Amazin' Date 7/23/1969: Mets Send Three Representatives to All-Star Game

From the desk of:  HEAD-BUTTING MR. MET

AMAZIN'

THE MIRACLE METS

50th ANNIVERSARY

The 1969 New York Mets are represented by three players in Major League Baseball's 40th mid-summer classic being held at R.F. K. Stadium at Washington DC, home of the Senators.  Pitchers Tom Seaver and Jerry Koosman are joined by left fielder Cleon Jones who is selected by the fans.

Seaver owns a 14-5 record with a 2.59 ERA through 22 starts to date.  He's yielded just 130 hits through 158 innings pitched with 131 strikeouts.  Seaver has achieved double-digit strikeouts three times, and on June 8 at San Diego fanned a season high 14 batters.  And of course there is the Imperfect Game of June 24 against Chicago at Shea Stadium, where Tom Terrific came within one out of perfection, undone by little known Jimmy Qualls with two outs in the ninth.  This marks Seaver's third straight All-Star appearance.

Southpaw Jerry Koosman is making his second straight All-Star appearance.  He struggles in April and is ultimately placed on the disabled list before the month is through.  Making his second start since returning to action on May 28 and his sixth start overall, Koosman strikes out 15 batters in ten innings against the San Diego Padres at Shea Stadium.  On June 7, Koosman strikes out another 11 Padres batters at San Diego.  Two starts later he authors the first of back-to-back shutout performances; the first at Philadelphia, and the second against the St. Louis Cardinals at Shea.  He enters the break riding a streak of three straight complete game shutout victories with 20 strikeouts.  To date Koosman owns an 8-5 record and a stellar 1.88 ERA with 115 strikeouts through 124.1 innings pitched.  Not since June 7 has Koosman's ERA touched two.

Now in his sixth major league season, Cleon Jones makes his first All-Star appearance.  The soon to be 26-year old left fielder is in the midst of a career year.  Cleon sizzles out of the gate posting an 11-game hitting streak in April.  He continues batting upwards of .400 through the season's first 30 games, and to date has 32 multi-hit games under his belt.  Cleon enters the break batting .341 with ten home runs, 56 RBI, and a .506 slugging average.


AMAZIN' AT THE BREAK

• Mets Record: 53-39 (.576)
• N.L. East: 2nd place; 5 GB

New York's .576 winning percentage is second in the National League behind only the Cubs, whom they trail by five games in, this, the first ever N.L. East division race.  The Atlanta Braves of the N.L. West division presently hold a precarious one game lead over the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers.

Tommie Agee was out of action a full week (Apr. 18-26), and was used very sparingly through May 6 when the Mets arrive from a four game series at Wrigley Field.  He nevertheless leads the Mets with 16 home runs and is second to Cleon Jones with 46 runs batted in.  His is hitting an even .300 through 20 games in July with five home runs and 15 RBI.

Ron Taylor continues answering manager Gil Hodges' calls to the pen.  He owns a 4-3 record with nine saves and a 2.28 ERA through 38 relief appearances while yielding just 34 hits with 30 strikeouts through 47.1 innings pitched.

1969 ALL-STAR GAME - BR

• Cleon Jones: 2 for 4, two runs scored (hits against Mel Stottlemyre, Dave McNally).
• Jerry Koosman: 1.2 innings; one hit; one strikeout (faces Rico Petrocelli; John Roseboro; Brooks Robinson; Mike Andrews; Carl Yastrzemski; and Paul Blair).
• Tom Seaver: DNP