National League Standings, September 16, 1972
METS FANS SHARE THEIR MEMORIES OF THE SEPTEMBER 16, 1972 GAME:
Glenn Foster
October 16, 2001
What I most remember about this game is that I was sworn into the United States Navy before the game. Our boot camp company was know as "The Chicago Cubs Company. We marched onto the playing field from the right field corner door, down the first base line and made a 90 degree turn toward Waveland Avenue and another 90 degree turn at second base and continued onward to third base. Stretched aound the baselines were approximately 80 soon to be sailiors with long, soon to be much shorter hair. An admirial stood at the pitchers mound and had us repeat after him the oath of loyalty to our goverment, country and service.
After the swearing-in ceremony we marched off the field while shaking hands with Cub players such as Banks, Santo, Williams. We were given coupons for free hotdogs and Cokes and watched as the Cubs kicked some serious butt by pounding Tom Seaver and the Mets 18 to 5. Even the Cubs pitcher hit a grand slam!
I saw many newspaper, military and freelance photographers taking pictures of this event but have never seen copies of these pictures. The game was televised on at least one station and possibly more then one station.
John Gearhart
October 13, 2003
I was 10. My 2 brothers and I were on the field before the game and were photograghed with with our favorite Cubs. We actually chose. Fergie Jenkins, Rick Monday and Jose Cardenal. Our father made us wear suits. It was a hot sunny day. We sat front row behind the Mets dugout with the sun beating down on us. I remember Tom Seaver and Willie Mays being so close as they changed fields. Burt Hooton hit a grand slam. I could not believe that a pitcher could do that. I distinctly remember the ball being hit so deep that it hit the scoreboard in centerfield but in my research of this game I found that the scoreboard had never been hit by a home run ball. I do, however, remember how so many walks in the game made it very boring for a little kid to watch despite the high score.
Bob P
June 19, 2004
This had to be one of the worst starts of Tom Seaver's career. He lasted just 2.1 innings, allowing eight runs, six hits (two homers, including a Burt Hooton grand slam), plus five walks.
In fact, Met pitchers walked fifteen batters in this game to go along with seventeen Cubs hits. Catcher Elrod Hendricks walked five times (twice intentionally), and Jim Hickman and Rick Monday walked three times each. The Cubs batting average for this game was .425, and their on base percentage was .582!
The Cubs were up 13-1 after four innings. All 18 of their runs were earned.
Now it's your turn! Tell us what you remember of this game:
Please note:
We're looking for your comments about this specific
game. We've had people use this space to share their thoughts on how the
current season is going, or on ways that the Mets can improve the team.
Such comments, unless in the context of
this particular game,
will be considered off-topic and will be removed.
Example One
The Mets suck! They need to trade Smith and get somebody like
Jones.
This comment is off-topic and will be removed. It has nothing to do with
any specific game. But here's an acceptable alternative:
Example Two
The Mets suck! Smith made three errors in this game, and hit into a
double play, and the Mets blew a 5-0 lead. They need to get rid of Smith
and get somebody like Jones.
See the difference? Here you're getting the same point across, but it's in
the proper context. We wouldn't consider this message to be off-topic, and
we would let it remain.
We do appreciate anybody who takes the time to share their thoughts on our
site, and we hate to remove anybody's postings. But if we didn't take
steps to ensure that only on-topic messages were retained, The Ultimate
Mets Database would become a confusing jumble of unrelated comments,
and would thus be less enjoyable to visitors like you.
Thank you!
