By BRIAN COSTELLO
April 13, 2008
As both New York baseball stadiums prepare to close, The Post looks back at the 25 most memorable moments in the history of Shea. This week, No. 24.
Sept. 20, 1973
The Mets had rallied from last place to within 1-½ games of Pittsburgh for the NL East lead in a month. Now they were looking to win their third straight from the Pirates.
The Mets tied the game 2-2 in the bottom of the eighth inning on Felix Millan's single that scored pinch-runner Teddy Martinez. Pittsburgh answered with a run in the ninth inning to go up 3-2, but Duffy Dyer kept the Mets alive with a double in the bottom of the inning that scored Ken Boswell and forced extra innings.
The game remained tied 3-3 entering the 13th inning. The Pirates had two outs and Richie Zisk on first base when Dave Augustine, who made his big-league debut 17 days earlier, came up.
Augustine hit a deep ball to left field that appeared to be going over the wall. Instead, it hit the very top of the wall and bounced straight into the air. Mets left fielder Cleon Jones grabbed the ball out of the air with his bare hand and fired it to cutoff man Wayne Garrett.
Zisk, thinking it was a home run, got a slow start from first, setting up a play at the plate. Garrett threw the ball to catcher Ron Hodges, who tagged Zisk out at home.
The Mets won 4-3 in the bottom of the inning on Hodges' single that scored John Milner. The next day, the Mets moved into first place with another victory over Pittsburgh. They stayed in first place the rest of the year.
The Mets won the pennant on the last day of the season in Chicago and made it all the way to Game 7 of the World Series before losing to Oakland.
Augustine would play 29 games in the majors, but he sealed his place in Mets history with his shot off the wall.
