centerfield maz

Thursday April 11th, 1968:   The 1968 Mets opened the season with optimism as their new manager Gil Hodges was now at he helm. The former Met & Brooklyn Dodger great was a popular figure in New York & he would soon to become a legendary manager. The Mets brought over Tommie Agee to play center as well as Al Weis from the White Sox. They also added Art Shamsky & J.C. Martin to the team. Most important, the Mets had two of the most exciting young arms in the league in Tom Seaver & Jerry Koosman. In the Mets first game of the season, they took a 5-4 loss t the Giants in San Francisco. In the bottom of the 9th, Danny Frisella came in relief of Seaver who had just given up an RBI single to Jim Ray Hart bringing the Giants to within a run. With two men on Jesus Alou delivered the walk off two run single. In the second game of the season, the Mets went down the coast to Dodger Stadium, Gil Hodges sent Jerry Koosman to the mound.  In April 1967 Kooz debuted pitching i...

In 2013 Matt Harvey was the Mets top attraction. The Rookie had a fantastic start to the season winning his first four starts of the year, giving some excitement to the Mets fans. Wednesday April 3rd: Matt Harvey started the second game of the season taking on the San Diego Padres at Citi Field. Harvey started out the game striking out the first two batters. In the second inning he struck out the final two batters & had four strike outs thru two innings.  In the bottom of the 2nd, Lucas Duda hit a two run HR to start the Mets scoring. In the 3rd inning, he notched another strike out & retired the first none batters in a row.  In the 4th, Everth Cabrera led off with a base hit, then Harvey picked him off at first base. He issued a two out walk but got Carlos Quentin to ground into an inning ending double play.  In the bottom of the 4th, Harvey's battery mate John Buck hit a two run HR to make it a 4-0 lead. In the 5th the Mets sent nine men to the plate, with Ike...

April 13th, 1967: In a much-anticipated debut a young rookie pitcher named Tom Seaver took the mound in a major league game for the first time. Tom Seaver Lottery: Seaver had been a standout pitcher at the University of Southern California. The Atlanta Braves signed him just as the USC season began but MLB rules stated that a player could not be signed off of a college campus once that team stated playing.  Seaver intended to finish the year with no contact, but NCAA rules stated with no contract he could lose amateur status. Seaver & his father threatened legal action. MLB came up with a solution, that any team matching the Braves offer would earn the chance to get Seaver in a lottery. Three MLB teams, the Cleveland Indians, Philadelphia Phillies & New York Mets were all in on Seaver. The Mets won the lottery & changed their teams' history forever. A small Shea Stadium crowd of just 5,005 came out on a cold day to see Tom Terrific debut on ...