Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Tales From the New York Daily News : Happy 50th Anniversary to the 1969 Miracle Mets!!!


"There are no words" - Karl Ehrhardt, the Sign Man at Shea, October 16, 1969



A gloriously happy 50th anniversary to the most miraculous, most improbable, and most unadulteratingly joyous championship in the history of sports, the 1969 "Miracle" New York Mets!

1969...  A year of moon walks, Woodstock, the end of the Beatles, Nixon, Vietnam ... and the Mets!

From 100 to 1 odds at the start of the season, a team that never finished higher than 9th place, helmed by a Hall of Fame caliber manager and stocked with a deep pitching rotation including 2 future and 1 near Hall of Famer, this team caught fire in the summer and blazed from 10 games behind to a 100-62 record, winning the division by 8 games after a season-long battle with the Chicago Cubs. From there they swept the Atlanta Braves for the N.L Championship and rolled over the powerful and heavily favored Baltimore Orioles in 5 games.


11 game winning streaks, trade deadline acquisitions, black cats, knock-down pitches, "Good Night, Leo," imperfect games, Cy Young winners ... we all know the stories of this wonderful season. I present below how the end was covered by the NEW YORK DAILY NEWS. I will limit my comments and leave hi-resolution scans of the actual articles and newspaper photos to do the talking. There is one paper missing, which I will add in the future, newspaper coverage of Game 1 of the N.L. Playoffs. (Sorry! I promise I'll get it here in the future!)

We'll start with the lead up to clinching the National League Eastern Division title......





Eastern Division Champions of the National League 
(September 25, 1969 NYC edition of the NY Daily News)




Page 63 - Editorial



Page 64


Page 65

Page 66-67


Page 68-69


Page 77


Page 112


Bill Gallo




Page 113

Page 114


Page 115


Page 117


Page 127


Page 129







N.L. Championship Series Preparation
(September 26, 1969 National edition of the NY Daily News)




Page 13 - Editorial



Page 14-15



Page 22



Page 23


Page 25



Page 27


Bill Gallo







Game 2, National Championship Series vs Atlanta Braves
Win, 11-6
(October 6, 1969 National edition of the NY Daily News)




Page 16-17


Page 26


Page 27


Page 29






National League Champions

Game 3, National Championship Series vs Atlanta Braves
Win, 7-4



[A] - NYC Edition of New York Daily News: (October 7, 1969)



Page 21


Page 25


Page 48-49


Page 51


Page 80


Page 81


Page 82


Page 83


Page 90


Page 95


Bill Gallo






[B] - National Edition of New York Daily News: (October 7, 1969)





Page 13 - Editorial


Page 14-15


Page 22


Page 23


Page 25


Page 26







World Series Preparation
(October 8, 1969 National edition of the NY Daily News)





Page 26



Page 27



Bill Gallo





World Series Preparation
(October 9, 1969 National edition of the NY Daily News)





Page 26



Page 27


Bill Gallo






World Series Preparation
(October 10, 1969 National edition of the NY Daily News)






Page 13 - Editorial




Page 22


Page 23


Page 27



Bill Gallo








Game 1, World Series vs Baltimore Orioles
Loss, 4-1, at Baltimore
(October 12, 1969 NYC Night Owl edition of the NY Sunday News)





Page 172



Page 173



Page 174



Bill Gallo







Game 2, World Series vs Baltimore Orioles
Win, 2-1, at Baltimore
(October 13, 1969 NYC edition of the NY Daily News)




Page 44-45


Page 72


Page 73


Page 74


Bill Gallo





Travel Day
(October 14, 1969 NYC edition of the NY Daily News)
[Cover by Bruce Stark]


                      

                     


Page 80:
      
                        

Page 81:

                       


Page 83:

           



Page 46-47:




Page 90:

                             


Page 14.79:




Page 45:



Page 63:



Page 26:



Page 4:







Game 3, World Series vs Baltimore Orioles
Win, 5-0, at Shea
(October 15, 1969 NYC edition of the NY Daily News)
"The Tommie Agee Game"

Click here for Agee....







Page 61-62


Page 110


Page 111



Page 112


Page 113



Bill Gallo








Game 4, World Series vs Baltimore Orioles
Win, 2-1, at Shea
(October 16, 1969 National edition of the NY Daily News)
"Ron Swoboda catch, J.C. Martin bunt in 10th"


                      


                        


Page 26

                       

Page 27

                         





Page 28




Page 29

                         


                                 


Page 31







Page 16-17 



Page 19 (Radio & TV coverage listings)

               


Page 8,25








"World Champions"
Game 5, World Series vs Baltimore Orioles
Win, 5-3, at Shea
(October 17, 1969 NYC edition of the NY Daily News)





Page 2



Page 3



Page 4



Page 13



Page 28



Page 48 - Bruce Stark ad illustration



Page 51 - Editorial



Page 52-53



Page 64 - Ed Sullivan's column




Page 84 - Blurb at end of TV column announcing the Mets' appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show.





Page 88



Page 89


Page 90



Page 91



Page 92



Page 94



Page 95



Page B-1



Bill Gallo (1)










And finally, let's top this off by a posting of The 1969 Mets Portfolio of Stars by the great caricaturist, News staff cartoonist Bruce Stark. This portfolio collected on better paper stock the player images the News had been printing all through the latter part of the season.



























SOURCES

All New York Daily News scans are from the author's collection, scanned originally at 300 dpi and cleaned up in Photoshop. Likewise, The 1969 NY Mets Portfolio scans.


  1. New York Daily News - September 25, 1969; NYC Edition
  2. New York Daily News - September 26, 1969; National Edition
  3. New York Daily News - October 6, 1969; National Edition
  4. New York Daily News - October 7, 1969; NYC Edition
  5. New York Daily News - October 7, 1969; National Edition
  6. New York Daily News - October 8, 1969; National Edition
  7. New York Daily News - October 9, 1969; National Edition
  8. New York Daily News - October 10, 1969; National Edition
  9. New York Sunday News - October 12, 1969; NYC "Night Owl" Edition
  10. New York Daily News - October 13, 1969; NYC Edition
  11. New York Daily News - October 14, 1969; NYC Edition
  12. New York Daily News - October 15, 1969; NYC Edition
  13. New York Daily News - October 16, 1969; National Edition
  14. New York Daily News - October 17, 1969; NYC Edition