John P.
July 31, 2002
I remember bringing a transistor radio to my High School with me and listening to the score whenever I could sneak in the ear phone in class. The weather in Chicago was brutal and it seemed that the game would end in a snowstorm. Seaver pitched a clutch game and the umps did a good job of getting it in and then called off the second game of a scheduled doubleheader. The Pirates were playing a make up with the lowly Padres and needed a Met double header loss coupled with a win. The Pirates, when they got wind of the Met's victory, blew a lead and lost as well. It was an incredible August and September when the Mets, left for dead, came off the mat and made it to the 7th game of the Series.

Frank the Met
February 28, 2020
The Mets clinch the National League East and only one fan memory so far? Anyway, it was a rainy day game at Wrigley Field, Cleon started the Mets off again with a home run and they built a 5-0 lead with Seaver. Things got a little hairy, though, as the Cubs made it 6-4. But Tug McGraw closed it out, with the game ending on a pop-up double play. John Milner caught the pop up on a hit and run play, so had an easy double play, stepping emphatically on first base to clinch the division. What an incredible run to the pennant!

Dave VW
February 3, 2025
Question for this website's audience: Looking at the Newsday headline, is this where the slogan "You Gotta Believe" originated?

It rained off and on for the entire game, which I had to believe affected Seaver's performance. Over 6 innings, he only struck out 2 and allowed a season-high 11 hits. Not very Seaver-like at all. Luckily, the Mets' bats were alive and well. Cleon hit his 4th home run in 6 games, as well as his 6th in his last 10 games, while Staub had 4 hits and Garrett, Millan and Grote all had a pair.

McGraw pitched shutout ball over the final 3 innings for the save. In his 14 appearances since September 1st, Tug went 3-0 with 10 saves and a 0.57 ERA. He only allowed 2 runs across 31.1 innings. Outstanding.

Meanwhile, for the Cubs this wrapped up their first losing season since 1966, prompting management to go on quite the trading spree during the offseason. They would deal away Hall of Famers Ferguson Jenkins and Ron Santo, along with Randy Hundley, Bob Locker, Jim Hickman, Glenn Beckert and a handful of others; however, the moves only proved to make them worse, as they'd finish in last place the following year. They actually wouldn't produce another winning season until 1984 when they'd win the NL East pennant.

They would, however, retain Pete LaCock. What a name.

So now, the hottest team in baseball, the Mets, were set to take on the best team in baseball, the Reds, in the NLCS. Could the Mets keep the fairy tale alive?

Hot Foot
February 14, 2025
Dave, check out the documentary about the Mets called An Amazin’ Era, which came out in 1986 and is available on YouTube. In an ideal world, you would still be able to buy a VHS copy on Mets.com for $29.99, but we are forced to watch it for free on YouTube.

In this video, it explains the origin of “You Gotta Believe”. Tug McGraw coined the phrase in reaction to a speech by M. Donald Grant in the locker room after a tough loss in Chicago. I believe this was the June 29th game which saw the Mets fall to 31-39. Anyway, needless to say, this video is required viewing for any Mets fan.

When I read that you had never heard of or seen the “ball on the wall” play, I thought to myself, hasn’t he seen An Amazin’ Era? The ball on the wall play in the video gives me chills every time I see it. Heck, I just got chills thinking about it while writing these words.

Enjoy!