THE NEW YORK METS - BOOK SIGNED CO-SIGNED BY: YOGI BERRA, ART SHAMSKY, RON "ROCKY" SWOBODA, RUBE WALKER, AL WEIS, EDDIE "THE WALKING MAN" YOST, KEN BOSWELL, CLEON JONES, DONN CLENDENON, JIM "MAC" McANDREW, DONALD CARDWELL, ED CHARLES, JERRY "KOOSE" KOOSMAN, JOE PIGNATANO, DUFFY DYER, RON TAYLOR, J. C. MARTIN, ED KRANEPOOL, WAYNE GARRETT, BUD HARRELSON, GARY GENTRY, JERRY GROTE, NOLAN RYAN, TOM "TOM TERRIFIC" SEAVER, TOMMIE AGEE, BOB PFEIL, RODNEY GASPAR, JACK DILAURO - HFSID 291199

NEW YORK METS (1969)
Vintage copy of George Vecsey's baseball classic, Joy in Mudville, signed by 27 Mets players and coaches. Signers include Hall of Famers Berra, Ryan and Seaver. Except for the late Gil Hodges and Tug McGraw, every regular has signed the book.
Book signed: "Gary Gentry", "Ken Boswell", "Tommie Agee", "Jim McAndrew", "Don Cardwell", "Donn Clendenon", "Ron Swoboda", "Ed Yost", "Art Shamsky", "Joe Pignatano", "Jerry Koosman", "Ed Kranepool","Yogi Berra", "Bud Harrelson", "Wayne Garrett", "Ed Charles", "Tom Seaver", "Duffy Dyer", "Jerry Grote", "Rube Walker", "Al Weis", "Cleon Jones", "J C Martin", "Jack DiLauro", "Ron Taylor", "Rod Gaspar", Bob Pfeil" and "Nolan Ryan", 6x8¾, 249 pages. Joy in Mudville:, by George Vecsey. New York, The McCall Publishing Company, 1970. Signed on the half title page and page opposite by 27 Mets. Hardcover. The 1969 Miracle Mets are one of baseball's greatest stories. The expansion New York Mets of 1962, bringing National League baseball back to New York five years after the desertion of the Dodgers and Giants, went 40-120, inspiring manager Casey Stengel's query, "Can't anybody here play this game?" In their first four seasons, the Mets lost an astonishing 452 games, and never placed higher than ninth place in their first 7 seasons. Then, loaded with young talent, the team won 100 games in 1969, grabbing the National League pennant and upsetting the powerhouse Baltimore Orioles 4 games to 1 in the World Series. Every signer here was a '69 Met, including YOGI BERRA, who joined the coaching staff in 1965 and took over managing duties after Gil Hodges' death in 1972. (Berra led the '73 pennant winners.) Two Hall of Fame members have signed here: TOM SEAVER and NOLAN RYAN, although Ryan was a marginal rookie in 1969 who would attain greatness with other teams. Represented here is every position player who appeared in more than fifty games, and all five members of the starting rotation. In fact, every pitcher who appeared in ten or more games is here, except for Tug McGraw and Cal Koonce, who pre-deceased the signing. The fine starting rotation of the 1969 Mets, the team's greatest strength, consisted of Seaver, JERRY KOOSMAN, GARY GENTRY, DON CARDWELL and JIM McANDREW. Joining Ryan in the bullpen were RON TAYLOR and JACK DiLAURO. JERRY GROTE was the primary catcher, backed up by J. C. MARTIN and DUFFY DYER. ED KRANEPOOL platooned with DONN CLENDENON at first base. The regular infielders were KEN BOSWELL at 2B, WAYNE GARRETT at 3B, and BUD HARRELSON at shortstop. AL WEIS, ED CHARLES and BOB PFEIL also saw significant playing time in the infield. CLEON JONES was the primary left fielder, with TOMMIE AGEE in center. RON SWOBODA and ART SHAMSKY shared the right field duties. Also coming off the bench was outfielder ROD GASPAR. EDDIE YOST, RUBE WALKER and JOE PIGNATANO joined Yogi Berra on manager Hodges's coaching staff. Worn. Lightly toned. Otherwise, fine condition.