Calling all Mets fans. To coincide with the start of Major League Baseball season, there will be two upcoming events to mark the publication of “After the Miracle: The Lasting Brotherhood of the ’69 Mets.”
This inside account of the iconic team who were consistently in last place until they turned it all around in just one season is told by ’69 Mets outfielder Art Shamsky, Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Seaver, and other teammates as they reminisce about what happened then and where they are today.
A right fielder for the ’69 Mets, Shamsky stayed in touch with his former teammates over the years. He hoped to get together with star pitcher Seaver, who won the Cy Young award as best pitcher in the league in 1969 and went on to become the first Met elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, but Seaver was ailing and could not travel.
So Shamsky organized a visit to see Seaver in California, accompanied by the team’s No. 2 pitcher, Jerry Koosman, outfielder Ron Swoboda, and shortstop Bud Harrelson. Together they recalled the highlights of that amazing season and what changed the Mets’ fortunes in 1969.
The result is “After the Miracle,” a book Shamsky wrote with the help of sportswriter Erik Sherman that every Mets fan — and every baseball fan — should own. Shamsky will discuss and sign copies of “After the Miracle” at Turn of the Corkscrew Books and Wine on Friday, March 22 at 7 p.m., and at Book Revue on Thursday, April 25 at 7 p.m.
The New York Mets franchise began in 1962 and the team finished in last place nearly every year. When the 1969 season began, fans weren’t expecting much from the “lovable losers.” But as the season progressed, the Mets inched closer to first place and then eventually clinched the National League pennant. They were underdogs against the formidable Baltimore Orioles, but beat them in five games to become world champions. No one had predicted it. In fact, fans could hardly believe it happened. Suddenly they were the “Miracle Mets.”
Now 40 years later, Long Island fans can relive this glorious victory by attending one of Shamsky’s events. Turn of the Corkscrew Books and Wine is located at 110 N. Park Ave. in Rockville Centre and Book Revue is at 313 New York Ave. in Huntington.
