Ultimate Mets Database: Game of April 10, 1968

orange and blue
April 8, 2005
This was the opener of the 1968 season. The season was supposed to open on Tuesday the 9th but Martin Luther King had been assassinated. The reason I remember this game is because it was Gil Hodges' first game as manager. Seaver started against Marichal who the Mets never could get a loud foul off, and they knocked him out but the late Danny Frisella blew it in relief. Reminds me of current times!

Bob P
May 24, 2006
The Mets had never won on Opening Day coming into 1968, but this time it looked like they would break the streak.

They jumped out to a 4-0 lead against Juan Marichal, something that seemed impossible given Marichal's dominance over the Mets through the years.

Tommie Agee singled with two outs in the first and stole second, and Ron Swoboada drove him in with a single. Next time up in the third, Swoboda hit a three-run homer and the Mets had a four run lead with Tom Seaver on the mound.

The Giants got an unearned run back in the bottom of the third on a single and two Met errors. Willie McCovey homered leading off the seventh but Tom was still in control, having allowed just three hits through eight innings.

The Mets still led 4-2 in the bottom of the ninth. Willie Mays led off with a single and after McCovey popped out, a passed ball and a Jim Ray Hart single made it 4-3. Gil Hodges went to Danny Frisella but Danny couldn't get an out. Nate Oliver singled to put the tying run in scoring position and the winning run on base, and then Jesus Alou doubled to left bringing in the tying and the winning runs.

I remember being in eighth grade, listening to the game while hanging out with my friends and thinking that the Mets would NEVER win a game on Opening Day!

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