Mets Greatest Games - Seaver Returns To Shea As A Red
August 2003 Issue
While every season has its share of well-played ballgames, the truly great ones are those that transcend the moment and are remembered for years thereafter. The contest of August 21, 1977 between the Mets and the Cincinnati Reds, played at Shea Stadium, is one of those games.
The story of this game really begins two months earlier. June 15, 1977 is a day that lives in infamy in the hearts of all Mets fans who are old enough to remember the team's initial glory years. Three transactions took place the night of the "Midnight Massacre," the most heart-wrenching of which was the trade of George Thomas Seaver to the Cincinnati Reds for Pat Zachary, Steve Henderson, Doug Flynn and Dan Norman. Not only was the greatest player in Mets history gone, but he was dealt away in a manner that demoralized and offended the team's fans. The following day, New Yorkers watched the man known as "The Franchise" say goodbye to the local media, at one point pausing to hold back tears, then quietly regaining his composure while uttering, "Come on George." A hero had left New York, and nothing could replace him in the hearts of Mets fans.
Two months later, with emotions in New York still raw, the Cincinnati Reds came to Shea for a three game series. The finale of that set, on a sunny Sunday afternoon, featured a pitching matchup that was seemingly designed by the baseball gods -- Tom Seaver vs. Jerry Koosman.
Koosman. The left-hander who pitched along with Seaver for virtually his entire career. The man who was on the mound when the Mets clinched the 1969 World Series. The new ace of the Mets' pitching staff, by default.
The drama of the situation was not lost on the returning hero. Seaver reminisces, "I always thought I would be a lifelong Met. To come back and pitch against one of my closest friends, at Shea, was just an unbelievably weird thing for me. I was extremely nervous before the game."
That nervousness was hardly apparent to the 46,265 fans who turned out to cheer Seaver's homecoming. The crowd gave Seaver standing ovations at every imaginable opportunity, including during batting practice and while he was throwing his warmup pitches.
The Mets' starting lineup was hardly formidable, with Lenny Randle, Bud Harrelson, Steve Henderson, Ed Kranepool, John Milner, Ron Hodges, Lee Mazzilli, Doug Flynn, and Koosman. Cincinnati, on the other hand, started Pete Rose, Joe Morgan, Ken Griffey, George Foster, Johnny Bench, Dave Concepcion, Dan Driessen, Ed Armbrister, and Seaver.
The visiting Reds wasted no time in drawing first blood. Rose led off the game with a double, and scored on Foster's two out single to give Seaver a 1-0 lead when he took the mound. Seaver got Randle to make an out to Armbrister, and then proceeded to strike out Harrelson and Henderson for a 1-2-3 inning.
The next three innings belonged to the pitchers. Koosman faced the minimum number of hitters during that time, while Seaver did not allow a baserunner until Henderson singled in the bottom of the fourth. Both beloved starters were cheered by the crowd, and the score remained 1-0 Reds after four.
In the top of the fifth, Seaver helped his own cause with a two out double. Seaver then scored on Rose's single, although the inning ended when Rose unsuccessfully tried to stretch the hit into a double. Seaver and the Reds now had a 2-0 lead halfway through the game.
But Koosman held strong, striking out five and holding the Reds to five hits through the first sixth innings. In the bottom of the sixth the Mets made things interesting. Harrelson singled, advanced to third on Henderson's single, and scored on Kranepool's sacrifice fly. Suddenly the score was 2-1, and chants of "Let's Go Mets" could be heard at Shea for the first time that day. But the rally ended there, and was followed by a quiet seventh inning.
It was in the top of the eighth that the floodgates opened. After Armbrister struck out, Seaver reached first on an error by his old roommate, Bud Harrelson. Then an error by Flynn allowed Seaver to move to second while putting Rose on first. Morgan's single drove home Seaver, and Griffey singled to drive in Rose and Morgan, making the score 5-1 Cincinnati. Koosman, who struck out seven on the day while only allowing two earned runs, left the game. Skip Lockwood came in from the bullpen to induce Foster's inning ending double play.
That was it for the scoring. Seaver pitched the entire nine innings, scattering six hits while striking out eleven. Although he didn't quite adhere to the "Shut 'Em Out And Hit One Out" theory of pitching, he did cross the plate twice that day, scoring more runs with his offense than he gave up on defense.
And with that, the most paradoxical Greatest Game at Shea candidate was complete. This is likely the only Greatest Game article featuring a Mets loss. Yet, it was the only appropriate result. It is hard for younger fans to fully appreciate the hurt, frustration and alienation caused by the Seaver trade. Lifelong Mets fans, who rooted for the comical losers of the early '60s and marveled as the team won the 1969 World Series and the 1973 National League pennant could not comprehend how management could have traded away the three-time Cy Young Award winner who was responsible for that transformation. August 21, 1977 was perhaps the only day in history when a significant minority, if not the majority, of the Mets fans in attendance actively rooted for the opposing team to win. And on that day, "The Franchise" reminded them just why they felt his loss so deeply. Tom Seaver was back home at Shea, and the fans had their opportunity to properly thank him for what he had done for the Mets the previous ten and a half seasons. In the bizarro universe that brought him to Shea in the opposing uniform, all was well in the world that sunny Sunday afternoon.