Remembering Mets History (1973) Tom Seaver Strikes Out 16 Giants

Tuesday May 29th, 1973: The 1973 Mets were in the midst of a California West Coast Road trip. Yogi Berra's Mets were just below .500 at 20-21 in second place 5.5 games behind the Chicago Cubs. 

After winning the opener of the road trip in Los Angeles, the Mets had lost four straight games, losing to two future Hall of Fame pitchers the previous nights.  On Sunday, the Dodgers Don Sutton beat Jerry Koosman in a 2-1 classic at Dodger Stadium. Then the Giants Juan Marichal had bested Mets rookie Tommie Moore on Monday night in a 6-5 Giants win.

Tonight's game drew a small crowd of just 7,289 fans to Candlestick Park on the San Francisco Bay, Hunters Point section of the city. The notorious cold windy ballpark had just enclosed the outfield with stands two years before, for the NFL's 49ers who started play in the park in 1971.

The Mets sent Tom Seaver to the mound to face off against Jim Barr.

In the bottom of the 1st, Tom Seaver started things off by striking out Bobby Bonds. After a ground out to Bud Harrelson by Tito Fuentes, he served up a double to Garry Maddox. Seaver then struck out Willie McCovey to end the inning.

In the bottom of the 2nd inning, he struck out Ed Goodson & Gary Mathews. He issued a walk to Chris Speier then struck out Dave Rader for the third out & his 5th K.

In the 3rd, he retired the side in order, including fanning Bobby Bonds for the second time. 

In the 4th, Seaver had another 1-2-3 inning, getting Willie McCovey on strikes for the second time, which was his 8th K of the game.

In the top of the 5th inning, Seaver himself, put the Mets on the board. He hit his first & only HR of the 1973 season. 

Trivia: Tom Seaver was a fine hitting pitcher who batted .154 with 12 career HRs & 86 RBIs. It was the sixth HR of his career; he had actually hit three in the 1972 season, the year before. For Seaver who grew up less than three hours from San Francisco, it was always a thrill to play in the Bay Area in front of family & friends.

In the bottom of the 5th, Seaver struck out Chris Speier & Jim Barr to total ten strikeouts in the game.

In the Giants 6th inning, Seaver struck out Bobby Bonds to start the inning for his 11th strike outs. Then second baseman Tito Fuentes doubled to left field, then one of Seaver's childhood idol's- Willie McCovey blasted a two run HR off him, giving the Giants a 2-1 lead. McCovey was one of Seaver's most respected players & one of his toughest opponents.

After the McCovey HR, Seaver would retire the next ten batters in a row, to complete the game.

In the 7th inning, he added his 12th strike fanning Gary Mathews for the second time. In the 8th, he got Bobby Bonds for the fourth time on the night as Bonds earned himself the "golden sombrero". Seaver then ended the inning as he struck out Tito Fuentes for #14. 

For Tom Terrific, he had at least one strike out in every inning, collecting a pair of K's in the 4th, 5th, & 8th innings. Seaver struck out all three outs in the 2nd inning.

The Giants, Jim Barr kept the Mets pretty quiet as well, holding them to just one run through the first eight innings. He would give up eight hits, walk three & strike out two. That run came on the Seaver HR.

In the top of the 9th, Mets pinch hitter Ken Boswell drew a walk off Jim Barr. Then Giants manager Charlie Fox, pulled Barr & brought in reliever Randy Moffitt. 

Trivia: Randy Moffitt is the younger brother of female tennis star Bill Jean King, who was on top of her game in 1973.

Moffitt quickly surrendered a base hit to Bud Harrelson & a bunt base hit in a sacrifice attempt for Tom Seaver. Moffit then walked Wayne Garrett with the bases loaded forcing in a run to tie the game.

Felix Millan followed with a two-run single to left field, putting the Mets up 4-2. Moffitt was yanked by Charlie Fox & "Sudden" Sam McDowell was brought into pitch.

Mets manager-Yogi Berra sent in George "the Stork" Theodore to pinch hit. "The Stork" came through with a sac fly scoring Millan making it a 5-2 Mets lead. 

The Mets batted around in the inning, sending ten men to the plate, collecting four runs on three hits, with four walks thanks to Giants pitchers.

Seaver came on to finish the game off in the 9th. He struck out Gary Maddox for his 15th strike out & then he got Willie McCovey for the 16th strike out of the day. McCovey had homered but also went down on strikes three times. Ed Goodson grounded out to end the game.

On the night, Seaver struck out every batter in the lineup. Bobby Bonds led the team in down four times, McCovey three times, with Chris Speier & Gary Mathews both going down twice.

The victory was Seaver's fourth in a row, putting him at 6-3 with a 1.71 ERA, with 82 strike outs, eleven games into the season. The win put the Mets at .500.

Trivia: The 16 Ks would be his highest total in his 1973 Cy Young season. Overall, he would have six games where had double figures in strike outs.