday, September 11, 1969

The New York Mets and Chicago Cubs are like two ships passing each other in the National League East.  The Mets are sailing upward while the Cubs are steadily sinking.

The Mets downed the Expos for the third time in two days at Shea, this time behind a dominant performance by Gary Gentry. The 22-year-old righthander hurled a six-hit shutout, striking out nine while walking only two to even his season record.  Meanwhile, New York’s leadoff man Tommie Agee collected two hits and scored twice, fellow Alabama native Cleon Jones also crossed the plate twice, and Ken Boswell, yesterday’s extra-inning hero, went 2 for 3 with an RBI.

Mets 4, Expos 0.  W: Gentry (11-11)  L: Robertson (5-13)

Meanwhile, the Cubs remained in a rut in Philly. Dick Selma carried a 2-1 lead into the bottom of the 8th inning, but Tony Taylor collected his third hit of the day with a leadoff double, John Briggs followed with a double to tie the game, and then slugger Dick Allen struck a home run to put the home team up by two. Willie Smith homered in the top of the ninth off starter Jeff James (who made his first appearance of the season) to draw Chicago within one, but Grant Jackson came on to get the final out.

Phillies 4, Cubs 3.  W: James (1-0)  L: Selma (12-7)  SV: Jackson (1)

Since August 13, when the Mets were in third place in the division and 9 1/2 games behind Chicago, New York has won 23 of 29 games while the Cubs have struggled at a pace of 10-17. 

NL EAST

                                             W    L    T   PCT    GB  
New York Mets                 85   57    0  .599     -  
Chicago Cubs                   84   60    1  .583   2.0

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

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