Spring cleaning can be a chore, but when you discover old Mets related items it can be fun.
Among the rediscovered items were these two magazines from the summer of 1985 (right around when Seaver won his 300th game ).
The first is fr
om Inside Sports (anyone remember it?). A seven-page article (people actually read long articles back then) discusses the long careers of Seaver, Koosman, and Ryan. It still hurts when I read “Seaver is the heart of the White Sox.”
The second cover is – this is a surprise – People! Published the week after his 300th, this is a 2-page article (starting on page 41 of course). Shannon should particularly like this issue as it also features The Boss.
I was at Seaver’s 300th win at Yankee Stadium. Of course I have interesting things to say about the day…
1) It was Phil Rizzuto Day…the famous one where he was knocked down by a “Holy Cow”
2) Before the game, I caught a BP ball after it had stopped rolling down a right field corridor…my father, cigarette dangling in mouth, yelled “Stevie got ball”
3) During Rizzutto’s ceremony, Seaver warmed up very conspicuously on the field, not the bullpen for some of his warmup…I thought he was upstaging Phil a bit (years later they became broadcast partners)
4) I remember watching out of town scores as second year player Dwight something beat the Cubs to go 17-3.
5) A looming player walkout threatened all of baseball…they did walk out two days later, but came back after one day, with the Mets one half up on St.Loius.
6) With Met fans rooting for Seaver, Yankee fans became enraged…multiple brawls in the stands practically cleared out RF by the foul pole.
Steve, I was there too. I remember the crowd cheering for Seaver as he took the field and Rizzuto thinking it was for him thanking the crowd.
Three bits of trivia about that day:
1 – Seaver’s opponent that day was Joe Cowley – wearing 41
2 – The final score of the game was 4-1
3 – The Mets did win that day – by a score of 4-1
Nice work Dan, I have that Inside Sports as well. Ann Jillian? Was she 80’s hot??
Always remember a line in the article that implied that Seaver was still PO’d at the Mets for the ‘unprotected’ debacle. Still cannot comprehend how they let him get away.