centerfield maz

Labor Day- Monday September 1, 1975: This was an exciting game  for  the '75 Mets. Interim Manager Roy McMillan's third place Mets (72-64) were just four games behind the first place Pittsburgh Pirates (75-59) & had big expectations of catching them in the NL East. Roy McMillan had taken over the club on August 6th after Yogi Berra had been fired. Since then, the Mets were 16-9 gaining four games in the standings. On this Labor Day matinee, the  Mets hosted Danny Murtaugh's Pirates at Shea Stadium in front of 45,991 fans.  The Mets were trying to stop a two-game  losing streak, after having won five straight on a long 14 game west coast road trip that included a three-game  stop in Houston along with Los Angeles, San Francisco & San Diego.  This  was the team's first home game since August 17, a long two weeks ago. The Pirates sent New York native, John Candeleria (7-4) to go up against Tom Seaver (19-7).   Seaver was go...

Sunday September 1st, 1985: Davey Johnson's Mets (77-52) were two games out of first place, behind the St. Louis Cardinals. Today they were playing the rubber game of a three-game set in San Francisco, against Jim Davenport's last place Giants (51-77). The Mets starter was Ed Lynch (10-7) going up against the Giants, Dave LaPoint (7-11) in front of a small crowd of 9,975 at Candlestick Park.   For Keith Hernandez it was always special coming to the Bay Area where he grew up. He enjoyed playing against the team he rooted for as a kid when his father took him & his brother to games at Candlestick Park.  Tonight, Keith would not get the start at first base, as Gary Carter got a rare start at the position. The Mets were in a funk as they had just lost four of five games, but after today would go on a five-game win streak, taking seven of eight. In the bottom of the 2nd inning,  Dan Driessen doubled to start the inning,  Giant...

Friday September 2nd, 1988: Davey Johnson's first place New York Mets (78-54) were getting closer to clinching the NL East title. They now had a comfortable 8.5 game lead over the second place Pittsburgh Pirates. Tonight, the Mets hosted Tommy Lasorda's first place Los Angeles Dodgers (77-56) in what was to be an NLCS preview.  This year, the Mets dominated the Dodgers in the regular season, as they would do on this night as well. The post season would prove to be a different ball game.  T onight Ron Darling (13-9) went up against the Dodgers, Tim Leary (14-9) in front if 44,889 Shea Stadium fans.   After two scoreless inning the Mets started the scoring in the 3rd inning, with  solo HRs from youngsters Kevin Elster & Greg Jefferies. It was both players second HR of the season. Greg Jefferies Trivia: On August 28th, Greg Jefferies had been brought up making an immediate impact on the club with six hits in his first three games. This wa...