Fifty years ago this week marked the turning point in the Mets’ miracle World Series run. It was the night the Mets’ future Hall of Fame pitcher, Tom Seaver, pitched his “imperfect game,” giving up just one base hit in the ninth after retiring the first 25 batters of the opposing team.
Playing in their eighth season, the Mets were winning for the first time in the team’s otherwise hapless history up to that point. In 1969, the team finally arrived, and New Yorkers took notice.
During the second week in July, the first-place Chicago Cubs, the team to beat in the National League Eastern Division, came to Shea Stadium.