Meet the Mets, meet the Mets--dynasty est. 1962

[rjl518]

Originally Posted by Hendu Style

This is great stuff. You've inspired me to get back in the saddle for an A's replay. Keep up the great work!

thank you and im glad you are enjoying my dynasty...

get those A's going...

i have a soft spot for the Athletics too

[rjl518]

The good news is that Phil Niekro snags another Pitcher of the Month award.
The bad news is that Pete Rose is going to miss about 5 weeks of playing time.
We got out of the gate a little slow going 10-9 for April.
Im not concerned really, i still have the best pitching staff in the league and i think we will finish on top.

[rjl518]

For the month of May we go 19-12 which would usually put the Mets in 1st place in the division.
The St. Louis Cardinals however, are the ones running away with the division.
Injuries to Pete Rose and Felix Millan is whats holding this team back.
But when they are back on the field, i have no doubt we will give the Redbirds are run for their money.
Just want to get into the top two and make the playoffs and then anything is possible.
I decided to try an experiment with a 6-man starting rotation, with Vida Blue in the 6th spot.
So far, i have gotten interesting results with this HOF rotation.
By the way, Steve Carlton, is out of his mind!
The way he's pitching, it looks like to me that he is NOT on planet Earth.

[rjl518]

Well..my injured players got better, and so...all is right with the world.
The New York Mets had an 18-8 month of June, but we are still 8 GB back of the St. Louis Cardinals.
The way things are going, we will have a division series against them in October.
The six man rotation i am using seems to be doing just fine.
Vida Blue is at 4-4 with a 3.26 ERA, but he seems to dominate when he pitches.
Besides Johnny Bench, everyone in the lineup is hitting at .275 or higher.
Now THAT is what i call production.
Bench might not have be having his best year, but thats okay.
His best years are still coming.
Made a trade for the bench, no pun intended, sent Mike Hershberger to the Detroit Tigers for Carl Taylor.
Nothing major, just wanted someone a little better off the bench since Hershberger wasnt cutting it for me since i got him.

[rjl518]

The New York Mets get a nice trio of all-stars for the 1970 season.
Steve Carlton, Tug McGraw, and Willie Stargell.

[rjl518]

With a nice 16-11 month of July, the Mets find themselves only 3.5 back of the Cardinals.
The trade deadline passes and i made no moves.
It was a little tough though.
Some good players were being offered to me, but i decided to keep the chemistry of the team as it is.
Sometimes the rule "if it aint broke, dont fix it" IS a good idea to follow.
I still think that we will catch STL before the season is over and have games 1 and 3 at Shea for the division series.
Very interesting season going on here.
Two months to go.

[rjl518]

As good as this team is SUPPOSED to be, i still can not catch STL.
15-15 was the record for August, and that put us 8 GB of the Cardinals.
Now, the CHC are hot on our tails for 2nd as well, since they are only 3.5 GB of us.
Pete Rose went down with injury again and he is gone until next year.
Are we going to be able to hold on for the playoffs?
One more month left to find out.

[rjl518]

Fergie Jenkins had a very tough year, but he made up for it in September which earned him the POTM award.
For the final month of the regular season, the Mets went 19-11!
It wasnt enough to take the top of the division, but we are in the playoffs.
The problem is, i have key injuries to Pete Rose and Bill Russell.
Missing two of my outfielders means someone has to step up to the plate.
Hopefully, someone will do just that.

[rjl518]

NLDS Preview:

The St. Louis Cardinals clinched 1st place in the NL East.
That means that games 1 and 3 will be in Busch Stadium.
Im gonna go with Steve Carlton and Vida Blue to start the series.
STL had issues with left handed pitching, even though they still had a winning record against them.
In order to get through this team, i have to beat Bob Gibson and Bert Blyleven.
Art Shamsky and Bert Bertoia are providing STL with the hitting.
They also beat us 11-7 during the regular season.
The Mets are gonna need a little magic to win this short series.
1970 NLDS coming up!

[rjl518]

Game 1

Couldnt have asked for a better pitching performance from Steve Carlton.
STL was completely shell shocked from his mound mastery and Fergie Jenkins closed out a 6-0 shutout in the 1st game of the NLDS!
Wes Parker, Johnny Bench and Willie Stargell drove in the runs off of Bob Gibson who really didnt have his good stuff today.
But his loss was our gain as the Mets clobbered 10 hits off of STL pitching while the Cardinals only got 2 hits off of us.
On to Shea with a 1 game lead.
NYM lead series 1-0

[rjl518]

Game 2

A HR by Willie Stargell in the 2nd inning got things off on the right foot for the Mets.
Then Vida Blue, Fergie Jenkins and Tug McGraw took it from there as the Mets won the game 5-3 and took the best of three division series from the Cardinals.
Wes Parker and Johnny Bench provided more offense in the 7th that really put the series away for the Mets.
STL started Rudy May instead of Bert Blyleven for this game.
Im still scratching my head over that decision, but it turned out great for us.
We advance to the NLCS once again!
NYM win series 2-0

[rjl518]

NLCS Preview:

The New York Mets will play the Atlanta Braves for the National League Championship.
Both teams finished in 2nd place in their divisions, but because the NYM have the better overall record, we get home field advantage for games 1,2 and 5!
My starting rotation of Carlton and Blue will remain the same as the Braves had a losing record against LHP during the season.
Dealing with Hammerin' Hank Aaron and Joe Torre will be touchy, as well as Graig Nettles.
My pitching has done well so far and the hitting has made plays at the plate.
The Mets got magic in the NLDS.
Can we get it again in the NLCS?
We will find out with OOTP16!

[Westheim]

Meeeeeeets!! Flushed those Cardinals down the toilet.

[rjl518]

Game 1

If the rest of this series is going to be anything like this game, it will go the distance!
With Carlton on the mound, i felt really good going into this game.
ATL took the early lead in the 3rd, but Stargell smacked a 2-run HR in the 6th to put us ahead.
Joe Torre hit a HR off of Jenkins in the 8th to tie it up and we were going into extras.
Ron Bryant for ATL pitched the 11th and the Mets loaded up the bases.
The Braves then brought in Gilson, but he walked in the winning run for the Mets, scoring Johnny Bench from 3rd in the 11th!
We won the game 3-2 in 11 innings.
This is going to be some series i think!
NYM lead series 1-0

[rjl518]

Game 2

This game was a little more fun to play.
The Mets got out early with a HR by Wes Parker in the 1st.
But it was Johnny Bench who clobbered the Braves with 2 HRs in the game.
One in the 4th and one in the 6th.
Vida Blue did a great job through 6 innings of play, but ran out of gas in the 7th.
You know you have a HOF rotation when you in bring Don Sutton from the BULLPEN!!
He pitched well into the 9th, but the Braves loaded the bases in the 9th.
Even though im nervous when it comes to the bullpen, i gave the ball to Tug McGraw to see if he could get just one lousy out!
This time, he did his job, and the Mets won the game 6-3!
Up 2-0 in the series, we head to Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium for game 3.
We have 3 games to play in order to win one to get back to the world series.
NYM lead series 2-0

[rjl518]

Game 3

The hardest game to win is always the elimination game.
But this time, the Mets came away with the win and we are going back to the world series.
I wanted Steve Carlton to start but he wasnt 100%.
So i gave the ball to Fergie Jenkins who was on a hot streak.
He didnt let me down, only giving up 2 runs to ATL.
But the key moment of the game was in the 7th.
After the base hit by Bench, the game asked me if i wanted Millan to round 3rd and try to score.
I had to think for a few moments, but then i looked at my lineup and saw that Willie Stargell was next up.
I decided to hold Millan at 3rd and NOT take the stick out of Stargell's hands.
I went up to Willie and said, "Can you go up there and get me a hit?"
Stargell said, "Hold that thought...I'll be right back!"
CRACK!!! Grand Slam HR by Willie!
Stargell comes back to the dugout after rounding the bases and says to me, "Was that a good enough hit, Boss?"
I looked at him and said, "Hmmmm...yeah..i guess that will have to do for now."
Then i had to go to the bullpen and Jim Roland, Jon Warden and Steve Carlton finished the game and the NLCS off.
We sweep the Braves and we win our second National League pennant!
But there is still unfinished business.
One more series to play.
NYM win series 3-0

[rjl518]

1970 WS Preview:

In 1967, the New York Mets played the Minnesota Twins in the world series and we lost in 7 games when Harmon Killebrew cranked one out in the 9th inning in that unbelievable seventh game!
The Mets then went on to lose that game and the world series in 16 innings!
I think we have a better team than that one.
This time, the California Angels are the opponent in the fall classic.
I still have the best pitching in the Majors and we are hitting the ball very well.
Bill Russell is back from injury and i think he will make a difference for us, even though Carl Taylor did what he could in the outfield with Rose AND Russell injured.
Woodie Fryman is the CAL ace, and they have hitters such as Cleon Jones, Bob Watson and Jim Fregosi.
They won 98 games to our 96, so they will have the home field.
I feel good about this series, but i also felt good in 1967!
The question is...
Will i STILL be feeling good when THIS series is OVER?

[rjl518]

Game 1

The 1st game of the 1970 world series went back and forth as Steve Carlton and Woodie Fryman pitched a tough game against each other.
But in the end, the NYM took a 1 game lead in the series with a 7-5 win on the road at Anaheim Stadium.
Johnny Bench and Clete Boyer both hit dingers and Wes Parker has been having a monster postseason.
Carlton did have his worst outing of the playoffs, but Jim Roland, Phil Niekro and Don Sutton cleaned up the trash.
With this win, the Mets take home field away from CAL, and we get that all important win on the road.
Lets hope the magic continues.
NYM lead series 1-0

[rjl518]

Game 2

If you wanted a pitchers duel, this was the game to watch.
Vida Blue and Dean Chance gave up a combined 7 hits total in the game.
Neither wanted to surrender a single run.
But in the top of the 9th, Wes Parker stole 2nd and then ran to 3rd on a throwing error by Jack Hiatt.
Johnny Bench promptly sacrifice flied him home to put the NYM ahead 1-0.
The score would stay there as Jim Colborn and Tug McGraw closed the door on the Angels.
The NYM take both games at Anaheim and now we come home for games 3 and 4.
This series is not over by any means.
I still need the magic to continue.
NYM lead series 2-0

[rjl518]

Game 3

Shea Stadium was rocking and the crowd was going nuts.
Fergie Jenkins was my starter for this one and he did a great job giving up 3 runs on 6 hits.
But the lineup was the star of this game.
The Angels grabbed an early 1-0 lead, but the Mets came right back with 1 in the 4th and 4 big runs in the 6th.
The NYM batted around in that inning and even Fergie got into the act of driving in runs scoring Bill Russell from 2nd on a key single!
Then Don Sutton and Phil Niekro shut the door on CAL ending the game and giving the Mets a 5-3 win.
One more game to win, and that game is always the toughest one.
Can the Magical Mets do it one more time?
NYM lead series 3-0