It felt like so much was going on in the world that the actual game between the New York Mets and Cincinnati Reds on October 10, 1973, would be dwarfed by comparison. The Yom Kippur War was raging in the Middle East, the Watergate saga was a national obsession, and the Vice President of the United States was resigning. Wait, isn’t that Willie Mays coming up?
War, politics, and resignations aside, the Mets and Reds were deciding the National League pennant. It was a Wednesday afternoon—all the playoffs games were in the afternoon and there were no off-days in the best-of-five National League Championship Series.