centerfield maz

Tuesday August 21st, 1973:   At this point in time, Yogi Berra's Mets were in last place (56-67) but ready to make their move to capture the NL East a just a bit more than a month later. Today they hosted Walt Alston's first place Los Angeles Dodgers (77-48) who would soon lose the NL West to the Reds. 26,351 fans came to Shea Stadium to watch veteran Mets pitcher; Ray Sadecki (2-2) go up against future Hall of Famer; Don Sutton (15-8). Starting Lineups   Dodgers 1 Davey Lopes 2B 2 Manny Mota LF 3 Willie Davis CF 4 Joe Ferguson C 5 Steve Garvey 1B 6 Ron Cey 3B 7 Willie Crawford RF 8 Bill Russell SS 9 Don Sutton P Mets 1 Wayne Garrett 3B 2 Felix Millan 2B 3 Rusty Staub RF 4 John Milner LF 5 Ed Kranepool 1B 6 Jerry Grote C 7 Don Hahn CF 8 Ted Martinez SS 9 Ray Sadecki P The 33 year old Sadecki, pitched his best game of the season, going the distance, allowing just one run on four hits. He...

July 3rd 1986 : This matchup was a preview of that years NLCS as Davey Johnson's first place Mets (53-21) hosted Hal Lanier's first place Houston Astros (42-36). A large crowd of 38,839 filled up Shea Stadium to see Ron Darling take on Jim Deshaies. Starting Lineups Houston Astros         New York Mets 1 Bill Doran 2B 1 Mookie Wilson CF 2 Ty Gainey CF 2 Kevin Mitchell SS 3 Denny Walling 3B 3 Darryl Strawberry RF 4 Glenn Davis 1B 4 Gary Carter 1B 5 Kevin Bass RF 5 George Foster LF 6 Jose Cruz LF 6 Ray Knight 3B 7 Craig Reynolds SS 7 Tim Teufel 2B 8 John Mizerock C 8 Ed Hearn C 9 Jim Deshaies P 9 Ron Darling P Houston banged up Darling in the 1st inning with Bill Doran leading off with a double & a Ty Gainey base hit making it 1-0. Eventually Glen Davis' base hit would score Gainey making it a quick 2-0. In the home 2nd reserve catcher Ed Hearn put the Mets on the board with a solo HR. Later in the 5th inning...

September 1982: Dave Kingman was labeled "Kong' or "Sky King" for his mammoth HRs & sky high fly balls that either went well out of Shea Stadium or just very high fly outs. Kingman had come over from the San Francisco Giants in 1975 for $150,000 cash, a pretty large sum in those days. That year he hit 36 HRs falling two shy of his nemesis Mike Schmidt. Schmidt would beat out Kingman again in the bicentennial year of 1976, this time by just one HR. Kingman had 30 HRs already by the All Star break & there was talk of him breaking the single season record. But an injury shut him down from mid July to late August denying him of the opportunities. The mid seventies Mets were good teams & in contention most of the season. By 1982 things were still bad & wouldn't begin to turn around until the next season.  One of the 1982 high lights was Dave Kingman becoming the first Met to ever lead the league in HRs with 37. That year Kingman beat out At...

September 29th 2018: It was big day in New York & in Mets history as the Mets honored the team Captain, the franchise record holder in hits, runs, doubles, RBIs, walks, sac flies & games played at third base. Probably the only good thing the guy posing as a mayor of NY ever did, was declare this day David Wright Day. The honors & congrads rolled in from every where & ever one. Highlight films were shown on tv & at Citi Field as the big night got underway. A brilliant career that began in 2004 but was cut short by injuries, was highlighted by seven All Star appearances, a NL Championship & two NL eastern titles & two post seasons. Wright once the face of MLB & always the face of the New York Mets, was always known as one of baseballs classiest players. A good guy, always smiling, never with controversies & always gracious to the fans whom he loved. It was a night to honor the Mets Captain. Wright would start a game for ...

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 lace...