centerfield maz

Tuesday July 1st, 1969:  It had only been two weeks since Donn Clendenon had arrived on his new exciting Mets team. Mets manager Gil Hodges had perused Clendenon wanting to bring him aboard to add much needed power & run production in the lineup. When Donn did arrive, Hodges determined he was to share time at first base in a platoon with Ed Kranepool.   In his first ten games, Clendenon collected four hits in 22 at bats driving in four runs. As July began, he settled in with his new club & got more comfortable at the plate.  July 1st, 1969:  This evening the Mets dropped a double header to the Cardinals in St. Louis. In the nightcap they took an 8-5 loss with Clendenon going 2-2 with RBI singles off Mike Torrez & Joe Hoerner. Wednesday July 2nd, 1969: In this 14 inning 6-4 Mets win in St. Louis, Clendenon had his second straight multi-hit game. In the top of the 4th inning he collected an RBI single off Dave Guisti then added another hit in the...

Wednesday June 25th, 1986: A good crowd of 33,030 came out to this matinee at Shea as New York hosted Buck Rogers second place Expos (38-30). Montreal had the second best winning % in the league behind the Mets. The Mets had lost the first two games of the series with Montreal but had an eight game lead over the Expos in first place. After a seven game win streak, the Mets had lost five of seven one of the few weak points of their Championship season. The Mets sent Sid Fernandez (8-2) who was on a personal three game win streak, to the mound to face Andy McGaffigan (5-2). In the top of the 2nd inning with two outs & runner on first, former Met Mike Fitzgerald who was traded to Montreal in the Gary Carter deal, doubled to bring in the first run. In the top of the 4th Fitzgerald added another RBI double making it 2-0 Expos. Fitz had homered against his old team the night before as well. They were the only runs, Sid Fernandez gave up in his six innings of work. In the bottom of the ...

Ronald Alan Swoboda was born on June 30, 1944, in Baltimore, Maryland. His parents were John & Delores Swoboda. His father was a veteran of World War II who worked as a mechanic & teacher. His mother was a supervisor in social services. In high school Ron played baseball, basketball & soccer. He was goal tender & the captain of his soccer team. The six foot two right-handed hitting outfielder was signed out of Maryland University, as an amateur free agent in 1963. He signed for $35,000 after a strong AABA tournament performance. Swoboda only played minor league ball for one season, impressing a new Mets organization with his power. They were a team looking for a home-grown slugger to attract fans.  In 1964 he hit 14 HRs at AA Williamsport & then three more at AAA Buffalo in 22 games there.  Youth of America : He was called "Rocky" & "Swobo" becoming one of Casey Stengel's young Mets he called the "Youth of America". Othe...