Tug McGraw Was Dumbfounded When He Led the "Miracle Mets" to the 1973 Pennant

When asked about his $75,000 salary, the highest salary that any relief pitcher had ever received, Tug McGraw gave a typical Tug McGraw answer.

"Ninety percent I'll spend on good times, women and Irish whiskey. The other 10 percent I'll probably waste."

The 1969 New York Mets are the "Miracle Mets" because after they finished ninth the previous season, they pulled off the greatest miracle in baseball history, but another Mets' team also deserve to be called the "Miracle Mets."

Managed by 48-year-old Hall of Fame New York Yankees' catcher Yogi Berra, the 1973 New York Mets were 12 games out of first place on July 8. On Aug. 30, the Mets were in last place, six and one-half games behind the St. Louis Cardinals.

Thanks to McGraw, Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman and unsung hero George Stone, the Mets won the Eastern Division title the day after the season ended. Rain outs had extended the tight race one more day.

When asked how the Mets managed to win, Berra explained what had happened.

"I told you in the spring that 85 games would win it. We got healthy late in the summer and we got pitching late in the summer."

The Mets finished with 82 wins.

Catcher Jerry Grote missed two months with a broken wrist, shortstop Bud Harrelson first missed five weeks with a broken hand and then three weeks with a broken chest bone. Power-hitting John Milner missed 23 games with a strained leg muscle and outfielder George "The Stork" Theodore missed more than two months with a fractured hip.

By September, the team was healthy, but it was Tug McGraw, who had been healthy most of the season, that made the difference.

McGraw didn't win a game during the first four months of the season. His first win was on Aug. 22.  No one, not Berra, pitching coach Rube Walker or even McGraw, could explain the ineffectiveness. He had lost his stuff and he had lost his confidence.

Then, it happened. Once again, no one could explain what caused it to happen, but all that mattered was that McGraw again became a great relief pitcher.

In 13 appearances, McGraw won four games and saved nine. Beginning in one stretch late in the season, he either won or saved 10 Mets' wins in a row. McGraw was at a loss (pun not intended) when he spoke to the media.

"...I was climbing the walls most of the season. When you lose your confidence, you lose everything. One day, I just went out and found it again."

The Mets beat the highly favored Cincinnati Reds in the playoffs, which was a simple best-of-five series. McGraw appeared in two games and saved one.

In the World Series, the Mets took the Oakland A's to a seventh game before yielding. McGraw appeared in five games, winning one and saving one. He pitched to a 2.63 ERA with 14 strikeouts.

The New York Mets, to a man, considered 1973 a highly successful season.

Not even manager Yogi Berra, always a New York Yankee, thought that losing the World Series blemished one of the great miracle pennants.

Reference:

"How Mets Did It: Healthy Arms." New York Times. Sept. 23, 1973. p. 233.