Before Endy Chavez, “The Catch” in Mets history referred to the diving snare made by Ron Swoboda in the 1969 World Series.I had the great pleasure of talking to Ron about that catch and how he turned himself — through hard work, pride, and dedication — into a Major League outfielder capable of making one [ ... ] ...
The Mets were meandering through their most arid major award season since 1993 — the last time no Met scored a single vote for MVP, Cy Young, Manager of the Year or Rookie of the Year nor nabbed a Silver Slugger or Gold Glove — when it appeared we'd have nothing more to sate our perilously low self-esteem than Luis Castillo's fantastic seventh-place finish in voting for mlb.com's National League Comeback Player of the Year balloting (six points behind the decreasingly heartwarming return of
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" ...
Shockingly enough, the Mets lost. They started feebly, offered a little spurt of purposefulness, then rolled over and died ... Which was actually an improvement from the night before, when they expired in a fashion that should have been gut-wrenching but instead was just numbing. Not so long ago, the Mets losing on a game-ending error would have left me fuming for hours on end. Last night, it barely registered. And tonight? I barely remember tonight ... At Amazin' Tuesday I was chatting with
he's so dumb, how come he's president?" ... —Gerald Ford's campaign slogan, as reported by Chevy Chase on Weekend Update, 1975 ... Those who cut the Mets miles and miles of slack for sucking as badly as they do point to the injuries. How could have we expected them to contend without their key players? I'll buy that. I'll buy that substituting for All-Stars and even regulars wasn't going to be easy. I'll buy that if you told me ahead of time that we'd endure most of 2009 missing mass
Mets 7 Dodgers 4The love-hate relationship between Ron Swoboda and the Shea faithful continues.Swoboda swatted a screwball from the hand of Jim Brewer with the bases juiced in the seventh to send ... [[ This is a summary ... visit MetsToday.com for the full story ]] ...
"Ain't nothin' horrible gonna happen today!" ... —Nate Cox, shortly before he's macheted to death by his brother Dewey in Walk Hard ... I probably would have remembered being at Sunday's game for the two three-run homers the opposing team blasted in the top of the first ... Or the way the home manager took out his starting pitcher after he ran a 3-0 count on the opposing pitcher, still in the top of the first ... Or the opposing pitcher being a first-time returning icon ... Or his giving up
Well, thanks Ollie. That was memorable ... What better time to rewind for a belated look at last night's celebration? (Apologies for the "belated" part -- your correspondent arrived exhausted and slept like a dead thing.) ... The Mets did a nice job with the ceremony: There was Howie Rose behind his podium, scenes from '69 on the big board, and other little touches -- I particularly liked that the 2009 Mets appeared on the scoreboard in replica 1969 baseball cards, with images of Topps' real
LAST night at Citi Field, the Miracle Mets were overshad owed by the Miserable Mets ... HUBBUCH ON TWITTER A night honoring the 1969 championship team just underscored how awful the 2009 season has been. Images of Ron Swoboda and Tommie Agee making ...
Eric Simon of Amazin Avenue builds a post around, “You Know Things Are Rough For The Mets When.”In advance of tomorrow night’s 1969 Celebration, Ron Swoboda stopped by to sign autographs and talk baseball with the Daily News.Billy Wagner warms the heart of Adam, the Brooklyn Met Fan.Dominic of Pessimets explains why tonight will be [ ... ] ...