1969_World_Series

1969 World Series

The 1969 World Series was played between the New York Mets and the Baltimore Orioles, with the Mets prevailing in 5 games to accomplish one of the greatest upsets in Series history, as that particular Orioles squad was (and still is by some baseball pundits) considered to be one of the finest ever. The World Series win earned the team the sobriquet "Miracle Mets," as they had risen from the depths of mediocrity (the 1969 team had the first winning record in Mets history).

Karl Ehrhardt, known as "the sign man" at Shea Stadium, held up a sign after the Mets won the final game: "There Are No Words." The Mets became the first expansion team to win a division title, a pennant, and the World Series, winning in their eighth year of existence. Two teams would later surpass that, as the Florida Marlins won the 1997 World Series in their fifth year (also becoming the first wild card team to win a World Series) and the Arizona Diamondbacks won the 2001 World Series in their fourth year of play.

The 1969 World Series would later figure in the plot of the American movie Frequency.

Getting there

New York Mets

The New York Mets, who had never finished higher than ninth place (next-to-last) nor won more than 73 games in a season since joining the National League in , were not highly regarded before the 1969 season started. In fact, the best that could be said for them was that because the National League was being split into two divisions that year, the Mets were guaranteed to finish no lower than sixth place. The fact the Mets began the season by losing 11-10 to the then-expansion Montreal Expos seemed to confirm this. With three weeks to go in the season, the underdog Mets stormed past the Chicago Cubs, who had led the Eastern Division for most of the season, winning 39 of their final 48 games for a total of 100 wins and capturing the first National League Eastern Division crown. Third-year pitcher Tom Seaver won a major-league-leading 25 games en route to his first Cy Young Award; the other two top Mets starting pitchers, Jerry Koosman and rookie Gary Gentry, combined to win 30 more games. Outfielder Cleon Jones hit a (then) club-record .340 and finished third in the National League batting race, while his lifelong friend and outfield mate Tommie Agee hit 26 home runs and drove in 76 runs to lead the club; they were the only players on the team who garnered more than 400 at bats. Manager Gil Hodges employed a skillful platoon system not unlike the Yankees of the Casey Stengel era, in which Ron Swoboda and Art Shamsky became a switch-hitting right fielder who hit 23 home runs and drove in 100 runs, and Ed Kranepool and Donn Clendenon added up to a switch-hitting first baseman who hit 23 more homers and knocked in another 95 runs. Everyone on the bench knew what their role was in the platoon - nobody felt that they'd ever lost their jobs. Almost to a man, the 1969 Mets were united in their praise of their manager's skill. In the first League Championship Series, the light-hitting Mets, once again considered underdogs (even though the Mets actually had a better record than the Braves), put on an uncharacteristic power display by scoring 27 runs in sweeping the favored Atlanta Braves in three games.

Baltimore Orioles

The Baltimore Orioles, by contrast, were practically flawless and featured stars at almost every position. They breezed through the 1969 season, winning 109 games (until the most games won since the advent of divisional play) and brushing aside the Minnesota Twins in three games in the ALCS to win their second pennant in four years. The Orioles were led by star sluggers Frank Robinson and Boog Powell, who each hit over 30 home runs and drove in over 100 runs; third baseman Brooks Robinson, perhaps the best-fielding hot-corner player in baseball history; and pitchers Mike Cuellar, Dave McNally and Jim Palmer, who combined for 63 victories. It was felt that in the face of such statistical comparisons, only the most reckless gambler would put any money on the Mets.

Summary

NL New York Mets (4) vs AL Baltimore Orioles (1)

Game	Score	Date	Location	Attendance
1	New York Mets - 1, Baltimore Orioles - 4	October 11	Memorial Stadium	50,429
2	New York Mets - 2, Baltimore Orioles - 1	October 12	Memorial Stadium	50,850
3	Baltimore Orioles - 0, New York Mets - 5	October 14	Shea Stadium	56,335
4	Baltimore Orioles - 1, New York Mets - 2 (10 innings)	October 15	Shea Stadium	57,367
5	Baltimore Orioles - 3, New York Mets - 5	October 16	Shea Stadium	57,397

Matchups

Game 1

Saturday, October 11, 1969 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland

With this win, the Orioles looked to be proving all the prognosticators right, as it was a dominant performance. Don Buford led off the game for the Orioles by homering off Tom Seaver. The O's then added three more runs in the fourth when, with two outs, Elrod Hendricks singled and Davey Johnson walked. Mark Belanger then singled in a run, followed by an RBI single by pitcher Mike Cuellar. Buford would cap the inning off by doubling in Belanger.

The Mets got their run in the seventh on a sacrifice fly by light-hitting Al Weis.

Game 2

Sunday, October 12, 1969 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland

Mets pitcher Jerry Koosman pitched 6 innings of no-hit ball, trying to match Don Larsen's World Series no-hit feat. Donn Clendenon provided him a slim lead with a home run in the fourth.

However, Koosman would lose both the no-hitter and the lead in the seventh as Paul Blair singled, stole second, and scored on a single by Brooks Robinson. But, that would be it for the Orioles' offense. The Mets pushed across a run in the top of the ninth on back-to-back-to-back singles by Ed Charles, Jerry Grote, and Al Weis, scoring Charles.

Koosman had trouble finishing the game, as he issued two-out walks in the bottom of the ninth to Frank Robinson and Boog Powell. Ron Taylor came on to retire Brooks Robinson for the final out and earn the save.

Game 3

Tuesday, October 14, 1969 at Shea Stadium in New York, New York

Agee led off the game for the Mets with a home run off of Jim Palmer, then saved at least five runs with his defense. With two out in the fourth and Oriole runners on first and third, Agee raced to the 396-foot sign in left-center and made a backhanded running catch of a drive hit by Elrod Hendricks. In the seventh, the Orioles had loaded the bases with two out, but Agee made a headfirst diving grab of a line drive hit by Paul Blair in right-center.

Ed Kranepool added a home run and Jerry Grote an RBI double for the Mets, while Gary Gentry pitched six shutout innings and helped his own cause with a 2nd-inning two-run double. Nolan Ryan, making what would be his only World Series appearance in his 27-year career, pitched the final three innings and earned a save.

mlb.com coverage of Game 3

Game 4

Wednesday, October 15, 1969 at Shea Stadium in New York, New York

Tom Seaver atoned for his Game 1 ineffectiveness by shutting the Orioles out through eight innings. Once again, Donn Clendenon provided the lead with a solo homer in the second. In the third inning, after arguing ball-strike calls too strenuously with plate umpire Shag Crawford, Earl Weaver of the Orioles became the first manager since 1935 to be ejected from a World Series game.

In the top of the ninth, Seaver ran into trouble. Frank Robinson and Boog Powell hit back-to-back one-out singles to put runners on first and third. Brooks Robinson then hit a sinking line drive towards right that Mets right fielder Ron Swoboda dove for and caught just inches off the ground. Frank Robinson tagged and scored, but Swoboda's heroics kept the Orioles from possibly taking the lead.

In the bottom of the tenth, Jerry Grote led off by blooping a double to left. Al Weis was intentionally walked, and Mets manager Gil Hodges sent J. C. Martin up to hit for Seaver. Martin laid down a sacrifice bunt, but Orioles reliever Pete Richert hit Martin in the wrist with his attempted throw to first. Rod Gaspar, running for Grote, came around to score the winning run.

Replays showed Martin was inside the first-base line, which hindered Richert from making a good throw. It was suggested that had the Orioles protested the call, claiming interference (which they never did), that the protest would have been disallowed since Martin did not intentionally interfere with the throw (as per Major League Baseball Official Rule 7.08[b]).

Game 5

Thursday, October 16, 1969 at Shea Stadium in New York, New York

Dave McNally shut out the Mets through five innings and helped himself with a two-run homer in the third inning. Frank Robinson homered in the inning as well, and the Orioles looked to be cruising with a 3-0 lead.

But, in the sixth, McNally hit Cleon Jones on the foot with a pitch. McNally and the Orioles claimed the ball hit the dirt and not Jones, but Mets manager Gil Hodges showed the ball (which had skipped into the Mets dugout) to homeplate umpire Lou DiMuro. The umpire found a spot of shoe polish on the ball and awarded Jones first base. McNally then gave up Series MVP Donn Clendenon's third homer of the series (a record for a five-game World Series that still stands) to cut the lead to 3-2. Earlier, in the fifth, Mets' starter Jerry Koosman appeared to have hit Frank Robinson with a pitch, but DiMuro ruled that the pitch hit his bat before hitting him. Replays showed, however, that Robinson was indeed hit first.

In the seventh, the unheralded and light-hitting Al Weis tied the score with a solo homer. Weis only hit seven home runs in his big league career; this was his first home run ever at Shea Stadium. Weis would lead all batters in this series with a .455 average.

The Mets' winning runs scored in the eighth as Game 4 defensive hero Ron Swoboda doubled in Jones with the go-ahead run. Swoboda then scored when Jerry Grote's grounder was mishandled by first baseman Boog Powell and then dropped by the pitcher. Jerry Koosman would get the win, his second of the series.

Composite Box

1969 World Series (4-1): New York Mets (N.L.) over Baltimore Orioles (A.L.)

Highlights

The expression, "Good pitching defeats good hitting," was never more evident than in this World Series: Baltimore collected only 23 hits for a .146 batting average. Boog Powell led the Orioles with five hits—but all were singles, none of which drove in any runs. Don Buford collected two hits in the opening game, including a leadoff home run against Tom Seaver, but went 0-for-16 over the next four games. Paul Blair went 2-for-20, Davey Johnson 1-for-15 and Brooks Robinson 1-for-19.

Game 4 was mired in controversy, in addition to the game controversy mentioned above. Tom Seaver's photograph was used on some anti-war Moratorium Day literature being distributed outside Shea Stadium before the game, although the pitcher claimed that his picture was used without his knowledge or approval.

There are several direct connections between the two Mets World Championship teams. Oriole second baseman Davey Johnson flied out to Cleon Jones for the last out of the 1969 World Series; Johnson would later manage the 1986 Mets to their World Series title. The pitcher on the mound for the last out of the 1986 Series, Jesse Orosco, had been traded to the Mets for Jerry Koosman (the pitcher on the mound for the last out of the 1969 Series) after the 1978 season. 1969 Mets shortstop Bud Harrelson earned a second World Series ring as the club's third-base coach in 1986.

This was the second major upset by a New York team over a Baltimore team in a sport's championship event in 1969. Earlier in January, the Jets, led by Joe Namath, upset the heavily favored Baltimore Colts in the Super Bowl.

Series quotes

Notes

References

Neft, David S., and Richard M. Cohen. The World Series. 1st ed. New York: St Martins, 1990. (Neft and Cohen 326-329)
Reichler, Joseph, ed. (1982). The Baseball Encyclopedia (5th ed.), p. 2179. MacMillian Publishing. ISBN 0-02-579010-2.
Forman, Sean L. 1969 World Series. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information.. Retrieved on 2007-12-09..