Remembering Mets History (1973 World Series) Game #5- Jerry Koosman & Tug McGraw Combine on a Three Hit Shut Out

Thursday, October 18th, 1973: World Series Game #5

Shea Stadium, Queens New York

Tug McGraw & Rollie Fingers Laugh It Up Before the Game

There was less drama surrounding the A's off the field before the fifth game of the World Series. The questions now surrounding them was how they were going to solve the Mets pitchers. 

They had been held down to 13 runs (10 earned) in 32 innings of play. The Mets pitchers were posting a 2.81 ERA without allowing a HR to the team led the AL in runs (753) was third in HRs (147) & batted .260. 

In the 1973 post season up to Game #5 of the World Series, Mets pitchers posted a 1.61 ERA over the two mighty offenses of the Big Red Machine & Swingin' A's. 

The fifth game of the 1973 World Series was played on a forty-eight-degree, breezy night in New York. 54, 817 paid fans filled up Shea Stadium for the final home game of the year. 

Tonight, the Shea fans seemed louder & more enthusiastic on the original television & radio broadcasts than the attendance of the first two games at Shea.

Tonight was a rematch of the Game #2 lefthanders, Jerry Koosman for the Mets & Vida Blue for the A's.

Vida Blue had started out his career having been the youngest pitcher up to that point to win a Cy Young Award. At age 21 he went 24-8 with a league leading 1.82 ERA in 1971. 

Beginning that year he made 13 post season appearances for the A's & had not won a game. He was 0-3 with two saves & a 5.67 ERA in post season play.

Jerry Koosman had a rough outing in Game #2, giving up three runs to the A's in 2.2 innings of work. In the NLCS he had beaten the Reds in Game #3 with a complete game win, allowing three runs on eight hits with nine strike outs.

Quotes- Lavonne Koosman: "Jerry is not nervous, he's probably the calmest ballplayer around. He just never loses his cool, I don't have any fingernails left. There were some fantastic restaurants in San Francisco but it's more exciting here in New York. It's just more fun to have your friends & the people you love around you. Thats what makes the World Series so much fun."

Jerry Koosman had gone 3-0 in the 1969 post season, with two wins including a complete game performance in the series clinching Game #5. He was as much as a Mets big game pitcher as Tom Seaver was with his performance.

When asked to compare to the 1969 World Series she said-"I think we didn't realize what was going on then. Now we're more aware & able to enjoy it more".

Singer Tony Martin who had many hits from the 1930's to the 1940's sang the National Anthem. Martin was married to actress Cyd Charisse for 60 years.  Alongside Tony Martin was the Armed Forces Police Color Guard & the 590th US Air Force Band from McGuire Aire Force Base. 

From the Commissioners box, the ever-distinguished dapper looking Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio threw out the ceremonial first pitch to Jerry Grote. DiMaggio had been teammates with Yogi Berra in the AL. DiMaggio was an ever-present figure supporting the Mets in the 1969 World Series as well. His ties with the A's were being a Bay Area Native & onetime A's part time coach.

Mets Owner Mrs. Joan Payson

Milner Steps on First Retiring Joe Rudi

In the top of the 1st, Koosman started the game getting the pesky Campaneris to ground out to third.

Joe Rudi then grounded into the hole at short & Bud Harrelson made a great play firing to Milner who had to jump but made the out.

Koosman walked then Sal Bando on four pitches but struck out Reggie Jackson to end the 1st.

In the bottom of the 1st Vida Blue struck out Wayne Garrett, got Felix Millan on a grounder & Rusty Staub lined to left field.

In the top of the 2nd, Koosman had an easy 1-2-3 inning, starting with a strike out of Gene Tenace.

In the bottom of the 2nd, Cleon Jones who was weak as he was still battling the flu for the third day, drove a leadoff double off the fence in left field.  

It was Cleon's third hit in as many at bats off Vida Blue in the series. He had gone 2-2 with a HR & a walk in Game #2. 

Next up "the Hammer" John Milner singled to right field bringing in the game's first run, as
Cleon Jones crossed the plate exciting the Mets fans. 

It was John Milner's sixth hit of the Series. He had gone hitless in the previous game, but he had collected two hits in both Game #2 & Game #3 of the series.  Milner had now hit safely in eight of ten post season games.

The Mets had now scored first in all three Series games at Shea Stadium. 

The Hammer John Milner

In the 3rd inning, Koosman retired Dick Green & struck out Vida Blue for his third K of the night. Bert Campaneris hit a little looper into short center for his sixth hit of the series.

The AL's best base stealer attracted a lot of attention as Koosman threw to first & on the first pitch Jerry Grote threw down to first to try to catch Campy off the base. 

Koosman with his great left-handed pick off move, then caught him off the base for the third out on a close play. 

The A's argued to home plate umpires Russ Goetz & Harry Wendelstedt that Koosman had balked but the call stood.

In the bottom of the 4th, the Mets threatened again, the hot hitting Rusty Staub & Cleon Jones both singled. 

Jones was now 4-4 against Vida Blue, it was his eighth hit of the series. For Staub he had now hit safely in all four series games he had played in.

Trivia: Rusty would never wear an undershirt or long sleeve shirt under his uniform jersey no matter how cold the weather. 

Most played on this 50-degree night had a sweatshirt underneath. Staub was born in New Orleans but had played in the first few seasons of the Expos franchise in Montreal.

Next John Milner bunted but Staub was forced at third base.

 After Jerry Grote popped up to Gene Tenace in foul ground at first base, a rare Bert Campaneris error on Don Hanh's grounder in the hole, loaded the bases. 

But the Mets couldn't capitalize, as Vida Blue got Bud Harrelson to pop up to Tenace at first base.

In the top of the 5th Gene Tenace drew a leadoff walk, his seventh walk of the Series.  Koosman got Jesus Alou to pop up for the first out.

With one out catcher Ray Fosse blooped a pop fly behind second base. Felix Millan made a circus catch behind the infield, with his back turned from home plate to make the grab. 

Millan's great catch possibly saved the game, as it stopped any chance of the A's having a big inning. Rusty Staub coming in from right field, tangled up with Millan after the catch was made, but no one was hurt. 

Millan threw to first & almost got a double play, but a diving John Milner just missed a tag on a Tenace.

Dick Green then flew out to Don Hahn in center field to end the inning.

In the bottom of the 5th after Koosman struck out, Wayne Garrett walked & advanced on Vida Blues wild pitch. But he was stranded as Blue settled down to get ground outs from Felix Millan & Rusty Staub.

In the top of the 6th, the A's still weren't hitting as Koosman was tough but they still threatened as Campy walked & a Wayne Garrett error put two men on with Reggie Jackson coming up. The tough left hander Koosman, got Jackson to ground out to Bud Harrelson to end the inning.

In the bottom of the 6th, Cleon Jones who was having a great night at the plate with the flu, blasted a drive to deep left field. A's outfielder Joe Rudi snagged it, making a fine catch running into the fence falling to the floor.

It was a spectacular catch, that even had the Shea Faithful applauding. Rudi was a bit shaken up, Dick Williams, the trainer & his teammates all came out to make sure he was ok.

Joe Rudi one of the game's best outfielders in that era, had also made a legendary catch in the 1972 World Series against the Reds. He had been mentored by Joe Dimaggio who was a Bay Area native & helped the A's with some coaching. DiMaggio applauded his student from his box seat.

Jerry Grote then reached with a two out base hit to left field off Blue. Grote who had three hits the previous night collected his sixth hit of the series.

Next up Don Hahn battled Vida Blue, then got the pitch he was waiting for & hit a shot in the hole into the left center field gap, the ball went all the way to the wall. Hahn glided into third with a triple as Jerry Grote scored with the Mets second run making it 2-0. 

Trivia: Hahn a .229 hitter surprised everyone with his power. It was his second extra base hit & second RBI of the series. Hahn had now hit safely in the last four Series games & drew two walks in Game #1.

 Dick Williams came out & removed a very dejected Vida Blue. Blue would still not be able to earn a win in post season play.

Darold Knowles (6-8 /9 saves/ 3.09 ERA) came in to pitch in his fifth straight World Series game. Knowles intentionally walked Bud Harrelson & then struck out Koosman to end the inning.

Don Hahn & Jerry Grote

Koosman Shuts Down A's

Meanwhile Jerry Koosman was pitching another fine post season game.

In the top of the 7th, Gene Tenace drew his second walk of the game. It was his eighth walk of the World Series. 

Jesus Alou popped up to Jerry Grote in foul territory for the first out. Next catcher Ray Fosse drilled a doubled to left field. All of a sudden, the A's had the tying runs in scoring position with the go ahead run at the plate. Things got interesting real fast.

Manager Yogi Berra felt Koosman was tiring & he went to mound stalled for time, then brought in his ace relief pitcher Tug McGraw. 

Tug McGraw was making his fourth appearance in the series & had last night off so he was rested. He came into a jam with runners on second & third with one out, as the Mets were clinging to a 2-0 lead.

The Stadium's organist: Jane Jarvis played the traditional "Irish Jig" as McGraw warmed up receiving a big ovation from the crowd. The crowd were now with McGraw on every pitch, cheering & jeering along the way. This was a big inning, maybe the biggest so far in the series.

His first batter was pinch hitter, Deron Johnson who he walked to load the bases, making the situation even more interesting.

Manager Dick Williams put in Alan Lewis "the Panamanian Express" into run for Johnson. He put Angel Mangual in to pinch hit. In a tough battle McGraw got Mangual to pop up to Bud Harrelson at short for the second out. 

The Shea fans were going wild, cheering him McGraw, as the man who was killing the Mets all series, Bert Campaneris came to bat. But in an epic at bat, McGraw got Bert Campaneris looking at his famous screwball for the strike out to end the inning.

Tonight, McGraw put in a fine performance in tight spots on the national stage, adding to his reputation as one of the games top relievers. The crowd went wild, as a revved-up Tug McGraw came back to the dugout pounding his glove on his upper thigh.

Trivia: McGraw's trademark move was banging his glove on his thigh after he walked off the mound at the end of an inning. He claimed it was a sign of affection toward his wife, a message between the two that said I love you.

Rollie Fingers came on to pitch the bottom of the 7th, making his fourth appearance of the series. He was the losing pitcher in Game #2 of the series. In the inning he got Garrett & Millan on ground ball outs. Rusty Staub drew a walk but Cleon Jones grounded to Campy to end the inning.

In the top of the 8th inning, McGraw had to face the big part of the A's order. First he got Joe Rudi on a grounder to sharp grounder to Wayne Garrett. Then Sal Bando hit a looper off the end of the bat to Cleon Jones in left field, Jones ran in & caught it for two quick outs.  

But then McGraw got in a bit of a jam, he walked Reggie Jackson & Gene Tenace putting the tying runs on as well as the go ahead run up at the plate.

Trivia: Gene Tenace walked three times in the game, for the second time in the series. He now had collected nine walks in the first five games. Tenace would match a World Series record tying Babe Ruth with 11 walks.

Blue Moon Odom came in to pinch run for Tenace. McGraw then got Jesus Alou to line out to Garrett at third base, ending the threat & the inning holding the 2-0 lead.

In the bottom of the 8th, John Milner singled into centerfield, collecting his second hit of the night & his seventh of the series. Jerry Grote sacrificed Milner to second on a bunt to the right side. 

Don Hahn struck out for out number two; Bud Harrelson was walked to get to McGraw who grounded out to end the inning.

In the 9th inning, McGraw came on for the big save. First, he got Ray Fosse to line out to Cleon in left field who came in & fell to his knees to catch the ball for the first out. 

McGraw then fooled Ted Kubiak striking him out looking at a fast ball on the corner. The Mets fans rose to their feet chanting "Let's Go Mets" as Pinch hitter Billy Conigliaro came to bat. Tug McGraw also got him to look at a third strike on the outside corner for the game ending out.

The Mets won the game 2-0 as Jerry Koosman got the win combining with Tug McGraw on a three hit shut out. It was an exciting win for New York as they went ahead in the series three games to two. The game took two hours & thirty-nine minutes to play, ending just before 11PM eastern time.

The Mets pitching had held the mighty A's offense to just one run in the last two games & four runs (three earned) in the 29 innings played at Shea Stadium. 

The A's were batting just .197 in the series. The Mets had out hit the A's 52 to 35 up to that point in the series.

Trivia: The Mets pitchers held Reggie Jackson down to 1-12 in three-night games at Shea Stadium, a big reason he A's offense did not score many runs. 

For Kooz it was his second post season win of 1973. In the World Series he was 1-0 allowing three runs in 8.2 innings of work, striking out eight & walking seven in two games. He was 2-0 in that post season allowing five runs in 17.2 innings of work with 17 strike outs.

Trivia: Koosman is still the Mets best post season pitcher having gone 4-0 with a 3.37 ERA in six post season games. 

He allowed 15 earned runs with 31 hits while striking out 31 & walking 15 in 40 innings of work over six games.

Quotes- Jerry Koosman: "I went into the ball game feeling very confident. I had good stuff in the bullpen, although after an inning or two, I found I wasn't getting my curveball over due to the dry air. My fingers stayed dry, so I relied on a fastball that was moving in every direction".

Tug McGraw allowed no runs on no hits, striking out three & walking three in 2.2 innings of work. He earned his first save of the World Series, his second save of the 1973 post season. 

Trivia: He had been the winning pitcher in Game #2 at Oakland. In the 1973 World Series he was 1-0 with a save, allowing four earned runs on seven hits in 12.2 innings of work with a 2.64 ERA, notching 13 strike outs & 8 walks in four appearances. 

In the post season he was 1-0 with two saves & 2.04 ERA allowing four earned runs on 12 hits, with 17 strike outs & 12 walks up to that point in seven appearances. 

The Mets were now up three games to two, heading back to California needing just one more win for another Championship.

 

New York was a Mets town & everyone got involved in the hype. 

Mayor John Lindsay got in on the action as well. During the game he borrowed a sign from the famous Shea Stadium sign man that read "You Gotta Believe". 

He held it up between innings & it got the attention of the Mets players in the dugout. Tug McGraw even came out to take a peek & acknowledge the hizzoner.