centerfield maz

Friday June 30th, 1978: Joe Torre's fifth place Mets (33-45) were in Pittsburgh at Three Rivers Stadium to play Chuck Tanner's fourth place Pirates (35-38) for a weekend series in the Steel City. New York had lost five of six, nine of their last 13 and so on. A nice crowd of 31,947 came out as the Mets pitcher Nino Espinosa (6-7) went up against Pirate rookie hurler Don Robinson (4-2). Trivia: Nino Espinosa would lead the 1978 Mets staff with eleven wins (11-15) & also tie for most losses. Nino pitched 203 innings but struck out just 76 batters while walking 75. The first two innings started out scoreless. In the top of the 3rd inning, Mets pitcher Nino Espinosa doubled, his third double of the season. Len Randle singled to left field, advancing Nino to third. Tim Foli then hit a sac fly scoring Espinosa with the first run.  The two pitchers both pitched well as the game stayed 1-0 until the 5th inning. In the bottom of the 5th, Phil Garner doubled & stole thi...

Tuesday June 28th, 2011: Terry Collins Mets (39-39) were on the inter league road trip in the Motor City to play Jim Leyland's Detroit Tigers.  The Tigers would finish first that season beat the AL New York team in the ALDS then lose to Texas Rangers in the ALCS. The Tigers would win four straight AL Central tiles (2011-2014) getting to the 2012 World Series where they lost to the San Francisco Giants. A crowd of 28,480 came out to Comerica Park as knuckleballer R.A. Dickey took on Rick Porcello. Porcello would win double figures six straight years. In 2016 with Boston, he led the AL with 22 wins then followed leading the league with 17 losses. The Mets came into the game winning four of their last five games.  In the top of the 1st, Jose Reyes led off with a base hit. With two outs, Reyes appeared to be picked off first base, but Rick Porcello's throw went past Miguel Cabrera & Reyes went into second base. The Mets got back-to-back RBI doubles from Daniel Murphy & Ang...

Saturday June 29th, 1974: A crowd of 37,317 came to Shea Stadium to see Yogi Berra's struggling last place, Mets (30-42) host Red Schoendienst first place St. Louis Cardinals (38-34).  The Mets were still the reigning NL Champions, but injuries & poor offense made for a fifth-place finish in 1974.  Tom Seaver was struggling thru his mechanics & had just gone on the disabled list after his last start. He went on the worst season of his career. The Mets came into this game having won three of their last four, sweeping a series with the Cubs at Wrigley Field. Today the Mets sent Jon Matlack (5-5) to the hill to face the Cards John Curtis (4-7). Matlack had lost his last four decisions & had given up twenty earned runs in his last 51.2 innings although his ERA was still a low 2.68. Prior to that Matlack had won five of his first six with a 1.89 ERA. In the top of the 1st inning, Matlack started the game striking out Lou Brock.  Lou Brock ...

  Saturday June 28th, 1975- Old Timers Day at Shea: It was on this festive Old Timers Day that "the Old Professor" Casey Stengel would make his final appearance at Shea Stadium. Casey was just one month shy of his 85th birthday. Sadly, three months later he would pass away. The Mets always had grand celebrations on their Old Timers Day festivities. Today, Casey made a grand entrance on a Roman  Chariot led by a pair of white horses. He was wearing his legendary Mets uniform #37 clutching the reigns holding a whip circling the third base box seats. The chariot also featured an escort wearing a golden helmet to assist Casey.  Quotes-Casey Stengel: "I don't worry about Old Timers Day; I only worry if I'm strong enough & got enough health to get out there. I had the flu this winter & they said I was done, but I had a hundred write ups since then". Some of the fifty former players on hand that day were legends Willie Mays, Yogi Berra, Ralph Kiner, Joe...

Sunday, June 28th, 2015: At this point in the 2015 season, the Mets were at a low point. They had won just five of their last sixteen games, recently coming off a seven game losing streak.  They were not hitting with injuries to David Wright, Daniel Murphy & Travis d'Arnaud contributing to that problem. They had now fallen 4.5 games behind the first place Washington Nationals .  On this Sunday matinee, 29,640 fans were at Citi Field as the Mets hosted Bryan Price's Cincinnati Reds (34-39). Today was the much anticipated debut of the highly touted prospect & native Long Islander, Steven Matz. That season, the Mets 2009 top pick, Matz was 7-4 with 94 strike outs in 90 innings at AAA Las Vegas. Steven Matz took the mound with a large cheering section behind him as his parents, grandparents, other family members & a few friends were all in attendance. The previous game had been suspended on Saturday night tied 1-1 in the 7th inning due to rain. It was resumed on Sun...