First it was Tug McGraw’s good friend Joe Badamo, an insurance salesman, who reminded the reliever the 1973 Mets season hardly was lost.
Of course, with John Milner, Jerry Grote, Jon Matlack, Buddy Harrelson, Cleon Jones, and Rusty Staub all having missed time through July, medical insurance was something the Mets needed, along with faith. When Chairman M. Donald Grant decided in early July to remind his team, 10 games back and standing sixth in the National League East, that it could heal and make a run, McGraw, 0-6 with only 13 saves, wanted to buy in.
“Yeah, ‘Ya gotta believe,’ ” he said animatedly over and over after Grant finished, to a point where Ed Kranepool thought McGraw was mocking the stuffy Grant. Grant bought McGraw’s sincerity, but Tug was still in for more tests. Given a start by embattled manager Yogi Berra, McGraw gave up seven runs to the Braves.
“It ain’t over ’til it’s over,” insisted Yogi. On Aug. 12, the Mets were 7 1⁄2 games out and in fourth place as they arrived in San Diego, where right fielder Rusty Staub saw old Expos teammates checking out of the hotel.
“I told them the division was so close we could win and they laughed at me,” Staub said. “I said, ‘I have three words for you, Seaver, Matlack and Koosman.’ “
August gave the healing Mets their first winning month (18-14) since April. On Aug. 31, when they scored three runs in the 10th to win in St. Louis, they were 62-71 and in fifth place, 5 1⁄2 out.
“Yogi said, ‘We have to win every series,’ ” Harrelson recalled. “We said, ‘OK’ “
Staub took seven cortisone shots in one day in his beleaguered wrist and felt like a new man. McGraw’s season had completely turned around and Mets’ starting pitching was giving them a chance every day, as in 1969. When Felix Millan’s 2-run double keyed a five-run ninth inning in a 6-5 win in Pittsburgh on Sept. 18, the Pirates’ lead was down to 11⁄2.
The next night at Shea, George Stone beat the Pirates again in the opener of a three-game series. The next night, Dave Cash’s double put Pittsburgh up 3-2 in the ninth, but the magic had not run out. Duffy Dyer’s two-out double tied the game, which went to the 13th.
With two outs, Richie Zisk was at first and Ray Sadecki working his fourth inning when Pirate rookie Dave Augustine smoked a ball to left. “I think everybody thought it was gone,” said Staub. “Zisk was coasting.”
The ball hit the top of the fence, bounced to Jones, and Wayne Garrett’s perfect relay nailed Zisk at the plate. “It changed everything,” said Staub. Dyer singled in Ken Boswell in the bottom of the inning, and Tom Seaver won 10-2 the next day to complete a sweep and send the Mets, 77-77, into first place.
They went to Chicago for the final weekend leading by half-a-game. After two days of rain, Ron Santo’s eighth-inning homer beat Matlack, 1-0, but Jerry Koosman breezed in the nightcap, leaving the Mets needing just win in the makeup Monday doubleheader to wrap it up.
Rick Monday’s two-run homer in the seventh off a tired Seaver cut a Mets lead to 6-4. But McGraw allowed one hit in three innings to nail it down, bringing his ERA in his final 19 appearances to 0.88.
The Mets had the pitching to upset the Reds in five in the NLCS and almost win the World Series, which they led 3-2 going back to Oakland. But Catfish Hunter outdueled Seaver in Game 6, Matlack was ripped for four runs in three innings of Game 7 and belief finally had run out.
“Nobody said we had a chance and we came damn close to winning it all,” Staub said. “I never saw guys come together with such a positive attitude to such results.”