The Bookends Interview: Art Shamsky: Part 2
By John J. Buro | Pro Baseball Central - NYSportsDay.com | on Saturday, June 3 2006

RIDGEWOOD, NJ – “The 1969 season,” Art Shamsky said, “started on a downer because I was hurt in spring training and was on the Disabled List for the first 21 days. I didn’t even know if I could play that year. So, for it to go the way it did –with us winning the World Series, and me contributing- was a great experience.

“Being part of a team that no one thought could win made it much more special. Even today, we still talk about that wonderful team.”

From their inception, the Mets were tagged as ‘lovable losers’. In 1962, they set a major-league record 120 losses [which the 13-38 Kansas City Royals currently threaten]. But, with their WS victory seven years later, they had also established the shortest amount of time an expansion team required to win a championship. Only the 1997 Florida Marlins, who were franchised five years earlier, have won it all in less time.

“Our team was made up of incredible characters,” Shamsky recalled. “From Gil Hodges, our manager, to Tom Seaver and Jerry Koosman, from Tug McGraw to Donn Clendenon, I really believe that, fifty years from now, people will still remember our names.”

The Mets’ success, stunning as it was, almost never happened, as Hodges -the great Brooklyn Dodger hero- had suffered a massive heart attack in 1968.

“I knew Gil would have to change his habits. For one, he was a smoker. So, he had to alter his lifestyle. But, he also kept a lot of things inside him –he didn’t express himself a whole lot- and I think, in the long run, that may have hurt him physically.

“When Gil arrived from the Washington Senators, he brought with him a professionalism that wasn’t there before. He had the right temperament to deal with the 25 guys on the team, and he was able to get the most out of each one of us. That’s what makes a good manager. I can’t say if he would’ve been the only manager who could’ve taken us to a championship. But, he did instill in us the will to win.”

Veteran leadership was also a huge factor. In January, Clendenon was traded [along with Jesus Alou] from the Montreal Expos to the Houston Astros for Rusty Staub. However, he failed to report and announced his retirement on February 28. However, when Montreal and Houston reworked the deal, Clendenon relented and joined the Expos. Their union would last until June 15, when he was traded to the Mets.

“Donn was the righthanded power that we needed,” said Shamsky. “He was a big cog in our machine. But, he was also a good guy in the locker room. He knew just how to get us going. He instigated a lot of stuff, and made sure that we were on our toes.”

Through a regimented platoon system, Hodges also kept his team on their toes. Though eleven Mets played in more than 100 games, only Bud Harrelson at shortstop [123], Wayne Garrett at third [124], Cleon Jones in leftfield [137] and Tommie Agee in center [149] appeared in a minimum of 120 regular-season contests.

“Ron [Swoboda] and I each wanted to play more,” the part-time rightfielder added. “If the system works, it’s a great thing. But, if it doesn’t, it’s very frustrating. We all wanted to play more. We weren’t able to put up the numbers needed to make more money. We just couldn’t do it as platoon players.

“For example, I had a great playoff series against the Braves and I didn’t start Game One of the World Series. When Gil sent me in to pinch hit against Mike Cuellar, a lefthanded pitcher, with the game on the line, I said to myself, ‘I’m not good enough to start the game, but I’m good enough to pinch hit with the game on the line.’

“It was a little difficult for guys like Clendenon and [Ed] Kranepool, [Ed] Charles and Garrett and [Ken] Boswell and [Al] Weis. But, because it was working, we were able to deal with it.”

They would also have to deal with a post-season of change.

“First of all,” he deadpanned, “no one knew what to expect with the new playoff format. It was a short series, best of five. We were accustomed to the winner of the National League playing in the World Series. All of us were up in the air about how this would be.

“Now, the Braves had a terrific team. They didn’t have great pitching, but they certainly had a great lineup [Orlando Cepeda hit .455, Hank Aaron –who homered in each game- and Tony Gonzalez each hit .357 and Felix Millan hit .333]. We scored a lot of runs in all three games [winning 9-5, 11-6 and 7-4]. It was a case where our lefthanded hitters [in addition to Shamsky’s heroics, Garrett hit .385 and Boswell hit .333 with 2 HRs and 5 RBI] came through.

“Baseball is a strange game,” Shamsky noted. “The Baltimore Orioles won 109 games during the regular season. We won 100. They had terrific pitching [Baltimore featured Cuellar, at 23-11, and Dave McNally, at 20-7; Jim Palmer won 16 of 20 decisions and Tom Phoebus finished at 14-7] and so did we [Seaver won the first of three Cy Young Awards with a 25-7 record and 2.21 ERA, Jerry Koosman was 17-9 with a 2.28 ERA and relievers Tug McGraw and Ron Taylor combined for 18 wins and 25 saves].

“If we played them 10 times in the World Series, I’m not sure we could win 7 of them. But, we were on a roll. We had beaten Atlanta in three straight, so I knew we could play. We even lost the first game, that Saturday, in which I made the last out. We won Game Two, largely because Koosman pitched a terrific game. So, we came back to New York at one apiece, instead of 0-2.”

If the world championship wasn’t enough, Shamsky received another boost when Flushing native Phil Rosenthal, the producer of ‘Everybody Loves Raymond,’ named one of the show’s beloved pets after him.

“Yes, the dog owned by Robert Barone [Brad Garrett] is named for me,” he said in mock amazement. “And that has put me out there even more.”

But, more than anything, Shamsky is secure in the knowledge that his team’s miraculous season will never end. “That is because many people have passed on this legacy to their children and grandchildren.”

It didn’t hurt, either, that the Mets’ title run was closely linked to that of the Jets and Knicks. And, in the spring of 1970, when the trifecta was finally complete, so was –arguably- the greatest period in New York sports.

[See the accompanying story on www.profilesinsport.com, entitled ‘Was 1969 New York’s Most Memorable Year In Sports?’]