Biggest errors in each World Series appearance

NY Mets Biggest World Series Errors: Yogi Berra starts the wrong guy

Twice, the Mets were one win away from winning it all in 1973. An inexplicable climb to the finals after narrowly winning the National League East with an 82-79 record followed by a takedown of the Big Red Machine, you couldn’t stack odds against this club higher.

In Game 6, manager Yogi Berra made a fatal baseball error before the game even started.

Minus any context whatsoever, it makes a lot of sense for the Mets to turn to Tom Seaver instead of George Stone in just about any situation. This is what Berra did but to the detriment of his team.

Stone was coming off of a career year with the Mets and was more rested for a start in Game 6. It made sense to maybe go with Stone in Game 6 and save Seaver for a deathblow in Game 7.

Seaver wasn’t bad in his start. He allowed only 2 runs in 7 innings of work. Unfortunately, Catfish Hunter outdueled him with 7.1 innings of 1 run ball.

The Oakland Athletics seemed to have a better grip on this game from the start. They scored a run in the first and third inning on Reggie Jackson doubles. The pitching held the Mets to only 6 hits, never giving them much of a chance.

The 3-1 victory tied things at 3-3 in the series. The Athletics were able to win the next game and take the entire series.

Mets fans can only wonder: what if Berra used Stone and saved Seaver?