Thursday night at 6:30, SNY favors us with the 25th installment of the Mets Yearbook series, the 1974 edition. If the editing hasn’t been too fierce, you can look forward to not just highlights not of the 1974 Mets season, but the Mets’ postseason trip to Japan (during which the recently acquired Joe Torre made his Mets quasi-debut). Why would a fifth-place, 71-91 team be invited to represent Major League Baseball? Because the invitations for such things would go out well in advance, and when the Mets were invited, they were still defending National League champions.
The aura of that crown wore off after about three seconds of 1974, the first losing campaign I ever experienced as a Mets fan (but, oh, surely not the last), yet as we’ve seen most of the 24 other times we’ve gazed lovingly upon a freshly revived Mets Yearbook, highlights are in the eye of the beholder of the highlights film viewer.
Which is to say bring on Mets Yearbook: 1974, the greatest public service any regional sports channel has ever rendered to its loyal viewers. Then stay tuned for an SNY special visiting with one of the kids who no doubt watched those 1974 Mets, recently inducted New York Mets Hall of Famer John Franco. It airs at 7:00.
Image courtesy of “Mario Mendoza…HOF lock” at Baseball-Fever.
Hi Greg,
Is it a coincidence that your first losing season started off with Mike Schmidt hitting that game winning, two-run, ninth inning home run off Tug McGraw an hour or so before Passover? Somebody forgot to put the lamb’s blood over the entrance to Veteran’s Stadium.
I still have my “You Gotta Believe More in ’74″ Badge.
I’ve been a Mets fan the moment I left the womb (’68). The first season I can recall with some certain memories was 1973. What sticks out about 1974 was, that at somepoint the I remember Ralph Kiner (On Kiners Korner) state “The Mets are out of the basement in the NL east. In my youth I just assumed that it was time for another Ya Gotta Believe pennant run. Boy was I wrong. But being an optimistic 6 year old sure made a 71-91 season enjoyable. Oh how I wish at 44 years old I had an inkling of that optimism. LGM.
1974? Easy memory. Seaver goes 11-11 due to back troubles. Hahn/Schneck in CF, making Andres Torres look like Mays himself (SF Giant version). Crappy year coming off the WS. Boy, if Jerry Cram only blossomed, the kingdom would be ours!!! Yeah right.
Ownership (and I loved Mrs. Payson rest her soul) stood pat on an over achieving team. Sound familiar? I’m sure it was the likes of Don Grant, that should have been held accountable.