centerfield maz

Saturday June 19, 1971: As long time Mets broadcaster Bob Murphy would have said "it was a beautiful Saturday afternoon for baseball”.  As 52,171 fans turned out at Shea Stadium to watch  Gil Hodges second place Mets (36-25) 2 ½ games behind the Pittsburgh Pirates.  The Mets hosted, Frank Lucchesi’s last place Philadelphia Phillies (25-38). The Mets "Tom Terrific" would go against Philadelphia's Rick Wise.  Wise came into the game at 7-4, he had shutout the Mets 1-0 a month earlier in Philadelphia, topping Gary Gentry. Wise would win 17 games in 1971 (17-1 with a 2.88 ERA) He would 15 or more games six times in his 18-year career. Tom Seaver certainly wasn’t having his best day,  allowing four runs on twelve hits, striking out only two batters before being relieved by Ron Taylor in the 6th. In the Phillies 2nd inning, Deron Johnson hit a two run HR to make it 2-0. Later in the 3rd, Tim McCarver doubled & Willie Montanez walked. Ron Stone added an RBI hit mak

Michael Charles Brantley was born June 17th, 1961, in Catskill, New York. The youngster starred in baseball, as well as soccer & basketball in the Catskill Mountain Region of New York. He was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the second round of the 1983 draft. He became known as Mickey Brantley . Playing Career: Brantley played four years with the Mariners, seeing the most playing time in 1988 (149 games). In his MLB career he batted .259 lifetime, with 32 HRs 56 doubles 125 RBIs in 1222 games. Brantley then went on to play in Japan with the Yomiuri Giants. Coaching Career: Brantley returned to MLB as a roving coach with the San Francisco Giants in 1994. From there he moved to the New York Mets organization, managing the St. Lucie Mets in 1996 & 1997.   1999 Mets:  After a struggling Mets team had lost eight games in a row, the Mets front office, led by GM Steve Phillips felt they had to make a move. There was no way they were going to touch Bobby Valentine, so Phill

T uesday June 10th, 1969: As the New York Mets went up the coast arriving in San Francisco, everyone in baseball, especially the first place Chicago Cubs were talking about the Mets ten game win streak.  Tonight's game on the Bay at Candlestick Park had Gil Hodges second place Mets (29-23) go against Clyde Kings third place Giants (29-24) who were just three games back of the Atlanta Braves & two behind the LA Dodgers. Don Cardwell (1-6) got the start for New York against Mike McCormick (3-2). In the bottom of the 3rd, the Giants pitcher McCormick led off with a base hit. Bobby Bonds then tripled bringing in McCormick for the first run. Bonds would hit six triples in 1969 & ten the next year (3rd most in the NL), he had 66 career triples. In the top of the 4th, Tommie Agee answered with a solo HR, a 420 foot blast, his eighth of the year & first of two on the day.  In the 5th, New York got a double from Jerry Grote, Al Weis' bunt got Grote to third. Do

J une 1972: Prior to the 1972 season Rusty Staub had  come over from the Montreal Expos in a deal that sent youngsters Ken Singleton, Tim Foli & Mike Jorgenson to the Expos. It was a lot to give up,  but Staub was on of leagues better, proven hitters. Gil Hodges had all but signed the deal. But when Staub arrived Hodges had passed away suddenly to a heart attack. The Players were also on strike to begin the season. Yogi Berra was named manager & everything eventually got underway. The Mets had the pitching but needed to score runs. By June 3rd, 1972,  the Mets were in first place, with the best record in baseball (31- 12 with  a .721 winning %) & a five game lead over the St. Louis Cardinals. On this Saturday afternoon over 41,947 showed up at Shea Stadium to watch future Hall of Famer Tom Seaver at 7-2 go up against Atlanta's Tom Kelley. Eddie Mathews Braves (19-23) would finish fourth in the NL West in 1972. In the 2nd inning, Cleon Jones singled 7 Wayne