May 26, 1964 - The team that Casey Stengel called “the Amazin’ Mets” amazed even Casey Stengel today.
It shook off the inhibitions of two years in the cellar and 20 straight scoreless innings in Houston to unload the most devastating attack in Met history and rout the Chicago Cubs, 10-1, at Wrigley Field.
Before tonight’s game, Stengel gathered the troops and acknowledged that it had been a rough few days. “So, then I says to the boys: how’s about winning this one for old man Stengel — and darned if they didn’t.”
The Mets rattled the ivy-covered walls of Wrigley with 17 singles, three doubles, two triples, and one homer for 23 hits, seven more than previous Met team.
They scored five more runs than any Met team had previously, and their 18-run margin surpassed the 11-run margin against Houston in 1962 that, until today, had marked the pinnacle of Met success.
They raked six Chicago pitchers for four runs in the first inning, three in the second, two in the fifth, four in the seventh, and, as the coup de grace, six in the ninth.
They set a record for participation when every Met in the starting lineup got at least one hit and knocked in at least one run.
They saw a team member set a record for individual heroics when Dick Smith belted three singles, a double and a triple to become the first man in Met annals to get five hits in one game.
And they did all this in 2 hours 49 minutes before 2,503 disbelieving fans.
In fact, the Mets did it against most of the odds in the baseball book with a lineup of all right-handed hitters against a right-handed starter, Bob Buhl. Until today, Buhl had allowed only three runs in pitching four victories.
What can the Mets do for an encore?
As luck would have it, their starting pitcher tomorrow in the second game of the series is Al Jackson — for whom they have scored zero runs in his last 30 innings.
Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s
Comments