An Afternoon with Art Shamsky
The Sports Time Traveler™ & friends celebrated the 55th anniversary of the 1969 Miracle Mets via ZOOM with Art Shamsky
This is a special edition of the The Sports Time Traveler™
Yesterday I had the rare opportunity to host a ZOOM session with one of the makers of the Miracle of 1969 - Art Shamsky. My best friends, Bill, Mark, Charlie, Glenn and the Giffer were with me.
If you scroll down you can find the link to watch the entire ZOOM session.
It is a fascinating 45 minutes for any baseball fan.
Background on Art Shamsky & the 1969 Mets
Art Shamsky played right field for the 1969 New York Mets.
55 years ago this week, on October 14, 1969, Art celebrated his 28th birthday by starting as the clean up hitter for the Mets in the very first World Series game ever played in Shea Stadium.
It was game 3 of 1969 World Series pitting the Mets against the 109 win Baltimore Orioles, one of the great teams in history. The series was tied at 1 game apiece. The Mets went on to win that game, and the next 2 games, to take the series 4 games to 1, shocking the baseball world.
From that day onward the team has been referred to simply as the Miracle Mets.
And Art Shamsky was one of the miracle makers.
The 1969 Miracle Mets remain one of the most inspirational teams across all sports. Laughable losers in their first 7 years of their existence, finishing 9th out of 10 teams in 1968, just a game out of last place, their new manager Gil Hodges used innovative methods to mold the team into winners.
The team came from 10 games back in August, 1969, to finish on a 38 - 11 run, catapulting them past the Cubs to capture the National League East in the very first year of divisional play.
Then they whipped Hank Aaron’s Atlanta Braves in the National League Championship Series 3 games to none, before taking down a Baltimore Orioles team stocked with hall of famers (Frank Robinson, Brooks Robinson, Jim Palmer).
NOTE from The Sports Time Traveler™
I interrupt this article to inform you that the Baltimore Orioles teams of 1969 and 1970 won a combined 217 games. That remains the most wins over 2 seasons in major league history. In 1970, the Orioles won the World Series over the Big Red Machine - the Cincinnati Reds.
All this puts into perspective the magnitude of the miracle the Mets pulled off by overcoming the Orioles in just 5 games to win the 1969 World Series.
It is mind boggling.
Now we return to today’s article on Art Shamsky.
ART SHAMSKY - The Unsung Hero of the Miracle
The 1969 Mets conjure images of Tom Seaver, Tommie Agee, Cleon Jones, Tug McGraw and Jerry Koosman.
But there is no doubt that Art Shamsky was also one of the true heroes of the 1969 Mets.
Shamsky led the team in slugging percentage. He was second on the team in home runs and batting average (one of just 2 players on the Mets to bat .300).
As late as mid-August, Art was batting .350. Yet because he was platooned, in the Gil Hodges system, he didn’t play everyday. But in games he started the team went 53 - 30, while in games he didn’t start they were only 47 - 32.
In the the National League Championship Series for the Mets, Shamsky led the team batting a stellar .538 (7 for 13) to steer the Mets in bulldozing the Braves by a score of 27 - 15 across the 3 game sweep.
The ZOOM Session
In the 45 minute session below, you’ll hear Art Shamsky tell many insightful and wonderful anecdotes about that 1969 Miracle Mets season.
Art will also share a story about his historic individual accomplishment of hitting 4 home runs in 4 consecutive plate appearances while playing for the Reds in 1966. Art is one of only a handful of players to ever achieve that. And he is the only player in major league baseball history to hit 3 home runs in a game that he did not start.
Here is the 45 minute session with Art Shamsky:
More Stories from Art Shamsky and The Sports Time Traveler™
If you enjoyed listening to Art’s stories on this 45 minute ZOOM, I highly suggest you put his new book, due out March 11th, on your shopping list. It’s going to be a must read for Mets fans, and an entertaining read for any baseball fan.
The book is going to be titled, “Mets Stories I Only Tell My Friends.”
Art has previously penned two other must read books for New York baseball fans: “After the Miracle: The Lasting Brotherhood of the '69 Mets,” and “The Magnificent Seasons: How the Jets, Mets, and Knicks Made Sports History and Uplifted a City and the Country.”
You can find both of those books on Amazon and other Art Shamsky memorabilia at this link:
And while I’m plugging books, I’m proud to share that my new book, “The 1973 Mets - You’ve Got to Believe,” is presently the #1 new release in baseball essays & writings on Amazon.
You can find my book at this link:
The 1973 Mets - You've Got to Believe
Thanks for reading and watching.
