METS FANS SHARE THEIR MEMORIES OF THE JULY 20, 1976 GAME:
Bob
September 20, 2002
This was the first Mets game I ever attended. My family lived in Winston-Salem, NC, at the time and Kahn's hotdog packages had order forms for the World Champion Reds games. My Dad and I ordered tickts and went to the game. I was a little disappointed that my favorite player, Dave Kingman, was injured and could not play. But I was delighted when the Mets scored two in the first. Pete Rose led off the bottom of the first with a home run, but Jerry Koosman settled down and pitched a masterpiece. I had a Mets pennant and cap. I was very shy as a child and as we got on the bus after the game a Reds fan said, "You're on the wrong bus", and, much to my Dad's delight, I said loudly, "He's right. This is the losers' bus."
Tom S.
December 24, 2003
This was the first and only game that my father ever took me and my brother to. (My father was European-born and could never figure out why we found baseball so fascinating.) We were hoping to get ourselves some autographs - I would cover the Reds' dugout and my brother would hang by the Mets. I remember how crowded it was by the dugout as I searched for Reds players. I saw Rose and Morgan and thought how big their heads looked, like those Mardi Gras figures that parade in the streets in New Orleans. I did get Johnny Bench and Pedro Borbon to sign my Reds yearbook. As for the game, I could not believe that Concepcion could hit two homers in a single game, but I did get a chance to boo Mickey Lolich. (How could the Mets trade Staub anyway?) One observation that my father made after seeing how big the field was and how small the players look: how could a batted ball not find a space to land in such a vast outfield? I think about that every time that I go to a game - whether it is a major league game or a Little League game.
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