National League Standings, May 14, 1969
METS FANS SHARE THEIR MEMORIES OF THE MAY 14, 1969 GAME:
Bob
May 31, 2002
I was 14 years old and my dad came home from work and said he got 4 freebies to this game. We went with 2 of my friends who lived on the block. One was a big Yankee fan. If I remember, the Braves were up 3-0 in the 7th. My Yankee fan friend went to buy a Braves pennant at the concession stand and as soon as he got back the Mets put up a 9-spot. I think Cleon had a big hit, and I 'm pretty sure Phil Niekro was on the losing side of the ledger.
Bob P
April 19, 2003
Thanks again to retrosheet.org, I see that my earlier post on this game was not quite accurate. The Braves were indeed up 3-0 in the 7th, but the Mets got one in the 7th, then 8 more in the 8th, scoring the 8 runs with just 4 hits! Otis struck out to lead off the inning but reached first when Niekro's knuckler got by Bob Didier. Then came a single by Harrelson and Shamsky, batting for Seaver, reached on an error to load the bases. Agee doubled to drive in two and tie the score. George Stone came in to relieve Niekro and Ed Charles was intentionally walked to re-load the bases. Ken Boswell was hit by a pitch to give the Mets the lead, and then, to confirm what I said earlier, Cleon did indeed have a big hit--a grand slam! The Mets added another run on a J.C. Martin triple followed by a wild pitch.
The win took the Mets record to 14-17, but at that time that was a great record for the Mets after one month of a season. This game first got me thinking that something special could be happening at Shea in 1969!
NYB Buff
May 21, 2019
The Mets scored eight runs in an inning for the first time ever in this game. The inning was highlighted by Cleon Jones' only grand slam of his major league career. The slam was noteworthy in that it came off George Stone, who became a key pitcher for the Mets' pennant winner four years later. It also started a rather unique tradition of Mets grand slams on May 14th. Six more bases-loaded homers would be hit by Met players on that date over the next half century.
Mets Know-It-All
May 24, 2019
NYB Buff, you're a little off on the eight-run inning being the first in Mets history. They also had one against the Braves in a game at Milwaukee five years earlier. Joe Christopher hit a grand slam in that one.
Jones' grand slam in this game was featured on the "Miracle Mets" vinyl disk record that came out after the season. A re-enacted Bob Murphy call of the slam started the '69 part of this record after a series of Met moments from earlier years. It would serve as a sign of things to come.
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The Mets suck! Smith made three errors in this game, and hit into a
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