Finishing the miracle
Left-hander Jerry Koosman completes the New York Mets’ miracle season 55 years ago today as he scatters five hits in beating the Baltimore Orioles 5-3 in the fifth and deciding game of the 1969 World Series at Shea Stadium.
In beating the Orioles for the second time in a span of four days, Koosman finishes off the Mets’ fourth straight victory over the heavily favored Orioles.
Backing up Koosman in this photo is 36-year-old third baseman Ed Charles, whose pro career starts in 1952 – 10 years before the Mets play their first game in 1962.
As it turns out, the soon-to-be-retiring Charles is playing his last game in the majors. Not a bad way to go out.
The Orioles are leading 3-0 in Game 5 before Donn Clendenon hits a two-run homer to deep left field off Baltimore’s Dave McNally with none out in the bottom of the sixth.
The normally light-hitting Al Weis then ties the score with a solo homer off McNally to lead off the bottom of the seventh.
Al Weis, right, after his home run
Weis’ drive to left field surely stuns McNally, the rest of the Orioles, all of the Thursday afternoon crowd of 57,397 at Shea and – most of all – Weis, who never before in 536 career at-bats with the Mets hits a homer in front of the Shea faithful.
Not knowing what to do, Weis begins sprinting around the bases.
“When I got near second base, I started hearing the crowd roar and thought something must have happened,” Weis later tells Sports Illustrated. “I guess I don’t know how to react to a home run. I only know how to react to singles and doubles.”
An inning later, in the eighth, the Mets take a 4-3 lead on an RBI double by Ron Swoboda and then quickly push that lead to 5-3 on a pair of errors by Baltimore first baseman Boog Powell and relief pitcher Eddie Watt.
Koosman then works around a walk to Frank Robinson to lead off the ninth by recording a groundout and a pair of flyouts – the last by Baltimore’s Davey Johnson to left fielder Cleon Jones.
After that, Koosman jumps into the arms of catcher Jerry Grote, Charles dances on the mound, fans pour out of the stands and the vaunted, heavily favored Orioles are left with decades of frustration.
“You bet,” Robinson says with a mild growl in 2004, some 35 years after the Mets initially stun the Orioles. “I still can’t believe we lost. Every time I see it, I can’t believe it. I see it (on ESPN Classic) and I’m still thinking we’re going to win that Series but, doggone it, we lost again.”