BY DAVE IVEY
GETTY IMAGES
At the 1969 All-Star Game, Jerry Koosman and Tom Seaver flanked then-Senators manager Ted Williams.
GETTY IMAGES
Afew days before facing the heavily favored Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III on Jan. 12, 1969, quarterback Joe Namath famously guaranteed his New York Jets would win. And they did.
When the New York Mets reported to Florida for spring training the following month, ace Tom Seaver did not follow suit and predict a World Series championship. Nobody did. Most thought Namath was nuts, as the Jets were 18-point underdogs. The Mets had mostly just been dogs through their first seven seasons, compiling a 394-737 record while never finishing higher than ninth in a 10-team National League. Predicting a .500 record would have been bold. Predicting 100 wins, a ticker-tape parade and a permanent place in sports history? No, not even “Broadway Joe” would have dared to dream that big.
But during the year that man landed on the moon, the Mets played out of this world. During the summer of Woodstock, those lovable losers became rock stars. What baseball’s most unlikely champions achieved a half-century ago was magical, mysterious and, yes, miraculous.
READ MORE
Purchase options below
Find the complete article and many more in this issue of
Vintage Collector
-
June/July 2019
If you own the issue,
Login to read the full article now.
|
Single Issue - June/July 2019
|
|
|
€8,99
Or 899 points
|
|
|
Annual Digital Subscription
Only €
10,50 per issue
|
SAVE
4%
|
|
€41,99
Or 4199 points
|
|
|
About Vintage Collector
Beckett Vintage Collector June/July 2019,
The Amazings,
History and The '69 Mets,
And More....