Opening Day Memories Of The Mets

Finally, after the longest spring ever, Opening Day has arrived.   Hopefully the weather won’t be too bad and I can sneak some SNY time in at the office today.

Opening Day is always a good one – here’s a walk down memory lane…some from season openers and some from home openers.  In no particular order.

1985.  Wow 1984 was great.  Now that we’ve added Gary Carter we are sure to beat out the Cubs for the division title this year!  Gary became an immediate fan favorite when he homered off Neil Allen (ha we got Keith Hernandez for you!) in the 10th inning.   Welcome to New York Gary!

1988 – Strawberry hits the most massive home run you’ll ever see.  It was still going up when it hit the top of Olympic Stadium in Montreal.   Give the man some steroids.

1987:   My first day working at Shea Stadium, I get to see the Mets raise the World Series flag.   Something I would be sure to see many times over the next few years.

1983:  My favorite Opening Day and my favorite Mets memory of them all.  Tom Seaver returns home.   He walks down the right field line from the bullpen and gets a massive ovation from the home crowd.  I can still picture my field level seats over by third base (I was about 13, how did I get those?).   Amazing.  Seaver was great for six before Doug Sisk taught us to hate him.

1994:  Tuffy Rhodes (who?) hits not one, not two, but three home runs off Doc Gooden (he’s Sheffield’s uncle kids and Uncle Doc was a pretty good pitcher.  Coulda been one of the greats….)

Nothing else from the 90’s strikes me, and I was too young for anything before.   I imagine 1962 was fun, and 1970 was a good one.  I bet losing the opener to the expansion 1969 Expos stunk.

I can’t quite remember if Gooden pitching in the cold in Chicago was an opener…I think so.  Maybe Tim Leary too.  I’m writing this on Sunday and have been blogging for hours, I’ll leave that research to someone else…

Any other suggestions?

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Cool Jerry Koosman Article

I found a pretty cool Jerry Koosman article in Minneapolis Star-Tribune


By the spring of 1966, it looked as if Koosman was going to be among the players released before the start of the minor league schedules.


“There are two stories as to why that didn’t happen,” Koosman said recently. “One was that Frank Lary, the Mets’ minor league pitching coach, put in a word for me. The other was that I owed Joe McDonald, the Mets’ farm director, 50 bucks, and he didn’t want to get rid of me before he got his money back.”

For the rest click here.  You youngsters need to know who this guy is.  He is one of the all-time great Mets, and a name you hear far less than say Todd Pratt, and that’s not right.

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Meet Will, Your Citi Field Specialty Beer Man

Out beyond center field at Citi Field is Taste of the City– the concession area that everyone (from the Times to NY Magazine) is talking about. This is where you will find Danny Meyer’s Shake Shack and Blue Smoke stands,as well as Box Frites and Nona’s Deli.

But for me, the happiest moment on Sunday was when I met Will. Will is the man in charge of Big Apple Brews, a beer oasis that will make any beer aficionado smile. A 4-sided,12 door refrigerator stocks dozens of micro and imported beers – and the selection is constantly changing based on sales and consumer feedback.

I met Will while gazing at a bottle of Longboard Lager from Hawaii’s Kona Brewing Company. According to Will it was a big seller over the weekend. Not so much the Kirin or Tiger (which only sold “maybe 4 bottles”).

Go check out the selection and tell Will the MetsPolice sent you.

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