centerfield maz

Wednesday April 11th, 1973:   In his first start of the 1973 season,  Jerry Koosman took the mound in the first Mets road  game of the year which was at St. Louis. The Mets had won their first two games of the year at home.  Tonight Jerry  Koosman went up against the Cardinals Reggie Cleveland in front of 12,290 fans at Busch Stadium. The Mets helped out Kooz right away in the 1st inning as Bud Harrelson, Felix Millan & John Milner all singled.  Reggie Cleveland then threw a wild pitch to Rusty Staub, scoring Harrelson from third for the first run.  Staub then poked a base hit thru the infield, scoring Millan putting the Mets up 2-0.  In the top of the 3rd inning, first baseman John Milner hit his first HR of the season to make it 3-0 Mets. After getting through the first two innings, Koosman gave up a leadoff triple to Jose Cruz in the 3rd inning. Next Ray Busse hit a ground ball to Mets third baseman Jim Fregosi who booted i...

Friday April 29th , 2016 : Terry Collins second place, reigning NL Champion  Mets (13-7) were riding a six-game  win streak as they entered a weekend series with Bruce Bochy's San Francisco Giants (12-11) at Citi Field.  A crowd of 39,764 settled in to Citi Field on chilly rainy Spring evening. The Mets were on a hot streak & tonight they would erupt  with a historic third inning.  Steven Matz took the mound for New York & gave up to singles in the first inning but got Hunter Pence to ground to short to end the inning. cruised along with six scoreless innings striking out four scattering seven hits getting his record to 3-1.  Tonight marked the first time in six games that Yoenis Cespedes returned to the Mets line up after bruising his right leg. Historic 3rd Inning: In the bottom of the 3rd, the Mets got to Padre starter Jake Peavey with a historic third  inning.  Curtis Granderson & David Wright started out ...

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...