MCGRAW BEAT KOUFAX ONE DAY by Tom Brennan
Sometimes the unbelievable happens. On August 26, 1965, the Mets were still trying to accomplish the impossible:
BEAT the great Sandy Koufax.
They went into the night a putrid 41-86, and did anyone in the building really think that Mets team could beat a super human guy who went 97-27 from 1963 to 1966? I was 12, young enough to dream but not dream THAT big.
But the young Tugger went 7.2 innings head to head with KOUFAX and he BEAT him, with the help of a bad relief outing by the Dodgers' Johnny Podres. Mets RBIs by Roy McMillan, Joltin' Joe Christopher, Jim Hickman and Ron Swoboda were enough that night, as the Mets won 5-2. Chris Canizzaro even threw out Willie Davis trying to steal that night. Even on a night when Wes Parker raised his season total for sac bunts to 16. Imagine one guy with that many. So, the Mets won.
OH, BABY...THE IMPOSSIBLE SOMETIMES HAPPENS.
(For the record, it happened once more against Dandy Sandy....KOUFAX was. only 17-2 lifetime against the Mets).
The seemingly impossible also happened last night. Noah Syndergaard, just written up yesterday in some guy's article as a possible Cy Young candidate (a stretch), was pitching for a scorching Mets team against a tepid Braves squad that was pitching an 0-6, 8+ ERA guy named Blair.
Of course, the Braves won, in part because they have the closest thing to Daniel Murphy as a Met Killer in Freddie Freeman, who torched them with 4 hits and a HR. The 1965 Mets had no Freddie Freemans, trust me. And the Blair Witch Project cast a spell on the Mets with 6 IP of 2 run ball.
So, unlike the heading of my article yesterday, the Mets did not TAKE CARE OF BUSINESS last night. Sandy Koufax didn't either on August 26, 1965, because sometimes, baseball is just plain unpredictable.
The only thing predictable for the Mets is the impact hitting of future Hall of Famer TJ Rivera (.338), who launched a 2 run shot to keep it close early.
On to tonight...let's go WILD. And TAKE CARE OF BIZ.
2 comments:
I have spoken about the Vaulted FAB 5 pitchers and wanted them so badly to stay together... However are any of them capable of stepping up Ala Johan , Pedro, Viola etc... I mean Thor with all the stuff a player can dream up Pitches 3.2 innings and 99 pitches to the Braves... a non contending, just get the season over team?
This is where you pitch 7+ and give up 1 run... that's what aces do... that's what this staff was predicted to do... thats what the FO was suppose to figure out...
Did we trade the best of the Bunch (fulmer i mean ... time will tell)? This FO should be able to scout their own player better than anyone else... I am sure detroit would have taken Matz, or Thor if we thought Fulmer was the best of the bunch...
I have said this before but when sandy came in he brought in 3 former GM's (sandy, Depodesta, Riccadi) the allstar Front office... Money ball with money was the selling point...
Well I have yet to see the brilliance of this group... they didnt even want cespedes in the first place...
Frustration ... Especially on a staff that has yet to produce their signature player....
Eddie, great points.
I am sure Syndergaard was kept over Fulmer for his marquee factor, as well as having already had proven success in the bigs.
But they did draft our current aces - Lugo and Gsellman :)
And Montero did throw a 1-2-3 ninth.
Matz better be ready and sharp when he returns.
Side note: Reyes just .210 in Sept. - we need him to wake up again.
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