1973 New York Mets 82-79 - 1st Pl NL East

"Ya Gotta Believe"...That was the rallying cry for the '73 Mets, who on paper looked to be one of the favorites to win the division back in April.  That was before the team suffered an unbelievable battery of injuries, bad luck, bad bounces and poor performances.  By July 9th the Mets were in a stretch where they lost 7 of their last 8 games to fall 12.5 games behind the 1st place Cubs.  M.Donald Grant, the Wall Street Banker who represented beloved owner Mrs. Joan Payson, addressed the team in the locker room prior to their 81st game of the season.  Grant, not known to be any sort of a motivational speaker went on with a boring diatribe on why the team still had time to be successful and make something of themselves if they just believed in themselves.  Free spirited southpaw reliever Tug McGraw seized on the moment and blurted out "Ya Gotta Believe".  McGraw then got up and began bouncing around the locker room yelling the newly born mantra at the top of his lungs.  Grant was taken aback and insulted so much that he stopped speaking and left the room thinking McGraw (ever the jokester) was mocking him.  Tug, who was struggling to save games to this point, spoke with a friend earlier in the day who said the same thing to him.  The light-bulb went on and so did his enthusiasm.  The team began to slowly, but surely chip away at the 12.5 game deficit they faced thanks to the Cubs folding more so than the Mets really improving.  In any case the Mets were "only" 6.5 games out on August 30th.  Sure they were in sole possession of last place, but they were within striking distance thanks to fact that the teams ahead of them were in the process of folding like a cheap suit from Bonds.  The Mets would go 20-8 down the stretch to pull off the improbable, an NL East Division Flag.  Along the way they needed every bounce and break to go their way like the "Wall Ball" off of Dave Augustine's bat that helped the Mets sweep the Pirates in a late September series at Shea to move into 1st place on September 21st.  Needing to win just one game at October 1st Double Header vs the eliminated Cubs the Mets put the ball in Tom Seaver's hands and fittingly both he and Tug McGraw beat the Cubs 6-4 in front of just 1,913 fans at Wrigley to clinch the flag.

 

If all the Mets did was win the NL East after being dead and buried the season would have been considered a success.  Upsetting the mighty 99 win Reds just added to the miracle.  Yet the Amazin's toppled the Big Red Machine in 5 games to win the NL Pennant.  Everyone points to the playoff game where Buddy Harrelson and Pete Rose got into a scuffle at second base as the turning point of the series.  In any case somehow the Mets did it and were rewarded with a chance to topple the defending champion Oakland A's.  Sadly for Met fan the miracles ran out as the A's came back from being down 3 games to 2 to capture their second championship in a row.  Many Met fans in NY still blame Yogi Berra's decision to use Seaver on short rest in game 6, instead of using George Stone and saving Seaver for game 7.  We will never know how that would have played out.  Met Second baseman Felix Millan told me in 2013 that, "Seaver told Yogi he was good to go, and if Seaver tells you he's good you have to pitch him.  He was the best pitcher in baseball".  Felix know a bit more about baseball, especially the '73 Mets, than we do, so we have to go with what he said.  Still this team took their fans on an incredible run.  Personally, it was great to see my mom & my grandparents have so much joy during those fantastic 6 weeks where everything went right for the Mets.  They were huge Met fans.  We went to about 20-25 games that year.  We watched every minute of the Pirate series on our small B&W 9" TV in our kitchen.  We didn't miss a single playoff game.  Till the day that she died my mom still hated Pete Rose for beating up "her Buddy".

Talk about injures.  Only Rusty Staub and Felix Millan played in more than 150 games.  Harrelson barely played in 100 games.  Grote, Jones and Hahn played in 90.  The pitching staff remained relatively healthy, which was how they were able to stay afloat.  Seaver (19-10, 2.08) won the Cy Young award and on any other team might have won 25.  Koosman (14-15, 2.84) was below .500 even though he had a fantastic ERA and WHIP.  The Mets just didn't score a lot of runs (11th in NL).  McGraw couldn't save pennies, let alone games, for the first 3 months of the season.  Thankfully Ray Sadeck and Harry Parker were able to keep things afloat until Tug became Tug again.

I created 39 new cards to finish off the '73 set for the Mets.  Many of these cards were created from scans that I did from my '73 Mets yearbook.  Many of the players here already had a fine card in the original Topps set, but I really wanted to create a card set of my own as a tribute to my mom, who loved this team and it's players with all her heart.

Apodaca's statline for 1973 was 1 game, no innings pitched and an "infinity" ERA.  Starting in '74 he would have some rock solid years as a reliever for the Metsies, until arm injuries ended his career.  He would go on to spend many years in coaching after his playing days including a stint with the Mets.

This card was made from a '73 yearbook scan.

Bob Miller was an original (1962) Met, who was acquired on 9/23 from Detroit.  He pitched in just one inning for the Mets in '73, but warned up in the pen numerous times when it looked like McGraw might be running out of gas.  After going 2-2, 3.58 in 58 games for the Mets in '74 he retired from baseball having spent 17 years in the majors for 10 different teams. 

This was a photo taken from the '74 Mets yearbook.

Ostrosser was promoted from AA Memphis to help fortify the bench while the Mets were realing from injury.  In just 4 games of action he went 0-5 before being returned to Memphis.  He made his major league debut against the St. Louis Cardinals on August 5, 1973, going 0 for 2, striking out twice. He also played two games against the San Francisco Giants before his final Major League game on August 13, 1973 against the San Diego Padres. He did not get a hit in any of the 5 at-bats he received during his 4-game stint with the Mets. As of 2009, he was one of six Canadians to have played for the Mets, and was the last Canadian to play for the Mets until Jason Bay joined the team in 2009.  The following season he would split time between AAA Tidewater (NYM) and AAA OKC (CLE).  After hitting .202 for OKC in '75 he was released.

This was a yearbook photo that I scanned.

Arguably the greatest glove man to play SS for the Mets in their 55 year history.  Buddy was not only a wizard with the glove, he was a beloved fan favorite.  When Pete Rose took him out on his slide into second in the NLCS the fans bombarded Pete with anything that wasn't strapped down.  To his credit, Buddy admitted that he might have brought it on himself when he accused the Big Red Machine of hitting "just like me" during the LCS thanks to the awesome Met pitching.  The Mets floundered while he missed 58 games due to injury.  When the gold glover returned the team began to streak toward the pennant.  Maybe the word streak is not a good word to use when describing anything from back in 1973, LOL !

This card was created by using a yearbook photo.

Here is an "Action shot" taken during the '73 World Series of Buddy going back on a pop up during one of the 3 night games played in NY.

Capra was 2-7, 3.86 in 53 innings worth of work for the Metsies during the '73 season.  With the rotation stocked with talent and no place for him the Mets sold his contract to the Braves just before the start of the '74 season.  Capra went 16-8 and led the league in ERA (2.28), but developed arm trouble over the course of the next 3 partial seasons and was out of baseball by the age of 29.  Over the years he has stayed in baseball as a respected pitching coach.  His claim to fame during the '73 season was that Pedro Borbon grabbed his hat during the infamous Harrelson / Rose brawl and took a huge bite out of it.

Many consider Cleon the offensive MVP of the Mets during the '73 season.  During the 70 games that he missed due to injury the team found it near impossible to score runs.  When he got back in time for the September run he cranked out key homers and clutch hits.  His playing the carroum off the top of the wall on the Augustine play is legendary.  In 12 seasons in Flushing he hit a career .281 and narrowly missed the 1969 batting crown when he hit .340.  Jones got the last laugh by catching the Series clinching out in game 5.  In 92 games in '73 he hit .260.

This action shot came from a picture taken during the '73 series.

22 year old fireballer Craig Swan didn't contribute much to the '73 team (0-1, 8.64), but by 1976 he would establish himself as a front line starter in the team's rotation.  Sadly for Swan his emergence occurred just around the time the team began to plumet into a 7 year abyss.  Playing for a last place team in 1978 he was 9-6 and led the league in ERA (2.43).  A series of arm injuries and a freak rib injury (hit with a thrown ball by the catcher) curtailed his effectiveness.  In another cruel twist of fate his arm gave out in 1984, which was a season where the Mets returned to contention.  At the age of 33 he was finished.  He missed out on 5 of the greatest years (84-88) in franchise history.

This card was created using a '73 yearbook photo.

Schneck was hitting just .245 in AAA Tidewater when the injury depleted Mets promoted him to Flushing.  In 13 games he hit .194 (7-36).  Schneck was originally drafted as a pitcher in 1967, but due to arm trouble didn't start his career until 1968 when he was converted to an outfielder.  After missing the next two seasons while serving our country in Vietnam he began to progress in the Mets chain in 1971.  After hitting .305 with 24 homers in AA and AAA the Mets called him up for 37 games where he hit just .187, but he did have 3 homers.  He hit just .205 with 5 homers in extended action in 1974 (93 games) and was traded to the Phillies at the end of the season as part of the Tug McGraw deal.  After 3 years in AAA he was given his release after the 1977 season.  Schneck went 2–11 at the plate on September 11, 1974 during a 25 inning marathon night game against the St. Louis Cardinals. He tied a major league record for at bats in a game.

Original Expo Don Hahn was brought over to NY in 1971 to be the team's 4th outfielder and add defense.  By 1973 he was asked to more or less be the regular centerfielder after Tommie Agee was traded.  In 93 games he hit just .229, but was invaluable with the glove covering that huge OF in Flushing.  He appeared in every playoff/World Series game that year and hit .239 (11-46).  After improving his average to .251 in '74 he was traded to the Phillies in the Tug McGraw deal, but didn't have a place to play on a team that already had Garry Maddox paroling center.  He split 50 games between 3 teams (PHI/STL/SDP) in 1975 and never again played in the majors.  His final 2 seasons in Phoenix (AAA-SFG) where he hit close to .300 he was released.

Bronx native and original Met "Steady Eddie" Kranepool was in his 12th season in Flushing.  As a 17 year old signed right out of James Monroe HS in the Bronx "Krane" was expected to be a star.  While he never achieved those lofty goals he was a solid contributor for 18 seasons.  1973 saw fit nicely into the role of backup OF'er and 1B.  With all the injuries that the team faced he played in 100 games and hit .239.  Surprisingly he only hit 1 home run, which was his all time low.  Krane appeared in 1 game in the LCS and went 1-2 with 2 RBI's.  He was 0-3 in pinch hitting opportunities in the World Series.

I created this card off of a Yearbook photo.

"The Cat" arrived in Flushing along with George Stone in the offseason in exchange for Danny Frisella and Gary Gentry.  The 3 time All-Star & 2 time GG winner played in the most games (153) of any Met in 1973 and led the team with a .290 average.  Millan played in all 12 post season games in '73 and hit .316 in the NLCS.  His career was cut short when Pittsburgh's Ed Ott slammed him on his shoulder during an on field brawl during an August 12, 1977 game.  Not to be discouraged he went to Japan and played 3 highly productive seasons for Taiyo and then went to Mexico for one year.  He was a huge fan favorite in both Atlanta and in Flushing.  His unorthodox style of choking up 1/3 of the way on the bat was his trademark.

An action shot that was taken during the World Series in Oakland.

An action shot taken during the World Series games in NY.

Met fans, who loved Rusty Staub, were not ecstatic when the man who hit him with a pitch in 1972 and put him out of action was brought in to join the team.  After starting in the pen, Stone was promoted to the rotation.  He won his last 8 decisions as he, like the Mets, got hot down the stretch.  Stone pitched brilliantly in the NLCS, but got a no-decision in a 12 inning game that the Mets lost.  He did not start in the World Series and to this day he is part of a "what if" question that Met fans still ponder (What if Yogi started George Stone in game 6?).  Stone led the Mets in winning % (.800) during the '73 season as he compiled a 12-3, 2.80 record.  At 26 years of age and just entering his prime the future couldn't have been brighter for tall lefty, but after two horrible seasons (1974 & 1975) where he posted ERA's north of 5.00 he was traded by the Mets to Texas, but decided to retire instead.

Appropriately nicknamed "the Stork", this 6'4" gangly outfielder was a huge folk hero to the Flushing Faithful.  Remembered less for the 45 games he played in 1973, where he hit .259 and more remembered for the horrific outfield collision with Don Hahn, Theodore played in parts of 2 seasons in Flushing.  After hitting just .158 in 60 games in 1974 he returned to AAA Tidewater in 1975 and hit a powerless .253.  Rather than grind it out in baseball he went back to school and got his degree and became a school counselor for over 35 years.

This was a "future star" photo in the '73 Yearbook

I don't remember much if anything about Greg Harts.  The stats show that he played in 3 games for the Mets during the '73 season and went 1 for 2 as a pinch runner / pinch hitter.  He was hitting .263 in AA Memphis when the Mets called him up to help plug the leak caused by all those injuries.  In '74 he was promoted to Tidewater (AAA) where he hit just .184, so he was demoted back to double A.  He appeared in just 19 games in A ball in '75 and was released. 

Webb was the losing pitcher in the longest game played to a decision in National League history. On September 11, 1974, Webb pitched the 25th inning of the Mets' loss to the St. Louis Cardinals. Webb was charged with the only error of his major league career when his wild pickoff throw allowed Bake McBride to score all the way from first base to give St. Louis the victory. It was the first decision of Webb's major league career.  Web appeared in just 2 games for the Mets in '73 and had a 10.80 ERA in 1.2 innings of work.

Parker's most productive season came in 1973, when he went 8–4 with a 3.35 ERA and 63 strikeouts in 96  2⁄3 innings of work to become an integral contributor for the Mets National League pennant run.  Parker teamed up with McGraw to form a lethal righty/lefty combo out of the pen for New York.  In '74 he split time between the pen and the rotation and won just 4 games while losing 12.  '75 saw his role reduced to the point where is former team the Cardinals selected him off of waivers in late August.  After just 3 games for Cleveland in '76 his major league career was over.  After a miserable season in AAA (Toledo) where he went 9-11, 5.09 he was given his walking papers.

This card was made from a '73 yearbook photo.

Simply put, "Kooz" is the best lefty starter in the history of the Mets franchise and is #3 on their All-Time win list.  After starting the season 0-5 he found his mojo and got hot just like the team did to finish 14-15, 2.84.  At one point down the stretch he put together almost 32 consecutive scoreless innings, a team record that would stand for close to 40 seasons.  Kooz spent 12 seasons in Flushing.  His tenure ended when he was traded after the '78 season to Minnesota for Jesse Orosco.  After spending 2 1/2 seasons in his home state of Minnesota he played 2 1/2 seasons with the White Sox, then finished up with 2 seasons with the Phillies before retiring at the age of 42.  His lifetime 222-209, 3.36 tells us that he never truly had much run support to work with, especially with the Mets.  His 3-0, 2.39 world series record tells us what type of clutch pitcher he was.  He pitched a complete game shutout in the '73 NLCS and was 1-0, 3.12 in the World seies in 2 starts.

Here is a nice action shot taken during the World Series.

Backup catcher Jerry May's contract was purchased from the Royals on May 14th after Grote went down to injury.  He plasted until July 10th before being released.  During that stretch he played in 4 games and went 2 for 8.  The Pirates picked him up a week after the Mets let him go, and assigned him to AAA Charleston, where he remained for the balance of the season before being released for the final time.

The photo for this card came from the "revised" 1973 yearbook.

After 10 All-Star seasons in Anaheim the Angels dealt Fregosi to the Mets in exchange for the enigmatic Nolan Ryan.  Met fans know all too well how that deal turned out.  Fregosi, who was supposed to solve the Mets ongoing 3rd base problem only added to their woes.  He discovered the nightlife in NY and never found his stride in uniform.  After a horrible 1972 season he followed it up by hitting just .234 in 45 games to start off the '73 season.  The Mets management was ecstatic to dump him in Texas for some cash in a July 11th deal.  As a part time player in Arlington he found his hitting stroke again.  He finished up his career as a utility man for the Pirates in 1978 and moved into broadcasting and managing.

Jim Gosger was a guest on my old show back in February of 2016.  1973 was his second stint with the Mets, but neither time did he make the post season roster.  The Michigan native was a godsend to have with all the injuries that the Mets sustained in the outfield.  He was a gold glove caliber fielder that hit .239 in a little more than 100 AB's.  After hitting .091 in 26 games during the 74 season he was sent down to AAA Tidewater, where he hit .268 for his final season.

"The Hammer" led the Mets in homers with 23, while only playing in 129 games thanks to injury.  Milner finished 3rd (behind teammate Jon Matlack) in the NL ROY Award voting the year before took over as the team's regular 1st baseman.  Milner started all 7 games of the World Series and hit .296.  He would have to wait 6 years to win his ring as the Pirates 1st baseman 2 seasons after the Mets traded him in a wild 4 team deal.  Milner played 3 1/2 seasons in PIT before being acquired by the Expos for the 1981 post season.  In '82 he split time between Montreal and Pittsburgh before being released.

Strohmayer was selected off of waivers from the Expos on July 16th and got into 7 games and gave up 9 earned runs in 10 innings of work.  His career would come to an end after going 2-4, 3.45 in AAA Tidewater the following season.

Barnes hit .236 in 24 games for the Mets during the prior season ('72).  In '73 he appeared in 3 games and went 1-2 with an RBI after hitting just .226 in 142 in AAA Tidewater.  After hitting .167 the following season in Tidewater he wound up in AAA Indianapolis (CIN) where he hit .175.  After hitting .201 the following season the Reds cut him.  Barnes had two promising seasons ('70 & '71) in the minors where he hit .290 and .273 earning his promotion in '72.

Fresh off 4 straight decent seasons in Cleveland's pen Henningan was acquired in the off season for Brent Strom and a minor leaguer.  The Mets saw his ERA balloon by almost 4.00 as he went 0-4, 6.23, 3sv in 30 games during the '73 campaign.  When he was sent down to AAA (Tidewater) his numbers got worse.  After an 0-3, 4.50 record in 7 games with Tidewater the following season ('74) he was given his unconditional release.

Chiles was acquired, along with Buddy Harris, from the Astros in exchange for 1969 World Series hero Tommie Agee.  In just 8 games with the big club he hit .120 (3-25).  When the Mets released him he wound up in Tucson (AAA-OAK) and hit .276.  The following season he hit .276 with 11 homers for the powerhouse Hawaii Islanders (AAA-SDP).  After sitting out a whole year he returned to the Astros and got into 5 games and hit 2-4 plus he hit .302 in AAA (Memphis).  With the Astros having no intention on promoting him to the big club the Twins selected him as a rule 5 draft pick in 1977 and he responded with two above average seasons as their 4th outfielder.  After hitting .264 and .268 he curiously was not in the Twins plans and found his way to the Indians AAA affiliate in Tacoma where he hit .262.  After hitting just .244 in AAA Portland (PIT) he was released at the age of 30 after spending 10 years in the minors and parts of 6 seasons in the majors.

After Grote and Dyer both went down and a string of veterans failed to hold down the job the Mets called Hodges up from AA Memphis where he was hitting just .173.  Hodges responded by hitting .260 and manning the tools of ignorance until Grote got healthy.    He made his major league debut on June 13, 1973, catching Tom Seaver. Four days later, he hit his first career home run off the San Diego Padres' Bill Greif.  He had one plate appearance in the World Series and walked.  Hodges was the catcher who made the tag on the Augustine play.  He played 12 seasons for the Mets as their 2nd and 3rd string catcher.  He is best remembered by Met fans as the guy who hit Craig Swan in the back with a throw that broke the hurler's ribs and cost him a season as he attempted to throw Tim Raines out..  Hodges is the Mets version of Horace Clarke, as symbol for their years of futility.

Known as "Le Grande Orange" from his 3 All Star seasons in Montreal, "Trusty Rusty" as Met fans referred to him missed almost 100 games the previous year due to injury.  In '73 he played in 152 games, hit .279 and smashed 15 homers in an offense that was lifeless for most of the summer.  Staub hit just .200 in the NLCS, but he had 3 big homers plus two game saving catches, one of which injured his shoulder so much he couldn't throw the ball in the World Series.  Despite his badly damaged shoulder he hit .423 (11-26) and led the Mets offense in the Fall Classic.  When the Mets traded him after the '75 season to Detroit for an over the hill Mickey Lolich the Met fan base was livid.  When he signed as a free agent in 1981 they were ecstatic.  Staub signed with the Mets under the premise that he would be the team's everyday 1st baseman.  Instead he wound up sitting behind Dave Kingman, and then Keith Hernandez for 5 seasons as the team's primary pinch hitter.  In his second stint with the club he had clutch pinch hit after pinch hit.  After the 1985 season, at the age of 41, he retired just one year short of seeing the club win it all in '86.  Due to his not playing regularly for 5 years he wound up 284 hits shy of 3,000, which would have made him a lock for Cooperstown.

Simply known as "the Franchise", Tom Seaver was and will always be the best player to ever put on a Mets uniform.  Seaver won the 1973 Cy Young Award with a 19-10, 2.08 with 3 shutouts.  The Mets jumped on his shoulders and he carried them to the flag.  Seaver was 1-1 with a 1.62 ERA in the NLCS and 0-1, 2.40 in 2 World Series starts, including the gutsy game 6 where he pitched on short rest and by his own admission had "nothing".  Sadly for Met fans the 3x Cy Young Award winner was a casualty of the 1977 trade deadline midnight massacre and was shipped to Cincy.  Seaver was elected to the HOF with the highest % until 2016, when Ken Griffey Jr. topped him.

Here is a great shot of "Tom Terrific" smiling just before his World Series start in Oakland.

Tommy Moore was 9-11, 3.15 in AAA Tidewater during the '73 season.  Desperate for help the Mets called him up for a cup of Joe and he was hit hard (0-1, 10.80).  After spending the '74 season in Tidewater again he managed to get in 22 games with the Cardinals and Rangers in '75.  He spent all of '76 in AAA Sacramento (TEX) where he had a 10-7, 4.65 record.  Thanks to expansion he got 14 more games in the majors with Seattle in '77 (2-1, 4.91) then was sent down to AAA Spokane where he bottomed out and was released.

This was a "future Stars" photo in the '73 yearbook.

Frank Edwin McGraw, simply known as Tug was one of the most beloved Mets in franchise history.  He actually spent more seasons in Philly (10) than he did in Flushing (9), but Met fans never stopped loving him.  His rallying cry of "Ya Gotta Believe" is synonymous with this team.  His free spirit kept the locker room loose.  After a horrible start to the '73 season McGraw found his mo-jo and began to believe.  He saved 25 games that year including the divison and pennant clinchers.  He was a star in Philly as well winning the 1980 championship with them.  In the '73 ost season he pitched in 7 games and was 1-0 with 2 saves.  Sadly he passed away from brain cancer at the age of 59.  Tug was always quotable.  Here are some great quotes by him and about him.

From the minute he arrived in Flushing (1969) till the day he was traded away 7 seasons later the Mets were always in search of someone to replace him.  First it was Joe Foy, then it was Jim Fregosi and finally Joe Torre...yet no one replaced Wayne Garrett.  The Mets traded away All-Stars and HOF'ers in their quest to find a regular thirdbaseman better than the guy who they won 2 pennants and 1 championship with.  In his 5th and best season in Flushing Garrett hit .256 with 16 homers and 58 RBI's in 140 games.  He hit two huge homers in the World Series despite batting only .167.  Garrett played 2 1/2 seasons in Montreal and a half year in St. Louis before moving across the Pacific to play 2 seasons in Chunichi of the Japanese League.

Beloved by all and arguably the greatest player to ever where a pair of spikes, the Say Hey kid was in his final season of an illustrious HOF career.  Willie announced early on that this was going to be it.  When injuries struck men 10 to 15 years younger than him he was asked to do what father time said he couldn't do, which was to patrol center field.  At 42 years of age Will hit just .211 with 6 homers, but his leadership was invaluable.  In the post season he was 1-3 in the NLCS and 2-7 (.286) with a GWRBI in 3 World Series games.  Willie started his career as a pennant winner in New York (1951) and ended it the same way in 1973.  5 years later he was elected to his rightful place in Cooperstown.

I created this card using a yearbook photo which looked much more dignified than the one used by Topps in the '73 set.

Nobody doesn't not like Yogi, right?  The master of the Yogi-isms inherited the club the year before after the untimely death of the immortal Gil Hodges.  When asked if the Mets stood a chance down the stretch Yogi responded, "It ain't over 'till it's over", and boy it wasn't over.  All summer long fans clamored for Yogi's head and blamed him for the team being in the cellar.  When his club got healthy, they got to winning.  Yogi had the respect of his players and management.  In total he would spend 7 years as the team's 1st base coach and 3 1/2 seasons as their manager.  Yogi is one of the few New York stars to be beloved by both Met and Yankee fans.

I created this card using a photo from the World Series where he was making a mound trip.  It was customary to see him posed with his arms folded.