centerfield maz

Wednesday April 11th, 1973:   In his first start of the 1973 season,  Jerry Koosman took the mound in the first Mets Road  game of the year which was at St. Louis. They had taken the first two games at home.  Koosman went up against the Cardinals Reggie Cleveland in front of 12,290 fans in a Busch Stadium night game. The Mets helped out Koosman right away in the 1st inning. as Bud Harrelson, Felix Millan & John Milner all singled.  Reggie Cleveland then threw a wild pitch to Rusty Staub, scoring Harrelson from third for the first run. Staub then poked a base hit thru the infield, scoring Millan putting the Mets up 2-0. In the 3rd inning, first baseman John Milner hit his first HR of the season to make it 3-0 Mets. After getting through the first two innings, Koosman gave up a leadoff triple to Jose Cruz in the 3rd inning. Next Ray Busse hit a ground ball to Mets third baseman Jim Fregosi who booted it, allowing Cruz to score. Kooz held ...

Saturday April 30th, 1988: Davey Johnson's New York Mets (15-6) were off to a good start, on their way to their 1988 NL Eastern title. On this wild night they came to Cincinnati's Riverfront Stadium, always am interesting place for the Mets, to face Pete Rose's Reds (11-11).   33,346 fans would certainly make their presence known tonight, in what would be an ugly situation before it was all over.  The Mets sent Bobby Ojeda to the mound, against the Reds Tom Browning. It turned out to be an infamous game that tarnished an umpire's career & added more drama to a Player/Manager's legacy. Things started out quietly, the Mets got a run in the 2nd, on Gary Carter's sac fly & the Red answered in the bottom of the inning, with an RBI single from Barry Larkin.  In the top of the 4th, Tim Teufel singled & moved along the bases, scoring on Kevin McReynold's two out single. The Reds tied it up, but in the top of the 6th, Darryl Strawberry blasted a ...

Eric Singleton Campbell was born April 9th, 1987, in Norwich, Connecticut. Norwich is located just under three hours from New York City. Eric was twice an All-State player at Norwich High School then moved on to Boston College.  He was a fine hitter there hitting over .300 getting signed by the New York Mets in the 8th round of the 2008 draft. Campbell began his career with the A Ball Brooklyn Cyclones playing third base while batting .260 in 2008. The next year he spilt time with the Savannah Sand Gnats & St. Lucie Mets playing mostly first base.  By 2012 he was at AA Binghamton playing first base & outfield batting .297. He made the All-Star team & drove in the games winning run with a base hit in the bottom of the 9th inning, earning him the game's MVP Award. That year he finished in the top ten in batting & top five in on base %. In 2013 he was at AAA Las Vegas with the 51s, with 8 HRs 25 doubles & 66 RBIs while batting .314 in 66 games. He wa...

Robert Mitchell Jones was born on April 11, 1972, in Orange, New Jersey. The Jones’s soon moved to Rutherford New Jersey, right on the outskirts of the Meadowlands & Giants Stadium. Bobby played baseball in Rutherford Little League & then later at Rutherford high school.  By 1991 he was drafted in the 44th round of the amateur draft by the Milwaukee Brewers. While playing A-ball in the Brewers organization he was taken by the  Colorado Rockies getting drafted in the Rule 5 Draft in 1995.  He pitched in the Pacific Coast League for the AAA Colorado Springs Sky Sox & was 5-1 in 1997 when the Rockies called him up. MLB Debut:   On May 18, 1997,  Jones made his MLB debut against his favorite team growing up, the New York Mets. He made the start at  Shea Stadium earning no decision in a 10-4 Mets win, pitching into the 6th inning, allowing two runs while walking seven.  After four starts he was 1-1 with an ERA of 8.38 & was se...

Philip Winston Hennigan  was born on April 10, 1946, at Jasper, Texas to Joseph Polk & Joye Phillips Hennigan. The five-foot eleven right-handed pitcher was drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the 4th round in 1966. He served in Vietnam doing Military Service in 1967, then returned to the pitch minor leagues. After going 10-10 at AA Waterbury in 1969, he got the September call up having to face Hall of Famer Rod Carew in his first appearance. MLB Career: Hennigan spend some more time in the minors but would mostly pitch out of the Cleveland bullpen from 1969-1972.  In 1970 he was 6-3 with three saves posting a 4.02 ERA in 42 games. He became Cleveland’s ace reliever in 1971, going 4-3 with 14 saves (8th best in the A.L.) posting a 4.94 ERA in 57 games.  He dropped off to six saves, third best on the Indians staff in 1972 behind Steve Mingori (10) & Ed Farmer (7) while posting a 5-3 record.  That November he was traded to ...

Edwin Douglas Charles was born on April 29, 1933, in Daytona Beach, Florida. Charles grew up in a poor house in a family of nine children in the segregated south. He suffered the serious conditions of racism but overcame his hardships. Ed was once a school dropout who later educated himself to earning a college degree later in life. His childhood hero was Jackie Robinson whose Brooklyn Dodgers played Spring Training in Charles childhood town. He would follow Robinson out of the ballpark onto the team bus with the other black children in awe of their hero. Quotes-  E d Charles: On seeing the Brooklyn Dodgers train pulling away- “So now we’re walking down the platform, looking in the windows trying to see where Jackie was seated. Finally, we come to the right coach, and there is Jackie, playing cards. We waved and, you know, he waved back to us. Then the train starts pulling out, and we start slowly walking with it, just waving to Jackie. The train picked up speed. We k...