On This Day in NY Mets History: The 1977 blackout game vs. the Cubs

On July 13, 1977, New York City went dark. Not in a figurative sense because the New York Mets were on the verge of falling 20 games below the .500 mark nearly a month after trading Tom Seaver. Everything literally went black.

The famous 1977 blackout in New York City stopped the Big Apple and caused a summer Mets game against the Chicago Cubs to get postponed.

In front of over 14,000 fans, Lenny Randle stood at the plate in the bottom of the sixth inning. A lightning strike was the reported cause of the lights going out during a Mets game that couldn’t have better represented the direction the season was going.

What actually happened in the Mets-Cubs blackout game in 1977?

Not much after June 15, 1977, is talked about with the Mets. In fact, not much at all for the next several years comes up in discussions. The lights came back on in New York City, but stayed dim at Shea Stadium for several years.

This was a game featuring Jerry Koosman who, after 6 innings, already accumulated 11 strikeouts. When discussing the performance in this clip posted on the Mets’ YouTube page, Koosman had the record-books in mind by fanning 9 more before the game was over with.

Suspended until September, the final 3+ innings would be played with Koosman and Cubs starter Ray Burris back on the mound. It was a 2-1 game at the time of the blackout. Two quick outs and it was the Cubs’ turn to hit again. Koosman added one more strikeout in the top of the seventh. In the bottom half, an Ed Kranepool single tied the game 2-2.

Koosman got himself into a jam in the top of the eighth inning. Ducks on the pond with two outs, a Steve Swisher single plated two Chicago runs. Koosman retired the next batter and would leave the game with 13 strikeouts, well short of becoming the first pitcher in MLB history to strikeout 20 in a 9-inning game.

The game would end 5-2 in favor of the Cubs. Surely only a small number of fans even showed up for the conclusion. The Mets and Cubs faced off in a doubleheader the next day with just under 6,000 in attendance. Each club grabbed a win.

Amazingly, they’d play another doubleheader the next day, due to rain that washed out the originally scheduled full 9-inning game on September 16 when they concluded the July 13 match. Back-to-back double dips after a random Friday with a 3+ inning game is something we’ll never see again. For the hate of humidity, we’re hoping a blackout isn’t on the table either.

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