centerfield maz

Tuesday July 28, 1970:  Tonight, Gil Hodges second place Mets  (53-45)  were just a game out of first place & tonight they were hosting  Charlie Fox's fourth place San Francisco Giants (46-51). A big crowd of 50,174 came out to Shea to see the reigning World Champs take on the Giants who still had a big following from their New York days just a dozen years after they had left New York for the West Coast.  These Giants were a good team as well; they would finish third in the NL West (86-76) & win the Divisional title the next year. The club featured three future Hall of Famers in Willie Mays, Willie McCovey & Gaylord Perry. In tonight's game the Mets Jim McAndrew (5-8) went up against the Giants Rick Robertson (6-6). Jim McAndrew went thru the first four innings retiring the first 12 batters striking out four batters. In the bottom of the 1st inning, Tommie Agee led off with a base hit. Bud Harrelson then hit a triple to right field scoring Agee...

Friday July 24, 1970:   On this warm summer evening, Walter Alston's second place L.A. Dodgers (55-40) were in town for the first night of a big weekend Series.  As usual, a large crowd came to see the Dodgers whenever  they returned to town, as they were just 13 years removed from Brooklyn. The Dodgers were in a stretch where they lost seven of ten games & were  10.5 games behind the Cincinatti Reds In 1970, the Reds would win the NL Pennant & lose to the Baltimore Orioles in the World Series.  Manager Gil Hodges, reigning World Champion Mets (51-44) were in second place, 2.5 games behind the Pittsburgh Pirates. Tonight,  the big Shea crowd of 53,657 was on hand to see the Mets starter Jerry Koosman (5-5), go up against the Dodgers, Bill Singer (7-3). In the top of the 1st, Koosman gave up a base hit to Many Mota, then did not allow another hit until the 4th inning. In the top of the 4th, Willie Davis singled & stole s...

Saturday July 24th, 1993: In the dismal 1993 season, the Mets had fired manager Jeff Torborg & brought in Dallas Green. By late July the Mets were in last place 29 games out of first. On this Saturday afternoon the Mets (32-65) took a 5-4 loss to the third place Dodgers (51-46) in Los Angeles at Dodger Stadium. After the game, three troubled players hanging out together were involved in an ugly incident outside Dodger Stadium. Bobby Bonilla & Vince Coleman were exiting the player parking lot in Eric Dais' car when Vince Coleman decided to throw a lit M-80-firecracker out the window near a crowd of fans standing by the exit looking for autographs. The M-80, equal to a quarter stick of dynamite injured three people, according to the authorities at the time, a one-year-old girl was treated for a burn on her face near the eye, an 11-year-old boy was treated for leg trauma & a 33-year-old woman suffered a hearing problem as well as a vertigo reaction. When interviewed none...

Sunday July 24th, 1988: Tom Seaver Day- 46,056 fans came out to Shea Stadium as the Mets officially retired Tom Seaver's #41 & inducted him into the teams Hall of Fame. All the fans in attendance got a white cap with the circled #41 on it with the words "Tom Seaver Day1988" written around it.  They were also given a Tom Seaver painted poster artist by Don Mass. Some of Tom's old team mates were on hand for the celebration. His long time battery mate Jerry Grote, former  roommate/short stop Bud Harrelson, teammate Rusty Staub, as well as his the left hander who was usually next in the rotation behind him, Jerry Koosman.  The legendary pitching coach,  Rube Walker, along with  longtime Mets trainer Tom McKenna, were also in attendance.  Tom & his wife Nancy came out from center field waving to the crowd in a convertible car circling the field. They were met on the field by their daughters Sarah & Anne as well as other family me...

Tuesday July 24th , 1984 :   In 1984 t h ere was so much excitement around the Shea Stadium it was truly magical. Davey Johnson's Mets were twenty games over .500 (57-37) riding high in first place with a 2.5 game lead over the Chicago Cubs. The previous night, the Mets won the game on a 12th inning walk off base hit from Wally Backman off reliever, former Met Neil Allen.  On this night they took on Whitey Herzog's St. Louis Cardinals (47-52) as the rivalry between the two teams was just starting to heat up.  Tonight, that Keith Hernandez one of the Mets stars & most popular players would get some revenge on his old team. In 1983,  the former NL MVP  Hernandez had come over to New York in a trade with the Cardinals.  Manager Whitey Herzog clashed with Keith's personality. He felt Keith wasn't giving it 100% on the field & suspected he was using cocaine. Keith had won five straight Gold Gloves, the 1979 batting title & co NL MVP Award, as well ...

 July 24th, 1965:  After a 5-1 loss to the Jim Bunning & the Phillies that afternoon at Shea, Mets manager Casey Stengel had a night out at the legendary Toots Shor's Restaurant. This was the second location of Toots Shor's located on 52nd St off Sixth Avenue.  Casey was joined by old time baseball players from the New York Giants & the Brooklyn Dodgers, both teams in which Casey played on in his playing career. Casey was to have a mile stone birthday the following week turning 75. After leaving the event, he did not go home to his usual apartment at the Essex House on Central Park South, where he lived during the baseball season. Mostly due to the fact that his wife Edna was in California at their Glendale home suffering with an eye infection. Casey was driven to the home of a Mets executive, Joseph Gregorio where he was to spend the night, in the Malba section of Whitestone, Queens close to Shea Stadium. The home was located at 1-12 Malba drive near the Whitesto...