The Internet Is Amazing — Baseball Edition

I can remember attending a Mets game at Shea Stadium when I was about 13 or 14 (that would be 1968 or 1969). The Mets were playing the San Francisco Giants (my favorite team) and the two best pitchers in baseball were facing off against one another — Juan Marichal versus Tom Seaver. My father kept commenting on what a great pitcher’s duel we were going to see, but I really wanted to see homeruns from sluggers Willie Mays and Willie McCovey.

I remember there was no pitcher’s duel that day. The Giants won 9–5, and I spent the entire ride home teasing my father about what a great pitcher’s duel we saw. I vaguely remember a home run by future Hall-of-Famer McCovey, but since we saw the Giants every year, I couldn’t be sure the home run by McCovey was in that particular game.

Now, thanks to the amazing Internet, I have an answer. Here is the box score and play-by-play of that game on June 15, 1968. Yes indeed, McCovey did hit a home run that afternoon, which actually knocked Seaver out of the game.

Even more amazing, the folks at Baseball Reference have posted the box score and play-by-play of every single baseball game played since 1957. Wow!