1968 New York Mets "The Year of the Pitcher" Highlight Reel 🎥

Original 1968 New York Mets Team Highlight film from opening day through the '68 season Narrated by the Mets Broadcasting team Lindsay Nelson, Bob Murphy and Ralph Kiner. The first season for Mets Manager Gil Hodges as he begins to build a contender and out of the basement a guided tour throughout the '68 season including a pre-game meeting with the starting pitching staff Jerry Koosman, Tom Seaver ,Cal Koonce and veteran Don Cardwell with catcher Jerry Grote as they go through the opening day line-up Hodges already shows great command and his knowledge of the game. Great footage throughout the season including Jerry Koosman at the All Star Game at the Houston Astrodome, Special Event days at Shea including the Mayors Trophy Game, Old Timers Day and Family Day. Includes and on field interview with Mets catcher Jerry Grote . Pre game sit down with Mets pitching coach Rube Walker with the young pitching staff. Spotlights on Cleon Jones, Bud Harrelson and upcoming Mets like infielders Ken Boswell and Mike Jorgenson
Recorded and Digitalized off a VHS commercial tape which was recently restored/remaster and is a great addition to the classic MLB film reel up on the KZbin channel for all old school MLB fans to see
1968 New York Mets
www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1...

[@johndonohoe3778]

Your right Gil, 1969 will be a banner year!

[@nicholasdagostino2127]

RIP Jerry Grote!

[@robertsprouse9282]

R.I.P. JIM MC ANDREW who died last week or earlier in March. He only played for the METS, played around a decade if I recall correctly, was a reliever most of his career.

[@RRaquello]

McAndrew was mostly a starter, but he was usually either the fourth starter or the fifth starter in a 4 man rotation. I don't recall him doing much relieving between starts but may be wrong on that. He was a good pitcher mostly known for hard luck. He'd pitch a good game and lose 1-0 or 2-1.

[@mattdon2164]

Jim McAndrew was a great guy. Hailed from Lost Nation, Iowa. His son also played major Division 1 College baseball. Jerry Grote also passed on a few days ago (early April 2024). Time is marching on, unfortunately.

[@robertsprouse9282]

@@mattdon2164 , isn’t it…marching on.. and over!

[@kevincurtis6550]

Thanks for posting. Year before they won it all. 1968 was the year the pitchers dominated the hitters in both leagues. This is why in 1969 the mound was lowered to bring back some offense in the game.

[@robertsprouse9282]

The biggest move was the shrinking of the strike zone to pre-1963 dimensions, that followed the failed nod to increase it in size only because BABE’s best bud as a sportswriter, COMMISSIONER FORD FRICK, did not like MARIS breaking the BAMBINO’s HOMER record, and the front offices panicked about paying bigger salaries after the YEAR OF THE HITTER IN THE AMERICAN LEAGUE= Expansion year #1 1961..where home runs historically soared - not just because of the 162 game season implemented, either- and so did batting averages, all due to TRIPLE-A PITCHERS coming into the league through that expansion. That is why the zone was expanded. It took 1968 to make the owners see the light, the one that put balance back in the game..

[@RRaquello]

@@robertsprouse9282 I think Norm Cash's .361 average also scared them. Cash was a good hitter with power, but not even a .300 hitter let alone a .361 hitter and the idea of a bunch of .270 hitters hitting .360 would throw the game out of balance. It turned out to be a one year fluke, but maybe that's because they shrunk the strike zone.

[@carlbiesele1457]

Excellent point!! You know your history!

[@cubs73sox75]

These highlight videos are outstanding!!! Thank you for all you do!

[@user-lh6uz2so9e]

Little did they know how the potential was going to pay off in an big way the following year

[@MarlinWilliams-ts5ul]

Jerry Koosman should be in the HoF.

[@gustavsorensen9301]

A two time all star is a Hall of famer?

[@cmoore185]

He was a 500 pitcher with a 3.36 lifetime era. He had decent stats over a 19 year career, but not HOF stats. A 53 WAR and an average of 200 innings per year before the days of setup and closers. 1.25 whip is decent but not outstanding. To quote Jim Rome it is the Hall of Fame, not the hall of very good.

[@RRaquello]

​@@cmoore185 Koosman had two Hall of Fame years, in 68 & 69. The rest of his career he was a good-to-very good pitcher. Two hall-of-fame years don't get you in the hall. 5 or 6 will, like Sandy Koufax.

[@littlestevey4172]

Thanks for these Mets Highlights years. Will you post the 1970s one too?

[@DarrylKing-ur5km]

Koosman Was Actually the 1968 Rookie of the Year ,But they gave it to Bench

[@glenngrinter6818]

They show these videos on SNY during rain delays.⚾️❤️💦⚾️❤️💦⚾️❤️💦⚾️❤️💦⚾️❤️💦

[@ericgoldfarb4870]

Could you imagine a bat day i. 2024? An ambulance better be on hand

[@spinedoc18]

4:52 Seaver not wearing 41.

[@cmoore185]

I wonder who the guy was who thought adding a ridiculous crack of the bat sound was a good idea, when it is ovvious the whole thing was filmed without a sound track. IMHO, the sound effects have not passed the test of time. Otherwise, this is a great video. I was in my first year of college when the season opened and my sophomore year when the world series was played. It brings back great memories, when my only worry was keeping my grades up and not losing my student deferrment. January 1968 was when the Tet offensive stareted and Viet Nam became a very hot topic. Also MLK and RFK were both shot.

[@gustavsorensen9301]

23:02..They say that every year. I guarantee 1969 won’t be any different than the previous seven years

[@wiedep]

Similar to Gil and the pitchers is a TV ad for Vitalis that includes Gary Gentry goin' to showers - kzbin.info/www/bejne/rZ3KpWiCishpidk @ 4:48 Seaver and Kooz have some fun, wearing each other's uni's - check their numbers. That pick-off move by Kooz benefited Steve Carlton years later. He's a better pitcher that actor/narrator. Strange choice of words by Bud to those boys. Catch Cleon Jones makes is similar to what he did in game 4 '69 Series. Lots of clips of sign man Karl Ehrhardt - here he is just after the '73 Series on To Tell the Truth - kzbin.info/www/bejne/enPGqYugZZp2e6c Nolan Ryan's 'pickle jar' was pickle juice to toughen up the skin on his fingertips from blisters - problem that hurt his time w/Mets. Seaver was playing Rube Walker with the gut and Rube's #10 with Dodgers. Pretty blatant plug for food 'n' drink... Homer shown in several short clips starting @21:08 - Art Shamsky grand slam vs. Cardinals 8/30 Good look at the higher mound during clip of Swoboda hitting @ 22:36 Even after '69 there was much work to do on the hitters. Hodges suffered a heart attack when Mets were in Atlanta 9/24-25. The Payson Complex in St. Pete was used by the big club for spring training till they left in '87, it's now called Baseball City. Kooz better watch out for them little gators in the canals. Another good find...

[@robertsprouse9282]

Oh, even non-METS fans just like me, know that 1969 fulfilled GIL HODGES aspirations, and then some. As HODGES said, young players with another year under their belt and they should be as he strongly implied.. matured and as good as ever.. R.I.P., GIL HODGES, tragically dying of a heart attack in Spring training just a few years away, passing at the age of 47. Many believe that if Hodges doesn’t go, the NY METS would’ve become a juggernaut. Personally, I don’t know enough about the inner workings of the club to actually state anything. Yogi never really got the chance to manage them, other than after HODGES passed away. All I know is that they made another WORLD SERIES, albeit mostly due to the fact that their division was not very good. Otherwise, they don’t make the playoffs at all in 1973.. But, they did what they had to do. HODGES molding, AND BERRA’s smart platooning both guided them to that postseason. Yep..

[@Mister8224]

Denny McLain had best year in modern era, with 1.96 ERA & 31 wins. Made Gibson's year look puny.

[@robertsprouse9282]

GIBSON had a 1.12 ERA.. That’s almost an earned run less than McLAIN, in a much better offense producing league than the AMERICAN LEAGUE. How many 1968 AMERICAN LEAGUE PITCHERS are in the HALL OF FAME? Who? PALMER, annnnnnnd… who else? KAAT.. who was put in because of longevity, and HUNTER. Yet.. the only hitter in the A.L. to hit .300 was YAZ.. By the way PALMER between a catastrophic injury and reserve military duty, did NOT PITCH in the Majors in ‘68, and only had four decisions the year before that. LOLICH, McLAIN, and TIANT, JOHN, SAM McDOWELL, JIM PERRY, GRANT, PASCUAL, and McNALLY are NOT IN THE HALL. Whereas in the NATIONAL LEAGUE: GIBSON, MARICHAL, JENKINS, SEAVER, GAYLORD PERRY, PHIL NIEKRO, DRYSDALE, SUTTON, BUNNING, RYAN, and CARLTON ARE in the HALL. And, the hitters included HALL GUYS: CLEMENTE, CEPEDA, BILLY WILLIAMS, BANKS, BENCH, BROCK, HANK AARON, McCOVEY, PEREZ, STARGELL, and MAYS, as HALL guys. ROSE would’ve been one if not for his stupidity. In the A.L., you had CAREW, CARL YASTRZEMSKI, MANTLE(a shadow of his former self in his final season), KALINE, FRANK AND BROOKS ROBINSON, APARICIO, KILLEBREW, and REGGIE JACKSON, and HARMON K. missed the last half of the season due to an injury in the ALL STAR game; and OLIVA in the HALL. Now, compare that bunch to the NL’ers, and you’ll see there is NO COMPARISON, none..both in pitching and hitting, especially power hitting. The NL had FIVE GUYS WHO HIT .300 or better.. GIBSON played in a SUPERIOR LEAGUE in 1968. It literally is indisputable. NL WON THE ALL STAR GAME for the SIXTH STRAIGHT year. THE TIGERS had to go SEVEN TO WIN THE WORLD SERIES.. and that was only after GIBSON BROKE THE SERIES RECORD with 17K’s in game one, and a good hitting pitcher hit homeruns= LOLICH to win, and CURT FLOOD lost a fly ball in the late afternoon lights. In the SERIES, GIBSON was 2-1, while MCLAIN was 1-2. Yep..no comparison.. GIBSON played in a tougher and better loop..

[@bemore1134]

McClain had a once-in-a-lifetime year for sure. But Gibsons' ERA was almost a full run less than McClains'. I wouldn't say he made Gibsons' year look puny by any means.

[@RRaquello]

Went to my first Mets game that year. They played the Pirates on a Sunday and Steve Blass pitched a 2-hit shutout against them. Shea was only four years old at the time and was already taking on the look of a dumpy old stadium, which is typical New York.

[@MIKIEEYEZ1975]

You weren’t at the Met’s game!! I saw you Dad but I never seen you!!