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This Day in Mets History
October 2nd

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14 Fact(s) Found
1961 Two days before starting the World Series between the Reds and Yankees, the expansion Mets introduced Casey Stengel as the franchise's first manager. The introduction takes place at the Savoy Hilton in the same room where the Bronx Bombers held a press conference at the end of last season to announce the 70-year-old Old Professor's 'mandatory retirement.'
1961 After 'retiring' from the Yankees last season, Casey Stengel agrees to manage the Mets, New York's National League expansion team. 'The Old Perfessor,' during his three-plus years in the Amazins' dugout, will compile a poor 175-404 (.302) record but will serve as the face of the new franchise, making the team lovable losers with a loyal fan base.
1964 New York southpaw Al Jackson, who goes the distance, beats the Cardinals and Bob Gibson, 1-0, preventing St. Louis from pulling ahead in a four-team pennant race with two days remaining in the season. After the last-place Mets beat the Redbirds again tomorrow, the team loses the season finale with their opponents clinching the NL flag one game ahead of the Reds and Phillies and three in front of the Giants.
1965 In the nightcap of a twin bill on the next-to-last day of the season, Mets rookie Rob Gardner, making his fifth career start, and Phillies veteran Chris Short match zeros, both going 15 frames in a game that ends in a scoreless tie after 18 innings at Shea Stadium. The 20-year-old southpaw, who eventually develops arm problems, compiles a 4-10 record along with an ERA of 4.79 during his two years with New York and wins just 14 games with six major league teams over eight seasons.
1969 In the final game of a disappointing season at Wrigley Field, a 5-3 victory over the Mets, the Bleacher Bums vent their frustration over the Cubs’ collapse, storming onto the roof of the team’s dugout chanting their cheers. After the last out, more fans join the mayhem, swarming onto the field, sliding into bases ahead of phantom tags while the organist plays Happy Days Are Here Again.
1972 Bill Stoneman throws the second of his two no-hitters when he holds the Mets hitless in the Expos' 7-0 victory at Jarry Park. The Montreal All-Star right-hander, who also accomplished the feat in 1969 against the Phillies in Philadelphia in his fifth major league start, becomes the first major league pitcher to toss a no-hitter in Canada.
1985 Mets sophomore Dwight Gooden pitches a 5-2 complete-game victory over the Cardinals and will become the seventh pitcher in baseball history to finish the season leading both leagues in wins (24), ERA (1.53), and strikeouts (268). Doc joins Walter Johnson (Senators - 1913), Grover Cleveland Alexander (Phillies - 1915, 1917), Dazzy Vance (Dodgers - 1924), Lefty Grove (A's -1930, 1931), Hal Newhouser (Tigers - 1945), and Sandy Koufax (Dodgers - 1963, 1965, 1966) in winning the major league pitching triple crown, but he will not follow the six legends into the Hall of Fame.
1986 Facing his last batter of the season, Dwight Gooden registers his 200th strikeout when Luis Rivera looks at a third strike for the final out in the eighth inning of the Mets' 8-2 victory over Montreal at Olympic Stadium. The Mets' phenom becomes the first pitcher in baseball history to reach the coveted plateau in each of his first three seasons.
1988 During the season finale, Mets manager Davey Johnson receives an enthusiastic standing ovation from the Flushing Faithful when he comes to the mound to make a pitching change at Shea Stadium. With today's 7-5 win over the Cardinals, his NL Eastern Division champs secure their 100th victory.
1999 Rick Reed strikes out 12 batters without issuing a walk, hurling a complete-game three-hitter in the Mets' 7-0 victory over Pittsburgh at Shea Stadium. The win puts New York into a tie for the NL Wild Card with the Reds with one game left in the season.
2004 The Expos, an expansion team in 1969, win their last game representing the city of Montreal, beating the Mets at Shea Stadium, 6-3. The franchise, becoming the Washington Nationals next season, compiled a 2755-2943 (.484) record, appearing in one postseason during their 35-year tenure in the Canadian city.
2005 During the seventh inning of the season's final game, the Mets halt play for eight minutes as the Shea Stadium crowd pays tribute to Mike Piazza, their 37-year-old All-Star catcher, who will not return to the team next season. The centerfield scoreboard features a video montage highlighting many of the backstop's magic moments in a New York uniform.
2012 For the first time in fifty years, teams with 100+ losses face one another when the 54-106 Astros beat the 60-100 Cubs at Wrigley Field, 3-0. The last time clubs with triple-digit defeats met occurred during the final weekend of the 1962 season with the Mets playing Chicago at the same Windy City ballpark.
2012

"I will never be a Hall of Famer and will never lead the league in strikeouts,"- R.A. Dickey, the opening lines of his autobiography.

In his last appearance of the season, Mets' 20-game winner R.A. Dickey whiffs eight Miami batters to end the campaign with 230 strikeouts, the most in the National League. The 37-year-old knuckleballer did not foresee the possibility of this occurrence when he wrote the opening lines of Wherever I Wind Up, his autobiography released in March, unaware that he would accomplish the feat shortly.

14 Fact(s) Found