Since Osh41 mentioned it this morning…go six minutes and forty seconds into this video and take a look at the Happy Days Softball Team at Shea. Â The video is grainy but is that a 16 on the back of the Mets player who is umpiring?
Mets Police 70’s week: Watching Mets Yearbook 1978
I haven’t seen Mets Yearbook 1978 yet but Osh41 has. Â You kids that are stressed about 2009 have NO IDEA what bad is. Â At least you knew everyone was coming back. Â Imagine if Wright, Reyes and Santana were in Reds uniforms. Â Here’s Osh…
Mets Yearbook – by the way – how great is this show?? Anyway I checked my DVR and was very happy to see the 1978 Yearbook showed up. For Mets geeks like myself 1978 was ‘the year after’. Seaver had been traded in mid 1977 so this was the first full season of the dark ages which finally lifted in 1984 – coincidentally my favorite Mets Yearbook edition so far.
One thing you can definitely say about Mets Yearbook 1978 is – SPIN CONTROL.
After watching the show you’d never know that the 1978 Mets went 66-96 – all this while the team in the boogie down Bronx won their second straight WS. Can you imagine in the WFAN/24 hour sports cycle the Mets being that bad? Well last year was probably as close as we’ll ever see to this – but they could at least blame the injuries. The 78 team was just bad.
Some highlights
* The Mets have new uniforms! Check Metspolice archives for this – 1978 – 1981.
* The Mets turn a lot of double plays! The flip side to this is that they had a ton of base runners allowed which teams that lose 96 games tend to have.
* Pat Zachary describing how he broke his foot having a tantrum which ended a season which had him make the All-Star team.
* Ralph Kiner narrating a reenactment of Zachary breaking his foot – um guys, you lost 96 games – is this something that was funny? Funny how???? (insert Joe Pesci Goodfella’s clip here).
* The San Diego Chicken doing a full out imitation of the Willie Montanez painfully slow HR trot. How did this guy not get a pitch to the side of his helmet? David Wright shows up no one and gets hit and this guy never got drilled for this act?
* Bobby V being really over the top and annoying during a bubble gum blowing contest. I liked Bobby as a manager and put up with his hijinks so it’s good to see that he could be equally annoying as an active player.
* Lee Mazzilli gets glasses!!!
* Old Timers Day! Clips of an event the Mets used to have which David Howard says won’t sell seats – Hey Dave – school’s out – I don’t see the numbers jumping in home attendance – what’s the excuse now?
* The Happy Days cast plays softball at Shea! Holy crap – is this a Mets highlight film? Oh yeah – baseball-reference.com says that the team had on OBP of .314 and collectively hit 86 homeruns. Yeah – get the Laverne and Shirley cast out there too while you’re at it.
* Steve Henderson and Dan Norman profiled – 2 of the prizes of the Seaver trade (Doug Flynn and Zachary were the others) get some face time. Henderson gets tips from Willie Mays on how to play the outfield (Steve plays the OF like Roger Cedeno based on the highlights so Willie had his work cut out for him. And he is almost unintelligible – his drawl is so thick you have to rewind it a second time to get the jist). Dan is what he always was ‘ a prospect who has a bright future’. That future included 9 homeruns over parts of 4 seasons with the Mets. Yeah.
Looking forward to the 79 film – the 79 team was the absolute rock bottom of the dark ages for the Mets – looking forward to what they put out there. I am guessing the Mets showing off their juggling skills or maybe the mule ‘Mettle’ makes an appearance.
Mets Police 70′s week: Matlack One Hits the Big Red Machine
I knew 70’s week would be right up the alley of Centerfield Maz….here’s another loaner from his great site.
1973 NLCS Game #2: Matlack One Hits the Big Red Machine
October 7th, 1973- NLCS Game #2: In Game #1 the Mets lost a heartbreaker, 2-1 in the bottom of the 9th inning as Johnny Bench hit a HR off a tiring Tom Seaver.
In Game #2 it was all Mets, and on the mound all Jon Matlack. Matlack put in one of the best pitching performances in Mets history as he shut down the Big Red Machine, throwing a two hit shut out. He only allowed two runners to ever get as far as second base, striking out nine Reds along the way.
His opponent Don Gullet pitched well himself, in the 4th inning Rusty Staub connected for a HR over the high Riverfront Stadium wall putting the Mets up 1-0. That score would stand until the top of the 9th inning, when the Mets sent 10 men to the plate scoring four more times to even up the Series.
With one out, Felix Millan singled, off the Reds Tom Hall. Rusty Staub walked, and Cleon Jones singled to centerfield. As Cesar Geronimo attempted to nail Millan at home both runners advanced. Pedro Borbon relieved Hall and intentionally walked John Milner. With the bases loaded Jerry Grote singled home two more runs making it 4-0. Don Han & Bud Harrelson followed with base hits finishing up the inning with a 5-0 lead. Matlack retired the side in order in the bottom of the 9th and the Mets wrapped up a 5-0 victory.
In the locker room, the joyous Mets celebrated Matlack’s great performance. Bud Harrelson joked the Reds looked like me hitting out there today. Those words would set the stage for one of the most famous brawls in baseball history in the next game. For now the Mets happily boarded a flight back to New York for Game #3.
Mets Police 70′s Week: Lee Mazzilli the All-Star
A cool article from MLB.com remembering when Lee Mazzilli was in the All Star Game.
When Mazzilli was selected to the Midsummer Classic at age 24, many figured he would make a return trip to the game at some point in his career. But in 10 more seasons with five different teams, the outfielder and eventual first baseman never again was selected to play among baseball’s best.
Luckily for him, his one memory is a good one.
“You want to get back as much as you can,” Mazzilli said. “But I was just fortunate to get in one and hit a home run. Just being picked for one was overwhelming getting a chance to play with the greats of the greats. I played with players on that team that I watched when I was younger.
Mets Police 70’s week: George Steinbrenner’s Yankees
When I heard the news of George’s passing I started pondering what I would write about, and my brain went back to the late 70’s and the rivalry between the Yankees and the Mets.
The Yankees were scary to this little boy. I don’t mean just on field, but everything about them. I still remember my dad taking me to the Bronx for my first game up there. A night game. We drove along River Avenue looking for parking. Scary. And so many people! And this Stadium it seems so cramped yet so new.
Even at 7 I knew the name of the owner.
You kids might be wondering what possible rivalry there could have been between Joel Youngblood and friends and Reggie and the Zoo but there sure was.
Before interleague play, the two would only meet in spring training games and the Mayor’s Trophy game which was a one game midseason exhibition game which alternated between Shea and Yankee. It was notable to see the teams on the field together.
Our team had nothing to lose. Of course the Yankees should win. You guys just spent millions of dollars on all these players and we have….Lee Mazzilli!
Some times in the spring the Mets would win and George would lose it. There would be actual March 16th pressure on Billy Martin or whoever was managing the Yankees on any given day (George was crazy and went through a ton of managers be fire hiring the manager of the loser Mets, Joe Torre – boy that’s ironic).
George’s Yankees were everything our Mets weren’t. They had a “new” Stadium and they went to the World Series every year.
Eventually the Mets got new owners (this Wilpon fellow seems like he wants to win!) and by 1986 man oh man it was fun to be a Mets fan and watch the Yankees trip over themselves with their crazy leader making bonehead trade after bonehead trade and firing two or three managers a year.
Yep, the Mets had become the winning team and had the better ownership. As the 80’s became the 90’s surely this was to be a Mets town.