Miracles Never Cease

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al jackson, amos otis, art shamsky, casey stengel, donn clendenon, ed kranepool, gil hodges, jerry koosman, jessie hudson, joe foy, kevin collins, luis castillo's, nolan ryan, tom seaver's, tug mcgraw

Published Dec. 19, 2009 at 10:55 p.m.

Apologies in advance if a technical matter temporarily disappears this post. We're still in the process of switching blog platforms, and I was going to wait on any further posting 'til it's done, but I wanted to continue to get the word out about the following project ... plus snow is falling on Long Island like pop flies on Luis Castillo's head, and I need to stop staring out the window ... Back when Bob Costas was an up and coming broadcaster whose every other utterance was cheekily charming

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27 Minutes Outside Citi Field

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daniel murphy, duke snider, fred wilpon, gil hodges, richie ashburn, willie mays, yogi berra

Published Dec. 10, 2009 at 6:04 p.m.

Ebbets Field was always in reach. There were obstacles — money, the policeman's shoe, a leap, the greasy garageman — but a boy could contend with them and triumph, if he had wit and persistence and a touch of courage. It was easy and absolutely irrational to relate getting to see a Dodger game with getting to be a Dodger. Which, in the fine irrationality of boyhood, is what generations of Brooklyn children did ... —Roger Kahn, The Boys Of Summer ... Why is Mets security being wasted

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Making Their 'Presence' Felt

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al jackson, casey stengel, frank cashen, gil hodges, tom seaver, willie mays

Published Nov. 21, 2009 at 10:27 p.m.

Earlier this week, esteemed FAFIF commenter Kevin from Flushing sent me a link to a video report out of Minnesota regarding the new Twins ballpark with the following warning: ... "kick in the balls 23 seconds in" ... I didn't necessarily want a kick there or anywhere, but with a come-on like that, how could I not click? I did and, as promised, at 0:23, Jana Shortal of KARE-TV wound up and delivered. As the camera lingered over a wall devoted to an immense image of Kirby Puckett, she let loose

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Blue & Orange Thursday

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al jackson, casey stengel, gil hodges

Published Nov. 25, 2009 at 4:02 p.m.

The Mets used to regularly play Memorial Day doubleheaders, Independence Day doubleheaders and Labor Day doubleheaders, yet the holiday that launched them into the public consciousness was the one we celebrate tomorrow ... That's right: the Mets are as much a part of Thanksgiving as stuffing, pumpkin pie and forced conversation you could do without ... Two months before they started limbering up in St. Petersburg and nearly four months before they began losing in earnest, the New York Mets made

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Mets Should Have Kept Herzog

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george stone, gil hodges, jim fregosi, ken singleton, mickey lolich, nolan ryan, rusty staub, tim foli, whitey herzog, yogi berra

Published Nov. 13, 2009 at 9:36 a.m.

Mets history might be so different if only… ... While watching SNY’s first installment of Yearbook , Whitey Herzog was seen in full Mets regalia working with young players within the system. If only the Mets had realized what a great mind Herzog had ... Last night’s installment of Yearbook focused on the 1971 season. These films were produced after the season as propaganda for prospective advertisers. Much of the film was seen by the general public for the very first time last evening.

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The 83-79 Way

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bud harrelson, cleon jones, don hahn, donn clendenon, ed kranepool, gil hodges, jim fregosi, ken singleton, tommie agee

Published Nov. 13, 2009 at 8:42 a.m.

Rarely has anything I've anticipated surpassed my expectations the way SNY's Mets Yearbook did Thursday night. The 1971 highlight film immediately became the second-best thing ever aired on the channel, behind only the 2006 division clincher ... The film was titled The Winning Way , which in itself is beautiful given that the 83-79 Mets were as mediocre as all get-out in 1971. But the first installment in this series of vintage propaganda pieces is a victory in SNY programming. It's like they

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SNY Prepares to Do Right By Us

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casey stengel, dave howard, gil hodges, jerry koosman, tom seaver

Published Nov. 6, 2009 at 6:05 p.m.

As trophies and t-shirts were being passed around Wednesday night on five different channels, I flipped to SNY out of curiosity. Would they be taking their New York sports mandate seriously and covering the grim doings at Yankee Stadium? Would they have something special on to cheer up the rest of us? Would there be racing from the Meadowlands? ... They were airing a repeat of The Best of Mets Weekly which, at that moment, featured Dave Howard giving Julie Alexandria a tour of a Citi Field

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You Never Forget Your First

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al weis, cleon jones, donn clendenon, gil hodges, jerry koosman, ken boswell, ron swoboda, ron swoboda's, tommie agee

Published Oct. 16, 2009 at 6:47 a.m.

Welcome to Flashback Friday: I Saw The Decade End , a milestone-anniversary salute to the New York Mets of 1969, 1979, 1989 and 1999. Each week, we immerse ourselves in or at least touch upon something that transpired within the Metsian realm 40, 30, 20 or 10 years ago. Amazin' or not, here it comes ... The 1969 baseball championship, won — not stolen — by the New York Mets, stands unquestioned as the greatest sporting achievement of the year. Yes, some will say "of the century" ...

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Baseball's Most Magical Date

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bobby valentine, bud harrelson, darryl strawberry, doug sisk, duke snider, f, frank viola, gary carter, george foster, gil hodges, harry chiti, howard johnson, jeff reardon, keith hernandez, lenny randle, mike cubbage, ray knight, rube walker, wes westrum

Published Sept. 22, 2009 at 2:26 p.m.

Welcome to a special Tuesday edition of Flashback Friday: I Saw The Decade End , a milestone-anniversary salute to the New York Mets of 1969, 1979, 1989 and 1999. Each week, we immerse ourselves in or at least touch upon something that transpired within the Metsian realm 40, 30, 20 or 10 years ago. Amazin' or not, here it comes ... And fans at the Polo Grounds today will be able to tell their grandchildren — they'll be the gassy old men leaning into the next century and trying to convince

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Now About That Franchise Hit Record...

Tagged with:

bud harrelson, cleon jones, david wright, ed kranepool, gil hodges, gus bell, jerry grote, jim hickman, joe christopher, jose reyes, luis castillo, pumpsie green, richie ashburn, rod kanehl, ron hunt, tommie agee, wayne garrett, wayne graham, yogi berra

Published Sept. 9, 2009 at 8:32 a.m.

There's a lot of talk going around about all-time franchise records for hits. I assume this has something to do with the eternal appreciation fans and media have for true legends of the game. Given that the subject is in the air, I thought it would be fun (my kind of fun, at any rate) to explore how the vaunted Met record for most hits in a career came to be ... The first Met to hold the all-time franchise record for hits was Gus Bell. He produced the first Met hit ever, a one-out single to

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