On March 16, 1961, the state of New York approved the bond issue that would lead to the construction of a 55,000-seat stadium in Queens, New York City. The new ballpark would be named Shea Stadium after William A. Shea, the lawyer who was instrumental in bringing the National League Mets to New York. Shea Stadium was home to the Mets from 1964-2008 as well as the New York Jets from 1964-1983.
The title of this song amuses me, as Mike Piazza only gets a passing mention in the song, and that mention references a rumor from 2002 that alleged that Piazza was gay. Other references to baseball are more philosophical and mythical. Honestly, the song isn’t about baseball nearly as much as one would think. All in all, I found this tune to be a rather sleepy one.
Howard Johnson and Darryl Strawberry of the New York Mets both made history on September 21, 1987. As the Mets won 7-1 over the Chicago Cubs, Strawberry stole two bases to make himself and Johnson the first set of teammates to hit 30 home runs and steal 30 bases in the same season.
Johnson, meanwhile, slammed his 36th homer of the season to break a 53-year-old National League record of most single season home runs by a switch hitter. The previous record had been set by Cardinals’ first baseman Ripper Collins in 1934, but the Major League record was still held by Mickey Mantle, who hit 54 homers in 1961.
In 1966, University of Southern California pitcher Tom Seaver signed a contract with Atlanta’s Richmond farm team. Baseball Commissioner William Eckert voided the contract, however, due to Seaver’s having played two exhibition games already with USC. Unfortunately for Seaver, signing a professional contract also left him ineligible to play any longer at the collegiate level. When Seaver’s father threatened a lawsuit on his son’s behalf, a special draft was held, in which three Major League teams offered to match Richmond’s $40,000 contract. The Indians, Phillies, and Mets all participated in the draft, where one team would be drawn from a hat. The Mets won Seaver’s contract, and on April 3, 1966, Tom Seaver signed with New York with a reported $50,000 bonus.
I have to confess, it is getting a bit more difficult to find these videos the more teams I cross off the list. But I’ll keep it going, and maybe eventually, I’ll find them all! Today’s installment: the New York Mets. Enjoy!
Click here for all the “Talkin’ Baseball” videos I have posted thus far!
The longest double header in Major League history was played on 31 May 1964 at Shea Stadium. The Giants defeated the Mets 5-3 in the first game of the day. Pitcher Gaylord Perry then led San Francisco to another victory in the second game, pitching ten innings in relief as the Giants won 8-6 in twenty-three innings. The second game lasted seven hours, twenty-three minutes, and the two games combined lasted nine hours, fifty-two minutes.
During the second game, the Mets turned a rare triple play in the fourteenth inning, and Gaylord Perry supposedly threw his first spitball in a Major League game.
On April 22, 1970, during the pregame ceremony, New York Mets pitcher Tom Seaver was presented with the 1969 Cy Young award. In the game that followed, Seaver struck out a record ten consecutive batters as he led the Mets to a 2-1 victory over the San Diego Padres. He struck out nineteen total hitters over the course of the game, which tied another Major League record. Even better, four of those batters struck out looking.
I guess Seaver didn’t want to leave any doubt that he really did deserve that Cy Young, eh?
