This Date in Mets History: May 11 — Mets celebrate Mays Day, Seaver wins 100th game

The Mets were rather active on this date in 1972. On the field, the team split a day-night doubleheader at Shea against the ex-pat Dodgers. In game one, Tom Seaver tossed eight innings of one-run ball to earn his fifth win of the season and the 100th of his burgeoning Hall of Fame career. It wasn't one of the Franchise's typically dominant performances, as he walked four and was bailed out by twin killings on more than one occasion, including a strike 'em out/throw 'em play that caught future manager Bobby Valentine red-handed.

Off the field, meanwhile, the Mets added another future Hall of Famer to the roster by swinging a trade for Willie Mays. Rumors had been swirling around the Say Hey Kid for days prior, but it wasn't until May 11 that the Mets and Giants officially consummated the exchange. "It's the best thing that ever happened to me in my life," said Mays at his (re-)introductory press conference with New York's baseball writers. Less enthused was Charlie Williams, the minor leaguer pitcher that the Mets sent to San Francisco as compensation. Asked for his comment on the deal, Williams, who was leading the International League in innings pitched and strikeouts at the time, admitted "I'm sorta glad that I was traded. I guess someone had to be traded."

Birthdays

• Jerry Martin turns 64. A spare outfielder on the '84 Mets, Martin triple slashed .154/.206/.264 and retired at the end of the season. Martin and his Kansas City Royals teammates Willie Aikens, Vida Blue, and Willie Wilson hold the dubious distinction of being the first active major leaguers to serve jail time for drug possession, as the quartet was caught in a cocaine sting toward the end of the 1983 season.
• Walt Terrell, the man the Mets traded to the Tigers for Howard Johnson, is 55. His most memorable on-field moment for New York came on August 6, 1983 when he hit two two-run homers off of Ferguson Jenkins in support of his own starting effort. Those round trippers accounted for the only scoring the Mets would do in a 4-1 victory over the Cubs.

Game of Note
The Mets and Rockies were involved in a game unlike any other of the 20th century on this date in 1999. Righty Bobby J. Jones got the start for New York, while lefty Bobby M. Jones took the ball for Colorado, making it the first time in 100 years that two pitchers with the same name started against each other. Between the two Joneses, it was the Mets' Bobby J. that had difficulty keeping up. He allowed two homers to Todd Helton and all eight runs in five-plus innings in a 8-5 loss. In doing so, he became the first major leaguer since John B. Taylor of the 1899 Cincinnati Reds to lose to his doppelgänger.

Amazin'-ly Tenuous Connection
On May 11, 1949, the young country of Israel was admitted to the United Nations. Were an Israeli team ever to admitted into Major League Baseball, said franchise could draw upon the expertise of former Miracle Met Art Shamsky when setting up the coaching staff. In 2007, Shamsky managed the Modi'in Miracle in the lone season of the Israel Baseball League's existence. Shamsky's squad went 22-19, upset the heavily-favored Tel Aviv Lightning in the playoffs, and advanced all the way to the championships. That's where the Miracle's לכלוכית (Hebrew for Cinderella) run ended, though. They lost 3-0 to the Bet Shemesh Blue Sox, a team managed by cross-Levant rival/former Yankee Ron Blomberg.