This was in the middle of the great summer of 1969, a year in which the Mets slumped to rock bottom and began playing meaningful baseball games in Queens for the first time.
The Mets won the first two games of a fascinating midweek series against the first-place Cubs in early July. In the first game, Cubs rookie Don Young misplayed a fly ball and the Mets rallied for three runs in the ninth inning to win, 4-3. In the second game, after Tom Seaver got the Cubs’ first 25 outs, Jimmy Qualls spoiled what became known as a “complete game.”
This put the Mets within 3.5 games of Chicago at the 81st game, exactly the midpoint of the season. But in Game 3, the Mets were slightly affected by the 1962 flu, making two errors and allowing only three hits, losing 6-2.
Afterwards, someone asked Cubs manager Leo Durocher, “Is this the real Cubs?”
“I don’t know,” Durocher snorted, “but these are the real Mets.”
Of course, Leo the Lip got punished a few months later. Braves manager Brian Snitker was too much of a gentleman to ever think of such bravado, but it would have been understandable if he had, because the day after the Braves left town, the Mets fan base walked away muttering to themselves.
For two glorious days, they went head-to-head with the Braves and slid into the top spot in the Wild Card bracket. Then the Braves smashed the Mets, 13-2, split the series and headed to Milwaukee without a bloody loss. Was this the real Braves?
More to the point, were those the real Mets?
“Overall, it was a good night,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said after the team snapped a two-game losing streak with a thumping 15-2 win over the Twins on Monday night, a win that gave the City some breathing room. “We had a lot of really good at-bats tonight as a team. It was a good night offensively.”
It would not be a bad idea for New York’s baseball team to look at the schedule and watch Minnesota’s nine home games as a stop-gap solution. The Yankees are 122-44 against Minnesota since 2002. The Mets have only played the Twins 25 times, but have won 16 of those games, including 12 of those 15 games against the Yankees. They have an even better winning percentage than the Yankees.
The Twins played four games in New York in 2024, losing 36-13. They’re 0-7 against the Mets and Yankees and 58-39 against the rest of the team. They’re the gift that keeps on giving around here, in the Bronx and Queens. When Wellington Mara traded Fran Tarkenton back to Minnesota, he apparently got the deed to the Twins’ soul on behalf of New York City, right before he scurried off to New Jersey.
All kidding aside, it was a sweet comeback for the Mets. As they anxiously waited in the final hours before the trade deadline to see if David Stearns would use a pitcher or two, the Mets put a lost weekend behind them by scoring six runs in the fourth inning and then scoring some more. They sent 10 batters to the plate over two separate innings, the last time they’d done so was in 1976.
Yes, it was a lot of fun watching the scoreboard stomp on home plate at Citi Field. This is a good thing because the Mets only play nine games here in August and travel to seven cities, so fans won’t get to see much scoring in August. The Mets need a win here to stay in playoff contention and get through some tough competition. This was a good start.
There was a lot of good stuff. Pete Alonso homered for the second straight day. Jose Quintana pitched six excellent innings. Newcomer Jesse Winker walked and hit a single in his debut before Tyrone Taylor came in to stop a Ryan Jeffers home run, hitting a deep fly ball over the right fielder’s face.
All of this is great stuff, and it’s enough to wow any Mets fan…
Is this the real Mets?
We’ll know for sure between now and Labor Day. How many reinforcements will be coming? That’s a topic for Tuesday. Even if these are the real Mets, they’re going to need a little help.
