Remembering Mets History (1973) Mets Battle Cry "You Gotta Believe" is Born
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Summer1973: The 1973 New York Mets struggled through injuries to most of its key position players most of the season. By the middle of "The Summer of '73" the Mets were below .500, in last place eleven games out. By August, Mets reliever, Tug McGraw’s record had slipped to 0-6 with an ERA over five. At one point he said he felt like "he had no idea how to throw a baseball anymore". This was another reason for the Mets poor play since Tug had been one of the games top relievers. And then one afternoon, it all seemed to make sense. After a bad road trip McGraw came back to New York & called up a friend on Long Island. McGraw met a gentleman named; Joe Badamano for lunch, an old friend of former Mets Manager Gil Hodges from the Brooklyn Dodger days. Badamano was an insurance salesman & motivational speaker. In the days before the team had psychiatrist around to hear personal issues, Badamano & McGraw would just talk in the player's lo