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Remembering Mets History (1986) Mets Clinch the NL Eastern Title

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W ednesday September 17th, 1986: The 1986 Mets had been in first place since April 24th, which was their tenth game of the season. By June 14th they went up ten games ahead of the second place Montreal Expos & thru the summer ran away with the division. The magic number countdown for clinching the NL Eastern Division began back in August. It seemed kind of strange, but the fans were actually happy that the Mets had just lost six of their last seven games, one of their worst stretches of the season. After getting swept in Philadelphia they moved on to St. Louis then dropped their fourth straight. The previous night the Mets broke the losing streak beating the Cards 4-2. This meant was that they would have the chance to clinch the divisional title at home in Shea Stadium.  By this night Davey Johnson's Mets were 94-50 with a 19-game lead over the second place Phillies.  Personal notes: Back that afternoon I got my ticket at an A&S Ticketron outlet on my lunch...
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Remembering Mets History (2001) The Mets & Baseball Return's One Week After 911

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Monday September 17th, 2001: After the tragic attacks of 911, MLB stopped play for one week as New York City & the rest of the country tried to recover best it could.  The New York Mets players worked at various relief efforts & points around the City. Shea Stadium's parking lot was used as a supply drop off point & as well as other various areas of support.  Players like Bobby Valentine, Mike Piazza, John Franco, Al Leiter, Robin Ventura & Todd Zeile visited victim's families, fire houses & Ground Zero at the World Trade Center site. Todd Zeile Starts Cap Honoring Tradition: A dark blue NYFD cap was sent to Mets player Rep. at the time; Todd Zeile from a widow of a rescue worker who died at World Trade Center on 911. Zeile began wearing the hat to work outs & around town at the various events he visited.  Other Mets players asked where they could get similar hats. Next thing you knew caps of NYPD & FDNY were coming for all the player...
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Remembering Mets History (1976) Jerry Koosman Becomes Second Mets Pitcher to Win Twenty Games in a Season

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Thursday September 16th, 1976: Jerry Koosman had pitched for the Mets for ten seasons. Kooz had won fifteen or more games three times, with one nineteen-win season which came in his rookie year of 1968.  He had won ten or more games in a season, eight times as well.  Koosman is the Mets all-time best post season pitcher with a 4-0 record, going 3-0 over two World Series appearances with a 2.39 ERA In 1976, dating back to July 15th, Kooz was 10-2 with a 1.62 ERA with three shut outs in twelve starts. He had won his last three starts, pitching a three hit shut out & two hit one run victory, posting a 1.33 ERA in that time. He had matched his career high 19 wins & tonight was going for his 20th victory. Joe Frazier's third place Mets (77-69) were 11.5 games out of first place & having just recently fallen out of the pennant race. Tonight, they hosted Red Schoendienst, fifth place St. Louis Cardinals (65-79)  in front of a small crowd of just...
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John Franco (Part One) Italian / American Mets Hall of Fame Pitcher (1990 - 1998)

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John Anthony Franco was born September 17, 1960, in New York City at Bensonhurst, Brooklyn.  John is the Italian American son of Mary & James Franco. He had one brother & lived in the Marlboro Houses section off Stillwell Avenue. The family went to Church at Most Precious Blood on 47th St & would be more involved in the Italian Bensonhurst area of the late 1950's. Their father known as Jim a New York City Dept. of Sanitation worker. Franco would often wear his fathers orange NYDS T-shirt under his uniform jersey in honor of his father. In 1987, Jim Franco suffered a heart attack behind the wheel of his sanitation truck, passing away six months before his retirement. A year earlier John's mother had passed away to cancer. Mets Fan: As a boy in Brooklyn, John idolized the 1969 Mets. He then imagined he was Tug McGraw when he pitched in his back yard to his brother. During his college days Franco wanted to quit school to make money, at the time he had no car &...
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