centerfield maz

Alvin Neil Jackson was born December 25, 1935, in Waco, Texas.  He was the captain of his baseball & football high school teams in Waco. In high school he tossed three no hitters & was All State for two seasons. The five-foot ten-inch left hander was originally signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1955, while attending Wiley College in Marshall, Texas. In 1956 while pitching in the Mexican League, Jackson went 14-10. He was soon back at A ball Lincoln in 1957 where he won 18 games which got him pushed up to the AAA level.   In 1959 he was 15-4 at Columbus which got him called up to the big leagues by the end of the season.  MLB Career: Jackson made his MLB debut pitching two innings of relief on May 3rd, 1959, finishing a game against the St. Louis Cardinals. He was back in the minors over the next two seasons making three appearances with Pittsburgh in 1961 earning his first career victory. Mets Career: By 1962, Al Jackson became an original Met when he...

Raymond Michael Sadecki was born on December 26, 1940, in the "Polish Hill" section of Kansas City, Kansas.  Ray's grandparents were immigrants from Poland. They came to the US & owned a family grocery store Ray's father Frank worked as a child. As an adult Frank Sadecki worked as a US Marshall & sometimes transported prisoners to Indiana. He would take Ray along on certain trips & stop in St. Louis to watch the Cardinals or Browns play. Frank Sadecki wanted his son to be a left hander & dreamed he'd make the major leagues, just as Ray did. The five-foot eleven left hander was a star pitcher in high school. In 1958, he was signed as a" bonus baby" at 17 years old, by the St. Louis Cardinals. Ray went thru the first levels of the minors & in 1959 he won 13 games (13-9) at AA Omaha. In 1960 he was pitching, at AAA Rochester. After six games going 2-1 with a 1.76 ERA, he was called up to the Cards staff at age 21.    MLB Ca...

 After the Pennant Season: After the post season ended, Koosman joined the Mets on a good will baseball tour of Japan.  1974: The '74 Mets were a big disappointment; they battled injuries, played poorly & were not able to defend their NL title. The team fell to fifth place, going 71-91 with poor offense & a struggling pitching staff. Jerry Koosman   started out the year well winning his first four decisions to get to 4-0 thru early May.  Jerry made his first start on Opening Day at Shea, the third Mets game of the year. Today the Mets raised the NL Championship banner on the flag poll & the season started out with hopes of defending the championship. Kooz pitched into the 9th inning, beating the St. Louis Cardinals & John Curtis, 3-2 at Shea Stadium. In the game Jerry Grote homered & drove in two runs, with John Milner adding a RBI single.  In his second start, he gave up two runs to the Phillies in seven innings, but took a no decisio...