Former Mets pitcher Jim McAndrew died Thursday:
A right-hander at the back end of the Mets rotation from 1968-73, McAndrew started one of the most significant games in franchise history: a win over Montreal in September 1969 that put the long downtrodden team into first place for the first time in the franchise’s eight seasons.
NYPost.com
My thoughts go out to his family and friends.
I watched that game in1969, although I don’t remember much about it. I remember a balk being important in the game. I thought it came late, but it came in the fifth inning and allowed the Mets to tie the game at two. It remained at that score until the bottom of the twelfth, when Ken Boswell singled home the winning run. McAndrew went 11 innings, walking five and striking out seven, but only allowing four hits.
The walks in that game were unusual for McAndrew as his strength as a pitcher was his 2.5 BB per 9 IP. His best season came in 1972 when he posted an 11-8 record with a 2.80 ERA, good for a 3.5 rWAR. That represented more than half the WAR he would earn in his career.
I was at that game in 1969… I was 11 years old. I had been a winner on Banner Day in August and the Mets gave me and my buddy tickets to weeknight game versus the expansion Expos, kind of the worst prize they could come up with. But a month later the Mets had gotten red hot and as it turned out September 10th would be a twi-night double header. This was game 1, McAndrew versus young Mike Wegener. Both pitchers went 11 innings (imagine that, neither team aces). Wegener caught a comebacker line drive that might have killed him if he hadnt off Cleon Jones, and turned it into a double play. And yes, he balked in the Mets first run. When Boswell finally drove in the deciding run, the stadium rocked, and the scoreboard read “Look who’s number 1”. By the time we left midway thru game 2 ( again we were 11, my dad wasnt letting us stay all night) the Daily News was on sale outside the ballpark with the headlines already proclaiming the mets as # 1
Thanks, Len. I was nine at the time, and following baseball for the first time. It was a fun season.
My dad never took sick days, but for the three day games at Shea during the World Series, he managed to come down with a cold.
It’s nice when a disappointing prize turns out to be a great one.