1973 World Series- Game #2: Mets Win A Wild One In 12 Innings

October 14th 1973- World Series Game #2: This was one of the wildest games in Series history, at the time it broke a record for longest World Series game at 4 hours 13 minutes. The bright sun was a horror for outfielders trying to catch flyballs, on top of that the A's would make five errors & the Mets one.

The starters were Jerry Koosman vs Vida Blue, but neither pitcher did that well. The A's got two runs off Kooz in the 1st inning on a Sal Bando triple scoring Joe Rudi & then a Jesus Alou single. Bert Campaneris tripled in the 2nd and was driven home by Joe Rudi.

The Mets came back with home runs by Cleon Jones & Wayne Garrett. Going into the 6th inning the A's led 3-2. Cleon Jones walked, John Milner singled, & Jerry Grote was hit by a pitch. Don Hahn got an infield hit scoring a run & Bud Harrelson singled to right scoring another. Yogi Berra sent up pinch hitter Jim Beachamp. Beach grounded to the relief pitcher Darold Knowles, who threw wildly to home plate in an attempt to get the force play. In the vast Oakland Coliseum two runs scored and the Mets led 6-3.

Tug McGraw came on to pitch in the 6th, and gave up a run in the 7th. In the 9th after a double & a walk, singles to Reggie Jackson & Gene Tenace tied the game. McGraw kept the A's quiet over the next two innings. Rollie Fingers came in for Oakland, as the two best relievers in baseball were in the spotlight.
In the Mets 10th Bud Harrelson singled, then Wayne Garrett reached on an error. Felix Millan hit a flyball to short left field, Bud Harrelson tagged at third. Joe Rudi fired the ball home but the throw was up the line. Everyone in America expected Buddy to slide including Umpire Augie Donatelli who fell down setting up to watch the play.Catcher Ray Fosse swiped his glove behind Harrelson but never touched him. The ump who was on the floor couldn't see the play correctly & called Harrelson out. The Mets went wild, on deck batter Willie Mays argued the call on his knees, manager Yogi Berra came storming out of the dug out screaming 'You Missed the damn thing". Amazingly no one was ejected from the game.

The Mets got revenge in the 12th. Harrelson led off with a double, Tug McGraw reached on a bunt base hit. Willie Mays then came up and got the last hit of his career. He singled home Harrelson in what would be the game winning run. Cleon Jones followed with a single loading the bases. A bizarre game would get even wilder as another unknown player would become famous over night. Second baseman Mike Andrews was brought into the game in the 8th inning and in the 12th he let a John Milner ground ball go through his legs to allow a run to score. On the next play he threw wildly to 1st allowing Cleon Jones to score, putting the Mets ahead 10-6.

McGraw tired in the 10th inning allowing a Reggie Jackson triple & Gene Tenace walk. Berra brought in George Stone in his only World Series appearance. He allowed one run to score then put out the fire and saved the game 10-7. The Mets evened the Series 1-1.

After the game, A's owner Charley Finley furious at the two errors Mike Andrews committed, put him on the injured reserve list. The A's team rallied behind their team mate & threatened to forfeit the Series. Manager Dick Williams fed up with Finley's interfering announced he would not be back to manage in 1974. MLB Commissioner Bowie Kuhn stepped in & made Finley place Andrews back on the active roster.