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Showing posts from April, 2019

Former Mets Coach & Scout: Sheriff Robinson (1963-1977)

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Warren Grant Robinson was born April 8th 1921 in Cambridge, Maryland. The six foot right hand hitting catcher, earned the name "Sheriff" after his father had unsuccessfully ran for County Sheriff twice, in their home town in Maryland. Robinson began a long minor league career that began playing in 1938  in the St. Louis Cardinals organization. He soon landed with the AA Rochester Red Wings by 1941. He spent two years there before going off to serve three years in the military during World War II. He was assigned to Guam on a floating dry dock for the US Navy. In 1946 he returned to AA Rochester moving to Baltimore with the team the next year, as they were now a AAA affiliate. He spent two years there before dropping to the low levels of the minors with the Boston Red Sox organization through 1953. In 15 years the catcher, was a .251 hitter with 44 HRs & 115 RBIs. Retirement: In 1957 he began a three year stint as manager of the AA Oklahoma City Indians & then

50th Anniversary of the 1969 Mets: (April 29th 1969) The Mets Play Thier First Game Outside The United States

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50th Anniversary of the 1969 World Champion "Amazing Mets" Tuesday April 29th 1969: This game would mark the first time the New York Mets ever played a regular season game outside of the United States. It began an NL East competition that would last into the new millennium when the Expos left Montreal for Washington D.C. Montreal Expos history: The 1969 expansion, Montreal Expos were named after the 1987 Worlds Fair (Expo '67) held in the city. Montreal had been an AAA home to the Montreal Royals, a long time minor league club that began play in 1897. With the exception of ten years (1918-1927) minor league ball was played since then in Montreal for 53 years. The Royals were an affiliate of the Brooklyn Dodgers, the place where Jackie Robinson also played for breaking into MLB. The team won seven championships in their era. The first star player for the Expos was the Popular (future Met) Rusty Staub whom the locals named "Le Grande Orange". The

Legendary Italian / American NY Giants Pitcher: Sal "The Barber" Maglie (1945 / 1950-1958)

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Salvatore Anthony Maglie was born on April 26, 1917 in Niagara Falls, New York. His father- Giuseppe, came from a prosperous family in Italy but when he immigrated to America, his lack of education could only get him small paying jobs. He ended up as a pipe fitter who would later run his own grocery store, and do well for himself.  A young Sal would also work in that store, but had no intention to remain in that business as he had a love for baseball. His parents wanted him to be educated & work, telling him to forget about playing sports. But Sal would sneak out of the house just to play ball. Noy only an exceptional baseball player but a good basketball player as well.  He was offered a basketball scholarship in which he turned down. The six foot, two inch tall right hander, attended Niagara University where he played his most loved sport baseball, becoming a pitcher. At first he worked in the local Niagra chemical plants while pitching for local company teams. After fai

Remembering Mets History: Giving Ed Kranepool Some Slugging Recognition (1963 & 1969)

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Friday April 19th 1963: A small crowd of 8,104 came out to see Casey Stengel's Mets already a sad 1-8 on the season host The Milwaukee Braves in the Polo Grounds. This was to be the second & final year the Mets would play at the old Polo Grounds, as the opening of the grand new Shea Stadium was just one season away. Not only did the Mets win their second game of the year on this day but it was a mile stone for a young 19 year old Ed Kranepool. For "Kid Kranepool" today would be the day he hit his first career HR. Starting Lineups Milwaukee Braves         New York Mets 1 Ty Cline CF 1 Jim Hickman CF 2 Frank Bolling 2B 2 Ron Hunt 2B 3 Hank Aaron RF 3 Duke Snider RF 4 Eddie Mathews 3B 4 Frank Thomas LF 5 Norm Larker 1B 5 Ed Kranepool 1B 6 Lee Maye LF 6 Charlie Neal SS 7 Del Crandall C 7 Cliff Cook 3B 8 Roy McMillan SS 8 Choo-Choo Coleman C 9 Bob Shaw P 9 Roger Craig P In the 2nd inning two Bronx born kids went at it, as Ed Kranepool took Bra

50th Anniversary of the 1969 Mets (April 20th 1969): Mets Score Season High 11 Runs For the First of Four Times

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50th Anniversary of the 1969 World Champion "Amazing Mets" Sunday April 20th 1969: A crowd of 19065 came out to Busch Stadium to see their reigning NL Champion Cards take on who were to be the World Champions of 1969, Gil Hodges Mets. Both teams entered with 5-7 records.  The Mets had won Saturday's game as two Hall of Famers battled, Tom Seaver out dueling Bob Gibson 2-1. Todays starters were the young Jim McAndrew for the Mets taking on veteran Nelson Briles. Trivia: Briles was a 19 game winner the previous year but was 0-1 in the World Series loss to the Detroit Tigers. He had a 1.64 ERA going 1-0 in the 1967 World Series win over the Boston Red Sox. Briles an accomplished singer, would sing the National Anthem at Shea Stadium, in the 1973 World Series. Starting Lineups Mets 1 Bud Harrelson SS 2 Ken Boswell 2B 3 Amos Otis CF 4 C