This game debuted pitcher Robert G. Miller as a Met. The Mets also had another pitcher Robert L. Miller, of 0-12 fame until he won his final decision to be 1-12 on second last game of this 1962 season. Robert G. made just one pitch in this debut which Del Crandall promptly deposited over the fence for a Braves 5-4 win in 12 innings. The newspaper account began - “It took Robert G. Miller just one pitch to prove he was a New York Met.”

What is the official record of the 1962 Mets, 40-120, or 40-120-1 ? I know that they were rained out of a doubleheader (1 of those games to break the tie of the September 9th game).

But that never happened, so does it revert back to a tie, or is it a rainout and no official game ?

I was 19 years old and about to start my last year of college. A friend of mine and I went to Shea early so we could see batting practice before the first game. I was still mending a broken heart from the time the Giants left New York. I was there to root for the Giants and my heroes on the team. (In the mid-1960s I converted to become a loyal Mets fan.)

During the second game we started to move down from the upper deck to find empty seats, until we were sitting right behind home plate.

I remember that at least one of the Alou brothers was playing for the Giants that day and of course Willie Mays. I stayed until the very end but my friend had to leave during the second game. He later told me that when he got home to Connecticut the game was still going on and he was shocked to learn that.

I went to that game, with my older brother. I was 9 years old. Like everyone. We took the bus, and walked over the bridge. Got in, with the milk box coupons. The game was extremely exciting. It was unreal. Eddie Kranepool with the base hit! The next night as everyone knows, was Seaver's imperfect game. My next door neighbor had tickets to the game, and asked me to go. My father wouldn’t let me go; it was my moms birthday! 7/9/69!!

Many have pointed out this was the Mets' first ever Opening Day win, and it was quite a dramatic win at that. Tom Seaver and Steve Blass started and pitched well, as the game went into extras with the score 3-3. After a scoreless 10th, the Mets broke through in the 11th. Jerry May, starting at catcher for the Pirates only because regular starter Manny Sanguillen was hurt, threw errantly to 2nd base on a sacrifice bunt attempt, putting 2 runners on and none out. After another sac bunt and an intentional walk, Don Clendenon came up to pinch hit and delivered a 2-run single. Tug McGraw then worked a scoreless bottom of the 11th to get the save.

I listened to the radio broadcast of this game. This was Ryan's first appearance of the 1970 season, and was pitching for the first time since spring training in late March. By my count, he eclipsed 100 pitches by the 5th inning, and for the latter half of the game the Mets constantly had someone warming in the bullpen in case he tired out and got into trouble. But Ryan had no issues with this weak-hitting Phillies team, earning his first of 61 career shutouts. His 1-hitter was the 4th to this point in Mets history, following Al Jackson, Jack Hamilton and Tom Seaver. His 15 strikeouts also established a new team record for a 9-inning game (Jerry Koosman also struck out 15 in a 10-inning game the previous year). However, Ryan wouldn't hold the record for long, as only 4 days later Seaver would fan 19 against the Padres.

Ryan struck out the side 3 times, including in the first when he stranded the bases loaded. He recorded his 15th K as the 2nd out in the 8th, and had a chance to tie the Major League record of 19 if he fanned the remaining 4 batters. But Tim McCarver grounded out to end the 8th to put the record out of reach. If my count was correct, Ryan finished the 8th at 143 pitches, and it seemed academic his day was done. But he was allowed to bat in the bottom of the inning and hit a single, then scored on Tommy Agee's first homer of the season. He then pitched a clean 9th inning, ending at approximately 154 pitches. You would never ever see a pitcher handled like that in today's age.

This marked the 5th straight game in which the Mets shut out the Phillies. The two teams were on such polar opposite ends of the talent spectrum during this era.

Also, April 18, 1970 marked the birthday of Rico Brogna. Quite appropriate, considering Rico spent the bulk of his career playing for the Mets and Phillies.

I remember going to City Island to eat seafood and coming home to watch this on TV with the sound off. My father's rules that night. Stay off the radio and DON'T tell him the Knicks game 7 score. All of his cop friends came over to watch the NYK LAL game 7 that night at 1130 on tape delay on ABC channel 7 with Chris Schenkel and Jack Twyman.These cops were degenerate gamblers but to a man they did not spill the beans and watched the game as if it was live. Incredible. The Mets did show the score on the scoreboard and I knew already but kept my mouth shut. Even though it was a Friday my mother would have sent me to bed at the age of 8 instead of hang out with the adults. Geez...

Gary Gentry had what just might have been the best game of his career. On a 46-degree day in Chicago, he pitched a one-hit shutout over the division-leading Cubs. Gary surrendered only a walk to Ron Santo and faced the minimum 21 batters over the first seven innings. A two-out single by Ernie Banks in the eighth ended Gentry's bid for a no-hitter.

Gentry got all the run support he would need on Art Shamsky's home run in the top of the fourth. One inning later, Gary's own single drove home Wayne Garrett. The Mets added two more runs in the seventh when Garrett tripled to score Mike Jorgensen and came home on a single by Jerry Grote.

Two days later in Philadelphia, Tom Seaver threw a one-hitter against the Phillies. This gave the Mets one-hit victories in two consecutive games.

Tom Seaver struck out fifteen batters and pitched a one-hit shutout on this night in Philadelphia. Mike Compton's single in the third inning was the Phillies' only hit. It was the second straight one-hit game by a Mets' pitcher after the one thrown by Gary Gentry in Chicago two days earlier. Along with Nolan Ryan's win over the Phils at Shea Stadium on April 18th, it was the team's third one-hitter of the season already.

The Mets got all the scoring they needed in the top of the fourth. With Ron Swoboda on second base and Donn Clendenon on third, Joe Foy was at bat. Woodie Fryman threw a wild pitch that enabled Clendenon to score. On the play, catcher Compton made a throwing error that allowed Swoboda to come home. Consecutive singles by Foy and Jerry Grote in the fifth drove home the third and fourth New York runs.

I have a portion of this on CD. Willie Davis got like 6 hits to raise his average 150 points or some such. I have the Mets explosion and you hear crickets and the Mets bench clapping that it was thankfully over lol.

I obtained an 18 minute version of this game with all the scoring and tense ending on CD along with the 20 minute version of the 19 inning LA game in May. Great for my collection !

Cut class in 5th grade- was a half day anyway and took Q44 from Bronx to Flushing. My dad had this hang up about taking the train one stop from Main St to Willets Pt. but as we walked there were hundreds of us walking in unison. After we went on the field we walked back to Main Street and everyone was yelling We're No 1 and Let's go Mets. Even at age 11 it choked me up. There is a video on YouTube PCS BEAT that shows the last out and Rose tearing ass to the dugout without even reaching 2nd. What chaos !

My Dad took me to this game. I was 6. He had taken me to a game earlier that year that Ed Kranepool won on a walk-off pinch hit homer. It was awesome. Eddie got the same opportunity in this game, and I thought we had it in the bag -- walk-off pinch hit homers were just what Ed Kranepool did. I was shocked and deflated when he grounded out to second. Maybe my first coming-of-age baseball moment -- Casey sometimes strikes out. RIP, Ed Kranepool!

I have to think Matt's view from the sky box wasn't too good, as things didn't play out exactly as he described.

Everything stemmed from Hundley's 3-run homer in the 3rd inning. Vizcaino was on 2nd base and celebrated like Hundley just won the game, drawing the ire of Avery. So next time up, Vizcaino gets plunked right behind the knee, and has to come out of the game and misses the next 2 contests. Avery leads off the top of the 5th and the umpire gave Jones two chances for retaliation, but he fails to get the job done on a couple of inside pitches -- which certainly weren't anywhere close to Avery's head, like Matt wrote. At this point the umpire has to issue warnings, bringing Green out to argue. After he's done he says something to Avery, Avery says something back, and then Hundley gets involved, shoving Avery before the umpire and on-deck-batter Marquis Grissom come in to pry Hundley away. After that, mostly just jawing and waist holding until the game gets back underway.

The cherry on top was that Avery then bangs one to dead center that Lance Johnson can't reel in at the wall, but Avery lollygagged around the bases and only settled for a double in what could have been a possible inside-the-park home run. Avery then winds up being one of 13 runners the Braves leave on base, as Jones danced in and out of trouble all night. In fact, he set the Mets record in this game by allowing the most hits without giving up a run. His final line was 7.1 innings pitched, 12 hits, no runs. No other pitcher in team history has allowed more hits while allowing no runs.

Though Hundley didn't get to punch out Avery, he sure socked it to him at the plate. He went 4-for-4 with 2 dingers, with the one he hit in the 3rd a 440-foot tape-measure shot over the visitors bullpen. Probably one of the longest he ever hit right-handed. Incredibly, though this was Avery's 18th career start vs. the Mets, that was only the 2nd home run he ever allowed against them. The only other one was hit by Howard Johnson in 1991. This was Avery's first loss against the Mets since 1991 as well.

I don't know if it was coincidence or planned, but having the Dodgers play in New York on this evening was apropos, considering Jackie Robinson played his entire career with the Dodgers in Brooklyn. I didn't realize that it was actually a secret that Robinson's #42 was being retired across baseball. Looking back, that revelation must have been quite the bombshell. It was also noteworthy that other games in action on this night also paused play while the ceremony was shown on the respective stadium's big screen. ESPN had all the bases covered on the broadcast, too, bringing in Pee Wee Reese over satellite, interviewing Larry Doby and President Clinton, and showing numerous candid interviews featuring Robinson over the years prior to his death.

As for the game itself, Reynoso made his Mets debut pitching 5 shutout innings, Toby Borland went the final 4 to collect his only save as a Met, and Lance Johnson plated 4 of the 5 runs as the Mets won their first home game of 1997.

The Mets jumped out to a 7-0 lead after 2 innings in this one, but in typical Coors Field fashion no lead was safe. Rick Reed was cruising until allowing a 2-run homer in the 4th, and he then gave up 4 more runs in the 5th, only getting bailed out when Dante Bichette was embarrassingly picked off 2nd base to end the rally. The teams traded runs in the 6th, and then Mel Rojas and John Franco managed to hold the lead despite some nervous moments to give the Mets a win in their first game of a 9-game road trip.

For Reed, he tied a career high by allowing 12 hits, and also tied a Mets record by getting a win despite allowing 7 runs. No Mets pitcher has ever won a game giving up more than that. The last to do it prior to Reed was Dwight Gooden on Opening Day in 1994, when Tuffy Rhodes hit 3 home runs off him in Chicago but the Mets still won, 12-8.

The hoopla over Ordonez's only career grand slam should also be accompanied by noting that this may have been his best game with the bat during his entire Mets tenure, as he finished 4-for-5 with two singles, a double, a home run, 2 runs and 4 RBI. He had a chance to hit for the cycle in the 8th but popped out to the pitcher.

His grand slam was the 7th the Mets hit in 1999, which tied the team record set in 1987. John Olerud would set the record with #8 a few days later. However, that record would be broken when the Mets clubbed 10 in 2006.