National League Standings, September 24, 1969
METS FANS SHARE THEIR MEMORIES OF THE SEPTEMBER 24, 1969 GAME:
Dennis Black
August 15, 2002
The clincher, and on my birthday! I was watching on good old Channel 9 and I can still hear Lindsey Nelson (after Joe Torre grounded into the game-ending DP) "At 9:07, the Mets...." I forget the rest, but he sounded excited, and so was I.
LenDog
June 15, 2003
I had my own TV in my room, age 8. It was considered a luxury back then, and my friends were jealous. It was a black and white piece of junk.
Anyway, I put a towel under my door so the light from the TV would not show. I was not supposed to be up at 9:07 on a school night, but I watched the whole game.
Bob Murphy's radio call of this moment is on "The Miracle Mets", a highlight LP I still have. It will send chills down your spine...
"Gentry working hard. The crowd chanting we're number one, we're number one....groundball to short, Harrelson to Weis, there's one, on to first -- double play!! Ohhhhh, the roar going up in this crowd!"
jeff goldman
September 25, 2003
I was there sitting in a loge seat behing 3rd base. As a 17 year old, I was a fan since day one at the Polo Grounds. I still have the program, ticket stub and grass from the outfield that remains in my ex-house in Franklin Square. As for Sports memories, this is and always will be the number one moment in my life. I have the video from channel 9 including the entire wild clubhouse scene.
Bob Nachman
September 26, 2013
I was nine years old at the time, and had seen some great games that year, including Tom Terrific's near-perfect game (Jimmy Qualls... I STILL hate you!) Winning the division championship, at 9:07 pm, was magical!
Storch
September 26, 2013
The game I became a Met fan. Loge seats, Fan Appreciation Day, key chain giveaway, the last home game of the season. 13 years old. Oh what a night. Carlton 1/3 of a inning.
Ray Nickerson
April 3, 2015
For some reason I don't remember much of the game except the last play and Lindsey Nelson saying "at 9:07 on Sept 24th" but a friend brought over a mutt, asked us if we wanted him, we begged our parents until they relented. We needed a name for him. My uncle Buddy who was a my reason becoming a Met fan suggested Champ, and so it was.
Jon Salzman
September 27, 2019
My mom took us all. 5 kids. Loge behind 3rd. I distinctly remember before the game it was cloudy but there was a circular opening with a small trace of sunlight coming through it. It was a sign. Singing "good bye Carlton" and watching his butt crawl back to that dugout. Screaming "we’re # 1" for an hour and never leaving. Mad at my mom because she wouldn’t let me run on the field. Just a 10 year old at the time. Lost my keychain. Regretting that into my 60’s now.
Irving
July 27, 2021
I went to the game with my friend Cheo. I recall the key chain given for fan appreciation day. We were glad to be part of the history of watching the NY Mets win their 1st championship. The fans went nuts when Don Clendenon’s 2 homers.
The crazy part about that evening we were both 15 years old and had to go to school the following day. After the last out we both rushed out of the stadium, jumped on the subway back home and missed the celebration, looking back, our biggest regret was missing the celebration!!!!
Hot Foot
August 2, 2022
When I was 8 (in the summer of 1986), I rented the videotape An Amazin' Era, the 25th anniversary video of the Mets. My family had two VCRs so we made a copy (I hope the FBI isn't reading this) and I must have watched An Amazin' Era over 50 times that summer, and over 100 times throughout the '80s. I was with my mom when we rented it; I think she even pointed it out to me. She was a Mets fan, more so than my dad. I remember watching An Amazin' Era with her, and the highlight of the Mets winning this game and clinching came on the TV.
The announcer, Lindsey Nelson, says the date, and right at that moment, my mom said, "That's my birthday. I remember that." The sight of hundreds of fans rushing the field at Shea and tearing up the turf made an impression on me; it was the first time I'd seen it. And now when I watch that clip, I get goosebumps and chills. Even though I wasn't alive in 1969, I still felt like I saw it live that day in 1986 when I saw it with my mom, you know what I mean? Vicariously, through my mom, I have warm memories of the 1969 team, especially this game.
As a postscript, I remember that not long after I had rented and copied An Amazin' Era, I was hungry for more baseball documentaries. My mom and I were at the video store and I found a documentary about the 1961 Yankees. I told my mom I wanted to rent that one, and she said, "No. You're a Mets fan."
Pete Masone
April 10, 2024
The fall of 1969 I was 12 years old . I converted to a Mets fan from my beloved Mickey Mantle when I was 7 because no one from my hood would drive up to the Bronx and the subway ride was too complicated for the adults. Now here I sit full blooded Mets man for five years finally believing I did the right thing.
We were up in nose bleed heaven; cheapest seats in the house. Four boys and the strictest Mom in the neighborhood at the end of the row. We are screaming our heads off the whole game not believing our eyes what was unfolding. We all wanted to run out on that field because that was the buzz going around the stadium. But we knew our beloved chauffeur and school teacher Hood mom would discipline us back to the little blue Corvair and herd us back to city line. But then right at the moment of out three Mrs M. stands up, shouts very sternly down the row that we will all meet at the 410 mark at 11:00 sharp let’s go. I say thank you Jesus and the rest is history.
A childhood dream unfolded and I can’t thank Mrs M enough. God Bless you wherever you are??
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