5 O'clock Lightning! Two Great Games: Thursday, May 15th, 1969

Scores!

NY 3, ATL 1  W-Taylor 2-2 L-Stone 1-2 S-McGraw(5)  HR-Boyer(2) Agee(6)

PHI 9, CIN 8  W-Farrell 1-2 L-Granger 4-2  HR-May(8) Callison(5) Rojas(1)GW

She thinks Al Weis is hawt.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, the Braves and Mets traded 2-1 extra inning decisions. On Thursday, the Mets jumped out in the bottom of the first, when Cleon Jones led off with a single and scored on a double to the wall by Al Weis. The ball might have been fielded sooner except for Julie Andrews wandering around the outfield singing "Hey there, Weis; hey there, Weis" as the shrimpy second sacker pulled in with a double and an rbi for a 1-0 New York lead. It stayed that way all the way until the top of the seventh, when, with one out, Cletis Boyer sent one wobbling down the line. Mets left fielder Ron Swoboda raced over to the corner but could only look on in dismay as the ball fluttered into the first row just inside the foul pole to tie the game at one. Metropolitans starter Gary Gentry was heard to mutter "oh my!" or similar. 

Hit Julie Andrews and win a free suit!

Well, it looked like another squeaker headed for extra innings, but wait! After being allowed to bat leading off the top of the eighth (and making an out), Braves starter George Stone faced the dreaded Mister Weis leading off the bottom of the frame, and gave up a single. Once again, Julie Andrews strolled center field, crooning, "The rally is aliiiiive....". So anyway, up stepped Tommie Agee, who was so cold in April that his locker was moved to the penguin house at the zoo. However, he has heated up in May and he sent the first pitch far into the stands for a 3-1 Mets lead! Julie Andrews fainted dead away, and your impartial Goddess waved her Mets pennant like a nut case. Tug McGraw garnered the save despite a 2-out walk to Bob Tillman. Tugger got a win, a loss and a save in the three game set. 

Baseball, baseball, who's got the baseball? Oops.

In Philadelphia, the art of pitching went the way of the dinosaurs as the Rhinelanders and Quakers hit everything in sight. This was the rubber game (*snicker*) and the Phils jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first by ringing a single, double and triple off of bewildered Reds starter Fat Jack Fisher. The Cincinnatians scored two in the 3rd and two more in the fifth, answered by a pair of Phillies tallies in the bottom of the frame. With the score 6-4 Phils, Woody Fryman stepped to the mound in the top of the seventh and, after retiring slump-encrusted Alex Johnson, induced a bouncer back to the mound by Lee May. Fryman grabbed at it, dropped it, kicked it, lost sight of it, all as May lumbered endlessly toward first base. Finally, Mister Fryman picked up the ball and threw it in the dirt to the wrong base. E-1. This opened the floodgates as the Reds rallied for four unearned runs to take an 8-6 lead.

"YOU lost the game?" quoth Cookie to a distraught Dave Bristol, who had sent Granger to the bank with the deposit.

The lead held as Reds "ace" reliever Wayne Granger, proud owner of exactly one save all season, faced the Phils in the last of the ninth. He retired hometown favorite Johnny Callison, but then gave up a bloop and a seeing-eye single to Deron Johnson and Don Money, respectively. Mike Ryan made the second out, and with Cookie Rojas due up and only third string catcher Watkins available on the bench, it looked over. You may recall that Rojas finished April hitting a lusty .037 on 1-for-27. May had seen him rise to the giddy heights of the .170s, but still. Granger delivered and Cookie swung, lifting a high fly ball into the night. Left fielder Jimmy Stewart (really, that's his name!) drifted back, muttering that Cookie Rojas is "nothing but a warped, frustrated old man!" Imagine his chagrin when the ball sailed over the fence for a two-out, three-run walk off homerun! "Look sharp, you fool!" shouted Cookie to the lackey pushing his wheelchair, and they both circled the bases to a roar of cheers that filled old Shibe Park. Pretty cool! Who'da thunk it?

Call me. Don't be afraid you can't call me. Maybe it's late but just call me. Call me cos I touched 'em all!