Posts Tagged ‘Wayne Garrett’
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?
AMAZIN! METS ONE GAME AWAY FROM SERIES TITLE AFTER SEAVER GOES 10 AND SWOBODA’S SNARE SAVES THE DAY
Wednesday, October 15, 1969
Tom Seaver pitched his best game of the postseason, Ron Swoboda made the catch of his life, and now the Mets find themselves one game away from a world championship.
After allowing 9 runs over 12 innings in two starts, Cy Young candidate Tom Seaver crafted a masterpiece in Game 4 of the World Series. The Franchise threw 10 strong frames, allowing just one run on six hits and two walks, as the Orioles and Mets went into extra innings at Shea Stadium.
Donn Clendenon’s solo home run in the second inning off Baltimore’s Mike Cuellar gave New York an early lead. The score remained 1-0 until the top of the ninth, when Seaver appeared to tire. He surrendered back-to-back hits to Frank Robinson and Boog Powell to put men on first and third with one out. Brooks Robinson sent a sinking liner into rightfielder. Swoboda, who was dubbed “Rocky” because of his defensive struggles earlier in his career, made a split-second decision and dove to his right with his body parallel to the ground and his arm reaching out as far as he could. Quoting from 1969: The Year Everything Changed:
If not for perfect timing, the ball would have skipped past Swoboda’s glove and likely gone all the way to the wall. Perhaps in some parallel universe, it did just that: Both runners scored as Robinson pulled into third with a triple, and Baltimore scored a come-from-behind win in Game Four to regain momentum in the Series. Perhaps in this alternate reality, the Orioles went on to win the Series, while the ’69 Mets had to settle for being an intriguing footnote in baseball’s long, storied history.
But Swoboda’s timing was perfect, and he caught the ball just inches above the outfield grass. Frank Robinson tagged up and scored from third to tie the game, but the Shea crowd didn’t seem to care. The fans of this miracle team had witnessed yet another miraculous catch, and one batter later, Swoboda made another fine (though not nearly as difficult) catch on a line drive to halt the Orioles rally.
After the game, commentators would compare the play to the greatest catches in World Series history.
Swoboda made a jogging catch on Elrod Hendricks’s liner to end the inning. Swoboda’s single in the bottom of the ninth, his third of the game, pushed Cleon Jones to third with two outs, but reliever Eddie Watt got pinch-hitter Art Shamsky to ground out to second, and the game proceeded into extra innings.
Still on the mound, Seaver worked around a jam in the tenth. Davey Johnson reached on an error by Wayne Garrett, and Clay Dalrymple’s pinch hit put two on with one out. But Don Buford flew out to right, and then Seaver struck out Paul Blair.
In the bottom of the tenth, Jerry Grote led off with a flyball double that fell just out of reach of shortstop Mark Belanger in shallow leftfield. After an intentional walk to Al Weis, Pete Richert came on to face pinch-hitter J. C. Martin. Martin laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt, and when Richert fielded it and wheeled to first, his throw hit Martin and bounced away. Rod Gaspar, running for Grote, came around to score the winning run.
The Orioles would argue that Martin should have been called out and the play called dead because he had been running outside the basepath when the ball struck him. But the play stood, and now this miraculous Mets team will look to close out the series on Thursday at Shea.
WORLD SERIES GAME FOUR: Mets 2, Orioles 1 (10 inn.). W: Seaver (1-1) L: Hall (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 BOUNCE BRAVES 11-6, NOW LEAD SERIES 2-0; MCNALLY THROWS 11-INNING SHUTOUT AS ORIOLES TAKE COMMANDING LEAD IN ALCS
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)
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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)
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)
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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 STAFF RECORDS 4TH STRAIGHT SHUTOUT
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)
JENKINS WINS 20TH, KOOSMAN TOSSES SHUTOUT
Wednesday, September 17, 1969
Fergie Jenkins recorded his 20th win of the season despite allowing 12 hits and 4 walks in 7 1/3 innings to the Phillies at Wrigley. The Cubs seemed to break open a tie game with 5 runs in the bottom of the sixth, highlighted by Jenkins’ own triple with the bases loaded, and another in the seventh. But Philly struck back with 4 in the top of the eighth before Rich Nye righted the ship with 1 1/3 scoreless innings to close out the game. Ron Santo went 3 for 3 with a 2-run homer and 3 RBI, and Billy Williams was 3 for 4 with a home run and scored three times.
Cubs 9, Phillies 7. W: Jenkins (20-14) L: Champion (5-10) SV: Nye (3)
Jerry Koosman was untouchable on the mound in Montreal, tossing a six-hit shutout against the Expos. Leadoff man Wayne Garrett had two hits and two RBI for the Mets, Ken Boswell was 2 for 3 and scored a run, and Al Weis was 2 for 5 and knocked in a run.
Mets 5, Expos 0. W: Koosman (15-9) L: Waslewski (2-9)
NL EAST W L T PCT GB
New York Mets 90 58 0 .608 -
Chicago Cubs 87 63 1 .580 4.0
KOOSMAN, AGEE ANSWER BACK CHALLENGE FROM CUBS, METS JUST 1.5 GAMES OUT
Monday, September 8, 1969
Jerry Koosman answered Bill Hands’s knockdown pitches and the Mets stood up to the Cubs in the opener of their crucial two-game series at Shea.
Hands, looking to deliver a message to the pesky Mets, knocked down leadoff batter Tommie Agee not once but twice in the first inning. But Koosman responded by drilling Cubs leader Ron Santo to begin the second inning, and then the lefthander proceeded to strand Santo on first by striking out the next three batters.
In the bottom of the third, Agee got his own measure of revenge. With two outs and Bud Harrelson standing on first, Agee drove a Hands offering over the fence to give the home team a 2-0 lead.
Koosman faltered in the top of the sixth. He gave up a run by surrendering singles to Don Kessinger, Glenn Beckert, and Billy Williams to begin the inning, and then Ron Santo’s sacrifice fly tied the game.
But again, New York answered back. Agee led off the bottom of the inning with a double and came around to score on Wayne Garrett’s single.
Koosman hung tough from there. Chicago threatened in the eighth when Beckert and Williams opened the inning with consecutive singles, but then Koosman induced Santo to ground into a double play, short to second to first. Ernie Banks stepped in the box with the tying run 90 feet away, but Koosman retired him on strikes and then worked around a Randy Hundley single in the ninth by notching his eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth strikeouts of the game.
The Mets’ victory drew the team to within just 1.5 games of first, the closest they’ve been all season.
Mets 3, Cubs 2. W: Koosman (13-9) L: Hands (16-13)
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NL EAST STANDINGS
W L T PCT GB RS RA
Chicago Cubs 84 57 1 .596 - 653 519
New York Mets 81 57 0 .587 1.5 548 490
AGEE AND GARRETT BURN ATLANTA, HICKMAN HAS 10 TOTAL BASES IN GAME VS DODGERS
Sunday, August 10, 1969
Team W L T PCT GB
Chicago Cubs 71 43 1 .623 -
New York Mets 62 48 0 .564 7.0
St. Louis Cardinals 63 51 0 .553 8.0
Tommie Agee and Wayne Garrett continued their hot hitting and the Mets continued their dominance of the Braves.
Agee had two doubles and a home run, and Garrett went 2 for 4. Nolan Ryan left with an injury after 2 1/3, giving way to Don Cardwell, who went 4 innings. Tug McGraw then finished the game, preserving the shutout. New York has taken six of its last seven games against Atlanta.
Mets 3, Braves 0. W: Cardwell (4-9) L: Britton (6-3) SV: McGraw (7)
***
Don Sutton got the better of Ken Holtzman in Los Angeles. Dodgers leadoff man Ted Sizemore went 3 for 4 and scored twice. Randy Hundley went 2 for 4 with a run and RBI for the Cubs.
Dodgers 4, Cubs 2. W: Sutton (14-11) L: Holtzman (13-6) SV: Mikkelsen (2)
Saturday, August 9, 1969
Tommie Agee went 3 for 4 with 2 runs scored and an RBI, and Wayne Garrett drove in two as the Mets continued their mastery of the Atlanta Braves. Bobby Pfeil and Cleon Jones also added 2 hits each. Tom Seaver went 7 1/3 for the win, while his counterpart Pat Jarvis exited early after allowing 3 runs on 6 hits in just 2 1/3 innings.
Mets 5, Braves 3. W: Seaver (16-7) L: Stone (9-8) SV: Koonce (7)
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Jim Hickman had two home runs and a double as Bill Hands shut out the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-0. Randy Hundley also homered.
Cubs 4, Dodgers 0. W: Hands (14-8) L: Foster (3-7)
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)
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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)
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Team Name W L T GB
Chicago Cubs 56 34 1 -
New York Mets 49 36 0 4.5