A wound that time has not healed for me

[Frobby]

Frobby you should've asked Paul Blair about the "so-so" relief pitcher that was Nolan Ryan. He threw a strike 3 curveball that still has Blair's knees buckling. And he's been gone for almost 2 years.

Ryan always had great stuff, but it took him several years to harness it. Ryan had a 3.54 ERA that year, nothing special at the time. But I'm sure hitters did not enjoy facing him.

[Superbee83]

You, sir, are a communist!

The O's followed up their 109 win season with a 108 win season and a WS title the following year. Where were the Mets? Barely over .500. There's no comparison. The Mets got hot at the right time, and got all the breaks. That's baseball, sometimes.

By the way, although Nolan Ryan was on that Mets team, he was basically a so-so relief pitcher/spot starter. He pitched 2.1 innings in the WS, in one appearance.

Maybe the 69 Orioles were the best team that was beaten in the World Series.

In 1969, the Mets did win 100 games and broke hearts in Baltimore and Chicago.

One thing that is overlooked is the overall pitching performance by the Mets. Koosman, Seaver, and Gary Gentry were excellent starters. The Orioles team team batting slash line against the Mets was .146/.220/.430. Pretty anemic.

I was a confused, heartbroken, little seven year old after the Series was over.

[Tsouth60]

For some strange reason the 71 loss to the Pirates was more painful for me - I went out and burned all my Pirate baseball cards in the back yard. Of course them beating us a second time years later did not help.

[PeteU]

1996 is the one that kills me.

$&%&$ing Jeffrey Maier.

I'll never forgive that little %@&@.

[Palmoripken]

97 for me. I remember having a little league teammate as well as a teacher who were Indians fans. Last year was tough too.

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[JLee2027]

I remember that 69' WS was the first I remember where "celebrity interviews" were all the vogue.Heres one with Jerry Lewis and Tony Kubek which adds absolutely nothing to the coverage and theres a very famous cameo of someone watching the game behind Lewis and she doesn't seem terribly amused by Jerry.

That woman sure looks like Jackie O.....

[NashLumber]

Great post. I remember those Tommie Agee/Ron Swoboda catches like they were yesterday. If anything in baseball was ever predestined that World Series was it.

I have probably watched that series, every game, three times on either ESPN Classic or on MLB-TV. It's like I keep thinking the breaks will go the O's way eventually. That said, I do love to see the O's heroes in action again in that broadcast. The image quality of the ones I've seen are truly outstanding. And I always liked the behind home plate close ups that were used often in those days.

'69 was the first year I followed baseball closely. I was 7 years old for most of that season (turning 8 after the series was over). I originally had a fascination with the Mets as the series drew near. I grew up in NC and "Game of the Week" was my only way to see baseball, though I probably could have found whatever MD or DC radio station was carrying the O's at night (AM radio signals being stronger at night), but I wasn't sophisticated enough to know how to seek it out. But the TV and magazine coverage of the Mets had me originally intrigued in them initially as a sports story. So not really being old enough to have a long held fandom of any team, '69 doesn't sting as much as many of you guys. I have even pulled for the Mets in other World Series. But in backyard ballgames as the series started, my across the street neighbors made a strong case for the O's as the better team, so that's where my O's fandom was born. Thanks, Donald, David, Webby and Barry!

[NashLumber]

I'll NEVER be convinced any team was better than the 69' Orioles.

That's how I've always felt. A couple of years, I wrote a song for a baseball themed CD (still not finished or released yet, but hopefully this fall) with that very sentiment. It's called The Best Team in 1969. I've made a few tweaks since then, but here is the first draft lyric.

[OFFNY]

o

 

1968: ll The Jets beat the Colts (January, 1969.)

1969: ll The Mets beat the Orioles.

 

The Knicks always beat the Bullets in those days, save for 1971, when the Bullets made the NBA Finals.

The Knicks played the Bullets 6 straight years in the playoffs from 1969-1974, and the Knicks won 5 out of 6 times. I first became a COB (Colts fan, Orioles fan, Bullets fan) in the fall of 1971, and the Knicks beating the Bullets in 1972, 1973, and 1974 was like a mini-version of the National League beating the American League in the All-Star game 11 straight times from 1972-1982.

 

Strangely enough, the Bullets and the Knicks have not met in the postseason in the more than 4 decades since.

 

o

[Davey]

The year was 1969. I was 12 years old, and the Baltimore Orioles were my consuming passion in life. Before the baseball season began, the year had started badly, with the New York Jets beating my beloved Colts in the Super Bowl in what was probably the greatest pro football upset of all time. The Orioles wiped away the pain, it seemed, by running away with the AL East by 19 games, winning 109 regular season games and then sweeping the Twins in the ALCS to win the pennant.

One more thing that boosted our confidence...THE ORIOLES FIRST AT BAT, DON BUFORD, HIT A HOMERUN. "Wow! We're gonna clobber these Mets!"We really thought we had this series in the bag.....then the horror began! The Mets seemed to be in the right place at the right time defensively. I really think Earl Weaver took it the hardest.

I was 13 in 1969 and my love for the Colts naturally transferred over the Orioles that year. I loved that team. As Frobby describes above the whole season was a cakewalk. My father was a converted Brooklyn Dodgers fan that now loved the Mets (because of Gil Hodges), and my younger brother followed suit. I had to watch the celebrations IN MY OWN FAMILY after I assurred them the Mets would go down in order. THANK THE SPORTS GODS ABOVE that the Colts won the superbowl the next year and the Orioles won the World Series also the following year.

In the 1970 World Series Earl Weaver, (from his book), said that after Cincinatti won the fourth game of the World Series after the Orioles won the first three....that he thought the whole 69 thing would repeat itself....that Cincinnatti would go on to win the series taking 4 straight. So the wounds hadn't healed for Earl too!

[Frobby]

THANK THE SPORTS GODS ABOVE that the Colts won the superbowl the next year and the Orioles won the World Series also the following year.

The Chiefs won the 1970 Super Bowl (culmination of the 1969 season). The Colts didn't win until '71. But at least we got to see it, and had some redemption.

[TonySoprano]

That woman sure looks like Jackie O.....

It is her, and the kids are with her, Caroline and John, Jr.

[wildcard]

Thanks for bringing that up Frobby. Just what I didn't need to remember.

[OFFNY]

Frobby said:

 

The Chiefs won the 1970 Super Bowl (culmination of the 1969 season). The Colts didn't win until '71. But at least we got to see it, and had some redemption.

 

o

 

The Colts made a respectable effort to defend their title in 1971, also.

In my first season as a fan of the team, they made it to the AFC Championship Game against the Dolphins, where they lost by a score of 21-0.

I was in 1st grade at the time, and I still remember watching the game in our playroom downstairs in Brewster Heights. I remember the 80,000 screaming Dolphin fan going crazy in the Orange Bowl in the 4th quarter, while Johnny Unitas valiantly tried to bring the team back.

 

o

[NashLumber]

For some strange reason the 71 loss to the Pirates was more painful for me - I went out and burned all my Pirate baseball cards in the back yard. Of course them beating us a second time years later did not help.

Roberto Clemente was born 81 years ago today.

Btw, all this Mets talk reminds me of how much KC's run in the postseason reminded me of the '69 Mets. It was one bloop hit or lucky break after another combined with lights out bullpen work and dazzling defense (outfield in particular). It's such a fresh memory that I have more ire towards KC now than I do the Mets.