1969: It Was a Great Year for Moon, Men and the Mets

In the spring of 1969, three men mapped a plan of flying to the moon and the New York Mets dreamed of playing among the stars.

In July, Neil Armstrong took that one small step on the moon and Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman and Cleon Jones were the stars.

When the Mets arrived in St. Peterburg for spring training on Feb. 19, 1969, they were secure in the knowledge that they would not finish ninth or 10th, as they had for every year since the franchise was born in 1962.

The National League split into two, six-team divisions in 1969 as Montreal and San Diego entered the league.

The Mets finished ninth in 1968 under Manager Gil Hodges at 73-89, 24 games behind first-place St. Louis.

Seaver won 16 games and Koosman had a 19-12 record as a rookie.

“In 1968 there were some positive signs and everyone was back the next season,” said Bud Harrelson, the Mets’ shortstop in 1969 and now a coach with New York.

“I recall the one thing we thought we would do in 1969 was win on opening day because Seaver was pitching against the Expos at Shea,” Harrelson said.

In 1968, the Mets started the season in San Francisco and were two outs away from their first opening day victory when the Giants rallied.

Things didn’t start out any better in ’69 as the expansion Expos beat Seaver and the Mets 11-10, New York’s eighth consecutive opening-day loss.

“Everyone thought ‘well here we go again,” Seaver said.

Opening day in 1969 was one of the few disappointments for the Mets en route to 100 victories and the World Series.

More than their sweep of Atlanta for the National League pennant and their five-game victory over heavily favored Baltimore in the Series, the Mets’ incredible rise to the top is remembered by a string of rather incredible games.

The Chicago Cubs, led by veterans Ernie Banks and Ron Santo, got off to a fast start under Manager Leo Durocher and led the Mets by five games when they arrived at Shea Stadium for a three-game series on July 8.

Ferguson Jenkins held the Mets to one hit over eight innings but New York rallied for three runs in the ninth and a 4-3 victory on Jones’ two-run double and Ed Kranepool’s game-winning single.

“That was the turning point of the season,” Kranepool said. “From then on, we kept applying the pressure and the Cubs knew they were in a pennant race.”

On July 9, before the biggest crowd ever at Shea (59,083), Seaver pitched 8 1/3 perfect innings before Jimmy Qualls singled to left-center.

“That was the best game I ever pitched,” said Seaver, now a broadcaster with NBC and the New York Yankees. “It was better than my Cincinnati no-hitter in 1978.

“I had great stuff that night, great control and mastery of my pitches.”

June 15 was another important date for the Mets in 1969. That’s when General Manager Johnny Murphy acquired first baseman Donn Clendenon from Montreal for infielder Kevin Collins and pitchers Steve Renko, Dave Colon and Jay Carden.

Clendenon, who had hit 28 homers for Pittsburgh in 1966, gave the Mets a home run threat and cleanup batter. He hit three homers in the World Series to win MVP honors.

“We became a potentially great team when Clendenon came over,” said Art Shamsky, a key role player on the ’69 Mets. “He gave us right-handed power, and a cool, intelligence of a veteran player who had been in a pennant fights when he played with the Pirates.”

Hodges used a blend of youngsters and veterans in 1969.

Clendenon, Shamsky and Kranepool saw time at first, with Ken Boswell and Al Weis at second, Harrelson at short and Wayne Garrett and veteran Ed Charles at third.

Charles was acquired from Kansas City on May 10, 1967 for outfielder Larry Elliot. He only hit .207 in 1969 but his biggest influence was leadership and a big smile.

Jones started in left field and hit .340 with 75 RBIs. Center fielder Tommie Agee, who hit only .234 in 1968, rebounded for 26 homers and 76 RBIs in the leadoff spot. Ron Swoboda, Rod Gaspar and Shamsky shared right and Jerry Grote was the catcher.

“It was a team with good chemistry and great defense,” Kranepool said. “I was surprised we didn’t stay together longer but after Gil died (in 1972) things started to slide (in the organization).”

But for a few summer months in 1969 whatever the Mets touched turned to gold.

On Sept. 15, Steve Carlton of St. Louis set a major-league record when he struck out 19. But the Mets won 4-3 as Swoboda hit a pair of two-run homers. “It was that kind of year,” said Swoboda, now a TV broadcaster. “There was a different hero every night and we always got the big hit or the well pitched game.”

Sometimes even two well pitched games in one day.

Two days after the Mets moved into first place ahead of the Cubs on Sept. 10, they swept Pittsburgh 1-0 and 1-0 and in both games of the doubleheader the runs were driven in by the pitchers--Koosman and Don Cardwell.

Eight years of losing came to a sudden end on Sept. 24 when rookie Gary Gentry beat St. Louis 6-0 to clinch first place.

“It all happened so fast,” Seaver said. “We didn’t know how to react but Gil was a calming influence and the strength of the team.”

In their first season in 1962 under Casey Stengel, the Mets set a record with 120 losses. He stepped down in 1965 but was on hand to see the Mets win the pennant and World Series.

“This here club doesn’t make many mistakes now, you can see they believe in each other, and the coaches all live in New York and you can get them on the telephone,” Stengel said at time.

“So I’m very proud of these fellows, which did such a splendid job, and if they can keep improving like this, they can keep going till Christmas.”