‘69 Mets contribute to Habitat for Humanity [Video]

Here’s a neat little video with the 1969 Mets as they contributed to Habitat for Humanity this summer.

Enjoy on your crappy Saturday.

More ‘69 World Series videos

Two more videos from the 1969 World Series.  First up, the shoe polish play…

And the final out and subsequent celebration…

Great comment on the first one: “The 1969 Mets – God’s most recent miracle!”

‘69 Mets locker room after winning the World Series [Video]

This is just too cool.

This seems to be the NBC feed, with no commercials, which is awesome.

Also, note the insanity on the field.  Could you imagine if they still allowed that?

My favorite moment from last night’s 1969 celebration

It was absolutely awesome to watch Nolan Ryan, Tom Seaver and Jerry Koosman throw out the ceremonial first pitch(es) to Jerry Grote, Duffy Dyer and Yogi Berra.This, by far, was my favorite moment of the 1969 celebration.

What was yours?

Thanks, Gil

Spotted this at Citi Field last week…

A look at Citi Field’s new additions [Photos]

I was at Friday night’s Mets game at Citi Field and snapped a few grainy photos of the new additions around Citi Field.  Take a look…

The new video board in the RF corner…

The new banners on the LF wall…

The new photos viewed from the Field Level…That was all I saw as I walked around.  I didn’t get a chance to look at the improved sightlines, but I’m going back Monday, so I will see if I can spot any changes.

The 2009 Mets need a little bit of this ‘heart’

You've gotta have heart
All you really need is heart
When the odds are sayin' you'll never win
That's when the grin should start
When your luck is battin' zero
Get your chin up off the floor
Mister you can be a hero
You can open any door, there's nothin' to it but to do it
You've gotta have heart
Miles 'n miles n' miles of heart

The 1969 Mets could teach the 2009 Mets a little something about how to play baseball, don’t you think?

Via Jorge Says No!

What a lead

Newsday just posted their story from the first game of the 1969 season. The New York Mets lost to the Montral Expos by a score of 11-10.

Check out the lead that Ed Hershey wrote for the article:

Now a whole new country can laugh at the Mets, and in two languages no less.

Too funny.

Paying top dollar for items from Shea

Some things have already been taken home, others will go down into the pile of rubble.

The Journal News updates us on some of the items that have gone home with those with the money to pay for it.

One of the last things to come out, from the upper deck, was the piece of concrete, which now looks like a memorial stone - the front painted and marked with Tommie Agee's name and No. 20, and the date April 5, 1969, when he hit the longest home run in stadium history.

That's something that should head to the museum at Citi Field. Something that iconic should either be given to Agee's family, or stay with the Mets franchise.

Seems the Mets listened to me about the foul poles.

The foul poles didn't sell, so they will be cut into one-foot pieces and sold like that.

I'm so smart. On Aug. 25, I wrote, in "What I would like to own from Shea Stadium": "Pieces of the foul pole. Something they could cut up and sell in small pieces, like 1x1 foot sections. Everyone could have a piece."

Also, the group stripping down Shea made some awesome discoveries. In the bathroom of the locker room used by the Jets, they found tile behind a wall inscribed with J-E-T-S. The Journal News relays it crumbled as the workers tried to take them down.

They also found a pallet of wood that was actually part of the original outfield wall, complete with green paint and "338" written on it.

Pretty awesome. What I would give for one last walk-through.

Mets need to take note of '69 team

Jerry Crasnik, at ESPN.com, profiles nine teams that got off to a rocky start, but surged back to a strong season and the 1969 Mets come in at number eight.

From Crasnik:

1969 New York Mets
The low point: Opening Day is a real downer, as the expansion Montreal Expos beat the Mets 11-10 behind the hitting of Maury Wills, Rusty Staub and Coco Laboy. It's nothing new for the Mets, who've averaged 105 losses per season since the franchise's inception in 1962. The Mets have some talented young arms in Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman, Gary Gentry, Nolan Ryan and Tug McGraw, among others. But in early May, they're 9-14 and eight games behind the deep and talented Chicago Cubs.

The happy ending: The Mets kick it in gear with an 11-game win streak in early June. And the Cubs, with their bad black-cat karma, do their part with a memorable implosion. Seaver and Koosman combine for a 42-16 record, and New York wins 100 games and beats Baltimore in the World Series despite one of baseball's weakest offenses. Hank Aaron calls the Mets "amazing,'' and they're memorialized in the film, "Oh God!'' when George Burns (as God) tells John Denver, "The last miracle I did was the 1969 Mets. Before that, I think you have to go back to the Red Sea.''

The season isn't over yet, Mets fans. We have high hopes for this season, but could you imagine, or remember, being a fan of the team back then? I honestly couldn't fathom it.

So here's to hoping history repeats itself!