The NY Mets beat the Washington Nationals in the season opener, 2-0.
As most baseball fans know, this marks the fiftieth anniversary of the Miracle Mets. Their first opponent that year? The expansion Montreal Expos who moved to D.C. in 2005. Coincidence?
There will be no shortage of material about the Golden Anniversary. Just finished Art Shamsky and Erik Sherman’s bittersweet After the Miracle: The Lasting Brotherhood of the ’69 Mets, which featured the ill health of not only Tom Seaver, but his teammate Buddy Harrelson. A sad reminder of the fragility of life in the midst of celebration. Look for “Bookshelf Conversations” with both Shamsky and Sherman in the weeks to come.
In addition, there are these:
- The Miracle of 1969: How the New York Mets Went from Lovable Losers to World Series Champions, by Rich Coutinho
- Here’s the Catch: A Memoir of the Miracle Mets and More, by Ron Swoboda
- They Said It Couldn’t Be Done: The ’69 Mets, New York City, and the Most Astounding Season in Baseball History, by Wayne Coffey
The Society for American Baseball Research is also compiling a book on the Miracle team.
The New York Times got into the act with a “1969: The Mets’ Magical Mystery Year,” a 20-page insert in yesterday’s print edition.
Several of those pieces are available obline, including this wonderful feature, “Meet the (Champion) Mets: It Was All in the Cards: A look at the championship team captured in the 1969 Topps Baseball set”.
A sampling from the Times‘ supplement:
- 1962: The Bumbling Beginning
- 1963-68: A Heap of Losses, a Hint of Hope
- 1969: We Have Liftoff in Queens
- Hello, Title (and Goodbye, Leo)
- A Ticker-Turf Celebration
- “We Are a Band of Brothers“
There are a few other pieces online, but I’m not sure if non-subscribers will have access to any of this stuff, so I’ll let you do the legwork for the rest.
is available on Amazon.com,
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