It was a routine ground ball, an easy double play, and the first baseman for the New York Mets did his job. He collected the bouncing ball, spun toward second base, gunned down the lead runner for the Cincinnati Reds, then waited as his teammate, shortstop Bud Harrelson, threw the ball back to first to end the inning.
The crowd at Shea Stadium roared. Fifty years ago today — October 8, 1973 — they had come to Queens to see their scrappy, underdog Mets beat the dominant, big-talking Reds in game three of the National League Championship Series, and now, improbably, it was happening. The Mets had a 9-2 lead in the fifth. They were about to move within one game of their second World Series in the past four years, and it seemed to be coming easy — something that felt very un-Mets-ian. As New York recorded the double play, the Mets infielders began to jog to the dugout, looking cool in their blue stirrup socks.
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