One of the greatest trades the New York Mets ever made was in the offseason of 1965, when they traded reliever Tom Parsons (who?) to the Houston Astros for a 23-year-old catcher by the name of Jerry Grote.
He took over as the team’s starting catcher and would go on to become “one of the best defensive catchers the game has ever had.” Those are the words of Johnny Bench.
Grote was fiercely competitive and he instilled that killer instinct among all his teammates, especially his young pitchers who all credited him for their fearlessness and success.
In the summer of 1969, the Mets swept the Montreal Expos in a doubleheader, with Grote catching all 21 innings, and on that day the Mets moved into first place for the first time in their history.
If you wanted to piss Jerry Grote off, just refer to that 1969 World Series team as the Miracle Mets and he’d rip your head off.
“It was no fucking miracle, we were the best team in baseball. Period.”
They dont make catchers like Grote anymore. He would end up catching every inning of the 69 and 73 World Series for the Mets, and was their Opening Day catcher for a franchise record – nine seasons.
Which brings us to this weeks edition of So You Think You Know The Mets!
Can you name every Mets Opening Day catcher since the 1980 season?
You have four minutes!
Good Luck!
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