Ultimate Mets Database - Memories of Mike Jorgensen

Logan Swanson
April 23, 2001
It was July 4, 1980. A beautiful summer evening followed the perfect summer day. Mets vs. Expos at Shea Stadium. Bill Gullickson, ticked that the lowly Mets homered off him, throws a pitch at Mike Jorgensen's skull.

Jorgy, who had some kind of head operation a few years before, and was sensitive about bean-balls, points his bat at Gullickson. Both teams spill onto the field in the kind of donnybrook Shea hadn't seen in years.

The incident marked a turning point in Mets history. I knew it then and there. Changes were afoot once Wilpon and Doubleday bought the team in early 1980, and Frank Cashen became GM. But they were subtle, not noticeable on the field. The Jorgy- Gullickson bruhaha was the first indication since Tom Seaver got railroaded out of town that the Mets could act as a team, instead of a last stop for the likes of Doc Ellis, Ray Burris, and Wayne Twitchell. The Mets were no longer the doormats of the National League: they wouldn't be a winning team for awhile, but they would fight tooth and nail for every game.

Soon, some real prospects, like Mookie and Hubie, came up, and the foundation of Championships were laid. The years in the wilderness had given way to a new attitude: "Catch the Rising Stars", and "The Magic is Back".

Gilinfiji
February 4, 2002
I was 12 years old when I also attended that July 4, 1980 game and remember it vividly. My father and I were sitting down the third base line and I was shocked to see Jorgy walking out toward the mound - I had never been at a game in person where a fight took place. As the crowd rose to its feet, calling for Gullickson's head, out charges John Stearns who nearly decapitated Gullickson during his "safety blitz" to the mound, leapfrogging over third-baseman Larry Parrish. I remember also during the rather long fracas that a fan came out of the stands and nailed Expos' outfielder Ellis Valentine with a well-placed kick to the ass! I agree with the writer before me that it really did create some team unity, but unfortunately, less than 24 hours later, the Mets went meekly. The Expos' pitcher in the next game - acting on their manager, Dick Williams's orders - fired a bullet at John Stearns's head in his first at-bat, sending him sprawling. The entire Mets' team stood at the top step of the dugout, ready to charge, but then went and sat back down. A sad precursor to 2000 when we let Roger Clemens intimidate and humiliate us not once, but TWICE. I'm not for violence, but it's important in baseball to make a stand of some kind that your team won't be bullied into submission. Not to dis Piazza at all, but I doubt Clemens would've had the cojones to throw a shattered bat at our new boys, Robbie Alomar, Jeromy Burnitz and especially, Mo Vaughn.

Jim Snedeker
March 19, 2002
I like it when ballplayers come back to their first team after a number of years. A sign of destiny.

I remember when Jorgy had his head clobbered. Then, a few years later, Gullickson throws him the beanball alluded to by several authors here. The thing is, Jorgy got FINED when all he did was stand there at the plate and point his bat to Gullickson and say "Cut that out" or some such. He later said he wondered why he got fined when he didn't do anything.

Look at what Piazza did when Fatso Clemens threw at him; he yelled to him "What's your problem?!" and nothing happened to him. Jorgy didn't even accuse Wild Bill, and he got fined. But Jorgy was found guilty by baseball's moronic moguls. Yeesh, you'd be a little jittery too, having someone throw at your head if it had once been turned to puree.

vermerf
February 6, 2003
Love this guy. Underrated. Should have played more. I love him because it was his birthday on or about Banner day one year, Me and my buddies had a happy Birthday Jorgy banner. He was in the dugout and got a kick out of it. That was a huge thrill for a 12 year old kid.

Andrew Perlstein
November 1, 2003
I remember that I played against Mike Jorgensen in several sports in Bayside where we both lived. We played basketball at PS 46 and Jorgy was definitely a dominant player. I pitched against him in one game in the Babe Ruth League. I was kind of a wild fastball pitcher and was probably brought out to pitch because my team was losing badly. Well in my one moment of glory I threw a two strike fast ball to Mike who swung and missed it. I couldn't believe I had struck him out. As it turned out Mike had tipped the ball with his bat. The ball went into my catcher's glove and trickled out. Called a foul ball. I threw my next pitch to him which he solidly hit for a double. Even though this at bat could only be called a hit for Mike, I have all my life considered it the time I struck out a future pro ball player.

Mark
April 10, 2004
Went to a game late in the 1968 season against (I think) the Pirates. Jorgensen came in as a pinch hitter and doubled - may have been the first hit of his career. This guy had a good glove and would have been nice as a part of the 69/73 teams. Will probably be a good manager someday if he gets the chance.

P.Lorea
May 22, 2004
In 1975 I went to see the Padres take on the Expos. Before the game, I went down to the field while the teams were warming up. I got Jorgy to sign my program. He was one of my favorite players, so it was a big deal to me. He was really nice about it too. I agree that he should have played a lot more than he did; I think he would have had twice the amount of hits he ended with, and he was a great defensive player. Of course, I accidently threw my signed program away after graduating high school.

Eddie
March 1, 2005
As a young Met fan I loved Mike Jorgenson I couldn't understand why he didn't play every game. He could handle the bat and was one of the few Mets with real power at that time.

Bob P
March 3, 2005
Eddie, my take on why Jorgy didn't get more playing time with the Mets is that they had Donn Clendenon and Eddie Kranepool, both of whom had a better bat than Jorgy. They also had John Milner in the high minors.

Mike was known for his fielding, and there is not a long line of teams looking for a defensive specialist at first base.

Mike's career batting average was 22 points lower than the league average while he played, and his slugging percentage was 16 point behind the average.

And when the Mets had a chance to turn Jorgy, Tim Foli and Ken Singleton into Rusty Staub they jumped at it. Mike was a regular for five years with Montreal, but after leaving the Expos he played nine more years and averaged just 149 at bats per season.

Andy Capasso
March 14, 2005
I was at the game in June 1980 where Jorgenson hit the dramatic grand slam in extra innings to win the game. I was 14 and was at the game with Brooklyn Day Camp. It was a warm Friday night and it was a great game and everyone was having fun.

The score was 2 - 2 going into the bottom of the tenth and the Mets loaded the bases with 2 outs then Jorgenson hit the dramatic game-winning walk-off grand slam to make the final score 6 - 2. I think Jorgenson had just gotten into the game the inning before and the homer was his only at bat of the game so his boxscore was the infamous 1 1 1 4 which is very rare.

I rememeber his homer was a huge wallop into the Upper Deck over that little scoreboard down the right-field line. And walking out of the Stadium that night was absolutely "electric!"

The Mets were still hovering around .500 and were only a few games out of first (which hadn't happened in a few years). People were yelling and screaming and whooping it like the Mets had just won the World Series and that's how it felt to me. A very fond memory indeed.

KMT
June 3, 2005
I remember when he hit a blast half way up the scoreboard at Shea against the Dodgers and Bill Singer! Can remember him taking a few turns in C.F. when Agee was hurt. I, like many others listed here was happy when the Mets got him back from Texas! I remember the brawl as well, and recall thinking, I hadn't seen that kind of passion from the Mets in a long time! He was a good guy to have on the team as a role player.

Benjamin Israel
November 23, 2005
I attended P.S. 46 and J.H.S. 74 two years behind Spider Jorgenson, as he was called by my friends. I never met him, but I remember that many of my friends were in awe of him as an athlete particularly his speed. When I would go play stickball with friends at 46, if he was playing, someone would say there is Spider, we'd stop for a moment and look at him in awe, then go play.

jamey bumbalo
November 25, 2005
Whatever else you can say about Mike Jorgensen, he played 17 seasons in the big leagues, which says something. That's a lot more than most guys.

David F
April 5, 2006
I was at Shea for a game that was essentially Mike Jorgensen v. the Pirates on Friday evening, Sept. 24, 1971. He first singled to tie the game at 1-1 and later homered into the Mets bullpen to tie things at 2- 2. After Clemente put the Bucs ahead with a double up the alley in the 8th, Jorgensen came up in the bottom of the ninth with another chance to even the score against none other than ex-Met Bob (L.) Miller. He got his pitch and pulled it DEEEEEP, but to the wrong side of the right field foul pole. Uggggh! Mike was promptly walked intentionally and, of course, Pittsburgh won 3-2, putting them a step closer to wrapping up the division. It was still an impressive night for Mike Jorgensen.

Eric Kushins
June 14, 2006
I was in several of his classes at J.H.S. 74, and actually played punchball with him many times in the schoolyard during lunch break. He often amazed all of us, as he was the only guy who could punch the ball out over the fence for a homer with either hand. It was a "Spider" shot. But what I remember most was that I was a shy and reserved kid who wasn't too popular (I can't believe that I grew up to be a sales and marketing director) at school, and the always super popular Mike was particularly nasty to me at every opportunity. There's your real hero... and yes it's a fact. I loved watching him strike out.

Pete H.
December 26, 2008
I was at the game in '80 when Jorgy hit the Grand Slam to win it. BUT, I was there with a bunch of family members and my aunt wanted to leave in the 7th inning because she was "tired". We heard the excitement on the radio in the car on the way home. I wanted to choke her.

Glenn Harding
February 9, 2009
I played with Mike "Spider" Jorgensen for several years at Mid-Queens Boys Club. I pitched; Mike played first base. We won several championships. I still have the Mid-Queens Boys Club jacket. Many times Mike would hit the trees way out in right field at Alley Pond Park. He had a smooth stroke. When one of our infielders would unfortunately throw one in the dirt to first base, Mike would confidently (without "flinching") scoop the ball easily up out of the dirt. I remember well his mom, dad and younger sister would always bring oranges to the games. Mike came from a great family. I had the opportunity to pitch against Mike during pre-season when he played for Francis Lewis High and I pitched for Edison. Those years of playing baseball, having my dad there, was a very special time in my life that I have shared with my daughters over the years. fyi: our teammates on Mid-Queens included: Jamie Lotz, Ralph Kamhi, Richard Greenhut to name a few. I hope you are doing well Mike. God Bless.

Artie Nussbaum
April 24, 2009
Grew up in Bayside Queens and happen to use PS 46 school yard as our HOME basketball court. Being Mike lived across the street from the courts, he was there on many occasions.(Amazed people with the ability to dunk 1 step and up.) As much as baseball fans admired his talents on the diamond, I have to say he was one of the best basketball players of the time, and hand him a football and don't get in his way.

Hoops
January 2, 2010
Mike was a real gentleman and fun to be with. We were on the Francis Lewis Basketball team in 1964-65 and the only reason I did not play baseball there was because of Spider being the first baseman that he was. There were many memories of Spider from the team to the schoolyards, a real class guy. Best glove at the time for sure and pretty good bat as well.

Mike in Miami Beach
February 6, 2010
Mike may have attended PS46 but went on to graduate from PS213, then JHS74. We hung out together in junior high, along with our pal Lenny. Lenny and I got back in touch with each other about 10 years ago and Mike has come up in conversation. If anyone knows his whereabouts, it'd be a kick to get in touch. He also comes to mind everytime I cross the Verrazano Bridge; he told us that his dad was part of the team that painted the bridge back when it was first built!

Peter Brandman
December 6, 2010
Hi Mike!! I played against you in High School and some Travel Leagues back in the 60's. I played for Forest Hills H.S. Made "All City" 1965. Received some offers for Major League tryouts but turned them down and I moved on to College. I'm a retired NYC school Teacher. I thought you were the BEST First Base Glove in the whole city. But you were up against Ed Kranepool at the time. Hope all is well!

Carole
April 18, 2011
Had a crush on "Spider" when he was on the same team as my brother back in Little League and my dad, Abraham Jacobson, was the team manager. :)

Neil Blumberg
January 23, 2013
Like Glenn, I played with Mike on those Mid-Queens Boys Club teams, including one that won the State championship and finished in the final 16 or so of the Babe Ruth League World Series tournament (just missed the finals)in 1963 or so. Mike was the heart and soul of that team, but there were many other great athletes, including pitchers ? Forman and Alan Berger, and the catcher, Rich Greenhut.

Mike and I were best friends at JHS74 and ran the 440 relay together for Hawthorne as seniors (he ran leg 3 and I ran leg 2 as I recall). We drifted away from each other in the high school as I focused on academics (not good enough at baseball :) and his career in sports took off.

I particularly remember well his jovial and loving Dad taking us both to many games in which we played all over Queens and the city. I've followed his career and am glad he excelled as we all felt sure he would. Well done, Spider.

The first time I met Mike was when a group of PS46 and PS205 kids decided to have an "All-Star" punchball game between the two schools in 1960 or so. Mike was the PS46 unofficial captain and I was the 205 unofficial captain (about the only time Mike and I had equal roles in sports :). We played a couple of games, one at 46 and one at 205 and for the life of me I cannot remember who won, but it was the beginning of the most important friendship of my adolescent years. Thanks for the memories Mike. You were always a terrific friend and supporter and I thought the world of you.

Jonathan Stern
January 23, 2013
One of only two Mets to have played for them in the 60's, 70's, and 80's, the other being Tom Seaver.

al pennisi
July 9, 2012
i played with Mike on the Mid Queens Boys Club. I played shortstop and Mike played first base. After picking up a ground ball in the hole I knew all I had to do was get it in the general ares of where Mike was and I knew he would scoop it up. What a great bunch of guys.

I was there at Alley Pond Park when the scout from the Mets came down to the game that day and signed Mike. I think the scout was Budda Ginard.

Bruce Romanoff
October 28, 2015
Like the rest of the comments, I played in several leagues with Mike though I wasn't anywhere near his level. But we were friends in school. My greatest athletic achievement was losing to him 5-3 in a stickball game at PS46. I had him until the end. Big crowd gathered to watch the last few innings. Just couldn't hold him off.

William Kunak
September 14, 2018
I would like to thank him for giving me an autographed baseball when he was with the Mets. His mother worked with my grandmother at Bloomingdales in New York. Unfortunately I don’t have the ball anymore but thank you very much.

Gene
May 22, 2019
Was I think 1967 when Mike and I were in the Marine Corps Reserves and doing some active duty at Little Creek, VA. Some guys started a softball game. I never saw a guy with such fast reflexes. It started to pour and we both volunteered to run down to headquarters to collect weekend passes. We got drenched. Remember Tug McGraw was also in our unit as well as Jay from Jay and the Americans. A few years latter I went to work for the NYC Dept of Sanitation and on my route in Bayside was Mike's parents' house. Mike's father would come out to bs with us, a regular guy just like Mike.

Jeff Mandel
June 5, 2023
Mike grew up around the corner from me in Bayside, NY and yes, we called him Spider. We played a lot of ball together and he was always the best of us. No ego, just a better player. Always the first one wanted on the team, always the best on the field. When he went pro, we followed him right through to his manager job, some of the only times we rooted for anyone other than "our" teams. Thanks for the memories.

Neil Forman
December 12, 2023
Great everything. Played with him and against him little league though Babe Ruth League. I was on Francis Lewis High School team one year with Mike. Again, great everything. Mainly, first baseman, but also did pitch. I think he pitched a no-hitter against Andrew Jackson H.S. I have indirect recollections of the great Mid Queens Boy's Club team of approximately 1963 or 1964. They won NYS championship. Went to Parkersburg WV. Their pitcher was the great Eric or Rick Forman who was significantly responsible for the success of team.

Neil Forman
December 12, 2023
As previously mentioned, I played HS baseball with. I was starting third baseman I made no errors in my junior year only because the first baseman was Mike. Also, interesting story. I got the team because Mike put the word in for me to coach Amore. Mike always great in everything and still a regular guy

Joe Colleran
March 30, 2024
I was born in 1962 in Brooklyn. My dad was a Giants fan from Washington Heights and my mom was a Dodgers fan. So we were Met fans from East New York. Mike Jorgensen was the first professional athlete that I ever met and one of the few autographs in my life. Nice man. I always remember that.

Howard Katcher
October 14, 2024
The only guy that ever hit the ball out of both PS 46 schoolyards, onto 64th Avenue, and down 219th St, Bayside, Queens. Mike was a few years older but I spent a great part of my adolescence with his brother Ricky, and his sister Joanie. I lived just around the corner. Mike was the neighborhood legend.

PS. And no, it was not Ron Jeremy who was the other legend who lived around the other corner on 218th Street.