centerfield maz

Saturday July 7th, 1973: A Saturday afternoon crowd of 30,468 filled up Shea Stadium on a beautiful sunny day to watch Yogi Berra's last place Mets (34-45) take on Eddie Mathews fifth place Atlanta Braves (38-49).  At this point, Braves slugger Hank Aaron was chasing the All-Time HR record & was the most famous face in baseball.  Aaron was #2 on the all-time HR list with 694 career HRs & the Mets' own Willie Mays was #3 on the all-time with 657 career HRs.  The Mets were bottomed out in last place 12.5 games out of first place, just about their lowest point of the season. There was still a long way to go in what was to be a pennant winning season  as the NL East remained tight all year. The Mets would not make their unlikely comeback until late August on. The Mets 13 year veteran, Ray Sadecki got his first start of the year, his first start in 14 months after having made 43 relief appearances.   Sadecki would eventuall...

  Saturday July 5th, 2025:  After the Mets had got swept in Pittsburgh the previous weekend, they had lost 13 of 16 games, their worst stretch of the season. After dropping the first game on the home stand, they had won three straight including the first game of the subway series Citi Field series. This afternoon 41,401 attended Citi Field on a beautiful sunny day as Carlos Mendoza's Mets (51-38) hosted Aaron Boone's AL New York team's (48-41).   For the Mets Frankie Montas (0-1) made his third start of the season facing New York  starter Carlos Rodon (9-6). In the bottom of the 1st inning, Starling Marte led off with a double to centerfield. Francisco Lindor followed with a walk. Juan Soto then surprised everyone & for some reason dropped a bunt, which advanced the runners, but he was thrown out at first. Pete Alonso then drew a walk to load the bases. Grand Slamin Nimmo: Brandon Nimmo followed with a grand slam HR, giving the Mets the 4-0 lead. For Nimmo...

Friday July 6th,1962: A crowd of 14,515 came to the Polo Grounds to see Casey Stengel's Mets (22-57) host Johnny Keane's St. Louis Cardinals (45-37). The Cardinals would finish fourth that year, then improve to a second-place finish in 1963, before winning the 1964 World Series. Todays game would be highlighted by a franchise first & a memorable career ending HR by one it's beloved players. On the mound, the Mets Roger Craig (4-11) would go up against the Cardinals Ray Sadecki (5-5).  Ray Sadecki Trivia: Sadecki would pitch 18 seasons, win 20 games in the Cardinals Championship season. He pitched for the Cards (1960-1966) Giants (1966-1969) then spent five seasons (1970-1974) with Mets winning a pennant there in 1973. After bouncing to four more teams, he finished his career with the Mets in 1977. Roger Craig Trivia: Craig was a former Brooklyn & Los Angeles Dodger who had won two World Championships with the team. In those years he was 49-38with five saves & ...