Forty years ago Neil Armstrong walked on the moon and the New York Mets walked away with a World Series title. The Miracle Mets are one of those teams that collectors focus on much in the same way they do the 1955 Dodgers, 1961 Yankees or 1976 Reds. The game used items from this team are highly sought after and often pricey if you can even find them. Unlike the other teams mentioned, the 1969 Mets are a ball club that does not have a single position player enshrined in Cooperstown. Their lone representatives are pitchers Tom Seaver, Nolan Ryan and coach Yogi Berra. Hopefully some day manager Gil Hodges will get the recognition he long deserves.
Unless you collect the 1969 Mets, any number of the everyday player’s names won’t jump out at you and this is what those who do are hoping for. The collector of the 69 Mets or those considering starting along these lines would certainly be looking for wood that could have been used during that season. For Hillerich and Bradsby products, bats from this time frame fall into roughly a four year window of 1969-1972 by markings and the Adirondack counter parts roughly a two year time frame of 1968-1970. I thought it might be helpful to assist those looking for year specific lumber of these long-time, loveable losers who attained legendary status in 1969. I don’t have information for every player on the 1969 roster, but here is what I do have for their H&B bat orders from the 1969 Season:
Tommy Agee
U1, 36”, 34oz
S2, 35”, 34oz
World Series: P89, 35”, 34oz
Don Cardwell
World Series: G69L, 36”, 34oz
Ed Charles
S44, 35”, 32oz
Donn Clendenon
G105, 35”-36”, 34-37oz
F2, 35”-36”, 34-36oz
Jerry Grote
S2, 35”, 33-34oz
M159, 35”, 34oz
World Series: M159, 35”, 34oz
Bud Harrilson
No bats shown for 1969 in his record
Cleon Jones
M110, 35”, 33oz
World Series: P89, 35”, 33oz
Ed Kranepool
K55, 35”, 33oz
E32, 35”, 35oz
P104, 35”, 35oz
World Series: E32, 35”, 35oz, P104, 35″, 35oz
Tug McGraw
World Series: W183, 35”, 36oz
Tom Seaver
World Series: S2, 35”, 34oz
Art Shamsky
World Series: P89, 34 ½”, 33oz
Ron Swoboda
G69L, 35”, 35oz
World Series: G69L, 35”, 35oz
Al Weis
K55, 35”, 32oz and 34oz
K55, 36”, 35 oz
World Series: K55, 35”, 34oz and K55 36”, 35oz
As far as the uniforms go, the 1969 Mets home jerseys were manufactured by Spalding and the roads by Wilson. There is a difference between the regular season and World Series jerseys in that the regular season issues feature only the 100th Anniversary patch while the World Series shirts feature both the 100th Anniversary patch and the traditional circular NY Skyline patch. I am more inclined to think the World Series uniforms are not regular season jerseys that they just decided to add and move patches around on, but that’s just me. Team jackets appear to have been provided by KM Pro.
It remains to be seen if lighting can strike twice in Queens some forty years apart, but then again that’s part of the magic of baseball and why we collect.
As always, collect what you enjoy and enjoy what you collect.
MEARS Auth, LLC
For questions or comments on this article, please feel free to drop me a line at DaveGrob1@aol.com