Remembering Mets History (1965) Al Jackson Takes A No Hitter Into the 8th Inning

-
Wednesday July 21st, 1965:  Casey Stengel's New York Mets (30-63) were already 25 games out of first place & in tenth place.  

They had lost ten straight games & needed something good. Today they were starting a series at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, facing Harry Walkers sixth place Pirates (47-48). 

Future 1969 Met; Don Cardwell (8-3) was the Pirate pitcher taking on the Mets; Al Jackson (4-12). 

Jackson had been one of the better Mets pitchers on the bad teams of the franchise early years, although you would never know it with a 43-80 record in those years. 

In 1965 he went 8-20 with a 4.34, his worst year as a Met. But those eight wins, tied with Jack Fisher for the team lead in wins. His twenty loses were tied for third most in the NL. Jack Fisher lost 24.

This game was all about good pitching, Al Jackson & Don Cardwell would both go the distance. Only one run on seven hits combined in this game.



Al Jackson would get three fly ball outs in the 1st inning. In the 2nd, he got two more & struck out Bill Mazeroski. In the 3rd, Jackson struck out Jim Pagliaroni looking & then Gene Alley swinging. He would only have four strike outs on the day. 

In the 4th, after retiring eleven in a row, a Chuck Hiller error put Roberto Clemente on base. Jackson then got Donn Clendenon to ground out.
 
In the top of the 5th inning, Ron Swoboda led off with a single to left field. He was forced out at second on Chuck Hiller’s ground out. Hiller advanced to second on Chris Cannizzaro’s ground out. Then Mets, Al Jackson came up and grounded to second base. Pirate second baseman Bill Mazeroski booted the play, Jackson was safe & more importantly Hiller was able to score. It would be the only run of the entire game. 

In the 7th, Al Jackson issued his first walk, once again Roberto Clemente reached base. Next Clendenon grounded into a double play, Charley Smith to Hiller to Ed Kranepool, to end the inning. 

Al Jackson entered the 8th inning with a no hitter still going, clinging to a one run lead. The first batter Bill Mazeroski grounded out to Charley Smith at third base. The next batter was future Hall of famer, Willie Stargell. Stargell singled to left field, spoiling Jackson’s no hitter. 

Trivia: Stargell would be a Mets nemesis his entire career, he hit the most HRs against the Mets
than any other opponent. 

Al Jackson then got Jim Pagliaroni & Gene Alley to ground out, ending the 8th inning. 

In the bottom of the 9th, Ozzie Virgil led off with a base hit, just the second hit of the day for the Pirates. Jackson then retired the rest of side in order, Bob Bailey grounded out, Manny Mota struck out & Clemente grounded out to Hiller to end the game. 

Jackson finished with a two hit shut out. He walked just the one & struck out four. 

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

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 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

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