Al Weis' home run in game 5 of the 1969 World Series was the only one he ever hit a home during his career. Another reason to call the New York Mets, the Miracle Mets
Weis seemed, next to the pitcher, to be the least likely candidate to hit a home run in that World Series. At least, the least likely Met. He wasn't an everyday player and just a utility infielder. But he still hit long balls in the regular season, which was more than Bud Harrelson and Wayne Garrett.
But the Mets dropped the opener to Baltimore on the road.
The Mets squeeked by in game 2 to square the series. In game 3 (at home), it was a 5-0 Mets final, but New York needed two spectacular catches by Tommie Agee in centerfield to stop the O's from making a game of it. In game 4, it was Ron Swoboda in rightfield with a great catch off Brooks Robinson to help the Mets win it 2-1. Up 3-1 in the Fall Classic, New York put the champagne on ice with a win in game 5. And it was right there in New York!
But in game 5, it was the Orioles who were out to put a stop to this nonsense. In the top of the third, it was Baltimore's Dave McNally (the pitcher) who went yard for a 2-run shot off New York's Jerry Koosman. Before the Mets could recover, Frank Robinson hit one of his own. 3-0, Orioles. Were the Miracle Mets out of miracles?
Fate, as was often the case for the Mets of this year, intervened in the bottom of the 6th. Shoe polish on ball revealed McNally had actually hit Cleon Jones. Don Clendenon then hit a 2-run home run of his own. The New York Mets were right back in it!
Weis led off the bottom of the 7th inning. It was time for his only home run at Shea Stadium, or any home ballpark he played at. Belting a McNally offering, Weiss turned a Mets team that looked down an out, into one that was up and at 'em.
In the very next inning it was two hits by the Mets, and two errors by the Orioles, that made it 5-3, New York. The Orioles got a man on in the 9th inning before Koosman retired Davey Johnson on a long fly. The Mets had pulled it off!
1969 was certainly an amazing year. The summer of Woodstock. Man on the moon. But yours truly thinks not about that when I think of that year. It's the Mets taking it all a mere 8 years into their franchise existence. One things for sure, I don't like their chances of winning if the Orioles took it back to Baltimore for games 6 and 7.
But the Mets had a Weis guy to take care of that problem!
Retrosheet. Web. 21 Jan. 2014. <www.retrosheet.org>
Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 21 Jan. 2014.
Ward, Geoffrey C., and Ken Burns. “A Whole New Ballgame.” Baseball, season 1, episode 8, PBS, 27 Sept. 1994.
World Series Of 1968. Dir. Dick Winik. Perf. Curty Gowdy, Bob Gibson and Mickey Lolich. Major League Baseball Promotion Corp., 1968. DVD. Narrated by Curt Gowdy.
Weis seemed, next to the pitcher, to be the least likely candidate to hit a home run in that World Series. At least, the least likely Met. He wasn't an everyday player and just a utility infielder. But he still hit long balls in the regular season, which was more than Bud Harrelson and Wayne Garrett.
But the Mets dropped the opener to Baltimore on the road.
The Mets squeeked by in game 2 to square the series. In game 3 (at home), it was a 5-0 Mets final, but New York needed two spectacular catches by Tommie Agee in centerfield to stop the O's from making a game of it. In game 4, it was Ron Swoboda in rightfield with a great catch off Brooks Robinson to help the Mets win it 2-1. Up 3-1 in the Fall Classic, New York put the champagne on ice with a win in game 5. And it was right there in New York!
But in game 5, it was the Orioles who were out to put a stop to this nonsense. In the top of the third, it was Baltimore's Dave McNally (the pitcher) who went yard for a 2-run shot off New York's Jerry Koosman. Before the Mets could recover, Frank Robinson hit one of his own. 3-0, Orioles. Were the Miracle Mets out of miracles?
Fate, as was often the case for the Mets of this year, intervened in the bottom of the 6th. Shoe polish on ball revealed McNally had actually hit Cleon Jones. Don Clendenon then hit a 2-run home run of his own. The New York Mets were right back in it!
Weis led off the bottom of the 7th inning. It was time for his only home run at Shea Stadium, or any home ballpark he played at. Belting a McNally offering, Weiss turned a Mets team that looked down an out, into one that was up and at 'em.
In the very next inning it was two hits by the Mets, and two errors by the Orioles, that made it 5-3, New York. The Orioles got a man on in the 9th inning before Koosman retired Davey Johnson on a long fly. The Mets had pulled it off!
1969 was certainly an amazing year. The summer of Woodstock. Man on the moon. But yours truly thinks not about that when I think of that year. It's the Mets taking it all a mere 8 years into their franchise existence. One things for sure, I don't like their chances of winning if the Orioles took it back to Baltimore for games 6 and 7.
But the Mets had a Weis guy to take care of that problem!
References
Retrosheet. Web. 21 Jan. 2014. <www.retrosheet.org>
Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 21 Jan. 2014.
Ward, Geoffrey C., and Ken Burns. “A Whole New Ballgame.” Baseball, season 1, episode 8, PBS, 27 Sept. 1994.
World Series Of 1968. Dir. Dick Winik. Perf. Curty Gowdy, Bob Gibson and Mickey Lolich. Major League Baseball Promotion Corp., 1968. DVD. Narrated by Curt Gowdy.
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