centerfield maz

Monday September 15th, 1975: In a crazy year for the 1975 New York Mets, the club was at 76-74 in fourth place, 9.5 games behind the Pittsburgh Pirates.  The Manager was Roy McMillan who had taken over after Yogi Berra was fired at the end of August. The previous month the Mets had also parted ways with long time outfielder Cleon Jones. On a brighter note, Tom Seaver would win his third Cy Young Award that season. In August the Mets brought up a young outfielder, named Mike Vail who would win the AAA International League Player of the Year. Vail would make quite an impact in his first months in the big leagues. MLB Debut: On August 18th, Vail debuted with the Mets, pinch hitting & collecting his first hit, a single off the Astros J.R. Richard in his first career at bat.  On August 22nd, Mike Vail singled off the Giants Charlie Williams at Candlestick Park. It was the start of his rookie record hitting streak. Vail would collect another single in the 8th inning of t...

In 1967, Jerry Koosman  debuted for the Mets in April  making five appearances in relief before getting sent back down to AAA Tidewater in May. He returned in September getting his first starts, ending the year at 0-2.  In 1968 he was ready for the majors as an eligible Rookie.  Koosman had a phenomenal rookie year, coming in second to Johnny Bench for the NL Rookie of the Year.  Koosman went 19-12 (4th most wins in the NL) with a 2.08 ERA (also 4th best). He had 178 strike outs with 69 walks in 263 innings pitched (7th most in the NL). He made 35 starts pitching 17 complete games. That year he set a Rookie record with seven shut outs. April 11, 1968: In the second game of the 1968 season, Koosman made his first start of that year, pitching a four hit shut out over the Dodgers in Los Angeles. He earned the win over Bill Singer striking out three & walking four.  April 17th, 1968: In his next start at Shea Stadium, he  threw a back-to-back shut ...

Saturday September 14th, 1996 : Bobby Valentine's New York Mets (67-81) hosted Bobby Cox's first place Atlanta Braves (86-61) in front of 22,857 fans at Shea Stadium.  The game was a nationally televised since it had playoff implications for the Braves. They would eventually go on to win the World Series that year. The Mets were not in any playoff contention, but the Mets fans were looking to see Todd Hundley hit a HR to set an MLB single season record for catchers. Todd Hundley Trivia:  A week earlier on Sunday, September 8th Hundley had tied Roy Campanella's mark of 40 HRs set in his 1953 MVP season, one of the years Campy won the MVP Award. That 40th HR also set a Mets franchise single season mark passing Darryl Strawberry's 39 (1987). Hundley became the first NL switch hitter to reach 40 HR with the only other switch hitter to reach that mark being Mickey Mantle. In 2006, Carlos Beltran tied Hundley's Mets single season mark with 41. In 2019 Pete Alonso would ...

Friday September 12th, 1969: If the first place Mets were not Amazing enough through the 1969 season, tonight they showed how Gil Hodges' team could pull a few more tricks out of their bag to win games. They brought the greatest show in baseball to Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, for a double header. The Mets fans also arrived, as a large contingent came fully equipped with banners & their loud voices, invading Pittsburgh's Forbes Field. "Lets Go Mets" was the battle cry heard everywhere in 1969. The Mets main strength in 1969 was no doubt great pitching. Not only did the Amazing's sweep the twin bill, but they also won both games on 1-0 shut outs & their pitchers drove in the winning runs in both games.  At this point the Mets were on an eight-game win streak & had taken over first place leading the second place Cubs by two games. 19,303 showed up in Pittsburgh with many Mets fans making the trip as Gil Hodges Mets (87-57) took on Larry Shepard...