Jon
August 11, 2000
This was the game where Don Hahn and George Theodore collided viciously in left-center chasing a fly ball by Ralph Garr. I had just turned 7 and my Dad had taken me to Shea so I could see Hank Aaron and Willie Mays play before they retired. My best memory though is of Ralph Garr looking guily and circling the bases very slowly while the two Met outfielders were lying in the outfield and nobody even made a play. It was kinda scary. He got an inside the park home run on that play.

phil brewer
July 5, 2003
I remember this game like it was yesterday. I turned 10 years old 3 months earlier and was just getting to love baseball and the Mets. The game was on T.V. (WOR, channel 9) on Long Island. I couldn't believe it when Hahn and Theodore collided at their midsections, and I thought for sure George was gonna die on that play. Geez, the things you remember. I kinda always hated Ralph Garr after that because I thought he should have run out to help Hahn and Theodore instead of running the bases. But I was only 10. Anyone else remember this?

Lou
May 27, 2005
I remember it well. Watching it on Channel 9 and that collison was scary. I still remember the next day's Daily News back page: Mets Lose Theodore, Hahn in collision; Blow Game 9-8.

John _F
April 19, 2007
I remember this game well. My mother took me to the game for reasons that are lost on me now. It was about 3 weeks before my 9th birthday. At the time we lived in Jackson Heights so like most of the local kids I was a Met fan.

We were sitting in the Loge seats down the left field line. I couldn't believe what I saw on that play. I thought that one of the guys was dead at first because they hit so hard and one didn't move at all. I couldn't figure out who was who.

I remember watching the two Mets being led away on stretchers, but I also remember some idiot sitting near me laughing at the heavy guy who carried the stretcher out to the outfield. Other than that jerk, the place was like a morgue.

That play is the only thing I remember about the game. Until I found this web site I was convinced it was the Stork's last ever game, but apparently not.

I sort of lost touch with the Mets after '73 when we moved north to the suburbs of Albany. Didn't get back in touch with the Mets until cable t.v. came to our neighborhood in 1978.

Keith Mandra
August 5, 2009
I was not at this game, but I do remember it well. I had just turned 12 the day before and was swimming at a friends house that Saturday afternoon. We were all Mets fans and had the radio on outside in the yard, and I remember listening to this game. In addition to the collision, I seem to remember it being a crazy game.

steve corn
February 10, 2011
I was at this game. I remember the collision, and that Willie Mays and Cleon Jones replaced Hahn and Theodore. I felt bad for the fallen Mets, but Cleon was my favorite Met, and he had been injured, so this was his first game back, if I recall correctly.

Paul Fluhr
March 17, 2011
This was the first game I ever went to. I was 7 years old and my Dad took me. I remember walking out through the tunnel and seeing the field from the stands for the first time and thinking this is the greatest. I was disappointed that neither Hank Aaron or Willie Mays started the game. I definitely remember the collision and Garr running around the bases as Hahn and Theodore were on the ground. Hahn was able to get up and throw the ball back towards the collision before collapsing back down. Then they were both carried off on stretchers. Willie Mays and Cleon Jones replaced them in the outfield. The Mets went on to lose this game but I will always remember it.

Jolene T
September 26, 2013
This was the game we saw when we went home to visit relatives in New York the summer of 73. We were living in the KC area at the time so it was special to see the Mets when we could. The game was interesting because it was so unusual to see a Mets game with so much offense. Remember, the Mets in those years could pitch, but not necessarily hit. So Ralph Garr hits a fly ball out to centerfield and everyone around us was saying "Look out!" because you could clearly see Don Hahn and George Theodore on a collision course. And then "BOOM." When Willie Mays and Cleon went in to replace them, Willie flipped the ball to Cleon for him to throw it back after a single, I asked my dad "How come Willie couldn't throw it back?" He said "He's old, Jo Jo."

Jorge Laureano
January 10, 2014
I was thirteen years old and I was at the game with my mother. This was my "once-a-year" game tradition that I received as a kid. As far as I knew, this was my real Christmas gift! Anyway, I remember clearly the moment Don Hahn and the Stork Theodore collided in the outfield, it was terrible to see. They crashed into each other so hard I thought at least one of them was dead! Then just while they were finally being carried away I got chills when I saw #21 and 24 emerge from the dugout and replace them in the outfield. Cleon Jones and the great Willie Mays! The roar of the crowd was so loud and exciting as if 2 heroes came to the rescue! What a thrill that was and although the Mets lost that game, I always think of it as the turning point of the team's season... You Gotta Believe!

Believer73
June 30, 2020
This was the game in which the infamous collision between George Theodore and Don Hahn happened. It allowed Ralph Garr to circle the bases for an inside-the-park homer and a 6-3 Atlanta lead. It seems to be forgotten that after both George and Don were taken away on stretchers, the Mets rebounded by scoring four times in the bottom of the eighth to go ahead by a run. Still, the Braves rallied in the ninth and came away with the win.

An interesting fact about the collision is that Phil Hennigan was on the mound for the Mets when Garr hit that ball. Hennigan never appeared in another major league game after this one.

Brad
February 19, 2024
Our family was at this game. Our seats were in the Loge section behind home plate. I recall that I chose this game because of Willie and Hank, and so I was a little disappointed that Willie didn't play. But then after the Hahn/Theodore collision, out of the dugout runs Willie! Frankly, I didn't even remember that Cleon joined him until reading now.

It was a crazy back & fourth game. It would have been perfect if the Mets had actually won, but life is seldom perfect.

One other memory from this day.... Willie's pink Lincoln Continental with CA "Say Hey" plates parked right out front at Shea. Wonder what ever became of that car?