:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/photo_images/3475108/118216963.jpg)
On April 24, 1962, Mets manager Casey Stengel was assessed a $500 fine by commissioner Ford Frick. The charge? Appearing in a beer advertisement while wearing a Major League Baseball uniform. Perhaps, though, the most offensive part of the ad was that Stengel was "in position to bunt". Frick was unequivocal about his ruling:
"[E]verything's been taken care of now. In future ads, the bat will be in the girl's hand, and Casey will be out of the picture."
Three years later, on April 24, 1965, Stengel notched his 3,000th managerial win as the Mets beat the Giants, 7-6, in San Francisco.
Birthdays
- Carlos Beltran (2005-2011) turns 35. He hit .280/.369/.500 in seven seasons with the Mets. He's sixth on the franchise home run list (149); fifth in OPS (.869); sixth in OBP (.369); sixth in SLG (.500); eleventh in stolen bases (100); first in stolen base success rate (86%); third in rWAR (31.7). But, you know, he struck out that one time.
- Pat Zachry (1977-1982) turns 60. Zachry was basically an average pitcher in his six seasons with the Mets, but he'll always be remembered as one of the guys the Mets got for Tom Seaver.
Game Of Note
On April 24, 1986, the Mets trailed the NL Champion Cardinals 4-2 in the top of the ninth. George Foster led off with a double to left and advanced to third on a Ray Knight ground out. Howard Johnson then promptly deposited a Todd Worrell offering over the fence for a two-run homer which knotted the game at four runs apiece.
Roger McDowell held the Cardinals at bay in the bottom of the ninth, and Wally Backman walked, stole second, and scored on Foster's RBI single in the top of the tenth to give the Mets a 5-4 lead. McDowell worked around a Knight error in the bottom of the tenth to retire the Cardinals for his second of fourteen wins in relief that season.