This Day in NY Mets History: A backwards day ending with a Tom Seaver save

On July 7, 1968, a once in a lifetime New York Mets moment took place. Fans didn’t know it at the time but a game against the Philadelphia Phillies to finish off the first-half of the season was being played in reverse.

In the second game of a doubleheader against their forever NL East foes, the greatest Mets player of all-time recorded the final three outs. The 4-2 win earned Seaver his one and only career save. In a circumstance of “we’ll never see that in today’s world,” it was apparently a tune-up for two days later when he and teammate Jerry Koosman each pitched in the All-Star Game down in Houston’s Astrodome.

Tom Seaver wasn’t the only star Mets pitcher to throw in relief this day or earn a save that week

While Seaver finished it with a strikeout and a pair of fly balls, he replaced Koosman on the mound. Koosman hit the one batter he faced. Seaver came in and the victory was complete in a game that feels a bit backwards.

Do you know who started the game? It was Danny Frisella, a guy who made 11 starts the year prior and only 4 in this current 1968 season. He’d end up with 158 total games with the Mets. Only 16 began with him on the mound.

If that wasn’t more out of the ordinary, we need to head over to the All-Star Game. With two outs in the ninth, Carl Yastrzemski stepped up to the plate. Ron Reed, who had just retired Davey Johnson on strikes, was replaced by…Koosman.

5 saves with the Mets in his career, just none yet in his sophomore campaign, Koosman and Seaver had a strange week where each earned a save: one with the Mets and the other representing the entire National League. It’s one of those strange coincidences where you have to wonder what the planets’ alignment was at the time.

Seaver had only 6 relief appearances in his career with the Mets, doing so again in 1970 immediately before the All-Star Break. Far different circumstances this time around, he got the final Montreal Expos hitter of the day out after Ray Sadecki let a 3-3 tie become 5-3 in favor of the Expos. Seaver struck out the only batter he faced this time.

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