Remembering Mets History (1969) World Series Game #5: Amazing Mets Are World Champions

Thursday, October 16th 1969: World Series Game #5- Shea Stadium, New York.

On this day, the biggest miracle in sports history became a reality.

On this day the New York Mets, the once loveable losers of baseball, became Champions of the World, they became the Amazing- Miracle Mets.

When the 1969 season began, the Mets faced 100-1 odds of being World Series Champions. But they would forever define the underdog winner in sports. As short stop Bud Harrelson later said, any underdog team that ever comes back to win, is always compared to the '69 Mets.

In just eight short seasons since they began play, a team that had finished last six times were now
the Champions of the baseball world. What a way to end the sixties.

To get things started, Avid Mets fan & Tony Award winning Broadway singer, Pearl Bailey sang the National Anthem.

The pregame festivities featured New York baseball legend, Joe DiMaggio throwing out the ceremonial first pitch. Before the game "Joltin' Joe" was reunited with another New York baseball legend, his former team mate now a Mets coach, Yogi Berra.

Other celebs such as Casey Stengel, Louis Armstrong, Toots Shore, & John Lindsay the Mayor of New York.

It seemed Shea Stadium was the center of the universe on this day.

Mets Manager Gil Hodges sent his left hander Jerry Koosman (17-9 / 2.28 ERA / 180 K's) to the mound. Kooman was the winner pitcher of Game #2 in Baltimore, taking a no hitter into the 7th inning. Kooz was on his way to becoming the best Mets post season pitcher in team history.

Koosman would be facing off against the Orioles, Dave McNally (20-7 / 3.22 ERA / 166 K's). McNally was on the losing end to Koosman in Game Two at Baltimore, although he gave up just two runs in a nine inning effort while striking out seven. Since the 1968 All Star Game, McNally had gone 34-9 as one of the AL's top pitchers.

A paid crowed of 57,397 fans filled Shea Stadium to witness the Miracle of all baseball miracles on a cloudy fall afternoon.

Quotes- Ed Charles: "When October rolls around, the Mets will wear the crown. East Side, West Side."

In the top of the 1st inning, Jerry Koosman got Don Buford to grounded out to Bud Harrelson for the first out. Next Paul Blair & Frank Robinson both flew out for an easy inning.

In the bottom of the 1st inning, Tommie Agee led off with a walk. After Bud Harrelson struck out, Tommie Agee stole second base. It was his first steal of the Series & third of the post season.

Cleon Jones then flew out to right field. Dave McNally walked Donn Clendenon putting two men on, but then he struck out Ron Swoboda to end the inning.

In the top of the 2nd inning, after retiring the first two batters, Davey Johnson singled into left field. For Davey it was his first hit of the Series, having gone 0-12 with two walks. Jerry Koosman got Andy Etchebarren to ground out to Ed Charles to end the inning.

In the top of the 3rd, the Orioles had their biggest inning of the entire World Series. Short stop Mark Belanger led off with a single to right field.

Mark Belanger Trivia: The usually light hitting short stop with a life time .228 batting average hit a career best .287 that season. It was his third hit of the World Series which tied him at second most Oriole hits with Frank Robinson, behind Boog Powell's five.

Then Jerry Koosman made one of his few post season mistakes, as he served up a two run HR, to the opposing pitcher, Dave McNally.

McNally Trivia: McNally a .190 lifetime hitter, hit nine career HRs with at least one HR from 1968 (when he hit a career high three) thru 1972. It was his first World Series HR & he would hit another the next year vs. Cincinnati.

Koosman then got Don Buford to ground out to Bud Harrelson for the first out, he next struck out Paul Blair to end the inning with his first K of the day.

But with two outs, future Hall of Famer Frank Robinson hit a HR to left center field into the Shea parking lot.

F. Robinson Trivia: It was just Robinson's third hit of the Series as Mets pitchers shut him down to a .188 batting average. During the regular season he had hit .308 with 32 HRs & 100 RBIs.

This was just the third & final HR of the Series for the Orioles who had hit 175 (3rd most in the AL) during the season. The other HRs came from Dave McNally three batters earlier & Don Buford who led off Game #1 with a HR.

Koosman then struck out Boog Powell to end the inning. All of a sudden it was 3-0 Orioles, quieting Shea Stadium.

Words of Inspiration: Kooz came into the Mets dug out angry with himself, tossing his glove down to the ground. He told his teammates "I'll hold them right there, you guys go out & score some runs."

Koosman did exactly that, holding the mighty Orioles down the rest of the way. He would give up just one more hit & walk one batter over the next six innings. He would retire 19 of the next 21 Oriole batters, with no one reaching second base.

In the top of the 4th inning, Brooks Robinson flew out to Tommie Agee in center. Kooz then got Davey Johnson to hit a comebacker to him for the second out of the inning & then got Andy Etchebarren bounce to second baseman Al Weis for the third out.

In the top of the 5th, Koosman got Mark Belanger to fly out, then struck out Dave McNally for his third K of the game.

Don Buford then hit a fly ball in the gap that Ron Swoboda caught on the run backhanded making another fine catch to end the inning.

Dave McNally was cruising along, keeping the Mets scoreless on three hits, with five strike outs thru the first five innings. One of those hits was a double by pitcher, Jerry Koosman leading off the 3rd inning.

In the top of the 6th inning, with one out & two strikes on him, Frank Robinson suggested he was hit by a Koosman pitch on his thigh. Home plate Umpire Lou DiMuro did not agree calling it a foul ball. Known to be a complainer Robinson argued the call in this big moment.

Oriole manager Earl Weaver came out to protect his player. Weaver who had been tossed out of Game #3 did not put on his usual fiery tempered, animated act in fear of getting ejected again.

Robinson left the batter's box, went to the clubhouse having the trainer put ethyl chloride on his thigh for treatment. As Robinson held up the action, Earl Weaver paced the dugout explaining the delay.

Umpire Lou DiMuro never looked at the wound, he went over to the dugout & told manager Earl Weaver to get Robinson back at bat or he'd be called out.

The Shea fans got restless & booed Robinson during the delay as well as when he came back to the batters box. If F. Robinson's plan was to disrupt Jerry Koosman, it didn't work. Kooz struck him out looking at a third strike to the delight of the Mets fans who let him have it on his way back to the dugout, as F. Robinson just hung his head.

The Shoe Polish Incident: In the bottom of the 6th, Cleon Jones led off the inning. A pitch came inside sending Cleon down to the ground as he tried to get out of the way. When he started his way toward first base, umpire Lou DiMuro called him back.

The ball either had bounced first then hit Jones or hit first hit Jones on the foot then bounced away into the Mets dug out.

Mets coach Yogi Berra came half way down the line questioning the call as did on deck batter Donn Clendenon.

Mets manager Gil Hodges emerged from the dugout with a ball in his hand & walked out to the home plate umpire, showing him the ball with a shoe polish smudge on it for proof Cleon was hit by the pitch.

Quotes- Gil Hodges: "Lou the ball hit him".

After seeing the black smudge on the ball, umpire Lou DiMuro decided that Cleon Jones indeed was hit by the pitch & awarded him first base.

Quotes- Gil Hodges: "There was a big polish mark across the ball, I'm just glad our club house guy keeps our shoes nice & polished."

Shoe Polish Incident Trivia: Years later, Jerry Koosman said that Gil Hodges had come over to him in the dugout after the pitch & told him to rub a ball on his shoe. That was what had created the smudge on the baseball that Hodges presented to the umpire.

Years later, Art Shamsky claimed that Hodges always kept a ball with polish on it in his jacket.

Naturally, Baltimore manager Earl Weaver came out to argue the call, but again Weaver was leery of being tossed out of the game. He was bit more careful with his argument knowing he had no case.

Weaver must have also felt the same feeling everyone else at Shea Stadium & in New York felt, here comes the Mets again.

As play resumed, the Mets had a runner on first with no one out. Next up came the Mets slugger Donn Clendenon. Clendenon blasted a HR down the left field line, landing in the mezzanine section over the auxiliary scoreboard bringing the Mets to within a run. The crowd went crazy breaking into a Lets Go Mets chant as the team had new life.

Clendenon Trivia: Donn had come over at the trade deadline, giving the Mets a true slugger & RBI man in which they had lacked. He also added a platoon at first base with Ed Kranepool giving the team more depth. due to the platoon he did not play in the NLCS.

In the World Series he hit safely in each of the five games & hit HRs in three straight games. Donn set a record at the time with three HRs in a five game series.

Dave McNally retired the next three Mets batters easily but now was clinging to a one run lead.

In the top of the 7th inning, Jerry Koosman got Davey Johnson to pop up in four territory for the first out.

He then struck out Andy Etchebarren for his fifth strike out of the game. Next, Mark Belanger grounded out to Bud Harrelson for the third out.

In the bottom of the 7th, the light hitting Al Weis led off the inning. The Long Island native had sometimes platooned at second base with Ken Boswell.

Al Weis surprised everyone with the biggest thrill of his career, hitting a HR over the left field wall bouncing into the Shea parking lot.

Al Weis Trivia: In two seasons with the Mets, Al Weis had never hit a HR at Shea Stadium. During the regular season, in 247 at bate he had hit just two HRs, coming on successive July games. In his career he had hit just six HRs with one of them having come off McNally while Weis was with the White Sox.

Mighty Might: In the World Series, Al would lead all hitters batting .455. He & Don Clendenon were tied for second behind Ron Swoboda with five hits each. Weis would drive in runs in three games, have two muti-hit games, posting a .563 on base % & 1.290 OPS which were both second best among Mets hitters.

Mets/NBC broadcaster Lindsay Nelson called Weiss "the mighty mite".

Quotes- Al Weis: " I knew I hit it good, but I didn't know how far it go. I don't have enough experience in judging those things." " I was just trying to hit a single & it just went out".

His father was ecstatic, it was a dream to see my boy in a World Series, but to see him be the batting hero is too much!"

Shea Stadium & the whole city of New York, as well as the whole world (it seemed) went nuts.

The underdogs & little guys everywhere found a new hero in Mr. Al Weis.

Quotes- Bud Harrelson: "I thought we had them when Al Weis hit it out to tie it. You could almost see them collapse & go whoosh. Heck Clendenon is getting paid to hit, Al isn't. In my mind he's the MVP."

McNally remained in the game; he struck out Jerry Koosman who came up to bat to a nice ovation from the Shea crowd. Tommie Agee then flew out & Bud Harrelson line out to third base to end the 7th inning.

In the top of the 8th, Jerry Koosman was still rolling along. Pinch hitter Curt Motton started the inning grounding out to Bud Harrelson at short. Next Don Buford flew out to Tommie Agee in center field.

Paul Blair then hit a bouncer in the hole, that Bud Harrelson snagged, it was a long throw but he threw it right on to Donn Clendenon for the third out.

Bud Harrelson Trivia: Mets All Star short stop Bud Harrelson made some outstanding fielding plays in the World Series making them look routine. Bud's defensive play was acknowledged by NBC broadcasters Curt Gowdy & Tony Kubek, a former short stop himself. On the big stage, all of America got to see the talents of the young short stop. Overall Harrelson had 17 assists in the five game series & made six put outs in Game Five.

At the end of the 8th inning, Kooz had retired seven batters in a row, 13 of his last 16 batters & was keeping the Orioles down since the 3rd inning.

In the bottom of the 8th inning, Eddie Watt came on to pitch for Baltimore. Cleon Jones led off with a double off the right centerfield wall, over his old minor league roommate Paul Blair's head to start the inning.

Cleon Jones Trivia: For Cleon it was just his third hit of the Series. He hit safely in the final two games, reaching base twice scoring two runs in Game Five.

Next, Donn Clendenon grounded out to Brooks Robinson at third. Brooks had also played a fine defense during the World Series & his play the next year in the 1970 World Series would become legendary.

The next batter was Ron Swoboda. Swoboda who had been the defensive star of Game Four & had made another running catch in this game, continued his fine play coming thru with his second hit of the day.

Swoboda bounced a ball near the left field line that Don Buford caught on a short hop hop, allowing Cleon Jones to score easily with the go ahead & eventual game winning run, as it was now a 4-3 Mets lead.

Swoboda coasted into second base with a double.

Ron Swoboda Trivia: For Swoboda it was his second straight muti-hit game, his fifth hit in the last two games. Swoboda would lead all Mets hitters with six hits, bat .400 post a .438 on base % & .904 OPS.

Ed Charles in what was his final career at bat then grounded out to second for the second out.

Mets catcher Jerry Grote bounced a hard hit shot to Boog Powell at first base. The big guy knocked the ball down & threw over to the pitcher Eddie Watt covering first. But Watt couldn't handle the throw.

Jerry Grote was safe at first & Ron Swoboda scored all the way from second base giving the Mets a two-run lead 5-3. Errors were charged to both Powell & Watt with no RBI for Grote.

In the top of the 9th inning, a determined Jerry Koosman came out to finish off the Orioles & close out the World Series.

The Shea Stadium fans were anxiously awaiting the last three outs with a combination of nerves & excitement ready to burst out into celebration.

Frank Robinson led off the inning with a walk, the first walk Kooz allowed all afternoon. Koosman then got Boog Powell to ground out to Al Weis at second who got the force play on Frank Robinson at second.

Trivia: F. Robinson ran out of the baseline trying to take out Harrelson with a cheap body block slide at second. The Shea fans booed him off the field once again.

Next Brooks Robinson flew out to Ron Swoboda in right for the second out.

The next batter was Davey Johnson, who hit a long fly ball to left field. At first Jerry Koosman later admitted he thought it may have been a HR saying to himself "Ut oh!"

But Cleon Jones got under it in left field, kneeling down on his left knee, looking up saying to himself:

Quotes- Cleon Jones: "Come on down baby, come on down. It's all over"

Cleon made the catch & lowered his glove, sealing the Championship. On October 16th, 1969, at 3:17 PM the Mets were the World Champions. They were the first expansion team to win a World Series going from worst to first in one year. The 1969 Mets would forever be known as the Amazing Mets, the Miracle Mets, as well as always being mentioned & being the inspiration for all underdogs in any sport.

As Jones made the catch in the outfield, back in the infield Jerry Koosman leaped into catcher Jerry Grote's arms, The Glider Ed Charles danced around the pitchers mound in celebration.

As Cleon Jones rose to his knee to run into the infield to celebrate all hell broke loose around him. The fans stormed the field over taking the security measures of the time. The first fans went for home plate & the bases. The fans tore apart the field, taking clumps of grass & anything they could walk away with.

As the players ran to the dugout the fans went after their gloves & caps for souvenirs.

The Mets got to the dugout where they safely went into the clubhouse for the Trophy presentation, media interviews & celebration.

Kooz Trivia: Jerry Koosman pitched the complete game victory, allowing three runs on five hits, with five strikeouts & one walk. It was his second win of the World Series going an overall 2-0, with a 2.04 ERA allowing four runs on seven hits, with nine strike outs & four walks in 17.2 innings. Kooz could have easily been the Series MVP as well as "Mighty Might" Al Weis. But the honors went to slugger Donn Clendenon.

Donn Clendenon Trivia: In the World Series, Clendenon led all hitters with three HRs, four RBIs, a 1.071 slugging % & 1.509 OPS. He was second with five hits, he also drew two walks & posted a 4.38 on base %.

Quotes- Donn Clendenon: "I know the whole thing seems like a dream, but if it is I don't want
to wake up."

Inside the clubhouse it was a joyous celebration, as champagne flew everywhere. The media crowded in with all the post-game coverage. Mets broadcasters Lindsey Nelson & Ralph Kiner did interviews for local television, as did NBC's Tony Kubek on a national level.

MLB Commissioner Bowie Kuhn said it was his proudest moment as Commissioner as he presented the World Series Trophy to Mrs. Joan Payson, the Mets principal owner, GM Johnny Murphy & Manager Gil Hodges.

Manager Gil Hodges received a phone call from the President of the United States, Richard Nixon a big baseball fan.

Quotes- Gil Hodges: "It's been a year of miracles & I'm just thanking God it's over. It was a colossal thing they did. These young men showed that you can realize the most impossible dream of all. I'm so proud of them all."

Quotes- Mrs. Joan Hodges: "I just cant believe it. It's been a year of Miracles & its just marvelous, simple marvelous."

Quotes- Cleon Jones: "This is the same ball club that didn't belong on the same field as the Baltimore Orioles but we beat them. We showed them what we had, what type of ball club we had all year & we're number one."

Quotes- Tommie Agee: "We knew we could beat Baltimore & when they were talking so much, it gave us an extra incentive to win. They were talking so much they forgot to play."

Quotes- Ron Swoboda: " This will give heart to every loser in America, we are the saints of lost causes".

Quotes- Tom Seaver: "They said they were gonna run us right off the field. We come to play, we played this way all year long We came from behind, we did it today & you cant say too much for this beautiful ball club."