centerfield maz

  Sunday June 23, 1963: In the first game of a sunny afternoon Sunday double header at the Polo Grounds, Casey Stengel’s young ninth place New York Mets (27-44)  hosted Gene Mauch's eighth place Philadelphia Phillies (31-39). Gene Mauch Trivia: Gene Mauch was in his fourth season as manager of the Phillies. He would manage the club from 1960 - 1968, finishing with a winning record six times.  Mauch would manage in the big leagues for 27 years. He has the distinction of being the winningest manager that never got to a World Series.  In his career Mauch also managed the Montreal Expos (1969-1975) Minnesota Twins (1976-1989) & California Angels (1981-1987). The starters were the Mets Carl Willey (5-6) & the Phils Dallas Green. Green of become a successful manager with the Phillies (1979-1981) winning a World Series in 1980. He also managed the Mets (1993-1996) & AL New York team (1989). After two scoreless innings, in the bottom of the 3rd  inni...

In 1983 Rusty Staub set three MLB pinch hit records. In June he tied an MLB record with eight straight pinch hits. On a June Mets home stand, Staub began with five successful pinch-hit  appearances.  Saturday, June 11th: In the bottom of the 7th inning, with the Mets down 5-0 to the Expos, Rusty  Staub came to bat with the bases loaded, no one out, facing Jeff Reardon, one of the NL's top relievers.  Staub doubled of the center field wall, driving in Mark Bradley & Jose Oquendo bringing in the only two runs of the 5-2 loss. Rusty Staub began his streak. Sunday June 12th :   In the bottom of the 6th inning, Tom Seaver, who was in his second go-around in New York, was holding the Mets to a 3-1 lead over the Expos. With two outs, Staub came to bat as a pinch hitter with rookie Darryl Strawberry & veteran George Foster on base  facing Montreal's Charlie Lea.  Rusty smashed a double to left field, driving in both runners  in the 9-1 win. It w...

Ronald Wray Hodges was born on June 22, 1949, in the rural town of Rocky Mount, Virginia. He was one of nine children to Daisy & Anthony Hodges. Although he shared the same name, he was not related to Gil Hodges in any way. The six-foot one catcher attended Appalachian State University where he was drafted three different times. First by the Baltimore Orioles (1970) then the Kansas City Royals & Atlanta Braves, (1971) but didn’t sign with any of those teams.  In 1972 the Mets offered him a bonus & he did sign, as a second-round draft pick.  Hodges spent the season at A Ball Pompano Beach bashing 15 HRs with 15 doubles & 48 RBIs in 112 games. In 1973 Hodges was playing at AA Memphis, hitting only .173 but all of a sudden, things changed very quickly.  In June he was called up to the Mets big league squad when catchers' Jerry Grote & Jerry May went down with injuries. Hodges was needed to help back up Duffy Dyer, who had t...