centerfield maz

Saturday April 30th, 1988: Davey Johnson's New York Mets (15-6) were off to a good start, on their way to their 1988 NL Eastern title.  On this wild night they came to Cincinnati's Riverfront Stadium  to face Pete Rose's Reds (11-11).   Riverfront was always an interesting place for the Mets to play in the late 1980's    33,346 fans would certainly make their presence known tonight, in what would be an ugly situation before it was all over.  It turned out to be an infamous game that tarnished an umpire's career & added more drama to a Player/Manager's legacy. The Mets sent Bobby Ojeda (2-0) to the mound, against the Reds Tom Browning (0-2).  In the bottom of the 2nd, Darryl Strawberry led off with a double. He advanced to third on Kevin McReynolds fly ball out to right field.  Gary Carter hit a sac fly scoring Straw with first run. In the home 3rd, after the first out, the Reds connected for three staright hits with Barry Larkin's RBI sing...

Friday April 29th, 2022: On this brisk April night, the Mets wore black uniforms & made franchise history. Buck Showalter's first place Mets (14-6) took on the Philadelphia Phillies (10-10). Tylor Megill took the mound against Aaron Nola in front of 32,416 at Citi Field. These lucky fans were about to witness Mets history. In the top of the 1st, Tylor Megill who had been outstanding early on so far in this season, had an easy 1-2-3 inning getting the first two Phillies to ground out & then getting Bryce Harper to fly out deep to center. In the top of the 2nd, M egill struck out Nick Castellanos to start out the inning. He got a fly ball out from JT Realmuto then issued his first walk. Next Alec Bohm hit a line drive to center that Brandon Nimmo snagged for the third out. In the top of the 3rd, Didi Gregorius started the inning with a line drive out at second base. Megill then struck out Odubel Herrera.  Next, Brandon Nimmo made an outstanding diving catch of a Jean S...

Sunday April 29th, 1962: At this early point in the Mets inaugural season,  Casey Stengel's Mets had only won two games in their first 14 tries. It would be a long year trying to earn wins for the 1962 Mets.   On this day, Casey's team would earn their third Met victory & see first shut out thrown by a Mets pitcher in team history.  On this Sunday afternoon double header at the Polo Grounds, t he Mets hosted Gene Mauch's Philadelphia Phillies.  A good crowd of just under 20,000 came to the old ballpark in Washington Heights to see 26-year-old Al Jackson pitch for the Mets, against the Phillies Art Mahaffey. In the bottom of the 2nd inning, Mets slugger, Frank Thomas hit a solo HR off Art Mahaffey. It was already Thomas' sixth HR on the young season. Frank Thomas Trivia: The 32-year-old Frank Thomas was the Mets first true slugger.  In 1962 he hit 34 HRs with 94 RBIs. Thomas would hit 25 or more HRs seven times in his 16 year career. He finished...

Monday April 28th, 2025: On this Monday matinee, on "get away day" the Mets tried to even the series with the Nationals in D.C. The Mets were coming off their worst loss of the year, blowing a 6-0 lead the previous game.  This afternoon Mets manager Carlos Mendoza sent Griffin Canning to the mound. Canning a pleasant surprise for the Mets came in at 3-1 with a 3.12 ERA. He would go up against The Nat's Trevor Williams. Williams pitched for the 2022 Mets going 3-5 making nine starts in 30 appearances with a 3.21 ERA. After a quiet 1st inning thing started brewing in the next inning. In the top of the 2nd, Mark Vientos singled to right field. Brandon Nimmo collected his first hit of the day with a single to centerfield. Francisco Alvarez doubled bringing in Vientos & Jeff McNeil's sac fly made it 2-0. In the top of the 5th, Jeff McNeil hit his first HR of the season making it 3-0. Jeff began the season on the IL with this being his third game. Jeff would later hit...

Ron Swoboda had come up with the Mets in 1965 as one of Casey Stengel's "Youth of America" players & immediately became a popular figure on the young ball club. Swoboda led the team with 19 HRs that season & was being labeled the slugger of the future on a poor team that was looking for a star. Things didn't quite work out that way but Swoboda did have some memorable moments in his career. Never known for his glove work, he would make one of the best catches in World Series history preserving Tom Seaver's 1969 Game #4 win at Shea Stadium. In 1968, he had a great start to the season as well. At the time Gil Hodges was in his first moth of managing the Mets & was observing the players he had to work with. New York opened the 1968 season in San Francisco facing the former NL New York club the Giants. It had only been ten years since the Giants & Dodgers had left New York. In a great Opening Day pitching matchup, Tom Seaver went up against Juan Maric...