centerfield maz

Tuesday September 29th, 1981: In the crazy year of the 1981 MLB Strike, the New York Mets were a bit better in the second half  of the year (24-28) than the first half (17-34). That year the season was divided by the strike as the half way point. On this date, Joe Torre's Mets were in Philadelphia playing Dallas Green's Phillies in front of 20,110 at Veterans Stadium. The Mets Pete Falcone went up against Mark Davis. Since the strike Falcone, a local Brooklyn born, Italian American pitcher was 2-0 being used as a starter & reliever. Falcone had lowered his ERA at 3.03 & was pitching well. This was to be his best outing of the year & one of his best in his four years with the Mets. Starting Lineups New York Mets         Philadelphia Phillies 1 Mookie Wilson CF 1 Lonnie Smith CF 2 Lee Mazzilli LF 2 Pete Rose 1B 3 Hubie Brooks 3B 3 Gary Matthews LF 4 Dave Kingman 1B 4 Mike Schmidt 3B 5 Ellis Valentine RF 5 Keith Moreland C 6 John Stearns C 6

Sunday September 28th, 2008: I had to put aside the 2008 Mets  after they lost this final contest, the last game ever to be played at Shea Stadium. I did not want them to ruin the closing ceremonies for me.  For me this ceremony was one of my greatest moments at Shea Stadium. Many all time great Mets of the past assembled on the field for the last time.  It was extremely emotional when Mets Hall of Famer; Tom Seaver threw out the final pitch to Mike Piazza. Then the two Mets legends walked off into center field & closed the gates to the Beatles song "In My Life". Many players from the 1969 World Champion Amazing Mets, to the 1973 NL Pennant winners. The 1986 World Champion teams & players from the 2000 NL Pennant winners as well were all present.  There were earlier Mets players on hand as well from the teams first few years & players from other points in team history. Its was finally time we all put aside the hard feelings we had for George F

Robert Boden Scheffing was born on August 11, 1913 in Overland Missouri. During his playing days he was a catcher signed by the Chicago Cubs in the 1935. After six almost seven years in the minors he made it to the big leagues in 1941. He played briefly for two seasons with the Cubs before going off to the military for World War II. Scheffing who was known as “Grumpy”, was primarily a second string catcher during his career. In 1947 & 1948 he played in over 100 games, posting fielding percentages in the top three of the league. In 1948 he played in 102 games batting a career high .300 with five HRs 18 doubles & 45 RBIs with a .351 on base %. Scheffing would also play for the Cincinnati Reds & St. Louis Cards before retiring in 1951 with a .263 lifetime average 357 hits 20 HRs 53 doubles & 187 RBIs. After his playing days he became a coach for the St. Louis Browns in 1952 & 1953. He then was a manager, winning the Pacific Coast League championship in 195

Edwin Donald Snider was born September 19th, 1926 in Los Angeles, California. As a child he walked around like he was royalty and his parents gave him the nick name “Duke”. While playing in Brooklyn he became known as the Duke of Flatbush & The Silver Fox. Snider was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1943 while he was a quaterback at Compton High School. He went into the military in 1945 then came to the minor leagues, and by 1947 made a brief debut with the Brooklyn Dogers, who still had Carl Furillo & Pete Reiser playing centerfield. In 1948 Snider was batting .326 at AAA Montreal and was called up for good. By 1949 he was Brooklyn’s main centerfielder and would hold down that position until the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles. Snider went on to become the biggest bat in the classic Brooklyn line up, making 8 All Star Games, leading the league in HRs in 1956, lading in RBIs, doubles, hits & walks one time each, as well as runs scored three times. He went to six

Saturday, September 13th 1969: A crowd of 10,440 came to Forbes Field on this Saturday afternoon as Gil Hodges first place Mets (88-57) took on Larry Sheppard's fourth place Pirates (76-67).  Mets ace Tom Seaver (21-7) took on Luke Walker (2-5). Starting Lineups Mets 1 Bud Harrelson SS 2 Amos Otis LF 3 Tommie Agee CF 4 Donn Clendenon 1B 5 Ron Swoboda RF 6 Ed Charles 3B 7 Jerry Grote C 8 Al Weis 2B 9 Tom Seaver P Pirates 1 Matty Alou CF 2 Gene Alley 2B 3 Willie Stargell LF 4 Roberto Clemente RF 5 Al Oliver 1B 6 Manny Sanguil