Remembering Mets History (1969) Donn Clendenon Drives In Eleven Runs Over Five Games

Tuesday July 1st, 1969: It had only been two weeks since Donn Clendenon had arrived on his new exciting Mets team. Mets manager Gil Hodges had perused Clendenon wanting to bring him aboard to add much needed power & run production in the lineup. When Donn did arrive, Hodges determined he was to share time at first base in a platoon with Ed Kranepool. 

 In his first ten games, Clendenon collected four hits in 22 at bats driving in four runs. As July began, he settled in with his new club & got more comfortable at the plate. 

July 1st, 1969: This evening the Mets dropped a double header to the Cardinals in St. Louis. In the nightcap they took an 8-5 loss with Clendenon going 2-2 with RBI singles off Mike Torrez & Joe Hoerner.

Wednesday July 2nd, 1969: In this 14 inning 6-4 Mets win in St. Louis, Clendenon had his second straight multi-hit game. In the top of the 4th inning he collected an RBI single off Dave Guisti then added another hit in the top of the 11th.

In the top of the 14th, Ken Boswell hit an RBI single & rookie Wayne Garrett walked with the bases loaded with the winning runs. This victory started a seven-game win streak showing the Mets were for real. 

Thursday July 3rd, 1969: In the last game of this five-game series in St. Louis, Mets rookie pitcher Gary Gentry pitched a one run five hit complete game victory. 

Tonight, the offense provided eight runs, with Clendenon having a multi- two RBI game as well as his third straight multi-hit game.

In the Mets four run top of the 4th inning, Clendenon provided a two-run single off Jim "Mud Cat" Grant. It was his ninth Mets RBI & his 23rd of the year. 

Tommie Agee also drove in two runs in the game & hit his 11th HR of the season.

July 4th, 1969: As America celebrated its Independence Day, the Mets began a series at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh with an afternoon double header. Donn Clendenon had spent his first eight years with the Pirates (1961-1968) hitting 106 HRs & driving in 488 runs in those years. This was his first return to the Steel City since his highly publicized trade to Houston the previous January.

In summary, with Clendenon refusing to report to Houston & threatening to retire, the Commissioner stepped in. Donn he was sent to the new franchise in Montreal, eventually leading to his arrival in New York. 

At this point in time, the Pirates were just about to become a powerhouse team of the seventies, winning five of the next seven NL East titles, interrupted both times by the New York Mets (1969 & 1973). The Pirates would win two World Series (1971 & 1979) in that decade.

In the top of the 5th inning of the first game of the twin bill, Clendenon broke a 2-2 with a two-run single off Bob Veale scoring Bobby Pfeil & Cleon Jones. It was his seventh RBI in the last four games & his second straight multi-RB game.

The Mets went on to an 11-6 win from there behind Tom Seaver's 13th victory. Tommie Agee also homered for the second straight game & drove in three runs. 

The Mets swept the twin bill, with Clendenon sitting out the night cap.

On Sunday July 6th, 1969: After a rain out, a small crowd of just 11,552 came out on Sunday for the series finale. The Mets completed the sweep, with Clendenon having another multi-hit multi-RBi game as well as providing the go-ahead winning runs. 

In the top of the 1st inning, he doubled off Luke Walker scoring Bobby Pfeil with the Mets first run. 

In the top of the 6th inning, with the Mets were down 6-4, Ron Swoboda & Jerry Grote both singled. Then with two outs Clendenon hit his first Mets HR, a three-run shot coming off Chuck Hartenstein. The runs proved to be the difference in the 8-7 win. 

Over his last five games, Clendenon collected nine hits, with two doubles a HR & eleven RBIs. He
hit .360 with a .967 OPS. In his first 16 games with the Mets he had driven in 15 runs.

This was the run production Gil Hodges expected when he went after Donn Clendenon.

Tuesday July 8th, 1969: The second place Mets arrived back in New York for the biggest series in their seven-year history. They hosted Leo Durocher's first place Cubs just 4.5 games behind them in the NL East. 

Today, Clendenon did not start the game with Ed Kranepool going against the right hander Fergie Jenkins.

In the top of the 9th, with the Mets were down 3-1, after Ken Boswell doubled Gil Hodges sent Clendenon in to pinch hit.

Donn hit a shot to left center field, outfielder Don Young got to the ball but it popped out of his glove as he ran into the Shea outfield wall. Boswell had to hold up at third with Clendenon credited with a double. Cleon Jones then doubled down the left field line scoring Boswell & then Clendenon with the tying runs. The Mets would win it on Ed Kranepool's walk off single. 

This was a huge win for the Mets, as the following night Tom Seaver pitched his "imperfect game' as the Mets took two of three from Chicago.