The Amazin's

Fresh off their miracle run in 1969 the Mets were riding high.  The early 70's saw the franchise do exactly what they did in 1969, minus all the good bounces and timely hits.  From 1970-72 the team basically hovered around .500 thanks to the fact that they had the best pitching staff in the league.  Day after day Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman and company were forced to win 2-1 or 1-0 games.  The team just didn't hit and manager Gil Hodges' bag of tricks, shoe polish and button pushing didn't work the same as it did in the "Summer of '69".  Still, Hodges was a steadying force who kept his team in contention all summer.  Then in spring training of 1972 the "quiet man" had another heart attack and died when he fell backward and hit his head on the pavement.  The organization was in shock.  The Mets lost their fearless leader.  His replacement, the loveable Yogi Berra, had a hard time filling the big shoes of Hodges.  Injuries and bad luck derailed the team's chances in '72.  The return of fan favorite Willie Mays to New York, where it all began for him, was a huge boost to the franchise.  Mays was invigorated by his return to Gotham and he had himself a decent season in part time status.  Rusty Staub was the key off season acquisition.  In exchange for 3 top notch prospects:  Tim Foli, Mike Jorgensen & Ken Singleton, the Montreal Expos sent "Le Grande Orange" to the Mets.  Staub was an instant fan favorite, who gave New York a viable bat in the middle of a very light lineup.

1973 was the high water mark for the franchise during the decade.  It didn't start out that way as the 1972 injury bug returned in exponential form.  By August 30th the team was in dead last place and manager Berra was on the hot seat.  Owner Joan Payson's lackey, M.Donald Grant, came into the locker room and made an uninspiring speech to the troops imploring them to believe in themselves, because they are better than their record.  Ever the jokester, the late Tug McGraw, began yelling, "Ya Gotta Believe" boys, Ya Gotta Believe.  McGraw's rant, originally meant as a joke, became the rallying cry for the team.  The return of their missing troops and the pending retirement of Mays had a lot more to do with the team's resurgence than McGraw's quote.  From September 1st through the end of the season the Mets went on a tear.  Ya Gotta Believe permeated to the fans who really began to believe.  The team won 20 of their final 28 games while the rest of the moribund NL East floundered.  On the final day of the season the team won the division with the worst record ever for a team making the post season in major league history (to that point).  The post season saw them dispatch a 108 win Red team and take a dynasty A's team to game 7 before losing the World Series.  The '73 Mets just might have been more of a miracle team than the '69 Mets.  Tom Seaver, as usual, was brilliant winning 19 and losing 10 with a team that couldn't score runs.  McGraw was the best closer in the league down the stretch.

The hangover from '73 led to the downfall of '74.  The team stumbled miserable right out of the box and never recovered as the season was a dreadful waste.  '75 and '76 saw the team finish over .500 and play to respectability.  Seaver won his 3rd Cy Young award in '75 and a stream of young players from the minors gave the franchise some hope.  A series of bad deals, which included trading the popular and productive Staub for an over the hill and overweight Mickey Lolich began to spell the end.  By 1976 the Yankees returned to pennant winning form, while the Mets were teetering on the edge.  At the trading deadline in 1977 the Mets shipped both their pitching star (Seaver) and the focal point of their offense (Dave Kingman) out of town in what was termed by the NY media as "the Midnight Masacre".  From that point on the franchise was in free fall.  Mrs. Payson had passed away and her lackey Grant was tasked by the Payson family to cut the payroll and trim all expenditures in order to sell the team.  From 1977-1983 the franchise was the laughingstock of major league baseball.  From '77 through the end of the decade crowds of less than 10,000 a night would show up at Shea to see Lee Mazzilli, the franchises matinee idol star.  The rest of the team was less watchable than Grease 2.  On banner day one fan, who was chased out of the park, sported a banner that said, "Welcome to Grant's Tomb".  The Amazin's went from a miracle to a disaster all in the course of a decade.