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.

This was a great day for Bud Harrelson. He hit a home run in the first inning to give the Mets a 1-0 lead. The homer was his first one that ever went out of the park (he had an inside-the- parker a few years earlier) and the only one of his six as a Met that he ever hit at Shea Stadium.

Buddy didn't stop there. In the third, he hit a triple that scored Tommie Agee, then scored himself when Joe Foy doubled. The Mets got three runs in the inning.

Tom Seaver, pretty much, took care of the rest. He pitched a shutout, scattering eight hits, but the day really belonged to Buddy. He provided the offensive charge with some slugging, which didn't come from him too often.

First MLB game I ever attended. Sat in nosebleeds behind the plate and could still hear Nolan Ryan warming up in the bullpen before the game. BANG! Struck out 17. Only hit by Johnny Briggs, a flare in the fourth. No one else even got good wood on a foul ball. After game stopped with wife and signed about 200 autographs including my glove. Duffy Dyer,who caught game also autographed glove. To this day he was the nicest pro athlete I have ever met. His wife who stood and waited smiling patiently was just as nice (and a major hottie!)

This was also my first game. I remember walking into the stadium even before the game began, with the whole croud cheering "Lets go Mets." I rember being upset because my father made us leave early to beat the traffic and the Mets scored another run!

Hey anyone else remember this? After about 1,500 AB's, Derrell McKinley Harrelson hits his first HR over the fence. He had one in '67, but it was an inside the parker as Al Luplow (just sold by the Mets to the Pirates) argued that the ball was foul. Buddy would use this as springboard to go on and blast 4 more as a Met. His total of 6 lifetime Mets HR's matched Seaver's 6, except Seaver hit 6 more with the Reds and Harrelson hit only one more (forgot with who). Can someone confirm this event?

Fan, you're off by one day. The home run Buddy hit was the previous day. It was the only one he ever hit at Shea Stadium. His lone non-Mets homer came as a Texas Ranger in 1980.

This day belonged to Nolan Ryan. He struck out 15 batters and pitched a one-hitter for his first major league shutout. It was as a sign of things to come. It's too bad those things didn't come with Nolan in a Mets' uniform.

This was Nolan Ryan's "No-Hitter That Wasn't a No-Hitter". The very first batter of the game (Denny Doyle) hit a little dribbler down toward third base. Joy Foy, playing third, charged it like a bunt, barehanded it, but decided not to make the off balance throw. A good throw would have likely gotten the runner out, but Foy decided that since it was only the start of the game he didn't want to risk throwing the ball away and creating trouble. (He said so himself.) Starting from the next batter, Ryan recorded 27 outs without allowing a hit, for a complete game "No-Hitter That Wasn't a No-Hitter". There were baserunners, because he walked six batters. But he also struck out 15!

I have this game on audio disk I attended. Sat way upstairs behind home with my godfather and cousin who was a big McCarver fan mostly from his Cards days. Didn't appreciate Ryan's performance since I was only eight until I heard it. I wore a little league outfit with a windbreaker, and it must've been 50 degrees up there. Ah parenting in the 70's lol!

I listened to the radio broadcast of this game. This was Ryan's first appearance of the 1970 season, and was pitching for the first time since spring training in late March. By my count, he eclipsed 100 pitches by the 5th inning, and for the latter half of the game the Mets constantly had someone warming in the bullpen in case he tired out and got into trouble. But Ryan had no issues with this weak-hitting Phillies team, earning his first of 61 career shutouts. His 1-hitter was the 4th to this point in Mets history, following Al Jackson, Jack Hamilton and Tom Seaver. His 15 strikeouts also established a new team record for a 9-inning game (Jerry Koosman also struck out 15 in a 10-inning game the previous year). However, Ryan wouldn't hold the record for long, as only 4 days later Seaver would fan 19 against the Padres.

Ryan struck out the side 3 times, including in the first when he stranded the bases loaded. He recorded his 15th K as the 2nd out in the 8th, and had a chance to tie the Major League record of 19 if he fanned the remaining 4 batters. But Tim McCarver grounded out to end the 8th to put the record out of reach. If my count was correct, Ryan finished the 8th at 143 pitches, and it seemed academic his day was done. But he was allowed to bat in the bottom of the inning and hit a single, then scored on Tommy Agee's first homer of the season. He then pitched a clean 9th inning, ending at approximately 154 pitches. You would never ever see a pitcher handled like that in today's age.

This marked the 5th straight game in which the Mets shut out the Phillies. The two teams were on such polar opposite ends of the talent spectrum during this era.

Also, April 18, 1970 marked the birthday of Rico Brogna. Quite appropriate, considering Rico spent the bulk of his career playing for the Mets and Phillies.

Went on a 6th grade class trip to this game. We had seats in the left field upper deck. Ivan Murrell was inserted as a pinch runner for the Padres and stayed in the game as the left fielder. Between pitches we would call out his name and he would look up and wave to us! Even though he was a marginal player, from that point on he became one of my favorite players!

I was lucky enough to be home, sick from school on this day, and watched on channel 9 as Tom pitched an absolute gem.

He struck out 19 Padres, which was the all-time MLB record, and most notably, he struck out the last ten in a row!!! You had the feeling that if the game had kept going he would've struck out even more.

It shocks me to see that San Diego scored a run that day. Possibly the most dominant, overpowering performance by the greatest Met of all.

This game was played during a week I had off from college; in a few weeks the entire term would be truncated because of the rippling effects of the Kent State incident. But on this day, I recall doing homework in my room and listening to the game on the radio. It was amazing- Tom had so many strikeouts in this game, and then to have fanned the 10 guys in a row to end it. What a performance!!!! The fact that it was San Diego, an expansion team in their 2nd year out of the gate, didn't seem to matter. They had guys like Ferrara and Gaston, and Tom struck them out along with all the others. A real gem. At this point, I felt sure we were going to win another pennant. So much for feelings.

I can still clearly remember listening to this game on my transistor radio and rooting Seaver on as he piled on the strikeouts. 10 in a row! Seaver was even exciting over the radio.

The only historical game I have witnessed in person. Took a school trip from Wade J.H.S 117 (Bx.) which turned out to be the first Earth Day of all things. Seaver was simply dominant that day. I believe a SD player hit a homer that day. From the 6th inning on probably the most dominant pitching performance I have seen! A MLB record of 10 consecutive K's.

My friend Howard L. and I went to the game and sat in box seats on the loge deck. Contrary to what the other comment said, the game was not televised.

Seaver gave up 2 hits, one was a homer to Al Ferrara.. I beleive the other hit was by Mike Corkins, the S.D. pitcher.

It was during passover, and being a good Jewish boy, we threw the buns away and just ate the hot dogs with our hands.

Tom's strikeouts by inning:

2 1 2 2 1 2 3 3 3=19

April 22, 1970 was the first Earth Day, and, surprisingly, the school district in which I was a 4th grader gave us the day off. I prevailed on my father to take me to this weekday afternoon game, despite my mother's protests about burning gasoline on Earth Day. The crowd was only 7,000, so we got Field Box seats on the first base side. The drama of what Seaver did not develop until very late, because it was the last 10 that he struck out (a record that still stands?). At the end of eight, they announced on the scoreboard that he had set a team record with 16 strikeouts. In the 9th, you just knew no one was going to touch him. I don't remember whether they announced anything about the 10 straight. They might well have. In any event, we knew he had to get the last guy for a record, whether it was 19 or the 10. My best friend was so excited he was waiting for me in my driveway when we got home.

My friend's Dad took us to the game because we had Easter Vacation and no school. We walked up and like the previous poster bought field boxes on the first base side for $4.00! I remember Al Ferrara hitting the HR. My most vivid memory was the 9th inning with everyone in the stadium standing on their seats as Tom struck out the side for the 3rd inning in a row.

My college pal Paul and I ditched school (CCNY) for this classic. As games went, this one was rather lackluster with not much offense to speak of. Of course this game was not about offensive sparks, but pitching superlatives. Of couse we're talking about Seaver's 19 punch outs against the Padres. What I remember most was that while Tom had a lot of early stikeouts, it became clear that to reach 19 he would have to strike out the side for not only the 7th inning, but the 8th and 9th as well. And he did. Unreal. To be sure, this was for the ages.

As a kid, I went to so many day games at Shea that I lost count, but this one was AMAZIN! It was Easter vacation, so my dad got my sis and I box seats for the game from a work contact. Tom Terrific was my favorite player, of course, and I was keeping score. In the late innings, everyone started noticing that our scorecards were reading K,K,K,K,K,...In the end, Seaver struck out 19, including the last 10 in a row. The perspective of time makes the latter feat stand out as one of the wonders of baseball history. In an age in which starters are on pitch counts, and rarely pitch past the 6th or 7th inning, I can't imagine any pitcher today being able to get more and more untouchable deep into the late innings, like Tom Seaver was on this April afternoon. The most amazing pitching performance I've ever seen, period! And I was blessed to be there at Shea that day!

Contrary to what Mr. Cohen wrote, the game was indeed televised that day. And Seaver defined the term "rising fastball" with his thrilling performance.

I was 8 years old, and Tom Seaver was already my one-and-only hero. My dad knew it and found me when the game was in the 5th inning. Seaver was so unique! As I came in the room first thing you look for is the marks on his right leg and the "hop." He already had a double mark and it may be my imagination but I recall just the beginning of a third. Immediately you knew he was strong and it was Seaver vs Seaver, there was really nobody else on the field that mattered.

The "hop" that day was unique. On days he was average Seaver you got a baby hop. On the days he was strong you got a hop as he came into his fielding stance and a second one forward toward the batter from the momentum of his leg drive. That second hop took him to the perimeter of the dirt on the mound.

In the last three innings of this game, his momentum carried him to the grass in front of the mound a good yard. It was beautiful to watch as even Seaver himself could not repeat such mechanics but a few times in 20 years. We watched and commented on the distance he went after each pitch, how his release point was as far from 60 feet 6 inches as you will ever see and the movement on his rising fastball that was on the black and unhittable. In the 9th, we witnessed perfection.

God I wish they sold games like that; it is a shame you cannot share it with today's kids

Note also that Jerry Grote set a Mets record with 20 putouts in this game. I do not recall what the putout other than the Seaver strikeouts was.

At the recent All-Star Fan Fest, my wife bought for me a painting of Tom Seaver pitching in the ninth inning of this game with the scoreboard in the background showing the score, lineups (with Joe Foy at 3rd) the Rheingold sign and the message board announcing the Wunderkind's accomplishment. Though the missus does not want to put it up this is priceless.

I was lucky enough to attend this game. It was a class trip with Mr. Schuler from JHS#7 on Staten Island. What a great class trip, to watch Seaver strike out 19.

I was 8 and this was the first ballgame I ever attended with my father, just the two of us; he was a Yankee fan (one of the few non-arrogant ones). He would usually bring a transistor radio and earphone so he could listen to the Yankee game! Strangely, he had Wednesdays off in those days and worked the other six days. And Catholic schools in NYC had Wednesday half days because of CCD. So that's how we ended up going to such a sparsely attended weekday game that ended up making history.

The glow of winning it all in 1969 was still with me. I remember seeing $4 for box seats on our way in and thinking we could never afford that. I also recall seeing the message on the scoreboard of Tom Terrific's historic feat. I'm pretty sure we were in Loge Section 7 on the first-base side, which became my preferred area to sit at Shea.

Ten consecutive strikeouts -- a single pitcher never did it before or since. And to do it to end a game! It may be a record as unbreakable as DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak.

Ex-Dodger Al Ferrara was the first of the ten straight strikeouts and the last! A few years before this Ferrara, who had Hollywood friends, had played a henchman of a couple of the villains in some Batman episodes.

I've been to so many big Met games -- Ventura's 15-inning Grand Slam Single playoff game in 1999, the winning of the Pennant in 2000, Mlicki's 6-0 win striking out Jeter to end the first-ever interleague Met-Yankee game in 1997, Mo Vaughn hitting a homer half way up the scoreboard in 2002. And amazingly enough, the last game my father and I attended just the two of us was when David Cone took a no-hitter into the ninth in 1992 only to have it be broken up by a little dribbler to Dave Magadan at third from Hall-of-Famer Jeff Bagwell. It would have been the first no-hitter in Met history. (And in my book the Mets still have no no-hitters; there was that awful blown call in the Santana game, and combined no-hitters are an absurdity.)

Things like this make me so glad I'm a Met fan. They have more value to me than all the WS rings money can buy. Unfortunately, the great game of baseball continues to change for the worse. Scherzer pitched six perfect innings a week or two ago and Buck takes him out! When you think of that, will kids even ever again get to see anything akin to Seaver's feat? It's well worth listening to Lindsey Nelson's call of the final innings of this game. The time between pitches is so fast! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=si_GfOGmkMQ

I took the previous commenter's advice and listened to the broadcast of this game on YouTube. It's so magical listening to the younger versions of Bob Murphy and Ralph Kiner, as well as an all-time great like Lindsey Nelson.

In the top of first inning, Murphy noticed a "kitty cat" on the field that quickly ducked into the visitor's dugout, reminding him of the black cat from the previous year that hexed the Cubs and led to the Mets winning it all. Seems to me like cats on the field may have been some type of omen of good things to come for these Mets, as evidenced by Seaver's performance on this day.

Seaver's 16th strikeout topped Nolan Ryan's team record, which was set just 4 days earlier. His 19th strikeout tied Steve Carlton's all-time record for a 9-inning game, which was set just the previous year against the Mets. The 10 consecutive strikeouts are, as of this writing, still a record, having been tied by Aaron Nola and Corbin Burnes, both in 2021.

The only two hits Seaver allowed were a 2nd-inning no-doubter of a home run by Al Ferrara, and a 4th-inning hard grounder by Dave Campbell (of ESPN analytic fame) that ate up 3B Joe Foy. The announcers weren't sure if the play would be scored a hit or an error, but it went as a hit. Meanwhile, the only batter to face Seaver and not strike out during the game was light-hitting shortstop and leadoff hitter Jose Arcia. Coincidentally, Arcia was the only member of the Padres lineup (besides the pitcher) they chose to pinch-hit for. As you could probably guess, his pinch-hitter, Ivan Murrell, struck out in the 8th.

Dave Marshall connected for his first home run as a Met in this game. It was a first-inning grand slam that set the tone for a win at San Francisco. Marshall's slam came in his first time at bat against the Giants after being traded from them the previous winter. He wasted no time in taking revenge on his former team!

After 3 straight games on the bench due to their struggles at the plate, the trio of Tommie Agee, Cleon Jones and Joe Foy all come back strong as the Mets win the rubber game at San Francisco. Agee homered, Jones had two singles and an RBI, and Foy went 3-for-4 with 2 RBI and a pair of stolen bases, giving Nolan Ryan all the support he'd need in another strong showing at the start of the 1970 season.

Despite tying a season-high with 8 walks, Ryan went the distance. He only allowed 3 hits, and the lone run he surrendered was on an RBI groundout by Bobby Bonds. He also struck out 8, and is one of only 2 Mets pitchers to tally 8 walks and 8 Ks in the same game. Jerry Koosman also did it in 1975. I highly doubt another Mets pitcher will ever do it again.

Also on this date, Billy Williams played in his 1,000th consecutive game during the Cubs/Braves game. Lindsey Nelson and Ralph Kiner brought it up and made mention of Lou Gehrig's all-time record of 2,130, remarking how that was probably one of baseball's records that will never be broken. Cal Ripken Jr. was only 9 years old at the time but was destined to break it 25 years later.

Two weeks after striking out 19 Padres at Shea, Tom Seaver struck out "only" 10 Padres in this game at San Diego.

Seaver improved to 5-0 with a four-hitter. The only San Diego run came on a sixth inning homer by SS Steve Huntz, who finished his career with a lifetime .206 batting average and 16 home runs. Former Met Chris Cannizzaro was the starting catcher for the Padres.

Donn Clendenon drove in both Mets runs with a bases-loaded single in the fourth off Irvington, NJ native Al Santorini.

A year earlier Seaver struck out 14 Padres in a 3- 2 Met victory that was also played in San Diego. Al Santorini was also the tough luck loser in that game as well.

This was Seaver's 4th straight complete game victory, and 8th time throwing a CG while tallying at least 10 strikeouts. His 42 total CGs with 10 Ks is almost double the total of the pitcher in second place in Mets history: Doc Gooden with 22.

Thankfully, the Mets scored just enough to get him his 5th straight win. After Clendenon's 2-run single in the 3rd, the Mets mustered just one more hit the rest of the game: a leadoff single by Duffy Dyer in the 4th. After that, just one more Met even reached base. That was Wayne Garrett, who walked in the 6th but was promptly erased when Dyer grounded into a double play. The lack of run support is something that will rear its ugly head quite often for Seaver in 1970.

We went to this one, it was a weeknight game. Some of my favorite baseball names were part of this one.

I remember filling in the scoresheet names like Von Joshua, Sandy Vance, Billy Grabarkewitz, Bill Sudakis, Andy Kosco, Joe Foy and Nolan Ryan.

For some reason, the speedy young Dodger leadoff hitter, Joshua impressed us. Might have been a nice running catch or a baserunning deal but this game and his play stayed with me.

Joshua put together a few good years and was a similar but not as good version of another great sounding name, Al Bumbry!

But,say hey, What's In A Name?

This game took place 10 years prior to my existence, so I hadn't heard of almost any of the players that started for the Dodgers on this day. The only one that rang a bell was Maury Wills. The lineup was really a hodgepodge of youngsters and journeymen, but they found a way to win 87 games in 1970, not to mention score 4 times off Nolan Ryan and beat him for the second time in 10 days.

Ryan gave up more hits in this game (8) than he had in his first three starts combined (6). It didn't seem like he had his best stuff, as he allowed 4 doubles and only struck out 5 over 7 innings, with his last strikeout coming in the 4th inning. He didn't strike out any of the final 17 batters he faced.

Despite allowing 2 runs in the 6th and ending the inning at over 120 pitches, Ryan stayed in to pitch the 7th. He allowed 2 more to score before being lifted for a pinch hitter in the bottom of the frame. I know this was a different time, but in hindsight the management of the pitching staff back in the day is a constant source of consternation for someone like me. I just can't get over the laissez-faire attitude managers had for their starting pitching.

It was the combination of Sandy Vance and Fred Norman who shutout the Mets. Norman went the final 4 to pick up his only save of the season. To this point the Mets had been goose-egged three times in 1970, all at the hands of Dodger pitching.

I saw this game on TV. Wes Parker of the Dodgers hits for the cycle in this game.

Parker's triple to complete the cycle came in the tenth inning and drove in the winning run. He had doubled in the second, grounded out in the fourth, homered leading off the seventh, and singled in the eighth.

Parker became the first opponent ever to hit for the cycle against the Mets in this game. Only Ray Rankford (9-15-91) and Vladimir Guerrero (9-14- 03) have done so since.

My first Met game! My Dad and Mom got me tickets for my birthday. We sat in the loge section on the first base side.

I remember bobby bonds hitting an inside-the-park homer, and Willie Mays hitting 1 or 2 HRs.

Other tidbits: There was an anti-war protest in the first inning near where Gentry was pitching. The two protesters were removed from the field pretty quickly. Also, the Knicks won the NBA championship that night, which got a big hand when it was flashed on the scoreboard.

Bobby Bonds had an inside-the-park homer leading off the eighth inning off Don Cardwell. Willie Mays hit two outside-the-park homers off starter Gary Gentry, who suffered his first loss of the 1970 season.

Giants RHP Miguel Puente picked up the first--and only--win of his major league career. It was also his first--and only--complete game. Puente lost his shutout on an eighth inning homer by Ken Boswell. Puente finished his career with a record of 1-3 and an ERA of 8.20 in 18.2 innings.

Biggest highlight of this game was when the scoreboard flashed that NY Knicks had defeated the LA Lakers for NBA Championship.

I remember watching this game on TV. My father was at this game. He was going to take me to the game, but he took my sister instead. That was ok with me.

I remember going to City Island to eat seafood and coming home to watch this on TV with the sound off. My father's rules that night. Stay off the radio and DON'T tell him the Knicks game 7 score. All of his cop friends came over to watch the NYK LAL game 7 that night at 1130 on tape delay on ABC channel 7 with Chris Schenkel and Jack Twyman.These cops were degenerate gamblers but to a man they did not spill the beans and watched the game as if it was live. Incredible. The Mets did show the score on the scoreboard and I knew already but kept my mouth shut. Even though it was a Friday my mother would have sent me to bed at the age of 8 instead of hang out with the adults. Geez...

First Mets game I ever attended -- with a busload of other high school kids from Katonah, NY; several of of the guys got sick-drunk on Rheingold Beer at the park. Beautiful Saturday afternoon -- a day after the Knicks' big NBA championship victory. Big crowd -- I think it was also a Game of the Week on NBC.

I went to this game with two other friends. The Mets really kicked butt in this game. Art Shamsky I think hit a couple of HR's and Dave Marshall who came over from the Giants in the winter trade of 1969 along with Ray Sadecki had 2 or 3 hits.

Joel, kicked butt is right! The Mets pounded out 15 hits and drew 11 walks in this game!

The score was tied 4-4 when the Mets scored eight runs in the bottom of the 5th, sending fourteen men to the plate with nine hits and two walks. Ironically, both walks were by Joe Foy, and two of the outs in the inning came on Duffy Dyer strikeouts. Dyer was called out on strikes for the first and third outs of the inning.

Art Shamsky had only one home run in the game, but he also had a single and a double (both the single and double came in the 8-run inning), drove in 3 runs and scored twice. Dave Marshall had three singles and drove in four runs. Bud Harrelson also had 3 hits and Joe Foy and Tommie agee each walked three times.

My first game ever at Shea. My dear father took me and we sat in the Mezzanine on the first base side. Remember how amazing it was to see the Mets score 14 runs against a very good Giants team. Lived in The Bronx, but my Dad was a National League guy, so I became a Mets fan. Thanks Dad for all the wonderful hours we spent watching ballgames together.

It's Mother's Day at Shea and the 36,000-plus in attendance are treated to a pitching matchup between two future Hall of Famers, Juan Marichal and Nolan Ryan.

Of course, the final score is 11-7!

The Giants bang out 14 hits, and Ryan leaves with one out in the fourth, allowing seven runs and seven hits plus two walks.

The Mets also knock Marichal around for six runs and seven hits in the first three innings, including homers by Shamsky, Garrett, and Clendenon. But Marichal settles down and allows just one run and three hits the rest of the way for a complete game victory---his first win of the season---despite allowing seven runs, ten hits, and the three homers.

Willie McCovey had a two-run homer in the third off Ryan, then had a fourth inning grand slam off Tug McGraw.

I can still picture Clendenon's soaring homer. But what made the game memorable for us was that it was Mother's Day: as I remember, the Mets gave women, at the gate, batting helmets with plastic flowers on the top. I don't know how we got my step-mother there, but her resentment about it lasted until Labor Day. Until finding this excellent site, I remembered her scowl and all the homers but not the starting pitchers, or that the McCovey grand slam was off McGraw.

My mom was supposed to take me to the game the day before but we had unexpected company and couldn't go. Seeing how disappointed I was she promised to take me the next day (this game) which was Mother's Day!

The two things that stand out to me in this game were a screaming line drive grand slam over the right field auxiliary scoreboard hit by Willie McCovey. To this day I think it was the hardest hit ball I ever saw!

The second thing is Nolan Ryan started the game. At the time who knew what future greatness we were looking at!

Also looking back I realize the sacrifice my mom made taking me to Shea on Mother's Day as she wasn't really a baseball fan. She did receive a straw Mets hat as the Mother's Day giveaway which was promptly chewed up by our dog Sandy!

Went to grandma's for Mothers Day and had a tough time watching this since my cousin kept putting on Bobby Orr and the Bruins Cup win. By the time I got the TV my aunts were watching the Yanks out West. Puerto Rican household but at the age of 8 I can recall looking at the sky and saying Oy Vey.

I remember Gary Gentry had a no-hitter for about seven innings. Ernie Banks broke up the no-hitter in the eighth inning and Gentry finished with a one-hitter.

Gary Gentry had what just might have been the best game of his career. On a 46-degree day in Chicago, he pitched a one-hit shutout over the division-leading Cubs. Gary surrendered only a walk to Ron Santo and faced the minimum 21 batters over the first seven innings. A two-out single by Ernie Banks in the eighth ended Gentry's bid for a no-hitter.

Gentry got all the run support he would need on Art Shamsky's home run in the top of the fourth. One inning later, Gary's own single drove home Wayne Garrett. The Mets added two more runs in the seventh when Garrett tripled to score Mike Jorgensen and came home on a single by Jerry Grote.

Two days later in Philadelphia, Tom Seaver threw a one-hitter against the Phillies. This gave the Mets one-hit victories in two consecutive games.

It makes you wonder how the Mets didn't win more during the 1970s when they had this kind of pitching staff. Seaver, Koosman, Ryan, and then someone like Gentry who could lock down a talented team like the Cubs (although they did choose to sit Jim Hickman on this day).

Gentry retired the first 12 to face him, including 6 via strikeout. He walked Ron Santo to lead off the 4th, but quickly got Johnny Callison to ground into a double play. He continued to face the minimum until there were 2 outs in the 8th when Banks hit a sinking liner to left. Dave Marshall dove for the ball but had it hit off his glove. Bob Murphy, calling the game on the radio, was on the fence whether it would be ruled a hit or an error, but there was no way the hometown scorer wasn't going to rule it a hit. I haven't seen a replay myself, if one even exists, so I have no idea if the right call was made. But the Mets booth said they thought that Marshall would make that catch 9 out of 10 tries.

The Cubs hit some deep flyballs in the 8th and 9th, but all settled into Mets gloves, and Glenn Beckert popped out to RF on a nice running catch going into foul territory by Ron Swoboda, securing Gentry's first of two career one-hitters.

Not to be completely outdone, Chicago starter Bill Hands struck out 12 in a losing effort. That tied his career high, with both accounts coincidentally coming against the Mets. In other Cubs news, catcher Jack Hiatt made his first start for the team, having just been acquired from Montreal to help fill the void left by the injured Randy Hundley.

Tom Seaver pitched another near-masterpiece this night at Connie Mack Stadium as he allowed just one hit, a third inning single to right by Phils' catcher Mike Compton, and struck out 15 batters.

An oddity in the game: in the top of the second, with one out and Ron Swoboda on first, Joe Foy hit a fly ball to center field, but Oscar Gamble dropped the ball. However, Swoboda went back to first thinking the ball was caught, and Foy passed him between first and second. Foy was called out and Swoboda returned to first.

One footnote on Compton: he was the Jimmy Qualls of 1970. Qualls, who broke up Seaver's perfecto on July 9, 1969, finished his major league career with 31 base hits. Compton finished his career with 18.

Tom Seaver struck out fifteen batters and pitched a one-hit shutout on this night in Philadelphia. Mike Compton's single in the third inning was the Phillies' only hit. It was the second straight one-hit game by a Mets' pitcher after the one thrown by Gary Gentry in Chicago two days earlier. Along with Nolan Ryan's win over the Phils at Shea Stadium on April 18th, it was the team's third one-hitter of the season already.

The Mets got all the scoring they needed in the top of the fourth. With Ron Swoboda on second base and Donn Clendenon on third, Joe Foy was at bat. Woodie Fryman threw a wild pitch that enabled Clendenon to score. On the play, catcher Compton made a throwing error that allowed Swoboda to come home. Consecutive singles by Foy and Jerry Grote in the fifth drove home the third and fourth New York runs.

On Victoria Day, a Canadian national holiday, the Expos give their fans all the reason to celebrate by coming back for 5 runs in the 9th inning, highlighted by a walk-off grand slam by Bob Bailey.

The Mets took a 4-1 lead in the 8th when the unlikely trio of Dave Marshall, Joe Foy and Jerry Grote went back-to-back-to-back. It was the second time in Mets history 3 players hit consecutive home runs, following Frank Thomas, Charlie Neal and Gil Hodges during the inaugural 1962 season.

After a rocky start (to which Bob Murphy credited to pants that had been shrunken in the wash), Gary Gentry wound up allowing just 1 run over the first 7 innings. But despite throwing approximately 114 pitches, the Mets chose not to pinch-hit for him in the top of the 8th. Wouldn't you know it, he allowed 3 straight hits and a run in the bottom of the 8th, which finally prompted Gil Hodges to go to his bullpen. Ron Taylor came in and allowed an inherited runner to score, cutting the Mets lead to 4-3.

The Mets went down quietly in the 9th, and Taylor gave up a leadoff single to pinch-hitter Ron Brand before getting relieved by Tug McGraw. The next batter tried to lay down a sac bunt but Grote nailed the leading runner at 2nd. But McGraw couldn't get any other outs, giving up a walk, a check-swing RBI double to Rusty Staub, and a free pass before Cal Koonce came in next. Four pitches later, Bailey was rounding the bases with his first homer of the season, and the Expos' first ever walk-off home run. A month and a half into the season, Bailey hadn't gone yard a single time, but he would somehow end the year with 28 longballs.

In their first 1970 appearance at Shea following the wild and bitter 1969 pennant race, the Cubs jumped all over Jerry Koosman early and held on to beat the Mets, 6-4.

Kooz was on the ropes from the start as Don Kessinger led off with an infield hit and after an infield out Billy Williams reached on an Al Weis error. Ron Santo hit a sac fly to give the Cubs an early 1-0 lead, and then Jim Hickman folowed with his sixth homer of the year to make it 3-0.

A Glenn Beckert single made it 4-0 in the second and the Mets got one back in the bottom of the second with the help of two Cubs errors. The Mets got two more back in the third off Ken Holtzman but they had those runs in plus the bases loaded and one out, but Jerry Grote and Al Weis couldn't get the tying run in.

The Cubs got two more in the fifth and then Donn Clendenon homered to make it 6-4 in the bottom of the fifth. But Jim Colborn came in to relieve Holtzman and held the Mets to just one hit over the last 4.1 innings, at one point retiring eleven in a row.

This was my first major league game; I was 8 years old. I remember sitting by third base in the loge level. I remember Hickman hitting a HR to put the Mets down 3-0. I remember my dad getting up to buy me and my cousin Barry Mets batting helmets (which I believe were either $.50 or $.75) and while dad was getting the helmets, the guy right in front of us caught a foul ball. Like the cliches go - I will never forget how green the grass was at Shea that night and how vivid and colorful everything was the moment we walked through the portals. I also remember the torrential downpour and that the puddles in the parking lot almost came up to my knees.

The Cubs again gained a measure of revenge from last year's fadeout by taking the second game of this four-game series at Shea after winning the night before to start the series.

In this game, the Cubs jumped all over Gary Gentry after the Mets scored a run in the bottom of the first. The Cubs scored three in the second and three more in the third. When Gentry loaded the bases with nobody out in the fourth, Gil Hodges called to the bullpen for Don Cardwell, but Cardwell walked Jim Hickman to force in a run, then allowed a bases-clearing double to Johnny Callison. An RBI single by Ferguson Jenkins made it 11-1 Cubs.

The Mets scored at least one run in every inning from the fourth on, but still fell short by six runs.

Of the eighteen batters in the starting lineup, only one did not reach base at least once: Gary Gentry, who was 0-for-1.

The heart of the Cub lineup--Billy Williams, Ron Santo, and Jim Hickman--combined for five hits, six walks, and ten runs scored.

A note about this game is that it was part of a doubleheader where Ryan and Seaver were the starters. I am making this note in the part of the split that the Mets won. This was a one admission double header that featured the only two players to come through the Mets system to go to the Hall of Fame.(Hopefully one day this will no longer be true) The only Met memory I had about the game that Ryan won and Seaver lost. I also remember Cub Manager Leo Durocher arguing a call with the Umpire and seeing his eyes popping out of his head. I was sitting up in the top deck at Shea, but his eyes were so popped out of the sockets I could clearly see the whites of his eyes all the way up there.

Remember my dad going to this matinee with his cop friends and coming home marveling at Dick Allen's strength. Said he was fooled badly, swung with one arm and hit the 410 sign in center on a fly with a double. Said the Cardinals bench went nuts grabbing their heads and slapping fives with each other. Brute strength.

I remember this game was on NBC as part of the Game of the Week.

My uncle Adan takes me to my first game ever. I'm super excited it's helmet day. We're sitting in orange RF seats. Dave Marshall is playing catch just 20 rows away. I yell and yell and finally he turns, looks at ME and waves. I remember Ryan pitching, disappointed cause he walked so many and I didn't like him. I was hoping for Seaver. Agee comes to bat with that slow walk to the plate and I was Metsmerized. I read play by play and jarred my memory of the 8th inning comeback. Hooked for life.

I sat in a box right behind the Astros' dugout, with two school chums on a sunny day at Shea. One of my high school teachers provided the transportation, but he had to sit in the bleachers. Whenever Ron Swoboda batted, we chanted, "Dubcek, Swoboda! Dubcek Swoboda!" (There was some sort of rebellion going on in Czechoslovakia, and those were the names of the leaders.) My most vivid memory of the game was in the end of the nightcap, watching poor Astros' pitcher Denny Lemaster walking back to the dugout after losing the game in extra innings. You could see by the grimace on his face that it had been a bad day for him; he was the starter in the first game of the doubleheader, and credited with the loss in that one, too!

I remember dopey Pepitone stomping on home plate after his homer with both feet and getting booed fiercely lol..

Pat Jarvis goes the distance. Rico "Beeg Boy" Carty hits home run number 15 and is hitting an incredible .435! He maintains this torrid pace throughout June making it to June 10 with a .420 average before tailing off. He will wind up with an incredible .366 mark.

Imagine this hard hitting free swinger in Coors Field? .400 a strong probability!

Despite a middle of the lineup of Hank Aaron (.298, 38 HR, 118 RBI), Rico Carty (.366, 25 HR, 101 RBI) and Orlando Cepeda (.305, 34 HR, 111 RBI), the Braves finished the 1970 season 10 games under .500, which I find unbelievable. You would think it must have been the pitching that stunk, and while that may have been true by in large, on this night Pat Jarvis was just dandy. After the Mets got a run on an RBI single by Bud Harrelson in the 3rd, they managed just 3 more hits the remainder of the game, and collected just 1 extra-base hit all night -- an Art Shamsky double to lead off the 9th. That still meant the Mets sent the tying run to the plate 3 times in the inning, but Ken Boswell, Ron Swoboda and Joe Foy all came up empty. On the night, the Mets #5 through #9 hitters went a combined 0-for-18.

Foy came into the contest having drawn a walk in 12 straight games, which they said on the broadcast was a National League record. He failed to extend it, and I tried to look up on Baseball Reference if that streak still stands as the benchmark, but the website doesn't want to cooperate :(

Meanwhile, Tom Seaver lost his 4th straight game, a span in which the offense criminally scored just 2 runs total. The lack of support has seen Tom Terrific drop from a 6-0 start to 7-5.

Was 8 years old at this game. I remember seeing Hank Aaron and getting a Mets yearbook.

This game was the first major league baseball game I ever attended. I was 10 years old and had the best time I ever had. I remembered all the home runs hit that night, In particular Tommie Agee’s two home runs , which looked to me like they’re still flying. But as a kid watching that game, I was sold on baseball. I never wanted to leave the ballpark that night. I stayed and watched the workers covering the field with the tarp because of the threat of rain. I ended up going to my second game on August 27, 1970. The Mets also played the Braves on that date and won. Thanks for posting these games. It brings back the best of memories.

This was the first Met game I ever attended. I was 8 years old and in 2nd grade - my brother took me (a 3 hour drive from Troy, NY) and from then on - I was a Met fan forever. I will never forget seeing Henry Aaron in person for the first time. Great database!

This was my first Mets game. First major league baseball game. My dad and several other dads in the neighborhood and at his job (IBM, Owego) organized a father/son bus trip from the Endicott area to the game. I bought a baseball bat pen/pencil set, a cap and a little adhesive pennant for the 1969 world champs. I still have the cap and pennant (affixed to a bulletin board). The pen/pencil set didn't survive to adulthood. My best friend, Eric, and his dad were there. His dad took pictures. If there's a place to post photos, I'll add them.

This was my first Mets game. First major league baseball game. My dad and several other dads in the neighborhood and at his job (IBM, Oswego) organized a father/son bus trip from the Endicott area to the game. I bought a baseball bat pen/pencil set, a cap and a little adhesive pennant for the 1969 world champs. I still have the cap and pennant (affixed to a bulletin board). The pen/pencil set didn't survive to adulthood. My best friend, Eric, and his dad were there. His dad took pictures. If there's a place to post photos, I'll add them.

My first live ballgame ever. I was 6 and developed a deep affection for the Mets. My brother took me and seeing that green field for the first time. Great memories at Shea.

A solid victory for the Mets. Ray Sadecki held the Braves scoreless on two hits for seven innings and eventually came away with a five-hit complete game win. Tommie Agee led the Mets' hitting with a solo homer and a double that drove in a run. Al Weis and Bud Harrelson also had run-scoring singles in support of Sadecki. The win gave the Mets a 29-29 won-lost record at that point in the season. The team would not drop below a .500 percentage for the rest of the year.

One noteworthy item about this game is that reliever Ron Kline pitched the bottom of the eighth inning for the Braves. He gave up a leadoff double to Donn Clendenon and then retired the next three Mets batters. It was Kline's 736th and final appearance of his 17-season major league career.

One of my earlier memories of attending a Met game at Shea Stadium. Quite a collection of HOFers, Cepeda, Aaron, and Seaver in this game. But the personal highlight is my Dad catching a foul ball off the bat of Tommie Agee in the fourth inning.

What do you think I would remember most?

--That the Mets won 13 to 3? NO. --That TWO great pitchers started the game Jim Bunning and Tom Seaver? NO. --That Seaver struck out 11 and walked NONE! NO. --That Wayne Garrett almost hit for the cycle (he needed a double)? NO. (I had to look this up...I don't have that good a memory!)

What I remember most is hearing MY name announced as a batter in a major league game!

Scott Reid played (barely) for the Phillies and as a matter of fact I didn't even know "I" was a player until this day at Shea.

All of a sudden Reid is in the game replacing Larry Hisle in RF. When he came to bat later and "my" name was announced, my friend said to "get up" (meaning get up to bat). I still didn't get it until he said look in your program and sure enough...there "I" was.

I was only 7 at the time, so this was a major thrill and the only time (until I became an adult and the Mets pissed me off later [but that's another story]) that I rooted for an enemy of the Mets to do well. Well..."I" went 0-4, reaching on an error...but it was a thrill never the less.

Years later friends of mine who were baseball card collectors game me a copy of "my" card (worth about .01 today I guess!). I tracked down the "real" Scott and sent him a letter with my story. He was nice enough to autograph the card for me and send me a picture.

So...that's my story about June 19, 1970...just another ordinary day at Shea...except for me and my namesake!

This particular game date is very memorable to me because I was hit with a foul ball off the bat of Wayne Garrett (the same Wayne Garrett who almost hit for the cycle that day as previously mentioned). I was not seriously hurt but I did receive a bat (curiously, it was a Duffy Dyer bat - I guess the equipment person just grabbed whatever was available). The bruises were gone quickly but I still have the bat!

I remember being at this game 11 days before I turned 10. It was so much fun to see the Mets score so many runs and I thought at the time every game was like that.

This was my 1st game ever. My dad took me and we had upper deck seats. I remember Oscar Gamble dropping a fly ball and almost dropping another which was the last out of the game. I'm trying to find a boxscore of this game. I was 7 years old.

Dave, the boxscore and play-by-play for the game are on www.retrosheet.org. Please e-mail me if you need help.

Gamble dropped a fly ball hit by Al Weis in the bottom of the fifth with two outs and Ron Swoboda on first base. Swoboda came around to score the only Mets run of the game.

The last out of the game is listed as "Swoboda lined to Browne." Byron Browne was playing RF in the game while Oscar Gamble played center. Cleon Jones made the second out of the ninth inning by flying to Gamble, so it could have been the second out you are thinking of, unless it was Browne instead of Gamble who almost dropped the ball.

You have a great memory! Thanks for sharing!

The day this game was played, my parents bought me a graduation gift - a radio/cassette player. I popped in a tape and recorded the game from the third inning on. The Mets were behind 3-0 but came roaring back, winning on homers by Agee and Clendenon.

I recently found that old cassette, still in fine condition, and digitized it. I've been listening to it today on my computer. It's a wonderful record of the Mets of that era and of Kiner, Murphy and Nelson. What a wonderful team of broadcasters they were. Hearing Murphy's bubbly voice and Nelson's smooth professionalism is always a treat. I'm so glad I made and kept this recording!

This was a good old-fashioned hitters duel at Wrigley Field. Each team used five pitchers in a battle that featured a total of nineteen hits.

In the top of the ninth inning, Ken Boswell delivered a clutch two-out single that scored two runs to tie the game. Duffy Dyer (who entered in the eighth) slugged a two-run homer in the tenth to win it for the Mets. It was the first of two home runs that Dyer would have during the season.

After playing the last two innings of the game at first base, Ed Kranepool was sent down to the minor leagues. Ken Singleton was called up to take Ed's spot on the major league roster. Kranepool would not return to the Mets until mid-August.

In addition to the 19 hits NYB Buff mentioned, the two teams also combined to walk 17 times, so there were baserunners galore all throughout this game.

The Mets erupted for 7 runs in the 4th inning, sending 12 batters to the plate as the Cubs needed 3 pitchers to get 3 outs. That made the score 8-4, but Chicago came right back with a run in the bottom of the 4th, and 5 more in the 5th, chasing an ineffective Ray Sadecki, along with Don Cardwell (who faced 5 batters in the inning but only got one out). But the Mets bullpen held the Cubs scoreless after that, with Ray Folkers, in only his 2nd career Major League appearance, Ron Taylor and Jim McAndrew getting the job done. McAndrew got the final 3 outs of the game to earn his first career save.

As mentioned previously, Boswell and Dyer delivered the clutch hits to help the Mets win for the 9th time in 12 games, pulling them to within a game and a half of the 1st place Cubs.

Former Mets pitching coach Phil Regan blew the save and took the loss for Chicago, but one could hardly blame him. After all, not only was he pitching for the fourth time in the last three days for the Cubs, but was also asked to throw three innings. I'm sure his arm must have felt like it was about to fall off by the time Dyer hit the go-ahead homer off him.

In the game, outfielder Jimmie Hall received his final at-bat as a member of the Cubs, as he'd be sent to the Braves a few days later. This was also Steve Barber's last game with the Cubs, as he was released a week later. Jim Dunegan pitched 3 innings of scoreless relief for the Cubs, and also hit a 2-run double in the 5th for the only hit of his ML career, but he was also sent packing after the game to the minors. Chicago obviously thought they had some work to do on their roster after such a tough loss.

This was the first time I ever saw the Mets play. A doubleheader in Chicago, with the Mets taking both games. I believe this was also the day Ken Singleton made his Major League debut. I've wondered in recent years if this was the only time when two present or future 300 game winners ever started and won both games of a doubleheader for the same team. I still have the scorecard from the first game, won by Seaver.

This was the second game of a doubleheader at Wrigley and was the first major league game for Ken Singleton. He went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts in a game started by RHP Archie Reynolds.

Nolan Ryan pitched seven innings and allowed just one hit, a Don Kessinger single leading off the bottom of the first. Kessinger stole second and came around to score on two infield outs. But that was all the offense the Cubs could manage. After Kessinger's single Ryan retired six in a row, walked two consecutive batters, then retired the next fifteen Cubs. He came out after seven innings in which he struck out only two (Cubs first baseman Willie Smith K'd twice).

Ryan also had two hits that helped keep Met rallies alive.

Nice description, Bob P, but you forgot to mention the most significant thing about this Mets win that completed a doubleheader sweep of the Cubs. It lifted the team into first place in the National League East, one-half game above Chicago.

With the score tied in the sixth inning, Art Shamsky scored on an apparent sacrifice fly by Joe Foy. Shamsky was ruled out on the play after leaving third base too early for an inning-ending double play. An argument ensued and Gil Hodges was ejected from the game. It was one of only seven ejections that Hodges would receive as a major league manager.

The Mets took the lead in the top of the eighth on Dave Marshall's solo home run. With one out in the bottom half, Rusty Staub hit a two-run homer to put the Expos ahead to stay. The loss for the Mets dropped the team into a tie for first place with the Pirates, who swept a doubleheader over the Cubs in the last two games ever played at Pittsburgh's Forbes Field.

Great summation by NYB Buff. Lindsey Nelson and Bob Murphy both strongly believed the umps blew the call during the 6th inning, and that run proved to be the difference maker for the Mets in this loss. Despite outhitting the Expos 12-6, the Mets left 11 runners on base to drop the rubber match of the series and negate a pretty good start from Ray Sadecki.

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.

In the 6,000th game played at Connie Mack Stadium, the Phils score six runs in the eighth off Gary Gentry, Ron Taylor, and Tug McGraw. The six run inning stops a scoreless streak of 53 consecutive innings for the Phillies. Jim Bunning gets the win, and the Phils also win game two of the doubleheader, dropping the Mets into a first place tie with the idle Pirates.

Saturday night, July 4 in Philadelphia...the fourth game of a five-game series. Tom Seaver and Grant Jackson were the starters, and both gave up two runs in the first inning. The Mets runs came on a two run homer by Donn Clendenon, and the Phils tied it up on a two-run double by Don Money.

The Mets regained the lead for good in the fourth when Jerry Grote singled to drive in two runs, and they added three more in the sixth on RBI singles by Seaver, Agee, and Harrelson.

Meanwhile, Seaver allowed just one hit after the first inning, and that was a third inning single by Oscar Gamble. Tom retired 19 of the last 21 batters he faced, with the only two baserunners coming on walks.

Seaver improved to 13-5 with the win but went just 5-7 the rest of the season.

Grant Jackson fell to 1-7 with the loss on his way to a 5-15 season. At this point in his young career, Jackson had a record of 19-35. When he retired after the 1982 season his career record was 86-75.

After popping out to lead of the bottom of the first, Tommie Agee hits for the cycle.

Tommie singled in the third, hit a three-run homer in the fourth, had an RBI double in the fifth, and tripled in the seventh. The Mets had 17 hits off five Cardinal pitchers.

I was at this game and here is what I remember - Cards' Mike Torrez was issuing an intentional walk and a teenager behind us yelled "wild pitch" and sure enough the pitch got by the catcher and the Met on 3rd base scored! Also, my favorite, Ron Swoboda, came in the game late and won it in the bottom of the ninth with a bases-loaded walk!! Imagine Rocky waiting out a walk in that situation! Also Al Hrabosky, later of Mad Hungarian fame with the Royals, pitched that night as an unknown rookie, and I remember thinking what an unusual last name.

James, if you're still out there, you might want to know that this wasn't the first time Swoboda had the had the patience to draw a game-winning walk in the bottom of the ninth inning. It's something he had actually done three times before. Ron walked with the bases loaded to give the Mets victories over the Braves in both 1966 and 1967 and against the Giants during the team's 11-game winning streak in 1969. The base-on-balls for the win in this game gave good old Rocky Ron a total of FOUR walk-off walks! No other Mets player has ever had more than one.

This is the first game I ever went to. Sadecki beat Nelson Briles. I recall Ken Singleton hitting a mammoth home run. I also recall Frank Linzy coming in for St. Louis and throwing gas on the fire during a Met rally.

First game I ever went to also! Singleton not only hit a home run, he nearly whacked my mom with a foul ball in the mezzanine in another at bat.

Ah, yes. My second ever Mets game (I was 9), and the first with my family. This was the game Tom Seaver hit his first major league home run.

Also, right before Ron Swoboda's grand slam, my brother wanted to go to the bathroom. The rest of us (me, my father and mother) said to wait a minute -- the bases were loaded!

That grand slam was almost ruined by the fact that because the ball barely made it over the fence (I believe it was right-center field), Don Clendenon was headed back towards first at the moment Swoboda made it to first, and he almost passed him rounding first.

I'll never forget this game.

Jerry Grote set what was then a Met record with his 8th consecutive hit his first time up in this game. He had three hits at the end of the July 7th game, 4 straight hits on July 8th, and a lead-off hit in this game.

Tom Seaver connected for his first major league home run in this game. He hit it on the first anniversary of his famous almost-perfect game against the Cubs. The homer came off the Expos' Rich Nye, who was a Cub the previous year. Also, Ron Swoboda slugged a grand slam and Jerry Grote got a hit in his eighth consecutive at-bat. The Mets won the game as well, which made it all worth while!

Worthwhile!

This was the first game I ever attended in my life. I haven't been able to find it in all these years. Too bad you can't get the boxscore. I remember it was just before I turned 8 years old and it was on a Friday night at home against the Expos. I remember going with my uncle and three of his friends. I remembered the game being something like 10-9 Montreal. Oh well, 9-7. The Mets had men on base in the bottom of the 9th. It was quite exciting. Thanks for your great site!!

Frank, the boxscore and play-by-play are available on retrosheet.org. Please e-mail me if you need more information.

As for the game, Ken Singleton gave the Mets an early lead but Coco Laboy was a one-man show for the Expos. Laboy drove in 4 runs in the first 5 innings with two doubles and a single, and Montreal led 6-1 going to the bottom of the 5th. The teams traded single runs over the next few innings and it was 7-3 Expos going to the bottom of the eighth.

RBI singles by Wayne Garrett and Jerry Grote followed by an infield out by Joe Foy made it a 7- 6 game but Tommie Agee flied out with the tying run at third and two outs in the eighth.

The Expos added two runs in the top of the ninth on a squeeze bunt and a bases loaded walk and they led 9-6 in the bottom of the ninth. But the Mets loaded the bases with no one out in the ninth for Donn Clendenon and it looked like they could do some damage. Unfortunately, Donn grounded into a 6-4-3 DP and then Wayne Garrett was called out on strikes, and the Expos had a 9- 7 win.

It was my 10th birthday and it was the first Met game I ever went to. I took the 7 train to the game with my best friend Jimmy Smith. We sat in the upper deck of the left field corner. I remember a number of home runs getting hit, in particular the two by Rusty Staub. I also remember the Mets struggled offensively in the game. A Met fan who was sitting next to me teased me when he overheard me asking my friend how do they figure out how many people are here. He turned and said to me, "They count the number of ears and divide by two."

I remember it was Old-Timers Night at Shea Stadium.

Attended this game with my father and brothers. We went because it was Old Timers Day (really night), because every year Dad took us to the Old Timers games at both Yankee and Shea Stadium (I guess he dug them). It was also the day before my 9th birthday, and we might have gone because of that.

Anyway, I still have the program and scorecard for the game, and I kept score, and the scorecard is still marked up with my childish scrawl. I actually did a pretty good job keeping score for an about-to-be 9 year old, because, comparing it to the scorecard here, it's 100% accurate. I also noted, on the scorecard, that there was a rain delay in the third inning right after ex-Met Jim Gosger's home run (Gosger & Bobby Wine hitting home runs in the same game. Mets giving up the long ball to a couple of banjo hitters).

As I remember it, the rain didn't last too long. We hung out under the stands, over where the ramps went down, and we took turns, spitting, trying to hit the back of those shingles that used to hang on the cables running down the side of the exterior of the stadium. They ruined the look of Shea when they took those down.

My second game ever and once again Ray Sadecki started. I turned to my brother I guess I missed Tom Seaver again. Then who strolls from bullpen LOL... Back in the day starters pitched in relief before the All-Star break.

This is the first baseball game I ever attended. I was 9 1/2 years old, and had first become aware of baseball -- and first become a Met fan --during the 1969 World Series, nine months before.

My family and I lived in New York City but spent the summer of 1970 in Santa Ana, CA. I attended this game at Dodger Stadium with a man named Chuck. At the time Chuck was working with my Dad for Nawal, a conglomerate of NBC and Walt Disney. Nawal was producing the first "Disney on Parade", and my dad was the company manager.

This game involved a classic Mets come-from-behind win. Their bats were dormant most of the game, but they rallied from 3-1 deficit for 1 4-3 win. I was one of the only fans at the quiet Dodger stadium cheering during the comeback.

I was there,too.I had to make up my mind who to root for because I liked both teams. In the 5th, I think it was, the Mets pulled a classic "you take it, no you take it" play where three players let an easy pop fall in. Classic Mets except this was the new Mets and they came back.

Interesting game in San Diego.

Clay Kirby no-hit the Mets for eight innings but was losing 1-0. The San Diego manager went for the win and pinch-hit for him in the bottom of the eighth. San Diego didn't score and their bullpen lost the no-hitter in the top of the ninth when the Mets scored twice and went on to the 3-0 victory.

I recall listening to the game on the radio while in bed. Lots of dabate about whether the manager did the right thing in the days after the game.

Hot summer day in NYC for this 15 year old. I ate a chicken hero that didn't agree with me and was up all night feeling ill. Remember Jim McAndrew besting Clay Kirby who was removed by manager Preston Gomez despite throwing a no hitter, he was trailing 1-0 at the time. Given the sad state of the lowly 2nd year Padres, what was he thinking?

This one was a real nail-biter...Singer vs Koosman. In the bottom of the 10th, with two outs and the bases loaded, Tommie Agee stole home with Cleon up!

In the bottom of the tenth, Tug McGraw singled to cf. Tommie Agee tried to bunt him over, but bunted too hard. Wes Parker fielded the bunt and fired to 2b only to have Billy Grabarkewitz drop the ball. Al Weis ran for McGraw at 2b and got picked off. Agee stole 2b and went to 3b on a wild pitch while Bud Harrelson struck out and Ken Singleton walked. Donn Clendenon batted for Mike Jorgensen and also walked to fill the bases. With the count on Cleon Jones 1-1, Agee stole home to win the game.

The crowd numbered around 54,000 this night. I remember Agee's game-winning SB and then crossing paths with announcer Bob Murphy as we headed toward the parking lots. Years later I was supposed to interview Murph at the National Sportswriters and Sportscasters Hall of Fall, but he was too sick to travel to North Carolina. He left us shortly afterward.

To date, this is the only walk-off steal of home plate by a Met.

I think I still have the photo I cut out of the New York Times taken just after Tommie stole home. It shows home plate umpire Shag Crawford falling onto Dodger catcher Tom Haller while giving the "safe" sign. Tommie has just evaded the tag and is getting up with satisfied look on his face.

Other than being a run-of-the-mill regular season game won by the Mets 6-4, two interesting events occurred. Dave Marshall basically won the game in bottom of 7th with a pinch-hit 3-run home run to put Mets ahead to stay. But far more interesting was the great cover photograph of the 1971 Mets Yearbook of Manny Mota sliding into Jerry Grote...this occurred in this game during an action-packed Dodger 6th inning...Mota was attempting an inside-the-park homer on an RBI triple to right when Swoboda hit Garrett (playing 2B that day) on cut-off, who threw home to nail Mota at the plate.

Two interesting events occured in this game. First, in the top of the 6th Inning, the Dodgers had a busy offensive inning, highlighted by a great play at the plate. After Grabarkewitz led off with a double, Manny Mota had an RBI triple to right and attempted an inside-the-park homer...Wayne Garrett (playing 2B that day) made a relay to Grote the plate and nailed Mota. A photographer captured this play at the plate, and the photo became the shot we all know that is the cover of the 1971 Mets yearbook. That cover occurred in this game. The second event of interest is Dave Marshall-- who hit for Frisella in the 7th-- hitting a pinch- hit 3-run homer which put the Mets ahead to stay.

Take a look at the box score. Wayne Garrett hit two home runs but was still pinch hit for. He wasn't taken out because of injury etc. It was a pure lefty righty switch! Two home runs and still pinch hit for! So much for being on a roll!

My first Mets' game! My first game ever was in 1969, where I saw the Yankees at the Stadium play the Royals. Yanks won, 3-2. I remember seeing Joe Pepitone in the parking lot with his shirt unbuttoned down to his fly, and his hairy chest. Meanwhile he had a girl on each arm. Someone asked him for an autograph, and he said he'd be back in two minutes. He of course never came back.

But I digress. I became a Met fan instead of a Yankee fan because I was under the impression that the National League was superior to the American League. They still call it the junior curcuit, right? Anyway, Seaver went all the way in this one. And Joe Foy and Cleon Jones hit back-to-back home runs. What a great way to begin my fandom!

Joe Foy and Cleon Jones both homered in this game but Foy's was a two-run shot with two outs in the bottom of the second, and Jones hit his leading off the bottom of the fourth.

Seaver pitched a complete game, giving up six hits, including a Bobby Bonds homer, and four walks. He struck out six, including ringing up Willie Mays three times.

Donn Clendenon set a club record with seven RBIs. He had a sac fly in the first, and three-run homers in the third and fourth.

Bud Harrelson was 3-for-3 with 3 runs scored and 2 RBIs.

The win leaves the Mets in second place, one game behind the Pirates in the NL East.

This was the first baseball game I went to as a child (9 years old) with my Dad and sister. I remembered the score and of course Clendenon's two 3-run home runs. A very fond memory for me. I forgot that Jim McAndrew pitched that night - a nice complete game.

Dad and I got free mezzanine tickets from a neighbor. Seaver was in control from the start, fanning 13 Padres in a 4-2 win. Ollie Brown got around on him for 2-run shot. He fanned Nate Colbert 4 times. Cleon Jones popped a 3-run shot into the visitors bullpen. In April of that year, Tom Terrific struck out 19 Padres at Shea, the last 10 in a row! San Diego was a second-year expansion club with a dreadful lineup. However 32 whiffs in 18 innings is impressive.

I was invited to come to the game with my best friend and his parents to celebrate his 12th birthday. Both of us were huge baseball fans, and being from Connecticut I was a Yankees fan, he was a Red Sox fan, and we both sort of followed and liked the Mets (this was the season after the Miracle Mets of 1969). I remember a short rain delay, or maybe a brief shower, because the organist played " Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head" as the shower was happening. We were under cover, fortunately. Yes, Seaver in control the whole way.

This was my first Met game. I was 8. It was the banner day doubleheader. I with everyone else who brought a banner walked the warning track around the field between games. I remember passing in front of the Mets dugout and seeing Gil Hodges and Ron Swoboda. A huge thrill for me! Too bad we lost both games. Poor Jim McAndrew. That guy pitched his heart out always and never could have a winning record.

Sunday, August 2, 1970 was the date of my first Met games at Shea Stadium. It was a Sunny Banner Day doubleheader against the San Diego Padres. The Mets lost both games. I remember Ron Taylor pitching in both games. My father and I sat in the Mezzanine section right over the Mets bullpen. Between games I remember a drunk Hispanic man yelling down to Jerry Grote for an autograph. Jerry Grote told him "&*$@ you." The man later broke a Mets replica batting helmet that he had purchased for his son by banging it on the seats. I remember the smell of cheap cigar smoke, and my ears ringing for days after the game!

Think this was my first game. All I remember was Joe Pepitone making a crazy shoestring catch.

This was the first game that my father took me to see (I had been to a couple other games with my older brother). We sat in the Loge section just past third base, and I remember being amazed at how loud the sound was when Ryan's fastball hit the catcher's glove. There were also numerous foul balls off Ryan that went way up into the upper deck behind home plate (not all that common at Shea). Unfortunately my mother threw out all of my programs years later so I don't have all of the stats (I know he struck out between 12 and 16, but can't remember the exact number) If anyone has, or knows where I can find a copy of the boxscore, please email me.

Hello! On Saturday night I heard Billy Crystal state the date of the first major league baseball game that he ever saw. This made me curious about what the date was for my first major league baseball game. Thanks to your website I have been able to determine that it was this game. August 4, 1970. I would have been 8 years old at that time. My father took myself and my cousin to this game. It was on a Tuesday afternoon, and Nolan Ryan threw a three-hit shutout. I remember that our car overheated in one of the tunnels after the game and we just barely made it out the other end before it stopped running. My father bought me a Mets cap that day, which is unfortunately long gone. I saved that ticket stub for many years, but now it is gone also and I don't have any momentos from that day.

Steve Cadwallader Cadwalladers@Citadel.edu

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!

This was the first Major League game I ever attended. I was 10 years old. I lived in southern Indiana about 2 hours from Cincinnati. I became a huge Reds fan in '69 but quickly became caught up in the excitement of the "Miracle Mets" in the playoff and World Series that season.

In 1970, I remember that Riverfront Stadium was new and opened in June. (Would something like that happen today with a stadium opening during a season? Doubt it.) They completed construction so the All-Star game could be held there.

Regarding that August 11 game, I distinctly remembered, all these years, that the big three sticks for the Reds (Lee May, Tony Perez, and Johnny Bench) each hit a home run. Perez' was a grand slam and the Reds site tells me that the slam was the first upper-deck home run in Riverfront Stadium. I also remember that Pete Rose doubled and slid head-first into second base safely on the play.

Other than that, most of my memories are of my awe at the (what I perceived as) the big city of Cincinnati, the stadium, and just being there with my parents and sister.

And, oh yes, I remember feeling that the Mets were like gods since they had won the prior World Series. It would take some frustrating years in the early 70's rooting for the Reds to win one; they finally did it '75, and for good measure, another in '76.

Aug. 11 1970 is one of the most memorable days of my life. Glad to share it with you.

I'll never forget listening to this game on the radio. Mets are in Atlanta and are leading, 2-1. Bottom of the ninth, bases loaded, 2 outs. Tom Seaver is pitching and has two strikes on the batter, Bob Tillman. Seaver throws and Tillman swings (strike 3) but the ball goes past Jerry Grote and to the backstop. Tony Gonzalez scores from third, and somehow Rico Carty also comes in, and the game is over.

(Thanks to Retrosheet for the Atlanta players' names)

I remember hearing that when Jerry Grote threw the ball back to Tom Seaver, and when Seaver covered home plate, the ball passed him and that's how Rico Carty scored from second base.

Seaver was 17-6 going in to this game, better than the same point of 1969. (He finished 9-0.) He finished 1970 1-6. This was a major cause of the Mets not catching the Pirates. For some unknown reason, Seaver went into a funk. Maybe being a power pitcher he ran out of gas for the rest of 1970? I think somehow Seaver and Grote got pitches mixed up? I listened to the game on radio and was a very confused 10-year-old. This was really the end of any chance of winning the East title, even though they stayed close to the Bucs during the next month.

I was 6 years old. ust beginning to like and understand baseball. This was my very first of many trips to Shea Stadium. From the start I always loved the Mets.

I would like to add to my memory of being 6 years old going to my first Mets game. My father drove us to the game in his 1966 Galaxie 500. As we are on the Grand Central Parkway and as we got closer he told me look out the window. There it was: this huge stadium with those blue and orange speckles on the outside. I was in such awe of the stadium. Shea Stadium will always be my favorite stadium. I will never forget that moment when I was 6.

Just picked up for my collection a signed scorecard from this game. Signed by Dan Frisella, Dave Marshall and Jerry Grote. Good stuff.

This was my very first major league game. Will never forget riding the escalator up and catching my first glimpse of that beautiful green grass. Koosman shuts down the Big Red Machine. What a thrill for an 11 year old. Thank you Uncle Barney!

One of my first Met games. I was 12. My dad decided to drive to the game (from NJ). We got lost somehow in Brooklyn, then somehow wound up in the Bronx and finally got to Shea in the 4th inning just in time to see Jim McAndrew give up 2 runs to the Reds. It was Camera Day at Shea and I bought my "Insta-matic" with lots of extra film but since we arrived late, Camera Day festivities were finished so I used up all the film on pictures of the game. Since we were sitting way up in the General Admission seats (nose-bleed country!, the players looked about the size of ants. It was shameful to hear Tug getting booed for giving up the winning run to the Reds but it was a beautiful cool, breezy sunny day at a young Shea Stadium in the greatest city in the world so all was not lost. We got home without a problem!

My first major league game - I was 10. We sat in the Press Box. We took Camera Day photos, but for some reason they weren't developed for a over a decade. Somehow they actually came out. It was interesting looking back at what Shea looked like back then.

I remember this game. Joe Foy made a error in the 9th inning on a I think it was a double play ball. If the Mets would have turned the double play they would have won the game.

In a doubleheader opener that was delayed by rain, the Mets scored three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to pull one out over a Reds team that had the best record in the major leagues. With the game tied and the bases loaded in the ninth, Ron Swoboda (who had four previous walk-off walks in his career) came up to bat. Swoboda went down on strikes, but Joe Foy followed with his third consecutive walk to force home the winning run. A great comeback victory!

They said nearly 2 inches of rain fell prior to the doubleheader, which made for some interesting sights. First, both starting pitchers for Game 1 warmed up side-by-side in the Mets bullpen because the visitors' bullpen was flooded, which must have been so strange to see. Also, the outfield was practically made into a pond, as the broadcasters relayed how some parts seemed to be at least ankle-deep in standing water. All game, balls hit into the outfield came almost to a sudden stop because of how wet it was. But with this game being so late into the season, and a doubleheader scheduled, they were desperate to get the games in and play no matter what the circumstances.

Tommy Agee had apparently suffered a knee injury the previous day, but aside from a limp one could hardly tell. He went 4-for-4 at the plate with 2 homers, including a lead-off shot in the 1st. He also made a leaping catch at the wall to potentially rob Bobby Tolan of a home run in the 4th while uncharacteristically playing RF, as Gil Hodges had realigned his OF to remove Agee from the tougher assignment in CF, which was his natural position. Thus, Cleon Jones played CF and Ron Swoboda was in LF, which would be his only time appearing in LF during the 1970 season. Agee almost hit a 3rd homer in the 9th but it went foul by about 10 feet down the RF line. Agee's outburst came almost out of nowhere, as he hadn't hit a HR since July 11.

Gary Gentry tied his season high by issuing 5 walks, but none of those runners scored. He only allowed 4 hits over 7 innings, which has to be considered a success against such a tough Reds lineup. Gary Nolan started for Cincinnati and continued his tradition of pitching well against the Mets, but was let down by his bullpen when the Mets scored 3 in the 9th to win it.

Art Shamsky had one of the big hits in the inning, as his RBI single tied the score. It was his first RBI in over a month, which is not something you want to hear from your usual cleanup hitter. Thankfully, Joe Foy worked a 4-pitch walk to bring in the winning run, picking up where Swoboda faltered.

This was the second game of a doubleheader that I never thought would take place. I attended Shea that day and remember that the first game was delayed by rain for almost two and a half hours. The Mets won the first game on a bases loaded walk. There also was a rain delay between the first and second games. In the second game, I believe that Don Gullett made his major league debut. He was outstanding, striking out batter after batter.

It was so late that I could not stay for the end of the second game. I remember taking the subway and arriving home after 11PM. It was a long but memorable day.

Richard, you have a great memory! The first game of this doubleheader did end on a bases loaded walk by Joe Foy, and it capped off a three run rally in the ninth inning. The Mets were down, 4- 2 but got a run on two singles and an error, and then tied it up on an RBI single by Art Shamsky. After Wayne Gaarrett was intentioanlly walked Ron Swoboda struck out, but Foy came through with the "walk-off walk" to win the game.

In game two, the Mets had an early 5-2 lead with Seaver on the mound. The Reds came back to make it 5-4, and then took the lead on a two out pinch- homer by utilityman Jimmy Stewart in the seventh. It was Stewart's only home run of the 1970 season and the eighth and final home run of his career.

Meanwhile, in the bottom of the sixth, rookie Don Gullett had come on in relief for the Reds (by the way, Gullet had been with the team all season, so this was not his first game). Gullett wound up pitching the last four innings and retired all twelve batters he faced. This is how it went:

Sixth inning: struck out the side. Seventh inning: struck out the side. Eighth inning: Two foulouts.

I was 7 years old and made my mother wait for several hours until they called the game. They started playing around 3:30 and my mother loved Seaver and we watched about 5 or 6 innings of the second game after moving to field level seats. That was the only time they let you sit anywhere without a ticket. I guess because of all the rain and sparse crowd by that time. This site is enabling me to piece memories together and sure is great. All I remembered was august 1970, Reds, and rain.

Someone posted home video footage of this doubleheader on YouTube. I followed along with the scorecards and it is the actual game. I can't post the link here but search YouTube for 1969 Mets or email me.

My first-ever major league ballgame -- I was nearly 8 years old. We schmeared an usher and sat in the loge. I remember that Art Shamsky ran into the RF fence and knocked the wind out of himself in the late innings. Jim MacAndrew pitched the complete game. I watched my dad keep score.

This was my first MLB game. My father who was a Cubs fan took me to Wrigley Field on Labor Day weekend Saturday. I was 7 years old. I have the scorecard my dad kept which is still in good shape. After this game and to this day I have been a Mets fan. From that point on we would take the train and elevated line to Wrigley Field at least once per year when the Mets came to town.

My first Mets game! My memories:

I had never seen a game in color before -- only on a B&W television ... the color of the grass and the stadium blew me away when I walked up the ramp.

Tommie Agee hit two home runs ... he was my favorite Met as a kid.

Ahhhh ....

The Mets swept the Expos in this Labor Day doubleheader while the Pirates split their doubleheader with the Cubs. So the Mets closed to within 1.5 games of first place.

In game one, the Mets were behind 4-0 going to the bottom of the seventh. But they scored two in the seventh and three more in the eighth. The winning run came on a Jerry Grote single a few batters after Cleon Jones had tied it with a two- run homer.

In game two, the Mets put up a five-spot in the bottom of the second on a three-run homer by Tommie Agee and a two-RBI double by Donn Clendenon. Jim McAndrew coasted to his ninth win of the year, allowing just six hits in the complete game victory.

Tug McGraw became the first Mets hitter with a 3-RBI single in this game. Alfonso and Lindor have done it since,

This is my first Met game I don't remember much about it. I was 10 years old. I read about it and found out the winning run scored in the fourteenth inning on a Cleon Jones triple I am a big time Mets fan. I have been to so many other games since then.

I was at this game. I remember the Mets scoring two runs in the bottom of the ninth. I was hoping they would come back and win.

This was my first Mets game ever. I was 7 yrs. old. I had cut out proof of purchase labels from snack foods and sent them in, and got 2 tickets for me and my Dad. Jim McAndrew pitched a shutout, and I wore my Mets uniform to the game and sat in the upper deck. I would love to find a ticket stub from this glorius day!

This was my first Met game also. Got tickets from Howards Clothes store in Colonie Center mall. Sat in the yellow seats but way past 1st base. I didn't care, it was my first game. In 2003 was able to meet Jerry Reuss's son when he played for the Tri-City Valley Cats in Troy NY. Told him how I saw his dad pitch in the 1st pro game I ever went to.

My dad bribed the usher and we were sitting in various seats near the Cardinals' dugout. During batting practice I was just to right of the Cards dugout, and I was screaming for Kooz to come over and give me a autograph. He made a cutthroat sign and an motioned towards the Mets dugout. As a 9 year old, I did not realize that he was indicating that Hodges would not permit his players to go to the visitor's side of the field.

The Cards' bat rack was almost in reach of me and Joe Torre was putting bats into the bat rack. I asked him for an autograph and he stared me down as he slammed bats into the bat rack. What an SOB!

Lou Brock had a tough day, and when he struck out late in the game, I razzed him with a "What's the matter Lou, ya didn't have your Wheaties". Lou looked up, and I got the biggest smile. He must of thought it was funny too.

Despite Torre, a great day!

The Mets started this game tied for first place, the last day they would be in that position in 1970. I wasn't around to see this one at Parc Jarry, but looking at the play-by-play it seems as painful as the Terry Pendleton game in 1987.

Down 3-2 in the top of the ninth, Dave Marshall pinch hits for Jerry Grote to tie it. Then in the bottom of the ninth, starter Jerry Koosman sets them down in order. In the top of tenth, Tommie Agee hits a homer to put the Mets up 4-3.

Astonishingly, Koosman is sent out to pitch the bottom of the tenth. He allows the tying and winning runs to get on, gets the first out on a groundout, then throws a wild pitch that ties the game. After the second groundout of the inning and the score tied 4-4, Kooz intentionally walks Rusty Staub. Staub takes second base on defensive indifference. Kooz comes out of the game after 9 and 2/3 innings and Ron Herbel (?!?!!!?? where was Tug McGraw????) comes in to give up an intentional walk and a walk-off hit to send the Expos fans happy and knock the Mets out of first place until opening day 1971.

No wonder no one has posted about this one. It's probably too painful a memory for anyone who saw it to write about.

Hot Foot, it was actually logical for Gil Hodges to bring in Ron Herbel and not Tug McGraw in that situation. Koosman was removed in the middle of facing Ron Fairly and the right-handed Herbel completed the intentional walk that was officially charged to Jerry. The next Expo to come up was John Bateman, a right-handed batter who Hodges wanted Herbel to face. Gil was playing the percentages, but Bateman singled to drive home the winning run. It just shows that the sensible move can still backfire in baseball.

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.

In a quest to defend their National League East title from the previous year, the Mets rallied for a crucial victory on this night in Philadelphia. Some controversy evolved from the Phillies' side of things both during and after the game.

As the Mets were scoring five runs in the top of the sixth inning, Phils' pitcher Jim Bunning was ejected due to his actions from a disagreement with the home plate umpire over balls and strikes. Manager Frank Lucchesi added his own unhappy thoughts to the dispute and got tossed as well. One inning later, shortstop Larry Bowa argued about a call at second base and became the third Phillies member to be given an early exit.

In the bottom of the eighth, Tony Taylor tied the game with a bases-loaded triple and came home on Ron Stone's sacrifice fly to put the Phils ahead by a run. The Mets then scored twice in the ninth against Philadelphia reliever Dick Selma and emerged with the win. Afterwards, Selma criticized the umpires by claiming that their questionable calls and ejections of his three teammates were done as a means of fixing the game in the Mets' favor. Selma was fined $500 for his comments.

Trying to keep their postseason hopes alive, the Mets pull out a fine come-from-behind win, erasing a 4-1 deficit with 2 in the 6th and 2 in the 8th to beat the Phillies in the team's final game at old Connie Mack Stadium.

The big blast came with 2 out in the 8th, when Donn Clendenon connected for a 2-run homer off Philly closer and former Met Dick Selma. Tug McGraw, in one of his best appearances of the season, worked the final 2 innings to get the win, striking out 5 -- including all 3 he faced in the 9th.

Of note in the game, Tommy Agee's double in the 6th was his 175th hit of the season, which broke the Mets single-season record of 174 set by Tommy Davis in 1967. Agee would wind up with 182 hits in 1970, and would hold the record until Felix Millan tallied 185 hits in 1973.

Larry Bowa also had an 18-game hitting streak snapped by going 0-for-5. That tied the longest streak of his career.

The win brought the Mets to within 2 games of first place in the NL East, but they would get no closer as they'd ultimately fail to make the playoffs for a chance to defend their championship crown.

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.

If I remember correctly, didn't Stanton hit a triple and then nearly get knocked unconscious by the relay throw? Gaspar then pinch-ran. I was 7 years old, don't ask me how I remember this!

Paul, Leroy Stanton did hit a triple in this game and then got knocked unconscious by the relay throw.

One day after getting eliminated from the N. L. East race, the Mets faced the Cubs to start a season-closing series for second place in the division. Donn Clendenon connected for a two-run homer with two outs in the ninth inning to tie the game at 3-3. The home run gave Clendenon 95 RBIs for the season to break Frank Thomas's team record at the time. Wayne Garrett then hit a three-run homer in the tenth to win it for the Mets.

This game had a great start and finish, with not a whole lot in between. Stanton, making his first ML start, boomed a triple to RF to lead off the game for the Mets. That also represented his first big league hit. As mentioned previously, the relay throw nailed him on the head, and they brought a stretcher on the field to carry him off, though he eventually got up and walked off under his own power. Rod Gaspar pinch ran and scored on Cleon Jones' 25th double play of the season. Jones ended the season with a league-leading 26 twin killings, which stood as the Mets record all the way until 1999 when Mike Piazza tallied 27.

The teams traded zeroes until the 6th, when former Met Tommy Davis hit a line drive 3-run homer. The score remained 3-1 into the 9th, and the Mets looked all but dead as Ken Holtzman had retired 9 in a row until Jones hit a 2-out single. Then Clendenon came up super clutch with a huge game-tying home run. The Cubs brought in 48-year-old Hoyt Wilhelm to pitch the 10th, and he showed every bit of his age in giving up a 3-run homer to Garrett, which represented the Mets' only walk-off home run of the 1970 season!