Swoboda’s Memorable World Series Catch Recalled in Historic Photo

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• theonlymaskman August 22, 2009 at 12:32 pm

  That game was the greatest game that I attended in person in my life. I had a standing room only ticket and paid the usher $2 for the right to sit on a step in the aisle in the second deck off 3B. The usher even gave me the cardboard bottom off a six pack case to sit on. He had them all precut and ready to go for the SRO crowd.

  The Swoboda catch was the highlight and allowed Seaver to stay in the game and ultimately win, pitching a complete game 10 innings (It’s been 40 yrs and I think I remember it correctly.) That was the highlight of the WS and was the key win allowing the Mets to take a commanding lead and put the Series away with the next game.

  This is my fondest memory of rooting for the Mets since the team was created. One of my projects is to get autographed photos of the entire ’69 team. I am nearly there but have a few to go. I do not buy already signed photos, but only get ones that are signed by the players in my presence. I will never be able to get Gil Hodges’ autograph, but I have the next best thing: Mrs Joan Hodges signed for Gil posthumously on my photo of Gil. He was my personal hero when I was a Brooklyn Dodgers fan as a kid. I told that to Joan and she thanked me for my comment. He was a tremendous and shocking loss.
  • Joe Sabo August 23, 2009 at 11:26 am

    I, too am a dtehard Mets fan since their inception in 1926. They replaced my beloved N.Y. Giants who disappointed all their area fans by leaving us for the West Coast. Until the Mets came along, I remained a loyal Giants fan, listening to their games on radio or watching on television.
    I was fortunate enough to be present at the deciding game 5 of that “Mirale of 69″ vs the vaunted Orioles (even though I had to be seated in an Orioles family section for the game…mext to Frank Roninon’s wife). I have obtained alot of autographed memorabilia of those championaship Mets; however, like you I never was fortunate enough to obtain an autoraph of our beloved “Saint” Gil Hodges. Although he was a member of the despised ‘Brooklyn Bums’, hewas a respected and feared opponent. I did get the opportunity to meet him and several others in the Dodgers clubhouse in 1955 thanks to an uncle of mine who was a rabid “Bums” fan; but never got Gil’s autograph.
    I would appreciate it if you could forward the information to me (if possible), about obtaining a postghumously signed Gil photo from Mrs. Joan Hodges. He may not be in the Cooperstown Hall of Fame (I still cannot understand this injustice), but he is DEFINITELY a member of every “Metsie’s” Hall of Fame.

    Thank you, Joe Sabo
    • theonlymaskman August 23, 2009 at 12:37 pm

      Joe, I attend autograph sessions and purchase a photo of the player and then pay the fee to have the photo signed. With the ’69 Mets, they usually have such a session dedicated to those players once a year, which I try to attend to fill out my list. Mrs Joan Hodges generally attends those sessions. She signs the photo of Gil and autographs it as Mrs Joan Hodges, so it does not actually say Gil Hodges. Sorry if I described it incorrectly. There is usually a small fee of something like $10 to $15. I appreciated her autograph as it was the next best thing. There are rumors that when Gil was alive, she would sign for Gil when requests came in by mail. I have compared signatures of Gil memorabilia on sale and the autograph seems to be in the same writing style as Joan’s. So my guess is the rumor is correct.