123 Games Into Season, Mets Finally Do Something Right with Tribute to '69 Championship Team

Yesterday was a great day at Citi Field. It had nothing to do with the actual game, a 4-1 loss that meant absolutely nothing. Instead, the Mets honored the Miracle Mets of 1969, bringing back many of the players who set the standard for what all teams of all sports compare to as the ultimate in improbable championships.

Tom Seaver, Nolan Ryan, Cleon Jones, Wayne Garrett, Jerry Koosman, Ed Kranepool, Jerry Grote, Ron Swoboda, Gary Gentry, Ron Taylor, Duffy Dyer - and even Ralph Kiner and good ole Yogi Berra were all present to remininsce about the greatest season in baseball history. Despite how poorly this franchise currently is run, at least we Met fans have that to cling to - Yankee fans can't say that. The '69 Mets were (and remain) the best story ever... no other team can lay claim to that. Yesterday was a day to remind us why we're Met fans, and it couldn't have been better seeing old heros. (and old heros aging gracefully at that!)

It was the first time all season that I wished I were there at Citi Field rather than watch the game on TV. But watching it on TV definitely had its perks, as so many of the 69 team where brought into the broadcast booth to share a few interesting stories with Keith, Ron, and Gary in the booth. None better than Cleon Jones, who finally "came clean" about what really happened during the infamous "Gil Hodges" incident. (turns out he wasn't being repremanded at all!). And you gotta love Ralph Kiner, still doing great at age 87 and who had the line of the day. After Cleon wouldn't stop talking and kept the broadcast team from going to a commercial break, Kiner quipped that after doing "Kiners Korner" for all those years, he couldn't get Cleon to say a word!

Big kudos for the Mets for arranging such a great day, a far cry from the organization that doesn't do Oldtimers Day anymore because it's quote "too much work".

As Omar Minaya said: "I think it's great of the way it went on that because of the facts of the situation makes you understand the way it was doing at the time only because you gotta wonder about the way it was going on and not because of what someone might think of what you actually do".... Thanks Omar for your clear and concise analysis.

And as fitting as the final score of the game was (4-1, perhaps in honor of Tom Seaver?), the 2009 Mets are anything but the 1969 team. And Jerry Manuel is anything but the genious that was Gil Hodges. Manuel's latest headscratcher came when he lifted Tim Redding after the fifth inning, having allowed just 1 hit against a Philly team he mysteriously seems to own. Was anyone in the ballpark surprised when it took Redding's replacement Pat Misch exactly two batters to lose the shutout, the lead, and the game?!?!

You have a guy pitching a career game like he's never pitched before, against a team he usually has success against and Manuel takes him out after 5 innings?!!? I never thought I'd ever say this, but why couldn't he have left Redding in the game? Plus he only threw 81 pitches - it couldn't be the pitchcount. Maybe Manuel just didn't want to win the game...

The 40th anniversay celebration of the 1969 championship team was AWesome. The actual game the fans saw afterwards was AWful. And in stark contrast of the optimism that followed '69 for Met fans, we're faced today with exactly the opposite moving forward now that Fred Wilpon has officially decreed that both Omar and Manuel will be back for next season, as per Joel Sherman's column in today's New York Post.

Remind me again why we're Met fans? I'm rooting for Pedro today