Before 48,736 fans the Pirates defeat the Mets 4– 3 in the first game played at Shea Stadium. Bob Friend is the winner over Cuban righty Ed Bauta. Friend was also the winning pitcher in the last game ever played at the Polo Grounds before the Giants moved west.

This was the first game played at Shea Stadium. Among the firsts in this game were:

First batter-Dick Schofield (he popped out). First pitch thrown- Jack Fisher. First hit, run, home run, and RBI-Willie Stargell. First single- Bob Bailey. First double-Ron Hunt. First stolen base-Joe Christopher. First sac bunt-Bob Friend. First hit batsman-Jim Hickman by Bob Friend. First winning pitcher-Bob Friend. First losing pitcher-Ed Bauta.

Was at the first game at Shea in 1964, April 17th. Had seats behind home plate, loge reserved.

I remember Willie Stargell hit the first HR, a line drive to right field.

Was able to get a Larry Bearnarth autograph before the game at the Mets dugout. A photographer took the photo of me and Larry Bearnarth and was published in the NY Herald Tribune on April 17th or 18th, 1964. Really would like to get a copy of these papers. If any one has a copy, please let me know.

Thanks,

Alex Tamborrino tambo6@mac.com

On the 44th anniversary, and mere months now before its demise, Jack Fisher, Ron Hunt and Tim Harkness returned to Shea to pull the Shea Stadium Final Countdown from #74 to #73.

Shea Stadium 4/17/1964 to hopefully sometime in late October 2008.

I was thrilled when my father surprised me with tickets to this game. It was the second game ever to be played a Shea and the Pirates had players like Clemente, Mazeroski and future Met hero Don Clendenon. I got to see Casey Stengel up close! Of course, by the bottom of the seventh the Pirates were up 9-0. Being a Met fan we were used to being pounded. But...the Mets scored 2 in 7th, 2 in the 8th and 1 in the ninth to close the gap to 9-5. Everyone was screaming like crazy, waving handkerchiefs and banners. The game ended with the bases loaded. We really had the Bucs on the ropes for three innings. In those days a come-back like that was a real moral victory.

This was the second game ever played at Shea Stadium. I was 15 years old at the time and for the first time I went to a ball game with my friends instead of my dad. My buddies and I were waiting on the subway platform at 74th Street and Roosevelt Avenue. From a distance, we saw our 9th grade Spanish teacher. When we returned to school on Monday, we discussed the game in Spanish.

Somewhere in the barrage of runs Pittsburgh scored in this game, a little-noticed but truly classic “Can’t Anybody here play this game” incident took place. At some point, with a few runners on base, the batter lofts a towering fly ball into shallow left-center – a tough play for any shortstop, but even tougher if your shortstop is named Elio Chacon.

Chacon drifts back, looking over his shoulder, starts to slowly turn to the right as the ball descends, keeps turning, craning his neck, turns and turns some more until he comes all the way back to where he started - a full circle - and the ball drops right in the middle. The stadium is brand-new and so is the sod; the ball buries itself in the grass; Chacon can’t find it, Pirates are running merrily around the bases; a few runs score; and the only thing we could do in the stands was to laugh hysterically – you always had to be ready to do that in the early years.

We were 15 years old or so and were we ever looking forward to seeing Shea Stadium. The Mets had run a feature on the new stadium in the 1963 Yearbook or Scorecard and we couldn't believe that our team would ever be playing in a place that was so state of the art. There was even going to be this huge TV screen on top of the scoreboard! (It didn't work during day games for sure and I think it took them years to get it to work at all.) This was the second game at Shea and my friends and I walked up to the box office and were able to get Loge Reserved seats in one of the sections right behind home plate. To this day, and after going to Shea hundreds of times, they were the best seats I ever had at Shea.

How times have changed. I don't even know if we'll be able to buy our way into the new CitiField the first year of play, much less the second day!

I grew up in New York and attended this game, the first Met win at Shea Stadium. It was a cold and blustery day, but my bud and I didn't care. Jim Hickman cracked a solid 2 run HR to left early on and from that point everyone present had a sense that this would be THE DAY. Jackson finished up Mazeroski was left in the on deck circle and we all went home happy that we had been a small part of Mets history.

One correction to an earlier post on this, the first Mets victory at Shea: there were no home runs in the game.

The Mets took a 4-0 lead in the fourth inning when Rod Kanehl and Ron Hunt each singled in two runs. The Mets added two more in the sixth on a single by Al Moran that drove in Joe Christopher, then Moran scored on a Dick Smith double.

Meanwhile, Al Jackson scattered six hits and struck out six, including fanning Willie Stargell three times and Donn Clendenon twice.

Joe Christopher was the first Met ever to steal a base at Shea in this game.

Ron Hunt hit the first home run by a Met at Shea Stadium in this game.

One of the earliest full scale brawls in Met history happened at the end of this game as a result of a collision at home plate when Braves catcher Ed Bailey tagged Ron Hunt for the final out of the game.

Just finished listening to this game. First night game ever at Shea. The key play in the game was typical of the early Mets.

4th inning with the Reds leading 4-2, starter Bill Wakefield gets knocked out of the box. Casey brings in Ron Locke, who has only been in a handful of games up til then. Tommy Harper is on first base and Locke walks Vada Pinson on 4 pitches. So with Harper & Pinson, two of the fastest players in the league are on base. Then, as Bob Murphy points out on the broadcast, Locke forgets that he has two guys on base and instead of pitching from the stretch, he goes full wind up and Harper practically walks to third base. Pinson is so surprised he doesn't take advantage.

That's enough for Casey. He takes Locke out without letting him throw another pitch, LOL. He brings in Larry Bearnarth and his first throw is a wild pitch and Harper scores, Pinson goes to second base. Makes it 5-2. Then Deron Johnson, the batter up at the time, hits a double, Pinson scores and it's 6-2. Then Frank Robinson singles, scoring Johnson, 7-2. Robinson steals second base. Johnny Edwards moves him to 3rd on a ground out, and he scores on a Leo Cardenas single, 8-2. When Bearnarth finally got the side out, the Shea Faithful gave a loud, sarcastic round of applause.

So night time baseball at Shea got to see right away the same type of baseball the Mets were playing in the Polo Grounds the two years before. And Casey was probably thinking to himself, "it never was like this with the Yankees."

My uncle brought my cousin and me to the game. We had box seats on 3rd base side. I remember being so impressed at how fast and straight and how effortlessly Dick Groat and Julian Javier were throwing during the pregame warmup. I was two weeks shy of my 14th birthday. I still have the ticket stub, field box section 98D seat 2, $3.50. He’s passed but still love my uncle, he was some character, and my cousin.

This was the first time I ever saw a game at Shea. It was also Roy McMillan's first game for the Mets. (I recall he batted second and went one for four). Too bad the Mets lost -- if they'd won this game, and everything else that season stayed the same -- St. Louis, Cincinnati and Philadelphia would have ended the season in a tie.

This is the first baseball game I ever went to. My dad took me of course. I was all of 8 years old. Funny but for some reason I remember Ron Hunt hitting the home run, not Jesse Gonder, but going to Shea for the first time was an experience I never forgot.

This first game of a Mother's Day doubleheader at Shea marked the first appearance of Roger Craig against the Mets. Craig had been traded after the 1963 season to the Cardinals for George Altman and Bill Wakefield.

Roger came into the game with a 2-0 record, and he pitched very well in this game for 7.1 innings, allowing just one run, five hits, and no walks. But in the eighth inning of a 1-1 game Rod Kanehl hit a one-out home run. That turned out to be the game-winning hit, and it was the final home run of Kanehl's career. Ron Hunt followed with a double and Jim Hickman singled him home. Craig left the game for veteran Lew Burdette, and Mets added another run.

Tracy Stallard pitched a complete game for the Mets, allowing one run and five hits while striking out nine. Tim McCarver drove in the only Cardinal run with a single in the seventh inning.

Craig lost another game to the Mets in September and finished his career with a 15-46 record for the Mets and an 0-2 record against the Mets.

This was the opening game of the first doubleheader ever at Shea. The Mets lost this game but won the nightcap to get a split. The second doubleheader at Shea was three weeks later and is a bit more remembered.

First time the Mets ever scored 10 or more runs at Shea!

Another Met first in this game: Dick Smith became the first Met ever to hit three doubles in one game.

The Mets defeated the Giants for the 100th win in team history on this night in San Francisco. Jim Hickman hit a two-run homer in the second inning and Charley Smith's two-run double in the eighth put the Mets ahead to stay. Bill Wakefield then pitched a pair of scoreless and hitless innings to end it. This was Wakefield's first of two saves he would have in his only major league season.

Ron Hunt hits into game ending twin killing. West Palm Beach native Kenny Johnson the cg sho.

A great day in the early Met years. My recollection is that Charlie Smith was the hitting star capping the day with a three run homer for a six run ninth inning to finish off the Cubbies.The wind must have really been blowing out at Wrigley that day.

The apparently true story is that in those days before the Internet, ESPN or even all-news radio, a Met fan called the sports desk at a newspaper to find out how the Mets had done. When told that the Mets had scored 19 runs that day, he responded: "Yes, but did they win?"

Fat Jack Fisher pitching. We all loved that guy; he was the best Mets pitcher between Roger Craig and Tom Seaver.

Yes, Ed K is right.

"The Mets scored 19 in Chicago today."

"Did they win?"

Ah, those were the days!

I always remembered the fact that Jack Fisher made the first and third outs in the ninth inning. Your box score proves my memory was accurate some 49 years later. I was ten years old at the time and came home from school during the fourth inning. It was one of those "radio only" games from Wrigley.

According to retrosheet.org, both Frank Thomas and Ron Santo were called out in this game for getting hit by their own batted balls while in fair territory!

Not the first game I attended (that was June 8, 1963)--but this was the first game I ever attended with my dad!

This date was my 9th birthday, and Mom and Dad took me and my sisters to the World's Fair, where we stayed from about 12 in the afternoon until about 6:00. My dad surprised me with tix late in the afternoon, sent my moms and my sisters home--and me and him hung out for a Friday night game.

Though the Mets were my team, I was just as excited seeing, for the first time, those Giants! McCovey. Cepeda. The Alou brothers (and all three of them made it into the game!!!).

And of course, the man I thought was purely magical...Mr. Willie Howard Mays!!!!

Jack Fisher started for the Mets; and I'm not sure who started for the Giants...it may have been Jack Sanford. In any case, I remember that the game was tight until the Mets pulled it out in the late innings. My father confessed later to my moms and other relatives that he was relieved that it didn't go to extra innings--LOL!!! (I guess he was REALLY glad that we didn't wait until two days later to go to the game!!!). I gotta research the boxes; but I think Joe Christopher hit one out (I may have it mixed up with another game I attended).

I recently visited Shea, and lots of memories came back from my first visit (also the Giants' first visit) in 1964. Dad, a Giants fan in the 1950s and a longtime Willie Mays fan, brother Marty (age 8), and I (age 7) were part of a crowd that was a record for some years. We were way up in the upper deck in right field.

We arrived in time for batting practice, and Dad was quick to note that Willie Mays was the guy having the most fun on the field, playing shortstop (like a Gold Glover, of course) while his teammates hit. Dad also correctly predicted Willie's stolen base. "Watch him. He's going to steal. There he goes!" And number 24 was indeed gone and safe at second.

The real highlight came later for we young Mets fans, when Jim Hickman hit a two-run, game-winning homer in the 7th, into one of the upper decks in left field, just fair. Based on my recent visit, I'm pretty sure that Hickman didn't put the ball into the third deck. It probably only seemed that way to young eyes in the far-away right field upper deck. I've always remembered Hickman's shot as a walk-off home run. Now, I wonder if we left early. (More fatherly wisdom, perhaps?) No matter. My brother was able to proudly proclaim: "Our first visit to Shea Stadium and the Mets win!" Indeed, our first visit and lasting memories, too.

This was the first game I attended at Shea Stadium.

This was the first ballpark with escalators! We road them to the Mezz.. The box above the scoreboard actually worked that night with "headshots" of the players appearing as they came to bat. This did not happen often. You would need to see an early picture of the Shea scoreboard to see what I mean if you are not old enough to recall.

In those days all the games against the Dodgers and Giants were sold out, this was no exception- jammed packed, loud reactions to every Met pitchers' strikes.

Jack Stanford had a no-hitter going into the 7th and the Giants lead ( I know now was only 2 runs ) seemed insurmountable. Hot Rod Kanehl walked - a rally in itself, Frank Thomas tripled and Jim Hickman homered to centerfield. Willie Mays came very close to catching the ball.

All of this I clearly remembered and it is quite gratifying to see it confirmed by the box score. I did not, however, know that those were the only hits the Mets got that night.

My first trip to Shea, I can only hope that my last trip will be even marginally close in memories and remembrances.

My dad took me to this game, which was the day before the famous 23 inning game. If I recall, Charlie Smith homered for the Mets in the game as Jack Fisher picked up a "rare" win! I think Ron Herbel was the losing pitcher.

This was my first Mets game at Shea. My brother and I wanted to go on Sunday for the double header. However, our Dad was not a sports fan and he would not sit through two games! Turns out, we made the right move! The Sunday games took forever to end! For one day, my record at Shea was perfect. I should have stopped at that juncture!

My family and I (from Nebraska) went to the 1964 World Fair and I decided to attend the ballgame at Shea instead. I sat with two great NY kids in the upper deck. I understood a few words they said. (Just kidding, they were very nice.) I got to see several future Hall of Famers play and will always remember a great day at the ballpark. Mets won and Willie Mays tripled!

My first game at Shea. My friend’s dad was a lifetime Giants fan and he took us to see Willie Mays. I believe this was first Saturday Night game played at Shea.

This was my first live game. Sat in the upper deck green seats. Mays hit a triple but scored on an error. Forever I thought he hit an inside the park Homer till I saw it years later in the box score on the internet. It was great. I'll forever remember that day

Just unbelievable. 2nd game of a doubleheader, and it went 23 innings! I can still hear Lindsey Nelsen saying "this is now the longest game from the standpoint of time in baseball history". I think it ended up being 7 hours and 23 minutes.

I distinctly remember that there was a triple play at some point during the game (can't remember which team did it). Also, Casey Stengel was ejected around the 11th or 12th inning (don't remember what got him ticked off), and the Mets played the game under protest. I also remember either Nelsen or Bob Murphy saying sometime around the 20th inning, "back in the 7th inning, Ralph Kiner went downstairs to get ready for Kiner's Korner, and he's been waiting for the game to end ever since".

Finally, and again I could be wrong about this, I seem to recall that a young rookie pitcher named Gaylord Perry pitched most of the extra innings for the Giants. Wonder what ever happened to him?

Shea Stadium had opened barely a month before, and three weeks after this amazing game, Jim Bunning pitched a perfect game against the Mets at Shea. What a beginning for the ballpark!

I can't believe no one else commented about this one! It was 23 innings and the second game of a doubleheader! Willie Mays played shortstop for a couple of innings. Frank Thomas actually sat down in the outfield. And Del Crandall won the game for the Giants in the top of the 23rd.

My dad and I tried to attend this doubleheader but did not reserve seats. When we got to the Stadium, they general admission was sold out so we went back home to Jersey City. I got home just in time to see the Mets tie the second game. Some Met hit a long drive and Willie Mays jumped high at the wall to try and catch it. But, when he came down, he held his glove open to say "I don't have it" and it went as a home run. After that, the game went on and on and on....

This was game two of a Sunday double-header. The first game started at 1pm on a May afternoon and the second game almost ended in June! The triple play was started by Mets shortstop Roy McMillan (who'd only come over from the Reds three weeks earlier). I was nine then and was getting ready for bed by the time of the triple play (it was Sunday night and I had school the next day) but my father let me stay up late so he could brag about 'our boy Roy'.

The Mets had been down, by a score of three to six, in the ninth and Joe Christopher hit a three run homer to tie it. Gaylord Perry (who did pitch in extra innings) admitted later that this was the first game he ever used a spitter. I'd LOVE to see a box score of this game. Hard to believe the Mets' relief corps could have held that Giant's lineup scoreless for thrirteen extra innings.

Thanks, Mike, for recalling the detail about Ralph Kiner being stuck on the "Kiner's Korner" set for hours and hours. They kept talking about it all season!!

I was at the game with my sister. I was 14 at the time. she was 15. The game was jogged into my memory when Mike and Mike on ESPN radio had a feature about people's recolletion of their greatest sports moments. Let me tell you. Shea Stadium had run out of food, drinks, you name it. I remember the game going on forever. But I can't remember how we got home that night. I think it still is the longest game in time in baseball history.

A long day’s journey into night. It was moment, carved into the recesses of my memory, that went so far ahead of expectations to be the stuff of myth. The game itself was unreal. It launched the Hall of Fame career of Gaylord Perry, saw Willie Mays play shortstop, featured Orlando Cepeda, produced a triple play (for the Mets), and lasted 23 innings! My brother and I sat in the cheap seats of the upper deck, row V I believe, behind us were the gulls. The Mets trailed this game until the ninth.

I had school and my brother Carlos had work so we left. After all these were the Mets, a comeback seemed remote but traffic from a full house was a sure thing. We were in the parking lot when the roar of the crowd told us something special had happened.

I kept the radio tuned in from that point on, through Queens, over the Whitestone bridge, and ultimately to my bedroom where I could be found with the transistor radio on under my pillow. A special thanks to Bob Murphy whose word picture of this game was perfect.

I was 14 at the time, and went to the game with my father. I remember that there weas no food left and everyone was hungry. instead of chanting "Let's Go Met's", we were chanting "Let's Go Home". I made my dad stay till the very end!

I was the starting pitcher for the Mets. Casey pinch hit for me (Rod Kanehl) in the early innings. Larry Bearnarth and I walked around the inside of the stadium for 15 or so innings - seeing what the view was from every seat. I finished up by going to the TV room and watching the game with Ralph Kiner. The next day we had an exibition game in Williamsport against the AA team. Nobody wanted to go but we went anyway.

The things I remember about this day was that Eddie Kranepool was just called up to play in the double header after playing a double header in Buffalo the day before. In the second game, Willie Mays played ss, the Mets turned a triple play started by Roy McMillan, and my dad promised my mom to take her out to dinner after the second game. He did take her out-------for an early breakfast.

This was my first game ever at Shea. I was eight years old and my dad and I took the train from NJ to watch the games. The World's Fair was right across the street from Shea. When we got there (we didn't have tickets), we couldn't get any reserved seating. Just as we were about to leave and go to the fair, a window opened up with standing room only tickets, so we bought two. We went all the way up to the top deck (we weren't familiar with where standing room was), and we were lucky to find a couple of unoccupied seats across an aisle from each other. The first game was a fairly routine 5-3 game (didn't Orlando Cepeda steal home?), but the second game was a beaut. I can still see Joe Christopher tying it up at 6 in the bottom of the 7th with a 3-run homer. After that however, we decided to head home to NJ, since I had school the next day. After about an hour and a half ride home, I asked my mom, "Who won the second game?". "They're still playing; it's in the 16th inning!" was her reply. It was later I found out that the Mets had turned a triple play, and that it was the longest game by time in Major League history at that time.

I was only 5 when this game was played. My father told me we were on a trip from Sacramento (yes I'm a Giants fan) to Monterey in California. We listened to that game the whole way in the car and my mom was so sick of baseball after that. I only wish I could have remembered it better but I do remember a long car trip with baseball on the radio for the entire ride. My dad talked about that game for years. WOW! what a game 23 innings, 7+ hours, and how about Gaylord Perry pitching a 10 inning relief shutout.

I was 8 years old. It was my first time to the then "beautiful new Shea Stadium". I remember the airplanes flying by very close as well as the World's Fair helicopters. This was part of a double header where in the first game Juan Marichal beat the Mets as usual.

By the third inning of the second game the Mets were losing 6 to zip. Then the Mets actually battled back. Joe Christopher hit a three run homer that was just out of the reach of Willie Mays, to tie it all up! I was sitting pretty way up so it was easy to see that.

It was about the 11th inning and we moved down a deck or two, to watch but then my parents said we had to go. It was getting cold and that sweater that seemed like way too much when the double header started, now did not seem like enough. We got to the car and onto the parkway when I let out my scream of the day when the Mets I heard on the car radio, the call of the Mets pulling a triple play in the 14th inning.

When we got home to the "burbs" the game was still going on. I was put to bed but tried to listen anyway. So this day where the first pitch was thrown at 1:05PM ended around 11:30PM with the last pitch.

I heard a rather funny story about this game. It didn't have as much to do with what happened in it as it did with the television side of things.

The game lasted so long that it was still going on when the TV show "What's My Line?" came on at 10:30. Host John Daly said on the air that he had been watching the game and talked about how incredible it was. Daly always had a few opening comments to start his show before bringing out his first guest. But his choice of words here turned out to be taboo.

After Daly mentioned the Mets and Giants, those in the NYC viewing area switched channels to what John had been watching. Instead of tuning in to a panel of celebrities try to guess people's lines of work, the "What's My Line" viewers became instant baseball fans. The innocent comments from the host himself dropped the ratings of his own show!

As it turned out, the show was over before the game ended. There were probably a lot more people (at least in the New York area) who knew that the Mets lost in 23 innings than the fact that Liberace was the mystery guest who sat next to John Daly that night.

This was my first time at Shea Stadium and I was 9 years old. My dad, an old NY Giants fan took me to see this doubleheader and I remember going to the bathroom about the 12th inning of the second game and hearing a lot of noise. Then when I got back to my seat I asked what happened and I was told that Orlando Cepeda just hit into a triple play and I missed it because I went to the bathroom.

I remember watching the whole doubleheader on tv. We had an old Crosley TV in my grandmother's bedroom and I watched it there. I even ate dinner up there because I didn't want to miss the end of the game. About 10:30 my grandmother went to bed but let me stay up and continue watching. That's the only time I've ever seen a triple play. I still have the rocking chair I watched it in and that game is one reason I kept it.

I was 11 1/2 when I attended this doubleheader with 2 other fellas my age from my block. We lived out in Coney Island and one of the mothers drove us out to 74th St in Queens where we rode the 7 train the rest of the way with the pick up spot to be there also after the 2nd game. Things were a bit safer then and parents a bit more trustworthy.

We got out there pretty early and were able to get Upper Deck seats, they ended up being in the last section all the way down the right field line 3 rows from the top of the stadium. Seemed like a mile away from the plate, and actually felt closer to the planes that buzzed right over our heads heading into LaGuardia.

We came with a few sandwiches each and a few plums and grapes. They were all quickly devoured by the 3rd or 4th inning or so.

By the 7th inning of the first game we were getting kinda antsy sitting up in the stratosphere so we decided to walk down a few levels and look around at the views from the better areas.

By the end of the first game we were wandering around the concourse behind home plate and we spent some time watching the ushers and how they patrolled the sections and seated the people. When the second game started we were still on the concourse around home plate and watched the first few innings from there really happy for the view. We were watching some of the empty seats as people went to the refreshment stands and when the third inning ended we took a chance, and as the ushers weren't looking we headed down the main aisle towards home plate looking like we belonged, just 3 freckled face kids heading back to our seats.

We kept slowly walking closer to the front but not seeing any empty seats, then about 20 rows or so from the front rail we saw 4 men in suits getting up from their seats down close to the rail. We moved a bit faster and passed them at about the 8th row, they were going up towards the back and us heading to their seats. We then heard a voice -- it was an usher seated in the second row popping up looking at us as were just about to sit in the vacated box. We were sure we were caught and would be headed back to the concourse, but just then the usher looked past us and acknowledged what must have been a signal from one of the departing men giving us the ok to sit there and the usher turning back to his post to sit down.

As we settled into those box seats 3 rows from the rail, it was about a year later when I saw a picture in the Post of M. Donald Grant, the chairman of the group that owned the Mets and recognized him as one of the men who left those box seats next to the Mets dugout that Sunday Memorial day afternoon.

We spent the next 20 innings sitting there cheering for the Mets until our throats were hoarse pleading for a run as the evening headed towards midnight. Well we didn't score but saw Major Leaguers up close and personal, screamed our heads off, and yes we met the angry Mom back at the subway stop in Queens about midnight for the ride back to Coney Island with perma grins plastered to our faces.

That day/night was one of my most memorable Met moments of my then young life, and ranks pretty high up there to this day as an almost 58-year-old adult and lifelong Met fan. Thanks for letting me share this story with you.

An amazing thing about the 23-inning game between the Giants and the Mets is that Tom Haller, three-time All-Star catcher for the Giants and Dodgers, caught ALL 23 innings.

Tom was my brother-in-law (he passed on 11/26/2004 at age 67) and was a great, kind man. He was a gentle Giant. I am very interested in finding photos or audio clip of the game and especially of Tom Haller catching, hitting, or running during the game. He was 4-10 for the game.

Thank you.

Michael Alexander michaelsfas@gmail.com

Just went to Rangers Fan Fest this weekend and while eating breakfast at the hotel met Gaylord Perry. I told him that I was originally from New York and grew up as a Mets fan. He went on to tell the story about this 23-inning game. He mentioned that he was a relief pitcher and the last in line to get called into the game (no one else was available after him). He said that after pitching 10 scoreless innings with barely any time to warm up it made a long-lasting impression on his manager. He said that 5 days later he got his first start because of that game and never pitched in relief ever again. It was fun listening to him tell the story. I talked to him later on at Fan Fest and got an autographed baseball (my first from a Hall of Famer.). Spitball or not, he was one of the greatest pitchers in baseball. Saw his WS ring from 2010. I now live in Texas, but after finding out he only appeared in 2 post season games I'm happy the Giants gave him a ring (even though it was against the Rangers). I recall hearing about this 23-inning game and now it has more meaning after meeting the pitcher who got the win.

I went with my two brothers. I was 14, my younger brother was 9 and my older brother 21. I remember the triple play and Willie Mays playing shortstop. We kept begging my brother to stay one more inning and ended up staying for the whole game. It was a great memory.

We would have all been 13-14 years old and I took the train from Freeport to Flushing Meadows with my friends, the twins Neil and Brian. There may have been another friend or two, but I'm not sure. Anyway it was a Sunday and we had school the next day but we stayed till the bitter end.

A great memory from a day so long ago.

When the Giants got the men on in the 14th with nobody out and Cepeda coming up, I figured that was the end of matters and the Giants were going to get four or five runs, so I decided to go to the bathroom. In the almost 50 years since, I have NEVER even come CLOSE to seeing a triple play in several HUNDRED games. When I heard what was left of the crowd cheering, I knew I had missed something big. Of course, there was no instant replay in those days, so I got a verbal description from someone who had had plenty of beers before they ran out.

I was at this double-header as an almost-13-year old. My first time at Shea Stadium. Several friends and I took the LIRR from Freeport to Woodside/Shea; they all left in the early extra innings--before the triple play--but I stayed to the bitter end. Two losses. As the Stadium slowly emptied I moved further down each inning. I remember chatting with Joe Christopher (#24) at the corner of the Mets dugout an inning or two before the game ended. Somehow made my way home on the LIRR and when I fell asleep on my desk in 7th grade English the next day, my teacher (a Mets fan) knew why and let me sleep through class.

I went to game with the Mardis brothers. There was a triple play on Willie Mays. I missed it because I was reaching down for a drink. The game was so long I had to leave, I was afraid of getting home too late. When I got home my Dad was still watching the game and asked why didn't I stay and watch. LOL

I think this was the second game my father took me to at the brand new stadium. I was seven years old. We took a special direct bus from Brooklyn. Left the stadium after the 21st inning...but all we could do was sit on the bus and listen on the radio until the final passengers boarded when the game ended.

I'm fairly certain the account of the first game of the doubleheader taking 2 hours 29 minutes to complete is inaccurate. I think that game, although 9 innings, took more than 3 hours to complete.

Great memory. Triple play (MacMillen to Kranepool), Mays plays shortstop.

For those who want to hear the missed triple play off the bat of Orlando Cepeda. This highlight can be heard on the Miracle Mets CD. Lindsey made a great call of that play. Meanwhile on WCBS TV What's My line Host Wally Bruner took a few extra seconds to come out for his opening introductions on his show due to the fact he was watching the Mets game in the green room.

It's amazing that the attendance was 57,037 at the start of this doubleheader. No wonder all the food and drinks were gone during the second game.

My brother-in law and my sister let me and my brother Charlie go to the World's Fair with them. I was 15 at the time. We drove from Waterford CT to the Fair and I remember looking at the sports section of the NY Times that was in the car. I saw that the Mets were playing a doubleheader and then put it in the back of my mind. We got to the Fair and we spent hours walking around the Fair and seeing a lot of things. Finally brought up the game to my sister and she said it was OK to go see the game but BE SURE to be back on time because we had to get back to CT at a decent time. We sat in the upper deck in RF close to the foul pole. Had such a good time watching the game but we left in the 19th inning and boy was my brother-in-law and sister mad at us. We came oh so close to being left in NYC.

The entry from Jimrat about the "What's My Line?" episode is inaccurate. It wasn't host John Daly, but panelist Bennett Cerf who mentioned that he had been watching the game (it was in the 21st inning) when the show began. Cerf was then warned by Dorothy Kilgallen standing next to him that he shouldn't have said anything because the viewers might change channels. Daly, however, did say at the end of the show that the game was now in the 23rd inning and Bennett could go back to what he was doing. I don't know if any people watching WML switched over to see the Mets after Mr. Cerf's opening comment, but that is how it happened.

My friend John and I were in 10th grade, living in Rockland County. It was my first time in the city without my parents. The bus ride was about an hour to Manhattan (Port Authority), then the 7 train to Shea, which had just recently opened. The Mets were still lovable losers, and we were both big fans of Willie Mays, who later joined the Mets.

The Mets lost the first game (no surprise), and we didn't have great hopes for the second. We were in the upper right field deck. As the game went beyond the 9th inning we took turns standing in line at what seemed like the only phone booth yet installed, with every kid in the stadium calling home. I think we were in line for 8 innings, and I finally won the jackpot and called my parents to say we were definitely staying until the end (there was never any doubt).

I remember Willie playing shortstop for 1/2 inning, Roy McMillan's triple play, and Del Crandall's go-ahead double in the 23rd. I think I also remember Willie making a great over-the-shoulder catch in deep center. We were in the stadium for about 12 hours, and I ate 8 hot dogs. For the last few innings we found seats down in the field level.

We came very close to missing the last bus home from Port Authority, but just made it -- it was Sunday night. I called home at 2:30 a.m., and my father got out of bed to come to the station and drive us both home. I don't remember if I went to school the next day. It was, of course, one of the high points of my 75 years on earth.

I was 12 and went with my younger brother and a (slightly older) friend to the game. We stayed for the whole thing - ate an absurd amount of hot dogs and tried the patience of our older friend who probably would’ve left after the first game. I remember the amazing game pitched by Juan Marichal and the day that Ed Kranepool had - a lot of oh-fers. Years later I met Gaylord Perry at a HOF autograph session and he told me a long story about how he pitched in the first game and flew home only to see that the game was still going on. Not true but fascinating.

If my memory is correct, Joe Christopher had a 3-0 count and Casey gave him a green light and he promptly hit the game-tying home in the 7th inning. Who would have guessed that it would take 16 more innings for either team to score again!

My dad and I attended this doubleheader since I was a die-hard Giants fan, even after they broke my 11-year-old heart when they moved to SF after the ‘57 season. My dad owned a grocery store in Jersey City and had to get up on Monday morning at his usual 5:30 a.m. to open. So, we were heading out after the 12th inning, and as we were walking around on the landing heading for the exit, we heard a roar as one of the Alou brothers hit a single. My hero, Willie Mays was up next so my dad and I hustled back and grabbed a couple of empty seats in the lower reserved section behind 3rd base. Mays walked and Cepeda was up next. Either the hit-and-run or the steal sign was on because Alou and Mays took off just as Cepeda ripped a bullet of a line drive just to the left of 2nd base. Roy McMillan made a nice grab of the line drive, stepped on 2nd to double Alou and fired to first to nab Mays for an unbelievable triple play. We left after that but I will never forget almost missing a rare triple play.

My first Mets game. We sat in the Loge boxes behind the third base dugout. My dad was upset we couldn't get field level seats. When Don Larsen came in in relief my Dad told me (I was seven) about the perfect game in the World Series and how he did nothing after that. I was devastated when my favourite Met at the time, Roy McMillian made an error on a ground ball. But the Mets won and I got to see a real game.

Well I really cannot comment on my first Met game ever, so I will comment on this game. My first game was on June 3, 1964, the day before. As an excited 7 year old, I went to the brand spanking new Shea Stadium with my father, grandfather, and uncle. We sat in the box seats, you know...the yellow ones, the ones that cost $3.50 per ticket behind the dugout. I got to see the warmups and recall seeing Rusty Staub, Jimmy Wynn, and yes Jerry Grote from the Houston Colt 45s. Well the rains came in the third inning and the game was rained out, along with all the records of the day. Despite eating 3 Hot Dogs and getting sick on the way home, it was a great moment in my young life!

In their brief history, the New York Mets had not had much success against their ancestor who used to live in Brooklyn.

In fact, prior to this game, the two teams had played each other 39 times and the Dodgers were 35-4 against the Mets. Los Angeles had outscored New York 223-112 in those games.

Things changed---for one night, anyway--when the World Champion Dodgers played their first ever game at brand new Shea Stadium on a Friday night in early June in front of 54,790 people.

This night belonged to the Mets! Galen Cisco held the Dodgers down, allowing just four hits (two by Dick Tracewski, a career .213 hitter) and pitching the first shutout of his major league career.

The Mets scored seven off Dodgers LHP Joe Moeller in the botton of the third. Ed Kranepool had a three run homer (his first of the season) in the inning and Charley Smith followed as the Mets went back-to-back. The Mets added a run in the fourth off Jim Brewer and had themselves an 8-0 win. It was the first time the Mets had ever shut out the Dodgers, and it was also their largest margin of victory over LA.

My first game. Was a scheduled Sunday doubleheader. I was 8 years old and my dad took me with many people from work. We sat in the mezzanine level (blue seats) and I had that great overwhelming experience of coming through the runway and seeing the huge field of green grass for the first time.

Don Drysdale pitched a complete game victory for the Dodgers and hit a home run into the left field bullpen.

The second game was rained out after 5 innings. Score was tied 1- 1. I didn't want to leave!

This was the 2nd game of a sunday doubleheader and the first time I ever visited Shea stadium. I believe that the game was called on account of rain,the crowd was huge(55000 or more) and Nick Willhite, who later became a Met pitched for the Dodgers,

First tie home game in Met history. they previously had a tie in Houston in 1962.

I attended this twilight/night double header with a friend. We were siting in right field, having a few beers, and heard Bob Murphy on the radio say that the knowledgable Mets fans were cheering Billy Cowan (then with the Cubs) who had struck out 6 times so far that evening. Neither of us were aware of this. For us it was a respite from our hard year of undergraduate school. My friend turned out to go on to law school and become one of the finest legal minds since Cheever J. Loophole (Marx Brothers - At the Circus).

Phillies starter Dennis Bennett is knocked around and leaves the game in the third inning. His brother, Dave Bennett, comes in to pitch the top of the ninth and faces five batters, allowing one run, two hits, and a wild pitch while striking out one. It is the only major league appearance for Dave Bennett.

My recollection (40 years ago) is that this was the first game of a Sunday double-header, and that a prodigious home run to centerfield in maybe the 5th inning by Richie (later Dick) Allen, then a rookie, broke the game open. The shot hit the light standard in old Connie Mack Stadium to the left of the scoreboard above the top of the 32 foot fence, and bounced back well toward the infield. Outfielders, baserunners, and umpires were running in circles trying to figure out what had happened, and the crowd buzzed.

I was 16, from exurban Philadelphia, neither a Phillies nor a Mets fan, but got both teams' radio and TV broadcasts. Game was sold out, stood behind the last row of seats behind third base. The Phillies were unexpectedly in contention in June, and the Mets were a novelty who drew from New York. Don't specifically know if this was that game, but I think it was. Allen was the scariest hitter of that (60s) generation.

I attended a doubleheader at the Phillies Connie Mack Stadium 6/14/64. With all that must have gone on, I strangely have only one memory of the whole twin bill - Amado Samuel punching a single into RF in game 2. I can still picture his jammed looping uppercut swing and the precise arc of the ball as it softly dropped in. Looking the game up on this site, I don't even remember at all the Jim Hickman homer that soon followed to give the Mets a rally in the 7th, though they lost 4-2.

Weird, how memory can be so selective and particular. I think it was because I didn't think # 8 hitter Amado would hit at all, and because I thought Amado was a neat name.

He is after all the best player named Amado who ever played in the Majors. Just like Andruw Jones is the best Andruw ever. And he seems to be the most well liked player ever for the Mets surnamed Samuel.

Actually I have one other memory, and only this one -Al Jackson warming up for his start, near the dugout those days. I though - man - is he little!

This is the season the Phillies blew the pennant in the most infamous collapse in MLB history (that 6 1/2 game lead with 12 to go - 10 losses in a row thing). It was hardly the fault of the Mets, who gave the Phillies both games of this doubleheader, and 15 of the 18 games for the season, including a perfect game by Jim Bunning a week after this game.

I went to this game. I was in High School and it was the first game of a twi night double header. It was also Carl Willey's first start after being hit with that line drive in spring training. (I did not recall that he had made a couple of relief appearances prior to this start, but I just looked it up). He pitched pretty well, no runs in 5 innings, but he never really recovered. It was a shame, because he was supposed to be their #1 starter after his great run for the Mets in 1963 after coming over from the Braves.

This was the second game of a twi-night doubleheader and my first major league baseball games ever. Of course, the Mets lost both ends but I was in seventh heaven. I vaguely remember Ed Kranepools home run, everything else about these games are a complete blur (Thank Christ!).

My first game at Shea, a Saturday afternoon game. If I remember Hawk Taylor and Frank Thomas each hit two home runs. What a great historic day for the Mets, I said. Little did I realize I missed Jim Bunning's perfecto by one day.

Actually, Rich, it was Joe Christopher and Hawk Taylor who each hit two homers in this one. Frank Thomas did not play in this game, he was on the DL.

Hawk wasn't even in the starting lineup, he replaced Chris Cannizzaro at the start of the second inning. But he went 4-for-5 with two singles and two homers!

Jim Bunning of the Phillies pitched a perfect game in this game, which I attended with my dad (I was 12 at the time.) The Mets had 2 really good chances at getting a hit. Ed Kranepool hit a line shot down the rightfield line that hit the wall foul by about a foot or so. Met catcher Jesse Gonder hit a ground ball in the hole between 2nd and 1st that Phils 2b Tony Taylor made a great play on to nab the slow-footed Gonder at first. Outside of those, Bunning mowed the Mets down with ease. I was keeping a scorecard, but did not realize it was a perfect game until the 9th inning when the partisan Mets fans started cheering when the Mets hitters made an out. I think pinch-hitter John Stephenson made the last out.

Unhappily, it was a doubleheader and the Mets got bombed in the 2nd game also (par for the course in those days.)

I was Jr. high age, and had tuned into this horror on TV at my cousin's place to hear that Bunning had just retired his 13th straight batter. I knew what could happen, especially with Bunning who was merciless against the Mets (5-0 that season, 5 complete games, ERA 1.00). I watched and nervously kept chomping down stacks of cheap generic chocolate sandwich cookies, the kind you'd get 200 of for $0.99 (maybe even $0.49 those days), hoping the spell would be broken. Not only was I a Mets fan, but I lived in Reading, PA, a snakepit of Phillie fans who would never let me alone if this went down. But it did, and I was not then even the least bit happy, after all, that I had seen History.

To this day the cheap plasticky taste of those kind of cookies can remind me of that thing.

Besides jim bunning throwing a perfecto in game 1, the Mets did not get a base runner until the 5th inning of the second game. Rick Wise was the pitcher and when he walked the batter the Mets got a standing ovation. Wise had no idea what the commotion was until Tony Taylor told him!

Further to Orange and Blue's post above, the walk actually came in the second inning of game two. In fact, the Mets scored a run in the bottom of the second without a base hit thanks to a walk, wild pitch, and an error.

Joe Christopher singled in the bottom of the third for the first Met hit of the day.

People forget that there was a second game of a doubleheader after Jim Bunning's perfect game on Father's Day. The Mets got all of three hits in their nightcap loss. Three hits in 18 innings! Quite an offense in those days.

As an encore to Jim Bunning's perfect game in the opener of the doubleheader, Rick Wise pitches three-hit ball over six innings to record his first major league win. It turned out to be an interesting segue because seven years later, Wise would pitch a no-hitter of his own in which he slugged a pair of home runs. Later in '71, he hurled a twelve-inning complete game during which he retired 32 straight batters! Wise's own walk-off single got him and the Phils the victory in that game.

A big night for the Mets with eight runs in the second inning. They knocked out none other than one of the best left-handers ever, Warren Spahn, with their scoring. The barrage started with a two-run homer from Charley Smith off Spahn and concluded with a Joe Christopher grand slam off reliever Bob Sadowski. Christopher's slam was the Mets' first ever in a road game.

The Mets survive two Walt Bond home runs and defeat the Colt 45's 8-6.

The Mets collected sixteen hits for a victory over the Colt .45s that left them "only" twelve and one-half games behind the ninth-place Houston team in the National League standings. John Stephenson, Ed Kranepool and Larry Elliot all went 3-for-5 with a run scored in the game. Kranepool came up just a home run short of the cycle and Elliot had a homer among his three hits.

Willard Hunter's relief pitching was the key factor to the win. After a leadoff triple by Joe Gaines in the bottom of the sixth, Hunter retired the next twelve Colt batters for the first save of his career. It was the second four-inning save ever recorded by a Mets reliever. Jay Hook had the first one a year earlier.

I was there! Summer vacation in Hollywood in each year as a kid. This game was my first ever, visiting from NY. Don't remember too much except Maury Wills hit a foul ball that came directly towards us. It actually hit my grandfather and I but the kid behind me reached down and grabbed the ball from behind my seat. I also remember Tracy Stallard was pitching and the Mets lost a close game. I was 8 yrs old.

The 'Miracle Mets' vinyl-disc record from 1969 features a bunch of pre-1969 highlights before covering the championship season. The ending of this game is one of those highlights. With Joe Christopher on first, Frank Thomas hit a 2-run homer with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to win it. Bob Murphy provided a great call.

First walk-off homer at Shea - and just a few weeks before Frank Thomas was traded to the Phils.

My parents took me and my brother to a July doubleheader versus Cincinnati on July 12, 1964. My dad got the tickets through his work and I think they were in the loge or mezzanine section. I do remember walking through the Diamond Club and thinking how great it is to see my first big league game, a doubleheader no less. In those days a win was a rarity and the Mets took both games that day. I remember everyone yelling loudly, so much that my mom lost her voice the next day. If my memory is correct, Vada Pinson of the Reds hit a homer that day in one of the games. I think it might have hit the foul pole. Great seats, a doubleheader win, what more could a 9 year old Mets fan ask for?

This was the opening game of the first doubleheader sweep ever by the Mets at Shea. In the six previous doubleheaders at Shea, the Mets had split twice and been swept four times.

For some reason, the Mets had the Reds number in the early years and played better against them than just about any other team except the awful Cubs. The Mets had also swept the Reds at the Polo Grounds in a 1962 doubleheader and nearly did it a second day in a row before settling for a split. And there was also the game the Mets beat the Reds after being no-hit by Jim Maloney for ten innings.

My first of many, many visits to Shea. A memorable one at that for a 10 (going on 11 in two weeks) year old, also my first doubleheader. My father took me, we had great field level seats in the Rheingold box, up close and personal at the visiting team on-deck circle.

Dad helped me keep score. I was first introduced to the reasoning behind the pitcher batting ninth in the order.

Field level seats were yellow back then and the scorecard had a Worlds Fair logo on the front cover like the patch on the players sleeves. I saw Casey Stengel close up and remembered my Dad tipping the usher after he wiped our seats upon arrival.

Mets won both games and played like a first division club. Pete Rose was the first ever batter I saw at Shea. How ironic that I sat in those same seats almost to the day 44 years later in 2008, the last year of Shea Stadium's existence!

The Cards get consecutive homers from Ken Boyer, Bill White, and Tim McCarver in the 8th inning to seal the 15-7 win.

This was the first Mets game I ever attended. My Dad took my brothers and I and we sat in the $1.30 general admission seats. The steep climb was scary ("Dad, can we get some other seats!") but I got over it, so much so that when we were old enough to go by ourselves we would regularly sit in the last row of Shea, in Section 1. I am pretty sure Tim Harkness hit a home run, and I know Tracy Stallard pitched a shutout.

My dad and I were in field boxes in LF - I think Joe Christopher hit a 3-run HR. Terry Moore also made a tumbling catch in the Old Timers Game.

The Braves were the only team that the Mets had never shutout by the 1964 all-star break. Stallard finally blanked the Braves in this game.

A fight broke out in this game. Mets pitcher Frank Lary decked somebody but I couldn't tell who it was. A couple of weeks later, Lary was traded to the Braves.

frank lary hit rico carty and then chris canazzaro decked carty at home plate. I ran into chris after a game when he was with the cubs in 1970 and told him I saw that with my dad and he got a chuckle that I rememberd it

Before this game , the Mets traded Frank Thomas to the Phillies who were contending for a pennant. In return the Mets received Wayne Graham (who later in his life was to coach Rice University to the College WS) and a huge righthanded pitcher by the name of Gary Kroll. Next year in Spring Training , Kroll combined with Gordon Richardson to pitch a no hitter. Remmeber there has never been a Mets no- hitter during the regular schedule.

It was my first time at Shea and of course it was a Sunday DH. The games were my 11th birthday present! I learned how to keep score and saw at least three HOF'ers (Spahn, Matthews, and Casey.) The fight was great, but alas, my Metsies dropped both games.

The Braves won the first game of the doubleheader and were way ahead in the second but the Mets were staging a comeback. Up comes Larry Elliot as a pinch-hitter and hits a 3 run homer to put the Mets ahead 10-9 or something like that. The Mets sent Al Jackson to the mound in a rare relief appearance in an effort to hold the lead, but it was no use. The Braves had hitters like Aaron, Matthews, Torre, etc, and bombed the Mets to win the game.

Al Jackson's only ML HR came in 1st game off Spahn. Both he and Spahn pitch both games. Aaron great shoe string catch and HR's in both games. Torre HR off Willey, arm goes out after. Carty vs. Lary. Larry Elliott ph HR in game 2. Tim Harkness. First time I heard words "women's intuition," before Elliott's blast. Like it was yesterday.

This was my first ever baseball game. I asked my dad to take us (brothers) to the game. I was ten years old. I wanted everything. I asked my dad if we could get box seats. Nothing was available, so we sat in the upper deck out in left field. A fight broke out. I got scared. I thought they were going to fight with us too!!! I was bummed out because the Mets were getting creamed. The fat man with the cigar in back of us said "...don't worry sonny, the Mets will score seven in the seventh..." Don't you know that's just what they did!!! My first taste of the MIRACLE METS. They lost both games. It didn't matter. I loved the Mets. This is my best childhood memory.

My mother took me to the 1964 World's Fair, this just a few days after my 7-26-64 Milwaukee Braves twinbill which was my first Shea game. After 7 hours of boppin' around Flushing Meadow I recall sneaking a peak at the scoreboard as we walked towards the trains. I think Koufax zipped the Amazin's on a 5 hitter!

I was at this game and Hawk Taylor crushed a 3 run home run off of Koufax.

Funny how the memory can play tricks on you. I recalled Hawk Taylor's homer and thought it was in the Tug McGraw victory over Koufax. But that victory came the following year on 8-26-65. In this game, the Dodgers came from behind in the late innings to bail Sandy out.

Before the game Willie Davis and a several other Dodgers sang happy birthday to Casey Stengel.

I believe this was my first game at Shea -- and my first MLB game as well. Sat in upper deck (3rd base side) with my father, my grandfather and my brother. I too remember it was Casey's birthday. Al Jackson and Mr. Met presented him with a birthday cake at home plate.

I should add that this was the first time that Koufax did not beat the Mets. In 20 starts, he had a 17-2 record against the Mets and one no-decision - this game. He lost games in 1965 and 1966 against Tug McGraw who won the first one and got a no-decision in the rematch.

What I remember about this game was seeing Willie Mays in center and Duke Snider(in his final season) in right.

This was the night that LBJ sent the Marines into the Gulf of Tonkin, a message displayed on the old message board and cheered by many thousands at the game (but not my dad).

Frank Thomas rode with the Mets to Philadelphia for this game, and then when the Mets got to Connie Mack Stadium, they told Frank he'd been traded to the Phillies.

Thomas drove in two runs for the Phils in the game to help them to a 9-4 win.

Jim Bunning makes his first start against the Mets since pitching the perfect game in June...and the Mets get no hits until Joe Christopher's two-out bunt single in the fifth inning.

Mets hit into their first triple play at Shea Stadium in this game (They had only previously hit into a triple play in Chicago in 1962.)

Bobby Klaus hit a line drive back to the pitcher John Boozer in the 2nd inning. He threw to SS Ruben Amaro who caught Roy McMillan off 2B, and Amaro threw to Frank Thomas who caught Jack Fisher off 1B.

(Of course, it was the second triple play ever to take place at Shea because the Mets MADE a triple play earlier in 1964 in the 23 inning game.)

This was my first baseball game and the game that made me into a Mets fan. In the midst of a dreadful season I went to a game and they won! I remember that it was blisteringly hot, we had box seats (how'd we get them anyway?) and I remember being very happy that I got the Mets yearbook (long gone). Can't wait for the box score but I'm happy to know at least who the winning pitcher was.

This was also my first baseball game. I was 9, and went with my father, grandfather and uncle. We had mezzanine seats directly behind home plate. Vivid memories of the green grass and how well all who sat around us treated me upon learning it was my first game.

My second Mets game. A sunny Sunday afternoon at Shea. Art Mahaffey started for the Phils. Bobby Klaus hammered his first pitch into left for a single, and the rout was on. Phils botched a double play ball in the first. Mahaffey never survived the inning. It was 7-0 after two. Galen Cisco retired the first nine Phils. Richie Allen hit a 2-run homer in the 4th but the Mets hit the ball all over the lot. Klaus I think had 5 hits. George Altman had 3 or 4. Phils were never in it. John Herrnstein hit a 2 run pinch homer in the eighth but Cisco cruised to a complete game 12-4 win.

This was my first ever MLB game. We went on the bus with the Westport (CT) PAL. The Mets were my team, and I was pretty pumped up to be going to this game.

I remember that Charley Smith hit two home runs, and Dennis Ribant was pretty much untouchable. It was great to see some of my heroes (Smith, Joe Christopher, Ron Hunt, and Jim Hickman) at the game. I got to buy a yearbook at the game. I still have it, 40 years later. A trip to New York, driving by the World Fair, going to "Beautiful Shea Stadium" (thanks for the memories, Murph), AND a win. Wow. What more could an eleven year old boy want?

Charley Smith hit two home runs to help Dennis Ribant pick up his first major league win, complete game, and shutout on this Monday night at Shea.

Ribant faced just 31 hitters, retiring the first 11 batters he faced and also the final 12 batters he faced. He struck out ten, allowing four singles and did not walk a batter.

Smith's first homer came with two outs and two on in the bottom of the first to give the Mets a 3-0 lead. He also homered leading off the eighth to make the score 5-0. The other Mets run came on consecutive singles by Chris Cannizzaro, Ed Kranepool, and Roy McMillan.

This was my first game at Shea. There was a lot of excitement that year because of the World's Fair and the new stadium. It was also my first ride on the 7 train.

I remember the win but not much else (you guys always remember all the details).

The four runs the Mets scored in this game came on a grand slam by Jim Hickman. It was the first grand slam ever hit at Shea Stadium.

This was my first game ever at Shea. I was 8 years old at the time. If I remember correctly, my parents and I went to the World's Fair first (which was just across the street), and then we went to the game in the afternoon. I distinctly recall Hickman's grand slam, but I thought it occurred in the first inning, not the sixth as the boxscore indicates. I could be wrong, but I'm almost sure it happened in the first. I remember little else about the game except Hickman's slam, and that my parents bought me one of those stupid Mr. Met bobblehead dolls. Very exciting.

Jim, Sorry to report that Hickman's slam was indeed in the sixth inning. His homer came after a double and two walks.

Hickman was batting fifth in the Mets lineup that day, and the Mets went down 1-2-3 in the first inning as Bobby Klaus popped out, Ron Hunt flied out, and Joe Christopher was called out on strikes.

Is it possible that since you went to the Fair earlier in the day, you were late for the game and it just seemed to be the first inning?

My first baseball game with my dad. I was 7 years old. We left in the 7th inning I guess to beat the traffic

After a nice late win, the Met players, between doubleheader games, came out of the dugout unrolling a long banner that read "To Met fans, we love you, too!"

Bobby Klaus had a Met homer that hit the left field foul pole. They won this game in the 9th, and I believe won the first game of this doubleheader also in the 9th. What a thrill to see a Mets doubleheader sweep, something during these years as rare an event as, say, a Bobby Klaus home run (of any kind).

The Mets sweep a Sunday doubleheader at Shea with this win after winning game one 2-1 in ten innings. Willard Hunter is the winning pitcher in both games. Hunter won just four games in his major league career and two of the wins came on this day!

Correction on first comment, Klaus' HR wasn't a 9th inning game winner. Ed Kranepool and Charlie Smith had the walk-off game winning singles of respective games in this doubleheader sweep.

Another memory of this doubleheader was the Met team coming out of the dugout, probably between games, to unfurl a long banner with a message on the order of "To Met Fans - We love you too!", in response to all the banner carrying fans of those days.

This was a very historic game, especially in light of baseball today. It marked thedebut of MLB's first Japanese pitcher, Masanori Murakami of the Giants. He unfortunately was no Nomo or Yoshii and vanished within a couple of years

This indeed was Murakami's debut. Al Jackson runs his record to 9-13 with a complete game 6-hit gem. Ron Hunt hit HR number 6 in the win.

One of 3 DH's dad got tix for in Shea's inaugural year. First time I sat in field box and saw players up close. It was the first time I heard the actual sound of glove and bat on ball. Pure music. It was an unusual DH win for the blue & orange. I remember that I liked how one of the Colt 45's catchers played his position and how good his throws to second looked. That catcher was Jerry Grote. I heard he caught on with another team after that.

This was the first time I attended a Mets' game. My Dad had received box seat tickets right behind the Braves' dugout. Oddly enough, even though there were nothing but Met fans sitting behind the dugout, the Braves talked to us throughout the game. Most talkative was Rico Carty. The most polite and dignified was Henry Aaron. The shyest was Felipe Alou. The most demonstrative was Joe Torre. Galen Cisco did not last long but Bill Wakefield pitched very well and did not allow a hit. The roof caved in when Casey pinch hit for him and Larry Elliott got a walk. Larry Bearnarth came in and immediately got hammered. In the bottom of the inning, the big guy with the big smile, Joe Christopher, hit one into the left field bullpen to end all scoring. It still sits in my mind forty three years later as one of the best nights in my viewing baseball games. It was magic and even though Ron Hunt did not play, it was worth talking to Henry Aaron for one brief moment.

Jim Maloney fires a one-hitter in the Reds, 3–0, win over the Mets. Joe Christopher's 2nd-inning single is the only hit.

It was fan appreciation day at “Big Shea”. Actually it was a twilight-night twin bill. I don’t remember much except that they gave away a lot of junk you didn’t need. In between the games the Mets and Reds had some sort of competition on the field. I remember a relay toss from the outfield to home was one of the events.

One interesting aspect of this game is that the Reds’ victory put them into first place in the National League ahead of the Phillies (who were in the midst of their “Phamous Phold”.) They went on to sweep the Mets in the second half of the doubleheader for a lead of one full game over Philadelphia. The Cincinnati team then lost four of five games (all at home) to close out the season. Overshadowed by the Phils’ collapse, the Reds had a failure of their own in a quest for a pennant. The St. Louis Cardinals wound up in first place and went to the World Series.

Big scoreboard in right in the bottom of the ninth proclaimed, "WE THANK YOU FOR HELPING IN EVERY WAY TO MAKE THIS THE MOST SUCCESSFUL SEASON IN THE YOUNG HISTORY OF THE METS. GOOD LUCK AND GOOD HEALTH...SEE YOU IN '65"

I remember being a thirteen year old kid and being a rabid Met fan. We went into the series with the Cardinals having just taken over first place after the Phillies legendary nosedive. We were actually playing an important game! The Cards needed one win for the pennant. Little Al Jackson, who was always tough and had a big heart went out and shut down Bob Gibson and the Cardinals with a five hitter. It was so cool to be spoilers for the first time. I took a lot of pride in my Mets from that game.

What made it even better was that I am pretty certain that Jackson had been a Cardinal prospect that the Mets had obtained in the expansion draft!

This game was on Friday. the Mets also won on Saturday, but Gibson clinched the pennant on the final day of the season by beating the Mets. The Cardinals finished a game ahead of the Phils and Reds and beat the Yanks in the World Series.

The Mets had been spoilers for two straight games on the previous days but Gibson won this one which was the season finale to clinch the pennant by a game over the folding Phils and the Reds.