Now that SNY has aired the entirety of the 1969 World Series, we thought it might be fun to feature a portion of the Mets’ next Fall Classic appearance four years later — even if the end result wasn’t as satisfying.

Game 2 versus the Oakland A’s was arguably the wildest World Series contest to date — in addition to being the longest. After four hours and 13 minutes full of miscues, errors, and stumbles, the Mets had a victory and took a tied series back to the East Coast.

The patchwork video includes the originally-broadcasted pregame show and an ESPN Classic rebroadcasted version of the play-by-play (featuring commentary from Joe Garagiola and Gary Carter) with original commercials spliced in. NBC’s footage from the final inning has been lost, so we get clips from the highlight film narrated by Curt Gowdy. That said, you get all the important plays:

  • Jerry Koosman, normally a reliable big-game pitcher, can’t get out of the third inning. But the Mets pick him up thanks to a Cleon Jones home run at 49:12 and another solo blast from Wayne Garrett at 1:05:45 — both off A’s starter Vida Blue.
  • The Mets score four in the top of the sixth — aided by an error at 1:45:00 from reliever Darold Knowles, who threw wildly toward home while in the process of falling over.
  • At 2:06:30, is the play by which Willie Mays‘s Mets career is usually defined. After tripping up on the base paths earlier, Willie can’t locate a fly ball amid the sunshine in Oakland.
  • Oakland rallies to tie it against Tug McGraw in the ninth, capped by a Gene Tenace single at the 2:16:10 mark.
  • The most memorable moment of this afternoon occurs at 2:28:04. Felix Millan hits a fly ball to left field, which is caught by Joe Rudi. Bud Harrelson tries to score from third base. He’s called out by home plate umpire Augie Donatelli (who for some reason made the call while lying flat on his chest), but we all know catcher Ray Fosse missed the tag. A pleading, begging Mays knows it too, as does an adamant group of Mets including Jones and manager Yogi Berra.
  • The twelfth inning includes Mays’s final hit (an RBI single up the middle), two errors from the beleaguered Oakland second baseman Mike Andrews, another Willie miscue in center field, and (finally) the final out recorded by George Stone in relief of a weary McGraw.