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