Remembering Mets History (1983): George Foster Has Five Walk Off Hits On the Year

-
1983: The Mets were starting to turn things around in 1983. It was the year Tom Seaver returned, Dave Kingman was still blasting HRs & they brought up Darryl Strawberry & Ron Darling. They already were seeing promise from Mookie Wilson, Jesse Orosco & Hubie Brooks.

In July they brought Keith Hernandez over from St. Louis & that set the stage for the good years to come.

The previous year the Mets brought in slugger George Foster from the Big Red Machine. Foster had his issues & wasn't the super star he once was but he did make an impact on the Mets. In 1983 he contributed with five walk off hits.

 Friday May 6th 1983: George Bamberger was
now the Mets skipper, his (7-15) Mets hosted Russ Nixon's Cincinnati Reds (13-14). The Reds were just a small engine compared to their Big Red Machine Days of yesteryear. 

 Johnny Bench, Dave Concepcion & Dan Driessen were all that was left. Tonight Tom Seaver, now back with the Mets faced his old Reds team & Mario Soto.

Starting Lineups




 Seaver & Soto battled into the 6th inning, when Gary Redus hit a solo HR for the Reds. In the 7th Seaver gave up two walks & two singles  which made it a 3-0 game.

 Soto pitched his shut out until the 8th inning, when Mets pinch hitter Danny Heep hit a HR. Soto came on in the 9th for the complete game win but the Mets had other ideas. Wally Backman singled & Dave Kingman blasted his 5th HR of the year, tying up the game at three.

 Seaver was in good form going eight innings, with three runs & four hits with seven strike outs. Carlos Diaz pitched two runs allowing a run & Jesse Orosco held them down for three innings, striking out three. 

 Red Reliever Bill Scherrer got the first two Mets out,  then walked rookie Darryl Strawberry. Straw then stole second & Mike Jorgensen walked as well. The stage was set for George Foster, he hit a three run HR, the game winning walk off for an exciting 7-4 win.
Monday July 25th 1983: The Mets were now 36-61 with a new manager in Big Frank Howard "the Capitol Punisher". They were facing a good Atlanta Braves team (61-38) now headed by non other than Joe Torre, two years after he left the Mets.

The Braves were the reigning NL West Champs & would finish second this year. Tonight Ed Lynch went for the Mets against Hall of Famer Phil Niekro.

Starting Lineups



Ed Lynch was a fine pitcher for the Mets in the early eighties, today he would scatter ten hits & allow four runs. A HR to former Met Mike Jorgensen & RBI hits to Dale Murphy & Biff Pocaroba put New York in a 4-1 hole going to the bottom of the 9th.

Junior Ortiz & Dave Kingman both singled in the inning. The Braves went from veteran Terry Foster to youngster Steve Bedrosion on the mound. Hubie Brooks drove a base hit to right scoring Ortiz. Keith Hernandez also singled bringing in Kingman making it 4-3. 

Geroge Foster would come through again with a double to left field scoring Brooks & Hernandez with the game winners. Another Foster walk off hit.

In the week of July 31st to August 3rd, Foster had two walk off winning at bats. Both were infield grounders that scored Mookie Wilson each time. The wins came against the Pittsburgh Pirates & Montreal Expos.

Monday September 5th 1983: The Mets (59-79) were no where near contention & even though nobody knew it, it would be the last time for almost a decade that that would be the case.

The Mets would win the East or come in second from 1984-1990. Tonight they hosted Pat Corrales Philadelphia Phillies (69-67). The Phillies were in a tie for second place 1/2 game behind both the Pirates & Expos.

The Phillies would win the Division & get to the World Series losing to the Baltimore Orioles. The Mets sent Mike Torrez up against Charles Hudson.


In the home 2nd, Strawberry singled & stole second, veteran Ron Hodges walked. Brian Giles & Mookie Wilson added RBI hits making it 3-0 Mets. Mets nemesis Mike Schmidt enjoyed another of his many HRs at Shea Stadium & Joe Morgan's RBI single made it 3-3.

Doug Sisk's three scoreless innings go the Mets to the 9th. Jesse Orosco allowed two walks, an RBI base hit to Ivan DeJesus & a sac fly to Gary Mathews giving the Phils a 5-3 lead. Reliever Al Holland (25 saves in 1983) came to close the door for the Phillies.

But it was Mookie Wilson who started things off with a single. After Hubie Brooks flew out, Kieth Hernandez also singled. Then came George Foster with his walk off HR. A three run game winner, his 23rd of the year.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Former Mets Broadcaster: Fran Healy ( 1984-2005)

-
Image
Francis Xavier Healy was born on September 6, 1946 in Holyoke, Massachusetts. The big six foot five catcher, attended American International University at Springfield. In 1964 he was signed by the Cleveland Indians, spending five years in their minors leagues. In 1968 he was drafted as the 56th pick in the expansion draft, chosen by the Kansas City Royals. He would make his MLB debut playing six games there in 1969 & spending the next year in the minors. In October of 1970, he was traded to the San Francisco Giants for Bob Garibaldi. Healy played in 47 games for the 1971 Western Division Champion Giants, as the backup catcher to Dick Dietz. He hit .280 with two HRs & 11 RBIs. He did not play in the NLCS & after hitting just .152 the next year in 45 games, he was traded back to Kansas City. He became the Royals main catcher in 1973 playing solid behind the plate, throwing out 44% of would be base stealers. That year he had the distinction of catching Steve Busb
Read more

Remembering Mets History: (1977) The Felix Millan / Ed Ott Brawl In Pittsburgh

-
Image
Friday August 12th, 1977: Joe Torre's last place Mets (47-66) traveled to Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh for a double header with Chuck Tanner's second place Pirates (66-49). The bad times were underway for the late seventies Mets and tonight marked the end of another key player's career from the 1973 NL Champion team. In the first game of a double header, Jerry Koosman (8-13) took a 3-1 loss to Jim Rooker (10-6) & the Pirates. Both pitchers went the distance, with Koosman giving up three runs on six hits & Rooker giving up the lone Met run on nine hits. In the night cap Mets started Bob Myrick against Pittsburgh's  Bruce Kison.  In the 2nd inning Myrick himself added an RBI base hit making it 1-0 Mets. Lee Mazzilli added a two run HR in the 4th putting the Mets up 3-2. The Mets were battling, but the Pirates tied it up at 3-3 in the sixth inning.  Met Manager; Joe Torre made a double switch bringing in Felix Millan to play second base, as Do
Read more

Remembering Bobby Ojeda's Tragic Boating Accident (1993)

-
Image
Steve Olin, Tim Crews & Bob Ojeda March 22 nd 1993: was an off day from Spring Training, for three Cleveland Indians pitchers; Former Mets 1986 World Champion pitcher; Bobby Ojeda, Tim Crews & Steve Olin. The three friends, took out an 18-foot open-air bass boat & went out fishing & gator hunting in the darkness of the evening on Lake Nellie in Clermont, Florida. Tragedy struck, when the boat rammed into a private dock that jutted out some 250 feet into the still waters. Two other Cleveland Indians personnel had arrived to meet the fishing party just as the horror took place. They heard Bob Ojeda saying they needed help. The two men jumped into the water and called out for someone to call 911. 27 year old pitcher; Steve Olin was killed instantly. 31 year old pitcher; Tim Crews was alive but was struggling to breathe suffering from massive head wounds. Bobby Ojeda was in & out of shock, he was suffering from head lacerations but was coherent. The
Read more

The 1970's Oakland A's Ball Girls- (MLB's First)

-
Image
In the days of the early seventies the Oakland A's won three straight Championships & changed the face of baseball forever.  The team's controversial owner was known to be cheap in paying his star players & known to meddle in the teams on field affairs. He drove managers crazy & even had Dick Williams resign after winning his second straight World Series. But Finley also revolutionized baseball in many other ways. He was instrumental in getting the designated hitter in the American League & have the World Series played at night, so fans could attend after work. He gave his players fancy names like Catfish, Blue Moon & True Blue.  When his star Reggie Jackson refused to shave his beard, he encouraged the whole team to grow facial hair by paying them $200 each.  The A's team even grew their hair long, a sign of the times. But before that baseball players had not had facial or long hair since the 1800's.  He introduced bright colored yello
Read more

Remembering Vixen Founder / Guitarist; Jan Kuehnemund (1961-2013)

-
Image
centerfieldmaz was shocked to learn of the sudden passing of Jan Kuehnemund, the founding member of the all female metal band Vixen. Jan was a fantastic guitarist, song writer & women pioneer in Heavy Metal. I am a huge fan of hard rock all girl bands & Vixen were one my long time favorites. Janice Lynn Kuehnemund was born November 18th, 1961 in St. Paul Minnesota. The female guitarist formed one of the first all female Metal bands in Minnesota with singer Janet Gardner while in high school in 1980. By 1985 they moved the band to Los Angles California, to be part of the Heavy Metal scene. In 1987 the classic Vixen line up of Jan Kuehnemund (lead guitar) Janet Gardner (vocals/ guitar) Share Pederson (bass) & Roxy Petrucci (drums) formed & released their debut album the following year. Vixen 1988 In a world of all male Heavy Metal bands during its heyday, Vixen were groundbreaking in being an all female metal band. The Runaways, with Joan Jett & Lita Ford
Read more