The Miracle Has Landed

Celebrate the 1969 Miracle Mets in this new, updated SABR edition of The Miracle Has Landed. 

Seven seasons after the Mets debuted with the most losses in modern baseball history, the franchise was still seen as a laughingstock, with 100-to-1 odds to win the World Series when 1969 began. The first year of divisional play started out as the Cubs' year, while most onlookers figured the Mets would be happy if they could play .500 ball. Tom Seaver's "Imperfect Game" against Chicago showed that the Mets could play with the big boys, but the Cubs still had a double-digit lead on the Mets in the middle of August. The Cubs stumbled, plagued by worn-out players, black cats, and bad luck, and magnificent Mets pitching turned the tide.

The Miracle Has Landed celebrates the lovable Mets like no other book, complete with photos and artifacts of the time. A project of the Society for American Baseball Research, this volume gathers the collective efforts of more than thirty SABR members and features profiles of every player, coach, broadcaster, and significant front-office member connected to that great Mets squad. Included are biographies of the recently departed "Franchise" player, Tom Seaver, and Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan, beloved manager Gil Hodges, the talented outfield of Cleon Jones, Tommie Agee, and Ron Swoboda, drill sergeant backstop Jerry Grote, crucial mid-season acquisition Donn Clendenon, scrappy shortstop Bud Harrelson, and a pitching staff that went far deeper than just Seaver and Ryan. More than fifty years later the Miracle Mets are still revered, the first world champion expansion team and the club that stole New York's heart.

CONTENTS

Foreword

Introduction

Acknowledgments

THE PLAYERS

Tommie Agee

Ken Boswell

Don Cardwell

Ed Charles

Donn Clendenon

Kevin Collins

Jack DiLauro

Duffy Dyer

DannyFrisella

Wayne Garrett

Rod Gaspar

Gary Gentry

Jim Gosger

Jerry Grote

Bud Harrelson

Bob Heise

Jesse Hudson

Al Jackson

Bob Johnson

Cleon Jones

Cal Koonce

Jerry Koosman

Ed Kranepool

J.C. Martin

Jim McAndrew

Tug McGraw

Amos Otis

Bobby Pfeil

Les Rohr

Nolan Ryan

Tom Seaver

Art Shamsky

Ron Swoboda

Ron Taylor

Al Weis

COACHES & MANAGERS

GIl Hodges

Yogi Berra

Joe Pignatano

Rube Walker

Eddie Yost

FRONT OFFICE & ANNOUNCERS

Joan Whitney Payson

Johnny Murphy

M. Donald Grant

The Three Broadcast Amigos

Ralph Kiner 1969 Q&A

THE MIRACLE HAS LANDED

Meet the Mets

From Birth to Rebirth

Here's Looking up our old address

Spring Ahead

A Season of Streaks, Shocks and Shutouts

Putting the Miracle in Miracle Mets

Terrific Imperfection

Beware of Moose

Buc No-Hits '69 Mets

PlatoonHalt!

October '69

The Miracle at Willets Point

PERSPECTIVES & CONCLUSIONS

Cubs Eye View

Everyone Comes Home in October

The Wall

A '69 Mets Quest

APPENDIX

Statistics for Regular Season 1969

Statistics for Postseason 1969

Contributors