METS FANS SHARE THEIR MEMORIES OF THE MAY 1, 1984 GAME:
dave freeman
February 15, 2002
i was at this game. Dwight had his hook working...must have nailed 4 cubbies looking with a 2 strike curve. you could see the knees lock and the bat stop...then the ump would ring them up... Rusty Staub had an rbi single to center in the 7 run sixth. there was a play at the plate...and Rusty to everyone's amazement broke for second... and made it! he left for a pinch runner to a standing o. this was the first time i'd seen Gooden live and Shea was buzzing...the early signs of things to come.
Ed
June 11, 2007
I was a young trainee and the head of my department offered me tickets to see the Mets -- an orphan team that wasn't expected to do anything in 1984, and with a rookie pitching. Gooden was still sore about the way the Cubs mocked him two weeks earlier and he mowed them down this night. It was a very exciting night to be a Mets fan in my 20s, with no curfew!
Hank M
October 12, 2007
On this night, there was a sign that Dwight Gooden had an immediate impact. This game was nearly left untelevised in the New York area. The fact that Dwight was pitching kept it on local TV. The SportsChannel cable station was supposed to air the game. It couldn't because the Islanders had a hockey playoff game at home that it had to cover. Meanwhile, WOR-TV (which would have aired the Mets instead) had a New Jersey Nets basketball playoff game to show. The Mets' game, with Gooden starting, had no TV station to cover it! A one-night agreement between SportsChannel and the Madison Square Garden cable station saved the game's televising. It was shown on MSG with SportsChannel's coverage. If Dr. K hadn't been on the mound, this compromise with the two stations probably would not have occurred and the game would not have been on metro-area TV.
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