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| Cleon Jones (right, 21) with Willie Mays' 24, aside (from left) Willie's son Michael Mays, Felix Millan, Jon Matlack, and Ed Kranepool. @Mets on Instagram. |
The Mets made a surprise announcement during Saturday's Old Timers Day that Willie Mays' number 24 would be retired by the club, fulfilling a promise Mets owner Joan Payson made to him 50 years ago when she brought him back to New York.
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| Daivd Peterson pitching to Randal Grichuk in the sixth inning. The scoreboard on Saturday night was done like Shea Stadium's in the '60s in honor of Old Timers Day. Photo by Jason Schott. |
David Peterson has been one of the biggest surprises this season for the Mets, and he only keeps building on his phenomenal season as a stalwart in the starting rotation.
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| Willie Mays' number 24 that will join the Mets' other retired numbers. Photo by Jason Schott. |
The Mets made a surprise announcement at the end of the introductions for Old Timers Day on Saturday afternoon, the Willie Mays' number 24 would be retired by the club.
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| Ron Swoboda (right) chats with (from left) Jesse Orosco, Bobby Ojeda, and Howard Johnson. Photo by Jason Schott. |
Mets Old Timers Day was on Saturday afternoon, and one of the key members of the 1969 World Championship team, Ron Swoboda, came up from New Orleans to play in the game.
Swoboda, an outfielder, played six seasons with the Mets, and is most known for his diving catch of a hit to right field by Baltimore's Brooks Robinson to right field in the ninth inning of the fourth game of the 1969 World Series, which the Mets went on to win in the tenth inning. The Amazin' Mets won the title the next day.
I caught up with Swoboda on the field ahead of batting practice for the Mets legends, and here's what he had to say:
On watching the current team from his home in New Orleans: I do, I'm a fan, on MLB Extra Innings, I watch every inning I can watch if I'm available and it works for my schedule; my schedule's not that crowded, so I'm a fan of this team. It kind of started last year in the first half of the year, they were in first place and you're questioning, what are they doing in first place, then they weren't, and that answered the question, they weren't good enough, but this year, it's more compelling baseball and I've enjoyed it a lot more.
What qualities do you see in them that they could go all the way? Well, they've got some pitching, probably the biggest question is getting the game to (closer Edwin) Diaz and keeping him fresh as you can, but they've got enough starting pitching, I think. They're interesting hitters, they put the ball in play, they make a pitcher work, they hit the ball all over the place, and every once I a while they stick a home run on ya. You know, they're not going to live or die by the bomb, but they've got a couple of guys, so it's been kind of fun. They've gone through a period here where they had a bunch of injuries to the pitching staff and a couple of position players, but they're cruising through it.
What are your thoughts on their Manager, Buck Showalter? Showalter has changed the whole entire culture. They look like a team that's going out there having fun and wants to play the game the right way - that's what it looks like to me.
Your were here for last night's comeback victory, are those the kind of games championship teams pull out? Well, you coughed up a couple of leads, that's not what you want to do, and you were in trouble late, but you know, Mark Canha, you know, he played with the minor league team in New Orleans when I was there (calling games on radio), when he was in the Marlins organization, he always looked like a guy who could play a little, and he went away to the A's and whatnot, and he turned himself into a pretty smart hitter. He's organized up there, you know, and God, he's gotten a bunch of clutch knocks lately.
What do you think of the designated hitter now being used in the National League? It's here, and it's here to stay. I feel badly because I think it takes an element of managing away from the Manager and you don't need 25 guys on the roster if you're using the DH, but it's here to stay and nobody's gonna miss pitchers hitting. I like the element it added, just the question mark, you know when you got a (Jacob) deGrom who can hit, and a (Max) Scherzer who swings the bat a little bit, kind of like to see that pitcher hit a little, but most guys you don't.
Note on Swoboda's Personal Connection To the DH: Swoboda mentioned in a prior interview for his book Here's the Catch that he could have been the first designated hitter in baseball history when it was introduced in 1973 while he was with the Yankees, as he explained, "I would have been the first DH if the Boston Red Sox had started a left-handed pitcher instead of a right-handed pitcher, which gave it to Ron Blomberg,and he was the first DH in Major League history. I was the DH the next day when they started a left-handed pitcher."
To read the full interview from April 2021, click here for Part 1, which was on his career with the Mets, and click here for the second part, on more current topics, and see where Ron was 100 percent right about someone the Mets didn't sign at that time.
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| Mark Canha being greeted by Pete Alonso after he scored in the fifth inning. Photo by Jason Schott. |
The Mets completed a late comeback on Friday night at Citi Field, as Mark Canha tied it with a two-run double in the eighth, and Pete Alonso finished it off with a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth, as they beat the Colorado Rockies, 7-6.
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| The banner for tomorrow's Old Timers' Day on the poll next to the Tom Seaver Statue outside Citi Field. Photo by Jason Schott. |
Saturday at Citi Field will be the much-anticipated Old Timers' Day, with Mets' legends taking part in a game before the Mets- take on the Rockies at 7:10 p.m.
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| Jacob deGrom striking out Colorado's Charlie Blackmon in the first inning. Photo by Jason Schott. |
Whenever Jacob deGrom takes the mound, Mets fans must feel like they can see history.
Thursday night, when the Mets ace faced the Colorado Rockies, was no exception, as he threw six innings, allowing just one run on three hits and a walk, while striking out nine.
The Mets went on to win, 3-1, and deGrom is now 3-1 with a 2.15 ERA (earned run average), returning to his Cy Young Award-form after missing over a full calendar year due to injury.
This was a nice bounce-back win for the Mets after they lost the pair of games at Yankee Stadium earlier in the week, and they are now 80-46, two games up on the idle Atlanta Braves, who are 78-48, in the National League East. Atlanta starts a three-game series in St. Louis against the Cardinals Friday night
DeGrom came out firing, as he retired the Rockies in order the first time through, nine up, nine down, with five strikeouts, and to show his remarkable consistency, three outs made at second base, and a fly ball to right field, meaning all the balls put in play were to the right side.
The Mets gave him the lead in the third when Tomas Nido singled and came in to score on a groundout by Francisco Lindor, which gave the Mets shortstop 85 RBI on the season, and that was followed by the big blow off the bat of Pete Alonso, a two-run shot that made it 3-0.
The Mets first baseman now has 31 home runs and 104 RBI on the season. He is now tied for third on the Major League Baseball RBI list with Cleveland's Jose Ramirez, and he is just one behind the Yankees' Aaron Judge and Paul Goldschmidt (who each have 105) for the MLB lead.
DeGrom kept going after the Mets gave him the lead, and he ended up retiring the first 13 Rockies hitters before Jose Iglesias got an infield hit with one out in the fifth inning.
That was followed by Randal Grichuck lacing a double down the third base line, so the Rockies wound up having two runners on and one out, but deGrom struck out Sam Hilliard and Brian Serven flew out to right field.
Colorado then got on the board with one out in the sixth when Ryan McMahon launched a home run to right field to make it a 3-1 Mets lead.
DeGrom then walked Brendan Rodgers before striking out Charlie Blackmon and then got C.J. Cron hit into a force out to end the inning, and that closed out the Mets' ace night.
Seth Lugo was first out of the Mets' bullpen, and he struck out the side, and worked around two hits and a walk. He struck out McMahon with the bases loaded to end the inning.
The Mets then went with the matchups in the top of the eighth, and turned to their closer, Edwin Diaz, as the Rockies had the top of the order coming up. He retired the first couple hitters, but then gave up a walk to Cron and a single to Iglesias before he struck out Iglesias.
Since the Rockies worked Diaz for 16 pitches, the Mets turned to Adam Ottavino for the ninth, and he retired the Rockies in order, and notched a strikeout, as he earned his first save of the season.
