June 15 Should Be A Holiday For Mets Fans

By Jay Horwitz

Today should be a National Holiday for Mets fans. On this date, 24 years apart, we made two trades for two first basemen which helped us win the only World Series titles in our history.

On June 15, 1969, we acquired Donn Clendenon who turned out to be such a key part in making the Miracle Mets possible. Then on June 15, 1983, we traded for Keith Hernandez, who three years later would lead us to 108 wins and the classic WS win over the Red Sox.

“Donn gave our lineup the pop we needed,” recalled left fielder Cleon Jones. “Until he got here we really didn’t have a home run threat. He also became one of the leaders in our clubhouse. We all respected his opinion.”

“Keith came with such credibility,” said teammate Ron Darling. “He was a former MVP, batting champ, and he won a world series with the Cardinals. He just played the game the right way and that helped us all get better in a hurry.”