Ed Kranepool, Art Shamsky and Ron Swoboda to make appearance during month of Miracle Mets milestones
Mets 1969 World Series champion Ed Kranepool looks on during the 50th anniversary celebration at Citi Field on June 29. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
The Mets held their official 1969 World Series championship team celebration at Citi Field in June. But the party isn’t quite over yet, not with important dates in that year’s miracle run popping up in September and October.
Fifty years ago Tuesday — Sept. 10, 1969 — the Mets moved into first place in the National League East for the first time. They had trailed the Cubs by 9½ games on Aug. 13 and ended up winning the division by eight games.
“On Sept. 10, the jokes finally stopped,” said first baseman Ed Kranepool, an original Met from the team’s 1962 inception. “It was tough losing 100 games all those years.”
Other milestone anniversary dates are approaching:
- Sept. 24 — The Mets clinched the NL East title with a 6-0 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals before 54,928 fans at Shea Stadium. Gary Gentry threw a four-hitter and Donn Clendenon hit a pair of two-run home runs. Gentry recorded the last two outs on a Joe Torre double play grounder.
- Oct. 6 — The Mets clinched a three-game sweep of the Atlanta Braves in the National League Championship Series with a 7-4 victory before 54,195 at Shea. Nolan Ryan pitched seven innings of relief for the victory.
- Oct. 16 — The Mets beat the Orioles in Game 5, 5-3, to clinch their first World Series title before 57,397 at Shea. Jerry Koosman tossed a five-hitter and Clendenon, the World Series MVP, hit his third home run of the Series.
- Oct. 20 — The champion Mets were honored with a ticker tape parade in the Canyon of Heroes.
Kranepool and fellow 1969 Mets Art Shamsky and Ron Swoboda have several appearances scheduled to conclude the 50th anniversary celebration, including one on Friday in Manhattan and another on Oct. 16 — 50 years to the day from the World Series-clinching game — in Westbury.
On Friday, the trio will be at The Iridium on Broadway.
On Oct. 16, the trio will appear at NYCB Theatre at Westbury. Both appearances will include meet-and-greet opportunities and a live Q&A.
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.
