The morning Brent Gaff ruined my day

I was going through some old game programs and I came across one that stands out in particular. It was a doubleheader; the Mets against the Chicago Cubs on July 29, 1984. Here’s the story:

I was able to obtain two Press Box seats to this game before the season even started through the Long Island Mets Boosters Hot Stove League. This sounded great when I got them but as game day drew near, nobody wanted to go.

I asked Richie Grogan; he was like, “ah…I gotta go to the zoo”.

I asked John Fitzpatrick; he was like, “ah…I gotta go to the beach”.

I asked Tim Murphy; he was like, “ah…I gotta play racquetball.”

I asked Kevin McQueen; he was like, “ah…I’m never going to another game again since the players called that strike and ruined the ‘81 season for me”.

So I went alone. That was strike one.

What made this game even more enticing was that these tickets gave you admittance into Shea Stadium’s Diamond Club two hours before anyone else was allowed inside to have brunch with a New York Mets’ player. This was unbelievable. At that time, the Mets were assembling an intriguing level of talent on their major league roster. For instance, they had: Mookie Wilson, Keith Hernandez, George Foster, Daryl Strawberry, Hubie Brooks, Walt Terrell, Wally Backman, Rusty Staub, Jesse Orosco, Dwight Gooden, Sid Fernandez, and Ron Darling.

So, I went to the game thinking…at least I’m coming back with one of these player’s autographs.

But…when I got there, who walked in but Brent Gaff. “What? Are you kidding me? With all these guys on the roster, this is what they came up with? I got up early for this?” Brent Gaff was strike two.

Game One: Bruce Berenyi started against Scott Sanderson and the Mets dropped game one, 5-1. Ryne Sandberg, Leon Durham and Jody Davis of the Cubs led the offensive attack and accounted for all five runs. The Cubs were up 4-0 after four innings and the Mets didn’t score until the eighth inning. The Mets only got five hits; Backman and Wilson accounted for four of the five. Wilson knocked in the only run scored by the Mets.

Game Two: Walt Terrell started against Steve Trout and things didn’t get any better. The Cubs scored two runs in the top of the fith inning and added another in the ninth and the Mets’ offense never got going. The Mets dropped game two, 3-0. Durham, Davis, and Ron Cey led the offensive attack for the Cubs as each collected an RBI. Although Hernandez and Brooks got two hits each, the Mets’ offense never put anything together. That was strike three.

Brent Gaff actually got into game one; he pitched three innings of relief, gave up a HR to Ryne Sandberg, and he struck out one batter. Now some of us might argue that Gaff was actually pretty good that year. In 1984, he went 3-2 with one save. He threw 84.1 innings and his ERA was 3.63. Maybe, in all fairness, he was ok and maybe he really wanted to have a nice meal before those two games that day but I do know that this doubleheader loss, followed by a road trip where the Mets lost four more games dropped them out of first place and the Chicago Cubs ended up winning the National League’s Eastern Division by six and one-half games over the second place Mets.

In retrospect, maybe I should had brunch with Richie, or Fitz, or Murph, or McQueen that day.