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!

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!

First MLB victory for Koosman - a four hit shutout!

First major league win for Nolan Ryan and the first time that the Mets ever won a regular season game on Easter Sunday.

For the purists out there the Upper Deck Baseball Heroes card supposedly depicting a shot of Ryan being congratulated by Seaver, Koosman and Grote on Victory #1 is not from that game on this date. I have a larger photo that clearly shows Garrett in the shot also closing in on Ryan for congrats. I believe that shot is from the first ever Mets 'Save' in 1969.

It's fitting that Nolan Ryan had a no-hitter through five innings in his first major league win.

This was the longest 1-0 game in major league baseball history.

I stayed awake through the 12th inning listening to this game on a Sony transistor radio and an earpiece in my ear. It was way past my curfew.

Both teams combined to hit .139 ( 22-158 )

Stinger Jim Ray fanned 11 in his 7 innings of work and I remember names like John Buzhardt, Calvin Koonce, Don Wilson, Les Rohr, Wade Blasingame, Dick Selma getting in. Wow, a few of these hurlers are no longer alive yet I remember this game vividly. As Gregg Allman penned, Getting Old Before My Time!

I remember this game for two things: Tommie Agee was either 0 for 10 or 1 for 10, and it was the start of a terrible slump and season for him. The second was that the run was scored on a bad infield hop due to the infield being in such poor, chopped up condition. It became the reason why they started dragging the infield every 5 innings no matter how long the game goes.

Some interesting facts on this "classic": Seaver had 10 IP, gave up 2 hits and struck out ONLY 3; Future Met Rusty Staub went 2 for 9; the game took 6 hours and 6 minutes to play and the attendance was 14,219 which included the late John Wayne who reportedly left after the 15th inning give or take an inning or two.

Another amazing fact about this game is that each team only used one catcher.

Tom Seaver was just as dominant in this marathon game as he was in his almost-perfect classic against the Cubs the next season. He pitched one-hit scoreless ball with no walks during the regulation nine innings. Starting with a fielder's choice play at the plate in the bottom of the second, Seaver recorded outs on twenty-five consecutive Astros batters. A single by Rusty Staub in the tenth ended this string. Even though the game wasn't even half over when he departed, Tom provided a sign of what was to come.

The home opener, and I worked this game as a vendor. Seemed like a great job at the time. The most memorable thing about this one was that the rookie Koosman loaded the bases with none out in the first inning and then proceeded to strike out the side! I seem to remember the three victims as McCovey, Bonds and Hart.

The 3 Giants who struck out with the bags full were Mays, McCovey and Jack Hiatt, not Jim Ray Hart. Cleon Jones hit a 3 run homer off of Mike Mcormcik as Koosman won. I was at that game, the only Opening day at Shea I ever went to and the only Mets game I went to in 1968, the Year of the Pitcher.

Rookie Koosman became the first Met to ever pitch back-to-back shutouts. The previous week he had shut out the Dodgers 4-0 on the west coast. This win against the Giants was sorely needed after the Mets had lost their previous game 1-0 in 24 innings in the Astrodome.

I also was at this game and remember Koosman loading them up in the first inning and then getting out of it. If you check the box score, the 4, 5, 6 Giant batters were Mays, Hart, and Hiatt (McCovey batted 3rd). Mays struck out, Hart popped up directly over home plate (as Ralph Kiner would say, "he hit a home run in a silo!") and Hiatt struck out. After that, they couldn't touch Koosman that day.

I love comparing memories to the box score. Cleon Jones could have had a hard time hitting a 3 run homer since he had only 1 RBI, Joel.

Now I'll put up my memory, and subject it to testing against hard facts. I'd say this game was a weekday game, played during daylight, because I remember listening to it on a school trip someplace (I was in the 8th grade) and all the excitement as Koosman got the three Giants out in that first inning jam. The whole bus was rocking--I have no idea where we travelled to that day, or what we saw, but I'll take this memory with me to the grave, and anyone passing our bus at that moment must have thought someone had won the World Series from all the noise erupting. One of my warmest Mets' memories (now someone point out how this game was a night game, and played on a Saturday!)

I was in the 4th grade, off from school on Easter break. My dad took me to the game. We sat in the upper deck of a packed Shea, on a warm spring afternoon. First inning was very exciting with Koosman getting out of the bases loaded jam.

After the game my dad took me to Mays Dept. Store and bought me a first baseman's glove.

That day is my favorite father/son memory. Great day for a 9 year old.

Let's Go Mets!

My neighborhood was still packed with Giants fans by 1968. They'd only go out to Shea when the Giants were in town, expecting to see the deserters beat up on the lowly Mets. Then their kids would give me and the other Mets fans a bad time over it. Well, that had usually been the case, but not on this day.

When Jerry Koosman shut out the Giants in that home opener, he became my all-time favorite Met and still is to this day.

As for the Giants fans, well they finally got on board with the Mets after Koosman's 5-hit victory in the final game of the World Series the following year.

First time that the Mets ever won a home opener.

The first Mets game I ever attended. I was 8 years and 1 month old. Sat in first base mezzanine. Went with my dad. It was Passover. We cheated and had ice cream. I’ll never forget how the players looked on the field. I would give anything for one more day at Shea Stadium with my dad.

Don Cardwell hit one of his three Met homers in this game to give the Mets the lead, but he later blew the lead and lost the game.

Nolan Ryan's first start at Shea.

First batter for Dodgers, Wes Parker, an excellent contact hitter walked back to the dugout shaking his head in apparent disbelief after striking out on Ryan's "heat" to start the game.

Unfortunately, catcher Tom Haller homered late in the game to offset a homer by Swoboda and the Dodgers won.

Game ended with Grote being called out at first base on a lousy call with the tying run on base that even in 1968 had the fans chanting "ump sucks" and "ump beats his wife."

This is also the game that Nolan Ryan became the first Met ever to strike out the side on nine pitches.

Nolan Ryan struck out the side on nine pitches in the third inning.

This was the first baseball game I ever went to. I learned to love baseball that day... and how to schmoosh a packet of mustard that sprayed all over some guy's pants next to us. If anyone else was at this game - or if it too was your first ballgame, get in touch with me. I would love to talk.

BTW - We stayed for the whole second game, too! Not only were there doubleheaders in those days but you could actually enjoy them and still get to work/school on time.

Ron Swoboda created Mets history when he became the first Mets player to hit a home run in each game of a 4 game series

In the Year of the Pitcher, Rookie Jerry Koosman pitches his third complete game victory in three starts, striking out eleven Astros while allowing just five baserunners.

Koosman experiences something new in this game: he allows a run! Jerry's first two starts of 1968 were complete game shutouts. The first run he allowed in 1968 came on an RBI double by Bob Aspromonte in the top of the fourth, after 21.2 scpreless inings to start the season. After the double, Kooz retired 16 of the last 17 batters he faced.

All three Mets runs in this game were unearned. Their first run came in the bottom of the third thanks to an error, wild pitch, infield out, and an RBI single by Ron Swoboda. They added two more in the sixth...the first on two errors by Houston starter Denny Lemaster, and their final run came on an RBI single by Greg Goosen.

A funny thing happened in the middle of the seventh inning here. It had nothing to do with the famous seventh-inning stretch, but home plate umpire Ed Vargo did try to stretch the rules a little. He called three balls as Phillies' reliever John Boozer was warming up. Boozer had put his hand to his mouth before a practice toss and Vargo made the call even before the inning had actually begun. Phils' angry manager Gene Mauch told Boozer to do it two more times and Vargo responded the same way for an immediate 3-and-0 count. Both Boozer and Mauch got ejected by Vargo after arguing over this crazy incident.

Even with the count heavily in his favor as he came up to lead off the inning, Bud Harrelson still grounded back to the mound. It was reliever Dick Hall (and not Boozer) who threw him out at first base.

Nice outing for Dick Selma as the Mets whipped the Cubs, 7-2.

Cleon Jones doubled off Ken Holtzman to drive in Tommie Agee in the bottom of the first. The Cubs came back to take a 2-1 lead in the second on a Ron Santo walk and a Randy Hundley home run. The Mets tied it in the third when Ken Holtzman lost his control and walked two batters and hit another. Jack Lamabe came in from the bullpen and walked Ed Charles with the bases loaded.

In the fifth an error, a walk ,and two singles gave the Mets a 4-2 lead, and a two-run homer by Ed Charles made it 6-2 in the seventh. Ken Boswell's pinch hit sac fly made it 7-2 in the eighth.

Selma had allowed just two hits through eight but gave up two more plus a Boswell error in the ninth, so Cal Koonce had to come in to get the final two outs. Cal came in with two men on and one out and got Randy Hundley to ground into a DP.

My dad took me to the game as part of my gift for Confirmation. We had great seats right behind 1st base in the field level. I had been to a few games before (courtesy of Bordens Milk coupons) but I never sat that close to the field. You could hear the players call "I got it" or "Mine" on pop-ups. It was a bright, sunny day at the Big Shea, and Dick Selma pitched quite a game and what a thrill to see "The Glider", Ed Charles hit one out! I've been fortunate enough to have gone to Shea hundreds of times since then, but that day was one of my fondest memories of going to a ball game with my dad!

I wasn't there, but I wanted to share a memory of my Mother, which I discovered in an old book. My dad and her went to the game. Seaver pitched great, but lost the game. Afterwards, my family went to try and find a relative on the team, Danny Frisella. According to the first Met they asked, Danny hadn't made the trip. This Met turned out to be Tom Seaver. My mom realized he was the starting pitcher and asked for his autograph. Tom signed, but having lost was down on himself. My mom wrote in her scrapbook under his signature,"he told me 'what do you want mine for, I'm nobody?'"

Of course, even then he was someone, and my mom knew this, so she saved his autograph.

Dick Selma hurled a five-hit shutout over the Cubs to give the Mets a split of a doubleheader at Wrigley Field. The Mets compiled a total of seventeen hits, three of which were singles by Selma himself. Dick threw 124 pitches in the game (starters were allowed to do this back then) and also scored the sixth of the Mets' ten runs.

A Met fan was born this day....literally, just a few miles away in Jamaica as my hero Tom Seaver was pitching a complete game in Flushing, I was making my debut.

My first Mets game. A Friday night outing with the Cub Scouts. Nice night weather-wise. My father made us leave somewhere around the 13th inning. It's almost as if he could smell a Met defeat coming. So I was spared seeing the end of this drawn out loss. The '68 Mets couldn't hit. The truly amazing thing about the '69 Mets is that the personnel wasn't radically different from '68, the '69 team didn't hit much better than the '68 team, and yet the stars were in alignment, the moon was in the 7th house, Messers Armstrong and Aldrin strolled on the moon and somehow the 1969 Mets won the World Series. To quote the famous baseball philospher, "and you could look it up."

This was the first game I ever attended. I was 8 years old and this was a Cub Scout trip. My dad was the Cubmaster and took us out to Shea. I don't remember many details, but I remember it was a spring Saturday afternoon and the Mets beat the Braves. I was lucky to catch them on a day they won--they weren't very good - 9th place (just wait another year).

$1.30 to sit in the top deck, the best bargain in town! The yellow field level box seats were $4!

The Braves swept this doubleheader. In game one, J.C. Martin gave the Mets a 2-0 lead in the third with a bases loaded single that scored Cleon Jones and Art Shamsky.

With the Mets clinging to a 2-1 lead in the eighth and Nolan Ryan working on a four hitter, Nolan's control troubles bit him again. He walked Sonny Jackson leading off the eighth. Then after retiring Henry Aaron he walked Tito Francona. Felipe Alou, who had homered earlier for the Braves' first run, singled to tie the score. Then after Ron Taylor came in from the bullpen, Felix Millan singled to give Atlanta a 3-2 lead.

Ron Reed closed strong to get the win and improve to 5-0. He allowed just two baserunners (both on walks) after the third inning.

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.

I'm trying to determine the date of my first Braves game attended in person in 1968 (Atlanta Stadium) at the age of 9. I'm positive that it was against the Mets and I'm reasonably certain that Joe Torre hit a HR for the Braves. The final score of 4-2 Braves also sounds familiar. 5-24-68 was a Friday, which would work because I was in school at the time and probably wouldn't have attended a game with school the next day. There was also a 4-2 Braves win on 7-25-68, but this game was on a Thursday, and although I was out of school for the summer, my parents would have had to work the next day, so this date is less likely. I tried to find a box score of these games on-line, with no luck.

The game was called by rain after six innings. According to the scoresheet, the umpires wore turtlenecks that day and NY GM John Murphy asks: "When are they going to wear beads?"

My second Met game. I was 10 years old. Dad sprung for the field boxes this time. Larry Jaster baffles the Mets for 7 2/3 innings of perfect baseball until either Don Bosch or Greg Goosen broke it up with a hit. I also remember Roger Maris in right field for the Cards.

This game was on a Friday night. My dad and I went with one of his co-workers who was a friend of Cardinal's second baseman, Julian Javier. Before the game, we talked to him and he tossed me a ball (a much bigger deal then, than now). After the game we met him again outside the stadium and I got reliever's Wayne Granger's autograph.

Further to an earlier posting on this game, it was Greg Goosen who broke up Larry Jaster's perfect game with two outs in the bottom of the eighth. Goosen's hit was a clean single to left.

Don Bosch had the only other Mets hit this night, and it came with two outs and the bases empty in the bottom of the ninth.

The Cards scored both of their runs of Tom Seaver in the top of the third. Lou Brock led off with a triple and scored on a Curt Flood single. With two outs, Seaver threw a wild pitch and then intentionally walked Tim McCarver. But Mike Shannon singled and the Cards had a 2-0 lead.

Seaver lost the game to fall to 2-5 despite a 1.91 ERA in what would later be known as the "Year of the Pitcher." But Tom won his next five decisions and did not lose again until July 5 on his way to a 16-12 record.

My first game ever. I was seven and taken by my grandparents. I woke them up at 6 am to remind them of the date. Funny how you focus on the little things at that age. I remember how green and large the outfield was, like we all do. I also remember how conveniently the Cardinals were in red and the Mets were in blue. Never have the Redbirds seemed so red since. I was dressed in my Mets uniform and had the adults around me saying they should let me play, I was already suited up. Couldn't do any worse than the Mets that year!

I went to this game with my brother, Tony. I was 18 years old. It was a Sunday doubleheader with the Cardinals. There was a rain delay in both games.

Something interesting occured in the seventh inning stretch of both games. In each game, someone jumped out of the field boxes by the first base dugout and sprinted to the left field wall. They scaled the wall and left the park. (There was no picnic area then). Neither guy in either game was caught.

The Cards swept this Sunday doubleheader at Shea and when it was over they led the Giants by half a game in the NL standings. The Cards stayed in first place for the rest of the season, winning the pennant by nine games over the second place Giants.

I did not attend this game or even have memories of it since I wasn't born until two years later. I do however have a scored original program from this game. Some stats of note. Billy Williams went 3 for 4 with 3 doubles. Ernie Banks had a solo homer in the 6th. Cubs only other run came with Williams scoring on a Ron Santo single. Nye pitched for the Cubs. The Mets scored three times in the 5th with hits by Jones, Swoboda, and Tom Seaver, and a walk to Grote. In the 7th Grote doubled and scored on a single by Charles. Seaver's line, 2 runs, 10 hits, 3 walks, and 3 k's. Just thought someone may be looking for this info someday.

This was the first major-league game I attended, at age 11. I and the rest of my school's Safety Patrol sat in the lower grandstand on the third-base side. (Grade school principals can hardly afford to do this today!) My primary memories were that Ron Santo homered (we just lost him recently at age 70)-- and that there was a pregame moment of silence for Robert F. Kennedy, who had died that morning of his gunshot wound sustained the night before in Los Angeles.

First game of a four-game series against the Giants, and a full house at Shea. Jerry Koosman pitches a complete game and is now 10-2. The Mets improve to 28-29, but they would never reach .500 this season.

Jerry Buchek hit a three-run homer in the third to give the Mets a 5-0 lead. That homer came four batters after the first home run of Don Bosch's career.

The Mets had seven hits off Mike McCormick in the first 2.1 innings and coasted to the win.

First major league game I ever went to, and it was Marichal vs. Seaver. What a matchup! I'll never forget it.

I was 14. My brother took me from Massachusetts in his 1940 Olds. What I remember most is that it was an incredible matchup between Tom Seaver and Juan Marichal. Wow! To say I saw this game. The greatest memories were of seeing Willie Mays hit a home run and the next inning see Willie McCovey hit a line drive over the center field fence at 410 feet that must have cleared it by at least 80 feet. Those and Marichals windup and leg kick, still vivid memories.

I was at this game. Marichal vs Seaver. Who would’ve thought there would be a combined 31 hits? And Marichal pitches a COMPLETE GAME 16 hitter? Come on man!!!!

My first major league game. I am a life long Yankees fan, but I was in New York for a family function and my brother-in-law said the Mets were in town. Shea was new and he convinced me to go to Shea because there were no obstructed views. He arranged for the tickets and wouldn't you know it are seats were right behind the right field Foul pole. So much for unobstructed view. I write this on the day we all lost Willie Mays.

I don't recall many details, but this was my first game ever (as an almost 8-year-old). True to pre-1969 form, the Mets lost that day behind Nolan Ryan.

Lemaster with a cg win, fires a 6 hitter, fans 10. Ryan goes the distance, fanning 12, walking 7.

Game includes a home run by the Toy Cannon. Some fun names appear in the boxscore, Dick Simpson, Hector Torres, Phil Linz, Don Bosch!

We were there loading up on soda, dogs and cracker jacks. To be thirteen and out of school in just a few days again!

Checking back in almost 5 1/2 years after my previous posting...

Perusing the boxscore, I'm struck by several fun facts...the Glider playing 1B...Agee playing RF...Rusty Staub batting cleanup & playing 1B for the Stros; he had a game-tying single in the 5th...5 of the Mets 8 position starters -- Bosch, Linz, Buchek, Agee, and Weis -- with interstate batting averages...no wonder Jerry Grote, hitting .310, batted cleanup!...Lemaster & Ryan each going the distance, and Ryan with his typical line of 7 walks & 12 K's...35 years later, I still shudder and get a queasy feeling in my stomach about that stupid *&$%#@ trade with the Angels for Fregosi!

Dick Selma starts. Cardwell 4 shutout innings. Agee HR to go along with .156 avg. I think Purdin went for LA.

It was Don Drysdale who pitched for the Dodgers. I remember being there with my Dad.

Took the #7 train, only to find no tickets remaining. Shut out. Back onto the train, and back home. What a disappointment. Only time this ever happened to me.

This was the first game I ever attended. I was not quite 10 years old. It was helmet day at Shea. Who knew I was watching a future HOF pitcher (Ryan) ?!

This game is a very special memory for me.

This was the first game I ever attended. It was helmet day, and it had the largest paid attendance of any game at Shea--56,738. Nolan Ryan vs. Bill Singer. I have been a lifelong baseball fan, and this game was very significant to me. Bought the yearbook with Gil Hodges on the cover. Also, I remember having a color photo taken of me with the helmet on in my backyard when I got home. I wish I could find a radio recording of the game or television clips so I can relive the day.

This was the first game I went to. My Dad bought tickets in the sky but it was a great memory to share with my Dad who passed away in 2003. Nolan Ryan for a first game. If only the Mets knew what they were trading...

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

Phil Linz only got 54 hits for the Mets in the 1968 season and almost ten percent of them were on this day as he became one of the first Mets to get five hits in a game.

I was at this game with my dad and uncles. It was my first baseball game and I was 9 years old. I was in awe.

Seaver's only save as a Met!

I believe there was a rain delay during this game! Help! I went to the games with Cub Scouts Pack 100.

It was my first baseball game I went to. I was 8 years old. Went with my little league. Sat in the upper deck in left field. The one thing I remember best is that there was a foul pop up to the catcher and remember being amazed how high it was , that it was as high as I was in the upper deck and that It went straight up. I remember it was a sunny day. Even though the Mets lost, I became a Met fan.

Johnny Briggs, a Jersey boy, destroyed the Mets all day (double dip loss) on Mets "Bat Day." Richie ("before" Dick) Allen didn't have a bad day either. At least I did get a Yogi Berra bat that day.

I was 8 years old and this was my first Mets game. I went with my father, my brother, my brother's friend and his father. Got a Jerry Grote bat, making him my first favorite Met. This game caused me to become a life-long Mets fan. I still have the bat!

Bat day with real H&B bats! Our family of six spent the day at Shea. I was nine. We were in the left field upper deck. Disappointing day. We dropped both games. Richie Allen had a good day. Whenever the “Let’s go Mets” chant occurred, we’d all pound the bats against the concrete floor. If you were in the vending area while that happened, it sounded like thunder.

My first start in the big leagues. Beaten by an inside the park HR by Bobby Tolan. 110 on the field, Stahl in right field was called up on same day—he and Agee ran to the right center alley and ball rolled back after hitting base of the wall. Just another sacrifice to the Bob Gibson dominance in 1968—fantastic memories.

I was at this game. My older brother and his wife took me to see the Mets and the Reds because my sister-in-law was a Ron Swoboda fan. During the middle innings Jerry Buchek made a nice backhand catch on a hard hit line drive. A few innings later Buchek was replaced by Al Weis. My brother who wasn't much of a baseball fan asked me why they made this move and I said it was made for defensive purposes. Some wise ass know-it-all sitting in front of us must have overheard my remark, turned to his friend and said "the guy makes a great defensive play and they take him out." He said this with the dreary smug arrogance of the typical no nothing "expert" fan. It still amazes me forty years later how little fans know about how this game is played and won.

The Mets get three runs but only one hit in this game.

Cleon Jones doubles in the first off Jim Maloney to drive in a run. In the sixth inning, Maloney walks the bases full with nobody out. Clay Carroll comes in to relive Maloney and gives up two infield outs, scoring two runs.

Swoboda's single in the 7th inning broke up this no-hit bid by future Yankee Kekich in his rookie year. He was 2-10 for the Dodgers (who finished in 8th place just ahead of the Mets) in his rookie year and this was one of his two victories. It was also the only shutout of his major league career.

This was the famous Mets/Astros "brawl" game. I remember being stunned by the whole thing because I was only 10 and I had never wittnessed an all-out brawl before. This was in the era before "instant replays" so I was lucky to be sitting in the living room catching it all as it happened. Doug Rader triples to right-center and comes up sliding hard, elbow up, into Kevin Collins playing 3rd base. Collins is knocked out cold on the field, both benches empty, fists start flying. I clearly remember big Don Cardwell (pitcher!) with his arm around an Astro player's neck, socking him hard in the ribs. I remember Denis Menke in some kind of headlock with a Met player. I remember Joe Pignatano jawing with Astro manager Harry Walker and "Piggy" looking like he was gonna haul off and sock Walker. I remember my dad and my grand-dad on the edge of the couch screaming for blood as it all transpired.

The NY Daily News had pictures of the brawl as did the Star Ledger and my local paper, the Daily Journal. The Ledger had a picture of Cardwell with his arm around the Astro's neck. I think the News had a picture of both benches emptying and players about to run on the field.

I remember The Ledger quoting Gil Hodges as saying that if "Walker hadn't opened his big mouth" the brawl would never have occured (or something to that effect). I remember I cut the brawl pictures from the Journal and kept them around for several years for some reason.

My first baseball game as a kid. Nine years old. Remember Stahl's home run to RF. (He then played for the Padres the next year.) Koosman was great! Game really moved along. A lot of journeymen for the Dodgers. Note: Mudcat Grant ph -really?

On the Bob Costas Coast-to-Coast radio show back in '92, Tom recalled how this game was his biggest regret. With an 0-2 count to Jimmy Wynn, 2 outs, nobody on in the top of the 9th, one out away from a 1-0 complete game shutout, Tom threw a slider over the plate that was hit for a home run into the parking lot. Tom recalled that he can still see the ball leaving the park in his mind to this day.

This game was one of those classic bitter losses the Mets seemed to specialize in in the 60's. A surprise HR by J.C. Martin broke up a scoreless duel then Jimmy Wynn hit that 2-out HR to tie the game. Somewhere in this game there was a rain delay and the game dragged on late into the night.

In the bottom of the 11th the Mets loaded the bases with one out. Phil Linz came up and went down looking and the crowd groaned and continued groaning when Don Bosch came up to PH. Bosch showed incredible gymnastic skill in avoiding being hit by a pitch to the total dismay of the crowd. Bosch then feebly swung at the next pitch to end the threat. I think Hodges was extremely upset with Bosch not taking one for the team because he was sent down a day later. The Astros won the next inning and I remember getting home about 2.00am and having to go to work at Jones Beach at 7.00am only to be sent home at 10.00am because it was a slow day.

I loved the previous posts. I remember Seaver discussing this game on Kiner's Korner the next time he was on the show. He said he lost two nights sleep over that pitch to Jimmy Wynn. At the time I remember thinking that Seaver really did care about games like this. It wasn't enough that he pitched well and didn't win because he didn't get any runs to work with but he saw this game as one he should have won and he and he alone was responsible for the outcome. It was after this interview that I began to understand why this guy was as great as he was.

A warm and beautiful Saturday afternoon, with a great pitchers' duel between Jim McAndrew and Don Wilson. Rusty Staub was one of Houston's stars at that time.

Only run came on a home run by Jim Wynn in the sixth into the Astros' bullpen -- I still think Cleon should have caught it!

Mets offense was nonexistent this day, culminating in a silly attempt by Larry Stahl to score from second base on an infield single by Ed Charles in the eighth. Needless to say he was out by a mile.

Losing hurt in those days, but was endearing, too. Still nothing in the world as great as those days at Shea for a little boy who loved the Mets.

Dick Selma was one of my favorite pitchers during the late 60's. He took the hill squaring off with Jim Stinger Ray in this the nightcap of a twinbill. Ray fanned 10 in a cg win besting the righty from Fresno who fanned 7 in a 7 inning stint. I should mention that JC Martin went yard!

If memory serves me well this was a Friday night game that I attended with a bunch of kids from Broad Channel Day Camp, a camp outing! Think it was Bobby Bolin vs Koosman. The game went into extra innings and we had to leave because the bus charter did not include overtime.

Reluctantly, we left after the 8th. If I am correct, Jim Davenport hit a home run to win it. I think that in 1967, Davenport also ended a 17 inning affair with a longball.

In 1968, Koosman tied a rookie record with 7 shutouts. All these years, I always thought back to this game and how he rightly should hold the record of 8 all by himself. The '68 Mets, unfortunately, were not exactly an "offensive juggernaut". But that's OK Koos, we'll always know you as the guy who won the big one for the Miracle Mets!

I remember watching this game forty years ago. Frank Linzy pitched five shutout innings. He threw the heaviest sinker I've ever seen. He wore glasses and I called him Santa Claus for some reason or other. The Mets just kept hitting one weak grounder after another during his stint on the mound. A very efficient business-like relief appearance by Mr. Linzy.

My Dad and I took the train into Grand Central from New Haven for this game, meeting my cousin and his brother-in-law at Shea. When the game headed toward extra innings we made the decision to stay the night with family in Brooklyn and watch the end. Who knew it would last 17 innings? I remember Willie Mays walking but no hits. And I remember the Mets putting up no offense at all. Shea was crowded, though. Looking back on stats, amazing how long the starters lasted in those days. The seemingly endless game, the laughs, and the time with Dad and family, still burns in my memory.

First Met game I ever went to. Sat way up in left field upper deck with my Dad and kid brother on a warm August afternoon. The ball park was jammed for that weekday afternoon game. Mays and McCovey always filled the park in those days. I remember the traffic jam coming into the park being backed up all the way to Linden Blvd, and the never-ending stream of scalpers on the side of Whitestone Expressway. Marichal pitched, and I can still see his high kick way way down there on the pitcher's mound. Mays hit HR 580 that day. McCovey and Jim Ray Hart, I believe, added HRs for SF. I recall Larry Stahl hitting a line drive HR into the left field bullpen. Maybe I'm getting old, but somehow, the sky seemed bluer then, the grass greener, the uniforms whiter. Shea was Oz.

Further to Mook's post of Janaury 2004, the Giants got homers on this day from Jim Ray Hart (leading off the second), Willie Mays (in a six-run fifth inning) and Jack Hiatt (in the eighth; he had replaced McCovey with the score 11-2 in the seventh inning. Larry Stahl did homer in the third to tie the score at 1-1, and a J. C. Martin single gave the Mets a 2-1 lead after three.

The Giants scored ten runs and had thirteen hits in the fifth and sixth innings alone!

Juan Marichal pitched a complete game for his 23rd win despite allowing twelve hits, but four of them were in the fourth inning and three more came in the ninth.

Doesn't anyone remember that there was a bomb scare during this game? Both teams ran out of the dugouts on to the field. It scared the heck out of my grandmother who was charged with taking me, an 8-year-old Met nut to the game. Thanks, Grandma. I remember there were still lots of Giant fans in NY at that time and Willie Mays got big cheers anytime he came up.

This is the first game I remember attending. My older brother was a huge Giants fan and my father took us to the game. We were in Standing Room and there was not one complaint.

My most vivid recollections was the absolutely beautiful weather, Marichal's high kick and the great Willie Mays throwing out Bud Harrelson at home.

We used to vacation at a place called the Perry House in New Hampshire every August, it was a Catskills like experience a la the film "A Walk On The Moon" (sans the sexy Diane Lane).

There was an old Philco radio (tube job) on the porch which barely was able to receive the radio broadcast. As the night wore on, the reception improved. I sat there diligently determined to hear every pitch as called by Lindsey Nelson and Bob Murphy. This was the first win ever for hard luck pitcher Jim McAndrew (from Lost Nation Iowa) who lost a bunch of 1-0 games that summer. I can still feel that Canadian breeze on an August night in New England!

Shea was packed, and Seaver was perfect for seven innings before Cepeda got a hit. Art Shamsky smacked a grand slam home run to put the icing on the cake. I attended the game with my girlfriend, to whom I had just become engaged...while that didn't last, my devotion to the Mets remains.

It is a tough month for Mets P Jim McAndrew, as he takes his NL-tying 5th shutout loss. Steve Carlton wins for the Cards 2–0. McAndrew gave up just six runs in the four losses, losing 2–0 to Bob Gibson on July 21, and to the Dodgers and Mike Kekich, 2–0 on August 4. On August 10th and 17th, he narrowed the margin to 1–0 losses, to the Giants and Houston respectively. The four losses are McAndrew's first ML decisions.

We were vacationing in New Hampshire, hoping to catch a bit of the game on a crackling, static filled Philco radio. As the night progressed the reception improved ever so slightly.

One of my friends began to make fun of McAndrew's inability to catch a win. It seems that earlier in the week The Yankees used Rocky Colavito in relief and he managed a win, something that Jim Mac could not, so I was reminded!

My first major league ballgame. I was nine years old and remember after the bottom of the first inning, my five year old brother asked how much longer it would be. As it was a doubleheader, he was told at least 4 hours! However, this was the beginning of a lifetime as a Mets fan for me, and the 1969 season was my first full season as a fan. Which means it can never get better than that!

Fifth tie in Mets history.

Fifth and last Mets tie game of the 1960's and the only one to occur while Gil Hodges managed. The next Mets tie game would not occur until 1979.

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.

Billy Williams hits three home runs in a game for the first time in his career , as they beat the Mets behind Bill Hands. Added to two home runs on September 8th, Williams has a ML-record-tying five over two straight games.

At the all-star break in '68, the sweet swinging Williams had hit just 8 home runs.

His torrid 2nd half tear (22) helped him reach 30 in this, the year of the pitcher.

Jim McAndrew beats Fergie Jenkins, 1-0 at Wrigley.

If you're wondering why 1968 was referred to as the "year of the pitcher," this games marks the fifth time this season that Jenkins loses a game 1-0. Despite that bad luck, he wins 20 games in 1968.

And in the month of August alone, McAndrew lost two games by 1-0 scores and another three by 2-0 scores.

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.

I was there with my grammar school baseball team. Bill Hands was the Cub pitcher and he signed an autograph outside the stadium for us. Koosman hit a HR in this game I think.

Koosman hit the first (of two) homers in his Met career in this game. It was the first homer by a Met rookie pitcher ever.

I was at this game. Richie Allen hit three home runs all to different fields in an awsome display of power! I got a hat because it was fan appreciation day!

I was 6 years old, a Phillies fan and Richie Allen was my favorite player. Richie Allen hit 3 consecutive home runs including a grand slam with 2 out in the 9th inning. He drove in 7 runs in the Phillies 10-3 win. It was the only game I ever saw him play in person, and it was the only game in his career where he hit 3 home runs.

I was sitting behind 3rd base about 25 rows up when I saw Richie Allen hit 3 consecutive home runs, including a grand slam off of Ron Taylor, who had just entered the game. The ball went about halfway up the light pole in left center field. It was the longest home run I've ever seen at Shea in the 41 years I've been going there! The crowd was absolutely stunned! We were actually applauding Allen's effort as he was rounding 3rd base.

This was the last game of the 1968 season, The Mets lost a lot of one run games in 1968.

It was Fan Appreciation Day and they gave out an orange and blue Mets winter hat. It had a small bill at the front and a small round Mets patch stitched to the front.