centerfield maz

Tuesday May 8th , 1973 : Early on in the Mets 1973 Pennant season, the Mets had a big scare when one of their top pitchers got struck with a line drive. The previous night, they had beaten the Braves to get to .500& were just one game out of first place. On this chilly rainy evening at Shea Stadium, Yogi Berra's Mets (13-13) hosted Hall of Fame slugger, Eddie Mathews' Atlanta Braves (9-17) in front of a small crowd of just 6,840. The Braves were sporting their classic lower case red colored "a" on their white & blue caps.  Tonight, the Mets young southpaw, who was the reigning NL Rookie of the Year, Jon Matlack (2-5) took the mound against Atlanta's Ron Reed (1-4). Jon Matlack held the Braves scoreless over the first three innings.  In the home 3rd inning, Ron Reed recorded the first two outs. Next, Teddy Martinez singled, then Felix Millan doubled off his old Braves teammates, scoring Martinez to make it 1-0 Mets.   In the top of t...

Sunday May 9th, 1982: This Sunday was a Mother's Day matinee at Shea, as a small crowd of 15,008 came to see George Bamberger's second place Mets (14-15) take on Frank Robinson's fourth place San Francisco Giants (13-16). These were still rough times for Mets fans, as the team was about to have its fifth straight losing season. They were still two years away fr om competing with a winning record.  A week earlier the Mets had traded away the popular Lee Mazzilli in exchange for, yet a still unknown young pitcher named Ron Darling. Today, the Mets sent Brooklyn born pitcher, Pete Falcone to the mound against the Giants Alan Fowlkes. In the top of the 1st, Pete Falcone struck out Chili Davis & Johnnie LeMaster to start the game. Tom O'Malley doubled but Jack Cark flew out to left to end the inning. In the bottom of the 1st, Alan Fowlkes struck out Mookie Wilson & Wally Backman to start the inning as well. Gary Rajsich flew out for a 1-2-3 inning. In the home 3r...

Tuesday, May 7th, 2013: It was an exciting night at Citi Field, as young phenom, Matt Harvey took the mound for Terry Collins' New York Mets (13-16).  Entering tonight's game, Matt Harvey was 4-0 with a 1.56 ERA, with 46 strikeouts & 12 walks in 40.1 innings pitched. Harvey had only allowed more than one run in one of his first six starts. The excitement Harvey brought to Citi Field was being compared to that of Dwight Gooden's almost 30 years ago. Tonight, the Mets hosted the Chicago White Sox (13-18) managed by an old Mets hero, from the 2000 NL pennant team- Robin Ventura. 23,394 fans showed up at on a chilly night in Queens. Matt Harvey took the mound, well prepared on three extra days of rest. Although he battled a bloody nose in the 1st inning, he was almost perfect in his pitching.  He retired the side in order in the 1st inning, ending with a strike out of Alex Rios. In the 2nd, he struck out Connor Gillaspe & Alex Ramirez. There was excitement & a loud...

John Kevin Maine was born on May 8, 1981, in Fredericksburg, Virginia. The tall six-foot four right hander played college baseball for Charlotte.  In 2001 he was the Conference USA Pitcher of the Year. Maine broke several single-season school pitching records including strikeouts and wins.  In 2002 He was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in becoming one of the top minor leagues pitching prospects.  In 2003 he went 13-4 at A-ball, leading all minor league pitchers in strike outs with 185. In 2004 he was moved up to AAA Ottowa going 5-7 with a 3.91 ERA. MLB Debut: On July 23rd, Maine debuted getting a start against the Twins in Baltimore. He allowed four runs over 3.2 innings taking the loss & returning back to the minors.  In 2005, John returned to the O's. On August 13th, in his first game back he collected his first career victory, shutting out the Blue Jays for five innings at Camden Yards. He remained on the club the rest of the season, going 2-3 with ...