Buzz Capra: 1973 N.L. Champion Mets Pitcher (1971-1973)

Lee William Capra was born October 1, 1947, in Chicago, Illinois.

Nickname of Buzz: "I had a little wooden bat & my father would throw the ball to me right outside our building when I was six. I would swing & start spinning around & there was an older man watching us all the time & he told me that I looked like a buzz saw. The Buzz part stuck."

In 1969 he helped Illinois State University win the college championship.  The five-foot eleven righty was selected by the New York Mets in the 27th round of that year's draft. 

Quotes- Buzz Capra: "The scout is in my home trying to sign me & my father, a proud Italian is trying to get me a few more dollars. But the scout said take it or leave it & I was thinking, please stop talking Dad. I took it."

Capra became a favorite of Minor League Director Whitey Herzog. He was another highly touted pitching prospect for the early 1970’s Mets. In his minor league career Capra was 44 -18 with a 2.86 ERA. 

In 1971 after going 3-0 at AA Memphis, Capra was promoted to AAA Tidewater. There he went 13-3 second to Jim Bibby in victories while posting a .219 ERA. 

Mets Career: Capra earned a September call up & debuted at Shea Stadium on September 15, 1971. He pitched four innings in relief of Jerry Koosman, in a 6-2 loss to the Chicago Cubs. 

On September 27th, in his third & final outing of the year; he was roughed up by the St. Louis Cardinals, allowing five earned runs in less than an inning pitched taking the loss.

1972: In April Buzz made the club out of Spring Training. On April 25th, he made his first career start, pitching six innings at San Diego, allowing a HR to Nate Colbert. He earned the 2-1 victory over Steve Arlin.

In his next start he was roughed by the Dodgers in Los Angeles, as he allowed seven runs on nine hits, getting knocked out in the 4th inning.

On Saturday, May 13th threw eight shutout innings against Juan Marichal & the San Francisco Giants at Shea Stadium. In the 2nd inning, he drove in the only run of the game with an RBI single. He also fanned seven & walked five earning his second win.

In his career he drove in five runs as a hitter. 

On May 19th, he won his next start as well, tossing seven innings with three runs allowed to the Phillies in an 8-3 win in Philadelphia.

On May 24th, he gave up five runs, serving up three HRs to the Cubs taking a loss at Wrigley Field. In his next start he took a no decision in St. Louis. 

Soon, he found himself pitching out of the bull pen as he was having control issues. He walked 16 batters in 19 innings, getting sent back down to AAA Tidewater in July, remaining there for the rest of the season. 

He finished the 1972 season with the Mets at 3-2 with a 4.50 ERA, striking out 45 batters while walking 27 in 56 innings pitched over 14 games.

1973 Mets Pennant Season: Capra started out going 4-5 at AAA Tidewater, when he got called up to the Mets staff in June, to help out a struggling bullpen. The Mets relief ace, Tug McGraw was having troubles & the staff was struggling through injuries as well.

He started out making two relief appearances & finishing up a loss at Pittsburgh. 

On June 21st in a 1-1 tie in Pittsburgh, he loaded the bases in the bottom of the 9th giving up a base hit & two walks. He was relieved by Tug McGraw who got a double play, but the winning run crossed the plate, giving him the loss.

On June 27th, Capra got his first save, coming against the Philadelphia Phillies after pitching four shutout innings. 

Two days later he took a loss at Wrigley Field, giving up a game tying HR to Gene Hiser & then loading the bases in the 10th, ageing giving way to Tug McGraw who gave up a walk off single to Jose Cardenal. On July 2nd he gave up a walk off HR to Boots Day in Montreal. In his first five games back, he issued ten walks in 11 innings.

Capra struggled in his first two months back up, finding himself at 1-5 with two blown saves & a 5.57 ERA at the end of July. 

On July 17th, he earned his first win of that season when the Mets came back from six runs down in Atlanta. The offense was led by HRs from Rusty Staub & John Milner, as well as RBI pinch hit hits by Jim Beauchamp & Willie Mays.

Capra improved from there in seven appearances in August, he allowed two earned runs in 17 innings pitched, while striking out 15 batters. 

On August 7th at Shea, he pitched three innings of relief, allowing a run earning a 6-5 win over the Cardinals. Buzz then took a loss to the Dodgers & earned his third save on August 29th.  

With Tug McGraw coming back strong, he was closing out games. The starting pitchers were throwing complete games & Capra was used mostly in middle or set relief through the final two months.

In the September pennant run where the Mets went 19-8, Capra made just four appearances. On September 18th, he earned a key save at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh, as the Mets scored five runs in the top of the 9th inning, which brought them within 2.5 games of the first place Pirates.

Overall, in the 1973 Mets NL Championship season, Capra appeared in a total of 24 games, going 2-7 with four saves, 35 strikeouts & 28 walks in 42 innings pitched, while posting a 3.86 ERA.

1973 Post Season-NLCS: Although he did not pitch in any 1973 post season games, he did have a part in some of the theatrics.

It came during Game #3 of the NLCS at Shea Stadium, during the famous Bud Harrelson / Pete Rose fight. After the Harrelson and Rose were broken up, the benches had cleared as well as the bullpens. 

Both teams just milled around the infield for a while, until Cincinnati Reds reliever Pedro Borbon landed a sucker punch to the right temple of Buzz Capra’s head.

Next, he and backup catcher Duffy Dyer started pounding on Borbon, before being pulled out of the melee by Willie Mays.

After the dust settled and the teams were going back to their dugouts, Borbon was walking off the field & put a cap on his head. But to his surprise it was pointed out by another Reds player, that it wasn’t his Reds cap but Buzz Capra’s Mets cap.

Borbon yanked the cap off his head and bit a chunk out of it, before throwing it to the ground. Capra eventually got his Mets cap back & claims to still have it to this day.

Post Mets Career: After the 1973 season the Mets sold Capra to the Atlanta Braves in what turned out to be a bad deal for New York. 

Capra was excited to play for manager Eddie Mathews & after being a teammate with Willie Mays was now a teammate with Hank Aaron. 

Quotes- Buzz Capra: "I had baseball cards of those guys. I mean how cool is that? How many people can say they played with both when Aaron was with the Braves & Willie with the Mets?".

Hank Aarons Teammate & 715: That year Capra was a teammate of Hank Aaron who set the all-time HR record in April. On Opening Day, Hank Aaron tied Babe Ruth hitting his 714th career HR in Cincinnati. With the score tied in the bottom of the 11th, Capra threw a wild pitch allowing Pete Rose to score the winning run. 

On April 8th, the night Aaron broke the All-Time HR record with #714 off the Dodgers Al Downing, Capra earned the save, pitching three scoreless innings of relief.

After starting out 0-2 he was placed in the starting rotation & would win nine straight decisions, setting a Braves team record. He lowered his ERA under two & kept it there until late July. 

1974 All Star: Buzz was named to the All-Star team by his former Mets manager Yogi Berra. He did not pitch in the NL's 7-2 win at Pittsburgh.

NL ERA Leader: Buzz had a fantastic 1974 season, leading the major leagues with a 2.28 ERA. 

He went16-8 (7th most wins in the NL) with five shutouts (Third in the NL) & 11 complete games (10th in the NL). Capra struck out 137 batters, walking 84 in 217 innings & had the best hits per nine innings ratios in the league. He came in the top ten of the Cy Young Award.

The following year, he only pitched in 12 games before needing shoulder surgery, which ruined his career. He went going 4-7 with a 4.25 ERA. In 1976 he missed almost the entire season, pitching in just five games (0-1).

Capra attempted a comeback in 1977, going 6-12 pitching in 45 games with an ERA of 5.36. The shoulder injury forced him to retire at age 30 by 1978.

Career Stats: In a seven-year career he was 31-37 with five saves, 362 strike outs & 258 walks in 544 innings pitched posting a 3.38 ERA in 142 appearances. At the plate he had a decent .135 batting average for a pitcher.

Retirement: After retiring as a player, he went into the manufacturing business as a sales manager. He then returned to baseball, spending over twenty years as a professional pitching coach for the New York Mets, Atlanta Braves & Philadelphia Phillies organizations. 

In 2007 he was the pitching coach for the A ball St. Lucie Mets.

He also did year-round work for private and group pitching instructions at the Fox Valley Sports Academy in Elgin, Illinois. 

Buzz also frequently appears at Mets Fantasy camps as well as Atlanta Braves alumni functions.

Family: During his Mets days, Buzz was married to his wife Leanne & has daughters with her. 

He was living in Hoffman Estates outside of Chicago.