Gary Moore
September 20, 2001
This was my first live baseball game ever. I was seven years old and I got to see the Mets take over first place this night. Milner, Garrett and Staub hit bombs, and my idol Seaver pitched a terrific game. An awesome first game to ever see.

Stu
July 5, 2002
I was 10 years old at the time and my dad would take me to 1 or 2 games a year. In June, he told me to pick a game and I chose this one. The Mets moved into first place behind homers from Milner, Staub and Garrett. Seaver got the win and despite having an 8 run lead McGraw pitched the ninth and got a save since back then all you needed to do was finish a game regardless of the score to get one. It took us over two hours to get out of the parking lot. A man came running to our car and showed my father something that he said 'Crazy Harry' signed. My father said 'That's Nice' and rolled up the window.

Vinny
May 19, 2005
I remember watching this game at my grandmother's. This was the game when we took over first place and I think the Mets hit .500 that night as well.

I don't think we ever fell out of first the rest of the year. I remember that it was on the front cover of the Daily News the next day.

Marc Campano
June 10, 2006
Thanks to your awesome website, I have been able to retrack this game as part of one of my most cherished childhood memories. I remember going to this game with my dad and older brother. I can still recall sitting on the third base side in the upper deck at Shea Stadium and the unforgetable aroma of beer and peanuts. This was the game in which the Mets took over first place in the N.L. East and I was astonished when I saw a N.Y. Daily News while riding back on the subway to Grand Central Station that read: Mets take over first place. The game had only been completed 20 minutes or so earlier and I could not believe it was already in the paper. This game will forever be part of my Mets and childhood memory bank. A special night indeed!

Joseph Gazzola
October 5, 2006
The greatest game I ever went to. I was 10 years old and my grandparents had bought tickets earlier in the year. After being in last place and having possibly the worst offense in baseball, the Mets went 22-7 (14-2 at home) from August 27 to september 25. That memorable night, they moved into first place with a 10-2 romp over Pittsburgh and never looked back. My favorite player was Rusty Staub, and when he hit a homer in that game I was so happy that I wept into my grandmother's arms.

Today it still seems surreal that this 82-79 team beat the powerhouse Reds and then went to the 7th game of the World Series against one of the greatest teams of all time, the Oakland A's. To me personally, this year was better than 1986. It still seems somewhat unreal.

JoAnn
October 5, 2006
I was always a huge Tom Seaver fan mostly because he pitched in this game, one of the first I ever went to.

My dad had gotten the tickets back in July when one of his friends, a season ticket holder had pretty much written the Mets off and gave his remaining tickets away. (HA!)

I have vivid memories of a large crowd, the smell of cigars and beer, and of the Mets winning the game. The scoreboard showed the standing immediately after the game with the Mets in front by 1/2 game. The crowd went wild.

Mike
April 26, 2010
I was at this game. I was 12. I was excited to see Seaver pitch. I wonder if it was a promotional day because most of the time we attended giveaway days like Bat Day or Helmet Day. I also remember hearing about Jim Croce dying on the way home to Connecticut; he had died in a plane crash the night before.

Mezz6Hats
January 30, 2013
Just found this site! (in the bitter cold of a Mets off-season) But I lost my Dad last year, and of all the games that we went to together, this had the most ups and downs. The ups were obvious. The fans, still buzzing about the "ball- on-the-wall" play from the previous night, were in a full-fledged World Series frenzy. I believe the Mets grabbed a share of first place for the first time with this win. The downside was more personal. My Dad and I were used to getting to Shea two hours or so before the game. But this was a weekday game, so we couldn't start to go until he got home from work. First, there was a fire engine on our street blocking traffic. Then, we had to deal with rush hour traffic. THEN, by he time we got there, the lot was closed! We parked in a dingy gas station on Willets Pt. Blvd (we were afraid the car would be stripped when we got back). As a result, we missed the big first inning.

Quality Met
September 27, 2013
This was the game that put the Mets into first place in the National League East. I remember getting so excited when they scored those four runs in the first inning. I knew the division lead was just two hours away, and it was not to be lost!

Soon after that inning, I missed a half hour of the game. The reason for this was to see Joe Namath's much-anticipated appearance on The Brady Bunch, which went on a little later. But once Joe got finished with Bobby and Cindy, it was back to the Mets to complete a night to remember. It's hard to believe that 40 years have passed since then.

Robert Cole
February 4, 2022
We attended this game sitting in the blue loge seats near the right-field foul pole. I was 10 and there with my mother and 7-year-old brother. Anyway, my mother said let's make up a chant and she came up with "Let's go Mets bury the Pirates." I wonder if anyone remembers this? Fans also chanted "We're number 1". Mets won 10-2. Also remember, plenty of people with air horns. My Mom died 3 years later.

James McHale
September 21, 2022
Quite a game to have attended as an impressionable young lad just shy of 14 yrs. We went with a nearby Jackson Heights crew of regulars---if we lived any closer, we could have walked there! While viewing this seemingly sell-out FRI night game from upper left field deck rafters, how could anyone forget the resounding boom when outfielder Rusty Staub slammed into the unpadded, green-painted wall up one of the alleys. Surprise, ball was caught at a critical point in game, however, RS was unable to throw normally for the rest of the '73 Campaign!

Note: It was not unusual for some NYMs to actually live in the surrounding neighborhoods back in the day.

Mets Know-It-All
October 6, 2022
James, Rusty Staub's catch in which he hurt his shoulder by running into the wall came in Game 4 of the NLCS, not in this game. This was the night that the Mets took over first place in the N. L. East with a 10-2 win over the Pirates. In a five-hitter by Tom Seaver, they scored four runs in the first inning and then got homers from John Milner, Wayne Garrett and Staub to enter the top spot in the division. The victory also brought the Mets to the break-even mark for the season with a 77-77 won-lost record.