1973 World Series

The 1973 World Series matched the defending champion Oakland Athletics against the New York Mets, with the A's winning in seven games to repeat as World Champions.
The New York Mets won the National League East division by 1 ½ games over the St. Louis Cardinals then defeated the Cincinnati Reds, three games to two, in the National League Championship Series. The Oakland Athletics won the American League West division by six games over the Kansas City Royals then defeated the Baltimore Orioles, three games to two, in the American League Championship Series.

New York Mets
The 1973 Mets' .509 season winning percentage was (and through 2008 remains) the lowest posted by any pennant-winner in major league history. Under the comparatively new divisional play system, the Mets found themselves back in the World Series, but with a much weaker team than in their legendary 1969 championship season.
Stumbling through the summer in last place, the Mets got hot in September as the rest of the National League East collapsed, ultimately winning a mediocre division with a mere 82 victories. The final standings:
1 New York Mets 82 79 .509 -
2 St. Louis Cardinals 81 81 .500 1½
3 Pittsburgh Pirates 80 82 .494 2½
4 Montreal Expos 79 83 .488 3½
5 Chicago Cubs 77 84 .478 5
1969 holdovers Bud Harrelson, Jerry Grote, Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman, and Tug McGraw joined forces with the Mets' farm-system alumni John Milner and Jon Matlack and trade-acquired Rusty Staub, Felix Millan, and Willie Mays, now 42 years old. Don Hahn and Mays alternated in center field, although they both batted right-handed.
The Mets' National League playoff opponents: an imposing Cincinnati Reds squad that posted 99 victories during the regular season, was the favorite to return to the Series for a second consecutive year. (The Reds had fallen to the A's in the previous year's Series.) The 1973 NLCS went the full five games, and featured a now-famous brawl between the barrel-chested Pete Rose and the w...

The "Amazin' Mets" defied all odds in 1973 and climbed to the top of the National League despite finishing just over the .500 mark. With a less-than-stellar record of 82-79, New York managed to defeat a superior Cincinnati Reds team in a tight, five game championship series to earn their second ticket to the Fall Classic since their introduction in 1962. The defending world champion Oakland A's had also defeated "The Big Red Machine" in the previous year's Series and boasted the American League's top line-up with Reggie Jackson, Sal Bando, Gene Tenace and Deron Johnson. Jim "Catfish" Hunter had just finished another twenty win season with Ken Holtzman and Vida Blue in support.

Mets Manager Yogi Berra continued to test fate by starting Jon Matlack (14-16) for Game 1. It was only the fourth time in World Series history that a losing pitcher had started an opener and many fans questioned the former Yankee's judgment. Although the decision first appeared to be brilliant (as Matlack allowed only two unearned runs and three hits in six innings) reality finally set in and Holtzman cruised to a 2-1 opening victory. The pitcher had even added a third inning double which was made even more impressive by the fact that American League pitchers didn't bat during the '73 regular season because of the introduction of the new designated-hitter rule.

Game 2 evolved from a mere baseball game into a marathon of mental and physical endurance as the contest set a record for the longest post-season game in history. Clocking in at four hours and thirteen minutes, the twelve inning nail-biter witnessed the last hit of Willie Mays' twenty-two year Major League career, which was finishing up where it started, in New York. After the A's came back from a 6-4 deficit with two out in the ninth, New York regained the 7-6 lead in the twelfth thanks to May's encore, but after A's Mike Andrews let John Milner's grounder skip through his legs for a two run error, the Mets charged forward for...