Getting there
New York Mets
The New York Mets, who had never finished higher than ninth place (next-to-last) nor won more than 73 games in a season since joining the National League in 1962, were not highly regarded before the 1969 season started. In fact, the best that could be said for them was that because the National League was being split into two divisions that year, the Mets were guaranteed to finish no lower than sixth place. The fact the Mets began the season by losing 1110 to the then-expansion Montreal Expos seemed to confirm this. With three weeks to go in the season, the underdog Mets stormed past the Chicago Cubs, who had led the Eastern Division for most of the season, winning 38 of their final 49 games for a total of 100 wins and capturing the first National League Eastern Division crown. Third-year pitcher Tom Seaver won a major-league-leading 25 games en route to his first Cy Young Award; the other two top Mets starting pitchers, Jerry Koosman and rookie Gary Gentry, combined to win 30 more games. Outfielder Cleon Jones hit a (then) club-record .340 and finished third in the National League batting race, while his lifelong friend and outfield mate Tommie Agee hit 26 home runs and drove in 76 runs to lead the club; they were the only players on the team who garnered more than 400 at bats. Manager Gil Hodges employed a skillful platoon system not unlike the Yankees of the Casey Stengel era, in which Ron Swoboda and Art Shamsky became a switch-hitting right fielder who hit 23 home runs and drove in 100 runs, and Ed Kranepool and Donn Clendenon added up to a switch-hitting first baseman who hit 23 more homers and knocked in another 95 runs. Everyone on the bench knew what their role was in the platoonobody felt that they’d ever lost their jobs. Almost to a man, the 1969 Mets were united in their praise of their manager’s skill. In the first League Championship Series, the light-hitting Mets, once again considered underdogs (even though the Mets actually had a better record than the Braves), put on an uncharacteristic power display by scoring 27 runs in sweeping the favored Atlanta Braves in three games.
Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles, by contrast, were practically flawless and featured stars at almost every position. They breezed through the 1969 season, winning 109 games (until 1998 the most games won since the advent of divisional play) and brushing aside the Minnesota Twins in three games in the ALCS to win their second pennant in four years. The Orioles were led by star sluggers Frank Robinson and Boog Powell, who each hit over 30 home runs and drove in over 100 runs; third baseman Brooks Robinson, perhaps the best-fielding hot-corner player in baseball history; and pitchers Mike Cuellar, Dave McNally and Jim Palmer, who combined for 63 victories. It was felt that in the face of such statistical comparisons, only the most reckless gambler would put any money on the Mets.
Summary
NL New York Mets (4) vs. AL Baltimore Orioles (1)
Game
Date
Score
Location
Time
Attendance
1
October 11
New York Mets 1, Baltimore Orioles 4
Memorial Stadium
2:13
50,429
2
October 12
New York Mets 2, Baltimore Orioles 1
Memorial Stadium
2:20
50,850
3
October 14
Baltimore Orioles 0, New York Mets 5
Shea Stadium
2:23
56,335
4
October 15
Baltimore Orioles 1, New York Mets 2 (10 innings)
Shea Stadium
2:33
57,367
5
October 16
Baltimore Orioles 3, New York Mets 5
Shea Stadium
2:14
57,397
Matchups
Game 1
Saturday, October 11, 1969 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland
Team
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
New York
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
1
6
1
Baltimore
1
0
0
3
0
0
0
0
X
4
6
0
WP: Mike Cuellar (10) LP: Tom Seaver (01)
HRs: BAL Don Buford (1)
With this win, the Orioles looked to be proving all the prognosticators right, as it was a dominant performance. Don Buford led off the game for the Orioles by homering off Tom Seaver. The O’s then added three more runs in the fourth when, with two outs, Elrod Hendricks singled and Davey Johnson walked. Mark Belanger then singled in a run, followed by an RBI single by pitcher Mike Cuellar. Buford would cap the inning off by doubling in Belanger.
The Mets got their run in the seventh on a sacrifice fly by light-hitting Al Weis.
Game 2
Sunday, October 12, 1969 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland
Team
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
New York
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
1
2
6
0
Baltimore
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
1
2
0
WP: Jerry Koosman (10) LP: Dave McNally (01) SV: Ron Taylor (1)
HRs: NYM Donn Clendenon (1)
Mets pitcher Jerry Koosman pitched six innings of no-hit ball, trying to match Don Larsen’s World Series no-hit feat. Donn Clendenon provided him a slim lead with a home run in the fourth.
However, Koosman would lose both the no-hitter and the lead in the seventh as Paul Blair singled, stole second, and scored on a single by Brooks Robinson. But, that would be it for the Orioles’ offense. The Mets pushed across a run in the top of the ninth on back-to-back-to-back singles by Ed Charles, Jerry Grote, and Al Weis, scoring Charles.
Koosman had trouble finishing the game, as he issued two-out walks in the bottom of the ninth to Frank Robinson and Boog Powell. Ron Taylor came on to retire Brooks Robinson for the final out and earn the save.
Game 3
Tuesday, October 14, 1969 at Shea Stadium in Flushing, Queens, New York
Team
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Baltimore
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
4
1
New York
1
2
0
0
0
1
0
1
X
5
6
0
WP: Gary Gentry (10) LP: Jim Palmer (01) SV: Nolan Ryan (1)
HRs: NYM Tommie Agee (1), Ed Kranepool (1)
Agee led off the game for the Mets with a home run off of Jim Palmer, then saved at least five runs with his defense. With two out in the fourth and Oriole runners on first and third, Agee raced to the 396-foot sign in left-center and made a backhanded running catch of a drive hit by Elrod Hendricks. In the seventh, the Orioles had loaded the bases with two out, but Agee made a headfirst diving grab of a line drive hit by Paul Blair in right-center.
Ed Kranepool added a home run and Jerry Grote an RBI double for the Mets, while Gary Gentry pitched six shutout innings and helped his own cause with a second-inning two-run double. Nolan Ryan, making what would be his only World Series appearance in his 27-year career, pitched the final 2+13 innings (benefitting from Agee’s second catch) and earned a save.
mlb.com coverage of Game 3
Game 4
Wednesday, October 15, 1969 at Shea Stadium in Flushing, Queens, New York
Team
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
R
H
E
Baltimore
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
6
1
New York
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
2
10
1
WP: Tom Seaver (11) LP: Dick Hall (01)
HRs: NYM Donn Clendenon (2)
Tom Seaver atoned for his Game 1 ineffectiveness by shutting the Orioles out through eight innings. Once again, Donn Clendenon provided the lead with a solo homer in the second. In the third inning, after arguing ball-strike calls too strenuously with plate umpire Shag Crawford, Earl Weaver of the Orioles became the first manager since 1935 to be ejected from a World Series game.
In the top of the ninth, Seaver ran into trouble. Frank Robinson and Boog Powell hit back-to-back one-out singles to put runners on first and third. Brooks Robinson then hit a sinking line drive towards
