Ultimate Mets Database: Game of April 26, 1966

Leonard
January 3, 2004
This was the first time I went to Wrigley Field. It was a cold day and a real back-and-forth slugfest, until the great Dennis Ribant came in and shut down the Cubs (from what I remember, I think he retired about 6 or 8 hitters in a row, starting in around the 6th inning). By the end of the long game there was me waving my Mets pennant, and about 300 unhappy Cub fans... Unfortunately, on the way home some bully grabbed my Mets pennant and threw it down on the el tracks where it met its demise.

If anyone remembers any other details of the game (Ribant is all that's stayed with me), I'd love to hear it.

Bob P
July 4, 2005
Further to Leonard's post from January 2004, here are some more details from this wild one at Wrigley.

First of all, Ribant came in with one out in the eighth and the tying run at the plate, and retired the last five Cubs batters for his first save of the season.

Jack Hamilton and Ernie Broglio started but both were not effective. The Mets fell behind early, but took a 4-2 lead in the third inning on back- to-back homers by Ken Boyer (a three run shot) and Ed Kranepool.

The Cubs came back with an unearned run to make it 4-3 but the Mets scored four more in the sixth. Johnny Lewis, Roy McMillan, and Ken Boyer each drove in a run and Mc Millan stole home as part of a double steal for the fourth run of the inning.

Back came the Cubs again, with four in the seventh to cut the Mets lead to 8-7. Randy Hundley drove in two with a single and Adolfo Phillips knocked in two more with a double.

In the top of the eighth, the Mets scored six times with just four hits plus two walks and an error. Ed Kranepool and Cleon Jones both drove in two runs in the inning, and the Mets had a 14-7 lead.

Darrel Sutherland was on the mound for the Mets in the bottom of the eighth, but gave up a walk and two singles around an out to make it 14-8. Dave Eilers came in but faced three batters and gave up three hits. That made it 14-11 and the Cubs had the tying run at bat. That's when Ribant came in and struck out Adolfo Phillips and got Glenn Beckert to ground out to first base. In the ninth, Ribant struck out Billy Williams, got Ron Santo on a pop to second, and retired John Herrnstein on a groundout, and the Mets won the darn game!

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