I'm only 34 years old, and obviously cannot remember this game, but on Aug 8, 2004 Ed Randall did an interview with the 2nd base ump who did this game on 660 WFAN. The gentleman said that only about 12,000 showed up for this historical game because of (1) the rain, and (2) because it was an afternoon game during the week. He said that the showers in the old Polo Grounds didn't work, and the field was in shambles because no baseball had been played there for 4 years, (only the NY Titans played football there) Think of today if after 4 years of no NL baseball, would the Polo Grounds been filled to capacity the entire season?

This was a cold early April rainy day. On this particular day I was able to talk my mom to watch the home opener. I remember Lindsey Nelson saying "At the Polo Grounds, it's baseball time, time for the New York Mets." Bob Murphy would do the Viceroy commercial ("not too strong, not too light, Viceroy cigarettes are just right") and the marching Rheingold Beer bottles. What memories! The team? Just to have National League ball back in New York was a thrill for this 13 year old.

Sure the attendance wasn't much by today's standards but remember that the total Metropolitan area's population was much smaller than it is today, disposable incomes were much more modest, and corporate season tickets were not as common back then. A team drawing a million fans in a season was highly respectable.

Two things of note about this game other than it being the very first Met home game at the Polo Grounds:

1. Frank Thomas hit his first Met homer. He'd go on to lead NYC in homers in 1962, besting Maris and Mantle. He also had an RBI single in the ninth but the Mets still lost 4-3. Thomas had played for Pittsburgh against the NY Giants in their last game at the Polo Grounds in 1957 and hit a homer in THAT game as well as making the final out.

2. Sherman Roadblock Jones was the losing Met pitcher. Originally, Casey planned to start him in the season opener in St. Louis but Sherman hurt his eye with a cigarette lighter allowing Roger Craig to lose the first Met game ever. Instead, Sherman got to lose the Mets first home game ever.

One other item of note in this game: it marked the first appearance by Elio Chacon in a Met game when he became the first Met pinch runner ever.

The game is a memory that I will have forever. There were just about 13,000 people in the Polo Grounds in the rain and I was one of them. Sat behind first base in the lower deck. My most vivid memory is of the top of the seventh inning when three Mets (Richie Ashburn, Charley Neal and Gus Bell) played "I don't want it - you can have it" with a Bill Mazeroski pop fly in short right field which fell for a triple and allowed the eventual winning run to score. We didn't know it at the time but that play was an omen of things to come.

This was my 8th birthday, and what a birthday present it was, except that the Mets lost. I'll never forget it!

I went with two friends to the Polo Grounds for the first Mets home game. We sat in the bleachers. I remember it being chilly and there was a drizzle. I was disappointed that my favorite ballplayer Gil Hodges didn't play. Are there any pictures or film of that day around? I remember we were in the front row of the bleachers and there weren't too many people by us.

The Maz becomes the first opposing player to hit a homer against the Mets.

What many people don't know is that this game was supposed to be just the first game of a doubleheader. The Mets lost this game, dropping their record to 0-4, and they started the second game. They took a 2-0 lead into the fourth inning, at which point it started to snow and the game was called. Had they been able to keep their lead and play one more inning, they would have recorded their first win in a snow-shortened game. How appropriate would that have been?

First Met game ever on Easter Sunday and they lost it in Pittsburgh. Note also that in those days, the Mets had an off-day on Good Friday.

Finally, a win! I don't recall the game being televised but I do recall listening to the early innings on radio as they built up a large lead before having to go to sleep for school the next day.

"Mark this day and mark it well," words on the postgame by Howard Cosell and sidekick "Big number 13" Ralph Branca. I will never forget this game as long as I live. Jay Hook was a star.

I remember following the new Met team in the Daily News. The opening line that I remember was: "it wasn't on tv and it wasn't on radio but believe me the NY Mets won their first game." It's great seeing the old box scores. Thanks.

It should be noted that three of the four Pirate pitchers in this game had future Met connections:

Tom Sturduvant was a former Yankee who would eventually pitch for the Mets in 1964.

Jack Lamabe was a rookie pitching only his third MLB game on this day, but he went on to pitch for the Mets in 1967 before the Mets traded him to the Cards to get Al Jackson back.

And, of course, Harvey Haddix later became the Mets pitching coach.

This was a Wednesday night game significant because Richie Ashburn collected career hit number 2500. I was 11 years old and saw this game with my father, who was raised in Pittsburgh, but married and raised a family in California. The Pirates scored last in either the 9th or 10th inning.

Picked up a sweet team-signed ball from this game. Likely one of the first times Bob G. Miller signed as a NY Met since his first game wasn't until 7/24 on the road.

i don't remember many details of either game. the event is memorable. these were my first big league games...my father took me. I was 10. he'd been a brooklyn dodger fan...i didn't even like baseball...until I entered the park.

This is one of two games in 1962 that Marvelous Marv won with a pinch homer in the ninth inning. The other game was against the Cards in early July but I believe this is the one with the side story that helped make Marv legendary.

Marv was on the bench because lefty Harvey Haddix (a future Met coach) was the Pirate starter. During the game, 3B Coach Solly Hemus got himself thrown out of the game in an argument. In order to shame the ump, Casey finished the inning coaching 3B himself.

The next inning, Casey shifted Cookie Lavegetto who was coaching 1B over to 3B and yelled for someone to get out there and coach at first base. Richie Ashburn shoved Marv out there to coach and the fans went wild. In the bottom of the ninth, the Mets are down 4-2, and a reliever is in the game with two Mets on base. Casey pulls Marv off the coaching line to pinch hit and he hits the walk-off three run dinger. It was sweet!

My second trip to the Polo Grounds, and my first with my dad and younger brother (his 6th birthday). Bob Friend no-hits the Mets into the sixth or seventh innning. The Mets get an infield hit, and even though they're down by a touchdown or more, thunderous cries of "Let's Go Mets" erupt. Banners, streamers, horns, pigeons ; circus-like atmosphere for a young man in from the Jersey suburbs. One of the greatest memories of my youth. The Pirates hit four or five homers, and looked like they belonged in another league. The next day the Mets beat them twice. As Chuck Berry once said, it goes to show you never can tell. I treasure the memories of that day and those times.

I went to this game with my father, my Uncle Sam, and my cousin Jeff. I was 7 1/2. We sat in the bleachers and it was a hot day.

What I remember is that the the clubhouse runways were adjacent to the bleachers so the players had to pass by the stands to get onto the field. We got a few autographs on my scorecard, which had a huge Mr. Met on it. I remember getting Ron Hunt and a coach, Ernie White. My cousin Jeff also got Chico Fernandez and Jimmy Piersall, who had JUST joined the Mets after being traded from the Senators for Gil Hodges, who became that team's manager.

My favorite player going to that game was Ed Kranepool. Look at the lineup, how many of the Mets were still on the team a few months later. Krane was still on the Mets when I got out of law school in 1979! Krane was still wearing his original uniform number, 21, which he wore until Warren Spahn joined the team for the 1965 season. Number 7 was a shortstop by the name of Amado Samuel.

Although the Mets got beaten badly, by Met killer, Bob Friend, I was rewarded when Kranepool hit a ball about ten feet and, believe it or not, beat out a hit.

It was day I will never forget!

The first of Willie Stargell's 60 homers against the Mets.

I went to this game as a ten year old. I recall the Mets winning in the tenth when two Pirate outfielders ran into each other trying to catch a fly ball. I also have a vivid memory of Smokey Burgess of the Pirates hitting a shot more than 400 feet in the gap to the wall in the Polo Grounds and barely lumbering in for a double.

I remember as a child going to the Polo Grounds for a double header. I thought that the Mets won both games with walk off Home Runs by Duke Snider. I would appreciate if I could get the box scores of both games played on June 2nd to see if I was correct

To follow up on the post of January 14, 2002, Mathew--you were close. In game one Duke had a leadoff homer in the fourth inning and the Mets won when Ron Hunt hit a ball to left field that Jerry Lynch couldn't handle and Rod Kanehl scored the winning run.

In game two, Jim Hickman hit a walk-off homer for the tenth inning win and the sweep.

I recall seeing a picture from this game in which Choo Choo Coleman looks out by a mile at home, with Smokey Burgess tagging him with his throwing arm (ball in hand) about 6 feet directly in front of home (and Jimmie Piersall behind home cheering Coleman on), but the caption says he was called safe. The play-by- play indicated Coleman scored from first on a triple by Neal. Since Burgess was replaced by Brand as catcher that inning, it does appear that Burgess argued the call and was thrown out of the game. Does anyone know why Neal was credited with a triple when Coleman was nearly (and why the call?) thrown out at home? The Daily News had this picture, if anyone still has a scrapbook.

This was the first game I ever saw in person, I was 10 at the time. The winning pitcher was later to pitch for the Mets-Don Cardwell. I also believe Roberto Clemente hit a home run and Duke Snider had a long ground rule double.

I remember Roberto Clemente's home run was a LINE DRIVE into the left field stands. It was still going up when it hit the stands.

This is a game I have always bragged about. It was played when I was only 7 years old. It was important to me because:
i) It was the only game I ever saw in the Polo Grounds;
ii) it was my first Mets game;
iii) the Mets won;
iv) Al Jackson was the winning pitcher and he went on to have a long major league career.

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.

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?

Game 1 of probably the most dreadful doubleheader in Mets history. See the game 2 score also to fully understand why. Getting to a Mets game was a huge event in my life at age 15. It was Memorial day weekend, the possibility was a tiny bit alive we might make the trip from Pennsylvania, but it didn't happen. The only thing I remember was looking at the scores next day and being glad we never undertook the trip. Does anyone else remember actually attending this butt-kicking, one for each cheek? Tell me some tale of the agony of watching 18 innings of 21-1 battering, (or however many innings you endured). Or maybe it was one of those events that was so bad it was actually good in some perverse way.

See also game 44, the first of the doubleheader. I dare anyone to come up with a more wretched Mets twin-bill in their history. Wasn't really there, was glad of that. Never was the cliche "they haven't given the fans much to cheer about today" probably more often said and more true.

So let me know if you were there and what you remembered, if not repressed, seeing that this must have gone beyond even "lovable losers" entertainment.

We were visiting friends in the City and took in this doubleheader, riding the subway to Shea Stadium with some neighborhood kids form Flushing. It was my first time at Shea, and also my first time seeing the Mets play in person. Despite the drubbing, the games didn't seem really out of hand until the later innings when the Pirates poured it on. (or the Mets just fell apart). What I remember most was great pitching performances by Bob Friend and Vern Law of the Pirates this day. Though 40 years ago, I can still recall that in game two Bucs pitcher Vern Law was totally in command and constantly ahead on the count on the Mets hitters all day. Couldn't help admiring a really impressive performance by Pirates pitching.

This was the first MLB game I ever attended. 2nd grade was winding down and I went to Forbes Field with my Dad and one of his co-workers. I think I remember the Pirates being down 8-0, in the ninth, and while most of the Pittsburgh faithful had long left, the Pirates managed to stage a ninth inning rally to get to 8-6. I think the last out was a deep fly out to center by Bill Virdon. Deep center at Forbes Field was about 460, if memory serves, and we all thought for a minute that the Pirates had the win. Great first game memory; has lasted a lifetime. Does any one have a copy of a box score or news article on this game?

To follow up on George Cassidy's post in 2002, The Mets did indeed have an 8-0 lead in this game, but the Pirates scored six times in the bottom of the eighth, not the ninth. Bill Virdon made the last of out the eighth inning, but it was a groundout with the bases empty.

The Pirates did not threaten in the ninth. Former Pirate Tom Parsons pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for the save, which was the only save of his major league career.

Perhaps the first of the near misses by Met pitchers trying to pitch a no-hitter. Jackson took a no-hitter into the 8th inning but future Hall Of Famer Willie Stargell broke it up. He ended up with a two-hitter.

Jackson is more often remembered for his one- hitter on 6/22/62 beating Houston 2-0 in the opener of a twi-light doubleheader at the Polo Grounds. In that game, however, he gave up the hit in the first inning, so there wasn't the hope of a no-hitter as the game went on.

This was my first baseball game that I attended. My dad brought my older brother, older sister, and I to the game. I was 7 years old and had became excited about baseball earlier that season because my dad, a former Giants fan, was watching the Mets on WOR-TV Channel 9; at seven years old, I guess I was getting mature enough to appreciate and excited about the game of baseball through the black and white images on our Zenith 19 inch tv in Caldwell, NJ.

But let's back-up a few weeks . . .

In July our family had gone to the World's Fair for the day. At night, while we waited for the subway, we walked to the ramp leading to Shea. As most Mets fans recall, from that ramp a person could see into the stadium from "right field". You could only see the batter at home plate, the pitcher on the mound, the first baseman and the right fielder through that sliver of daylight between the backs of the stadium and the scoreboard. When I looked, I saw something I never saw before: multi-colored seats rising to Heaven; cigar and cigarette smoke creating a haze around the brilliant lights on top of the stadium; the rich green of the grass; the distant but excited burst of the crowd when a Met got on base. WOW, what an image! THIS WASN'T CHANNEL 9! IT WAS IN COLOR! This was pretty heady stuff for a seven year old.

So, I guess mom and dad thought this was as good a time as any to teach me the "facts of life" as a Mets fan. My dad probably bought the tickets a few days later in downtown New York where he worked. The tickets were for the Tuesday August 3 game v the Pirates.

Because I was seven, I probably was overwhelmed with the whole event of being at Shea; the playing of the game was secondary.

Here though are images, snippets that have remained in my memory of that game:
1 --- We sat in Mezzanine Reserved, Section 7. Since my dad was only a clerk in a brokerage firm, he could only afford $2.75 per ticket. Field box seats were out of his financal league; they were $3.50 per ticket. PS-The last year of Shea and my last game at Shea in 2008, for old time sake and to complete the circle, I bought a ticket to a August game, sat in Mezzanine Reserve, Section 7. I can't recall the 2008 price but my dad would have thought I became a millionaire after he had died. I pretty sure it wasn't $2.75.
2 --- I remember seeing Ralph Kiner or Bob Murphy standing near the Mets dugout with a stick microphone interviewing a Mets player before the game. Hmm, no tv camera on the field? My dad said it was in the press box just below our seats opposite first base. Ohhhh.
3 --- I saw Mr. Met walking around on the field before the game shaking hands and having his picture taken with those stuck-up rich fans in the field boxes. Now, I may not have known what 6 X 7 was in school but I knew Mr. Met was just a guy in a Mets uniform with a baseball-shaped hydrocephalic head. My dad said it was made of paper-mache. Ohhhh.
4 --- Sometime during the game, one of the umpires was injured. I don't know which umpire or how it happened but I swear I saw him being carried off the field on a stretcher. Now, here on this page, I see this photo on the back of the Daily News, the next day. It shows the ump walking off the field with help from Chris Cannizzaro and trainer Gus Mauch. Maybe I imagined him on a stretcher? My dad always said it was my drinking too many Rheingolds at the game. Ohhh.
5 --- I learned the Mets version to the "Facts of Life" . . . they lost 7-0. But I stuck with the Mets through those horrible late '60s teams and was going to be rewarded with a unbelievable 1969! Ohhhhhh, now I get what it'll be like as a Mets fan.

lox & knishes and LETS GO METS !!!
bmcd

There would have been a game on April 30, but, The Pirates (10-5) were rained out for the second time in four days, this time with New York Mets (5-6).

Roberto Clemente had a 12-game hitting streak going into the final game of the series with the Mets, a team the right fielder liked to bat against.

In Clemente's four previous seasons against the Mets, he hit .228, .321, .338, and .413. In one game versus New York this season, Clemente went 1 for 5.

Roberto Clemente had his best game of the season, going 4 for 4, as the Pirates shut out the New York Mets, 8-0, before a crowd of 29,433 at Forbes Field. Clemente, who extended his hitting streak to 13 games, had two doubles, scored twice and drove in two runs. Clemente's double in the first inning came within a foot of clearing the wall in right-center field, 436 feet from home plate.

Bob Veale raised his record to 2-1 with the complete-game victory for the Pirates (11-5).

Pitcher Don Cardwell won his first game of the season as the Pirates defeated the New York Mets, 3-1, at Shea Stadium. Cardwell struck out four and gave up five hits in 8 2/3 innings. Al McBean struck out Mets first baseman Dick Stuart with the bases loaded to save the victory. Stuart hit his third homer of the season in the fifth. Roberto Clemente went 2 for 4 and drove in the Pirates' first run in the fourth. He had nine hits and seven RBIs in his past five games.

Donn Clendenon led off the sixth inning with his fourth home run of the season as the Pirates defeated the New York Mets, 5-0, at Shea Stadium. Pitcher Vernon Law gave up three hits and went the distance for the Pirates (26-20). Law, who also hit a homer, captured the 150th victory of his career with five strikeouts. It was the fourth consecutive time Law shut out the Mets.

Roberto Clemente went 0 for 3, going hitless for the first time in his past six games.

On June 2, 1966 I went to my first Major League Baseball game and the only one I ever went to with my Dad. I was not quite 9. Just before the start of the game, while the players were warming up and playing catch my father took me on the field behind home plate. I remember looking at the big Pittsburgh Pirate players (Stargell, Clemente, Clendenon) and recall thinking how big their butts were. I also remember the ball being thrown like sling shots between the players. Someone came over and moved us to between home and first to be safer. A cameraman for WOR joined us and I remember him calling Yogi out of the dugout. Yogi came out, shook my hand and signed the back of my ticket. I went to about another hundred Mets games but this is the only ticket I don't have. I still have the scoresheet my dad used to keep score. Sometime in the 7th or 8th inning a man had an attack to our left and in front and they loosened the man's belt while he lay on his back and my Dad said let's go. My Dad died the following summer of cancer. He was 35.

Here's what I remember from this game.....I got free tickets and sat in the loge box section between home and first. Best seats I had to that date. Ron Hunt led off with a near home-run that just curved foul at the left field pole. He worked out an infield hit to second base. Woody Fryman proceeded to retire the next 27 batters. To top things off Jose Pagan hit a grand slam. Probably his only one. Woirst game I ever attended.

Friday night, school's been out just a few days, oh, to be young, free and a Mets fan in 1966!

The big bad Pirates are in town. I remember Don Sutton saying of these sluggers, "Some hitters wait for a fastball, others look for a curve, these guys just look for a baseball."

Alley, STARGELL, CLEMENTE, Clendenon, Alou, Mota were all hitting over .300 and Woody Fryman (no relation to Travis) took the hill.

The rookie lefthander surrended a lead off base hit to Ron Hunt. If I REMEMBER correctly, Hunt was picked off or erased on a double play ball. The next 27 METS were retired. In effect, Fryman, who went 12-9 that year tossed a perfect game. The Mets dropped a 12-0 game.

A few more details about this pitching gem.

Pitcher Woody Fryman threw a one-hitter as the Pirates clobbered the New York Mets, 12-0, at Shea Stadium. It was the sixth consecutive victory for the Pirates (44-29).

Fryman gave up a single to the Mets' leadoff hitter, Ron Hunt, and was perfect after that. Fryman struck out eight and raised his record to 6-3.

Roberto Clemente went 1 for 5 to extend his hitting streak to 11 games. Willie Stargell hit his 16th home run of the season.

Fryman only faced 27 batters - 26 after Hunt was out stealing. I do not remember whether the steal attempt occurred because Hunt was picked off.

I stand corrected. Jose Pagan did not hit a grand slam, rather he hit a 2 run homer --- 1 of the 4 dingers he hit that year.

Being a life long die hard Mets fan I was thinking about some of the memorable Mets games I attended. From watching Sandy Koufax (beat the Mets 5-0) and Bob Gibson pitch to the first time the Mets beat Juan Marichal or watching Shea Stadium packed watching Tom Terrific pitch against the Mets that first time. For some reason this game always stood out. I was sitting in the upper deck in line with the 3rd base bag. I remember being so excited when Ron Hunt led the game off with a hit and then was caught stealing.

Looking back on it I feel fortunate to have seen some of the all time greats in baseball to those famous in Mets history play. Guys like Ken Boyer, Cleon Jones, Ron Swoboda and Jerry Grote for the Mets and Matty Alou, Roberto Clemente, Willie Stargell and Bill Mazerowski to name a few for the Bucs. Little did we know the star of the game (not including Woody Fryman)was one of the most famous Mets Donn Clendenon. Sure the Mets lost badly but it was still a special game nonetheless.

The ninth-place New York Mets (30-42) snapped the Pirates' six-game winning streak with a 4-3 victory at Shea Stadium. The Mets, who ended a four-game slide, were 15 1/2 games out of first place and 13 games behind the second-place Pirates (44-30). Roberto Clemente hit his 12th home run of the season. He went 1 for 5 and struck out in the eighth inning and grounded to first in the ninth - both at-bats coming with the bases loaded.

Pirates pitcher Steve Blass lost his second game of the season and fell to 6-2.

The Pirates (45-31) split a doubleheader with the New York Mets at Shea Stadium. The Mets nearly overcame a seven-run deficit but lost the first game, 8-7. The Pirates blew a three-run lead in the second to lose 9-8. Roberto Clemente went 2 for 4 and scored a run in the first game, and doubled in three at-bats in the second. He extended his hitting streak to 14 games.

Willie Stargell hit two home runs in the second game to give him 18 for the season. The Pirates hit 12 homers in the four-game series.

Chuck Hiller started inn LF in the first game and looked like Colonel Klink as he chased a Pirate drive into the corner, right near our seats in this hot 101 degree summer heat at Shea!

The Pirates swept a doubleheader from the New York Mets, 10-2 and 9-2, at Forbes Field. It was the Pirates' 49th and 50th victories of the season. Pirates first baseman Willie Stargell went 6 for 8 in both games, including two home runs and two doubles. His homers were the 20th and 21st of the year.

Roberto Clemente went 3 for 8 in both games. He scored three times and drove in a run in the first game.

The Pirates (51-33) won their third consecutive game with a 6-3 victory over the New York Mets at Forbes Field. The San Francisco Giants (54-32) had a two-game lead over the Pirates in the National League.

Pirates pitcher Woody Fryman had his scoreless streak of more than three games snapped but raised his record to 8-3.

Roberto Clemente went 1 for 4 to extend his hitting streak to five games. He was batting .327 (108 of 330) and had at least one hit in 20 of his past 21 games.

Clemente was one of my favorite players of all time and in some respect underated. He would have topped 400 home runs had he played in a normal ball park.

Rookie Fryman was awesome as a young lefty. At the time he appeared to be on his way to a ROY award and 15 win season. As it turned out, he did go 12-12 but the rookie hurler of the year was Don Sutton. Oh, fyi, Tommy Helms started at 3b for the Redlegs, hit .284 and was awarded top rookie. Cleon Jones had to finish second or third in the voting, one would guess.

The Pirates' 10-4 victory celebration over the New York Mets at Forbes Field was subdued after shortstop Gene Alley was hit by a pitch on the side of the head in the fourth inning. Alley needed nine stitches but was expected to be out only a couple of days. The Pirates had a 6-0 lead when Alley was hit and extended that advantage to 9-0 by the fifth.

Roberto Clemente went 3 for 5, drove in two runs and scored once. He threw out Mets left fielder Ron Swoboda at the plate after Swoboda tried to score from first on a double.

The Pirates (66-46) raised their lead to 1 1/2 games over the second-place San Francisco Giants (66-49).

Willie Stargell hit a two-run homer with Roberto Clemente aboard as the Pirates (67-46) came from behind to defeat the New York Mets, 7-5, at Forbes Field. The Pirates were down 3-0 and 5-1 early in the game.

Stargell, who hit his 26th home run, had one called back in the first inning after it was determined the ball he hit off the rightfield screen landed below the home-run line.

Clemente went 2 for 4, including a double, scored twice and drove in a run.

The start went to recently acquired Ralph Terry, the loss to rookie southpaw Rob Gardner.

Both Gardner and Terry worked for both the METS and the YANKEES during their careers. The difference however, Terry was shot when he got here but Gardner (9-5) turned in a decent 1972 season in the Bronx playing for a Yankee team that had the likes of Ron Swoboda, John Callison, Hal Lanier in the mix.

This was Ralph Terry's first game as a National League pitcher. It came at none other than Forbes Field, the same place where he gave up a home run to Bill Mazeroski that ended the World Series six years earlier. Mazeroski went one-for-three against Terry on this night with a run-scoring single in the third inning.

Entering the bottom of the ninth, the Mets were ahead and Terry was in line to get the win. His bad luck at Forbes returned when the Pirates pulled it out with three runs against reliever Rob Gardner. Just like the finale of the 1960 Series, a walk-off homer (this one by Willie Stargell) won it for the Bucs. These were the only two games in Pittsburgh that Terry ever pitched.

The Pirates blew a six-run lead and lost to the New York Mets, 8-7, at Shea Stadium. The loss enabled the San Francisco Giants (71-50) to move a 1/2-game behind the Pirates (70-48) in the National League.

Bob "Hawk" Taylor hit his first career grand slam for the Mets in the five-run fourth inning. Taylor, who was a pinch-hitter, was benched because of a .185 average.

Roberto Clemente went 1 for 5 for the Pirates, who got homers from Willie Stargell, Bill Mazeroski and Donn Clendenon

I was at this game. If my memory serves me right, Mazeroski's home run came off of Ralph Terry. It was their first encounter since the home run that won the 1960 World Series.

I believe Hawk's pinch grand slam was the first ever by a Met. Amazingly, Westrum later in the game sent up Al Luplow to pinch hit for Hawk!

In reply to Alan Budick's post in May of 2005, Mazeroski's homer in this game came off Jack Fisher, not Ralph Terry. Terry did not pitch in this game.

The first Maz-Terry faceoff since the 1960 World Series was six days earlier--August 11, at Forbes Field, in Terry's first game as a Met. Maz did not homer in that game but did have an RBI single off Terry.

Hawk Taylor hit the first pinch-hit grand slam in Mets history in this game. An interesting note is that Taylor was batting for Ed Kranepool, who had no grand slams among his 118 career home runs. It was the second of two Mets slams during the season, both of which came against the Pirates' Bob Veale at Shea Stadium. The other was by Ed Bressoud on July 3rd.

Pireates' 3B Jose Pagan tied a record by making three errors in one inning in this game.

The Pirates hit four home runs but lost to the New York Mets, 9-5. The Pirates trailed, 6-2, in the fourth and gave up six unearned runs.

Third baseman Jose Pagan committed four errors, three in one inning, as the Pirates lost their second in a row.

San Francisco (71-50, .587), which had the day off, moved a percentage point behind the first- place Pirates (70-49, .588) in the National League.

Roberto Clemente, who turned 32 on this date, went 0 for 4.

I was at that game on opening day. What I remember was that it was 47 degrees and quite windy and overcast. I sat through the game in my winter coat. The highlight for me came BEFORE the game. I was down the third base line and I got a few autographs. One of them was some unknown rookie pitcher named Tom Seaver! But the quiet gentleman Don Cardwell gave his autograph too. Too bad he did not win the game for the Mets.

I remember that this was the second game of the season and the major league debut of Tom Seaver. The Mets won although Seaver was not the winning pitcher. I saw the game on TV. I remember Ron Swoboda playing 1st base and that Vernon Law lost the game for the Pirates in relief.

Tom Seaver made his debut in this game. He fanned Donn Clendenon to end the first inning for his first major league strikeout. Seaver, however, was not the winning pitcher. The decision went to reliever Chuck Estrada for his final major league win and only one as a Met. Also, Jerry Buchek hit a two-run homer in the second and scored the winning run on Chuck Hiller’s double in the eighth.

In this game, Don Cardwell hit the first of three homers he would hit during his Met career.

A unique thing about this game was that the Mets won because the Pirates batted out of order. The official line ups and scoreboard or some other lineups did not match and the manager went out after the offender got a rbi hit his second or third time up. The hit was reveresed and the Mets won! The Pirates manager was fired shortly after this game. If someone has the exact detail fill'em in. I watched this game on television and remember it because I attended the game the night before and batting out of order!

Met Fan 39991, the batting-out-of-order incident with the Pirates came one day later and not in this game. On this night, the Mets rallied with three runs in the last two innings to defeat the Bucs. Ken Boyer hit a two-run homer in the eighth to tie. In the ninth, Ed Charles got a pinch-hit single that scored Jerry Buchek for the win.

The Pirates batted out of order in this game. According to retrosheet.org:

In the top of the first, Pittsburgh sent six batters to the plate. Maury Wills and Manny Mota both singled and moved up on a wild pitch. Roberto Clemente grounded out, driving in Wills and Donn Clendenon also grounded out with Mota remaining at third. After Bill Mazeroski walked, Gene Alley came to the plate and grounded out to the pitcher. Alley batted ahead of Jose Pagan, the proper batter, but since he made an out the Mets said nothing.

In the third inning, Mota reached on his second bunt hit of the game and Clemente was called out on strikes. Both Clendenon and Mazeroski singled to left with Mota scoring on Maz's single. Alley again batted out of turn and hit into a force play at second moving Clendenon to third. After Pagan hit a 2-RBI double, Wes Westrum approached the umpires and pointed out that the Pirates had batted out of turn. The proper batter, Jim Pagliaroni, was called out. Pagan’s plate appearance was eliminated, along with the two runs. The Mets were leading at the time by the final score of 5-2.

I remember the stories on the news and in the papers that Westrum made a brilliant move by not saying anything the first time it happened since no damage was done, and then waiting for an at bat when the Pirates did some damage before bringing it to the attention of the umpires.

This was the date/game that the production crew for the original MOVIE The Odd Couple filmed the baseball scene at Shea, where Bill Mazeroski hits into a triple play. I guess this was filmed before the real game. Apparently, Clemente was first asked to be the batter for this triple play, and refused, so they asked Maz.

Kenny you have a good memory. Maz was the batter and Jack Fisher was pitching. The scoreboard even simulated the Mets leading 2-1 in the 9th inning. Maz fouled off several and then hit a grounder to 3rd (I believe Ed Charles) for an around the horn triple play. Unfortunately they never really showed any close up action in the movie. I was sitting lower level behind first base, so somewhere in that shot of the stands is me.

More about The Odd Couple filming: the papers said that Clemente refused to bat in the game scene because he was offered the scale $100. He was quoted as saying "I will do it for $1000, or I will do it for nothing, but I won't do it for $100!"

The real game that day featured not only the batting-out-of order incident, but it was the Mets debut of lefty Dennis Bennett. The Mets that year were strapped for left-handed pitchers, and GM Bing Devine, forever wheeling and dealing, plucked many a lefty that year from obscurity, and in nearly every case, that's where they were returned. But on that exciting day, the Mets were winners! What a thrill for this 13-year-old kid as the summer vacation was just beginning!

This was my first Mets game. I've been hooked ever since. I sat in a field box between the Mets dugout and the foul pole. It was hot and sunny and Shea looked like heaven to an eight year old. I recall Swoboda caught the last out against the right field wall and also homered. I think it took Mazeroski a few takes to hit into the triple play and he was paid $100.00. The P.A. guy, Mr. Lightcap, prompted the crowd to cheer for the cameras.

I remember going to this game courtesy of the Parkchester Little League. Every year they would take us to a game at Shea and sit us in the upper deck by the left field foul pole. This game was billed as "Camera Day" on the schedule. I watched Bill Mazeroski hit into a triple play prior to the actual game. I had no idea what was going on until I saw the Odd Couple movie the following year.

I was 16 1/2 at the time. My friend and I got our tickets from one of the WOR-TV producers who was a family friend of his, mezzanine section 1, row A. I seem to remember Tom Seaver throwing 2 pitches to Mazeroski, and on the second pitch, Maz hit into the staged triple play. I’ve been to around 800 Mets games, and this was the only “batting out of order” I’ve seen live. I still have the scorecard, a bit messy. I also remember the Pirates were keyed into the batting order on the scoreboard, which was wrong. Poor Jim Pagliaroni, declared out and he never even batted in that inning.

I must correct my comment of July 20, 2021. I thought it was Tom Seaver who threw the simulated triple play pitch to Bill Mazeroski, but in reading some previous comments, my memory must’ve been wrong. I now believe it was Jack Fisher.

I went to the game with my brother and father. I knew Clemente had turned down the role and Mazeroski stepped in. Mazeroski hit the first pitch off the LF wall. The 2nd pitch he hit to Ed Charles for the triple play. I watched Charles throw, then watched Maz run. He was staring at the play and did a good job of pretending to run slow instead of that jogging thing. I remember the whole batting out of order commotion because it delayed the game for quite a bit. Without looking it up, I think Swoboda hit a HR to left. No doubter from our 3B vantage point.

I was at this game for my brother's 16th birthday. I was 13. I remember the Mets PA guy urging the crowd to cheer as the triple play was completed. I also recall that as they were coming off the field Bud Harrelson did a little jump/skip like he might if they really pulled that play off (a true thespian).

It's a long time ago and maybe I'm wrong but my recollection is that for a moment they said they were going to reshoot it but then decided not to as it was good enough. Why were they going to reshoot it? At the time I noticed they screwed it up (this was the Mets) as the second baseman came off the bag early. The umpire noticed too.

In the movie they barely showed the scene so you really couldn't tell much of anything.

BTW, I remember the movie scene far more than the game itself.

This was my first Met game! Me and my friend Anthony walked the stadium with our "Sink the Pirates" banner.

Jack Fisher, an amazing innings eater in the mid 60's pitched a brilliant game, only giving up a solo shot from Bill Mazeroski into the visitors bullpen. My father refused to boo Mazeroski. When I asked him why he told me that Mazeroski had a big hit (about seven years prior) in the World Series once that he remembered. My father was apparently a closet Yankee hater.

Danny Frisella's first major league win and I was in the mezzanine with my Dad. Bud Harrelson tripled right below us down the LF in 1st inning. Frisella got his first big-league win but had to leave in the 7th inning because it was his weekend for military reserve duty.

I was very young, the Old Tappan, NJ Little League took us to the game. I don't remember much...but these couple of things I DO remember. We sat all the way up in the upper deck behind home plate. The slope was so steep that every time I got up, I felt like I was going to fall forward, out of the stands and on to the field. I also remember that Tommy Davis hit two home runs that day...both to center field. I came home with a Mets pennant and a yearbook. I've collected yearbooks ever since and have quite a collection. A few years ago, I bought a filled out program/scorecard for the game on ebay.

My Dad told my Mom (his girlfriend at the time) that if the Mets won the Double-header they would get engaged. 40 years later they are still married!

Tom Seaver tossed a four-hitter for his first major league shutout in this doubleheader opener. It was a scoreless pitching duel between Seaver and the Pirates' Steve Blass before the Mets broke through with three runs in the eighth inning. Tom would eventually blank the opponent with a complete game a total of 44 times as a Met.

I was only nine years old, but I will always remember this game because of Buddy Harrelson's inside the park HR. Batting left handed, he hit a ball down the right field line and Al Luplow, thinking it to be a foul ball, never took off after the ball. By the time he got to the ball Buddy had scored. There was quite an argument.

This is my first Met memory ay age 6. Black and white television on WOR channel 9 at Forbes Field. Why Pittsburgh's right fielder assumed it was foul is beyond me? Buddy just circled the bases. Above comment is how I remember it also. Quite an ARGUMENT.

Not quite a game memory...As a kid we were on vacation "away from it all". Back in civilization, I was surprised to see that Bud Harrelson had hit a home run. Eventually I read how he hit it! The recently traded ex Met Al Luplow argued with the ump about fair or foul as Bud Harrelson ran around the bases. In today's game Harrelson would probably be credited with a double and "fielders indifference" for the other two bases. Al Luplow may very well be the inventor of fielders indifference. Anyway the game was played in 1967 so it is a home run forever!

I was only 9 but I recall being ECSTATIC when Buddy circled the bases. I seem to recall that not only didn't Luplow chase the ball, it rolled under the Pirates bullpens bench down the RF line amongst the discarded dixie cups underneath there.

The Big H, I don't know where you're coming from because there is no such thing as "fielder's indifference." Perhaps you're getting that confused with defensive indifference, which is a ruling on runners not being credited with stolen bases in the late innings of lopsided games.

I was too young to be interested in baseball at the time of this game and didn't see what happened on Bud Harrelson's inside-the-park homer. But if Al Luplow never touched the ball and just assumed it was foul, it would not be ruled as anything specific even by today's official scoring standards. Harrelson would still be credited with a home run now.

Also, I can't agree with Jaime Rosa that Harrelson hit the homer as a left-handed batter. It came against left-handed pitcher Juan Pizarro, which means that Bud had to be hitting from the right-handed side of the plate.

Something you'd never see today: Seaver had been knocked out of the 1st game of the doubleheader after two innings but the Mets rallied to get him off the hook. Then Westrum brought him back in relief in this game which was the nightcap, and he lost it

Great night. My dad took me with two pals for my 11th birthday. Both runs were bases empty homers by the Glider - Ed Charles (on sliders probably). Kooz was brilliant.

This is the only Live MLB game I ever saw. I was 11 at the time and it seemed to take forever. Somehow I knew then that I would never really be a fan of the game.

Our 4th grade class attended this game as a class trip. It was a thrill to see such stars as Stargell and Clemente, and of course Seaver and all the Mets. I still remember the sleeveless uniforms - I think this was the first live game I ever saw. The game did take forever, and I couldn't wait until I got home to tell my dad, a big Mets fan, all about it. I thought I would embellish the story and told everyone that it went 21 innings. How would they know - they weren't there, were they? My dad was gracious enough to not give me too hard a time when he read the paper the next day and saw that it was only 17 innings. Great memories.

The Mets got a run in the seventeenth inning for a win over the Pirates in this game. Tom Seaver pitched the first eleven innings before reliever Cal Koonce hooked up with Pittsburgh's Bob Moose in a shutout duel of their own from the 12th to the 16th. Ron Taylor hurled a scoreless top of the 17th and became the winning pitcher when ex-Met Chuck Hiller made an error on Ken Boswell's single in the bottom half that allowed Tommie Agee to come home. The real tragic thing for the Bucs is that Hiller had just entered the game with reliever Elroy Face in a double switch.

Future Met hero, Donn Clendenon drilled a shot off Nolan Ryan that left the park at warp speed and for a moment appeared that it would go through the center field scoreboard rather than bounce off of it.

I attended this game with my best high school buddy, who was a Pirate fan. We were scalped at the gate by some googly-eyed old guy who kept staring past us and never once looking us in the eye, but who kept pestering us to buy from him "the best seats in the house, the best seats in the house!" He wanted an outrageous $5.50 per seat when the normal general admission price back then was around 3-something, I think. We caved in, but the seats wound up being about 6 rows apart. Maybe it was a good thing though. Rabid Pirate fans and rabid Met fans may not be the best seatmates at Pirates/Mets games.

It's quite possible Don Bosch had his career game that day. He was 4 2 2 2 with his 3rd and last Met homer in a 4-3 Met's win, so he had to be the Man that game. He had 9 RBI in 94 career Met games, so that was 22.222222etc. % of them right there. After that game he went just 2 for 17 the rest of his Met career and never drove in another run. This game was the second of a twin bill where Don was a more typical 3 0 0 0 for the first game.

I was almost glad the twin bill was just a split. In those days for a Met fan - whew - more than good enough! The Mets had never had a good team to this point, and my friend could not bear Met wins over his Pirates. For him a Pirate sweep was the required expectation, a split was a misfortune that with time and therapy could be gotten over, a Met sweep!? It would have been a long glum tense July-4th-traffic drive back to Pennsylvania.

Well I wasn't there, but happy to say I entered the world at 5:15 PM, during game 2. Maybe I can figure out who was batting when I was making my debut

So long ago, so I have only these lasting impressions - getting beaned in the stands as Gary Kolb skidded a batting practice liner across the top of my skull (a fan got the ball, gave it to me with the comment "here you go, you deserve this one", being so close to the field I could actually hear Ed Kranepool say s#%t as a practice throw got past him at 1B (this was pre-Ball Four when we didn't know major leaguers said that stuff), and the Pirates daring to go against Tom Seaver with a pitcher with the face of a 12-year old. Oh, and incidentally Doc Ellis bested Seaver 3-0.

The first game I ever went to at Shea Stadium, and my second in-person game ever (saw a game at Yankee Stadium earlier that year, Orioles vs. Yankees). I remember nothing about the game besides going to it, and can only identify it because I remember it was a Sunday and they played the Pirates. This was the only Sunday game they played vs. the Pirates that year at Shea Stadium.

I also remember, and here's where memory gets tricky, that it was helmet day. I remember this because I remember not knowing it was helmet day and then entering the stadium, the guy at the turnstile hands me a helmet, which I wasn't expecting. So, as a six year old kid, I thought maybe you got something free every time you went to a game. What makes me doubt my memory is that this game was in September, which is kind of late for helmet day. Also, looking at a Mets program for 1968, which I still have (but not for this game), there is no helmet day listed. Did they add helmet day later on in the year, after the original schedules were printed, so it's not on the schedule? Did they have two helmet days, one earlier in the year and this one? The Yankees used to do that with bat day. They'd have their real bat day in June or something, then have a later bat day announced during the season so they could get rid of the left over bats from the real bat day (the Yankees didn't always draw big crowds in those days, even on bat day). Attendance might give a clue, since Helmet Day, in those days, was usually a near sell-out, but it's listed as 33,838, not bad for a couple of also-ran teams playing out the string in late September, but not up to usual Helmet Day standards.

So I'm not really sure this WAS my first Shea Stadium game. I know my first game was a Sunday vs. the Pirates in 1968. I also know it was Helmet Day, but if the only Sunday Pirates game in 1968 wasn't Helmet Day, then what game did I go to? Or is it two different games I have mixed up? Well, I was only 6 years old at the time, so that's my excuse.

My first Mets game. My dad took me, and his fellow NYPD friends took their own kids the night after school let out. This was Oldtimers night, but my dad told me keep your eyes on the right fielder Clemente. Although Roberto had a hard time at the plate, he made a spin around throw from deep in the right field corner to the third baseman on a line that made the crowd gasp and cheer. I remember the Mets rallying in the 9th after their horrible 8th and falling with the tying run up. Story of my life!

With this win, Tom Seaver became the winningest pitcher in Met history, passing Al Jackson.

This opener of a Pittsburgh twinbill began at 10:30 AM. Morning baseball has become quite rare except for Patriots Day in Boston.

To me, this is a game(s) that is a perfect example how the game has changed. And not for the better. Holiday or not, there are no more scheduled double headers. This one was at a grand old ballpark and the Mets scored the most runs in a DH in their history up to that point.

Earliest start ever for Mets - 10:30 AM for the holiday!

The Mets swept the three game series at Forbes Field on July 4th weekend with this 8-7 win. They scored 28 runs in the three games.

In this one the Mets came back from a 6-1 hole after two innings. Former Pirate Donn Clendenon hit a 3-run homer with two outs in the 6th to give the Mets an 8-6 lead. Cal Koonce pitched the last four innings, giving up one run and striking out six for the save.

This gave the Mets some momentum heading into the biggest series in the franchise's history to that point: the 3-game homestand against the Cubs that featured the remarkable 9th inning comeback and Seaver's near-perfect game.

This game and the following game which made up this doubleheader are together truly remarkable. I was 9 years old at the time, but here's what I seem to remember [unless someone tells me that I dreamed this]: I'm pretty certain that, incredibly, the Mets won both ends of this doubleheader by 1-0 scores --AND, in each game, the pitcher drove in the only run of each game! That had to make us all realize at the time that the Mets were destined to w

Does anyone realize that this was Koosman's only R.B.I. for all of 1969??!! Good timing, no luck. No, but a World Championship in the making.

A truly unique and perhaps an unprecedented or unparalleled event on this doubleheader. Both games were 1-0 games, and in each game, the Mets pitcher drove in the game's only run. In the opener, Koosman got the win and singled in the only run, and Cardwell won the nightcap, also driving in the only run of the game.

My first games in person and a doubleheader to boot. I went with my Dad and Uncle. We were in box seats slightly to the right of home plate. A budding Pirates fan, I was just thrilled to be at the ballpark and didn't care the Bucs didn't score. I do remember that only the pitchers for the Mets drove in the only runs of the day. Forbes Field was an aging gem in the middle of Oakland but the doubleheader win spoke to the Mets magic of 1969. I'll never forget the day and how special baseball felt...it lives on in my memory.

Pitchers Jerry Koosman and Don Cardwell both hurl 1–0 wins and drive in the winning runs, as the red hot Mets sweep the Pirates. The Cubs, meanwhile, win, snapping their 8-game losing streak, but now trail by two 1/2 games.

I vividly remember listening to most of the second game on the car radio, we were stuck in traffic on the Sunrise Highway heading back to Brooklyn from Valley Stream.

My dad, the MET-HATER, kept harping on about seeing eye hits and lucky calls, I didn't care, we were heading closer towards history.

It had been an especially tough week in college at the University of Dayton, but my roomate had the perfect remedy. ROAD TRIP! Hey! The Mets are playing a twi-nighter in Pittsburgh! We should make it there at least in time for the second game. Less than two hours later we were walking into Forbes Field. (The ticket takers had apparently already gone home.) We found a couple of unoccupied seats (there were plenty) in the mezzanine behind home plate. Just in time for the top of the fifth. Little Buddy doubles and the Kooz (yeah that slugger Jerry Koosman) singles him home. Jerry cruises the rest of the way. Mets win 1-0. Game two. Journeyman Don Cardwell facing a slightly diminished Bucs lineup (no Clemente) is in total control for eight after driving in the go ahead and only run in the third. The icing on the cake - the Tugger closes out the ninth. Walking out the left field exit of old Forbes with my right index finger held high chanting "We're Number One!" May very well be my fondest Miracle Mets memory.

If I remember correctly, listening on the radio, the last out was a long drive by Stargell that was caught against the CF wall, which was a very long way from home plate.

I remember watching this game on TV at my childhood home (now my current home) - beautiful sunny hot late summer afternoon. At the time, Ron Swoboda was my hero. The Mets loaded the bases (i think Amos Otis was on third), and my father was saying come on Ron, just a single, get two runs in. My friend was over and I was hoping for the granny. I don't remember who was pitching, but Ron swung and hit the ball deep to left center field - there it went over the ball. Absolute delerium in my living room!

Great memory, George. I'd like to point out that in the inning when Ron Swoboda hit his grand slam, Amos Otis laid down a sacrifice bunt and was not on base for it. The three runners were Bud Harrelson, Tommie Agee and Donn Clendenon. Also, the Pirates' pitcher against whom Swoboda slammed was reliever Chuck Hartenstein.

The victory gave the Mets a ten-game winning streak and a division lead of three and one-half games over the Chicago Cubs in the National League East. It was also Tom Seaver's seventh consecutive winning decision and twenty-second of the season.

Les Rohr's last game as a Met in his brief MLB career. the former Number #1 Draft pick had been called up in September and this was his only game with the Mets in the championship year. He got hit hard in the 8th and 9th innings. Needless to say, he did not get a championship ring. He never made it back to the bigs because of arm injuries.

I arrived late for this game because my mom didn't want to get there on time because it was a double-header. The game was over before the 7 train we were on pulled into Willets Pt. Blvd. Somehow this game didn't make it onto the Hall of Fame highlight reel of one Lynn Nolan Ryan. On the bright side, they scored two runs, which is two more than they scored in each of the next two games, which includes Bob Moose's no-hitter.

Second game of a Friday night twi-night doubleheader that was over almost as soon as it began. Notable(?) for Jesse Hudson's lone major league appearance. I suffered through this twin killing and as if this wasn't bad enough I went the next day only to see Bob Moose no-hit the Mets. This game was not atypical of their anemic offense and adds to the mystique of them winning the Series despite their weak hitting. They were the living embodiment of the adage "Good pitching stops good hitting."

The very first major league game I ever attended - and the source of a running joke in my family (to wit: I went to my first Met game in 1969, but I didn't see them get their first hit until 1970).

Being the baseball neophyte that I was, I didn't realize that a no-hitter wasn't all that common. Now, of course, I know better.

Bob Moose of the Pirates pitched a no-hitter against the Mets in this game.

I remember flipping over to NBC's Saturday Game of The Week after this no-hit loss. The Pirates were on their way to beating the Cubs 13-4, so the Mets didn't lose any ground in the standings.

I was there. It took a special talent to see a game the Mets lost in September 1969. I remember the Mets botching a rundown early on in the game allowing a runner to score. The Mets best chance for a hit was a Wayne Garrett hit that Roberto Clemente caught against the wall, relatively late in the game. My first and only no hitter. Needless to say, 35 years later, us Mets fans are still waiting to see our first Mets no hitter!

I was a young 11 year old die-hard Mets fan living in Bayonne NJ at the time. I went to this game with my Cub Scout pack as part of a field trip. We had great seats and we had a great time. I could NOT believe that Bob Moose pitched a no-hitter! I'll never forget the Pitates jumping all over Bob Moose after the final out was made. I was so shocked, but the memory of this game is forever embedded in my mind. I tell my 3 boys that about this game all the time. I collect sports memoribila today and my one regret is that I did't keep my ticket stub from this game... Oh well! I was sad to hear that Bob Moose died on his birthday in 1976 in a car crash.

For the record, I believe Art Shamsky made the last out of this game with a ground out to 2nd.

I was at this game and had attended the twi- night double header the night before. If the Mets had won all 3 games this game would have clinched the division. This game convinced me that I was a jinx as I managed to attend five games at Shea that year and they lost 4 of them (My parents insisted we go home after 12 innings before they won the 5th game I went to that went 16 innings back in June). I was so mad that they got no-hit and, at 10 years old, did not appreciate the historical significance of this game until years later.

My girlfriend and I were sitting behind the auxiliary scoreboard in right field and we couldn't see the big scoreboard, the only place where hits were tallied. We weren't keeping score; we were just there to see the Mets win and to be part of the excitement. No hitter? Yup. The only no-hitter I've seen live in fifty years of watching baseball. The trouble is we didn't realize that we had seen it till it was over and saw the Pirates jumping all over Bob Moose.

I attended this game at Shea. When the game was over, most of the fans remained standing at their seats for about 20 minutes, intently watching the scoreboard to see the outcome of the Cubs game that was still in progress. Even at that late date in the season, I believe the standings were pretty close.

I was at this game. I was 8 years old, with my dad and grandfather and I remember the wild pitches that scored the Pirates runs, more than the no-hitter. Funny.

My older sister took me and my twin sister to this game, the day before our birthday. We all sat high up in the upper deck. I remember it being rather cold and windy - especially up there. Attendance was one of Shea's biggest, over 50,000. No-hitters might be a little historic, but (especially if you are a fan of the opposing team) this one, on an uncomfortable day, high up, was not fun. I attended a handful of games in 1969, also the years before and after. It was wonderful to be a Mets fan.

I was at this game too. My problem is that I recall the place being jam packed. I remember having to sit on the concrete steps in the grandstands (upper deck). The attendance is reported in the record books at around 38,000. I thought it was at least 56,000+ to capacity. Does anyone here recall that?

I was at this game, too. I was 15 years old and went in with a friend. We bought general admission tickets and then bribed an usher (my friend's dad taught us how to do this) for about $5 if I remember correctly and he seated us behind home plate under the screen about 15 rows back. We were, of course, diehard Mets fans and they were in the hunt for their 1st pennant. After about the 5th inning once we realized that Bob had a no hitter going we started rooting for him. Bob's wife was sitting about 4 rows in front of us and I can remember her crying and everyone hugging her when the game was over. I was also at game 6 of the 86 world Series sitting at the front of the 2nd deck right on the 1st base line. I don't know which experience was better, it was all good!

This was my first MLB game as well. We went with either the Cub Scouts or Levittown Little League, not sure which. I seem to remember the stands being very full--it had to have been 50,000. Sure gave me a great story to tell for the next 40+ years. Man, I'm old.

Roberto Clemente made a great catch in right field. Mets fans were rooting for the no-hitter at the end.

I was at the game too--my first game. I was 6 and 1/2 years old. I also remember the wild pitches that scored the Pirates runs. We lived in NJ, and my mother (obviously not a baseball fan) made my dad take us home early. We left in the 8th inning. I remember getting in the back of our VW in the parking lot at Shea, and we were the only ones in the lot. Dad tuned the game on the radio and that is how we found out that the no-no was completed.

I was at this game with my high school friend who had saved Bordon Milk coupons giving us free admission to the game. The Mets, not having any premonition of a miraculous season, had designated certain games as Coupon Games during the 1969 Season. Because of this promotion and the fact that the Amazing Mets were in first place, Shea Stadium was packed to the rafters. I truly believe this was the largest crowd ever. There was not a seat to be found anywhere within the stadium. We stood at the left field foul pole above the visiting team Bullpen. The official announced attendance was in the 30,000 range. This would include only PAID Attendance. That is why the other memories of a full stadium are valid. I remember Clemente's catch preserving the no-hitter. Again, I had never seen the stadium as full even during World Series games.

I was at that game. I was 11 years old at the time. My father and I were sitting in the upper deck between home plate and third base. If I remember correctly, the stadium was packed that day. Like Lucille, I also remember staying after the game ended to watch the progress of the Cubs game on the scoreboard. Growing up in Richmond Hill, Queens, I have many great memories of Shea.

My Father brought us to this game with Borden Milk coupons as well. The coupons got us to our first game in several years since money was tight and with 5 kids we drank a lot of milk, so the coupons were a perfect promotion for us. It was my first trip to Shea. We sat way up in the upper deck and I remember it being packed and cold and feeling like I could reach up and touch the planes flying overhead. I was sure we were closer to the planes than to the field. I remember thinking it was pretty special to attend a no-hit game, and after the World Series thinking that it was even more special to see the eventual WS champions no-hit at home in the stretch run. The great Roberto Clemente saved the game for Bob Moose, though I don't remember that play. Sad that they both died young and in accidents.

Basically, remember it being very cold. Drank hot chocolate there. What I really need to know is what Game No. is on the ticket for this game? Does anyone have an image of a Grandstand Ticket they could send me? Thanks

I don't know whether this is discouraged, but I found something on YouTube that is not state of the art, but gives us something. Really only valuable for the celebration. I was at the game too and I think it was the milk cartons I have to thank for that.

8mm footage from Bob Moose's no-no

Although I was at this game, I only recently learned, more than a half century later, that this was, in fact, the last game the Mets lost at Shea in 1969.

First Opening Day win in Mets history.

As Kevin points out, this was the first time the Mets ever won on Opening Day. I wonder if any other professional sports franchise won a World Championship before they won an Opening Day game?

This was the final opening day at old Forbes Field in Pittsburgh.

This was the final Opening Day ever at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh.

The first season-opening win in Mets history! It came at Pittsburgh's Forbes Field, the same place where they recorded their first victory ever in 1962. The win here seemed to change the Mets' luck on Opening Day. After losing their first game of the year all eight times in the 1960s, the team would win nine of ten openers during the 1970s and then do the same again in the 1980s. In each of the next three decades, the Mets had Opening Day records of 6-4 (1990s), 7-3 (2000s) and 7-3 (2010s.)

Many have pointed out this was the Mets' first ever Opening Day win, and it was quite a dramatic win at that. Tom Seaver and Steve Blass started and pitched well, as the game went into extras with the score 3-3. After a scoreless 10th, the Mets broke through in the 11th. Jerry May, starting at catcher for the Pirates only because regular starter Manny Sanguillen was hurt, threw errantly to 2nd base on a sacrifice bunt attempt, putting 2 runners on and none out. After another sac bunt and an intentional walk, Don Clendenon came up to pinch hit and delivered a 2-run single. Tug McGraw then worked a scoreless bottom of the 11th to get the save.

I was at this game, I remember I was freezing, it was raw and cold, but I had a great time. I can always say I saw them get their 1969 world championship rings.

I was there, in the upper deck, for the home opener. It was a raw day, but I got to see the World Championship flag fly high over Shea for the first time! Let’s Go Mets.

Fantastic pitching duel between Seaver and Blass. I believe it was 1-1 going into the ninth, Pirates scored in top of the inning. Mets tied it and had Al Weis their fastest runner on third. A deep fly was hit to Clemente in right. He made an unreal throw on the fly to the plate that Weis barely beat. It shouldn't have even been close but he had a terrific arm. He also had a very slow walk. It took him about 5 minutes to reach the dugout.

It was 1-1 going to the ninth; Tom Seaver vs Steve Blass. Seaver gave up only two hits over the first eight innings, and both of them came in the fifth when Willie Stargell doubled and Gene Alley singled him home.

But Tom gave up three singles in the ninth and the Pirates took a 2-1 lead. In the bottom of the ninth, Ken Singleton led off with a hit and Art Shamsky followed with another, and the Mets had runners at the corners with nobody out. Al Weis pinch-ran for Shamsky, and Dave Marshall singled to tie the game, then veteran lefty Joe Gibbon came in and hit Ken Boswell to load the bases. After Cleon Jones pinch-hit and made an out, Donn Clendenon batted for Jerry Grote and hit a sac fly off Orlando Pena for the 3-2 win as described by Rich Edwards above.

Ken Boswell was on base four times in the game with two singles, a walk, and a hit by pitch.

First game at Shea by myself. I was 16 and took the bus to NY Port Authority and subway to Shea. It was a great game and I remember Clemente’s throw to the plate on the last play. Best throw I ever witnessed in person.

First game I ever saw at the ballpark. I remember it was the longest 9-inning game in the league that year. 4 hours and 10 minutes....no rain delays. Clemente hit one out... Pirates lost but a great game.

My first game. Roberto hit one out.

At Three Rivers Stadium, Willie Stargell hits an 8th inning homer into the 70-foot high right field upper deck, the first player to hit one up there. The pitch is served up by Mets reliever Ron Taylor. The next two hit up there will be by Stargell, who will hit four of the first 7; Bob Robertson, Phillie Greg Luzinski, and Bobby Bonilla, in 1987, will also reach the seats. The Pirates win, 8–3. Nolan Ryan is the loser, allowing four runs in six innings, allowing three hits, walking seven and striking out 10.

This game was delayed about half an hour because the lights would not come on at the almost-brand-new Three Rivers Stadium!

The last game I ever went to with my father. A rain delay, Clemente not playing, Jose Pagan and Bob Robertson hit HR's for the Bucs and Steve Blass is the winner.

I was at this game and was 12 years old at the time. We sat in the last row in the corner of the left field bleachers. The stadium was packed. I clearly remember Ed Kranepool pinch hitting in the late innings and driving one that the centerfielder caught with his back against the wall. It was painful to watch the Mets lose another big game. If I recall correctly, the only Met run scored on a double play. Still, it was great to be at the game.

Pete, great memory!! The Mets were 2.5 games out with 12 games remaining when this game started. The Pirates jumped out to an early 2-0 lead when Roberto Clemente doubled home a run with two outs in the third and Willie Stargell followed with a single to drive in Clemente.

The Mets did indeed score their only run on a DP. They loaded the bases in the sixth with no one out on a single by Clendenon and walks given up by Luke Walker to Swoboda and Foy. John Lamb came in the game and got Jerrt Grote to ground into a 6-4-3 the n Bud Harrelson flied out.

Ed Kranepool came up as a pinch hitter leading off the bottom of the ninth and flied out to center. Tommie Agee followed with a single, but veteran Joe Gibbon came in the game and got pinch hitter Leroy Stanton--in his third major league at bat--to ground into the game-ending double play.

The teams split a doubleheader the next day and that meant the Mets were 3.5 games out (4 in the loss column) with just nine games left. The Mets were still alive because they were going to Pittsburgh the next weekend. But the Pirates swept them, winning three one-run games.

I was at this double header as a 14 year old seeing my favorite team- the Pirates (sorry) for the first time. Roberto Clements made a spectacular sliding catch into the tarp along the right field line in game one and Willie Stargell hit a home run in game two.

I too attended the game and remember Clemente's catch well. I think there is a picture of the catch if you Google Clemente.

Koosman was lights-out in the opener. Seaver faltered in the nightcap and would end the season 18-12 after starting at 14-5.

Does anyone remember someone throwing oranges onto the field during the game?

This was the first Mets game I ever attended. I was in the upper deck of right field and my most vivid memories are of an older gentleman cheering for Cleon Jones, "Come on, Cleon! You can do it, boy!" (This was a term of endearment, not a racist slur.) and of the deck being covered with peanut shells by the end of the second game. I think that the tickets cost $1.50 each.

The Mets head into this three game weekend series in Pittsburgh 2.5 games behind the Pirates with seven games to go.

The Pirates are up, 2-0, going to the seventh. Ken Boswell leads off with a walk and then Jerry Grote singles him to third. The Pirates go to the bullpen, as Dave Giusti replaces Bob Moose. Bud Harrelson strikes out, but pinch-hitter Ed Kranepool singles to drive in a run. Tommie Agee singles and the bases are loaded. Wayne Garrett walks to tie the game, but the Pirates then bring in veteran Mudcat Grant, who gets Cleon to ground into a double play.

In the bottom of the seventh, Dean Chance makes one of his three appearances in a Met uniform and gives up a single, wild pitch, and sac bunt. Tug McGraw comes in and with two outs, Matty Alou singles to give the Pirates another lead.

In the top of the eighth, LF Willie Stargell throws out Boswell trying to score from second on a two-out single by Harrelson. Stargell then singles in the bottom of the eighth to give the Pirates a 2-run cushion.

In the ninth, Ron Swoboda drew a walk to lead off, Tommie Agee doubled him home, and pinch- hitter Joe Foy walked, putting runners at first and second with nobody out. But Cleon Jones flied out, and then Art Shamsky struck out while Agee was thrown out trying to steal third, and the game and season were over.

The Pirates went on to sweep the series, winning all three games by one run, and clinch the NL East.

Isn't this the game when Tommie Agee was thrown out trying to steal home with the tying run?

I remember watching this game on tv. I almost cried when they lost this game, meaning they were not going to the postseason in 1970.

This was the first baseball game I ever went to. I was 8 going on 9 and went with the Cub Scouts. We sat in the nose bleeds and I kept score of the entire game. As I got older, I asked my Dad if he remembered the game and he wasn't sure if he was there or not. I was somewhat disappointed at the thought of not going to my first game with my father, especially after hearing about all the great games he saw at Ebbetts Field. Years later I found the program in my parent's attic. I was suprised to see that I filled in the Mets lineup and the Pirates lineup was in my Dad's handwriting. Stargell homered and Clemente tripled. Cannot root for any other team.

Stargell's HR was 3/4's the way up the RF/CF scoreboard.

First game I ever went to, age 7. My Dad told me the day before we were thinking of going. I was really excited, visions of sugar plums danced in my head. Anyway, don't remember exactly where our seats were, but when the Mets took the field they looked so tiny, I thought they were Little Leaguers. I asked my Dad if they let kids use the field before the game starts. Dumb question, I know. But maybe baseball should have an opening act! Anyway, game lasted just over 2 hours, and the Mets got shut out. Koosman pitched well, but got tagged with the loss. I learned a hard life lesson. Never expect too much from the Mets.

Gary Gentry won the first game of a doubleheader (before the Mets lost the nightcap) in the only complete game one-hitter ever in which a Met pitcher gave up more than one run. In the fifth, Hebner walked, Clemente tripled, and Stargell hit a sac fly. But homers by Agee and Jones led the Mets to a 5-2 victory.

Going for the sweep at Pittsburgh against the would-be 1971 World Series winners, the Mets stage a 9th-inning rally but ultimately fall short.

Stymied by 19-game winner Doc Ellis all game, the Mets finally broke through in the 8th thanks to a Tommie Agee 2-out RBI single. That made the score 2-1, but Tug McGraw couldn't hold serve spelling Nolan Ryan, giving up a pair of runs in the bottom of the frame. Those runs would prove fatal, as Bob Aspromonte delivered a 2-out RBI double in the 9th that would have tied the game if McGraw held the Pirates scoreless. Instead, NL saves leader Dave Giusti came in for Ellis and got Tim Foli to pop out to end the game.

Ryan gave up just 1 earned run over 7 innings but took his first loss of the year. Bud Harrelson also went 0-for-3 to snap a 13-game hitting streak, which proved to be the longest of his entire career.

I remember this game well. My brother and I sat in the upper deck right behind home plate.

Ryan was great. He struck out Stargell three times, and they never had a chance. Maybe the last good outing he had as a Met.

This was my first-ever baseball game that my brother Bob took me to. I remember Ryan shutting out the Bucs and Krane hitting a homer over the right field wall. Sat in mez section in right. Great memory. Was sold as a Met fan after that experience.

The Mets were a game out of first place on this date in 1971. When they lost this game, it started their downfall.

This was my first major league game. I was 8 and I sat way up in left field above rookie Richie Zisk. I remember being disappointed that Stargell wasn't playing, but Zisk filled in admirably. And Blass had a two-hit complete game shutout. Some fat guy in front of me kept leaning over and showing his ass crack.

The Mets played the role of spoiler in this game. They scored four runs in the first inning and never looked back for a 5-2 win at Pittsburgh. For the Pirates, the defeat prevented them from clinching the National League East Division championship on their home field. They would eventually take the title in St. Louis three days later and go on to win the World Series.

Koosman had struck out Stargell 3 times before he hit a go-ahead bomb to right field in the 8th.

Robert Clemente was honored before the game with a car by a Latin Association and chose not to accept it. Said he rather have the money go to youth programs from the same Association.

There is actually a picture with him standing next to the convertible with his family in the pre-game ceremony.

I sat in the leftfield nose bleeds and watched him put the Bucs ahead and then retake the lead on a double that scored the speedy Clines.

My dad and his friends cheered that while I sat glumly. Was only nine but always loved Kooz and thought he deserved better that night even at 9 years old!

The Mets beat the Pirates in fifteen innings in this game on the last Saturday of the season. The winning run came on Bob Aspromonte's single that drove home Tim Foli. This was Aspromonte's 1,103rd and final hit of his major league career. It was also Bob's second walk-off single in extra innings during the year. He also had one against the Phillies four months earlier.

In the top of the 15th, Frank Taveras entered as a pinch-runner for Willie Stargell to make his major league debut. Taveras would become the Bucs' regular shortstop for five seasons before his trade to the Mets in 1979.

My 8th birthday, a Seaver 1-hitter!!!

I was twelve and recorded most of this game with my tape recorder. I was really angry that Davallio broke up the no-hitter because I thought that if I had recorded a no-hitter, my tape would be worth a lot of money!

One thing I can still hear in my mind is Lindsey Nelson announcing pinch hitter Rimp Lanier's name. What a cool name. Turns out he's referred to on the Pirates website as "the most obscure player" form the 1971 Pirates' roster.

First time the Mets opened a season against defending World champs. Seaver and Tug shutout the Pirates at Shea.

This was the delayed season opener, delayed by the brief players' strike. It was also the first game after the sudden death of Manager Gil Hodges, just a week or two earlier. The team was still in shock.

Just found out that a partial video of this game exists. Regardless of completion, I would love to see the Mets Classics guys air this one. Wow!

Watching the NBC Sports telecast with Sandy Koufax on YouTube. The first game as Mets for Rusty Staub and Jim Fregosi.

Nearly 52 years later, it’s still hard to accept that they traded the generational talents of Nolan Ryan and Ken Singleton for these older players.

I got my one and only foul ball. My Dad caught it -- I was 11 -- as we were walking from our third base box seats toward the exit. It was thrown by Jerry Koosman and hit by Bob Robertson. Judging by the box score, it was probably the eight inning. We were leaving.

I've since lost the ball.

Thanks for a great web site. My Dad and I were at Shea and reminiscing about the ball he caught some 32 years ago. I didn't remember the exact date, but thanks to this web site I've nailed it, and I have the box score for posterity.

This was the second game I ever attended at Shea, and the first time I ever saw the Mets win in person. This day's game would end up being the only bright spot in Jim Fregosi's career with the Mets. He hit a three-run homer to break a 4-4 tie and win the game. I also remember being disappointed that Roberto Clemente didn't play that day. As it turned out, he would die in the coming off-season, so I never got to see him play in person. One final memory from that day: My grandfather's respect for Willie Stargell as an opponent. During the pre-game announcement of Stargell's name, he shouted "That's the guy you oughta boo!"

Not only did Fregosi hit a three run homer to give the Mets a 7-4 lead in the bottom of the seventh, but he earlier had driven in two runs with a first inning single, giving him five RBIs on the night (he only had 32 RBIs all season). I'd have to think this was Fregosi's best game as a Met.

Check out this box score: Mets score in the top of the 10th to go up 1-0 and Matlack is allowed to bat later in the inning! Baseball was so much better before Tony Larussa ruined it with his parade of specialists out of the bullpen after the 6th inning!

I'm pretty sure this is the game I brought my Super-8 movie camera to. It was a Saturday afternoon and I was sitting in my Uncle Kenny's box seats about 8 rows behind the first-base coach's box. I've got speedster Al Oliver rounding the bases on a triple and Clemente jogging out to right-field on film. Pretty cool.

Dave Shaw, if you are still reading these boards, I looked up Al Oliver's career stats against the Mets, and the only triple he hit at Shea Stadium while Roberto Clemente was still alive was on Sunday afternoon April 16, 1972, the second game of the 1972 season. The triple came with two outs and nobody on in the eighth inning off Jon Matlack.

The September 19 game was a Tuesday night at Shea.

Tom Seaver bounced back from a disasterous outing in his previous start against the Cubs (eight runs, all earned, and five walks in 2.1 innings in an 18-5 Cubs rout) to pitch a great game here. This was the first of four consecutive winning outings by Tom to close out the 1972 season.

The Pirates became East Division champions for the third straight year with their win in this game. They had scored six runs and knocked out Gary Gentry by the end of the third inning. Steve Blass struck out Jim Beauchamp in the ninth to finish it off and the celebration was on in the Bucs' clubhouse. This was the first time that a visiting team had ever clinched a title at Shea Stadium.

This was Tom Seaver's 20th win of the season, which did not come easy. For eight innings, he and the Pirates' Nelson Briles allowed a combined total of five hits (all singles) in a good old-fashioned scoreless pitching duel. The Mets finally broke through in the ninth when Tommie Agee singled to drive home Wayne Garrett. Seaver then hurled a perfect bottom half to finish it off.

Seaver's dominance of the Bucs put an historical baseball moment on hold. Roberto Clemente was only one hit away from 3,000 for his career and came up empty in four times at bat. Clemente would reach that total the next day.

In this game, Roberto Clemente of the Pirates got his 3,000th hit. Unfortunately, this was the last hit of Clemente's career, because he was killed in a plane crash while en route to bring supplies to Nicaragua earthquake victims on Dec. 31, 1972.

As a 13-year-old Mets fan I was upset when Roberto Clemente got his 3000th hit (double) vs Jon Matlack. A few months later when Clemente was killed I realized what a great player he really was and it seems I remember a really good throw against the Orioles in the 1971 WS.

I remember Ramon Hernandez hit three Mets in this game. One of them was Jerry Grote, and it broke his arm.

Raymond M:

I remember that as well. He also hit Rusty Staub on the knuckles of his healthy hand. The year before George Stone hit him on the other hand. The Mets said Rusty never healed as fast as they hoped. So he virtually played all year with pain in both hands. But he goy healthy just in time for their pennant drive, and was the Mets hottest batter in September and the postseason.

This was my first baseball game. I was 11 years old. I was a Pirates fan at Shea Stadium. Rusty Staub hit a homer around the fifth inning. That held up until the ninth when Bob Robertson hit a homer to tie it. Willie Stargell hit a 3 run homer in the tenth and the Pirates won. I also remember the planes flying over us and how good the hotdogs were.

I lived in Hawthorne NY at the time. Our Little League (Sherman Park) sponsored a trip to Shea. I was with my dad, too. Sunny day, light breeze if I remember right. Our seats were in the middle of the stadium above third base. What I most remember about this game is the crazy looking mask that John Matlack (the Mets pitcher) wore. It was like a hockey goalie’s mask. Crazy! He had fractured his skull back around May 8 on a liner back to the mound hit by Marty Perez. Matlack was heroic and pitched well despite all he had to overcome in this game (the Mets lost on this day but he pitched well). John Matlack became my favorite Mets pitcher after this experience. He even won an All Star Game MVP a few years later and was Rookie of the year before this game. This game remains a lifetime memory for me!

This was my first visit to Shea Stadium! My Yankee fan father finally broke down and took me and my brother to a Mets game. We sat on the third base side of the mezzanine level. Until finding this website, all I remembered was that it was late July of '73 Vs. Pittsburgh and that the Mets lost a low scoring game. I had forgotten who pitched for the Mets but did remember that Dock Ellis started for the Pirates. My dad has also told me that on that final night of July with the Mets at the bottom of the NL East, I told him that the Mets would win the division that year! And they did!

This was a very exciting night for this 9 year old. Not only was it the first doubleheader I attended but also the first time I got to see Tom Seaver pitch in person. He was overwhelming as he shutout the dreaded Lumber Company on 4 hits, striking out 5 in the first 2 innings on his way to 11 for the game against 0 walks. What I had forgotten about this first game of the twinighter was that Steve Blass started for the Pirates. Looking at the boxscore you can see how he was struggling with what would become known as "Steve Blass Disease." Five walks, a hit batter and a wild pitch in an inning and two thirds. In 1972 Steve Blass walked 84 batters over 249 innings. In 1973 he walked 84 in 88 innings and also hit 12 batters. His ERA ballooned from 2.49 to 9.85.

How could we mention the August 1, 1973 doubleheader with the Pirates without mentioning the 2 home runs hit by John "The Hammer" Milner (RIP Hammer) in the 2nd game of the doubleheader? Pretty exciting for a 12 year old.

To Pop Pops and Rita in heaven. Forty years ago today you took me to this doubleheader. All these years later, it is still one of my best memories of the Mets. Thank you.

To Pop Pops and Rita in heaven, it is now 50 years ago today that you took me to this doubleheader. It still remains as one of my best memories of the Mets. Thank you.

The Mets completed the sweep as John Milner homered twice and George Stone came within one out of a complete game shutout. We left after the 7th and heard the end of the game in the car. I remember sitting in the left field loge for the 2 games and have always felt that this was a night that the Mets began to turn their season around.

A rare off day for Seaver as he was coming back on three days rest after pitching 11 innings to beat the Phils. This was the first of five straight games with the Pirates who were in first place and the loss put the Mets 3.5 games back and in desparate shape. Then the magic began to flow as the Mets won the next 4 games.

What a comeback 5 in the 9th inning then hold on for dear life with apodoca who got no one out in his debut and buzz capra. If anybody knows if a tape of this game is available please put it on this site

This was a MUST win, in order to stay close to the Pirates, during the great pennant race of '73. I'll never forget how upset I was as the Mets came to bat in the top of the 9th. Listing to to 9th inning with my transistor under my pillow (my mother had sent me to bed), I heard one of the Mets biggest regular season comebacks ever.

And then, while the Great Bob Murphy was doing the "happy recap" he said, "If the Mets had lost tonight, they would be 4 & 1/2 games back...A HILL TOO STEEP TO CLIMB!"

I'll correct a detail at the end, but this is my raw memory of that fateful game.

The second game in Pittsburgh, when they really were about to finally cave. They were 3 1/2 back and down 4-1 going to the top of the ninth. Bear in mind, the Pirates had won the NL East the last three years, so the odds were stacked that much higher. They scored 5 in the top of the ninth -- and I wasn't supposed to be watching. But I had a b&w TV on my night table and after every pitch I'd adjust the brightness down to complete black and then raise it again when I felt the next pitch was about to be delivered. It was then, incidentally, that I discovered that weird phenomenon of the silhouette of the last image still existing on the blackened screen. Anyway, enough personal history. The bottom of the ninth was excruciating. They were up 2 and it evaporated to 1 in no time. Again, still adjusting the damn picture between pitches. Bob Apodaca got the final out and I'm pretty sure he was fresh on the roster for only a week or two. Insane stuff. I -- and the Mets -- had to pull out all stops to get this one.

My memory was off about Apodaca. He came in and walked the only two men he'd face. Capra closed it, but not before walking two batters of his own. What agony! That Met season was arguably as dramatic as '69.

I obtained an 18 minute version of this game with all the scoring and tense ending on CD along with the 20 minute version of the 19 inning LA game in May. Great for my collection !

I remember being at this game as a 9-year-old with my father. I think it was a night game. My idol was Cleon Jones, and ironically he hit 2 home runs in this game, which I remember vividly as I was sitting in a field box in shallow left field. May have been one of his best offensive games ever, as he also had 5 RBIs. The next night was the crazy game that went into the late hours when Cleon threw a strike to the cutoff man when the ball hit by Pirates Dave Augustine bounced off the top of the fence, and Richie Zisk was nailed at the plate by Ron Hodges.

I was 10 years old in 1973. I had only started to follow the Mets in '71, so this was my first pennant race. I watched the game on TV with my father. When Cleon Jones played the carom off the top of the fence and started the play that ended with Ritchie Zisk being nailed at the plate, my father turned to me and said, "they're gonna win. When a team starts getting breaks like that, they're gonna win." Because I was 10 and he was my dad, I believed it. It was a great feeling 'knowing' the Mets would win it. The night that the ball rolled through Bill Buckner's legs was great, but I don't know if it was better than this night.

I am absolutely astounded that only one person has written about this game. This was the most remarkable regular season game in Mets history, taking place in the most remarkable regular season series the Mets have ever been involved in. It was also the most meaningful regular season game in Mets history. Taking place at the peak of the 1973 pennant drive, it was a game the Mets absolutely had to have. The details of the game – and the series – were pure magic. I remember it all as if it were yesterday.

Actually, it could have been considered a 5-game series. The Mets played the first-place Pirates on five consecutive nights, the first 2 in Pittsburgh, followed by the next 3 at Shea. The Mets entered Pittsburgh 2 and a half games out and Seaver was bombed the first game, knocking the Mets 3 and a half out. The next night, the Mets were down by 3 runs entering the ninth. They rallied for 5 runs and held on, moving back to 2 ½ out. The next night at Shea, they won easily, closing to a game and a half of the Pirates.

That brings us to this game. Words cannot describe the magic that was in the air. The Mets were desperate. Down by a run in the bottom of the sixth, they tied it. Down by a run in the bottom the eighth, they tied it again. And yet again, down by a run going to the bottom of the ninth, they had a man on second with two outs. Because Yogi Berra had pulled out all the stops, he had only back-up catcher Duffy Dyer to pinch- hit against tough closer Ramon Hernandez. Dyer doubled up the gap in left-center, tying the game. I’ll never forget Dyer immediately being replaced by a pinch-runner (a pitcher), jogging off the field to a standing ovation. It was then that Lindsey Nelson remarked about the “spirit of 1969” being in the air.

The game went to the top of the 13th and what has become known as the “Dave Augustine” play. With two outs and Richie Zisk on first base, Augustine hit a drive that appeared to be going for a home run. Instead, it hit the point at the very top of the wall, going directly on a fly into Cleon Jones’ hands. What was incredible was that an inch higher would have been a home run, and an inch lower would have caused the ball to bounce in a normal fashion, causing the Mets to lose precious seconds, and the run would have scored. Instead, Jones whirled and threw to Wayne Garrett, who had been moved to shortstop, who then threw to Ron Hodges at the plate for the out. Unbelievable.

Cleon Jones remarked later, "I knew we had won the game immediately after that play." Even the Pirates' great Willie Stargell said, "I knew after that play, we could have played 50 more innings and not beaten the Mets." Stargell also said, "I don’t think the National League All- Stars could have beaten the Mets in that series."

In the bottom of the 13th, it was the rookie Ron Hodges who hit a bloop single to left field with runners on first and second. I’ll never forget Stargell bobbling the ball as the winning run raced home.

Needless to say, the Mets won the next night with Seaver. It was the only time in baseball history that a team in September reached .500 and entered first place on the same night. The Mets never relinquished first place in the final two weeks of the season.

Frank-what a great appreciation for that game! I always thought part of the magic for that year began when the Mets inserted the name Hodges into the lineup and I remember listening to that game on AM radio in Pennsylvania as an eleven year old on WNEW-AM, which could be heard at night down there.

Leonard Koppett joked, half seriously, that it was the ghost of Gil Hodges that had kicked the ball back into Cleon's glove!

This was a game that summed up the entire season-Miracles do happen!

I too remember this game like it was yesterday. As a ten year old, I watched just about every game that year but this was one every true Mets fan should know about. The relay throw from Jones to Garret to Hodges should be used in instructional videos. It's 'Textbook 101.'

I watched this game by myself on a small black and white TV we had in our kitchen. The rest of my family was in the living room watching (on our brand new large color TV) the famous "Battle of the Sexes" tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs, which was played the same night. Being a devoted fan, I chose to watch the Mets! I do recall, though, that Bob Murphy gave updates of the match between pitches.

These were two memorable events. To this day, however, I'm convinced that the 13th inning provided more drama than did King and Riggs. Billie Jean's victory wasn't what one would call "surprising". But the play at the plate was something else! Who could have expected THAT? The relay of Jones to Garrett to Hodges was a more exhilirating highlight than anything served up in tennis that night.

Frank, you are 100% on the nose. This was the most important regular season game in Mets history. I remember all the details, just like you laid it out. Awesome job!

I think the Pirates were hung over from losing Clemente in the off season in the plane tragedy, and they had less will to win that year, because on paper they were still a solid team.

But the Mets took advantage of all the breaks that they got, the pitching came thru and the Dave Augistine play was the topper in the regular season that year. That was a magical year and an unforgettable game.

My recollections of this game are vivid. I was 9 years old, and lived and breathed Mets baseball. My father took me to this game, we sat in the first row of the upper deck on the third base side. I remember my father wanting to leave the game at some later stage, because he had to get up for work the next day, but I whined my way into our staying. Every time the Mets went down a run, my father wanted to leave, but I told him if we stayed, they would come back.

I remember the look on my father's face around the time the Dave Augustine play happened, I remember the whole crowd standing up to see what had happened, and I remember the roar of the crowd when Zisk was called out at the plate. I also remember them winning in the bottom half of that inning, us leaving the stadium at what must have been after 1 in the morning, and my father coming home from work with tickets for the September 25th game 5 days later against the Expos: Willie Mays night, if I remember correctly.

I've always thought of the 1973 Mets as a big portion of my childhood in a nutshell, and this game was an important part of the Mets magical 1973 season. I Was There! I still believe, Tug.

This game is rightly remembered for the "ball on the wall" play----but wasn't this also the game that marked the return of George "The Stork" Theodore after that horrible collision with Don Hahn back in July? I remember that "The Stork" got quite an ovation when he came out to pinch-hit. But according to the box-score, he struck out. Still, if this indeed was the game that marked the return of "The Stork", it just adds to the lore of that great September evening.

I was a sophomore in college, sharing a basement apartment with my sister. I'm watching the game and remember vividly Dave Augustine hitting the ball off the TOP of the left field wall and the ball bouncing back into Cleon Jones glove - the relay to Harrelson and then to Ron Hodges tagging the runner out at the plate. I jumped up and yelled "I BELIEVE!!!" at the top of my lungs!

I am getting chills reading the above comments. I was also 10 and lived and breathed Met baseball. I was watching it on a small B/W TV in my parents room. I was allowed to stay up late because they knew I would go crazy if I missed the pennant stretch games.

Life was good as a 10-year-old Met fan in 1973!

Of all the great regular-season Mets games in their history, for some reason this one doesn't get nearly as talked about as others. I am also a little surprised that one of the local newspapers have never done a feature on this game. I'd like to know what Dave Augustine thought of the "ball off the wall" play, as well as Cleon, Ron Hodges, and Richie Zisk. I'd also like to know if the TV feed is still around. This would be a true classic game for "Mets Rewind."

I was 10 at the time and did not see the game as it happened because I had to get up super early for school. I did hear the radio call on WCBS News the next morning and was absolutely dumbfounded (in a good way, of course).

Incidentally, Zisk will be featured in a bobble head tribute set to the Pirates of the 1970s. For his slow-footed contribution and getting nailed at the plate at the end of that mind-boggling play, I'm getting his bobble head.

What I remember most is that for some unfathomable reason, my Dad wanted to leave early to beat the traffic out of Shea. So, I couldn't exactly stop him, but I got him to agree to watch the ninth from the runway on a lower level. Anyway, we were standing there when Dyer hit that pinch hit double and then had to scramble back to our seats to see the rest of the game. I always think about that: if we had really left early, I would have missed seeing that ball hit the top of the fence and into Cleon's mitt (still the greatest play I have seen.)

I don't remember how my father got tickets for this game but he surprised me and my brother with them. I was 9 and my brother was 7. We sat way up in the upper deck on the first base side.

This was my first memory of a pennant race and it was great. I don't remember sitting at all during this game and cheering like crazy when the win was in the bag. I also remember the whole crowd chanting "Good Bye Pittsburgh, Good Bye Pittsburgh, Good Bye Pittsburgh, We Hate To See You Go!!!" just like in 69 when the Mets knocked Chicago out of first place (black cat game another great game that I was too young to remember, unfortunately). This game more than made up for it and made me a life long Mets fan. Whenever we talk about great moments at Shea, I always bring up this game.

I was there. Thirteen years old at the time. Yes, updates on the scoreboard about the King-Riggs match. The crowd cheered when Billie Jean's victory was posted. We were sitting field level all the way down the left field line. (Talk about good luck.) You couldn't see home plate because of the angle, but you could see the top of that left field wall up close and personal. The ball hit the flat top of the wall, bounced up and back to Cleon instead of up and over. I could see Garrett's face as he took the throw from Jones and turned to make the relay. You couldn't see the play at the plate from there, but you could hear the crowd erupt. It was a school night and my father was going to take me home after the 12th inning. I told him Stargell was due up in the 13th so we should stick around. Glad we did. Still the most amazing thing I've seen on a baseball diamond. I've got the ticket stub signed by Jones, Garrett and Hodges. Cleon wrote "The Play" on it and Hodges wrote "Ball on the Wall Play."

I was 15 years old and at the time remember watching this game in my room on a 12 inch black and white. This play and game made such an impression on me that 35 plus years later I was recently thinking about it and was curious if it could be found online. I am glad to see I am not the only one who vividly remembers this game. The 1973 Mets pennant drive was just unbelievable and this game epitomized that stretch drive. That whole play everything went perfect including the Pirates having a slow runner in Zisk at first. As a lifelong Mets fan I have always felt the Augustine play was the most amazing moment in Mets history and yes I was at game 6 in 86. Without a doubt the most underrated. For the true Met fan unforgettable. If anyone knows where I can find a box score or highlight. Please let me know.

I was there. I was 12 years old and a die hard Met fan. My father and brother went to get hot chocolate in the top of the 13th. I stood in the rampway and watched Augustine's drive just miss clearing the wall and the terrific relay of Jones to Garrett to Hodges cutting down Richie Zisk. My dad came back just in time to see the umpire signal "out" Later that inning Hodges won the game with his bloop hit. I remember walking down the ramps delirious with joy certain the Mets were going all the way. I also remember the body language of the Pirates as they slowly walked to the dugout. They seemed to know the tide had turned against them. Ironically the one player on that '73 team who stuck it out for all the lean years and was there when the franchise turned around was Ron Hodges.

Listened to Bob Prince call this on on my little radio (KDKA). A tough loss for the Bucs. All in all a great game.

Having moved from NYC to LA in 1970 I wasn't at the game, but remember following that incredible pennant race from afar and hearing about the ridiculous play from friends the next day on the phone. Just a note that the game was started by the greatest clutch starter in Met history - #36 Jerry Koosman. Kooz pitched brilliantly, as he always did when it counted (check out his Sept/Oct record in 69/73 - AMAZING!) but wasn't around at the finish. Nice to read that so many of you were still in Shea for the lucky 13th inning to see "Red" Garrett nail Zisk at the plate.

I'm writing this even though I normally don't do this. The reason being that one of my best friends called me up at the last minute and asked me if I wanted to go to the game with him. He had an extra ticket and I can't thank him enough. We were sitting behind the Pirates dugout 2nd or 3rd row so I can say I saw the play as clear as it was in slow motion on HD. I've been lucky to have been to quite a few great sporting events but this one will always stand out for all the reasons that have been said already. For me though that friend passed away last month and I'll always be in his debt for giving me that special night. Billie and Bobby fit in there somewhere but they can't hold a candle to that game and my Bro.

I was 9 years old at the time and was sitting in the last row of the field boxes right by the left field fence, so I was literally around 10 feet away from the play. I can still remember it as clear as day, from my brother saying "oh no" as it appeared the ball was going out, to the complete craziness of Shea when they threw out Zisk at the plate. I also remember when Duffy Dyer, who I believed was like a .180 hitter, came up to pinch hit, and a few guys who were sitting next to us threw their hands up in the air and figured the game was over. Only to come running back to their seats as Dyer doubled. When the Mets finally won it, this 9-year-old boy was slapping hands with complete strangers sharing in the joy of the win. Back when you didn't need the scoreboard to tell you to chant "Let's Go Mets." I really miss that innocence.

In 1973 I was 10. My friend was going to Shea for his birthday party. I couldn't go because we were going to be on vacation. Two days before vacation my mom had a minor injury but vacation was cancelled.

I remember just hanging out in my living room and then hearing a horn honk. It was my friends dad in their big green Torino station wagon. They didn't get me a ticket as I was supposed to be on vacation, but he said hop in and we will swap tickets so you can go. How cool was this guy?

I never dreamed the game would be that good. I was more nervous than in any game that I actually played in. The Mets coming back 3 times and the Jones-Garret-Hodges play was nuts.

I remember Endy's "the catch" and how people were freaking about how great a play it was with the pressure on. I agreed of course, but remembered back to 73 and an even better/more emotional play. I also remembered that unlike the Endy game, the Mets went on to win!

The Augustine ball still defies logic and physics. How can a ball traveling out and down strike a flat horizontal surface and change direction to travel back and up unless it perfectly struck the front leading edge of the top of the wall where the top and front surfaces intersect. Amazing. Most Met-friendly ball in Mets history until the ball that found its way around Buckner's glove 13 years later. Love it.

Great news is that the original radio broadcast of this game (and many others from the 60s and early 70s) is now available on YouTube on the Classic Baseball on the Radio channel. You can (and will) spend hours listening to the original Murphy/Kiner/Nelson radio broadcasts. Murph was doing radio when Augustine hit that one off the top of the wall and said that if the Mets wind up winning the pennant this play will be remembered for years to come. Check out that YouTube channel Mets fans!

Ron Hodges came out of AA. What a night for Hodges! Does a great job blocking the plate like a regular major leaguer, saving the game, then in the bottom half of the inning drives in the winning run. Ya gotta believe! I used to believe he was Gil's son. Well ya can't believe everything...

This was the game with the famous "Ball on the Wall" play in the 13th inning. Pittsburgh's Dave Augustine hit a double on which Richie Zisk was out at home via two solid relay throws. However, it wouldn't have been possible if not for Duffy Dyer's double with two outs in the ninth that drove home the tying run and kept the Mets' chances alive. This was Dyer's last appearance in a game for the year, regular or post season.

For Augustine, the double turned out to be the only extra-base hit he would ever have in the major leagues. He also never had a major league RBI. This play was the closest he would ever come to one.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

I remember coming home from football practice in da Bronx hanging in the street corner and my friend's brother taking out the garbage and saying the game was starting. It was 7 and we were used to an 8 PM start. You never saw a street corner empty out, guys running in a hundred different directions to go watch the early start. lol !

Very first game ever. I just turned 9. Had a black-and-white TV so it was magical coming out of the tunnel and seeing Shea in color for the first time. The green grass, the bright colors on the logo hanging high up in right-center field. The enormity of the entire stadium... quite a thrill. I remember Koosman throwing a gem and the only thing that kept him from being pulled for a PH in the 7th was Garrett's HR to dead center two batters ahead of him. Ended up with a 5-hit complete game. Great memory for a 9-year-old.

We were engaged at Shea - 50 years ago on this 20th day of April 1974. We still have the ticket stubs -and we’re still married and diehard Mets fans. Great game, and I remember seeing her diamond ring sparkling in the sun in right field- LGMs!!!

This was my first ever Mets game. My father took me. I was 9 years old. I have been a big fan ever since. Good times and bad. It was a great thrill to see my hero Tom Seaver. The greatest right-handed pitcher ever. Think of all the games he would have won if he had a team that scored runs. He would have won 400 games.

Jon Matlack pitches a 3-hit shutout for his 13th and final win of the season. In 1974 Matlack had 13 wins and 7 of them were shutouts.

This was Jon Matlack's seventh shutout of the season which led the National League for 1974. Matlack pitched a three-hitter and even helped his own cause by driving home two of the Mets' four runs. Two years later, Matlack would pitch six shutouts to tie for the league lead with the Giants' John Montefusco.

One word of note here is that the Mets' third run was scored by pinch-runner Jim Gosger on a single by Wayne Garrett. This was Gosger's last game of his career.

A rainy cold miserable day at Shea with 2 rain delays totaling over an hour. Went with the boy scouts and the 2 dad scout leaders saying what the hell are we doing here freezing and wet. Every time they wanted to go home, we said no! Pirates had so much hitting with Oliver Zisk Stargell and Parker I was jealous as a 12 year old. Those dads had gotten the tickets very early in the year thinking there would be a pennant race...

This was Fan Appreciation Day at Shea. All fans passing the turnstiles received a Mets tote bag. It was the first time my friends and I attended a game without adult supervision. We had a group of about twelve 11 and 12 year olds. We waited in a long line for our $1.30 GA tickets. They were stamped "Standing Room Only". Despite the disappointing season, Shea was packed. Nobody knew where the "Standing Room Only" area was so we wound up running around the ballpark and missing most of the game. At one point we were on the terrace above the 341 mark in RF and watched a young Nino Espinosa tune up the bullpen. A security guard directed us to seats in the last row of seats (row V) in the RF upper level. We finally sat in the top of the seventh just in time to see Bob Apodaca lose his no-hit bid! A wild day for a bunch of kids, we missed most of the game but I was just the first of endless treks to Shea for my for my buddies and me.

I still have my tote bag, and pics of the game. I was 9, sitting on the Mets side. There was a rain delay. Bob Apodaca was great that day.

This was the game in which Mac Scarce made his only appearance as a Met. Scarce entered in the bottom on the ninth inning, gave up a walk-off single to Richie Hebner (the only batter he faced) and was never heard from again.

Great call, Scoey!

This was a brutal loss in Pittsburgh. The Mets led, 3-0, going to the bottom of the ninth. Jerry Koosman gave up three consecutive singles to start the inning. Rick Baldwin came in and allowed a walk, then got the first out of the inning. The next batter, Rennie Stennett, singled to tie the game. Scarce came in and allowed the winning hit.

The Mets traded Scarce to Cincinnati four days later, in exchange for Tom Hall, a lefty who I thought would be terrific. I was wrong. Very wrong.

Scarce did not pitch in the majors again until 1978, when he finished his career with 17 appearances for the Twins.

The one thing I remember about this game is that I was 7 and me and my father went when we were down in the city visiting family. I just remember it being a cold rainy day driving by Shea and seeing flags flying above the stadium which usually mean't game was on. Too bad they lost.

What I remember about this loss was the Pirates making about 2 diving catches and Zisk robbing Stearns going over the left field bullpen wall and saving a homer. Sitting in the box seats behind first and seeing Dave Parker taking a few drags from a cigarette in the tunnel away from anyone. Then Torre with a chance of being a hero mildly bouncing back to the pitcher to end the game as the crowd groaned and booed...

My first time to a game! I remember my Dad took our family. Been searching all over for this box score. Remembered it was a perfect night, so excited seeing my first game. Candelaria pitched a fantastic game! I'll never forget this.

I went to this game (a Friday night game) with a bunch of friends from the neighborhood, a couple of weeks after I graduated from college. It was the first time I ever heard or saw John Candelaria of the Pirates who pitched great. Willie Stargell hit a HR off of Tom Seaver, the Mets loser though was reliever Tom Hall whom they had obtained from Cincinnati.

This game was symbolic of the 1975 season. The Mets could generate little offense and their pitching could not carry them in 1975. Thus they could never get much over .500. They went into this game 3.5 games back of the Pirates who also swept the remaining two games of the series to lengthen their lead to 6.5 games. By All-Star break less than a month later, it was a 10.5 game lead and the Mets were for practical purposes out of the pennant race. Tom Seaver held the game to a 1-1 tie for 8 innings. But Tom Hall could not shut down the Pirates in relief. Hall was a little lefty (as Bob Murphy used to say) who was a quality pitcher for years with the Twins and Reds, but had little left by the time he came to the Mets near the end of his career.

The only game I ever saw at Shea because we lived so far away. NBC Game of the Week. Lackluster game for the Mets and Dave Parker crushed a 3-run PH bomb to seal it for the Pirates. Only highlight was when we were heading for the car Joe Garagiola exited a secret stadium door and knocked my Aunt visiting from Canada on the ground. He picked her up, apologized profusely and happily and graciously gave my brother and I autographs. So the day wasn't a total bust. Cleon would only appear in 8 more Mets games after this one.

I am a Pirates fan and this was the first time that I saw them. I have always wondered had Clemente not boarded the plane would I have gotten the chance to see him. However it was a day game and they gave Stargell the day off. I'll never know.

I remember watching this game with my mom who was a baseball fan. I remember her telling me that Duffy Dyer couldn't hit just before he hit the game-winning home run for the Pirates. Sad day for this Mets fan.

Backpage of Daily News the next day said TOM'S 20TH ZIPS BUCS. After striking out Manny Sanguillen for his 200th, for a record eighth consecutive season, Seaver gets a standing ovation and turns his back to the crowd to stare out to the outfield in appreciation of the moment. The Mets have moved to within four games of the first-place Pirates with the 3-0 win. It is one of the last important late-season games Seaver will pitch as a Met.

This was the first game I ever went to - Seaver's 20th, a shutout, and his 200th strikeout.... It didn't get much better than that.

I always remember my first major league baseball game as the Mets beating the Pirates 2-0 and Seaver on the mound. Looking at the archives, I suspect this was the game as it shows up as a 3-0 Seaver win. My dad was a Yankee fan and after going to my first major league game, I became a Met fan. (I think it broke his heart.) The combination of a Met fan and Yankee fan in the house made for some very interesting discussions and debates over the years.

Tom Seaver was as good that day as I had ever seen him. I was sitting between behind third base, 2nd or third level, and he was just a machine that day! As always, his form and concentration were inspiring. The Pirates, always a good hitting team and the eventual Division winner, were absolutely overmatched. When Sanguillen went down for the 200th K (it was only a matter of time), Shea was deafening!

It was a consumate performance of a consumate professional. It was also about the last time that the Mets contended in September while he was a Met. Koosman lost on Labor Day, and the Mets slipped after that.

I remember this game not only because it was Seaver's 20th win of the season. Mike Vail homered. I was 8 years old at the time. My father took me and my cousin to the game. We were leaving and I dropped something outside the car. Me and my cousin got out to pick up the stuff and my father drove off. Didn't notice we weren't in the car till he got on the Grand Central. Needless to say he came back. We laugh about it now but still have the score card now and the only foul ball I caught ever at a game in my house as an adult

If memory serves me correct, this was a twi-night game that started around 5:35pm. I missed half of the game because my mother and I went to the supermarket. When we returned home, one of the neighborhood kids told us the news. At first, he said that Seaver struck out the pitcher for his 200th K, but he was wrong.

I recall not being annoyed because I missed seeing Seaver's achievement. My rationale was that they would show it on "Kiner's Korner," so I'd get to see it then. However, I was a little disappointed over not seeing Mike Vail's first ML home run as it happened.

Recently, there have been a slew of World Series DVDs released on the market. I'd like to see A&E put out collections of great games of superstar athletes such as Seaver. This game from '75, along with his 19 strikeout game (if it exists); his return to the Amazin's in April, '83; his near-perfect game from '69 and, perhaps, game four of the '69 World Series would make, for example, an excellent collection.

Actually, Joe, this was a single day game at Shea on a Monday afternoon, begininning at 2pm. I was at the game. It was a huge series. Seaver was magnificent. There was electricity in the air. Over 50,000 at Shea. Fans were predicting who would be the 200th strikeout victim. None predicted Sanguillen because he was a good contact hitter, but Seaver was so awesome he just blew it by him on a high swinging strike three. In fact, this was the only game the Mets defeated the Pirates all year at Shea. They had been swept in two previous 3-games series, and lost the next two in this series. The pennant race was essentially over after losing the next two.

This was actually one of those dopey 4 PM starts where Murphy used to tell everyone to get your shopping done then come out to the game afterwards. Sort of like Frank Messer of the Yanks telling everyone in the first game of a DH that there were plenty of seats left so bring the family out. Anyway, a cloudy Labor Day and Seaver was on fire. When he struck out Sanguillen for the record, it came on 3 blazing fastballs that Manny swung thru, and he always made contact. I remember late in the game when the outcome was settled a fan held up a Pirate pennant and burned it while everyone cheered. Closest we would get to first on that day.

First time that the Mets ever played a regualer season game on good Friday and they lost it in Pittsburgh.

I was in the hospital on this Saturday and I was excited when I told my dad when he visited me that the Mets won 17-1! This is the game that propelled me to become a big Mets fan

The first Met game I ever went to. 10 years old... Sat 4 rows up from first base and couldn't believe I was sitting so close to Ed Kranepool playing first base... one of my all time fav Mets and my hero at the time. If you would have asked what was better, Disney World or Shea at that time it would have been Shea. We left in the 7th. Seaver pitched 10 innings of scoreless baseball and struck out 10. Mets got whipped 1 nothing on a 15th inning homer by Zisk. Pirates were lucky. That game was like your first kiss from a girl. Never forget my first day at Shea.

Scott, I don't mean to spoil your memory, but you've got the wrong Richie and the wrong inning in which the homer was hit. It was Richie Hebner, not Zisk, who connected against reliever Ken Sanders to give the Pirates the win in the top of the 13th, not 15th. Seaver pitched scoreless ball for the first ten frames, but so did the Bucs' George Medich in a good old-fashioned mound battle. How often do starting pitchers - even with shutouts going - last into extra innings today? Relievers are always brought in during these kinds of games in the 21st century. Sadly, complete games and lengthy pitching duels like this one are missing from the current game.

This was a Thursday afternoon game following morning showers, probably a getaway game, attended by a sparse crowd of 12,588...In one of his best games as a Met, hefty lefty Mickey Lolich (no doubt the prototype for David Wells), tossed 8 innings, allowing 8 hits and 2 walks while striking out 4, the only run scoring on a fourth-inning groundout by a young Dave Parker.

Alas, with the Mets historically typical poor run support, Lolich left, trailing 1-0, for pinch hitter Mike Phillips, who fanned for the 2nd out of the ninth, before singles by Ed Kranepool (batting for Leon Brown) and Bruce Boisclair and a walk to John Milner loaded the bases for Joe Torre. Joe was hit by a Bob Moose pitch to drive in the tying run, but the '76 Mets couldn't stand such success, as two singles and a double play grounder by future Mets coach Bill Robinson in the top of the 10th off Skip Lockwood gave the Bucs a 2-1 win.

Two things made this game memorable for me (16 at the time)...Lolich's mound opponent was lefty Jim Rooker, with whom I became acquainted socially later in my life; and I got the late great Willie "Pops" Stargell's autograph after the game by rolling up my program and slipping it through the chain link fence behind the visitors bullpen as the Pirates boarded their bus.

This was the game that Staiger batted out of order but the Pirates did not catch it. I do not recall the full details but I think the batting lineup cards did not match because of a last minute change or something like that.

This game was a pitcher's duel between Tom Seaver and Larry Demery for the first six innings. Tom allowed five hits and Demery just three. But the n the Mets exploded for six hits and a walk in the seventh and scored the only five runs of the game.

Seaver struck out twelve and retired the last seven batters he faced. The heart of the Pirates batting order--Richie Zisk, Willie Stargell, and Dave Parker--were a combined 1-for-12 with seven strikeouts.

I was at this game. I was 11 years old at the time and was on a bus trip courtesy of Martz Trailways from Wilkes-Barre PA. Anyway, what I remember is it being a warm Sunday, and Dave Kingman launching 2HRS, both to leftfield and Skip Lockwood coming in and just blowing hitters away, something like 7K's in 3 innings! Ever see a short relief specialist do that now? Lockwood to me is one of the most underrated Met relievers of all time, certainly better than those two clowns Benitez or Franco or others too numerous to mention.

I remember this game very well. I was 13 and Willie Stargell was my favorite visiting player so me and my father went to see this game. The Mets were having a pretty good year and the Pirates always drew a good crowd, this was before the nightmare of 77. We had great seats behind home and it couldn't have been any better, Stargell homered and the Mets made a great comeback powered by my favorite Met at the time Dave Kingman's 2 bombs. As the previous fan posted, Lockwood was awesome that day too and it was a great win and a great day to be 13 and a Mets fan.

I think this was the game Lee Mazzilli knocked the pirates out of the pennant race when he homered to win the game for the Mets.

The Pirates pinned the loss on Ray Sadecki with a tie-breaking run in the ninth inning. It was the 563rd and final game for Sadecki in his 18-year major league career.

Where would I get a video of this game? Caught a foul ball that Nino Espinosa hit. I was 10 at the time.

This was the first baseball game I took my 8-year-old son to see. It was his birthday and he wanted to see the Mets play. If I remember the game right, there were some old timers who actually played for a little bit, I think Mickey Mantle and a few others. But, our BIG surprise at this event was that we were sitting in the same section as Roy Campanella. He was confined to a wheelchair at that time, but my son did get to go down the few bleachers and meet him. That was a great birthday memory.

This was the first Met game I ever attended. 8 years old and my Little League team coach took us all on a bus to the game. I remember that Kranepool and Henderson hit homers which is how I narrowed it down that this was the game. If memory serves one of the homers was to right the other to left center although I don't remember which player hit which.

I attended this game. My mother worked for the Fire Department at the time, and this was a special event, something like a Fire Department appreciation day, so we got free tickets. I don't remember much about the game(s) except that it was f---ing hot! Like 100 degrees. It was a couple of days after the blackout, and it was hot that whole week. As a matter of fact, it was hot that whole summer. We were sitting in a group seating area and were supposed to be sitting with a bunch of firemen and their families, but it was like we were the only ones who showed up! The rest must have said, "the hell with it. We're not going to sweat to see this crummy team play". I'm pretty sure we only stayed for the first game, then Dad said, "Let's get out of here." We had been to a game with the Expos about a week before and I guess Dad had had enough of the Mets and the weather, because he didn't take us to another game for the rest of the season, though me and my brother went to a few by ourselves on the charter bus they used to run from Staten Island to Shea. He was a Mets fan. I wasn't, but when I was a kid I'd go to any baseball game. I was about 15 years old.

This is one of my worst Met memories. Ed Ott sliding hard into second base and getting into a scuffle with Felix Millan. Ed picked Felix up and basically dropped him on his head. It was awful. Millan never played for the Mets again. What a great clutch hitter he was.

I was also at this game and it was NOT the Ed Ott game. That came later. I remember watching that one on TV and hating Ott forever thereafter!

My sole memory of this game is that Pirates' pitcher Odell Jones provided not one, but two things that got shown on an episode of "This Week in Baseball" In the early innings, Jones stumbled off the mound in the middle of his windup and fell on his back. He later threw a pitch that was so far off the plate that it looked like it was going into the dugout. Jones recovered quickly from these embarrassments and tossed a complete game for a solid win over a crappy Mets team.

This game marked the sad end of Felix Millan's major league career. He hurt his shoulder in a fight with future Met Ed Ott and did not play the rest of the season. Before the 1978 season, the Mets sold his contract to a Japanese team.

Ed K: Ed Ott never played nor did he ever coach for the Mets

This was the game when Felix Millan was body slammed by Pirates catcher Ed Ott during a brawl. The injury ended Millan's career.

Millan would return to play in Japan, and was actually the first Western player to participate in the grueling winter training his Japanese team (among others) demanded of their native players.

Interesting about this game is that Millan didn't start, but had just been switched in.

Only 3,372 people attended this Tuesday night game. They saw John the Candy Man Candelaria pitch a complete game in two hours and 15 minutes. The game started at 8:05 pm and ended about 12 hours after my birth, which also took place in Flushing. I became a Mets fan in 86 and didn’t realize I was born at the beginning of the dark ages for the Mets until I saw their 25th anniversary video when it came out.

This was a weeknight game that a buddy and I took the subway to. It was freezing. Goofball Ed Ott hit an extra inning Homer and we went home cold and disheartened. Sort of emblematic of the '78 season. Luckily, we got an express bus back to the Flatbush/Nostrand Avenue Junction which provided us some solace as well as comfort for our frozen feet.

Until I looked at the box score I didn't even recall that the great Bert Blyleven pitched an 11 Inning Shutout. All I remember is that doggone Ed Ott

It's going to games like this that make one a true lifelong Met Fan. It's games like this that make '69,'86 & '07 that much sweeter.

Is this the game when Montanez, with 2 out, hit a ball over the wall in left center where Robinson stuck his entire arm over the fence as he hit the wall? Montanez circled the bases and sat down in the dugout, thinking he had a homer. Then Robinson got up, jogged in to the second base ump, opened his glove and flipped him the ball. Greatest catch I ever saw... Confirmation, anyone?? Thanks.

My friend and I were sitting in the second row next to the Bucs dugout. John Milner, who manifested a propensity for sulking as a Met, was a few feet away in the on deck circle in extra innings. We were really giving him a hard time, but he was listening and responding by shaking his head "yes" or "no" to our questions. We asked, "do you want to come back to New York, John?". He responded with an emphatic "No", stepped to the plate, and hit a grand slam over the center field fence. As the ball carried out, my friend exclaimed "Oh no, anybody but Milner!"

This probably was the best game the Mets played in '78, purely based on one play—Pirates outfielder Dave Parker colliding with John Stearns at home plate. From what I recall, I think Parker was trying to tag up on a fly ball and that the out-calling collision ended the game. I'm sure Bob P. or someone can check that one out on Retrosheet or something.

I wish I saw/scored this one, but I didn't. I did, however, see the replay of the collision that Sunday. Wow! According to my memory, Stearns basically was the Rock of Gibraltar in that he didn't waver during contact.

Hope Channel 9 or the Mets still have the complete game of this. Would like to see it in its entirety one day!

Joe, thanks for the introduction!

Yes, this was the game, and yes, it was the final out of the game.

Going to the ninth on this Friday night in Pittsburgh, the Mets were down, 3-2. John Stearns led off with a double and one out later pinch- hitter Ed Kranepool singled to tie it up. After Pirates catcher Ed Ott dropped a foul pop by Len Randle, Len tripled to right field to give the Mets a 4-3 lead. Joel Youngblood singled to make it 5-3, and a Steve Henderson single plus an error by Dave Parker made it 6-3.

In the bottom of the ninth, Frank Taveras and Omar Moreno singled with one out, and Dave Parker followed with a triple. Parker represented the tying run with future Met coach Bill Robinson at the plate. Robinson hit one to RF Joel Youngblood, who made the catch and threw home where the collision happened. Stearns held the ball and Parker fractured his cheeckbone. Game over!

I was thinking about this game the other day. I was a senior in high school in '78 and John Stearns was by far my favorite Met. Dave Parker was probably the most feared guy in the Majors that year and had previously run over a couple of other catchers. He tagged at third base and took aim at Stearns. I guess he didn't know that John was a Star defensive back at The University of Colorado who had been drafted by the Bills. So here comes Parker and John has the ball, gets low, and just explodes into Parker! Parker ended up with a broken jaw or cheekbone and Stearns was standing up, the "Bad Dude" had given me a little redemption in an otherwise dreadful season.

I tried to find the John Stearns/Dave Parker play on YouTube, but so far no luck.

Like Raymond I have been searching for a video of the Stearns-Parker collision for years and years. My recollection is that I listened to this on the radio but I'm not sure.

I'm encouraged by Joe's recollection of seeing a "replay of the collision that Sunday". I'm holding out hope that there may yet be footage of that amazing play somewhere after all.

Cheers,

Jim

This had to be the greatest game Kevin Kobel ever pitched - and thanks to my cousin Laura providing the tickets, I was there, age 12, on a cool night at Shea (with barely 2,000 other people).

This was the great "fog-out" game. Youngblood hit a routine fly in the bottom of the 11th but fog had rolled in making it impossible for the outfielder to see it and it went for a triple. The umps then stopped the game for over an hour to see if the fog would lift. When it did not, they called the game, and it went in the books as a 3-3 tie.

I should add that this season seemed like it would never end for Met fans - and thanks to this tie, it went 163 games instead of 162.

May 25, 1979 was one of the strangest games I ever attended. I was not quite 13 years old and attended the game with my older brother (by two years) and a slightly older friend who had just gotten his license to drive. Anyway we were there for the first time on our own. I seem to remember that the Mets had just installed a TV video screen in left field. I don't think it was the current DiamondVision. Our friend had gotten three tickets right over the Pirates dugout and we were excited to see ourselves on the board. (Hey, we were kids.)

Anyway, the game started out just fine. It was a little hazy but no big deal. By the 6th inning or so a strange fog or mist was visible above the light towers and the upper deck. The Pirates rallied and took the lead, 3-1 I think in the 8th inning. Nothing unusual for 1979. Right? Wrong! The Mets rallied in the 9th and tied it on a pop-up "single" by John Stearns that either Dave Parker or Bill Robinson (I can't quite remember which) lost in the fog. The Pirates were HOT arguing that the game should not have continued in those conditions. They played another couple of innings in even worse conditions before the game was stopped and not continued at least that night!

To this day it was the most bizarre weather conditions I have seen at Shea. You literally could not see anything in the air and the eerie spectacle of the scoreboard lights was amazing. I still have my ticket stubs in memory of that night.

I watched this game on TV. I remember the cameras showed one fan who was trying to blow away the fog by repeatedly opening and closing his umbrella.

I think about this date, May 25th, 1979 a few times per year, even though I was only a year and a half old at the time.

To explain, on this site on April 20, 2012, Paul posted his memory of the cameras showing "one fan who was trying to blow away the fog by repeatedly opening and closing his umbrella," and when I read that, a flash of a possible memory flashed in my mind.

You see, somehow that image of a fan trying to blow the fog away with his umbrella would have generated a chuckle from my mom for sure, and since she was a Mets fan, there's a good chance she and my dad had the game on. I can just imagine my toddler brain hearing my mom laugh and then looking up at the TV and seeing a guy try to blow fog away with his umbrella. Since my "memory" basically comes from reading the previous posts, I can't say this is my first Mets memory, but this game really resonates with me.

By the way, it was Bill Robinson who lost the ball in the fog in the eleventh inning and led to Joel Youngblood being able to get to third base on a pop up, which led to the game being called a 3-3 tie.

Eerily, there are two other reasons besides the fog that makes this an infamous date in the history of New York City crime as well as a black day in the history of American aviation.

On the morning of this day, a young boy who lived in Soho named Etan Patz disappeared from his school bus stop, with his murder only being solved in the 2010s. On the same day as this infamous crime, American Airlines Flight 191 crashed in Chicago. As of 2023, that is still the deadliest aviation accident in this country's history.

The only other professional sports game I remember being played in fog was the 'Fog Bowl' played on December 31, 1988, ten days after the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 (which is still the deadliest aviation disaster ever in the history of the UK).

1979 was a weird year during President Carter's "malaise" era, the height of disco and excess. This game was a tiny blip in the madness of that year, but considering what happened in Soho and Chicago earlier that day, maybe that fog had some supernatural significance. Looking back, it was definitely an omen.

To end on a positive note, the Society for American Baseball Research has an excellent article on this game alone. From reading it, I learned that on top of everything else, Steve Henderson hit a foul ball into the stands that hit a little girl in the face, eventually resulting in a lawsuit. Okay, maybe not so positive.

For those interested in a deeper dive into the weirdness of this game (without the supernatural elements), here is the entire article: https://sabr.org/gamesproj/game/may-25-1979-flushing-fog-out-as-pirates-Mets-finish-in-tie/

I was at this game. . .couldn't tell you a thing about it except it was a Saturday afternoon, and Gil Flores started at first instead of Willie Montanez (one of my favorites). I was shocked the Mets scored 10 runs against the eventual World Champs.

Really an incredible game for the otherwise not-so-good '79ers. Pirates take an early 1-0 lead. Mets come back and score 5 in one inning. Pirates tie it up. Mets add single runs in the next two frames. Pirates come back and take the lead again, 8-7. Mets break thru with two more runs and hold on for 10-8 win. Who said this team wasn't exciting?

I remember scoring this game on my dad's IBM electric typewriter. Now, as a working journalist, I can say "it began here."

This was my first Met game. I was 9 years old. They gave away real cheap "rain jackets" that night as a giveaway. My sister and some friends arrived real early so we could meet some players at the player parking lot - and we did. Lee Mazzilli came over and said hello to us. The game was great. I remember Henderson and Youngblood's homers and I remember the old scoreboard, pre Bud sign, flashing HENDU when he hit his homer.

We sat in General Admission, I think $2.50 per ticket. It was pretty exciting and we were all hooked. Still loving those Metropolitans and going to Shea nearly 30 years later.

My dad took me to this game on my 10th birthday. I still have the ticket stubs from this game. Box 220 A, Seat 7-8, price $6.00. At 10 years old, these players were my heroes. John Stearns and Maz were my favorite players during this game. I lived on Long Island at the time and I remember the drive into Shea. I miss the orange and blue checkers on the side of the stadium so much. My wife and I name our most recent baby girl "Shea". We now live in AZ but thanks to the internet and DirecTv, we watch every game. I miss those games when they gave away the batting helmets. I think I remember the song "The Hustle" being played during pre-game warmups. LETS GO METS!

The one thing I remember from this game is when Pirates pitching coach Harvey Haddix made a visit to the mound. When he did, Steve Albert mentioned on television that it was the 20th anniversary of his 12-inning perfect game that he lost in the 13th.

This was the first time as well going to a Mets game at Shea. I do remember those cheap rain jackets they gave away that day.

I also remember this game: I was supposed to go but I was sick and Michael Goldberg went instead. It was jacket day, but I got his jacket anyway

I remember Lee Mazzilli grounding out as a PH with the bases loaded in 7th or 8th, down 3-1. Then a long rain delay. We left and by the time we got home, Pirates had put 3 more up in the 9th!

If I remember correctly, this was a make-up game for a game that was fogged out a month earlier. It was part of an unscheduled twi-night double header. If memory serves correctly, the original game was called a tie because Bill Robinson lost a fly ball in the ninth inning off of Joel Youngblood. The game was delayed and eventually postponed. I swear do these things only happen to the Mets! I remember being in utter panic because we arrived at Shea around 6:00 and this game was already in the fourth inning. Then an usher told us that this was a make-up game and we would see an additional nine inning as soon as this one was over.

Falcone pitched a complete game. The fans were chanting "Lets Go Pete" in the 9th. Torre would say afterward that he was concerned that Falcone would get nervous. This was the first full day of summer vacation and the day was made complete by $1.00 General admission and a small tip to usher # 89 who set us up in the mezz boxes behind the plate.

This was the second game in the memorable fog- out make up game. The Mets were having another miserable year and the Pirates were on their way to a Worlds Championship. I remember it was a Friday night and the crowd was quite small. We were able to buy field box seats at the gate only one hour before game time.

It was amazing how the Mets kept outscoring the Pirates in the late innings. After the Mets scored a run in the top of the 7th, the Pirates topped that and scored 2, then the Mets topped that and scored three, and the Pirates came back with 4 more, and the Mets answered back with 5 more of their own in the top of the ninth to put the game away. Great looking box score!

Can't imagine anyone else remembers this game. But as a 13-year-old Met fan whose favorite pitcher was Wayne Twitchell, this was one of the most satisfying games of the year. I still have it on VHS, believe it or not!

This game was the first date I had with my wife. We were married in 1982 and still are Met fans, despite living in Tennessee. Thank goodness for the internet and MLB network.

This was the first baseball game I ever attended. My Dad took me while we were visiting family in Queens. I remember the Pirates tying the game in the 6th or 7th inning on a collision at the plate where Ron Hodges couldn't hold on to the ball. The game went 15 innings and we couldn't stick around until the end, but we heard the outcome later on the radio. Even though the Mets were not a good team in 1979, I was glad they won the first game I ever saw at Shea.

Wow. This was my first trip to Shea to see the Mets also. Actually caught a foul ball in the 11th. Doug Flynn hit it off of Grant Jackson. We stayed to the end (15th inning)I think John Stearns drove in the winning run. Also, I remember Richie Hebner striking out and giving the finger to the booing fans.

My brother Andrew and I sat through this entire game. He kept score.

I'll never forget Dock Ellis, proud and ancient,coming on in relief as the skies darkened, the pigeons wheeled, and paper debris flew all over the place. 15 innings! Incredible.

I could not understand how the Pirates, with all their lumber, could not muster two runs against Kevin Kobel and Ed Glynn or the other alleged pitchers.

It was good to see John Milner and Tim Foli again, though. I forgot about Hebner giving the fans the finger. By then he had emotionally packed his bags.

My grandfather took me to this game when I was 11 years old. We had box seats on the first base side. The attendance wasn’t very good and as the game wore on, I noticed there were seats available in the front row pretty much right behind home plate on the third base side. I watched the last 6 or 7 innings from that seat. Great memory. Ultimately, I’m a Yankee fan, but that’s a great memory nonetheless.

I was at Shea and it was one of those brief moments where we were actually playing well and were competitive. I was 17 years old and had brought a friend of mine who was a huge Yankees fan. I can still see it in my mind's eye from the right field stands when Ron Hodges hit a game winning single past the 2nd baseman in the bottom of the 12th after the Pirates had gone ahead in the top of the inning.

I felt so proud that my team wasn't a joke. It was an awesome moment. I remember my friend saying after the game winning hit, "There's not enough room in NY for two good teams." Thanks Ron Hodges, wherever you are.

I remember this game:

Mazzilli leads off game with a double off left field wall, Mike Easler hits 2 home runs. But Mets Win

Just one minor correction to the earlier posting by "Mets Win": Mazzilli had two singles in this game and led off the bottom of the first by grounding out to second base.

Living in Brooklyn and in the 4th grade at the time, my father takes me and my 7-year-old sister to the game with one of our neighbors. Big crowd, pulled into the parking lot just minutes before the game started. Amazingly, my father walked up to the ticket window and bought four box seats down the third base line. Four nice college guys from Pittsburgh are sitting behind us. (Pirates are defending champs at this time.) My sister, in her first baseball game, makes a point of sticking it to the college guys each time the Mets score and at the end when they win. Left halfway through the second game to make it home in time for dinner.

If I have the right game, I think Hendu's HR in the ninth was an inside the park job. Listened to this one on the radio on the back porch.

The Mets won this game to improve their record to 56-57. Several times during the summer, they got to within a game of .500 but never could reach it. Still they were hanging around the middle of the NL East and fans were truly hopeful under the new ownership.

Unfortunately, after this game, they next lost seven in a row and had a dismal finish of the season to finish 67-95. The only thing that made the end of the 1980 season bearable was that they brought up Mookie, Hubie, and Wally from AAA in September to play everyday.

This was also Joe Torre’s last full season as manager as the 1981 season was shortened by the strike.

One of the most exciting games of the year. Joel Youngblood smashes a 2-run home run in the bottom of the 10th to win the game! A little-remembered fact about this game was that it broke the least-attended games record in Mets history. And to think I was there. It was a Monday day game. I remember walking out of the park thinking this was one of the most exciting games I saw and got to share this with less than 5,000 other people. Now that is what I call hardcore Met fans. The ironic thing about this was the Mets broke this attendance record a few days later with even less people at the game. 33 years later I still bleed blue and orange. Lets GO METS!

This was the smallest crowd in the history of Shea - about 1,800 on hand for the action. It was a day game. The crowd was so sparse, I could hear Dave Parker shouting from his perch on the dugout railing. He was wearing a warm-up jacket and listening to a Walkman.

Stve, you're right...the official attendance was 1,754 for this Tuesday afternoon game as the Mets picked up their seventh win of the month of September against 21 losses. At this point the Mets were 22 games behind the first place Expos, and the Pirates were just over .500 and eight games out of first place.

The Mets scored twice in the bottom of the seventh to win the game, with the lead run scoring on a sac fly by Alex Trevino.

The starting lineup for New York featured three rookies who were all called up that September for their first taste of the major leagues: Mookie Wilson, Hubie Brooks, and Wally Backman.

Final home game of the season. Fan Depreciation Day. Cold, rain, drizzle.

The Mets held their "All-Star Relay Rallye" of two balls, one marked "A", the other "N," racing across the instant replay screen. If your scorecard matched the winning ball, you usually got a small souvenir. This time, they gave away a free souvenir to all fans, but we couldn't hear what it was. So Andrew sent me down, down, down, the stairs in the upper deck, to the refreshment stand, where they handed me...a free cup of ice cream.

Then back, up, up, up, to our seats under the overhang, in the rain, fog, cold, and drizzle. I handed him the ice cream. "Bon appetit," I said.

"Team is crazy," Andrew said, echoing Choo Choo Coleman.

That was the 1980 Mets.

When your friends taunt you about an opposing relief pitcher hitting a grand slam off your guys, it's never fun.

The only time the Mets played a series in which there were no wins or losses. It was a rainy April in 1981.

Mets had split a doubleheader at home against the Expos on Sunday and flew to Pittsburgh to start a roadtrip but the rest of the series with the Pirates was rained out except for this game which ended up a tie after 8 and a half innings on a Wednesday night.

After Pittsburgh, Mets flew to Montreal and finally had a win or loss on Saturday. Unfortunately, it was a loss and started a seven game losing streak.

This win was the end of the Mets little mini-pennant drive to win the NL East in the second half of 1981 when the season was split because of the players' strike. Mets were 20-20 in 3rd place and only 2.5 games out of 1st place after this game with 13 games yet to play. They then lost five in a row to fall out of the race and Joe Torre was fired as manager at the end of the season.

Wally Backman's inside-the-park homer (the first ever by a Met lefty at Shea) helped win this game.

This was a big night at Shea back in the day. It was sports bag night! Over 48,000 there for the game. Mets probably thought they were in the wrong stadium when they saw a crowd that big. I remember the next year they put a picture of that night in the 83 yearbook with the 1983 promotion schedule. I remember a big crowd, Mets winning and going home with a cool blue and orange (no black back then - good old days) bag that I toted to school that fall.

Labor Day night in Pittsburgh...it was Willie Stargell night. Pops was retiring at the end of the 1982 season and there was a ceremony this night to retire his number.

Stargell came off the bench to pinch-hit a single in the eighth inning. It was Stargell's final hit against the Mets and it was also the first major league hit allowed by Doug Sisk.

Jason Thompson homered in the first inning off Mike Scott, giving him 30 for the year, and making him just the eighth player in history to hit 30 homers in a season in each league. He had hit 31 for the 1977 Tigers.

There were a few of significant things that came out of this game. Rick Ownbey pitched all nine innings for his first major league win. Ownbey also had a single in the eighth inning to add to his memorable night. In the ninth, Ron Hodges hit the only grand slam of his twelve seasons with the Mets. The slam came off Grant Jackson, who was pitching in the last game of his 18-year major league career.

Ironic that Orosco was pitching to Bruce Bochy this game. Now Orosco is pitching for Bochy on the Padres. Orosco is a marvel.

Great to see him come back to shea, and get the win.

After this game Seaver was leading (tied) the NL in triples. I cut the league leaders out of the paper the next morning because I figured that'd never happen again. I still have that clipping!

Hey Met fans -- I'm looking for a scorecard of this game, or any Mets game between April 16 and May 4 of 1983. Specifically, I need the uni number of Mike Bishop. He started this game, and two others, during this stretch and was never heard from again. Thanks!

Mike Bishop had a big day this game... his only career hit (a double!), his only career runner CS (Mazzilli) and his only career error!

Darryl Strawberry hit his first career home run in this game--right over Pirate center fielder Lee Mazzilli's head.

I went to this game with my friend. We sat in Section 1 of the Loge Level, directly behind home plate. It was Old Timers Day and players from the 1973 team (and opponents from that year) were on hand for a 10-year reunion of "You Gotta Believe." Tom Seaver pitched in the Old Timers game, even though he was still an active player!

The regular game started at 4:00. The Mets led early, but the Pirates (in black shirts and gold pants that made them look more like the Steelers) came back to win. Darryl Strawberry made a costly error, misjudging Bill Madlock's fly ball with the bases loaded. All three runners scored on the play.

After a seventh inning rain delay, we watched the rest of the game from the empty loge left field seats. We hoped to get a home run ball, but that didn't happen. No player on either team even reached base once play resumed.

This is the first game as a child that I can remember going to with my father. I was 9 years old. The Mets were not very good back then but there was starting to be a light at the end of the tunnel with Strawberry coming up and with the trade for Keith Hernandez.

Hernandez was my childhood idol and this was the first time I got to see him live.

The Mets won the first game in 12 innings after trailing 6-2 going into the bottom of the 8th where they scored 4 runs. Both Hernandez and George Foster homered in the game.

The Mets also won the second game in 12 innings but this time the final was 1-0. This was a scheduled doubleheader, which would never happen today, that seemed to last forever. One of my fondest childhood memories. Little did I know then that 3 years later in October I would be at Game 6. That is probably THE fondest of my childhood memories.

Being a Pirate fan, going to a doubleheader was a great idea. So I thought. First game all I remember was the 1st inning the Pirates first three guys get on then Jason Thompson blasts a slam into the upper deck. Mets come back to win in extra innings. Second game flew by. Jose Deleon pitched a no hitter for 8 2/3 but it was 0-0. Then in 12th Mookie Wilson scores from 2nd on a ground out. 1-0. What a day!

Being a Pirate fan, going to a doubleheader was a great idea. So I thought. First game all I remember was in the first inning the Pirates' first three guys get on then Jason Thompson blasts a slam into the upper deck. Mets come back to win in extra innings. Second game flew by. Jose Deleon pitched a no hitter for 8 2/3 but it was 0-0. Then in 12th Mookie Wilson scores from second on a ground out. 1-0. What a day!

Jose DeLeon almost threw a no-hitter against us. He was absolutely awesome. It's hard to believe that two years later he went 2-19. Mookie won this game in the bottom of the 12th inning in true fabulous Mookinian fashion: HE SCORED FROM SECOND ON A GROUNDOUT! Jesse Orosco won both games of this doubleheader to cap an incredible month for him. And can you believe Mike Torrez went eleven innings? A great game all around.

It was after this doubleheader that it became apparent that the first dark ages were drawing to a close. The first game the Mets go down 4-0 in the first after Jason Thompson hits a grand slam. They stay in it, chipping away, Darryl hits a HR and I believe Keith does as well and they win 7-6. The second game ends as above with Mookie never breaking stride and scoring in the bottom of the 12 from second on a groundout.

The times they were a changin'.

I was 7 years old. It was my first time at Shea. It was really hot and it was a Banner Day doubleheader. We left about halfway through the second game. I remember watching Mookie score the winning run on the TV in my living room.

During tonight‘s Mets game they said it was the first doubleheader where both games went into extra innings since 1983 versus the Pirates. I immediately came to this page to check my memory because my thoughts went to July 31…Orosco wins twice… Mookie scores from second on a ground out.

What a great day this was. I’d forgotten the big comeback in game 1.

One of two occasions that Gooden pitched seven hitless innings as a Met before his attempt at a no-hitter was broken up. The other attempt was on 6-5-88 at Shea against the Cubs.

In this game, the Mets had apparently lost the game in the ninth on a SF, but an appeal play ruled Maz out for leaving 3B early.

Appeal play - I remember shutting off my radio after Mazzilli "scored" and going to bed thinking the Mets had lost. The next morning, I heard the score. I thought I was in the Twilight Zone.

Found a ticket stub for this game within my dads old boxes. He always said he took me to a game when I was really young. Well I was 4 during this season and we were living outside Pittsburgh, wow, this was my first Mets game!

I don't remember too much about this game as at this time of the year I was in sleepaway camp. There were no TV's allowed in the bunks at camp nor could we watch tv anywhere in camp, so I always had to go 7 weeks/49 days where I couldn't see the Mets on TV when I was attending camp. My bunk counselors sometimes would have the games on the radio until campers had to be in bed by 9:00pm, so I couldn't always know the result until the next morning.

The Mets did win this game to stay right with the Cubs in the NL East as they went into August for the first time since 1973 with being able to have thoughts of maybe making the playoffs after being nowhere close to the postseason for many years before this. And the Mets gave me a nice birthday present with the win as I celebrated my mitzvah of becoming a man on this day as it was my 13th birthday.

This is the first Mets game I ever attended by myself.

about 12 of us sat in upperdeck box at Shea with some girls still in love with lee mazzilli who was on pirates watched dwight break rookie strike out record cant remember what inning he broke record but we stood and cheered too much to soon for doc what might have been

I remember going to this game with my father and high school friend Willie and watching Doc break the rookie strikeout record. At the time I remember me and my friends thought he'd be the next Bob Gibson.

Wow, I can't believe it's been 20 years! I gave one of the ticket agents an extra $10 and he put my dad and me 5 rows behind the Pirate dugout. Doc was throwing gas that night. This was before radar guns were showing fans just how fast, but Doc was on. I remember after he struck out Tony Pena for the third time, Pena started barking at the ump. The guy next to us stood up and yelled, "It sounded high, huh Tony!" Only in New York.

We thought we were going to see history this night. Gooden had 15k's thru 7 innings and was as dominant as any pitcher ever was. He finished with 16k's and no walks. This was a great experience for a high school kid even though I was and am a Yankees fan. Seeing my ticket stub last night made me think of this masterpiece pitched by Doc.

I was 16 and won these tickets on the back of a Coke cap. I sent in the Coke cap and they sent me two fairly nice seating tickets. I went with my dad and we watched Gooden make history by breaking the rookie K record. He was unhittable that night. I remember the last batter fouled off quite a few pitches before Gooden got him out to complete the shutout.

If my memory serves, this may have been the best game he has ever thrown. Didn't he have a no hitter going into the 8th??

Dwight Gooden broke Herb Score's record for strikeouts by a rookie pitcher on this night. Gooden fanned Marvell Wynne in the sixth inning for his 246th to pass Score's total from 1955. Dwight, who wore uniform number 16, ended up with 16 Ks and a shutout for his 16th win of the year. Also, the Mets' only two runs came on Hubie Brooks' 16th homer of the season.

A movie called "Sixteen Candles" was released during the summer of 1984. This would've been an appropriate title to describe this game.

A met debacle the afternoon after Gooden broke Herb Score's rookie strikeout record. A friend and I attended this one, bought tickets just before first pitch which turned out to be field level box x-3 or x-5 or something which as Shea fanatics will know were right in back of home plate! This game does have some trivial significance though--John Christensen and future A's GM Billy Beane both made their big league debuts. By the way, the price of those field level seats back then--eight bucks!

I was 22 and took my dad, Sat mezz between catcher and first base. Wally went 5 for 5. Every time he came up after the first couple of hits our section was singing the Batman theme - da na na na na na na na na BACKMAN!!!

I was at this marathon game on a Sunday afternoon. Strawberry hit a grandslam in the first inning and the Pirates chipped away tying it at 4 after nine innings. There were several blown opportunities on bothe sides during the next nine inning but nothing happened. Thank God they were still serving beer. This was the game where Rusty Staub, and I think it was Danny Heep traded places in left and right field depending on what side of the plate the batter hit form. One of the Pirates hit a high fly in shallow right field that Rusty seemed to have run a mile on before he finally pulled it in. It was unbelieveable. The Mets finally pulled it out in the 18th and sent us home happy.

That "one of the Pirates" who hit the ball Rusty caught was none other than Rick Rhoden, who was pinch hitting.

That fly ball that Rusty caught took him across the foul line, and his momentum carried him to the wall, where a fan in the right field stands reached out and hugged him. It was great.

The other cool thing that happened in this game is that Clint Hurdle, who mostly caught at this point, got pressed into service in the outfield and threw out a runner at home who would've scored the winning run.

Some more memories of this game. My high school softball team got beat in a game out in Jersey that day and we had the game on the radio on the bus all the way home and some of us considered jumping off the bus when it passed Shea but we thought better of it. Even though it was a Sunday afternoon the game wasn't on Channel 9 so I had to "see it on the radio" when I got home.

The Mets were no-hit that day. Say what? Darryl Strawberry hit a grand slam in the first inning for the Mets second hit of the ball game. Check out the box score: they didn't get another hit for over ten innings!

I also recall Doug Sisk's performance in the top of the ninth. In what was to become a recurring nightmare for us fans, he walked the bases loaded with no one out. Jesse O came in and struck out the first batter, then got the next to pop up on the infield. Then he threw a pitch all the way to the backstop. Gary Carter scrambled for the ball and fired it to Orosco as Doug Frobel slid into home and he was "out at the plate! out at the plate!"

That was about the most excited I had ever heard Bob Murphy sound on the radio, until the eighteenth inning of course, when Rusty made the last putout of his major league career, and Murph screamed "way to go Rusty!"

For some reason watching this game on a Sunday afternoon is one of my most vivid childhood memories. For some reason I always had a thing for back-up catchers and when Hurdle threw the runner out at the plate, I went wild. The Rusty left-right back and forth thing was awesome, kind of like the Orosco/McDowell pitcher swap the next season in Cincinnati.

For some reason I thought that Gooden had driven in runs in this game, but I must be confused. They don't play them like this anymore.

A little known fact about the game... Daryl Strawberry's 1st inning grand slam hit a child in the face that was sitting in the bleachers. The child was picked up and hustled away by 2 men. I wonder what happened to that poor kid?

Listened to this game on the radio with my roommate in college; I loved Murph's call of Rusty's catch, " Rusty, trying to get there, TRYING TO GET THERE...he makes the catch!"

Little known fact--McDowell was the starter! As I recall the Mets were hoping to get 5 innings out of him; I didn't remeber 'til I saw the box score here, that they were not very good innings (four runs)!

I can't believe that of all the comments for this game, nobody has mentioned the most important thing about it. Clint Hurdle drove in the winning run for the Mets when he reached on Jason Thompson's error in the 18th inning. Mookie Wilson scored, pinch-running for Gary Carter.

Some oddities about this game: it was the last game Staub played in the field, McDowell was the starting pitcher and Tom Gorman pitched 7 scoreless innings in relief.

I remember that my buddies dared me to drink a beer every half inning. These were the days before they shut the vending stands after the 7th. I was never so drunk in my life and I gave up drinking that day and have not had a drink since. Thanks for a great day Rusty!!

The definitive Sid Fernandez game, I always thought. He pitched hellaciously well in every inning but one (the 2nd this night) and lost because of it. Three walks in the second inning. I gakked a foul ball of the bat of George Hendrick when I somehow couldn't drop that stupid little pencil I was keeping score with.

This was the very first Mets game that I ever attended. I was seven years old and so excited to be at Shea for the first time. I sat with my family in the mezzanine. Too bad that the game was so boring. A 1-0 loss wasn't quite what I had in mind. But I didn't care at the time. Just being there was enough of a thrill.

Just like the prior poster, this also was my first Mets game I attended. Field seats were on the 3rd Base line.

Fernandez was out-dueled by roly-poly veteran Rick Reuschel of the Bucs. The Mets batters were kept off balance all night, game went super fast!

Oh, that and the poor guy that fell into the Bucs bullpen!

This game completed a TERRIBLE stretch of baseball for the Mets, who played their worst ball of the season for most of June. After this game, the Mets would go on to an unbelievable run for most of the rest of 1985.

This was my brother's and mine first Met game at Shea Stadium. we sat in the lodge section just fair of the left field foul pole about 3 rows from the front. Outrageous time with my dad! Saw ex-Met Lee Mazzilli pinch hit for the bucs., and watched Kelvin Chapman save the game with a great stop at 2nd base.

Sat in the right field upper deck for this game. Foster's shot was a rainbow over the bullpen in left. Not a memorable game but for whatever reason a memorable HR; I had a perfect side view of it. Headlines called it a "three-run rocket" in reference to July 4. One of the longest HRs I saw at Shea.

The first of Sid Fernandez's two triples as a Met was hit in this game!

Maybe the most forgotten gut-wrenching loss in Mets history. On a night when the Cards won late against the Expos, the Mets needed a win to keep pace in the worst way. They blew a few run scoring chances late and then eventually the Pirates get the go ahead run on a bad hop single. The Cards lead went to 2 full games, and unfortunately with the way they were playing, the Mets had to play almost perfect baseball and it just didn't happen.

Have a friend who recalls watching Gooden go deep on Rick Rhoden. In recent years we would see Mr. Rhoden playing a Champions Tour golf tournament in Des Moines, Ia (we are from Sioux City, Ia).

Each year we would be near the practice green as Rick would be there preparing for his round. My friend would say to me he would like to ask Mr. Rhoden what pitch he threw to Gooden when he homered off of him. But he never did.

I always wondered if indeed what he told me was true so I did a little research and lo and behold came across this site to find out it was true indeed.

So do any of you out there know what type of pitch he threw?

I don't know the pitch he hit, but it was Gooden's first homer in the major leagues.

This was the game in which Dwight Gooden hit his first major league home run. It was a 3-run blast that came on Rick Rhoden's first pitch, capping a 7-run inning. Rafael Santana had just doubled in a run to keep the inning alive for Doc to come to the plate.

The ball Gooden hit was to left field, backing R. J. Reynolds against the wall. Reynolds jumped for it, but it was gone. As Dwight approached first base, he high-fived Bill Robinson before going into his circular trot.

Later in the game, Gooden singled. Showing him on first base, SportsChannel displayed his AVG- HR-RBI totals for the season with the number 1 below the 'HR'. This is something normally done only for a player's first plate appearance of the game. Since it was so late in the season, the cable station may have figured it might not cover another game Dwight pitched that year. It probably wanted to show his stats containing a homer while it had the chance.

The ball Gooden hit for the homer was off of a hanging breaking ball (not sure if it was a curve or slider...but DEFINITELY a hanger)

A great day for the Mets with eighteen hits in a rout of the Pirates during a pennant race. Dwight Gooden, as usual in '85, pitched extremely well. He also hit his first major league homer and singled twice to drive in four runs. The three hits gave Gooden twenty for the season to set a record for Mets pitchers. Dwight would get his 21st hit five days later.

Other Mets had memorable games, too. Wally Backman had four hits with three RBIs, Rafael Santana collected three hits and scored three runs, and Howard Johnson was just a home run short of hitting for the cycle.

One special note on the game is that Rusty Staub (batting for Gooden in the eighth inning) singled for the 2,716th and last hit of his career. It was also Staub's 100th hit as a pinch-hitter.

This game concluded yet another shocking lost series to the worst team in baseball, and a big reason the Mets did not win this year.

Shortly after being swept by St. Louis, the Pirates win 2 of 3 against the Mets. This also happened in August. The Cardinals were 15-3 against Pittsburgh, while the Mets were a mediocre 10-8.

The Mets got their revenge the next year, going 17-1 against Pittsburgh.

Everybody remembers Strawberry's homer in St Louis in the series after this game...but HoJo and Carter hit 2 HUGE homers in this Sunday game as well. HoJo saved the season with his game tying 9th inning homer, and Carter's 2 run game winner in extra innings put the Mets in position to really make the Cardinals series as big as it was.

I drove to this game from Ann Arbor, Michigan with 2 friends of mine who were also big Mets fans. I think we were the only Mets fans at Three Rivers that day and the Pirates fans gave us hell. Gooden got in and out of a lot of jams in this game and it was the first indication that Gooden would no longer be a dominant pitcher after 1985. I remember that the Pirates had the tying runs on base in either the 8th and/or 9th innings, but they didn't tie it up. It was a fun trip and a fun win--and a long drive back from Pittsburgh to Ann Arbor.

I vividly remember sitting down to watch this game on tv. I remember feeling so full of hope for this season after the bitter disappointment of the '85 campaign. I can recall prior to the game they had a retrospective of that year with Springsteen's "Glory Days" as the soundtrack! I knew, however, that this was going to be our year. And the rest is history!

RJ Reynolds led off the Pirates 1st with a HR off the Doc. It was a hint that perhaps Doc can get cut once in a while. Gooden settled down and got the win. In hindsight, Doc was presumably on the start of his drug-induced downfall from dominance. True, he never was near duplicating that '85 performance. But what modern day pitcher has ever duplicated such a performance?

Dwight Gooden didn't appear to be as dominant in this game and he was so often the previous year. But he did pitch a complete game six-hitter for the win to start the 1986 season. The Mets took the lead for good in the first inning when Keith Hernandez doubled to drive home Lenny Dykstra and then scored on Gary Carter's sacrifice fly. The team would record 107 more victories and later conquer their second World Championship.

The Mets had three doubles in the top of the sixth inning, the last of which had a funny twist. Howard Johnson hit a grounder inside the first base foul line that was fielded by the Pirates' right field ball girl. She didn't seem to realize it was a fair ball that Johnson hit.

A back and forth game right till the last pitch. Shea was pretty empty that night (mostly due to a combo of it being an April night game, rain and that was also the night of Geraldo Rivera opening up Al Capone's vault). With all of this though, the Mets won a very exciting game and this was the first of a nice handful of walk-off wins.

I remember Ray Knight hitting a two-run homer to tie the score in the bottom of the eighth. The Pirates scored a run in the top of the ninth to go ahead, but the Mets scored two in the bottom of the ninth to win the game.

Although it clearly doesn't count for his record, Buddy Harrelson technically got his first win as a manager in this game. Davey Johnson missed this game to be at a family event and Buddy was the manager for the night.

He didn't need to do much, as Ojeda was in complete control for a shutout and George Foster was hot with a homer. Foster was in the middle of what would be his last hot streak as a Met. Soon enough he'd slump, lose more starts to Mitchell and Mookie and eventually get released in 2 months.

I am a Pirates fan and went to this game, part of a twi-night doubleheader. This was the only game of 18 that the Pirates beat the Mets in 1986. The Pirates 1-17 record against the Mets prompted Jim Leyland to say of the 1986 Mets, "how good could they be, we beat 'em once."

I looked up this game because I recall that Barry Bonds, then a rookie, hit a home run in the game. I think he had just had his debut the week before and I am not sure if this was his first MLB HR or not.

Mark, Bonds hit a homer in this game off Ron Darling, but it was the second of his career. His first had come two nights earlier in Atlanta off RHP Craig McMurtry.

Not only was this the Bucs only win vs the Mets, as well as the Bonds HR, but also the bench clearing fight that broke out between Rick Rhoden and Mets coach Bill Robinson was in this game.

I attended this game at Three Rivers Stadium while visiting a friend in Pittsburgh, and remember seeing Rick Aguilera hit a HR off Jose DeLeon!

I went to this game with my friend. We sat in the mezzanine down the left field line. It was an exciting game won by the Mets, which was the norm in '86.

Dwight Gooden was on the mound this night. He pitched well, despite allowing three runs. The Mets had a two-run lead (thanks in part to homers by Keith Hernandez and Mookie Wilson) when Doc left after eight innings and in line to get the win.

Gooden, however, was NOT the winning pitcher. With Jesse Orosco on the mound in the ninth, the Pirates scored twice to tie the game. It was one of Jesse's few blown saves during the season. Still, the Mets won in the bottom half of the inning on an RBI single by Darryl Strawberry off Pittsburgh lefty Pat Clements.

Darryl's hit was big in another way. He had been struggling against lefties and the Bucs wanted him facing Clements. Hernandez was walked intentionally to get to Darryl, but the Straw Man foiled the strategy. He looped one into right field to score Mookie from second.

Leaving Shea, I felt good about the win, but not about the winning pitcher. I kept thinking that Orosco walked away with the win after failing to save it for Gooden, who was left with a no-decision. It just wasn't right for it to happen that way and I was referring to it as 'criminal.' This is an example of how a pitcher's won-lost record is not the best indication of how good he really is.

Watched this one recently on the old tape. In the 5th inning, the Mets scored 5 times with a variety of well placed hits, hit and runs, a double steal, etc. At that point, Tim McCarver said on the broadcast that he'd never seen a team play this well for this long in the season and that the Mets were "unbeatable".

Along with Ed Hearn's first major league homer, this was also Banner Day at Shea.

Before the 2nd game of the scheduled double header (back when those were a thing), a few Mets players came out onto the field and held up big signs saying "Fans Like It Oughta Be".

Oh, was this doublheader a treat.

First of all, we won both games, but that wasn't the best part.

The best part was that we had the division clinched, so these games were meaningless. So I sat in the mezzanine, reading the Sunday paper between pitches, no cares in the world.

It was a nice rest, because we were about to embark on a three-week journey of intensity. There were no "laughers" in the 13 postseason games. How many times did the Mets fall behind first? The ride was 50% exhilarating, 50% excrutiating, and worth every minute!!!!

Ah, just the thought of sitting in the Big Shea with a 20-game lead...

Elaborating on LenDog's memory from 2004, I was also at this doubleheader and for the most part, it was the best of times.

My dad and uncle took me and my 4 year old sister. Even though my mom was sick in the hospital, I look back on this time in October 1986 as the twilight of the glory days of my childhood. In those days, my obsessions included watching the World Wrestling Federation on TV, Transformers toys, the film Jaws (the only non-Disney VHS tape my mom allowed me to watch), Casey Kasem's Top 40 countdown on Sunday mornings, playing shortstop for my little league team, and above all, the 1986 Mets. Bills, taxes, and employment were still far off in the distant future. And if I did ever think of my future job, I was sure I was going to play shortstop for the New York Mets. All of that changed after 1986.

For the final series at Shea that season, my dad bought four tickets to each game. Right after school on Friday, my dad, my sister, and our black labrador retriever Ace left our house in NJ for my uncle's apartment in Flushing, on Colden Street. The game that Friday night was rained out. We could tell the game was rained out because my uncle had a view of Shea from his balcony and we could see that the Shea Stadium lights were off.

The next morning, we left Ace back at the apartment and walked through a sunny Flushing Meadows Park on our way to Shea. I still remember the smell of stale beer after entering the stadium. We sat in the upper deck behind home plate.

The Mets smacked the Pirates around in both games. Bob Ojeda got his 18th win in the first game and Rick Aguilera won his 10th against rookie Bob Patterson in the second game. Between games, the Mets inducted Rusty Staub and Bud Harrelson into the Mets Hall of Fame.

In the combined two games, I got to see all the Mets starters, so I didn't feel deprived of anything. In the second game, Teufel started to my disgust and made an error (of course), but at least Wally had started the first game. Darryl didn't start the second game, but Kevin Mitchell started in his place and got his last RBI as a Met.

Even though they didn't hit any home runs in either game, they got nine hits in the first game and 14 in the second game. Jesse Orosco pitched two scoreless innings for the save in game one and Roger McDowell pitched three scoreless innings for the save in game two.

The Mets' two wins in this doubleheader were their 53rd and 54th home wins of the season, breaking the record of 52 home wins set by the 1969 Mets. However, as LenDog mentioned in his post, as we left Shea happy at the end of the second game, everyone's mind was on the upcoming NLCS vs. the Houston Astros, not on any team records.

108th and final win of the regular season. I'm amazed we all got so blase about winning by that point. Boy were the playoffs ever a big wake up call. I had a Sunday season ticket plan and it seemed like Sid Fernandez always started the Sunday home games, to the point where me and the other denizens of Mezz. Sect 20 started calling him "Sunday Sid". So it was fitting that he closed this one out.

Lots of memories:
1) Given two tickets by my Uncle and went with my brother.
2) Seats were right behind the middle of the Pirates dugout. I got Barry Bonds' autograph before the game and told him I remembered his father playing for the Yanks. My brother got Bob Walk's autograph and then #88. #88 - turned out he had asked the bat boy (BB) for his autograph.
3) Fans were going crazy when Hernandez was hit in the 1st and saw how locked in Gary Carter was. Stadium went wild as Gary hit the huge homer to back his teammate up.
4) Fun fall day and we knew the team was ready for the playoffs.

I was at this game. My family sat in the mezzanine section and the thing I remember best is when the game was over, the Mets stepped out on the field to thank the fans, and we all cheered. Then they all threw their hats into the front rows, behind the dugouts. I was like, damn, I wish we had seats down there. I don't think I'm imagining this. They threw their hats into the crowd. What a team.

The regular season finale as El Sid recorded the only save of his Mets career, working the final 4 innings in a tune up for the playoffs. The final out of the year was Sid's 200th strikeout on the season, a fitting ending to the best regular season in team history.

Strawberry hit a grand slam in the 5th and the Mets won 9-0. One of the more fun games to watch, looking back, as the atmosphere was so free and easy. A complete 180 to the next 3 weeks of baseball the Mets would play.

This was the game in which Darryl Strawberry wore Gooden's pants in honor of his teammate who was in Smithers institute. I guess they helped him as he hit a 3-run HR in the first inning.

One of only 2 opening days between 1985-1994 that Gooden wouldn't start, this one because of his drug suspension. Ojeda wasn't great on this day, but he was good enough. And the Mets got all the offense they'd need on a first inning homer by Straw.

Orosco would make it interesting in the 9th, putting the tying and go ahead runs on base before finally getting a ground ball to Backman for another opening day Mets win.

I remember watching this game on TV because it's the day Gary Carter got his 1,000th career RBI.

Wally Backman grounded into a 4-3-5-2 triple play in the ninth inning but the Mets won anyway.

Doc Gooden's first game back after cocaine rehab. But it was most memorable for the violent Mookie-Lenny face-to-face collision in left- centerfield. I've still got that one on tape. Sid Bream hit the ball and he couldn't believe Mookie caught it and neither could anyone else. What a trooper Mookie was.

I was at this game - way up in the upper deck behind the plate. It was Doc's first game back after his suspension. Dick Young had written a really negative column - saying that the fans should stand up and boo. Well the fans were chanting "Dick Young Sucks" all night long.

Gooden struck out Barry Bonds swinging as the first batter he faced. Can you imagine that - Barry Bonds hitting leadoff! The crowd went nuts. He really wasn't his dominating self, but the team won.

This was also the night that Lenny and Mookie slammed faces together in left-center. I swear you could hear the "smack" in the Upper Deck. I can't believe both of those guys got up. Ouch!

This was also the game that featured the cheezy Mets-Marvel Comics promotion of "Spider-Man's wedding" where the fans were given copies of the 1987 Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21 where Peter Parker and MJ got married

And the fans were treated to a "live version" of the wedding featuring Spidey and MJ.

First baseball game I attended--sat on the field level behind the Mets dugout. Still remember that collision in the outfield!

I remember the anticipation of the Doctor's return. I was in the Lodge level with about 10 of my buddies from softball team on the 3rd base side. And clearly remember a much skinnier Barry Bonds striking out swinging to lead off the game. The Doc was BACK, or so we thought at the time. The collison looked bad but did not get the real impact until later, on the highlights. This was when Shea was rockin'!

I was 10 years old and although this was not my first Mets game I think it may have been my first awesome Mets game. I remember the Mets- Marvel Comics promotion of the Spider-Man wedding which was stupid; I still have the comic and bag of crap they handed out to fans as they entered Shea.

I remember the collision between Mookie and Lenny, I recall them showing it a few times on the diamond vision board and the whole crowd collectively groaning and wincing. It was a brutal way to get an out!

I remember the focus of the game being that it was Doc's first game back from Rehab. Bonds led off the game and struck out on 3 pitches. (At least in my mind I remember it on 3 pitches and if it wasn’t please don’t email me and tell me it wasn’t!) Our seats were on the middle level above the field level and I will never forget the crowd noise when Doc took the mound in the top of the first. It was amazing, just amazing!

I recall and will never forget a banner that was hanging from the upper deck that read "The Doctor is IN" Awesome memory, thanks Mom and Dad!

This was the first major league ballgame I ever went to. I had been to a number of minor league games but my parents weren't fans of the city so we had never gone down to see the big time. Finally, after my parents had suffered through my pain and ecstasy during the '86 postseason, my father, a lifetime Yankee fan, relented and was willing to spend the day not only in the city, but in enemy territory. My seats were behind home base in the upper deck and I spent the first two innings terrified. I had never been this high up in the air, unprotected by walls. But the view, for a small town boy like me, was majestic.

I was intitally disappointed to discover that Darryl Strawberry wouldn't be starting that day (he was my favorite at the time, until HoJo came along), but the Mets jumped to an early lead and all my worries were forgotten. However, a run in the fourth and a run in the fifth (one of them knocked in by some guy I had never heard of named Barry Bonds) and the game was tied. Then, as if from the pages of myth, Darryl came in to pinch hit in the seventh with one on (Rafael Santana I just learned). I wish I could get all misty eyed and say that it was the sweetest swing I ever saw, but, truth be told I couldn't see the batter's box all that well (too high up and the angle too steep for my 14-year old body to compensate). But I did get to see the ball, and it left that park in a hurry, right over the right field fence. The apple popped out of the hat, the crowd went wild and even my father was forced to applaud. I was convinced it would be like that every time I went to a game.

I remember this game. Darryl didn't play because he was supposedly hungover real bad. He was sick all day throwing up. He came up to pinch hit and hit a bomb. After he got back into the dugout, he went to go throw up again. No joke. It didn't dawn on me why he was sick but it does now. The night before he was out celebrating with his buddy Dwight and some other Mets after Gooden made his comeback from rehab. Still got a win though.

This was banner day. The game was sold out or near as it was the year after the Championship. I went with a great kid from the box in front of us with his banner down the ramps to join the parade. Mets are down 2-1 at the time. We were far enough back on line that we were behind the scoreboard, so we couldn't see anything, but could hear the crowd and the PA system.

The Bucs scored a run at the top of the 8th (Pitt 3 NY 1). The bottom of the 8th lasted (seemingly) forever. The Pirates made two pitching changes and the crowd was screaming. We figured out that the Mets tied it (it turned out to be a 2 run, 2 out Strawberry triple, so you could imagine the noise) when they announced a Pirate batter leading off the top of the 10th. Turns out that Pittsburgh scored in the top of the 10th, but the Mets scored 2 in the bottom of the 10th to win it. The place went wild for a long time, but we had no idea why.

After a wait for them to set up the reviewing stand, the line finally moved and when we came up to the outfield fence, I looked through and the huge expanse of stands was in front of us. In awe, I walked in through the spot where Tommie Agee once stood. It was the only time I ever got to walk through the field at Shea. You came all the way in to just behind 2B. Looking up at the stands from there was like being inside of a dream. I spotted our section. Everybody was on their feet waving and clapping. I tipped my hat to them and they became even more animated. It was one of the coolest moments of my life.

This Banner Day doubleheader started with an exciting win for the Mets. With the team trailing by a run thanks to Andy Van Slyke's homer in the top of the tenth inning, Gary Carter singled with one out in the bottom half. Darryl Strawberry drew a walk to send pinch-runner Barry Lyons to second base. Lee Mazzilli then got a double that drove home Lyons and Strawberry with the tying and winning runs. It was the 1,000th hit for Mazzilli in his career.

This the real game that took place on June 14, 1987, noteworthy because it is the date cited in the classic "Seinfeld" Keith Hernandez spitting incident episode. On the show, the Mets lost to the Phillies at Shea. In real life, the Mets beat the Pirates at Three Rivers. My unhealthy exacting memory for dates recalls this for personal reasons. My girlfriend (now my wife) had to leave town on this date. Yet I still managed to sneak a few peeks at the TV while she packed.

Life is all about striking a balance.

Greg, you are 100% correct. I wonder why the "Seinfeld" producers were so exact about a date - did anyone check to see what really happened on June 14, 1987? Oh, well, its just a TV show.

This was my first Mets game. I was finishing up 1st grade, living in Indiana PA. I wish I could remember the plays, but all I remember is the stuffed Pirate Parrot that Dad bought me.

Although not on the active roster (and never would be during the season), Tom Seaver was seen in uniform in the dugout during this game against the Pirates. He was attempting a comeback for the Mets, as the injuries were piling up at the time.

He would soon pitch a simulated game and get crushed by Barry Lyons, which he famously said was a sign that it was truly time to give it up. As for the game, the Mets offense was led by homers by Straw and Hernandez as the team was trying to rebound from its slow start to the year.

My first road trip to see a Mets game. Some friends and I decided to make a pilgrimage to Pittsburgh for Ralph Kiner Night. Ralph and his wife circled the field in a convertible. His wife saw the banner we had brought and pointed it out to him. I have to say the people of Pittsburgh were great. Very friendly. The game was great too. Hernandez' Grand Slam was the big blow.

I was a freshman at Carnegie Mellon University. A friend of mine and I, both Mets fans from Jersey, took the bus to Three Rivers, bought tickets from a scalper (2 tix for $1!), and sat in the right field seats (seat #13, I remember).

The highlight of the game was Keith Hernandez hitting a grand slam home run right into my arms. As it approached, time slowed down and I thought, "Holy Cow it's coming right at me." I didn't catch the ball -- it bounced off my arm -- but I did leap over the seat to retrieve it before anyone else could get there.

This game was brutal for the Mets and for their fans!

It's true that the Pendleton HR earlier in that month, and the Aguayo HR at the end of that month, were huge blow to the Mets playoff hopes. But this game was just as important to the Met's chances as well.

Saw it on WOR, the Mets had numerous leads that they couldn't hold, Dykstra was thrown out at 3rd base in late innings. And a washed up 'prospect' named Darnell Coles ended up winning the game for the Bucs.

Just absolutely brutal!

This game is significant in Pirates' history. After the game Dwight Gooden (pretty sure it was him) said the Pirates celebrated like a bunch of little leaguers on the field. (Trying to locate the exact quote.) With the win, the Pirates climbed out of last place for the first time in three months (June 29). The team with Bonds, Bonilla, Van Slyke, Drabek, closed the season 27-11 to finish with 80 wins and in 4th place. Gooden's words fueled the hatred and rivalry from '88-'92.

The Pendleton homer game 9 days earlier gets all the attention and memories from the 1987 Pennant Race. But this game probably hurt just as much. The Mets had come into this game somewhat hot, only 1.5 games behind the Cards, despite the home series loss to St Louis a week earlier. They blew 3 separate late innings leads in this one (including a 4 run lead in the 6th) and lost in 14 innings. To top it off, the Cardinals won on this day, dropping the Mets to 2.5 games behind, and they'd never below 2 games behind them again.

This game has a lot of special meaning to me. It was the first ever Mets game I went to and the first time I ever went to Shea. Because I went to this game with my mom and her friend and her son and it was a good experience and the Mets won this game. Even though I understood that hopes of them repeating as World Series champions became hopeless, it did not take away the fun of this moment for me. We had taped channel 9 WWOR TV's coverage of this game hoping that we'd be on tv and we were not because we were sitting in the mezzanine level.

I was at this game. Final regular season home game of the year. The Mets still had a slim, mathematical chance to catch the Cubs, with 6 more road games left. They wouldn't make it, but I remember the crowd being very enthusiastic and cheering the Mets loudly, especially at the end of the game, kind of saying "thanks for a great season, now go on the road and win this thing!" It wasn't meant to be that year.

A key game from the 88 season. In the 6th inning, Jim Leyland had Straw intentionally walked to get to McReynolds. And he responded with a grand slam to give the Mets a 4-0 lead, which was all Darling would need on this night.

This was the game where Jim Leyland had Doug Drabek intentionally walk Straw to get to McReynolds. The move backfired and Kevin hit a grand slam to break a scoreless tie. The Mets would tack on plenty to win 9-0 in an important June game.

Went to this game, I remember the Grand Slam was caught by one of the Pirates warming up at the time. Awesome game.

While so many remember early August as Keith's return from his hamstring injury (suffered in St Louis a few weeks before this game),he actually came back in this game. Keith would play for a few games before re-injuring his hamstring in Chicago a few days later.

Gooden pitched very well on a sunny and incredibly hot day at Shea (1988 was one of the hottest summers in NYC history overall) and the Mets won the series against Pittsburgh, their chief opponent in 1988 for the division.

HOJO hit a Bomb off of Jim Gott to tie the game with two outs and two strikes against him in the 9th and the Mets won it in Extras. I remember the headline said "Howard Johnson Home Run Helps The Mets Get Gott!"

I remember watching this game on Channel 9 during a sleepover with my friend. I had played wiffleball that night and pretended to be Lenny Dykstra by stuffing a handful of wild blackberries in my mouth and spitting them. Baad idea. I wound up puking everywhere and missed Hojo's HR, the great catch by Dykstra and the nifty double play to win it! Moral of the story: blackberries = evil.

A truly memorable game from the 88 season. Both teams were making great defensive plays all over the field. Andy Van Slyke, RJ Reynolds, Lenny Dykstra and Kevin Elster all made superb catches.

HoJo hit the game tying homer in the 9th with 2 outs and 2 strikes. Then Roger McDowell hit a double in the 10th and scored on a game winning single by McReynolds. As the game ended on a double play, Tim McCarver would say that he felt this game would be one of the more important wins of the season at season's end. He was right.

It was a Friday night and the Pirates were making noise, challenging the Mets still for first place. Ojeda vs. Smiley, a pretty decent pitching matchup. I attended this game at the last minute with my girlfriend at the time and we got tickets from somebody scalping by Gate C right about at gametime. Really good mezzanine seats at a decent price.

Anyway, a gorgeous night and it was scoreless into the bottom of the eighth. Ojeda was in complete control, but Smiley was sharp too. Then Elster, who didn't hit a lot of homers, hit this towering fly to left. Bonds went back to the fence at the 358 sign in front of the bullpen, leaped, and it was just inches over his outstretched glove for a homer. Mets won 1-0. A sweet game to win.

I was at this game and the Mets had been in a slump. I remember the Pirate media was all hyped up and some stupid reporter said, "It's not the Big Apple, it's the big applesauce. We're not afraid of the Mets!" Well, thanks Bobby O for the all heart and guts effort. I had the pleasure to score this game and I still have the program.

I was at this game in the left field Mezzanine section. The weather was unbelievably hot that night, even for Shea Stadium.

As the first poster stated, Bonds just barely missed catching Elster's HR by a matter of inches!

Shea was packed that night, had to be a sellout. So when Bonds couldn't make that catch, the place just exploded...probably one of the loudest crowds I ever heard at a Mets game!

This was the first (and last) game I ever attended at Shea. I am from Pittsburgh and the Pirates were surging. This series put an end to that. I can still picture Brian Fisher with that dead arm giving up that long HR to Johnson.

A funny moment from the 9th inning in this game as a fan ran out of the stands and hugged 1st baseman Dave Magadan, making Dave blush, as the woman was attractive.

As for the game, the Mets pitching was once again too much for Pittsburgh, as after this game, they were shutout at Shea for the 4th straight game, going back to June.

All the scoring in this game came in the 1st inning, as Straw hit a shot over the center field fence for all the runs that Ron Darling would need. He went the distance, as the Mets kept putting the Pirates further out of the race. In a summer in which the Mets didn't play great, consistent, baseball, one thing they sure did was beat Pittsburgh when it mattered, without winning 10 of 14 against them from June till August, the month of September would have seen a real pennant race in 1988.

This was a defining game for the 88 Mets. It was a friday night and Keith Hernandez came back from the DL after injuring his hamstring. He hit a home run late in the game to win it for the Mets. I remember the final out of the game was recorded on a fan interference play. Wally Backman was coming over towards the stands on a foul pop and a fan reached out and prevented him from catching it. He told the fan off, it was wild.

A weird and controversial win for the Mets, as they scored 3 times in the 8th inning as Jim Gott was called for 3 balks and Bob McClure would get his only ever win in a Mets uniform.

This was Rick Reed's Major League debut. The Mets had been on and off stagnant all summer, but managed to keep the Bucs at bay. On the verge of sweeping them, they bring up this guy nobody's ever heard of, and on "Monday Night Baseball," he shuts us out for eight innings. One of our gracious guys, Backman, I think, said, "I'd forgotten what minor league pitching looks like." That was one of the few times during the glory days that I was embarrassed by the Mets--not that they lost, but that they were such jerks about it. When Reeder appeared almost nine years later, I couldn't help but chuckle at the thought that he was once a passing thorn in our side.

If you're into numerology... On 8/8/88, #8 Gary Carter, who had 8 HRs on the season at the time committed hist 8th error of the year.

I remember being at this game and as I recall Gary Carter, who had a horrible second half of the 1988 season, hit the game winning home run to win this game against the Buccos. Also this was shortly after Gregg Jefferies got called up and he was tearing up the league at that time and I thought this kid might be the real deal and I bought a bunch of his rookie cards. Oh well, live and learn.

A very unexpected ending to this one. Dave Magadan, who did not hit many homers at all in his career (very good hitter though) hit a game-ending 2-run homer to beat the Pirates this night. Funny enough, Magadan had 2 game-ending homers as a Met (also one in 1992). Not bad for a guy with no power.

My uncle lived at Colden Towers at the time, 42-49 Colden St, (1.4 miles away from Shea) on the 13th floor (the elevator said 14) with a view of Shea Stadium from the balcony. He told me that when Magadan hit the home run to end the game in the 11th, he could hear the crowd roar from his dining room.

Of all the time lived there (1973-1994; I became a Mets fan in 1986) that's the ONLY time he told me he heard the crowd noise coming to the stadium. I watched many games on TV at his place and I'm sure I saw a walkoff or two but I never heard the crowd roar, so they must have been LOUD that night.

42,578 fans in attendance that night by the way, which is about full capacity at Citi Field, so hopefully the denizens of Colden Towers will hear the crowd roar again soon.

I was at this game with a friend, enjoying a Friday night game courtesy of two free box seats I won in a company raffle. Dave Magadan hit the game-winning walk-off home run was memorable since he was not known as a power hitter. However, he turned on a fastball, and we got the win.

Darryl Strawberry's 200th career home run gives the Mets a 3-2 lead in the top of the ninth, but the Pirates get an unearned run off Randy Myers in the bottom of the ninth to tie it up.

Strawberry then misplays Andy Van Slyke's leadoff single in the tenth and Van Slyke goes all the way to third. After intentionally walking Bonilla and Bonds, Roger McDowell gets Jeff King out, but pinch-hitter Benny DiStefano hits a slow infield grounder and the Mets can't turn two. Pirates win, 4-3--despite three homers by the Mets-- thanks to some questionable Mets defense.

One of true low points of the 1989 season for the Mets. After the Pirates put up a 5 spot in the 1st, the Mets chipped away and led 8-5 going into the 7th inning. A trio of relievers watched Pittsburgh score another 5 runs and the Mets got swept in a very important series. After winning 6 straight heading into this 3 game set, any momentum the Mets may have had vanished going into the all important Cubs series over the weekend (where they'd get swept as well). Also of note, this game would be the last appearance at Shea as Mets for both Mookie and Rick Aguilera.

Me, my cousin, my late aunt and another person went to this game and we met Christopher "Mad Dog" Russo of WFAN who was asking people to give their opinions on sports topics for a TV show that would air later in the year. My cousin was interviewed and he went on that show. I also remember the traffic was pure heck because of the U.S. Tennis Open going on across the street; that is probably the reason why the Mets mostly play on the road on the final weekend of the Open.

It was Jerry Koosman Day at Shea, as the Mets inducted him into the team HOF. Unfortunately, the team that day did not pitch like the 69 Mets. Pitt hit 3 homers, including one by pitcher Jeff Robinson and 2 by Bonilla. Still in the Eastern division race at this point, this extra inning lose in the late afternon at Shea was brutal for the Mets chances of staying alive.

Wow, this was actually my first ever Mets game that I had ever been to. Hard to believe that its been 14 years since that doubleheader at Three Rivers, but I am still a hardcore Mets fan till this day. I don't remember much about the games themselves, but I just remember being so thrilled that the Mets swept the doubleheader!!!

TCOR, you've come to the right place! Here's what happened in game one of the doubleheader:

Frank Viola pitched a seven-hitter, allowing two unearned runs, and the Mets came from a 2-0 deficit to win, 6-2. Kevin McReynolds opened the Mets scoring with his 21st homer, then Gregg Jefferies hit his 12th to tie it in the 5th. The Mets took the lead on an RBI groundout by HoJo. Another infield out scored run number four, and RBI singles by Dave Magadan and Juan Samuel in the 9th put it away. As for game two...please see my comments in that listing!

The Mets swept this doubleheader, but another disappointing season was coming to a close.

The defending Eastern Division Champions were poised to finish the 1980's with another championship, but the team never rose to the occasion. After the Mets fell out of first place right before Memorial Day, they never were able to get back to the top of the division. All summer long, the Mets, Cards, Expos, and Cubs were jockeying for position. The Mets looked like they were fading when they lost seven straight in late July, but they came back to within a game and a half of the Cubs by August 24th. But from that point on this group that should have had a lot more to show than one World Series ring and one Division half-pennant could only manage to split their final 36 games while the Cubs finished 22-13 in their last 35.

Anyway, enough editorial commenting: the second game of this doubleheader was a great performance by David Cone, who pitched a complete game shutout, allowing just three hits and striking out ten. Howard Johnson hit a 3-run homer in the fourth inning to give the Mets a 4-0 lead in a game they eventually won, 7-0. The last two runs scored on a bases-loaded single by Tom O'Malley. The Mets did not allow an earned run in either game of this doubleheader and the bullpen got the whole night off.

Just watched this one on the old tape. El Sid finished the season well and the Mets won 4 games at Pittsburgh to finish...something they'd have A LOT of trouble doing the next few years unfortunately. 1989 was easily one of the weirdest years in team history. Everyone kept waiting for the Mets to pull away from the Cubs and Expos all through the season but they never could put together a long stretch of great baseball. Keith and Carter barely played and when they did they sadly contributed nothing. Their on-field production and leadership was sorely missed. Straw, while having a good season in general, had the worst season of his Mets career. The trade of McDowell and Dykstra for Juan Samuel proved to be one of the most ill-advised trades in team history. Gooden missed 2 months. In a strange way, 1989 really proved more than any other year just how much more talented the Mets were than other teams in that era. With the exception of HoJo's career year, almost NOTHING went right for them that year, and they still won 87 games basically in their sleep.

This was the first Met game I ever watched, being a young 6 year old, I don't think I was too upset at the outcome, but I remember Keith Miller stumbling all over himself in centerfield, and Bobby Bonilla hitting an absolute bomb into the parking lot in rightfield off of Jeff Innis I believe, but it set a tone for the whole season and the tight games between the Bucs and Mets all season.

I wish I was at this game but I had to listen on the radio at work on the sly because I had a foreman at the time who was a real you-know-what and a type of a guy who was a real YES, SIR that would kiss the higher-ups behind 24/7. If I had been caught with the radio, I woulda been automatically suspended since he didn't give a darn about baseball. Luckily I got to catch the last few innings once I got home. BUMMER!!!! In reality, I shoulda called in sick!!!!

An EXTREMELY rare opening day loss for the Mets during a period when it seemed we won on opening day every single year. As a matter of fact, after 1969, our record on day one has been unbelievable.

Was at this game sitting in Field Level box in right field. Was not the opening day a fan would remember when the Mets lose 12-3. It was the first time in Gooden's career he lost on opening day and the first time ever he was under .500 at any point during a season. Most of the time I try to stay the whole game no matter what the score is. I was not able to stay for the whole game on this day as Passover was starting later in the day and had to get home to prepare for the sedar with the family.

Not one of the Mets' better Opening Day experiences. After two consecutive decades of winning nine of ten season openers, the Mets were defeated soundly by the Pirates in this one. It was also the team's first loss of a season opening game played at home since 1967. The Bucs beat them in that one, too.

I must correct an error I made in my previous entry for this game. The Mets' last defeat in a season opener at home before this one came in 1969 to the Montreal Expos. It was not the one to the Pirates in '67.

That being said, this '90 defeat to the Bucs would be the last time the Mets would start a season with a loss on their home field until 2003, when the Cubs beat them at Shea Stadium. They did lose as the home team to Chicago to begin the 2000 season, but that game was played in Japan.

The first of Viola's 20 wins in 1990 as the Mets rebounded from a rare horrible opening day loss. Also the first appearance of John Franco as a Met. He recorded his first save of many with the team.

After watching this game, I have a hard time naming another Mets left-handed pitcher who’s been as good as Viola since 1990. Maybe Johan in 2008, or Al Leiter in the late 90s. Viola was just so masterful and underappreciated in hindsight. He won his first seven starts this season (holding a 0.87 ERA over that span), and subdued a Pittsburgh lineup that knocked around seven Mets pitchers for 12 runs and 17 hits on opening day. He was also interviewed on Kiner’s Korner after the game and came across as a likeable, every-man type figure.

As Michael alluded to, this was Franco’s first of what is a still a team-record 276 saves. Always seemed like he had to make things exciting though. One of the first pitches he threw with the Mets was a wild pitch, but he managed to work a scoreless inning and a third to nail down the win.

Wally Backman's tenth and last major league homer was hit at Shea AGAINST the Mets in this game - a solo shot off winning pitcher David Cone.

David Cone entered this game 1-4 with a 6.27 ERA over his first nine appearances of the 1990 season. Counting this victory, he would go 13-6 with a 2.35 ERA the rest of the year. He also attempted to leg out what would have been his only career triple in the fourth inning but was thrown out at third.

This game to me was a real key game for the Mets to stay with the Pirates in the NL East race in 1990. We won this game to take 3 of 4 from the Pirates and played real well until the end of the season and stayed in the race to the final weekend. If we lost 3 or more in this series, the season would have been over for the Mets as they would have been 10+ games back and no wild card to be won in 1990. I was at this game sitting in Field Box right at home plate.

Hey sportsfan8690, I'm quite jealous, looks like you picked a great day to go to a game, considering both the weather and the final outcome. Also, I wonder if you remember taking part in the wave between innings they were filming for a movie.

The Pirates featured two pitchers with ties to the Mets -- one a former player (Walt Terrell) and one a future player (Rick Reed). Neither were very good here, both giving up home runs: Strawberry hit his fourth in three games off Terrell, and Magadan hit his first of the year vs. Reed. For his efforts, Strawberry won his fourth of six career Player of the Week awards.

The series was also notable for how poor the teams were defensively, as the Pirates committed 11 errors in the four-game series and the Mets 6. Pittsburgh featured two Gold Glovers this year (Bonds & Van Slyke) and I got the impression they were pretty solid defensively, but I looked it up and they actually committed the third most errors in the NL in 1990. Their bad defense doomed them in the 5th inning, as Jeff King booted a 1-out grounder by Elster, and then Don Slaught airmailed a throw to centerfield when Ojeda laid down a sac bunt a batter later. Both those runners scored on Jefferies' single later in the inning, and the rout was on from there.

The Mets' Father's Day win in 1990 started a season-long 11-game win streak that saw the team go from 7 games out in the NL East to tied for first. Mark Carreon was the star of the game, connecting for his only career lead-off home run, as well as notching his first of three career 2-homer games (he achieved the other two with San Francisco). He was actually quite good in the lead-off spot this season, hitting .309 with a .387 OBP and phenomenal .987 OPS. It was also nice to get a win over the powerhouse Pirates without Darryl Strawberry in the lineup. He got a day of rest while Mike Marshall started in his place -- Marshall's only start in RF for the Mets all year.

The key moment in the game came in the 7th. Pittsburgh loaded the bases with no one out but Gooden, clearly tiring, still induced a double play from Andy Van Slyke, then got Bonilla to bounce out to first to end the inning allowing just one run. Franco handled things from there, locking up one of his 7 two-inning saves of the year.

Another thing of note from this game is that Dallas Green was part of the broadcast team on WWOR. Green managed the Yankees in 1989 and would be hired as a scout for the Mets in 1991, eventually taking over as manager in 1993. I got the impression Tim McCarver really looked up to him the way he spoke to him, which makes sense since Green managed McCarver in Philadelphia from 1979-80.

The Mets came into this doubleheader with a 77-56 record, just half a game behind the first place Pirates. Long-time nemesis Zane Smith pitched game one for Pittsburgh. Keith Miller led off the game with a single, then Smith retired the next eight batters before walking Miller with two outs in the third. From that point forward, Smith retired the final 19 Mets to come to the plate. The Pirates scored a run in the bottom of the ninth on a bases loaded single by Barry Bonds (after Bobby Bonilla was intentionally walked with one out and runners at second and third). Frank Viola pitched well for 8 innings, but it went down the drain.

Zane Smith gave up a single to the leadoff batter in the game, then got 27 outs without giving up another hit!! That has only happened three other times since September, 1990. Thanks to Jayson Stark of espn.com and retrosheet.org for that info.

The Mets lost the second game of the doubleheader and lost again the next night to the Pirates. They wound up scoring just two runs and collecting just 11 hits in the three games, and the first collapse of the Buddy Harrelson era was underway.

Zane was insane after getting acquired by Pittsburgh in 1990, going 6-2 with a 1.30 ERA over 11 appearances, with this performance likely his best. He needed only 92 pitches to go the distance; in comparison, Viola reached that pitch count in the 6th inning. I'm not so sure I would say Viola "pitched well" here; more like he bent but didn't break, as he allowed a baserunner every inning, walked 5 and needed to dance out of trouble seemingly the entire game. Still, this was a matchup of arguably the two best left-handers in the NL in 1990, as Smith (2.55) and Viola (2.67) finished the year second and third, respectively, in ERA among lefty starters (John Tudor of the Cardinals finished first at 2.40). Pittsburgh acquired Smith from Montreal that year in exchange for Scott Ruskin, Willie Greene and a player to be named later, who turned out to be none other than Moises Alou!

As for the Mets, this was their second straight 1-0 loss, and their first time being 1-hit since Sept. 29, 1987, by Philadelphia southpaw Don Carman. They'd again get 1-hit a couple weeks later by Montreal's Chris Nabholz, another lefty! They were just dreadful against left-hand pitching during this era. In 1990, they collectively hit just .233 vs. LHP, the worst in all of baseball.

In regards to the game itself, the pivotal play came after Gary Redus led off the bottom of the 9th with a single off John Franco. Jay Bell was looking to sacrifice but his bunt barely got beyond home plate. Charlie O'Brien quickly picked it up and fired to second, where Redus was a dead duck, but the throw bounced and skipped past Hojo covering the base, and everyone was safe. Van Slyke then got down his own sac bunt, moving runners to 2nd and 3rd, and Bob explained what happened from there in his post. Franco had fell behind Bonds 2-0 but then evened the count before Bonds hit his walk-off single, which was really just a routine flyball to left but since everyone was playing in, McReynolds just let it sail over his head. It marked Franco's first loss of his Mets career. After a brilliant start during his first season in New York, Franco faltered in September, losing 3 games, blowing 3 saves and allowing 10 runs in 10.2 innings.

Big-time playoff feel to this game, with pretty much a full house on hand to watch the Pirates pull off a DH sweep of the Mets and increase their NL East lead to 2.5 games. It just so happened Pittsburgh swept all five of their doubleheaders during the 1990 season. Meanwhile, the Mets just couldn't score runs during this stretch, and were outscored 16-3 during this five-game losing streak.

This marked Ojeda's final of 109 career starts for the Mets. He pitched three more times in relief, then was traded to the Dodgers during the offseason along with Greg Hansell for Hubie Brooks. Brooks was supposed to be the RF replacement for the departed Darryl Strawberry, but that didn't turn out well at all.

Jeff King had his first career two-homer game in this one, and I recollect him being a particular nuisance against the Mets, though he was just a career .272 hitter with 8 dingers vs. New York.

One last piece of trivia: Lee Mazzilli's son, LJ, was born the next day. LJ was drafted by the Mets in the 4th round in 2013 but never really panned out. He played in the Mets' system until 2018 when he was traded to the Yankees. As of 2022, he's still playing on the independent circuit for the Long Island Ducks.

This game marked David Cone's 5th complete game of the year.

Looking back this is a sad game in many ways. It was truly the last "big" game that those "80's" Mets would play in front of their home crowd and win. Cone was fantastic and went the distance as the Mets tried to keep pace with the Pirates, but it wasn't enough, as Pittsburgh would play fantastic the next few weeks and the Mets would play only average.

With one out in the top of the ninth inning and Cone on pitch 128 for the night, Sid Bream drilled a long fly ball to right that Darryl Strawberry caught at the wall. Another couple of inches and this game would have been tied. Cone then got Mike LaValliere to fly out for the final out, giving the Mets their 10th straight win at home, which at the time was one away from tying the franchise record. They won again, 6-3, the next day to tie the record.

The Mets lowered the lead of Pittsburgh to just a game and a half after this must win. Strawberry hit a huge 3 run homer in the 4th and Gooden won one of his last real pressure packed games with the team before their demise in the coming years.

Unfortunately, soon after, the Mets would suffer a season killing 5 game losing streak.

Sad game in many ways for me. Frank Viola wins his 20th game in a meaningless game(we had already been eliminated from playoff contention by the Pirates). This was also Darryl Strawberry's last game as a Met and the continuation of his horrific downward spiral. I hate to think of what he could have been.

As David M. said in February of 2002, Frank Viola won his 20th in the last game of another disappointing season. Frank pitched seven innings to get the win.

Jerry Reuss started and got a no decision for the Pirates. Doug Bair came in to pitch the last two innings. It was the final major league game for both of these 41-year-old pitchers. Reuss wound up pitching in four decades (1969-1990) and finished his career with 220 wins but never won more than 18 in a season.

Mets LF Chris Jelic homered in the eighth inning off Bair. It turned out to be Jelic's first, last, and only major league hit, and it came in his final major league at bat. He finished his career with just 11 at bats, and all of them came in the final week of the 1990 season. Jelic, who came to the Mets with David Cone prior to the 1987 season, was released in November 1990 and never made it back to the majors.

Despite the win, a sad ending to a wonderful era in Mets history. Straw would be gone and the decision to replace his power with Vince Coleman's speed proved to be fatal. A note about the 1990 season, a lot of people tend to forget how good this pitching staff was on paper. Going into spring training, we had Darling and Ojeda fighting for the last spot as a starter, that's how deep the staff was. Too bad the offense couldn't hit left-handed pitching, that proved to be our downfall in 1990.

Truly a sad day in Mets history. The best and most exciting era in team history would be over after this game for most part. Sadly this 1990 Mets team is largely forgotten today, as most people remember the 80's versions. But this was a VERY good and underrated Mets team. Their run differential was BY FAR the best in the National League. Unfortunately their utter and complete inability to hit lefties down the stretch is what really killed them.

Watched this one recently. HoJo hit a homer off of lefty Zane Smith, a guy the Mets could never hit well. It's hard to say as a fact, but I highly doubt Johnson hit a further homer batting right-handed in his entire career. His shot this night went into the second deck in Three Rivers, he never hit his moon shots from the right side. Even more impressive was that this was a cold and brisk night and the ball generally wasn't traveling well minus that homer. As for the rest of the game, the Mets scored 6 in the 9th to win what people thought was a key early season game against Pittsburgh. By season's end, this was all but forgotten and the Mets would have immense trouble winning in Pittsburgh over these next few years.

A weekday afternoon game, and the Mets still had thoughts of trying to stay in the race with the Pirates, with the win cutting the pirates lead to 5.5 games. Also a note, Don Imus, the famous radio personality, made a visit to the Sportschannel booth on this day.

Sadly, after this win, the Mets would go on an 11 game losing streak, killing their season completely.

The 10th loss in a row for the Mets on this afternoon, as Viola continued his bad 2nd half. The talk on the broadcast during this one was about how Frank maybe should have taken the Mets contract offer from earlier in the season back in March-April. As his 2nd half collapse (on the back of his very mehh finish to the 1990 season in which he blew multiple leads down the stretch in the pennant race), had potentially cost him a few million. Fortunately for Viola, he was only one of about 500 problems with the team by this point in the year. The losing streak would continue to 11 in a row a few nights later, as the great era from 1984-1991 (the first half anyway) was officially over, dead and buried.

I was watching this "game" on Ch. 9 when all of a sudden, it's 9pm and I had a decision to make whether to continue to watch the Mets-Pirates (w/o Barry-roid Bonds in the lineup) or go to Ch. 2 and watch "Murder In New Hampshire: The Pamela Smart Story". Tough choice though: Underachieving rich grown men playing a boy's game or Helen Hunt in a bikini? Guess which one I chose to watch.

One of my first Mets games as a kid. We were supposed to catch the second game of the doubleheader but the first one was still going on. Watching from way up in the red seats, some random rookie hits his first career home run, a solo shot in the bottom of the 14th inning. Not until years later do I realize that rookie was Todd Hundley.

Just watched this game. Interesting fact, WWOR joined this game in progress at 7:30PM, when it was already in the 9th inning. They carried the rest of this first game and all of the 2nd game of this day's doubleheader. This means that the first 8 innings of this first game wasn't seen by anyone in New York on tv, as it seems WWOR either didn't have the rights to show it before 7:30 or just didn't see the need, as it was beyond meaningless at this point in the season.

Either way, Hundley's first homer was certainly a highlight, as it skimmed the top of the wall to go over the fence.

Eddie Murray hit a sac fly in the first inning, then singled to drive in a run in the sixth.

The two RBI gave him 1,510 for his career, passing Mickey Mantle for most RBIs by a switch- hitter.

Almost twenty years later, I can still recall several details off the top of my head:

• The Yankees had not yet declared exclusive ownership of Old Timers Day. The Mets Old Timers event took place before this night game. It had just been renamed "Upper Deck: Heroes of Baseball Night", if I recall.
• Bonilla got thrown out trying to stretch an extra base hit. It was a bad call and the Shea crowd gave was uncharacteristically sympathetic toward Bobby Bo after the call.
• The Mets lost to a Pittsburgh club that owned that division in the early 90s.
• Todd Hundley was dubbed "Todd O-for" in our scorecard. This is pre-juiced ball and pre-juiced Todd era.

First game that I ever went to. it was glove day but the gloves sucked. it broke the second day I had it. All I know I was sitting in the loge level sitting above the auxilery scorebord. The Mets sucked today.

Vince Coleman set a Met record with 5 walks in this game.

I doubt anyone reads this anymore being that it's an old and insignificant game, but I caught a line drive foul ball off the bat of Andy Van Slyke in this game. Would love to know where to find a video of the game to see if I made it onto tv!

The heart of the Mets line-up on this day: Dave Gallagher-Chico Walker-Jeff McKnight. Oye.

After scoring one in the top of the first the Mets gave up six in the bottom, and six more in the bottom of the second. It was 12-1 Pirates after two innings, and 16-1 after four innings.

In this game--number 154 of their 31st season-- the Mets used a position player to pitch for the first time in their history. Bill Pecota pinch- hit in the eighth inning and then stayed in the game on the mound. He gave up a leadoff homer to Andy Van Slyke them retired the next three batters.

Barry Bonds had a double, a homer, and two walks before coming out of the game in the fourth inning!

I remember watching this game in my college dorm room in Miami on WWOR. The Pirates clinched the NL East in this game and WWOR did the Pirates locker room celebration on the Kiners Korner postgame show.

At the beginning of the season I thought the last 2 weekend series against the Pirates would decide the NL East as the Mets were expected to be right at the top all year. That never happened as the Mets were never even close to contending. The Mets were not as good as everyone thought and they had to watch the Pirates clinch in front of their eyes.

As mentioned above, Ralph Kiner did a full Kiner's Korner from the Pirates locker room after they clinched. I remember watching as a kid and thought how weird it was for the Mets channel to do that. But looking back, it was a nice gesture. Few expected the Pirates to win the east for the 3rd year in a row after losing Bonilla to the Mets. But they deserved every bit of it. The Mets, after a good early start in April, fell into a season long slump and just weren't very good.

To elaborate on why WWOR covered the Pirates celebration: If you can believe it, none of the TV channels in Pittsburgh even broadcast the game, so WWOR had all the exclusive content. I also remember hearing during the postgame that the city's newspaper reporters were all on strike, so there was virtually no media there to cover the celebration. Shame for Pittsburgh, as they wouldn't make it back to postseason play until 2013!

This game came directly after the Mets took a 19-2 loss on the chin, and it really looked like they were going through the motions here. No HoJo, Bonilla, Magadan, or Randolph, and Coleman was practically benched for most of September. Even when the Mets put the first two runners on in the eighth to threaten, Sasser quickly popped out to left and Walker struck out. After Murray walked, Bass grounded out weakly and that was that. However, this game featured Jeff McKnight's only defensive appearance in the outfield for the Mets, so there's that bit of trivia.

Speaking of the outfield, am I the only one who remembers Three Rivers Stadium as ALWAYS having ugly wet spots all over their artificial turf? I know the Vet in Philly and Olympic Stadium in Montreal were bad, but 3RS in Pitt has my vote for ugliest baseball stadium during the early 1990s.

Schourek pitched decently, and Barry Jones struck out the side in convincing fashion. They needed those performances after what happened the day before. Schourek threw 121 pitches, which tied his season high.

There was also a debate between McCarver and Kiner about what is grammatically correct to say: RBI or RBIs. My 2 cents: it's RBI. Why? Because there's no need to pluralize RBI, as the abbreviation stands for "runs batted in." So making it RBIs means you're saying "runs batted ins." Of course, McCarver didn't understand why one is right and one is wrong, but hopefully somebody has enlightened him since 1992.

Watched this one recently, one of the quickest games of the year on the 2nd to last day of the season, and a gorgeous October day with high temps. Gooden was in control all afternoon, as both teams seemed like they wanted to just get their hacks and go home (although Pittsburgh was obviously going to play Atlanta the next week). Doc even added his only triple of 1992, a nice shot to right-center field.

Barry Bonds' last Game and The only foul ball I ever caught

What Jay meant to say; it was Bonds last regular-season game in a Pirates uniform (They lost to Atlanta in the NLCS). He would sign with the Giants in the off-season. Also when Barry first started, he was skinnier than Mary-Kate & Ashley Olsen, now he's broken down and all 'roided up just like former WWF wrestler The Dynamite Kid who is now confined to a wheelchair cause of all the chemicals he took plus not to mention all the crazy jumps off the top rope. I hate to say this but the same fate is gonna happen to Mr. Bonds!

Jeff McKnight batting cleanup. Ouch.

This was my first trip to Shea Stadium. I sat right on the field parallel with 1st base with my dad. Future Met Jay Bell homered off Doc Gooden, but the sour loss was sweetened when a cop arrested two guys trying to get on the field to give back a foul ball. The cop gave me the ball! Not bad for my 1st game.

One of the forgotten, weirder games in team history. Before the game, it basically came out unofficially that the Mets would fire Jeff Torborg. All through the game, the broadcast would make references to Torborg potentially losing his job after the game, and then during the game, the Mets announced that they would have a press conference once the contest was complete....which made it clear as day that Torborg was gone. So we had a manager in the dugout who was basically fired, but still managing. Naturally, the Mets would pick this night to have possibly their most unlikely win of the season, scoring 3 in the 9th to tie and then Bonilla hit the game winning homer in the 10th. Once the game was over, the cameras even caught the umpires shaking Torborg's hands as he walked off the field, seemingly everyone knew he was fired. Truly a weird night at Shea.

The Mets lose for the 12th time in their last 13 games, suffering yet another walkoff loss. With a 2-1 lead entering the 9th, Dallas Green opted to stick with Saberhagen instead of going to closer John Franco. But Sabes naturally got into trouble, as Al Martin (who homered earlier) and Orlando Merced hit back-to-back singles to begin the bottom of the 9th. That's when Franco was finally summoned, but we already knew what was inevitable. A sac bunt put runners on 2nd and 3rd, and the Mets intentionally walked Jeff King to load the bases. Hoping for a strikeout or ground ball, Franco instead walked Kevin Young to force in the tying run. Don Slaught, pinch-hitting for starting catcher Tom Prince, then delivered a single to center to walk it off as the Pirates complete the 4-game sweep.

The Mets lose their 100th game. The Mets first 100-loss season since 1967. First last place finish since 1983. This summed up the way they played that year on and off the field from Bonilla, Coleman, team management, etc. as if the Mets were the expansion team that year, not the Marlins or the Rockies who were the true expansion teams. Final record 59-103, worst in all of MLB, enough said.

Gooden got shellacked in this game. Apparently, before pitching this game he was already aware of the fact that he was about to be suspended for substance abuse policy violation. This had to be the low point of his career.

Bad game for Gooden. I had a new camera which I brought to the game and one of the pictures that I took was a good action shot of Doc throwing a pitch to Gary Varsho. It turned out to be the final pitch that Doc ever threw as a Met. I don't remember what Varsho did but Doc was lifted after that pitch.

It was Fire Works night in celebration of the 25th Anniversary of the 69 Mets Championship.

The game was over so quickly that the folks at Shea had to wait an hour after the game was over to launch the fireworks because the sky was not dark enough yet.

A game played in and out of rain all night, including a delay.The Mets won their 4th in a row. The broadcast had former Met Ed Lynch in the booth all night, as he was in the front office at the time, so his insight into the roster was interesting to listen to during the game.

A well played game on both sides as Saberhagen went a full 9 innings. Of note on this broadcast, Keith Hernandez was the color man for this game. I can't think of a broadcast earlier than this that Keith was in the booth for, so this well could be his Mets booth debut as a real broadcaster.

The last game of the first half in 95, and the Mets lost again, finishing the half at a horrific 25-44. No one expected the Mets to contend in 1995, but no one expected them to be as bad as they played in the first half either (considering they were almost .500 in 1994 and showed signs of life).

Saberhagen made one of his last starts as a Met before being traded in a few weeks.

The 2nd half of the season would be a lot better for the Mets, as they played pretty excellent baseball the final few months.

Isringhausen's first start at Shea, after making his debut on the road. He was brilliant. Pitching 8 full innings of 1 run ball and showing the stuff that made him so highly rated.

To piggyback off of what Michael wrote, not only was it Isringhausen's first start at Shea but it was also his first big-league win. He took advantage of a pretty bad Pirates lineup, as well as a horrible base-running blunder by Pittsburgh 1B Mark Johnson in the 4th inning. With 1 out, Johnson on second and already a run on the board, Nelson Liriano roped a single to CF. Brett Butler threw home and Johnson had the throw beat, but for some reason he prioritized colliding with catcher Alberto Castillo -- who was a few feet in front of the plate to field the ball -- instead of touching home, and thus went out of his way to get tagged when he could have easily slid past Castillo to score. If Johnson isn't a dope, this game is tied at 2-2 and Isringhausen has to wait for his first win.

Izzy had already reached 100 pitches and had the lead when he came up to bat with 2 out and 2 on in the 7th. In a move that clearly stated what Dallas Green thought of his relief pitching, he opted to let Jason hit instead of turning the final 2 innings over to his bullpen. Izzy popped out to end the inning but tossed a 1-2-3 8th before relenting to John Franco in the 9th. John had pitched in each of the first 2 games of the series and blew a lead in both, so it was quite gutsy for Green to turn to him here. But Franco finally did his job, retiring the side in order -- including striking out Liriano, who had RBI hits vs. Franco in each of the previous 2 games. This would start a streak of 11 consecutive scoreless appearances for Franco, a span during which he'd pick up 9 saves.

The Mets were still in the grips of the hangover from the Bobby Bonilla trade from 2 days earlier, as they sported a lineup that featured 4 players batting under .200 at the time -- 3 of which under .100! (Carl Everett .190, Damon Buford .081, Alberto Castillo .050, and Isringhausen .000) No surprise then that Paul Wagner had a perfect game going until Rico Brogna walked with 1 out in the 4th. Wagner lost the no-hitter 2 batters later when Jose Vizcaino singled. All 6 hits for the Mets were singles, and both runs scored on outs (RBI groundout by Everett in the 6th, and an RBI sac fly by Joe Orsulak in the 7th). Bret Saberhagen would be traded the following day, so rebuilding mode was back in full effect in Flushing.

I was at this game and sat pretty close to home plate, just behind the right hand side. What I most remember about this game was that forty year old Danny Darwin, someone who I thought retired, simply mowed the Mets down. They couldn't keep up with his breaking pitches and the Mets batters looked defeated.

This was also Mark Clark's debut with the Mets and he had a pretty good year for them. It was a shame to see him go the following summer. I also remember this game because I was on the worst date of my life.

After looking like a batting practice pitcher earlier in April -- which caused him to get sent to extended spring training and work out his kinks -- Bobby Jones finally earned his first win of the year, ultimately pitching better than his final line would indicate. He allowed only a pair of solo homers through 8 innings with 5 Ks, but Dallas Green got greedy and decided to let him go for the complete game. Running on fumes, Jones walked the leadoff man, then gave up a 2-run shot to Jay Bell, trimming the Mets lead to 7-4. He then produced a groundout before Charlie Hayes singled, bringing in Doug Henry from the bullpen.

That's when things really got interesting. Henry walked pinch-hitter Mark Johnson, bringing the tying run to the plate. Dallas then went to John Franco, and you could almost taste another meltdown coming. Franco struck out Jacob Brumfield, then allowed an RBI single to Carlos Garcia, which brought up the go-ahead run in Al Martin. But Franco prevailed, getting Martin to go down swinging and secure the Mets' first road series win of the season.

Joe Boever, in his last hurrah as a major leaguer, was just picked up the day before by the Buccos and was summoned to pitch the 9th inning. You could tell he was brand new, too, as he wasn't in sync with catcher Jason Kendall at all. A wild pitch and a passed ball in the inning allowed Rey Ordonez to score the final run of the day for the Mets.

I was also a bit surprised to see Kevin Roberson batting cleanup. It was only 1 of 6 times he started a game batting cleanup during his career. He did have an RBI single but also struck out 3 times, and it's hard to understand why Dallas didn't go with a more established power threat, like Rico Brogna or Todd Hundley, in the 4-hole on this day. It almost seemed like he was more interested in experimenting than winning, which I think is a big reason why his Mets teams never got over the hump and why he'd be out of a job later in 1996.

This game was a Monday afternoon businessperson's special, so my friend and I left Jersey around 6 am and made very good time driving across Pennsylvania. So, we get to 3 Rivers ten minutes before game time, and the computer that prints out the tickets gets jammed. Finally the computer gets fixed and we buy our tickets and go in, only it is now the bottom of the 2nd and we missed the 6 run onslaught the Mets whupped on the Pirates.

Lo and behold the Mets blow the lead, but luckily won the game in the 10th. Now I'm tired from getting up at the crack of dawn, driving 6 hours and sitting through a 3 l/2 hour game. I want to check into my hotel and go to sleep. But no, my friend wants to watch a post game softball game between 2 local radio stations. B0RlNG!!! The only remote thing that made this half assed softball game interesting is this hot blonde that played for one of the teams. Whenever she got up, the 10 of us left in the stadium cheered wildly.

The next day in Pittsburgh was sunny and hot, great day for a ball game. Only problem was the game was at night and by the 2nd inning it was a torrential downpour. The Pirates waited almost 2 hours before calling the game and it was to be made up as a double header the next day. Only problem is that I had to be home the next day.

So my maiden voyage to Pittsburgh SUCKED!!! I hope I have better luck with the new stadium.

Bernard Gilkey continued his fantastic season with a game winning homer in the 9th, a nice shot to left field. It helped the Mets avoid a doubleheader sweep by the Pirates.

Todd Hundley hits a game-winning homer at 12:24 a.m. to cap the doubleheader, which started with great anticipaton because of the acquisition of Carlos Baerga. Who knew it wasn't the Baerga of circa 1993?

This was, perhaps, the game of Gary Thorne's best HR call ever.

"HUNDLEY A DRIVE! DEEP RIGHT CENTER! GOODBYE! GOODNIGHT! HOME RUN! METS WIN!"

I was at this game in the upper deck closest to the scoreboard. Man was it hot and humid that day. Mets down 1-0 in the bottom of the ninth and Bernard Gilkey hits a home run to tie it. In the tenth the immortal Chris Jones hits a mammoth 2-run shot to win it. As a side note one of those summer storms was coming into the area at the moment Chris Jones hits it a massive lightning strike occurs off to the north. I don't know why but that was wierd.

Only memory on this one is Chris Jones (now the Newark Bears Mrgr.) hit a walk-off HR, we were still under the delusion that a wild card birth was a possibility...lol

Chris Jones came through with a two-run homer in the bottom of the tenth inning to win this game for the Mets. It was Jones' fourth walk-off home run as a member of the team. The winning blast tied Chris with both Cleon Jones and Kevin McReynolds for the most walk-off homers by a Mets player during the twentieth century (a few others would have four of their own in the 21st.) The amazing thing about Chris's accomplishment is that he was with the Mets for only two seasons.