centerfield maz

Gil Hodges Mets were in second place opening up a Father's Day weekend four game set with the Frank Lucchesi's last place Phillies. Less than two weeks earlier the Mets had been tied for first place but had fallen to 2.5 games back of the Pittsburgh Pirates.  Things looked good as they won eight of ten games, but a horrible July saw them lose 16 of 19 never able to catch the eventual world champion Pirates. Saturday June 19th, 1971:  Today Tom Seaver took the mound against Rick Wise. Seaver would win his second Cy Young Award that season, leading the league in ERA (1.76) & strike outs (289) winning twenty games (20-10). Rick Wise would win 17 games in his final season in Philadelphia getting traded to the Cardinals for Steve Carlton.  After a scoreless 1st inning, the Phillies put up two runs on Deron Johnson's two run HR in the 2nd inning. In the top of the 3rd, Tim McCarver doubled to right center/ Seaver walked Willie Montanez then Ron Stone singled in McCarver gi...

Friday June 18th, 2004: Mike Piazza Night- On this night the New York Mets paid tribute to future Hall of Famer; Mike Piazza. On May 5th, Piazza had just become the MLB All Time HR leader among catchers after hitting his 352nd HR at the position. To Honor Piazza, some of the greatest living catchers in the history of the game were on hand to pay their tributes.  Among the greats were: The 1986 World Champion Mets catcher Gary Carter. Former Boston Red Sox / Chicago White Sox Hall of Famer Carlton Fisk. The Big Red Machine's Hall of famer Johnny Bench. Former Mets player/ coach & 1973 NL Champion Mets manager, the  legendary Yogi Berra.  Also on hand were former Detroit Tigers catcher & a current coach on the Tigers, Lance Parrish. Future Hall of Famer, Texas Rangers & Florida Marlins catcher Ivan Rodriguez.  Another honorary guest was Mike Piazza's lifetime family friend & former Los Angeles Dodgers Manager; Tommy Lasorda.  Mets broa...

May 7th, 1985:  Ron Darling came into this start with 1-1 record as he took the mound against the Braves Steve Bedrosian. Bedrosian was still a starting pitcher at this point, the next year he would start his career as a close, leading the NL with 40 saves in 1987. Ron Darling held the Braves scoreless thru the first four innings; in the 5th he gave up a HR to Claudell Washington which was the only run he would give up. Darling exited the game after eight innings with the score tied at one, after Howard Johnson had homered for New York. In the bottom of the 8th, Gary Carter hit his eighth career grand slam, coming off Hall of Fame closer, Bruce Sutter helping Darling with the win. In the top of the 9th, Jesse Orosco gave up five singles but closed out the 5-3 win. Mother's Day May 12th, 1985: In his next start Darling went up against Kevin Gross & the Phillies at Shea Stadium. Darling had another good outing, giving up two runs, a HR from Glen Wilson & RBI single from Mike ...

Tuesday June 15th, 1999: Bobby Valentine's second place Mets (34-30) were in Cincinnati to play Jack McKeon's third place Reds (32-28).  A crowd of 18,248 came to Cinergy Field to see the Mets Rick Reed face off with the Reds Brett Tomko. Reds Ball Park Trivia: Cinergy Field was the same ballpark previously named Riverfront Stadium where the Big Red Machine won back-to-back World Championships in 1975 & 1976 then adding a third World Series victory in 1990. In 1999 it was remanned Cinergy Field thru the 2002 season. In 2003 they began play at the new Great American Ballpark. The Mets came into the game winning six of their last eight games. Tonight's win would start another four-game win streak, as well as a streak of nine wins in the next ten games. From June 6th to June 25th, they would go 16-3 .  The two teams would end the regular season in a tie for the wild card spot. The Mets would win a one game tie breaker & advance to the post season. In the top of t...

Monday June 15th 2015: Terry Collins first place Mets (35-30) were opening up a three-game series against John Gibbons third place Toronto Blue Jays (34-31). The Mets were holding onto a one & a half game lead in the NL East over the Washington Nationals, as the mighty bats of the Blue Jays were just two games out of first place on an eleven game win streak. Former Met Jose Reyes was returning to Citi Field in a Blue Jays uniform, and former Blue Jays number one pick (2010) Noah Syndergaard was facing his old organization for the first time.  Tonight's game would be a three & a half hour battle, going eleven innings featuring eleven different pitchers with an exciting walk off win.  Tonight, the Mets donned their camouflage Military jerseys The Blue Jays Jose Bautista started out the scoring with one of his two HRs on the night, putting the Jays up 1-0. Syndergaard would not allow another run through six innings &gave up...