1968 NEW YORK METS "The Year of the Pitcher" Highlight Reel 🎥 

McAndrew was mostly a starter, but he was usually either the fourth starter or the fifth starter in a 4 man rotation. I don't recall him doing much relieving between starts but may be wrong on that. He was a good pitcher mostly known for hard luck. He'd pitch a good game and lose 1-0 or 2-1.

Jim McAndrew was a great guy. Hailed from Lost Nation, Iowa. His son also played major Division 1 College baseball. Jerry Grote also passed on a few days ago (early April 2024). Time is marching on, unfortunately.

@@mattdon2164 , isn’t it…marching on.. and over!

@@RRaquello , started 110, relieved in 51.. so my memory and I stand corrected.. thanks.

According to Seaver, Ryan was better off being traded because he got the mentoring at California & Houston that made him such a great pitcher.

A two time all star is a Hall of famer?

He was a 500 pitcher with a 3.36 lifetime era. He had decent stats over a 19 year career, but not HOF stats. A 53 WAR and an average of 200 innings per year before the days of setup and closers. 1.25 whip is decent but not outstanding. To quote Jim Rome it is the Hall of Fame, not the hall of very good.

​@@cmoore185 Koosman had two Hall of Fame years, in 68 & 69. The rest of his career he was a good-to-very good pitcher. Two hall-of-fame years don't get you in the hall. 5 or 6 will, like Sandy Koufax.

@@cmoore185 , if he pitches for anyone other than NY’s METS, and yes, I know he did play for others.. but not originally, does he get the hype that he received? At least reliever MCGRAW had a modicum of success for a few seasons including the postseason with Philly, in addition to his METS output. And, aside from his 20 game winning season with the TWINS, KOOSMAN was just decent.

The biggest move was the shrinking of the strike zone to pre-1963 dimensions, that followed the failed nod to increase it in size only because BABE’s best bud as a sportswriter, COMMISSIONER FORD FRICK, did not like MARIS breaking the BAMBINO’s HOMER record, and the front offices panicked about paying bigger salaries after the YEAR OF THE HITTER IN THE AMERICAN LEAGUE= Expansion year #1 1961..where home runs historically soared - not just because of the 162 game season implemented, either- and so did batting averages, all due to TRIPLE-A PITCHERS coming into the league through that expansion. That is why the zone was expanded. It took 1968 to make the owners see the light, the one that put balance back in the game..

@@robertsprouse9282 I think Norm Cash's .361 average also scared them. Cash was a good hitter with power, but not even a .300 hitter let alone a .361 hitter and the idea of a bunch of .270 hitters hitting .360 would throw the game out of balance. It turned out to be a one year fluke, but maybe that's because they shrunk the strike zone.

Excellent point!! You know your history!

GIBSON had a 1.12 ERA.. That’s almost an earned run less than McLAIN, in a much better offense producing league than the AMERICAN LEAGUE. How many 1968 AMERICAN LEAGUE PITCHERS are in the HALL OF FAME? Who? PALMER, annnnnnnd… who else? KAAT.. who was put in because of longevity, and HUNTER. Yet.. the only hitter in the A.L. to hit .300 was YAZ.. By the way PALMER between a catastrophic injury and reserve military duty, did NOT PITCH in the Majors in ‘68, and only had four decisions the year before that. LOLICH, McLAIN, and TIANT, JOHN, SAM McDOWELL, JIM PERRY, GRANT, PASCUAL, and McNALLY are NOT IN THE HALL. Whereas in the NATIONAL LEAGUE: GIBSON, MARICHAL, JENKINS, SEAVER, GAYLORD PERRY, PHIL NIEKRO, DRYSDALE, SUTTON, BUNNING, RYAN, and CARLTON ARE in the HALL. And, the hitters included HALL GUYS: CLEMENTE, CEPEDA, BILLY WILLIAMS, BANKS, BENCH, BROCK, HANK AARON, McCOVEY, PEREZ, STARGELL, and MAYS, as HALL guys. ROSE would’ve been one if not for his stupidity. In the A.L., you had CAREW, CARL YASTRZEMSKI, MANTLE(a shadow of his former self in his final season), KALINE, FRANK AND BROOKS ROBINSON, APARICIO, KILLEBREW, and REGGIE JACKSON, and HARMON K. missed the last half of the season due to an injury in the ALL STAR game; and OLIVA in the HALL. Now, compare that bunch to the NL’ers, and you’ll see there is NO COMPARISON, none..both in pitching and hitting, especially power hitting. The NL had FIVE GUYS WHO HIT .300 or better.. GIBSON played in a SUPERIOR LEAGUE in 1968. It literally is indisputable. NL WON THE ALL STAR GAME for the SIXTH STRAIGHT year. THE TIGERS had to go SEVEN TO WIN THE WORLD SERIES.. and that was only after GIBSON BROKE THE SERIES RECORD with 17K’s in game one, and a good hitting pitcher hit homeruns= LOLICH to win, and CURT FLOOD lost a fly ball in the late afternoon lights. In the SERIES, GIBSON was 2-1, while MCLAIN was 1-2. Yep..no comparison.. GIBSON played in a tougher and better loop..

McClain had a once-in-a-lifetime year for sure. But Gibsons' ERA was almost a full run less than McClains'. I wouldn't say he made Gibsons' year look puny by any means.

You weren’t at the Met’s game!! I saw you Dad but I never seen you!!

And when most of the games were on free TV - WOR Channel 9. Nothing beats live baseball.