Over the years I've reconstructed many baseball games I've attended, or thought I'd been at, trying to match my memories to accounts of the games at Baseball-Reference.com or in publications available online.
During the 1960s, I attended many Mets games at Shea Stadium, most of them with my Dad. We saw a lot of the San Francisco Giants because of Willie Mays but also went to other games. Among my memories is a distinct remembrance of watching Warren Spahn pitch during his brief stint with the Mets, but I've had conflicting memories of what the game was. One dim memory is of Spahn being beaten by the Dodgers on a home run by the opposing pitcher, Don Drysdale, and the other is of Spahn pitching against Bob Gibson, who hit a triple, and was so tired the next inning that the Mets got to him for some runs. Based on my research I now think I may have seen Spahn pitch twice.
From 1946 through 1964 Warren Spahn had a great career with the Boston and then Milwaukee Braves, winning 356 games. In 1963 at age 42 he'd gone 23-7, with one of those losses in the classic 16-inning pitching duel with Juan Marichal, which Spahn lost 1-0 on a home run by Willie Mays. After four days rest, Spahn pitched a complete game, 5 hit shutout (he also completed his next 9 starts!). In 1964, age finally got to Warren and he went 6-13, pitching poorly for the entire season. During the off-season, the Mets purchased his contract from the Braves.
In 1965, Spahn started 19 games for the Mets, before being released and signing with the Giants with whom he finished his career. I probably was at two of his starts.
On May 11, Spahn started against the St Louis Cardinals and the opposing pitcher was Bob Gibson with 24,519 in attendance. In the 3rd inning, with the score 0-0, Gibson hit a line drive to center and is credited with a double, not a triple. But, with the help of Baseball-Reference, I found that Gibson was thrown out at third base, trying for a triple! I can still visualize Gibson sliding into third but did not remember he was thrown out on a relay from CF Ron Swoboda to SS Roy McMillan to 3B Bobby Klaus.
My recollection that the Mets touched a tired Gibson up in the bottom of the third was incorrect. After giving up a single and walk to the first 2 batters, Gibson retired the next three. He held the Mets scoreless until the 5th when they pushed across one tally, followed by two more in the 6th. The Cards won the game 4-3 with Gibson going the route, while Spahn tossed eight innings.
On June 11 the Mets played the Dodgers. The Dodgers and Giants were always the biggest draws and it was a Friday night so the attendance was 55,023 with Spahn and Drysdale the starting pitchers and both in top form that night. The game was scoreless until the 5th, when John Roseboro took Spahn deep and the Mets pushed across the tying run in the bottom of the frame. It stayed that way until the 8th, when Drysdale hit a home run to center, just like I remembered, giving the Dodgers the lead which they held, winning 2-1. Both pitchers threw complete games, Drysdale giving up only 4 hits and Spahn 5 with both walking only one hitter and striking out six. Spahn also picked Maury Wills off first base! Though he lost, it was Spahn's second-best outing during his time with the Mets, only surpassed by his May 5 start against the Phillies, giving up only 4 hits but once again losing, this time 1-0.
Until confirming my memories via Baseball-Reference I wondered if I was confusing events and had only been at one Spahn start. This also clarifies how I remember the crucial acts. My visual of the Gibson attempted triple is from the perspective of someone sitting in the left-field grandstand, while that of the Drysdale home run is viewed from the right-field grandstand. It really was two different games I attended and got to see three Hall of Fame pitchers in action.
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