centerfield maz

Wednesday August 1st, 1973: On this night a rain out from May 10th was rescheduled making it a classic twi-night double header. 27,189 fans came out to Shea on this August evening as Yogi Berra's Mets (46-57) were still eleven games under .500, dead last in the NL East. They were coming off a four-game losing streak that dropped them to 10.5 games behind the St. Louis Cardinals. They had also dropped the opener of this series to Danny Murtaugh's Pittsburgh Pirates (51-53).  In the first game of this twin-bill Tom Seaver (12-5) entered the game with an ERA under two (1.96) & was going for his fifth straight win as he went up against a struggling Steve Blass (3-6).  Trivia:  Steve Blass had been one of the league's top pitchers from 1968-1972, helping his team win the 1971 World Series, as he is still the last NL pitcher to throw a complete Game #7 victory in a Fall Classic. In the top of the 1st inning, Seaver allowed a double to Al Oliver, but other than that st...

Kevin Michael Collins   was born August 4, 1946, in Springfield, Massachusetts. In high school he competed against future MLB players Mark Belanger & Fran Healy. Collins was signed out of high school by the New York Mets in 1964 for $25,000. He was part of Casey Stengel’s “Youth of America” young Mets players of the mid-sixties.  Collins made the club out of Spring Training 1965 at age 17. Unfortunately, he tore a muscle in his throwing arm & had to wait until September to make his debut. Mets Debut: His first career game was at Shea Stadium on September 1st, 1965, pinch hitting in the 5th inning, in a game against the Houston Astros. His first hit came on September 22nd against the Pittsburgh Pirates. He played in just eleven games that month batting .184. He then spent the next two seasons in the minor leagues playing on an infield with Ken Boswell, Sandy Alomar & Amos Otis. In 1966 he hit .251 with 6 HRs & 32 RBIs at AA Williamsport. He...

Nicholas Raymond Plummer was born July 31st, 1996, in Lathrup Michigan. The five-foot ten outfielder bats left-handed & throws righthanded. He was selected by the St. Louis Cardinals in the first round of the 2015 amateur draft, the 23rd overall pick. Plummer would miss the entire 2016 season due to a wrist injury. He returned having a miserable 2017 where he batted just .198 in 92 games. His next years were just as bad at the plate, he batted .205 in 2018 & then .176 in 2019. Then came the Covid-19 season where he did not play at all. In 2021 he had his best minor league season, batting .280 with 15 HRs & 54 RBIs. On July 8th, he hit three HRs including a walk off HR for the Springfield Cardinals. He was named Player of the Month with 6 HRs five doubles & 21 RBIs batting .326. He then set a team record reaching base safely in 33 straight games. He was promoted to the AAA Memphis Red Birds. At the end of the season, after not being promoted to the Cardina...

Felix (Lamela) Mantilla was born on July 29, 1934, in Isabella, Puerto Rico. Mantilla was one of the first Puerto Rican players to be signed & play in the major leagues. He was signed one year after Roberto Clemente in 1952. In 1953 he played A ball with the Jacksonville Bears as a teammate of Hank Aaron. 1954 Mantilla hit 16 HRs at AA Toledo, & then batted over .270 the next two seasons.  Braves Career: In 1956 he came up as a reserve infielder with the Milwaukee Braves and was Hank Aaron's roommate during his time there. Mantilla spent six years with the Milwaukee Braves mostly as an all-around utility man, not a big hitter but a good glove.  Post Season: He won back-to-back pennants with a good Braves team in 1957 & 1958. The 1957 team beat the AL New York team in a seven game World Series.  Mantilla played in five 1957 World Series games going hitless in ten at bats.  He made four game appearances on the field in the 1958 ...

Mike Bordick HR Saturday July 29th 2000: At this point in the 2000 season, Bobby Valentine's New York Mets were in second place, five games behind the Atlanta Braves & in the front runner for the Wild Card spot. The Mets had lost their main short stop Rey Ordonez for the rest of the season & were not willing to gamble on the young Melvin Mora to get them to the playoffs. In a deal with the Baltimore Orioles, the Mets dealt Mora, Mike Kinkade & Leslie Brea in exchange for solid veteran; Mike Bordick. It was a good short term move, as Bordick solidified the position, hit well enough & did help get the Mets to the World Series.  In the long term Bordick left via free agency signing back with the O's. Melvin Mora went on to a fine ten-year career in Baltimore, making two All Star team's the Orioles' Hall of Fame. In his career he hit .277 with 171 HRs 283 doubles 93 stolen bases & 754 RBIs & 794 runs scored. Mike Bordick arrived in New Y...

Tuesday July 28, 1970:  Tonight, Gil Hodges second place Mets  (53-45)  were just a game out of first place & tonight they were hosting  Charlie Fox's fourth place San Francisco Giants (46-51). A big crowd of 50,174 came out to Shea to see the reigning World Champs take on the Giants who still had a big following from their New York days just a dozen years after they had left New York for the West Coast.  These Giants were a good team as well, they would finish third in the NL West (86-76) & win the Divisional title the next year. The club featured three future Hall of Famers in Willie Mays, Willie McCovey & Gaylord Perry. In tonight's game the Mets Jim McAndrew (5-8) went up against the Giants Rick Robertson (6-6). Mets Starter, Jim McAndrew (5-8) had an easy time with all the run support the Mets gave him, as he pitched a complete game allowing two runs, on five hits, while striking out five Giants.  In the Mets' 1st inning, Tommie Ag...

 Tuesday July 26th, 2022:  A big crowd of 42,364 came out to Citi Field to see the latest version of the regular season subway series. This is the 25th season of the semiannual event that has certainly lost some of its fanfare from its early days. Instead of three game series on weekends, the series is now held on weeknights & is just two games at each park. This year did have some excitement going into it as both teams were in first place in their divisions. It was the first time both teams entered the subway series in first place.  Tonight, Buck Showalter's Mets (60-37) hosted Aaron Boone's AL New York team (66-32). The Mets Taijuan Walker (7-2) went up against Jordan Montgomery (3-2) In the top of the 1st, the fireworks began immediately, with one out Aaron Judge hit his league leading 38th HR. Anthony Rizzo followed with his 23rd HR of the season as they went back-to-back for a 2-0 lead. In the bottom of the 1st the Mets answered, with one out, Starling Marte...

Tuesday July 24th, 1973:  The 1973 All Star Game was played at Royals Stadium in Kansas City. The Stadium was brand new, having opened up that season. The Royals previously played at KC's Municipal Stadium. It was part of the new Truman Sports Complex that also is home to the NFL Kansas City Chiefs Arrowhead Stadium.  The stadium was part of the 1970's cookie cutter stadiums. The outfield was lined with spewing fountains, as Kansas City is known as "the City of Fountains" boasting the most fountains in any city besides Rome, Italia. Royals' stadium one of best of that era, still stands today as Kauffman Stadium, named after the Royals first owner. It was the 40th Anniversary of the first MLB All Star game held back in 1933. Some of the players from that game were in attendance, Carl Hubbell, Joe Cronin, Dick Bartell, Jimmie Dykes, Lefty Gomez, Lefty Grove & Charlie Gehringer. For the 1973 Mid-Summer Classic All Star Game, Commissioner Bowie Kuhn increased t...