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METS FANS SHARE THEIR MEMORIES OF GAMES FROM THE 1967 SEASON

April 11, 1967 Shea Stadium
Pittsburgh Pirates 6, Mets 3

Jack Pesserilo
November 30, 2009
I was at that game on opening day. What I remember was that it was 47 degrees and quite windy and overcast. I sat through the game in my winter coat. The highlight for me came BEFORE the game. I was down the third base line and I got a few autographs. One of them was some unknown rookie pitcher named Tom Seaver! But the quiet gentleman Don Cardwell gave his autograph too. Too bad he did not win the game for the Mets.

April 13, 1967 Shea Stadium
Mets 3, Pittsburgh Pirates 2

Joel
September 4, 2003
I remember that this was the second game of the season and the major league debut of Tom Seaver. The Mets won although Seaver was not the winning pitcher. I saw the game on TV. I remember Ron Swoboda playing 1st base and that Vernon Law lost the game for the Pirates in relief.


ClassicMets
October 11, 2017

Tom Seaver made his debut in this game. He fanned Donn Clendenon to end the first inning for his first major league strikeout. Seaver, however, was not the winning pitcher. The decision went to reliever Chuck Estrada for his final major league win and only one as a Met. Also, Jerry Buchek hit a two-run homer in the second and scored the winning run on Chuck Hiller’s double in the eighth.

April 17, 1967 Forbes Field
Mets 9, Pittsburgh Pirates 6

Ed K
January 17, 2008
In this game, Don Cardwell hit the first of three homers he would hit during his Met career.

April 20, 1967 Shea Stadium
Mets 6, Chicago Cubs 1

fanof41
April 20, 2007
Tom Seaver got the first of his 311 career wins, on the way to his stellar Hall of Fame career.

April 23, 1967 Shea Stadium
Philadelphia Phillies 10, Mets 6

KEITH VERDI
April 18, 2002
My first Met game on a cold chilly April afternoon. A day I will never forget, even though the Mets lost both games. I remember Richie Allen hit a monster hr in game 2. I think it landed in the Parking lot.


Joseph Dubin
May 28, 2002

Three things I remember about this doubleheader: Tommy Davis fell flat on his back after misplaying a fly to right, Don Bosch stood at the plate after taking a called third strike with the expression "I could have hit that" on his face, and me and my friends successfully sneaking into field level seats behind first base for the entire two games.


Mr. Met
September 4, 2020

I was with Joe Dubin for this twin bill. It was a raw day only made bearable because we snuck down to field level and the ushers didn’t mind. Dick Allen absolutely mashed the ball. His homer a line drive over the left field wall, a clothesline!

April 23, 1967 Shea Stadium
Philadelphia Phillies 3, Mets 1

Feat Fan
April 10, 2004
In the bottom of the sixth, Bud Harrelson led off the inning with an infield hit to short, bringing Met starter Bill Denehy to the plate. Mgr Gene Mauch obviously figured the Mets were going to bunt, since the Phillies were leading 2-1. Mauch swapped third baseman Dick Allen with ss Bobby Wine and put the rotation play on. Denehy's bunt was fielded by Clay Dalrymple, who threw to 2b Tony Taylor, covering at first. Harrelson kept running to 3b where... nobody was covering! So much for that idea. Wine and Allen swapped back after the play.

April 25, 1967 Wrigley Field
Mets 2, Chicago Cubs 1

Bob P
April 28, 2006
In his fourth major league appearance and his third start, Tom Seaver pitches a ten inning complete game victory over the Cubs at Wrigley Field.

A sixth inning RBI single by Jerry Grote gave the Mets a 1-0 lead.

Seaver allowed just four singles through eight innings. But leading off the ninth, Don Kessinger drew a walk. After Seaver retired the next two batters, an error by Buddy Harrelson brought the tying run home.

Despite having thrown 104 pitches, Seaver came to bat to lead off the tenth inning. He singled to right off Cubs reliever Bill Hands. With runners at the corners and two outs, Al Luplow singled off LHP Bob Hendley to drive in Seaver with the go-ahead run. Tom set the Cubs down in order on just seven pitches in the bottom of the tenth for the second of his 311 career wins and the first of his 231 complete games.

May 2, 1967 Shea Stadium
Mets 3, San Francisco Giants 2

Ed K
December 1, 2005
Ken Boyer hit into a triple play in the 2nd inning of this game: a liner to pitcher Gaylord Perry who flipped to SS Hal Lanier at 2B who flipped to Williw McCovey at 1B. Tommy Davis and Ed Kranepool was the runners caught off second and first.

Jack Fisher pitched 11.2 innings in the game and then Don Shaw came in to get one out and got credit for the win!


John H.
April 8, 2013

I remember the triple play because I think there was a hit and run on and Perry threw a pitch that Boyer had to reach for outside and low, barely off the ground. Perry made a tremendous catch on it and started the triple play.

May 5, 1967 Shea Stadium
Mets 3, Houston Astros 2

Jim Lenihan
December 3, 2020
Wow, nobody has a comment about this game.

A friend and I went on a Friday night with a good possibility of rain.

So what! Tom Seaver was pitching and he was already becoming a Met favorite.

When we got to Shea it was raining and the tarp was on the field. The only time I ever saw that while attending a MLB game.

We got box seats about five rows back between 3rd and right field.

God heard our prayers and the rain stopped.

Mets ahead 2-0 when Rusty Staub hits a monster HR off Tom S. to tie the game (May they both RIP)

Jerry Buchek leads off the ninth with an opposite field HR into the Mets bullpen.

Only time I saw a walk-off HR live.

My God, I think I'm going cry.

Jim L.

May 17, 1967 Fulton County Stadium
Atlanta Braves 4, Mets 3

Ed K
April 15, 2011
Seaver may have been the first Met pitcher ever to get three hits in a game on this date, but he still lost the game. Doc Gooden (twice) and Chris Young are also Met pitchers who later got three hits in a game.

May 20, 1967 Shea Stadium
St. Louis Cardinals 11, Mets 9

Bob P
January 27, 2004
Mets pitcher Jack Hamilton hits a grand slam off former Met Al Jackson, but the Mets still lose the game, 11-9.


Flitgun Frankie
December 11, 2020

Even the usually optimistic and cheerful Bob Murphy sounded like he wanted to cry after this one. Brutal loss. Hamilton gives himself a 4 run lead by hitting a second inning grand slam, and then is gone an inning later when he can't hold that lead. Then the Mets get that big lead back, only to see a variety of relief pitchers blow that, and lose on a couple of 9 inning runs. So they blew a 4-run lead and a 5-run lead in the same game. Anyway, a Don Bosch sighting in this game. He's one of the first Met players I remember. They put him in as a defensive replacement, but he never had a ball hit to him and never got up to bat. A marathon game for those days, over 3 1/2 hours for 9 innings with the teams combining to use 12 pitchers. All three Met announcers commented on this little knowing that in about 40 years this would be standard operating procedure for Major League Baseball.

May 24, 1967 Shea Stadium
Los Angeles Dodgers 8, Mets 2

Bob
August 17, 2020
My first ever Met game! I was 9 years old at the time. It was unusually cold that night. Unfortunately the Dodgers beat us down pretty good, but little did we know it at the time, but we had a future Hall of Famer on our pitching staff - Tom Seaver

May 26, 1967 Shea Stadium
Mets 1, Atlanta Braves 0

Dan Morrow
February 13, 2013
I remember the gritty performance of Dan Cardwell. Hank Aaron gets to second base late in the game and gets picked off! So exciting -it was a chilly wet night at Shea, I believe, but that could be another game. We went to so many Mets game because it was so affordable. We'd think nothing of jumping in the car in NJ and driving to Shea for a walk-up purchase. Went to more than 30 games in 1969!


Bob Immerman
October 4, 2015

This was the first game I ever attended at Shea Stadium. My father's workplace had purchased a block of tickets and we were recognized on the scoreboard. I was seven years old. Jerry Bucheck's home run was the only run of the game. It was a little chilly but not a rainy night as another fan recalled. None of us could believe that Don Cardwell pitched that well that night, and he didn't seem to be effective at all until late in the 1969 season when he was used in relief quite a bit.


Joe Balkoski
November 4, 2015

Fantastic game... Hank Aaron got picked off second with one out in the ninth, with the Mets up 1-0. Stunning. The game probably lasted under two hours, but I can't find anything in the box score or scorecard that provides the game length.

June 9, 1967 Wrigley Field
Chicago Cubs 6, Mets 5

Casey D
April 9, 2012
A critical moment occurred in the 8th inning when Adolpho Phillips hit a deep drive to right center and as the Mets right fielder Tommie Reynolds attempted to scale the ivy wall at Wrigley, 2 nine-year old kids sitting in the first row leaned over the wall (pre the wall baskets)to snag a souvenir and appeared to deflect the ball. The game tying run scored (with 2 outs) and Phillips was awarded a triple even thought the Mets argued for a ground rule double which would have left the tying run at third.. The Cubs went on to win it in the 9th. Replays of the "incident" appeared on the WGN news that night as well as an incriminating photo in the next days Chicago Sun Times.

June 11, 1967 Wrigley Field
Chicago Cubs 18, Mets 10

Bob P
June 11, 2003
The Cubs and Mets combined for 11 home runs in this game, seven by the Cubs. At that time the eleven homers tied a major league record. I'm not sure if that record still stands.


Feat Fan
March 22, 2004

This game was a donnybrook with Adolpho Phillips crashing three home runs!

Originally scheduled as a single game, this became the back end of a Sunday doubleheader after Saturday's wash out.

In that game, Tommy Davis homered to left field off the Cubs Bill Hands to lead off the second inning of a game in Chicago. The Saturday afternoon game was rained out after four innings.

Great when the wind blows at Wrigley!


Bob Immerman
September 25, 2015

This is what I loved about baseball as a seven year old Mets fan. Sunday doubleheaders! Game two of this one was a classic even though the Mets lost. I don't know if Adolpho Phillips ever had a better day as a pro, but to my mind that day I thought he was going to go to the Hall of Fame. Probably the first game I ever watched on TV from Wrigley Field. I was hooked!


Flitgun Frankie
January 5, 2021

Unfortunately, a broadcast recording of this game doesn't seem to exist, but recordings of both games of the St. Louis-Dodgers doubleheader played the same day do survive, so you get to hear Vin Scully & Jerry Doggett follow and comment on this game from St. Louis, and on the exploits of Adolfo Phillips. Phillips gifted a game a year earlier to the Mets with some pretty shaky play, so here he takes it back.

BTW, the Dodgers lost both games of their double header, which I enjoyed. Their first game loss was very 1960's Mets-like, scoring 4 runs in the top of the ninth to tie the game at 7-7, then immediately losing it in the bottom of the ninth on some heroics from Roger Maris. No wonder, since there was a heavy Mets influence on that Dodger team, with two original 1962 Mets (Bob Miller, who was the LP in that first game, and Jim Hickman), plus Ron Hunt. And the WP in the second game, for the Cardinals, was another original Met, Al Jackson.

June 16, 1967 Shea Stadium
Chicago Cubs 4, Mets 3

Tom Sullivan
March 22, 2002
My first live Mets game ever. I was 9 years old and on a Knights of Columbus bus trip with my dad. Had mezzanine reserve seats that the old man sprung $2.75 a piece for. Of course, the Mets lost. And Shea was a dump then, too. I remember the cheesy Met picture board atop the large scoreboard in right field. As far as the game went, Hawk Taylor filled in for Grote that day.

June 17, 1967 Shea Stadium
Chicago Cubs 9, Mets 1

Jim in Texas
March 12, 2003
My first major league game and, as I recall, it was pretty much over after the second batter: the Cub who made it 2-0 with a first-inning home run. I recall getting the autograph of coach Salty Parker who became the manager at the end of the year. I also have a vague recollection of many Met infielders hurling themselves at grounders that went through for hits. Despite the humiliating defeat, I was hooked for life.


John from Pompton Lakes NJ
September 25, 2015

My first major league game attended also, not long before I turned 10 years old. I was with a large group of Little Leaguers from Pompton Lakes, NJ. I can't remember if we had one busload or several.

I was, and still am, a Yankees fan, and hated the Mets. So this game was very enjoyable watching the Mets get slaughtered.

I'm thankful that the score was 9-1, and that I always remembered that, because it made it very easy to find the date and box score of the game so many decades later. Not sure if I'd have remembered the score if it had been 3-2 or something, and there wouldn't be just one possible game with that score.

It's funny that I don't remember any specific plays from the game, or exactly where I sat (somewhere in the upper deck on the first base line, I'm pretty sure) yet from a Yankees game I went to later the same season, I remember section number, row, and many specific plays which are still in my head available for "instant replay". I guess I remember stuff I care about, more than stuff I like watching but don't care about.

I cared somewhat about seeing Ernie Banks in this game, but if not for the box score here, I wouldn't be able to tell you what he did. Quite unlike my memories of Mickey Mantle and Horace Clarke a short time later!

June 20, 1967 Connie Mack Stadium
Philadelphia Phillies 4, Mets 0

Bob P
July 5, 2004
Tommy Davis has a second inning double for the only Mets hit of the game as Larry Jackson pitches a shutout.

June 26, 1967 Shea Stadium
Mets 3, Pittsburgh Pirates 2

Met Fan 39991
October 28, 2005
A unique thing about this game was that the Mets won because the Pirates batted out of order. The official line ups and scoreboard or some other lineups did not match and the manager went out after the offender got a rbi hit his second or third time up. The hit was reveresed and the Mets won! The Pirates manager was fired shortly after this game. If someone has the exact detail fill'em in. I watched this game on television and remember it because I attended the game the night before and batting out of order!


NYB Buff
November 14, 2023

Met Fan 39991, the batting-out-of-order incident with the Pirates came one day later and not in this game. On this night, the Mets rallied with three runs in the last two innings to defeat the Bucs. Ken Boyer hit a two-run homer in the eighth to tie. In the ninth, Ed Charles got a pinch-hit single that scored Jerry Buchek for the win.

June 27, 1967 Shea Stadium
Mets 5, Pittsburgh Pirates 2

Bob P
February 28, 2004
The Pirates batted out of order in this game. According to retrosheet.org:

In the top of the first, Pittsburgh sent six batters to the plate. Maury Wills and Manny Mota both singled and moved up on a wild pitch. Roberto Clemente grounded out, driving in Wills and Donn Clendenon also grounded out with Mota remaining at third. After Bill Mazeroski walked, Gene Alley came to the plate and grounded out to the pitcher. Alley batted ahead of Jose Pagan, the proper batter, but since he made an out the Mets said nothing.

In the third inning, Mota reached on his second bunt hit of the game and Clemente was called out on strikes. Both Clendenon and Mazeroski singled to left with Mota scoring on Maz's single. Alley again batted out of turn and hit into a force play at second moving Clendenon to third. After Pagan hit a 2-RBI double, Wes Westrum approached the umpires and pointed out that the Pirates had batted out of turn. The proper batter, Jim Pagliaroni, was called out. Pagan’s plate appearance was eliminated, along with the two runs. The Mets were leading at the time by the final score of 5-2.

I remember the stories on the news and in the papers that Westrum made a brilliant move by not saying anything the first time it happened since no damage was done, and then waiting for an at bat when the Pirates did some damage before bringing it to the attention of the umpires.


Kenny M
July 13, 2004

This was the date/game that the production crew for the original MOVIE The Odd Couple filmed the baseball scene at Shea, where Bill Mazeroski hits into a triple play. I guess this was filmed before the real game. Apparently, Clemente was first asked to be the batter for this triple play, and refused, so they asked Maz.


rich edwards
October 21, 2004

Kenny you have a good memory. Maz was the batter and Jack Fisher was pitching. The scoreboard even simulated the Mets leading 2-1 in the 9th inning. Maz fouled off several and then hit a grounder to 3rd (I believe Ed Charles) for an around the horn triple play. Unfortunately they never really showed any close up action in the movie. I was sitting lower level behind first base, so somewhere in that shot of the stands is me.


PAT PIZZONIA
July 25, 2005

More about The Odd Couple filming: the papers said that Clemente refused to bat in the game scene because he was offered the scale $100. He was quoted as saying "I will do it for $1000, or I will do it for nothing, but I won't do it for $100!"

The real game that day featured not only the batting-out-of order incident, but it was the Mets debut of lefty Dennis Bennett. The Mets that year were strapped for left-handed pitchers, and GM Bing Devine, forever wheeling and dealing, plucked many a lefty that year from obscurity, and in nearly every case, that's where they were returned. But on that exciting day, the Mets were winners! What a thrill for this 13-year-old kid as the summer vacation was just beginning!


JAMES R
October 15, 2008

This was my first Mets game. I've been hooked ever since. I sat in a field box between the Mets dugout and the foul pole. It was hot and sunny and Shea looked like heaven to an eight year old. I recall Swoboda caught the last out against the right field wall and also homered. I think it took Mazeroski a few takes to hit into the triple play and he was paid $100.00. The P.A. guy, Mr. Lightcap, prompted the crowd to cheer for the cameras.


Mike Bernicker
December 6, 2020

I remember going to this game courtesy of the Parkchester Little League. Every year they would take us to a game at Shea and sit us in the upper deck by the left field foul pole. This game was billed as "Camera Day" on the schedule. I watched Bill Mazeroski hit into a triple play prior to the actual game. I had no idea what was going on until I saw the Odd Couple movie the following year.


Michael
July 20, 2021

I was 16 1/2 at the time. My friend and I got our tickets from one of the WOR-TV producers who was a family friend of his, mezzanine section 1, row A. I seem to remember Tom Seaver throwing 2 pitches to Mazeroski, and on the second pitch, Maz hit into the staged triple play. I’ve been to around 800 Mets games, and this was the only “batting out of order” I’ve seen live. I still have the scorecard, a bit messy. I also remember the Pirates were keyed into the batting order on the scoreboard, which was wrong. Poor Jim Pagliaroni, declared out and he never even batted in that inning.


Michael Spivack
September 11, 2022

I must correct my comment of July 20, 2021. I thought it was Tom Seaver who threw the simulated triple play pitch to Bill Mazeroski, but in reading some previous comments, my memory must’ve been wrong. I now believe it was Jack Fisher.


Thomas
December 18, 2022

I went to the game with my brother and father. I knew Clemente had turned down the role and Mazeroski stepped in. Mazeroski hit the first pitch off the LF wall. The 2nd pitch he hit to Ed Charles for the triple play. I watched Charles throw, then watched Maz run. He was staring at the play and did a good job of pretending to run slow instead of that jogging thing. I remember the whole batting out of order commotion because it delayed the game for quite a bit. Without looking it up, I think Swoboda hit a HR to left. No doubter from our 3B vantage point.


Alan Bernstein
April 30, 2024

I was at this game for my brother's 16th birthday. I was 13. I remember the Mets PA guy urging the crowd to cheer as the triple play was completed. I also recall that as they were coming off the field Bud Harrelson did a little jump/skip like he might if they really pulled that play off (a true thespian).

It's a long time ago and maybe I'm wrong but my recollection is that for a moment they said they were going to reshoot it but then decided not to as it was good enough. Why were they going to reshoot it? At the time I noticed they screwed it up (this was the Mets) as the second baseman came off the bag early. The umpire noticed too.

In the movie they barely showed the scene so you really couldn't tell much of anything.

BTW, I remember the movie scene far more than the game itself.

July 2, 1967 Shea Stadium
St. Louis Cardinals 3, Mets 1

Ed K
August 14, 2011
This game was notable because Jack Lamabe pitched pretty well in a spot start while losing to the Cards in the nightcap of a doubleheader. A couple weeks later Bob Gibson went on the DL and the Cards needed a pitcher to fill the gap for a while. Stan Musial (their GM) called Bing Devine and acquired Jack Lamabe from the Mets in exchange for the Mets getting Al Jackson back. So poor Al missed being around for the Cards winning the 1967 World Series and then the Mets traded him mid-1969 so he missed that World Series as well.

July 3, 1967 Shea Stadium
Mets 5, San Francisco Giants 3

Stephen Battaglio
December 21, 2004
This was a nationally televised prime time game on NBC.


Gary Brown
April 28, 2006

This was a big game in Mets history because it was a network game and the nation got a first glimpse at the great Tom Seaver, who pitched a complete game victory.

The biggest highlight was Eddie Kranepool's three-run homer off Bob Bolin in the bottom of the fourth that put the Mets up to stay. In his earlier at bat Krane had almost put one out but was eventually retired. In the fourth he hit a bomb and Shea errupted.

The next morning the back page of the New York Daily News said in a huge headline, "Kranepool HRs Giants, 5-3." I cut it out and still have it to this day, one of my great memories of the early Mets years.


Dan
September 8, 2006

My first time watching Seaver in person. There was an excitement at Shea that night that I had never before felt: Tom Terrific had already made an impact.

July 4, 1967 Shea Stadium
Mets 8, San Francisco Giants 7

Bob P
January 31, 2004
The Mets celebrate July 4th by beating Juan Marichal for the first time. Marichal had been 19- 0 against the Mets over their first five and a half years.

July 8, 1967 Shea Stadium
Mets 3, Atlanta Braves 2

Alan Aron
February 28, 2011
My most vivid memory of that game some 43+ years later was how rookie Tom Seaver struck out Henry Aaron on three perfect pitches in the eight inning for out number 2.

Mets were leading by a score of 4-2 and every fan had one foot in the aisle, since the Great Hank was coming up to bat.

I remember after the strikeout the crowd went crazy, but Tom looked at his infielders as if to say, "We're not done yet. I still have got to get four more outs to close this game out." To have that poise under pressure was impressive. I thought he'd be a good one one day.

As Mets fans we didn't get our hopes up too high back then. He had a better career than I thought.

July 9, 1967 Shea Stadium
Mets 5, Atlanta Braves 4

Paul Ciccarelli
August 18, 2002
My fist major leauge game!! I'm looking for the box score. I know Hank Aaron played, but the only home run I remember hit was by Ed Charles!


Charlie O'Reilly
October 25, 2004

It was my first MLB game, too. To honor that, I went to The New York Times and pulled up the story and the box score in order to write up a Web page about ... you guessed it ... my first MLB game. I hardly remember it, as I was a few days shy of my 6th birthday, but here's how it happened. The game was tied 3-3 going to the 8th when Hank Aaron hit his 22nd homer of the season. In the bottom of the 9th, with two out and the Mets needing a big hit, Wes Westrum pinch- hit Jerry Buchek for Bud Harrelson (who was 4-for- 4 at the time). Buchek delivered a homer to tie the game, and the Braves pitchers (Dick Kelley and Claude Raymond) fell apart. The game ended on a bases-loaded walk to Ron Swoboda, on a 3-1 count.


Peter
August 18, 2011

My first game too. Were we sitting together in the section for kids attending their first game? I remember the 9th inning being exciting.

July 19, 1967 Shea Stadium
Mets 8, Houston Astros 4

dave antosh
April 17, 2001
My first Mets game. I believe it was the first game of a helmet day doubleheader. P.S. I still have my helmet and ticket stub! Also I miss Jane Jarvis, the Queen of Melody playing the Thomas Organ.


duke
September 10, 2002

A doubleheader win for the Mets! Seaver and Fisher bested Dave Guisti and Mike Cueller. Mets win a doubleheader, my friends and I were looking around for Rod Serling!

Tommy Davis smashed a grand slam in one game and Swoboda had a pair of homers on the day. This was one day that even the Borden's coupon seats in the upper deck were feeling pretty good!

July 19, 1967 Shea Stadium
Mets 7, Houston Astros 2

TracMet
May 10, 2013
Played hookie with a friend from work to go to this midweek DH. Scheduling was different then or maybe it was a make up of an earlier rain out. We had great seats in Shea mezzanine which I thought were the best seats at Shea. Seaver cruised to his 9th win and he was in his first year and just starting to exhibit what would mark him as The Franchise. You could sense as a Met fan he was special. Tommy Davis' grand slam exciting from a great hitter. One very good Met season. Hard to explain sun burn to boss next day.


O. B. White
August 11, 2020

A productive game for the Mets. Tommy Davis's grand slam and solo homers by Ed Kranepool and Ron Swoboda were the key blows in the completion of a doubleheader sweep. On the mound, Tom Seaver recorded 12 strikeouts and got his ninth win of the season. It was the first time Seaver had ever fanned at least ten batters in a game. There's a great piece of trivia about who Tom's catcher was for this moment of his career. Does anybody remember John Sullivan?

July 20, 1967 Shea Stadium
Houston Astros 7, Mets 0

Tom M
February 7, 2005
Attended my first Mets game on July 20th 1967. I was 7 years old and my only memories are that it was "Helmet Night" and the Astros beat the Mets 7- 0. Can't believe its been 37 years and I haven't missed a Mets season since.


PAT PIZZONIA
July 25, 2005

It was the first ever batting helmet night at Shea and the helmets were given out to all kids under 16. Well, I was a week shy of my 14th birthday, and the ushers thought I was much older and at first wouldn't give me the helmet, but my friend's dad intervened on my behalf. It was the reverse of being "proofed"! In the game, I remember Rusty Staub rounding third and instead of wearing spikes, he was running in cleats. I also recall his hesitance to bat while those jets from LaGuardia were soaring overhead. I had no way of knowing at the time that five years later, this finicky player would become my hero, "Le Grande Orange!"


Tony
August 14, 2011

This was my very first game. I was 7 years old. I remember the grand slam that was hit in the game although I didn't remember the player who hit it until I looked at the box score. My dad and I sat in the upper deck since that was all my dad could afford. I remember thinking this was so steep and that I would fall all the way down to the box seats.


Raymond Malcuit Jr.
September 2, 2016

I was at this game and it was my first Met game ever. I remember it was Helmet Night and I got a Mets batting helmet, I was 10 years young then.

July 22, 1967 Shea Stadium
Los Angeles Dodgers 4, Mets 3

Frank Case
October 6, 2010
Probably the only game of the many Mets games I have seen in person that I remember the score. Why? It was my first time ever to a major league baseball game! I was 11. Shea Stadium, my Dad, lifelong memory. (I am now 53.) Thanks for the memories!


Andy Gustavson
September 9, 2011

This was the first time I was able to see the Mets in person on my birthday. All I ever wanted for my birthday was a trip to see my Mets. Since I'd always been told that my Dad had taken me to the Polo Grounds in 1963 at age 2 and the Mets were always on the road on July 22 until that 1967 season, this was the first chance for me as an already eager young Mets fan to see in person on my "special day," the team which has evolved into the love of my life. Well I suppose after that woman I married (twice) and that kid we brought into this world 31 years ago.

I was always lucky to go to Shea somewhere around my birthday but this game will forever be etched in my memory since it fell on my birthday and my hero Jerry Grote (I was already a catcher in little league) had 2 hits including a homer. I recall not really understanding why Sandy Koufax was not pitching. (My first realization of pitching rotations.)

I remember us losing the game (but shockingly do not have any memory of the "great" Jerry Buchek getting 3 of the Mets 10 hits..LOL. I do recall my Dad buying me a felt "METS" pennant which got bent somewhere along on the bus ride home on that hot, humid Saturday. That pennant hung on my bedroom wall above the poster I got for Christmas of Tom Seaver (one of the ones with the dirt on the knee of his trail leg) for what seemed like forever.

I'm sure I was fortunate enough to have seen "My Mets" on other occasions on "my day" but that first time will always be special to me.

July 23, 1967 Shea Stadium
Mets 4, Los Angeles Dodgers 1

Andrew Caldwell
February 24, 2003
I was at this game!! Hendley outpitched Drysdale, of all people. I also remember my favorite Met, Ron Swoboda, caught a long fly ball that would have just sneaked over the rightfield wall if he hadn't pulled it in. I think Drysdale hit the ball in question. Beautiful summer day, I had just turned 10, and I think it was the first time that I saw the Mets win (maybe the 2nd) in person. Just finished reading the new Koufax book, in which Hendley figures prominently as the losing pitcher in Sandy's perfect game - and Hendley pitched a 1-hitter, with the run scoring on a throwing error.


NYB Buff
December 8, 2022

Andrew, you're correct about Don Drysdale hitting a drive that Ron Swoboda jumped up and caught just in front of the right field fence. It came in the third inning and took away a hit from Drysdale on his 31st birthday. Swoboda also made a leaping catch at the wall on Wes Parker's fly ball in the ninth for the game's last out.

Bob Hendley pitched a four-hitter in which Al Ferrara homered for the Dodgers' only run. Tommy Davis started the Mets' scoring with a home run to lead off the bottom of the fourth. It was Davis's 100th career homer and first ever against his former Los Angeles team. The Mets also scored twice in the fifth on some erratic Dodger fielding and added another run on Swoboda's sacrifice fly in the sixth.

One other note about this game is that it was Hendley's 48th and final win in the major leagues.

July 30, 1967 Astrodome
Houston Astros 9, Mets 1

Feat Fan
April 1, 2004
Jimmy Wynn cranks two home runs and drives in 6 as the Astros baffle the Mets 9-1. Jack Fisher is hit often and hit hard.

July 31, 1967 Astrodome
Houston Astros 3, Mets 2

kevin
January 7, 2008
I remember watching this game with a great deal of anticipation. Bo Belinsky had a lousy record at the time of this start and I fully expected the Mets to light his ass up in this one. The Mets scored two runs in the first inning and I figured they would knock Belinsky out in the next inning or two. Belinsky then mowed down the Mets for eight straight innings, giving up two hits, both to Tommie Davis the only major league hitter the Mets had in the line up that day. This game taught me an important lesson about baseball and how unpredictable games can be. I still remember this particular game more than forty years after the fact because of this valuable lesson I received that July afternoon.


NYB Buff
December 16, 2022

This was Bo Belinsky's 28th and final win of his mediocre career off which he had once become Hollywood famous. He gave up two runs in the top of the first inning before the Astros scored twice to knock out the Mets' Dennis Bennett in the bottom half. Belinsky then recorded outs on nineteen straight batters after a two-out walk to Bud Harrelson in the top of the second. Meanwhile, the Astros got a run in the fourth against Ron Taylor to take the lead for good. Bo got himself a major league win for the last time. For Bennett, it was the last of his eight games as a Met.

August 6, 1967 Shea Stadium
San Francisco Giants 9, Mets 7

Mike Coffey
August 21, 2013
I was at this game with my neighbor. I was 10 at the time and his Dad took us. We witnessed Willie McCovey hitting a line drive off the middle of the flag pole in center field at Shea Stadium. I couldn't believe my eyes. The ball was still going up when it hit the pole. Best shot I ever saw. Jim, my neighbor reminded me of this just today. What a great memory!


Stu Cohen
September 7, 2023

I was also at the Willie McCovey off the flagpole game

August 8, 1967 Shea Stadium
Mets 3, Atlanta Braves 2

TOM from Tinton Falls
July 2, 2003
This is the first MLB game I ever attended and, as much as anything, is the reason I am a lifelong dyed-in-the-wool Mets fan. I was 7 years old. I don't remember much from when I was 7, but I remember this game! My dad was a Brooklyn Dodgers fan, so with them gone to the West Coast I inherited no favorite team from Dad.

Playing for the Braves that day were Hank Aaron, Clete Boyer, Rico Carty, Felipe Alou, Joe Torre, Cecil Upshaw and Bob Uecker! Those guys didn't matter to me at age 7. My team had Ed Kranepool, who had a pinch-hit double in the bottom of the ninth to drive in the Mets' first run and scored the tying run in the same inning. We had Bob Johnson, who scored that first run and hit the game-winning home run in the bottom of the eleventh inning. We had Bud Harrelson, the little skinny shortstop, who immediately became the favorite player of a little skinny 7-year-old.

I have the complete play-by-play account and box score from the game (from Retrosheet). For the record, the Mets won 3-2 after being held scoreless for 8 innings by Denny Lemaster. Upshaw blew the save for the Braves and Jay Ritchie took the loss. Aaron was 0-5, Torre was 0-5, Alou was 0-4, Boyer was 0-4 ... in fact the Braves got just 5 hits (Denis Menke 2, Woody Woodward 2, and Rico Carty 1). Bob Hendley started and Ron Taylor got the win for the Mets.

August 10, 1967 Shea Stadium
Pittsburgh Pirates 3, Mets 0

ERIC ERN
September 25, 2015
This was my first Met game! Me and my friend Anthony walked the stadium with our "Sink the Pirates" banner.

Jack Fisher, an amazing innings eater in the mid 60's pitched a brilliant game, only giving up a solo shot from Bill Mazeroski into the visitors bullpen. My father refused to boo Mazeroski. When I asked him why he told me that Mazeroski had a big hit (about seven years prior) in the World Series once that he remembered. My father was apparently a closet Yankee hater.

August 11, 1967 Shea Stadium
Mets 3, Pittsburgh Pirates 2

Big Dave Shaw
June 2, 2001
Danny Frisella's first major league win and I was in the mezzanine with my Dad. Bud Harrelson tripled right below us down the LF in 1st inning. Frisella got his first big-league win but had to leave in the 7th inning because it was his weekend for military reserve duty.

August 12, 1967 Shea Stadium
Mets 6, Pittsburgh Pirates 1

Mark K.
February 22, 2023
I was very young, the Old Tappan, NJ Little League took us to the game. I don't remember much...but these couple of things I DO remember. We sat all the way up in the upper deck behind home plate. The slope was so steep that every time I got up, I felt like I was going to fall forward, out of the stands and on to the field. I also remember that Tommy Davis hit two home runs that day...both to center field. I came home with a Mets pennant and a yearbook. I've collected yearbooks ever since and have quite a collection. A few years ago, I bought a filled out program/scorecard for the game on ebay.

August 13, 1967 Shea Stadium
Mets 3, Pittsburgh Pirates 0

marc burns
September 7, 2007
My Dad told my Mom (his girlfriend at the time) that if the Mets won the Double-header they would get engaged. 40 years later they are still married!


NYB Buff
August 14, 2023

Tom Seaver tossed a four-hitter for his first major league shutout in this doubleheader opener. It was a scoreless pitching duel between Seaver and the Pirates' Steve Blass before the Mets broke through with three runs in the eighth inning. Tom would eventually blank the opponent with a complete game a total of 44 times as a Met.

August 14, 1967 Connie Mack Stadium
Mets 8, Philadelphia Phillies 3

Bob P
July 13, 2004
The Mets finally beat Jim Bunning in this game after Bunning had pitched eight straight complete game victories over the Mets, including five shutouts and a perfect game.

It was the fifth consecutive win for the Mets, marking only the fourth time in their six seasons that they had won as many as five in a row.


NYB Buff
November 27, 2022

Bob P, the losing pitcher for the Phillies in this game was not Jim Bunning. It was Larry Jackson, who had a record of 18 wins and no defeats against the Mets before taking the loss here. This streak began with the Mets' inaugural game in 1962 at St. Louis when Jackson was with the Cardinals.

Jackson lasted six innings, which was his shortest stint ever against the Mets up to that time. Ed Kranepool's two-run double put the Mets ahead to stay and they had a 5-2 lead when Jackson departed. Meanwhile, Jack Fisher pitched a complete game for the win and hit a run-scoring single of his own against Jackson.

The Mets would pin the loss on Jackson once more in 1968, his final season.

August 15, 1967 Connie Mack Stadium
Philadelphia Phillies 7, Mets 5

Ed K
October 4, 2005
Mr. Harmonica Phil Linz hit the first GITP (Grounded into Triple Play) in Met history in 2nd inning of this nightcap to the doubleheader. He hit a grounder to Dick Allen who tagged 3B to force Greg Goosen and flipped to Cookie Rojas who tagged 2B to force Tommie Reynolds and then the throw to Bill White at 1B still got Linz. Linz was some speedy SS!

August 17, 1967 Forbes Field
Mets 6, Pittsburgh Pirates 5

Jaime Rosa
January 26, 2007
I was only nine years old, but I will always remember this game because of Buddy Harrelson's inside the park HR. Batting left handed, he hit a ball down the right field line and Al Luplow, thinking it to be a foul ball, never took off after the ball. By the time he got to the ball Buddy had scored. There was quite an argument.


Mets Forever
May 30, 2013

This is my first Met memory ay age 6. Black and white television on WOR channel 9 at Forbes Field. Why Pittsburgh's right fielder assumed it was foul is beyond me? Buddy just circled the bases. Above comment is how I remember it also. Quite an ARGUMENT.


The Big H
January 15, 2024

Not quite a game memory...As a kid we were on vacation "away from it all". Back in civilization, I was surprised to see that Bud Harrelson had hit a home run. Eventually I read how he hit it! The recently traded ex Met Al Luplow argued with the ump about fair or foul as Bud Harrelson ran around the bases. In today's game Harrelson would probably be credited with a double and "fielders indifference" for the other two bases. Al Luplow may very well be the inventor of fielders indifference. Anyway the game was played in 1967 so it is a home run forever!


Metsmind
January 15, 2024

I was only 9 but I recall being ECSTATIC when Buddy circled the bases. I seem to recall that not only didn't Luplow chase the ball, it rolled under the Pirates bullpens bench down the RF line amongst the discarded dixie cups underneath there.


NYB Buff
January 27, 2024

The Big H, I don't know where you're coming from because there is no such thing as "fielder's indifference." Perhaps you're getting that confused with defensive indifference, which is a ruling on runners not being credited with stolen bases in the late innings of lopsided games.

I was too young to be interested in baseball at the time of this game and didn't see what happened on Bud Harrelson's inside-the-park homer. But if Al Luplow never touched the ball and just assumed it was foul, it would not be ruled as anything specific even by today's official scoring standards. Harrelson would still be credited with a home run now.

Also, I can't agree with Jaime Rosa that Harrelson hit the homer as a left-handed batter. It came against left-handed pitcher Juan Pizarro, which means that Bud had to be hitting from the right-handed side of the plate.

August 17, 1967 Forbes Field
Pittsburgh Pirates 6, Mets 5

Ed K
July 13, 2008
Something you'd never see today: Seaver had been knocked out of the 1st game of the doubleheader after two innings but the Mets rallied to get him off the hook. Then Westrum brought him back in relief in this game which was the nightcap, and he lost it

August 30, 1967 Busch Stadium
St. Louis Cardinals 2, Mets 0

Raymond Malcuit Jr.
September 17, 2017
What I remember about this game was that Tim McCarver hit an inside-the-park home run for the Cardinals.

August 31, 1967 Wrigley Field
Chicago Cubs 2, Mets 1

Bob P
August 5, 2007
Lots of "stuff" happened in this Thursday afternoon game between the last-place Mets and the third-place Cubs.

It started as a pitcher's duel between a couple of USC guys, Tom Seaver and Rich Nye. In the bottom of the fifth Don Kessinger hit a grounder to first but it bounced off Bob Johnson and all the way into the dugout. Kessinger moved to third on a Glenn Beckert bunt and scored on an infield out by Billy Williams. The Mets tied it in the sixth on an RBI single by Tommy Davis.

In the bottom of the ninth, Randy Hundley doubled down the right field line, and after Ted Savage bunted him to third, Wes Westrum decided to intentionally walk Adolfo Phillips and pinch- hitter Lee Thomas. At this point Westrum also replaced Tommy Davis in left field with Tommy Reynolds, and on the next pitch Kessinger hit one foul down the left field line where Reynolds made a running catch and threw Hundley out at the plate to send the game to extra innings.

The Mets never threatened to score again and in the eleventh Ernie Banks led off with a single. Hundley, trying to bunt, was hit in the shoulder by Ron Taylor. Leo Durocher sent Fergie Jenkins in to run for Banks, and had Ted Savage try to bunt the runners over. But when the count got to 1-2, Durocher called Savage back to the dugout and sent up veteran left-hand batter Al Spangler. Taylor's first pitch to Spangler was a ball, then Spangler looped one just over third and just inside the foul line, allowing Jenkins to score the winning run.


Ed K
September 25, 2015

This was the start of the only 7-game series in Mets history. In April, the Mets and Cubs only got two games played in the Mets first trip to Wrigley. In July, a whole series got rained out, leaving them to play 7 games in 4 days on their final trip to Chicago for 1967. They lost this single game on Thursday, split doubleheaders on Friday and Saturday, and lost the doubleheader on Sunday.

September 6, 1967 Shea Stadium
St. Louis Cardinals 3, Mets 1

Feat Fan
April 22, 2004
Cards were marching toward the NL crown. Small crowd. Jack Fisher throws 6-hit complete game but Nellie Briles was that much better. Mike Shannon hit a home run. I think Amos Otis was in the game at some point. Wish I kept all those old scorecards.


Bob P
July 8, 2005

Feat Fan's post from 2004 is correct, as usual! Amos Otis made his major league debut in this game, coming in as a pinch-runner in the bottom of the ninth after Tommy Davis led off with a walk.

The game was tied 1-1 going to the top of the eighth when the Cards used a single, two errors, and a sac fly to take a 2-1 lead. Mike Shannon homered for an insurance run in the ninth off Jack Fisher, who was making his second-to-last start as a Met.

September 8, 1967 Shea Stadium
Mets 5, Cincinnati Reds 4

Feat Fan
February 11, 2004
Twi nighter at Shea during a school night. I remember Kevin Collins getting a shot at 3b, or was it Joe Moock, or Joe Christopher, hell, in those days it could have been Joey Heatherton..

John Bench catches one of the games for the Reds after a call up from Buffalo and I think my man Vada Pinson, *28, hit a home run in one of the games.... Actually, the thirdbaseman might have been Sid Rosenberg!

September 9, 1967 Shea Stadium
Cincinnati Reds 2, Mets 0

duke
September 10, 2002
Camera Day! Got some great pictures. Tommy Davis taking his sweet stroke. The Glider Ed Charles. (He had the greatest smile in baseball.) A very young Billy Connors. Larry Stahl, Cal Koonce, Harvey Haddix, Wes Westrum, Hal Reniff, etc. Most notably, Ron Swoboda clowning around by posing with a very small kid's Met cap on. Unfortunately, when the game started, they couldn't touch Gary Nolan.

September 10, 1967 Shea Stadium
Cincinnati Reds 5, Mets 2

Ken S.
July 23, 2002
Brutally cold, windy, and gray Sunday afternoon, with an unusually small crowd on hand to brave the elements. Mets took an early 2-0 lead, and McGraw retired the first nine. My cousin and I were screaming for a perfect game! (I think we started with one out in the first!)

Oh well, it was all down hill after that, as McGraw ran out of gas early, and the Mets couldn't muster a comeback. The vendors ran out of hot chocolate early, too, on a day more suited to a Jets game.


Shickhaus Franks
January 30, 2012

To Ken S. great story about your time on that brutally cold, windy and gray afternoon at Shea. September weather in New York can be topsy-turvy: One day it can be like a summer day in June and then it can turn into November-December without the snow. According to retrosheet, the attendance was 12,339.

September 13, 1967 Fulton County Stadium
Mets 2, Atlanta Braves 1

Ed K
March 31, 2007
This probably was the biggest game of Joe Moock's short MLB career. His first MLB hit, his first double, his first RBI, and one of only two times that he had two hits in a game. He actually was a key player in helping Tom Seaver to the 2-1 victory over the Braves.

September 17, 1967 Astrodome
Houston Astros 4, Mets 3

Ed K
February 26, 2006
Jerry Koosman's first Major League start - no decision. He had two more starts in 1967 and lost both. Things got a lot better in 1968!

September 20, 1967 Shea Stadium
Los Angeles Dodgers 4, Mets 3

Ed K
February 26, 2006
The last game Wes Westrum managed for the Mets and appropriately they lost it. When it became clear he would not be re-hired for 1968, he resigned and Salty Parker managed the last eleven games of the 1967 season.


Edgy DC
November 13, 2006

The next day was the Mets last off day for the season, so poor Wes reportedly could sense the bell about to toll.

The Dodgers weren't much good this season, but, in winning this game, Don Drysdale ran his lifetime record against the Mets to an mountainous 21-4.

September 22, 1967 Shea Stadium
Houston Astros 8, Mets 0

Ed K
February 26, 2006
The first game of Salty Parker's short managing career with the Mets. After the Mets had lost the final game of a home series with the Dodgers, Wes Westrum resigned because it was clear he would not be back in 1968 as manager. So Salty got to manage the last eleven games. Johnny Murphy moved from the front office to fill Salty's vacated coaching spot temporarily.

After an off-day, the Astros came to Shea for a four game series starting with a doubleheader. In this game, Jerry Koosman (up from the minors for a cup of coffee at the end of the season) got beat but the Mets won the nightcap in extra innings.

After the series with Houston, the Mets completed the season with a West Coast trip, and Salty finished with a record of 4-7 as manager.


Ed M
November 28, 2014

Was this "Banner Night" as a makeup for the original one rained out earlier with the Cubs?

September 22, 1967 Shea Stadium
Mets 8, Houston Astros 5

Dan H.
September 6, 2008
A freezing cold night in the upper deck, actually with a lot of time spent in the heated bathroom. I actually witnessed most of the entire major league career of Joe Moock that evening.

September 24, 1967 Shea Stadium
Houston Astros 4, Mets 2

Steve B
April 5, 2003
The final home game of the 1967 season. Freezing cold and damp. For Fan Apperciation Day, we got orange caps with a blue bill that had the Mets' skyline logo on them. It was a golf hat with a flexible band in the back, I think.

Most vivid memory of the action was actually on the scoreboard. There were regular updates on the incredible pennant race going on in the American League when Boston, Minnesota, Detroit and Chicago were all still in it.

And, oh yeah, Joe Moock played 3rd base.


Glenn Don
November 18, 2009

I went to this game also. I remembered that Wes Westrum had been fired as manager before I went to the game, but until I saw it here I forgot who was the new manager.

I wore the hat for a long time as a kid.

September 29, 1967 Dodger Stadium
Mets 5, Los Angeles Dodgers 1

NYB Buff
February 4, 2024
This was a big night for Bill Graham. He pitched a six-hitter over the Dodgers for his first major league win. At bat, Graham helped his own cause with a run-scoring single for the only hit and RBI of his career. He also threw a called third strike past ex-Met Ron Hunt to end the game.

This turned out to be Bill Graham's last game in baseball. For anyone who might be wondering, he didn't move into a life as an evangelical preacher. That was someone else of the same name.







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