I remember attending this game, with Dad, Uncle Mark and Bob but I don’t remember the game specifics. I do remember learning how to score a game from Uncle Mark. I had never seen that done before.
This was the year of the brand new Shea Stadium opening along with the Worlds Fair. It was a big deal. During the game, Uncle Mark bought us Mets pennants to wave and you can see up walking out with them in this video. Wow! That was a big deal. [the date of this game was originally listed in error as Aug. 2]
[scroll to the bottom to see the video and my scorecard]
Using the online reference at baseball-reference.com I believe I found the game we attended. There are 4 separate baseball plays filmed and I was able to match up the plays in the sequence filmed with a box score from August 2.
In the first play of the baseball section of the video, we see a player wearing a blue jacket being forced out at second base. If he was wearing a jacket, then he had to be the pitcher. We also see the first baseman in a visiting grey uniform wearing number 14. This led me to believe it was a Cubs game because Ernie Banks wore 14. Looking for a Mets/Cubs boxscore in mid-summer of 1964, I found the one for August 2. In the bottom of the 3rd the Mets pitcher, Gary Kroll, singled and was then erased by a shortstop to second baseman force out to end the inning, just as we see in the video. So far, so good.
In the next play, we see the Cubs turning a 6-4-3 double play inning ending double play off the bat of Bobby Klaus. George Altman, formerly of the Cubs, hit a pinch hit single to get on. The box score shows this happening in the bottom of the 8th inning.
The next play shows a player caught stealing at second base. You see the first baseman running in to cover a bunt. The box score shows that in the top of the 9th, Andre Rogers was on first via a walk. Then the starting pitcher, Larry Jackson, was involved in a strike ’em out, throw ’em out double play. Likely a missed bunt attempt. On that play, we also see the second baseman, number 33. That is Ron Hunt – the only legitimate star the Mets had that year.
On the last play, we see a Met sliding into third base. This one is a bit tricky to analyze as there were two occasions in the bottom of the 9th were a Met was stationed at third. Ron Hunt led off the inning with a triple. He scored on a single by Joe Christopher. Later in the inning, Christopher got to third on a single by Jim Hickman. It is really hard to tell in this video, but the player sliding into third appears to be white. Joe Christopher was a black ballplayer, so based on this thin evidence I’m saying the video is showing Ron Hunt’s triple. If I’m wrong, who cares! I had fun sleuthing this down and now I can add Ernie Banks to my list of baseball greats that I’ve seen play.
